-- November 23, 23rd year of Hongwu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Chang'an-

On the east tower of Chang'an City, which is more than ten zhang high, the rebel generals Qin Wei and Kang Cheng climbed high and looked at the camp of the Zhou army in the west, the city of ice and snow that shimmered under the winter sun. (, Novels are faster and better)

"Is there any movement of the Zhou army outside the city?"

With a question, Wang Bao, the leader of the rebels, walked over in a big way.

This person seems to be in his thirties and forties, with a bloated body and a big belly, and he has obviously been pampered all these years.

Looking at Wang Bao's black silk python suit, there were many rebel generals such as Ma Dan and Wu Xing on the city wall, and they all frowned.

You must know that the Great Zhou Dynasty established the country with water virtue, and the legendary black-scaled water dragon that can travel clouds and rain is the symbol of the royal family of the Great Zhou, how can ordinary people wear it?

However, when I thought that this Wang Bao had trumpeted for the self-proclaimed king of Xiliang half a year ago, the generals were not surprised.

"The last general will wait to see the King of Xiliang!"

Led by Qin Wei and Kang, the rebel generals on the city wall bowed to the ground.

"Hmm!" Wang Bao nodded with satisfaction, walked to the city wall with his hands behind his back, looked at the ice and snow city twenty miles away that amazed the rebels in the city, and shook his head for a long time, "I really can't imagine that this king has ordered people to cut down the mountains and forests near Chang'an, but the Zhou army can still build a camp......

Perhaps seeing the uneasiness in Wang Bao's heart, Qin Wei clenched his fists and said, "King Xiliang can rest assured, even if the Zhou army is opportunistic and uses ice and snow to build a camp, it will be safe for a while, but my Chang'an is still as stable as Mount Tai!" ”

"Really?" Wang Bao's tone can be seen that he is not very confident.

Seeing this, Qin Wei smiled confidently, clenched his fists and said, "King Xiliang, look, our army has cut down the mountains and forests near Chang'an before, and the Zhou army doesn't have enough wood, how to build siege equipment?" As long as we are cautious and cautious, we will guard against the repetition of the Zhou army's old tricks, and take my Chang'an by attacking Tongguan, and wait until next spring when the flowers bloom and the ice and snow melt, and the ice city he built will naturally collapse, and the grain and grass will be exhausted, and the Zhou army will inevitably retreat. ”

"Hmm......" Wang Bao nodded slightly when he heard this, and was about to speak, when his eyes suddenly lit up, he looked into the distance and frowned, and said, "Zhou Jun...... Can't you really get enough wood? ”

"Huh?" Qin Wei was stunned, followed Wang Bao's line of sight and looked into the distance outside the city, and then his complexion changed greatly, only to see that in a corner of the distant Zhou Army Ice City, a large amount of wood had accumulated at some point, piled up like a mountain.

"It can't be!" Kang Cheng said in a lost voice, "Even if it is the nearest mountain forest, it is more than ten miles away from the Zhou army's ice city, how can the Zhou army transport the timber from this place to the camp so easily?" As he spoke, his face suddenly changed slightly, and he squinted his eyes in the direction of Zhou Jun's ice city, because he found that more than a dozen soldiers were transporting dozens of logs, slowly gliding in the snow......

At the same time, just when the rebels in Chang'an City were shocked by what they had seen and heard, Su Xin and Tang Hao accompanied Xie An and Li Shou to stand near the east gate of the ice city, looking at the strange-looking carriage in the distance with a smile, watching it get closer and closer......

Unlike the rest of the carriages in the world, this carriage had no wheels, and was more like another means of transportation, a tool used in the snow, a sleigh.

Looking at the sleigh with dozens of pieces of wood, Tang Hao couldn't help but smile and said, "The last general is more and more impressed with adults...... For the first time, the last general saw that a carriage could travel without wheels......"

"It's a sleigh!" Su Xin corrected on the side.

Tang Hao nodded again and again, and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, yes, sleigh car!" -- This strange thing is more than ten miles away in a blink of an eye, so it seems that the soldiers who cut trees in the courtyard are more difficult......"

"Huh!" Xie An smiled slightly, and watched with a smile as the sled car slowly stopped in a corner after driving into the ice city, and then, more than a dozen soldiers sitting on dozens of logs jumped down and greeted their companions who had been waiting here for a long time.

Under the gaze of Xie An, Li Shou, Su Xin, Tang Hao and others, hundreds of Zhou sergeants rolled up their sleeves, unloaded the wood on the sleigh, and piled it up in a corner of the ice city.

After unloading the timber, the dozen or so soldiers stood back on the sleigh cart, and drove the dozen or so war horses pulling the cart to turn around and go in the direction of the distant woods again.

"Huh?" As if noticing something, Li Shou frowned slightly, pointed to the hooves of the more than ten war horses, and asked, "Xie An, are those horses tied to the hooves of hay?" ”

"Yes!" Xie An nodded.

"Why do you have hay tied?"

"Increase friction so that the horses don't slip in the snow during transportation......"

"......" glanced at Xie An, Li Shou nodded as if he didn't understand, and looked up at Li Jing in the distance.

I saw Li Jingzheng standing in an open field, commanding the nearby Zhou soldiers.

"Sharpen your hands and feet, and cut off all the branches of these woods! The lord commanded, and the logs were dragged to the west of the city, and the branches were piled up in the middle of the city......"

As he was talking, another sleigh truck loaded with full wood slowly drove in near the east gate, seeing this, Li Jing hurriedly beckoned, "Hurry up, drag these branches away, you guys, move your position...... You wait to unload the wood! ”

With Li Jing's shouts and shouts, the hundreds of Zhou soldiers nearby were busy.

Some soldiers were responsible for moving and unloading timber; Some soldiers were responsible for removing the branches from the wood and polishing them into logs; Some soldiers were responsible for dragging these logs to the west of the city, and asked the soldiers in the place to use them to build siege equipment such as wells and chariots; Some soldiers were responsible for transporting the polished branches and leaves, as well as the leftovers sawed from the construction of siege equipment, to various parts of the ice city to be used as materials for burning wood and fires.

It seems that the entire ice city is a huge assembly line factory, where raw materials are transported and finished products are produced there, which is quite orderly.

After staying in the east of the city for a while, Xie An turned his head to Li Shou beside him and said, "Let's go to the west of the city and have a look!" -- I don't know how the siege equipment was prepared! ”

"Hmm!" Li Shou nodded.

In this way, the group came to the east of the city again, and at this time, Liu Yi, Qi Hao, Wu Peng, Fei Guo and others were also busy in the west of the city, cutting the logs hauled by the soldiers into the appropriate size and size with axes, and used to build siege equipment such as wells and chariots.

Perhaps noticing that Xie An, Li Shou and others came over, the generals put down their homework and surrounded them.

Glancing around, Xie An asked, "How's the land being made?" ”

Liu Yi hugged his fists and said, "Lord Qiyu, due to lack of time, there is not yet a shaft that has been completed, but more than 20 vehicles have been built, and if you calculate, it is almost enough......"

Xie An frowned when he heard this, and asked, "Why is the progress of the operation of the well diaphragm so slow?" ”

"Your Excellency forgot?" Qi Hao hugged his fists and said with a wry smile, "Your Excellency ordered us to increase the size of the well diaphragm, and the regulations should be as high as the Chang'an city wall, and the internal structure of the well diaphragm has also been ordered by the adults one by one, telling us to build it according to the drawings, which is why ......."

"Oh, yes, yes, yes!" Xie An nodded suddenly in realization.

Li Shou was stunned when he heard this, and asked in surprise, "Drawings? ”

Seeing this, Wu Peng took the drawings and handed them to Li Shou.

Li Shou took the drawing, looked at it roughly, and said with a stunned face, "This is Jing Yan?" How does this king feel...... Not quite right, what is this? ”

Xie An glanced at it and explained, "This is a plank!" ”

"......" Li Shou looked at Xie An silently, and after half a sound, he said angrily, "Of course this king knows that this is a wooden plank!" -- What the king asks is, what is this for? ”

"What are you yelling, you didn't ask clearly!" Pouting, Xie An walked over, pointed to the drawing in Li Shou's hand with his right hand, and explained, "You see, this well is a double channel, this one is for the crossbowmen, from here, here, you can get here, that is, the top of the well diaphragm, which is equivalent to a pillbox...... Bunkers understand, right? Battlements of arrows, got it? The crossbowmen stood in this position, which could be used to suppress the archers of the Chang'an city wall......"

"What about the other one?"

"The other one is for the soldiers who are besieging the city!" Licking his lips, Xie An pointed at the drawings and said, "You see, when the well is close to the city wall, the soldiers can use ropes to pull up this extremely thick wooden board and hang it on the city wall, as a passage connecting the city wall and the well wall, so that when attacking Chang'an, the soldiers of our army under the city can go directly to the Chang'an city wall through this passage...... When the soldiers are inside the well, they can not be threatened by the enemy's arrows, which is much more effective than being exposed to the enemy's nose and using a backward method such as a ladder to attack the city...... In short, another purpose of this well is a spiraling staircase, which allows our soldiers to go through this passage to the city wall, understand? ”

Li Shou nodded when he heard this, and said thoughtfully, "It's good, it's just ...... If the enemy is blocking this passage? Isn't that what you said with the eldest grandson military division, creating a situation of fighting more and less in a short period of time? ”

"What do you think!" Xie An rolled his eyes and said angrily, "Of course there won't be only one, otherwise what can it do?" Think about it, on the day of the siege, dozens or hundreds of wells hung on the Chang'an city wall at the same time, so that our soldiers continued to pour onto the city wall......"

"What should we do if the rebels attack with fire?"

"Isn't that easy? The night before the siege, pour some water on the outside of the well, and the cold wind blew down one night, and the outside of the well formed a thick block of ice, not to mention rockets, even if the rebels poured the whole pot of fire oil on it, I am afraid that it may not catch fire! ”

"That's ......," Li Shoushen nodded approvingly, and suddenly asked, "But what if the rebels try to overturn the well?" ”

Xie An glanced at Li Shou speechlessly, and said angrily, "Don't you see that this well is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom?" The chassis is full of forty or fifty zhang circumferentially, can it be pushed down? ”

"Forty or fifty?" Li Shou was speechless when he heard this, and said in disbelief, "Then it must not weigh tens of millions of catties?" Such a behemoth, do you plan to get it to Chang'an? -- This place is more than 20 miles away from Chang'an! ”

"No, no, no," Xie An waved his finger, pointed to the drawings and said, "You see, the wooden planks on the outer wall of these wells, including the wooden planks made of stairs inside, can be unloaded, in other words, we can transport these to Chang'an City in batches, and then assemble them in Chang'an, don't look at the big shelves of this well, but once the wooden planks loaded on it are removed, this empty shelf is only more than a thousand catties at best, don't forget, more than a thousand catties of wood, can't more than a dozen horses still be able to pull it?" ”

"You mean ......" Recalling the scene he had just seen in the west of the city, Li Shou nodded suddenly, and suddenly, he was stunned, looked at Xie An and said in surprise, "I really can't see it, you would still design this kind of siege equipment?" ”

Xie An smiled bitterly when he heard this, and said with a slight sigh, "Although I can also design it, it is not me who designed it, it is her...... I guess she may have already drawn the drawings when she was in Tongguan, and she may have ...... earlier."

Li Shou was stunned, and then his face showed a little relief, and said jokingly, "It turns out that the second lady of the Xie family who is still lying on the couch to recuperate......"

As soon as the words fell, the surrounding generals couldn't help but snicker in a low voice.

"......" glared at Li Shou angrily, Xie An took a deep breath, clapped his hands, and said to the generals, "Okay, okay, what are you doing standing still?" Keep doing and don't forget, there's not much time left for me to wait! - Get busy! ”

"No!" The generals hugged their fists and dispersed, and even Su Xin and Tang Hao continued to be busy with their affairs, leaving only Xie An and Li Shou.

"Eh," glancing at Fei Guo's back when he left, Li Shou bumped Xie An with his elbow, lowered his voice, and said quietly, "He...... Are you still planning to reuse him? ”

"What?"

"Listen to what Su Xin said, you called a few of them to the tent to drink last night, right?"

"That's right!"

Looking left and right, Li Shou lowered his voice and said, "That Fei Guo, but it's a member of the Taiping Army!" ”

"I know! - That's what I told you! ”

"You...... What do you want? The Taiping Army and my Great Zhou ......"

"Okay, Your Highness Shou, Uncle Shou, didn't you say that you pretended not to know anything for the time being?" Patting Li Shou on the shoulder, Xie An shrugged his shoulders and said meaningfully, "I don't know, when will I use his identity!" With that, he turned and walked deeper into the barracks

"......" Li Shou frowned and thought for a moment, only to find that Xie An had walked away, and shouted loudly, "Hey, Xie An, why are you going?" ”

Xie An, who was in the distance, didn't look back, just raised his right hand and shook it.

Seeing this, Li Shou shook his head with a smile, and said with a chuckle, "It's only been a few days, and this is like glue?" Hey! - Beware of a fire in the backyard! As he spoke, he glanced around, saw that the soldiers were busy, and smacked his lips.

"Right now...... What should this king do? Not...... It's time to go back to the tent and bake the fire! ”

Just when Li Shou returned to his residence with some frustration, Xie An had already come to the tent of the eldest grandson Xiangyu's military advisor, and it was Xie An's guard general, Liao Li, who was on duty outside the tent.

After nodding and saying hello to Liao Li, Xie An walked in, only to find the eldest grandson Xiangyu snuggling at the head of the bed, holding a book in his hand, reading it with a frown.

This little girl is really disobedient!

"Ahem!" Xie An coughed.

The eldest grandson Xiangyu noticed Xie An at this time, looked at him with some displeasure, and said in a coquettish voice, "The slave family has just been lying on the ground for a long time, sit up and read a book to relieve boredom...... Is it necessary to stare at people like this? ”

Xie An rolled his eyes, walked to the bed and sat down, stretched out his right hand, and hooked his finger towards the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

As if it was some kind of order, the eldest grandson Xiangyu pouted sullenly, and while putting the scroll in his hand in Xie An's hand, he said angrily, "Okay, here you go!" ”

"I'm good for you......" Glancing at the scroll a few times, and putting it aside, Xie An said with a smile, "Right now, the whole army is busy preparing the things needed for the siege, and when your condition improves, you can command more than 100,000 troops to attack Chang'an...... However, if your condition does not improve, then ......" said Xie An deliberately showed a look of regret on his face, sighed and shook his head.

"I know how to use this trick!" The eldest grandson, Xiangyu, glanced at Xie An angrily, and lay back on him angrily.

Seeing that she pouted and didn't say a word, Xie An also knew that this little girl was angry, thought about it, and said with a smile, "By the way, I talked to Li Shou about the well you designed......

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the little woman's ears on the bed tremble like rabbits.

"It's ...... How is it? ”

Xie An gave a thumbs up and said, "This kind of siege equipment, Li Shou is stupid!" ”

"That's nature!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu pursed her lips proudly, and suddenly, as if she realized something, her eyes trembled slightly, and she looked at Xie An with some anger.

Seeing that he succeeded in getting the eldest grandson Xiangyu to speak to him again, Xie Anxin was a little proud, stroked the hair of the little woman on the bed, and said with a chuckle, "Okay, okay, don't be angry, since I know you until now, I have only gained the upper hand for the first time, and the rest of the time, haven't you led me by the nose?" ”

"Nonsense!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu pursed his lips and said dissatisfiedly, "When you were in Jijing, the slave family did you so much of a favor during the examination, and afterwards it was just for you to buy a piece of clothing, but it hasn't been fulfilled yet!" ”

"Oh, auntie, please spare me!" Xie An gasped when he heard this, and said in a low voice, "More than 20,000 taels of silver to buy a piece of clothing, you are really willing to do it!" -- You have calculated how long it will take me to save 800 taels a month, even if I don't eat or drink? ”

Hearing this, the eldest grandson Xiangyu glanced at Xie An, and said angrily, "Then what about this time, I helped you and Li Shou so much, the original gift has to be honored, right?" ”

"It must be ......," Xie An nodded repeatedly.

"Ten pieces!"

"By all means...... What the? Xie An gasped, stared at the eldest grandson Xiangyu with wide eyes, and said with a look of disbelief, "Ten ...... Item? ”

"Why are you so surprised?" The eldest grandson Xiangyu glanced at Xie An and said lightly, "The slave family has calculated these days, and when you return to Beijing in triumph, Your Majesty deserves a heavy reward...... What a feat is this to conquer the rebels in Chang'an, how can Your Majesty be stingy? ”

"Not really, I just think ......"

"Reluctant?" The eldest grandson, Xiangyu, looked at Xie An strangely.

"How is that possible?!"

"Well, you can't go back this time...... By the way, if you are afraid that Sister Wu will not be happy to learn about this, you can secretly buy it for the slave family, hehe......"

“……”

"Why do you have this expression?"

"I think, let's take Chang'an first, and then let's discuss this matter, okay?"

"What's so difficult?" The eldest grandson, Xiangyu, smiled contemptuously, as if in her opinion, Chang'an was within reach.

In this way, until November 29, the eldest grandson Xiangyu recovered from his illness, and most of the wells in the army were completed.

It's not that Xie An doesn't want to build more wells, it's just that the rice and grain in the army are getting less and less, and there are only less than ten days left.

If you can't conquer Chang'an during this period, get the grain reserves in Chang'an, and come to the Zhou army, then I'm afraid it will be a catastrophe.

At three o'clock on November 29, the 160,000 Western Expeditionary Zhou troops slowly marched towards Chang'an, and at the same time, Liang Qiuwu led 5,000 soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion of the Eastern Army under his command, who had passed the Baling Tomb two hours ago, and was rushing towards Chang'an...... (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to register as a member to recommend this work, your support is my biggest motivation. )