In the twenty-first section, Sun Yunlong said: "The last time the enemy raided, our side suffered a loss in the terrain. After the war, I chose such a place to guard the main road and confront Shuanghui City. Of course, you can't see the enemy city here, but when you get to the top of the mountain, you can see it. ”

The people went all the way to one of the hills. The gate on the hill had already been opened, and Sun Yunlong took the lead and led everyone in. It is also thanks to Sun Yunlong that he found such a place, the terrain of the three mountains is relatively wide, and hundreds of thousands of troops are distributed, waving flags, and the law is strict, and it does not seem crowded at all. The garrison of the guards battalion, they had already prepared, and when everyone entered the camp, a general had already stepped forward and led the guards battalion to set up camp around the station.

After arranging a qiē, Sun Yunlong said: "Lord Wu, follow me to the arrow tower to have a look." ”

Although this cottage is built on the top of the mountain, it has all kinds of protective measures such as gates, fences, and deer repellent. At the gate, there are also two tall arrow towers. Wu Ming followed Sun Yunlong and climbed up. When he stood up, Sun Yunlong pointed to the distance and said, "Lord Wu, please look, that is Shuanghui City." ”

Although it was winter, the sun was still a little strong today, and following the direction he pointed, Wu Ming put his hand on the pergola and looked over. I saw that at the end of the mountain road, the outline of a city was faintly visible. Sandwiched between the junction of two mountains, this silhouette is not so much a city as a Xiongguan, Wu Ming was a little surprised: "Sun Dudu, is that Shuanghui City?" ”

Sun Yunlong said: "Exactly." Wu Ming frowned: "The road to the west, is there only such a road?" "There is no need for Sun Yunlong to say more, just looking at the terrain, you know that Shuanghui City is not easy to fight. Sun Yunlong naturally understood what Wu Ming meant, and replied: "This road is the only way to go west. To the south is the vast mountains, close to the Jiyu Forest, infested with many strange beasts. And to the north, it is also a lofty mountain. To the west from the Tsushima grassland, there is another avenue leading to Shuanghui by detouring to Qingting. However, Qingting is still in the hands of the other party, so if you want to go west, you can only break through from here. ”

Wu Ming suddenly said: "Sun Dudu, since the enemy's city pass is so steep, a strong attack is naturally not the right solution. Why don't we find a way to divide our forces in the two mountains to attack them, so that we may occupy the advantage of high ground. ”

Sun Yunlong said: "This kind of idea is naturally good, and I also thought about whether it is feasible before. Shuanghui City was built at the mouth of two mountains, and when defending the city, there were two mountains as a supplement to assist in defense. If you want to go down to the city, it will be a little more difficult. If these two mountains can be captured first, it will naturally be of great advantage to the besieging party. It's just that I also sent someone to investigate, and I knew that the top of these two mountains was very steep, not to mention, the defenders built a large number of fortifications on the top of the mountain, and Shuanghui City also built a special auxiliary road, which was convenient for reinforcing the two mountains at any time. If you force an attack, the cost will probably be greater than a frontal attack. ”

Hearing him say this, Wu Ming looked at it carefully. It's almost winter, and some of the trees on the mountain have lost most of their leaves. The fortifications on the hill were exposed. And a fire some time ago seems to have spread to the mountain. Most of the trees on the mountain are charred. Some stone fortifications are exposed. Although it is not very conspicuous, if you look closely, you can still see some clues. There are obvious traces of artificial construction on the top of the mountain. It seems that what Sun Yunlong said is true, if our side chooses to attack the mountain first, then the other party can use the guò auxiliary road to reinforce it. With the steepness of the two mountains, the price to pay may be even greater. The defenders built fortifications on the top of the hill in advance, and it seems that they also thought of this, and they really planned for a rainy day and planned it far-sightedly. With these two hills to assist in the defense, the difficulty of attacking the city increases exponentially. If you want to capture the two mountains, the opponent will occupy a more advantageous position, and the defender of the city is more convenient for reinforcements, compared with only attacking the Shuanghui city wall, you really can't see any advantage.

Hearing Sun Yunlong say this, Wu Ming was silent and had nothing to say.

Seeing that Wu Ming was still pondering, Sun Yunlong sighed and continued: "When I arrived here, I also wanted to send strange soldiers to travel far away and bypass the two mountains to see if I could approach this city from other places. But when the scouts returned, I gave up on those ideas. If you want to be a miracle soldier, you must have at least tens of thousands of scales, otherwise it will be difficult to be of great use. And there are mountains on both sides of the north and south, and if you want to get around, how easy is it for tens of thousands of troops? And the mountain is high and steep, Liao Gang is also very popular among the people of the southern version, the hunters in the mountains, the scouts of the other party will definitely find the traces of our army, it is really difficult to hide people's eyes. When the time comes, they will occupy a favorable position and ambush and attack again, and I am afraid that our army will suffer even more damage. ”

In this westward expedition, the Lower Route Army almost fell into the ocean of the other party's people's war. It seems that Sun Yunlong still has palpitations now. Wu Ming withdrew his gaze from the distant mountain and said, "In this way, is there only one way to attack head-on?" ”

Sun Yunlong nodded and said, "At this time, I am already poor in donkey skills. Lord Wu is known for his resourcefulness, and I don't know if he can have a clever plan, or he can turn the tide and fall immediately, I listen to it. ”

His words were earnest, and Wu Ming was even more difficult to perfunctory, and after thinking about it for a long time, he was still helpless. He just said: "If we attack head-on, with the danger of this city, our casualties will definitely be very large." Even if it can really be captured, I'm afraid it will be a miserable victory, and the gains really outweigh the losses. ”

Sun Yunlong said: "Exactly, there is no plan for a surprise attack, and a strong attack cannot be achieved, and now it is a dilemma." It's all my fault for being too careless, if the 1,000 thunderbolts allocated by the imperial court to the next road were still there, they would not be as embarrassed as they are now. Alas. ”

Shuanghui City is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the prime minister knows this terrain in advance. That's why more than 1,000 Thunderbolts were delivered to the lower road, but all of them were ignited by a fire and exploded into powder. Wu Ming said again: "There are many forests here, if you want to make a thunderbolt, can the craftsmen with the army rush to make it?" ”

Sun Yunlong shook his head and said: "The structure of the thunderbolt is too complicated, and the craftsmen accompanying the army can only maintain it, and it is also wishful thinking to really ask them to rush to make it." ”

Wu Ming vaguely remembers that the thunderbolt in history was not so complicated. He thought for a while and said, "Isn't it okay to remove the bracket part and use all manual operations?" ”

"That's not going to work, the Thunderbolt's range can be extended. Now we can't be condescending. If you pull it by manpower, you can't hit the top of the hill and the city wall at all. Besides, it's too late to catch up with the system. ”

Wu Ming raised his head and looked blankly at the opposite hill. Sun Yunlong was also speechless for a while, and the two looked at each other speechlessly. After this answer, Wu Ming also had a general understanding of the current situation. Listening to Sun Yunlong say this, this Shuanghui city is like an iron bucket, which is really unimaginable. In addition, this is a mountainous area, even if the city is sieged, the cavalry team of the Guards battalion will not be of much use. He couldn't help but sigh and said, "Sun Dudu, this Shuanghui City is really invulnerable, it seems that there is only a long battle." ”

Sun Yunlong also sighed: "Lord Wu, looking at the current situation of Shuanghui City, I'm afraid they have already prepared for this war, and the other party is waiting for work, and there must be a lot of grain reserves." And our long-distance attack, hundreds of thousands of troops, people eat horses and chew, it is not a small number, drag it to the end, it is always us who suffers. ”

At this, a layer of worry crept up on his face. He looked at Wu Ming with a different face: "And the war in the three northwestern provinces is urgent, yesterday I received an urgent letter from Governor He, saying that the Northern Han army is too strong, he Chen soldiers control the water, and defend the city to meet it, and after more than two months of hard fighting, after all, he is outnumbered." The water control was broken, and Governor He led his troops to break through the siege, and is currently gathering the old department and retreating to Shazhou Shacheng. ”

He is Governor He's brother-in-law, so he is in such a hurry. However, if the three northwestern provinces are lost, the Northern Han Dynasty will definitely make a move on the battlefield in China and the West, and when the time comes, it will join forces with the Liao clan in China and the West, and the imperial court will be finished even if it has the ability to reach the sky. It seems that the protracted war will not work, and the court cannot afford to wait.

Wu Ming lowered his head and continued to ponder. Now the imperial court is facing the central and western regions, and the Northern Han is facing the northwest. Both are in a race against time, and whoever wins the battle in these two regions first will have the first opportunity, and even decide the outcome is possible. But Shuanghui is so steep, if it is attacked, it remains to be said whether it can capture this city, but it will definitely suffer heavy casualties. If the consumption is too great in the battlefields of China and the West, even if the road to the west is opened, there will not be enough strength to deal with the Northern Han and aid the West and China.

The two stood on the arrow tower and discussed for a long time but there was still no result. On the contrary, most of Wu Mingchu's sharp spirit was damaged. The prime minister sent him, I am afraid that he also had high hopes, but in the face of the fortified city of Shuanghui, he also had a feeling that he had nowhere to start. In the end, the two still didn't discuss the reason, so they had to go down the arrow tower in a daze. Before leaving, Sun Yunlong told him to think about it again, and what was the best way to mention it to him. But at this point, what can be done by imagination?

As soon as he got off the arrow tower, he saw Yang Yi and Ge Yi standing below, and a large group of guards battalion commanders surrounded the two of them, their faces were a little sad. Wu Ming sank and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Yang Yi and Ge Yi glanced at each other, and finally Ge Yi stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "My lord, Brother Tian is gone." ”

"Brother Tian is gone?" Wu Ming was a little puzzled, but immediately reacted and shouted, "What did you say?" ”

Ge Yi's eyes turned red, and he still said in a deep voice: "That's right, Lord Tian of the White Tiger Team has been martyred for the country. ”

Like a giant hammer hitting his chest, Wu Ming's body couldn't help but shake a few times. He took a few steps forward, grabbed Ge Yi and said, "What's going on, tell me." ”

Ge Yi opened his mouth, and was about to say something, when Sun Yunlong had already stepped forward and explained, "Lord Wu, it is said that this matter should have been reported to you as soon as possible. But when the Tian team was dying, you were commanding the cavalry in the Tsushima steppe and fighting the Liao brothers. I was afraid that it would affect your feelings, so I kept it a secret. Wu Ming wiped his eyes, turned his head and asked, "Sun Dudu, how did Brother Tian die?" ”

Sun Yunlong hesitated a little, thought for a while, and said: "This way to the west, the other party is frequently harassed, and we can't prevent it. In particular, the grain and grass in the rear are always robbed. In the end, Lu Yu, the deputy commander of the spirit beast soldiers, stepped forward to ask for an order to apply for the responsibility of guarding the grain and grass. I thought about it, if the grain supply is not quiet, the supply of the whole army will be a problem, and in the long run, it will definitely affect the morale of the army. Although the number of spirit beast soldiers is small, they are all elite, so they are approved. ”

Speaking of this, he sighed and said, "Lord Tian is currently on secondment and is in the spirit beast soldier team. This mission is naturally unshirkable. In a battle to protect grain and grass, he encountered a sneak attack by the other party, and he became a hero. ”