The southern city wall was relatively short, but the Japanese came across the sea, and there were no large number of siege equipment, and the first round of attacks was under the fierce counterattack of the Ming army, and the dead bodies were piled up and temporarily retreated.

Liang Xinghua didn't care about eating, hurriedly inspected the four cities, and saw that the Japanese were concentrated in the east city, so he transferred the main forces in the city to the east city to defend, and the other three cities were strictly guarded, and as soon as there was a police, they immediately sent a message with bells and drums, and they could transport troops over.

In addition to commanding the soldiers to shoot arrows in the city, try to kill and injure and hinder the Japanese invaders, but the Japanese are strong, and there is no reason to go out of the city to rescue, Liang Xinghua can only watch the people being killed and humiliated, and then he found that the Japanese have the intention of connecting the houses close to the city wall and setting up escalators to go to the city, and immediately called the officers and soldiers to launch rockets and take the initiative to burn the houses, and the flames soared to the sky for a while.

The Japanese have always been guerrilla surprise attacks, and rarely take the initiative to attack the big cities and passes, but this Japanese army has never retreated despite the siege and defense of the city. In the afternoon, the Japanese made a large number of siege ladders and a few Lu buses out of the wood of the demolished houses, and launched another attack.

Liang Xinghua was commanding a counterattack at the head of the city, and suddenly heard an alarm from the south city, Liang Xinghua hurriedly handed over the defense of the east city to the deputy general He Wen, and he led five hundred soldiers to hurry to the south city and climbed the city wall of the south city.

Mao Wenjun, the general guarding the city, said nervously: "Lord Garrison, the Japanese seem to be cutting trees in the forest, I see that they are no less than 2,000 people, I am afraid that there are not enough officers and soldiers to defend the city, so I am anxious to inform the adults."

Liang Xinghua observed carefully for a while, and sneered: "This must be a suspicious plan of the Japanese people, bluffing to make me divide my troops and reduce my defense in Dongcheng, don't panic, although you can defend the city with peace of mind, there is no need to ring the bell to warn, the battle in Dongcheng is critical, the official can not rest assured, and he has to rush back immediately." ”

Mao Wenjun was timid and hesitated: "The art of war is cloudy, the truth is false, the virtual is real, the Japanese are very cunning, what if the delay in attacking is to deliberately slack off our army's heart?" ”

Mao Wenjun said that Liang Xinghua also hesitated, he gritted his teeth, and said hatefully: "Hold on, when the reinforcements from Suzhou arrive, I will leave another 300 people for you, always be careful." ”

Liang Xinghua left another 300 officers and soldiers in the south city, and when he rushed back to the east city, the new round of attacks by the Japanese invaders ended, leaving a dead body under the city wall, and the city gate was hit by the Japanese who risked their lives to attack the cracks and crumbling. The defenders of the city were directing the people and the young and strong laborers who had been temporarily recruited to block the stones and dirt under the city gates, and press the poles to reinforce them.

Liang Xinghua climbed the city wall, leaned on the pheasant wall and looked out, and couldn't help but feel bitter in his heart. Outside the city, the Japanese temporarily retreated, and the rear team of Japanese invaders made a detour and disappeared, and they were gone. The Japanese invaders made a plan to reduce their troops, and it seemed that there were less than 2,000 Japanese outside the eastern city, and it was difficult to predict where the main force of the Japanese people would move, and at this time there was a warning signal from Beicheng, Liang Xinghua did not dare to be careless, and immediately led the army to help.

In this way, there are warning signals in the four cities, and the defenders in the city have to be tired of running for their lives, and at dusk, the defenders are already sleepy and tired, and I am afraid that the defenders will not be able to support the dawn at all, and the defenders and the people in the city are worried and look forward to the reinforcements from Suzhou, and the mood is becoming more and more anxious.

The moon gradually rose, the moon in the south of the Yangtze River is like a soft woman, the light clouds are just like a veil to cover shame, the moon is like water, and the clear shines on the earth. In the grass and ditches under the walls of the four cities, the frogs and insects are quiet, and they are not affected by the torches of the north and east cities as bright as day, and the hissing and earth-shaking are not affected at all.

At this time, in order to concentrate their forces to attack the lower terrain of the east city, the Japanese have withdrawn the suspicious soldiers in the west city, and several figures quietly rushed to the city under the moonlight, and the defenders in the city did not dare to be careless for a moment, immediately picked up the bow and arrow, and shouted: "Stop!" People in the city are all named! ”

A trembling voice shouted upwards, "Fuck, what are you shouting, be careful to bring in the ghosts".

When the defenders heard the news, they hurried up to the city wall from inside the city tower and asked urgently, "Who is under the city?" ”

A local accent from Wujiang County shouted: "My lord, we have sent the military information to Suzhou, and the governor has sent a large army to help."

Another person scolded: "Shut up, let Mr. Liu and Master Li talk."

The general who defended the city was called Li Bin, and when he heard the people under the city call out his surname, and mentioned Mr. Liu, he couldn't help but rejoice: "Liu Yan? Did you send the letter to? ”

Someone in the city replied: "Yes, Lord Li, open the city quickly, I have a secret letter from the Governor to present to the garrison."

Li Bin and Liu Yan are familiar with each other, and when they hear his accent, he is looking forward to reinforcements in the city and looking forward to it, where will he think more? What's more, there were 700 defenders in the city, and there were only eight in the city, so he hurriedly ordered: "Quickly open the city gate and let Liu General in."

Hearing that the Governor's army was about to arrive, the garrison men rushed down the city wall in high spirits, removed the thick logs that propped the gates, slowly pulled them open, and whispered, "Come in quickly."

A figure was as fast as an ape, and with the sound of the wind, it jumped up, and the snow-bright blade slashed down like lightning, and a skull rolled to the ground, full of blood spraying the man's head and face.

The man was extremely fierce, stretched out his hand to wipe his face, wiped away the hot blood that covered his eyes, and broke into the city as soon as he twisted his body, the five-foot long knife danced, and the white mangs were everywhere in Fang Yuanzhang, and the officers and soldiers who were caught off guard screamed again and again, and fell to the ground one after another, and the remaining officers and soldiers shouted, turned around and fled.

Outside the city gate, several Japanese robbers rushed into the city gate with the spears of Zhanger's red poles, opened the city gate wide, and took advantage of the night to quietly hide in the nearby grass The Japanese robbers roared up, shouting and killing into the city.

Liu Yan stood on the side of the road, looked at the Japanese who rushed into the city, and said to the Japanese on the side with trembling: "Brother Fang, our villagers, you said that as long as you open the city gate, you will spare my surname, can I go?" ”

The sword-wielding widow smiled and said, "Of course, if I say spare your life, I will naturally not break my word."

Liu Yan listened to the relief in his heart, his personal life was preserved, selfishness and greed made the only trace of shame in his heart disappear, he immediately said to the widow with gratitude: "Thank you Brother Fang, the little brother will leave, he said to see each other, and then invite the eldest brother to eat wine to thank you."

Before the words fell, a snow-bright sword blade leaked out of his chest, and Liu Yan's eyes bulged out, staring at the blurred smiling face in front of him in shock. Fang's surname said with a smile: "I said spare you, I didn't say that others will spare you, this wine, you can drink it yourself on Huangquan Road", after saying that, he laughed wildly and rushed into the city with a knife.

Liu Yan's face was full of pain and remorse, and there were already cries and fires in the city, and all of this had become so far away for him. The corpse slumped limply by the side of the road, the light veil-like moonlight gently covering his ugly, sinful corpse.

Wujiang City, lost to the west chamber of the moon, the windward door is half-open. The shadow of the flowers on the wall moved, and it was suspected that the jade man was coming.

Along the gravel paved path, under the shade of flowers, Yang Ling and Cheng Qiyun sat opposite, the moonlight was bright, the light jade plain face Tsing Yi, the posture of sipping and tasting was very sultry, especially the red on the pretty face after drinking, although it was under the moon, it was not less attractive and beautiful.

Yang Ling sighed lightly, put down the ivory chopstick, stroked his knees, and said, "It's been a long time since I've been in such a relaxed and mood. Alas, imagine the roughness of the Northwest Army, the fierceness of the Northeast Army, and the arrogance and ferocity of the Southwest Army in that poor mountain and bad water. I couldn't imagine that Jiangnan soldiers would be like a flock of sheep, mourning their misfortune and being angry! Nothing more than that. ”

"Mourn its misfortune and be angry with it?" Cheng Qiyun's eyes were full of brilliance, and she said happily: "My lord's words are to the point, extremely incisive, this sentence is so wonderful!" ”

Yang Ling was taken aback, he always thought that this was an idiom, it turned out that he was as knowledgeable as Dai Lou'er, and he had never heard of this word.

Cheng Qiyun said: "This is indeed a true portrayal of those defeated soldiers, but the Jiangnan soldiers were originally in the rich land of Jiangnan, and there was less tempering in the hard place, plus Tuntian was mostly devoured by the generals, and the number of deserters from the hereditary officers and soldiers increased, morale was low, and the armament was wasted.

At present, the only way to do this is to first transfer troops, and then to drive the officers and soldiers of the Jiangnan Guard Station in the war with serious military discipline and clear rewards and punishments, and the bodies of these sheep are tigers and wolves, and the weakness is only their hearts, as long as they recover their morale and courage, they will be a powerful army."

Yang Ling nodded thoughtfully, and said in a deep voice: "Sharpen the guns in battle, it's too late to reform the army now, now I should first clear military discipline and strengthen the army's combat strength." When the war subsides, we must find the reason from the root, the military household soldiers are unwilling to be soldiers and are forced to become soldiers, relying only on military discipline to suppress is not a long-term solution, the method of recruiting soldiers in the border army is very good, I should play the emperor to gradually abolish the military households, the implementation of the recruitment system.

Now the artisan household has changed to silver as a substitute for service, and the artisan household is self-frequent, and the income has increased, and everyone is happy. At the same time, the industry and commerce were activated, the imperial court increased taxes, and the burden of supporting people was reduced, and the benefits were very obvious. Although the abolition of the rigid military household system has increased military spending, once the sea is opened, the flow of personnel is imperative, and the tax of the imperial court will also increase significantly, so there should be no difficulty."

He said, tapping his knee lightly and pondering. Cheng Qiyun pursed her lips and smiled when she saw this: "My lord, I finally took a moment of leisure, and I was thinking about business, these things can only be gradually implemented when the war subsides, if you are in a hurry, you can't reach it quickly, it's useless to think too much now, my lord, relax, when the reinforcements arrive, let's solve the bandit trouble in Jiangnan first."

Yang Ling said with a smile: "Yes, this official also thinks about headaches, okay, tonight we will only talk about Fengyue, regardless of military."

Cheng Qiyun smiled lightly, held a cup and said: "Hold the cup and persuade the moon in the sky, may the moon be full." Hold the cup to persuade the flower branches, and wish the flower branches to grow in, do not leave the slope. Drunk before holding a cup of moon flowers, Hugh asked about the glory and withering, how many people can know about this joy? If you don't drink wine and flowers, when will you stay? ”

Yang Ling laughed and said, "It's a good pair of wine, uh."

Although the moonlight is hazy, the lonely man and the woman are handsome, the atmosphere is warm, and it is easy to relax people after drinking, Yang Ling did not dare to say frivolous words after all, but in front of him was a bundle of dry firewood that caught fire, how could Yang Ling not know in his heart?

He smiled and said: "Come, you and I drink together", the jade cup touched lightly, two cups of sake entered the stomach, Yang Ling picked up a basket of vegetables, took advantage of the fragrance of his cheeks and teeth, and tasted it slowly.

Cheng Qiyun said: "When you drink alcohol, the best season is spring suburbs, flower time, clear autumn, new green, snow, new moon, and evening cool; The best location is in front of the flower, under the moon, bamboo forest, high pavilion, painting boat, secluded hall, Qutong, Heting; This character is elegant, heroic, true, confidant, old friend, jade, and Kerr. My lord is working too hard, if you feel that you are satisfied, let's relax tonight."

Yang Ling high-fived and said, "There is still so much knowledge about drinking? When the spring suburbs are flowering, before the flower and under the moon, knowing the jade people, everything is in line, you should drink a few more cups, you are too tired, my wine is shallow, if you like it, just drink a few more glasses."

Cheng Qiyun heard him say that he knew that he was a jade person, and her heart was happy, and she couldn't help but smile at him, and then held the cup and lips.

The evening breeze blew, a few strands of green silk gently blew on her jade-like cheeks, her lips were lowered, and the side of her face revealed her warm and white earlobes like hooked jade, and the scenery was infinite for a while.

Yang Ling's eyes were blurred for a moment, he had just raised his glass, footsteps in the distance, and Wu Hanchao's voice came urgently: "My lord, Wujiang City has been lost, there are thousands of Japanese invaders attacking the city, and they are burning, looting and strengthening the city defenses, Lord Bai and Lord Min are waiting in the front hall, please see you immediately!" ”

Yang Ling was taken aback, looking at the six provinces of the Japanese Bandits, there are very few people who gather more than 3,000 people to advance and retreat together, on the one hand, there are many Japanese factions, and secondly, there are several large Japanese forces out of supply considerations, but also divide the troops, and there are only three or two cases of gathering thousands of people to attack the big city, this group of Japanese Bandits dares to attack the foot of Suzhou, where heavy troops are gathered?

Yang Ling immediately got up and rushed to the front hall, and Wu Hanchao arched his hand to Cheng Qiyun, and followed.

Cheng Qiyun sat for a long time, poured a full cup of the pot, raised his glass to the moon, and said leisurely: "The sword qi shoots into the clouds, and the drum vibrates the original sun." The yellow dust blocked the road, and the horses were in a hurry. The bow is bent and gone, and the arrows are gathered like rain. Intercept a hundred miles and behead five thousand! ”

Yang Ling was really angry, the governor of the six provinces to suppress bandits was stationed in Suzhou, and the Japanese invaders actually gathered thousands of people to blatantly use troops near Suzhou City, this is a provocation and contempt, if this group of Japanese robbers is allowed to burn and loot and leave, the reputation of the Governor's Mansion will plummet, and the morale of the six provinces will be even more sluggish, even the capital will no longer tolerate the existence of this kind of war.

Yang Lingtie's face was blue, and Bai Chongzan led 15,000 people to defend the city, and he led 23,000 troops to aid Wujiang City, and at the same time ordered the officers and soldiers of the nearby guard to besiege Wujiang City.

Seeing that the Governor-General's Minister of Military Affairs was furious, Bai Chongzan and the others were silent, no one dared to oppose it anymore, and immediately responded to the order, and when Cheng Qiyun heard that Yang Ling personally led the army to rescue, he hurried to the front hall in a panic, and Yang Ling's army had already left the city.

Yang Ling knew that Wujiang City had fallen, and if the Japanese invaders defended the city, the 20,000 troops might not be able to attack the city, so he brought eight thunderbolt cannons with the team to attack the city. The army took advantage of the night to walk out of more than ten miles, Yang Ling's excited emotions gradually calmed down, he rode on the horse and pondered for a moment, suddenly reined in the reins of the horse, and shouted: "Stop advancing!" ”

The horn blew, three long and one short, the heralds everywhere responded, the army stood in place, Min Wenjian came from the outpost with a big knife, and roared urgently: "My lord, why don't you leave?" ”

Yang Ling glanced at him coldly and asked, "Lord Min, is there a precedent for the Japanese to occupy the city and defend the city?" ”

Min Wenjian was stunned for a moment and said: "Wow, if the Japanese people rob a large amount of property and have no time to transport it out to sea, they will usually occupy a small city along the coast to intercept our army, cover the same party to send the property away and then break through to the sea, when they are chased inland and have no way out, they will also raid and occupy a city to breathe, but usually before our army is encircled, they will cross the city and continue to escape."

Yang Ling smiled coldly and said, "Wujiang City is not a small city near the sea, they are just looting, why do they want to make a posture of holding on to the city?" Now that there are no soldiers and horses to intercept them, thousands of Japanese soldiers can come and go calmly, so why retreat into the city and allow us to calmly deploy troops to surround us? ”

Min Wenjian was stunned: "What do you mean?" ”

Yang Ling's eyes rolled, gritted his teeth and sneered: "Xiang Zhuang sword dance, meaning Pei Gong!" This group of Japanese people has a big appetite, what they want is Suzhou City, and Wujiang is just a cover."

Min Wenjian suddenly realized and exclaimed: "It turned out to be the one who turned out to be the one who turned the tiger away from the mountain?" Damn, should we rush back to Suzhou right away? ”

Yang Ling shook his head, looked up to the sky and thought for a while: "There are still 15,000 soldiers and horses in Suzhou City, even if the Japanese people transfer us into the city, we will have to entangle with the defenders in the city.

When Yang Ling said this, his heart suddenly moved, and he suddenly said: "They made a posture of defending the city to lead me closer, but also for", he suddenly turned his head to the Chinese army and said: "Quickly send the order to the rear of the heavy army, introduce eight artillery pieces into the Chinese army, disguise the siege ladder and chariot as artillery, and put explosive barrels in the middle, go quickly!" ”

The Chinese army received the order and hurriedly rushed to the rear, Yang Ling called the general Hong Peng and asked: "You are a local, let me ask you, what dangers can be used to ambush the soldiers along the way to Wujiang?" ”

Hong Peng thought for a while and said: "This is a smooth road to Wujiang, but when passing near Shiwa Village, there is a piece of mud on the left side of the road, about a few acres of reeds in a radius, and a gentle slope on the right side, planted with many low tea trees, if you want to hide people, only this place is suitable for ambushing thousands of people and horses along the way."

Yang Ling dismounted and carefully inquired about the terrain there, Hong Peng asked people to draw a map on the ground with a torch and described it in detail, Yang Ling stood up and looked at the map and pondered for a long time, and ordered: "Call the generals, this official will deploy military orders here!" ”

Wu Hanchao stood behind Yang Ling and held the sword of Shang Fang wrapped in yellow silk, the guards on both sides held torches, and the firelight reflected Yang Ling's solemn face. Yang Ling summoned the generals one by one, pointed to the graphics on the ground, and explained to them the tasks they wanted to perform.

After Yang Ling finished explaining everything, he slowly stood up, looked around, and said in a low voice: "Generals, to what extent our Jiangnan soldiers have fallen, you don't need to say, you also know!" ”

"Is it inferior to others? Martial arts are not as good as people? Also, those outlaws do this business every day, but the tigers can't stop the wolves, uncles! There are 23,000 of us, and four to fight one can't do it? ”

Yang Ling suddenly roared, he pointed in the direction of Wu Jiang, and shouted, "Who is suffering ahead?" It is the food and clothing that you work hard to feed and wear! They are being slaughtered and humiliated by the Bandits! As the saying goes, raising soldiers for a thousand years, using soldiers for a while, raising a pig can still eat a meal of meat after the New Year, is the waste of raising a herd used to fertilize the land? ”

Such a unique pre-war mobilization can open the eyes of this group of generals, and their faces are purple with shame.

Yang Ling pulled out Shang Fang's sword from Wu Hanchao's hand with his backhand, and the sword light was cold, piercing straight into the sky. Although he worked hard, every time he practiced martial arts with Wu Hanchao, his swordsmanship seemed to be the same, and the sword flower shook and made a dragon groan.

Yang Ling paused word by word, and said murderously: "In this battle, Xu Sheng is not allowed to lose!" In the war, you governors and subordinates, the army commander retreats, and the army commander is killed! If the commander does not retreat and the soldiers retreat, they will be slaughtered. Shi Chang retreats, kills Shi Chang! And so on, if the whole army retreats, I'm sorry general, I will use your head to sacrifice the sword in my hand! Did you hear it all? ”

The crowd was pale with horror, trembling and speechless, and Yang Ling roared again: "Did you hear that?" ”

Only then did the generals swallow their spittle, and they all arched their hands and said, "The last general obeys orders!" ”

Yang Ling's voice was raised, and he said sharply: "You have told the whole army the order of the slaughter of your own officials!" Tell all the soldiers that the Wokou are not a pack of tigers, but a pack of wild dogs! You are timid, he barks more fiercely than a wolf with his teeth and claws, you beat it up, and the next time you don't wait for you to pick up a brick, it will run away with its tail between its legs! ”

Min Wenjian slammed the big knife and roared: "Lao Tzu is also fed up with the anger of these cowardly generals, whether he is an official or a soldier, he touches his crotch, if he doesn't miss that pout, he will fucking straighten up and be a man, and follow the commander to fight wild dogs!" ”

Luo Yi Luo Dusi and the Japanese were defeated and retreated in several battles, because the governor's palace was located in Suzhou, in order to strengthen the protective force to transfer his troops, this humiliating words listened to his ears, as if they were specially said to him, a sentence like a needle pierced the heartache, he immediately shouted: "Yes, today will be the end of the half step back, the sky thunders, death has no place to bury!" ”

The blood surnames of all the generals were aroused, and they were all gearing up.

Yang Ling swept his eyes coldly, and shouted in a deep voice: "Open up!" ”

(To be continued)