The Huai army launched a retaliatory counterattack for several days, perhaps out of fear of the new weapons of the imperial army, this time the Huai army did not move to forcibly attack the city, but placed the catapult at a distance of three or four hundred steps outside the city wall, and completed the blow to the city wall of Xuzhou City with the best catapult.

Strong crossbows, flying stones, and rockets are the main themes of the Huai army's siege warfare in the past few days.

Every soldier of the defenders spent the past few days in fear, knowing that if he stayed on the city wall, he would be hit by flying stones at any time, but he had to hide behind the battlements to pray to the gods and worship the Buddha, and at the same time often look at the movements of the Huai army outside the city. For a few days, the Huai army only used long-range weapons to attack Xuzhou, and none of the soldiers moved, and the Huai army didn't know where Lu Dao found so many stones, as if they couldn't run out. When it came to the truce, the people in Xuzhou had to risk their lives to clean the stones on the city wall, and once some buildings inside the city wall were burned by rockets, the people had to help put out the fire.

For the defenders, these were the most difficult days since the start of the war, not only because they had to worry about their own safety, but also because of the unbearable hunger in their stomachs.

Food was scarce enough in the city to the point that they could only eat one meal a day, and this meal had to be accompanied by wild vegetables and leaves. The soldiers were exhausted from excessive exercise every day, but they could not eat enough, they could not even drink saliva when they were hungry, and some of them hid behind the battlements, not being hit by stones or arrows, and quietly closed their eyes and never woke up.

Hunger is one thing, cold is another.

It is already winter, and Xuzhou City is located in the north of the Yangtze River, unlike the south of the Yangtze River, where the winter comes a little later. On the nineteenth day of the winter month. There was a light snowfall. The sky was also gloomy for the next few days, and on the twenty-first day of the winter month, a sudden heavy snow made the defenders of the entire Xuzhou city miserable. Many of the defenders did not have winter clothing, and they ran up and down the city walls during the day in single clothes, and at night several people huddled together on a fire, and several fell asleep shivering under a blanket.

In order to keep warm, the defenders gathered as much as possible to rest. The popularity is not so cold, but the soldiers are not allowed to do so, after all, the Huai army besieging the city will come to the defenders in the Yin City with flying stones at any time, once it is too huddled, a stone will bury the lives of several days. When it was cold, there were no clothes, and they were not even allowed to get together to warm up, and the soldiers complained.

What made the soldiers complain even more was actually those damn Huai soldiers, every day when it was time to eat, the Huai army would make fires outside the city walls around Xuzhou to make food, as if to make it for the defenders in the city. Not only is there hot rice, but also live pigs and chickens are slaughtered and roasted on the spot. Although they were far away, they could still hear their laughter, which was full of a sense of pride and superiority, and they also deliberately laughed to the defenders, who shivered coldly and touched their empty stomachs, and the sorrow in their hearts was unspoken.

Many veterans would sit down and chew on a straw, saying that they would not feel too hungry in this way, and the young ones had learned, and later the defenders all lived with straw in their mouths, and the defenders who died in previous siege battles, their comrades would habitually pull out the straw in their mouths and put it in their mouths. In such a difficult situation, the soldiers can only commemorate the deceased in this way.

The worries of Xuzhou Taishou Min Shaoqing and Thorn Shi Ma Feng also increased day by day, and as the weather turned cooler, food decreased and soldiers' casualties increased, deserters began to appear in the city. At first, a small number of people descended from the city walls, but then gradually they became organized, and there may be a group of fewer people from the city walls. Min Shaoqing also arranged patrols many times to curb this trend of surrendering to the enemy, but the effect was very small, and now the siege battle is very tense every day, and the patrols are also hungry, and the eyes of those who are eating and drinking are also shining. Later, they could only monitor each other with the supervision of the city defense teams, and there were deserters every day, but many soldiers were originally Xuzhou natives, and they stayed on the city wall even if they died for the sake of their families.

This is not only a fight for the court and the government, but also a fight for their families. This is a belief of the defenders.

But later, the belief of the defenders was not so strong. Mainly because the Huai army launched a propaganda and public opinion war, they openly shouted under the city wall, as long as the defenders opened the city and surrendered, their emperor would not only not slaughter the city and create evil, but also help the people in the city, and would treat the defenders in the city well. In order to prove their words, the Huai army also invited those deserters in the city as a demonstration to eat rice and nibble on roast chicken and pig with them.

Looking at the troubled brothers who were still living a hard life with them a few days ago, and now sitting in the enemy's camp and living a good life, the defending soldiers will still subconsciously touch their stomachs, chew the straw in their mouths, and look at the eyes of the people around them, they also have a longing, longing for food, clothing, and food, and longing for a peaceful day.

Min Shaoqing was the most helpless about this, he could obviously see that these sergeants were eager to treat the other side well, but he couldn't help it, who said that everything in the city was lacking now, and he couldn't provide the basic items that the sergeants needed.

"It's time to mention it to the emperor."

Min Shaoqing took advantage of his private time to say to Ma Feng that in the past few days, because of the fierce revenge of the Huai army, they have rarely had time to sit down and say a word.

"Do you think the emperor can listen to it?" Ma Feng had a helpless look in his eyes, now that the emperor is nesting in the palace, the gate is not out of the second door, he is simply the eldest daughter in the boudoir, saying that the Son of Heaven will boost morale, and he has not seen any effect.

"If you don't try it, how can you know the way."

Min Shaoqing wrote a recital overnight, as a courtier, this is the first time he has written a recital so seriously, listing the suffering in the city in detail, and also hopes that the new emperor can see the current situation of Xuzhou City, at least come out to show up, so that the morale of the sergeants will be inspired. The rest, he didn't dare to think of, and he couldn't think of it. Even if it saves the rations of the new emperor, it will not solve the problem.

Write a good song, Min Shaoqing got up early in the morning and went to the palace, this day is the twenty-fourth of the winter month, it is almost to the wax moon, a few days ago the heavy snow is still accumulated, has not melted. Walking on the road, Min Shaoqing couldn't help but tighten his clothes, and when he came out in heavy clothes, it was hard to imagine how those sergeants survived the cold of the past few days.

"Reinforcements, if only reinforcements could come." Min Shaoqing muttered, and when he arrived at the gate of the palace, he saw a figure, which was Qu Zhu, the commander of the Imperial Forest Army.

Hearing Min Shaoqing's intention, Qu Zhu sighed and said: "If Min Taishou has anything to say, it is better to say it to the emperor in person, as for what the script, the emperor will not read it." (To be continued......)