April 15 of the second year of Xianchun.

Qingyuan Mansion, Cixi.

The heavens and the earth are solemn, and the stars are hanging upside down.

The boundless wilderness stretches into the distance, and the low hills crawl in the middle of the wilderness. From time to time, the sound of waves can be heard in the distance, but it seems to be unreal, like a dream.

Ye Yingwu leaned on the city wall with his sword in his hand, quietly looking into the distance. The news has been revealed, I don't know if those pirates will be fooled, after all, for this ambush battle, the troops stationed in Yin County, where Qingyuan Mansion is located, have been exhausted, once the pirates see through this simple plan and attack the west, not to mention the blow to morale, then the two roads of Qingyuan Mansion will be cut off, and the troops will naturally be even more stretched.

Since the crossing, Ye Yingwu has been constantly swept into one big or small whirlpool after another, and he doesn't even have time to complain about why he was thrown into such an unlucky era, nor because he should find a way to return. It seems that since he walked through that gate, his body and mind have been forced to be firmly bound to this era, and he himself has to step by step onto the dilapidated chariot of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Under this endless starry night, Ye Yingwu quietly enjoyed this rare moment of peace, even if he was about to meet the test of life and death of blood and fire.

Naturally, there were only a few torches on the walls of the city on both sides, and the defense was lax. Under the city wall, there is a clear area, and a few large cauldrons are boiling pine needle water, which is a local method, specially used to prevent night blindness. Because this night battle is a matter of success or failure, Ye Yingwu naturally does not dare to relax, once the soldiers lose their combat effectiveness due to night blindness, this battle will naturally not have to be fought.

On the contrary, the pirates don't have to worry about this, who makes cod liver oil the best choice for treating night blindness? It's just that the science and technology of this era have not yet developed to make the pirates aware of this, and it is impossible for the people on land to know.

Wen Tianxiang also went into battle shirtless, personally carrying the cauldron with a few soldiers, and Jiang Da, who had always been excellent in recruit training, was forcibly appointed by Ye Yingwu to become Wen Tianxiang's guard, holding a saber in his hand, for fear that the only literati in this group of Qiu Bazhong would be in danger, not to mention that this is a literati who is a dignified champion, thinking that the Sima in his army are all champions, these recruits who have not even been on the battlefield are proud, and they do not forget to secretly despise that the head of the Yanei is really a "tyrannical thing".

Although Wen Tianxiang was displeased with Ye Yingwu's stubborn stuffing of a tall and big follower, he didn't want to violate Ye Yingwu's kindness, so he simply let him follow. After all, Wen Tianxiang is also a person with lofty ideals who is ambitious and wants to help the community, and he doesn't want to "die before he gets out of school" when he fights against the little Haikou.

The last team of soldiers came back from a tired run, so far all the houses in the city have been poured with fire oil, and the women, children, old and weak in the city have been transferred, because the manpower is really stretched, so Ye Mengding had to stay behind some of the strong men who still have brothers to continue the incense, some of them follow the army and are ready to go up at any time, and the other part is guarding in the most central mansions in the city, and the gold and silver that have not had time to be transferred are stored there.

Seeing that the soldiers under the city drank the pine needle water with bitter faces, Ye Yingwu exhaled a long breath: "Yang Bao, take people to the city!" ”

"Obey." Yang Bao can be said to be convinced of the various demon trainings that this Yanei Du has done in the past few days, but Yang Bao still has no bottom in his heart for relying on more than 600 people to surround more than 1,000 Haikou tonight.

Not to mention Yang Bao, even the few people who supported Ye Yingwu in the council hall couldn't help frowning after forcibly pouring a few mouthfuls of pine needle water. You must know that except for some of the soldiers guarding the beachhead led by Yang Tizhi on the Fenghua side, all the forces of Qingyuan Mansion are concentrated in this small Cixi County, and the consequences of defeat are unimaginable.

The soldiers hurried up to the city, hiding in the shadows of the battlements. And Ye Yingwu unexpectedly ordered all the candles in the city tower to be lit, and the gate of the urn city below was also opened. This time, the east gate where he was the most likely direction for Haikou, and although the soldiers had doubts about such a mysterious move of this Yanai Dutou, they still didn't dare to object, because the push-ups of the previous days had made them unforgettable.

A small table was placed in the open space in front of the tower, on which were more than a dozen plates of delicate side dishes, and two small cups of wine were placed. For this elegant but absolutely unsatisfying way of eating, the surrounding soldiers just glanced at it casually and ignored it. After all, the sumptuous broth just now made many people's stomachs still a little swollen, and even the bowl was licked clean, and it was also because they didn't want to watch the delicious food turn over the river and the sea to spit out and waste, so that the soldiers held back the desire to vomit when they drank the broth and then drank pine needle water.

"Come on, Brother Song Rui, please take a seat." Ye Yingwu made a gesture of please, but he sat down first.

Wen Tianxiang smiled bitterly, but he was not polite: "You are hypocritical, I don't know if the leader of the pike will be fooled." ”

"Whatever, life is short, how can you not enjoy a moment when the stars are brilliant?" Ye Yingwu smiled open-mindedly, not paying any attention to the upcoming uncertainty of life and death.

They are all human beings in two lives, although the people in the previous life looked like dogs, after all, they have been crawling in the red dust for so many years, and there is always courage.

The slightly turbid liquor poured into the equally delicate wine glass, Ye Yingwu picked up the wine glass and sniffed it gently, this kind of rice wine with a certain degree of low degree was nothing but for him, a veteran who has been in various bars and drinking parties all year round, and he no longer hesitated at the moment, raised the wine glass at Wen Tianxiang, and then drank it all with a tilt of his neck.

Traces of liquor rolled down his throat, cold.

Ye Yingwu looked at Wen Tianxiang opposite and drank it all with a smile, and he was a little drunk in a trance. Who would have thought that a month ago, the rich second generation who was still a rat on the street and everyone shouted at him, would have been sitting on the city wall seven hundred years later, drinking with Wen Tianxiang, and the group of people standing around, although they were young and childish, Ye Yingwu called out that the ancestors were probably a little high.

Fortunately, the wine glass in his hand was warm, and the wine in his belly was also warm, which made it all extremely real again. The brilliant stars are behind him, countless warriors are waiting for him, and he is sitting in the midst of the hosts as if no one is around!

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Cixi County, county government.

Ye Mengding, a scholar of the Senior Administration Hall and the prefect of Qingyuan, was sitting in the courtyard, and more than a dozen soldiers with full bodies stood on both sides, waiting for him. There are also many strong men inside and outside the surrounding walls, who are hurrying back and forth.

The old man in his sixties, in the darkness of the imminent chaos and war, did not have the slightest fear, just sat quietly, letting the stars in the sky shine on his figure, and also allowed the soldiers around him to come in and out, as if all this had nothing to do with him, and as if he had integrated into the whole battle.

"What is Yuan Lie doing on the castle tower?" Ye Mengding's gaze passed through the not too high wall, and he happened to see the bright lights on the tower of the East Gate, which was extremely dazzling compared to the darkness in the other three directions. But Ye Mengding was not worried, after all, Ye Yingwu had already brought him too many surprises.

The current Ye Yingwu is calm, witty and even a little deceitful, but in any case, Old Man Ye is very satisfied, because from this kid, he sees the hope of the Ye family passing on the torch.

The secretary standing behind him didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly replied: "Just now, the soldier came to report that Yanei was drinking in front of the city tower with Wen Songrui, the secretary of the army. ”

"This kid is really so elegant." Ye Mengding was not angry, but smiled heartily while brushing his gray beard, "Even the old man is not so bold in such a situation, the newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, and the ancients do not deceive me!" I didn't expect that Song Rui's child would also accompany him to make trouble, the good disciple taught by Jiang Xianggong is really envious of the old man! ”

Ye Jie, who was standing on the other side, had a hand that had been on the handle of the knife at his waist, and his face showed sincere joy, for him, any extraordinary performance in the two yamen should be celebrated and happy.

At this moment, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded, and the people outside dodged the road one after another. The spy flew off his horse and ran in quickly: "Lord Qiqi, the East Gate has urgently reported that Haikou has come, less than ten miles away from the city, and the number of people should be about a thousand!" ”

"Good time!" Ye Mengding patted the armrest of the chair, his eyes bloomed, and Huo De stood up, "Ye Jie, follow me to the East Gate!" ”

"It's impossible to be public, the east gate is the first line, and the arrows are not long-sighted, in case there is a good ・・・・・・ not to mention that there is no news from the other three gates, and you need to be in charge of the overall situation." Ye Jie hurriedly stopped Ye Mengding, "If you are worried about the second ya, the old slave will go for you, how can you protect the safety of the second ya." ”

The secretary also knew that Ye Mengding could not risk his life, so he hurriedly persuaded him.

Seeing that the two of them had already put on the posture of loyal ministers and death, and he was unwilling to take this credit with his son, so although Ye Mengding was worried in his heart, he still hummed and sat down helplessly, the other three city gates were still dark, but the total strength of the Haikou was around 1,000 people, and it was estimated that there would be no more feints to attack and contain them.

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East Gate.

Looking at the dense figures that appeared in the distance, Ye Yingwu slapped the table excitedly: "His grandmother's is finally here." Yang Bao, you show a good look, if anyone makes a little move, he wants him to look good! ”

Yang Bao arched his hand and shouted in a low voice: "Title! ”

All the soldiers pulled out something like chopsticks from their arms, which was a common "piece" in night raids in the army, and biting it in the mouth to prevent it from making a sound. The crossbowmen also began to twist the crossbow machine of the Divine Arm Crossbow. In the continuous battles with Liao, Xia, Jin, and Mongolia for 300 years, the Song Dynasty had to make up for the serious shortage of cavalry by vigorously developing bows and crossbows and even firearms in order to maintain the balance of combat power between the two sides. It was also with the fortified cities in the Central Plains and the sophisticated equipment in their hands that the Song army could stand tall in the cavalry attack like a wave.

Yan Zongbi, who was notorious all over the world because of "The Complete Biography of Yue", once lamented that if there was no divine arm crossbow and giant axe, the Song army could be defeated with one touch, which shows that the Song army is well-equipped.

Wen Tianxiang, who was sitting opposite Ye Yingwu, looked calm, not at all excited or frightened by the pressure of the great enemy, nor moved by the increasingly dense atmosphere of slaughter around him, just quietly looked at the hideous figures that slowly appeared in the night in the distance.

Ye Yingwu gritted his teeth, and pressed his right hand on the hilt of the sword again and again, but he had to withdraw it. Wen Tianxiang was not surprised by this, and laughed softly: "Don't be so nervous, the matter has come to this, it is all according to the destiny of heaven, and the foolish brother will drink this cup first." ”

Glancing at Wen Tianxiang in surprise, Ye Yingwu couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, thirteen years later, you are probably the person in the world who does not believe in the destiny of heaven, but seeing Wen Tianxiang's slightly trembling arms, he felt much more balanced in his heart at the moment, and he couldn't help but laugh: "Senior brother, to be honest, your back is also soaked, to be honest!" ”

Wen Tianxiang casually put down the wine glass and glanced at Ye Yingwu, which was considered a tacit acquiescence. A gust of night wind blew, Ye Yingwu and Wen Tianxiang couldn't help but shiver lightly, and then glanced at each other, in addition to a faint bitterness and helplessness in their eyes, there was more high morale.

After all, they are all recruits who have not directly joined the bloody battle, and they are not nervous, but everything is not allowed to be nervous. Yang Bao looked at the figure that was getting closer and closer, and the hand that had been raised high fell suddenly, and all the soldiers slowly bowed their waists at the same time, pulling the bow and crossbow in their hands to the extreme, waiting for the moment of the final shot.