"Work harder, there are still six or seven miles ahead to reach the border of Changlu Mansion."

In the faltering crowd, Zeng Laohan comforted his little son, who had blisters on his feet and was distressed when he took a step, while struggling to drive the mule pulling the wooden cart. On the not-so-large wooden cart, all the valuable belongings of the Zeng family were pulled: grain, jerky, pots and pans, clothes and bedding, and an axe for self-defense.

For this old mule, this hundreds of pounds of things, together with the weight of the wooden cart, is really a bit difficult. Zeng Laohan was really a little worried, if he continued like this, his mule would die sooner or later. Fortunately, the front is finally about to leave Changlu Mansion.

Once you enter Matsue, you should be safe for the time being, right?

They were a family of seven, and they didn't plan to leave from Nanfeng Mansion, they just felt that they were poor and had nothing to care about. But as the Omanis captured Nanfeng Province and began to forcibly requisition people everywhere to help transport grain, fill the moat, and demolish the Nanfeng fortress, I heard that the mortality rate was extremely high, and Zeng Laohan's family was a little afraid. Before the Omanis could take care of his small village, he quickly cleaned up and mixed in the crowd heading north towards Changlu Mansion.

Along the way, people are saying that the main purpose of the Omanis is in Tien Nam County. As long as you can escape from Tiannan and enter Songjiang, you will be safe for the time being.

Matsue, that's a great place!

Referring to the destination that was not far ahead, Zeng Laohan remembered the small caravan that had come to their village. In the description of the other party, Matsue is like a heavenly being. Not only are there no military disasters, horse bandits, but even ordinary people can ensure that the family does not go hungry with a little effort, although this goal is to provide the lowest level of food and clothing, it is really not high, but for Zeng Laohan, it is the only pursuit at the moment.

Because of the Omanis, although the relatively chaotic Tiannan County is much stronger than Wuwei in the northwest, it can only reach the situation of Songjiang when the year is good. Once the harvest is a little worse, or Tiannan County has to raise taxes, the family will inevitably have to add rice bran to the grain.

What is the rich world like in Songjiang?

Zeng Laohan, who had never been out of the house since he was a child, couldn't help but fantasize at this moment. I didn't notice it when I was in a daze, and the crowd that was slowly moving towards it suddenly stopped. Zeng Laohan walked more than a dozen steps in a trance, and almost missed the ox cart in front of him. Startled, he quickly stopped the car and apologized repeatedly. Finally, the person in front of him has a good temper, and it is not difficult for him to come all the way, otherwise it will be another trouble.

"What's going on?"

"Why didn't the one in front suddenly leave?"

This group of nearly 1,000 people realized that something might have gone wrong, and they couldn't help but talk about it. Seeing that they were about to leave Tiannan County, they suddenly stopped at the last stretch of the road, which couldn't help but raise some uneasiness in their hearts.

Could it be, something happened?

Looking at the crowd of people in the front of the riot, Zeng Laohan faintly had an ominous thought.

Sure enough, as the news soon came from the front, the entire fleeing crowd was in an uproar. The Taiping Army, oh no, is now the new governor of Songjiang and the envoy of Tiannan, and issued an order not to allow the people of Tiannan County to enter Songjiang at will, it is said that it is suspected that there are Omani spies inside. If you have to go north, you can also pay a high tax per capitation!

After listening to the number that was enough to make ordinary people's heads bigger, Zeng Laohan let out a wail in his heart.

Pay per capitation, they're a family of seven!

Even if the family is bankrupt, Zeng Laohan's family can't make up so much money. Not only them, but in the entire wave of refugee teams, there are only a dozen rich people who can barely take it out, and the other Tiannan people almost can't make it up, or they are reluctant at all. At this moment, I don't know how many people secretly scolded dog officials and corrupt officials in their hearts.

It's not that no one wants to break in, but the dozen or so corpses on the side of the road in front of them, which don't look too old, and the heavily armed soldiers who set up the card, frightened all those with bad intentions.

"Why don't we take a detour to the east and enter Songjiang from Jiaode County instead?"

There were small businessmen who were familiar with the terrain of Tiannan County and proposed their own construction, but then they were vetoed by several refugees who arrived earlier than them: "It's useless, which side is also blocked." In our refugee camp, there are people running from Jiaode, and they are the same on both sides! ”

This answer made the refugees who fled here for hundreds of miles at a loss.

It is obviously not possible to go back the way you came, to re-send yourself to the knife of the Omanis. But the road to Songjiang County in the north was blocked again.

What to do?

For the refugees who have dragged their families here, it is exhausting to get here, and it is difficult to go far. In desperation, most of the displaced people, together with Zeng Laohan, could only choose to stay in the nearby refugee camp set aside by the Taiping Army for the time being. After all, the officers who blocked the road preached that the fighting in Tiannan County would not last long, and the Omanis would be beaten back sooner or later, and they would not be able to threaten this side.

Is this really the case?

Although many refugees will be skeptical and want to see this happen, they seem to have no other choice.

Let's take a break here.

After all, it's only September, and it's still very hot weather for the border area between Songjiang and Tiannan. Even if you don't have a tent, you don't have to worry about the cold when you sleep outside in the open air. There is a water source nearby, and the old man brought some of the food himself, and if it is not enough, he can go to the Taiping Army to buy it. If you don't have money, but you know some skills, you can also help the Taiping Army do work to earn some money, and basically you won't go hungry.

So, Zeng Laohan's family temporarily settled on the outskirts of the refugee camp.

There are many refugees like them, and there are many in the whole Tiannan. In order to manage them, the Taiping Army had to transfer two hundred-strong brigades of recruits, plus more than a dozen military doctors, to specialize in management and epidemic prevention. However, compared to allowing these people to pour into Songjiang casually, or even fleeing into the hinterland of the empire through Guò Daqingguan, the current price is worth it.

After all, it is easy to let people go, and when they take root in other places, if they want to relocate the population to the Tiannan Army, the price they pay may be ten times greater!

………

At the same time that Zeng Laohan's family was living in the refugee camp, in Puyuan County, less than ten miles to the north, the Taiping Army once again welcomed 1,000 recruits.

Out of concern for the Tianlong battlefield, the Taiping army has secretly mobilized the army here, and is ready to cross the border and enter Tiannan County at any time. A large amount of grain and military supplies have also been basically put in place. At this moment, in addition to stepping up training every day, these armies were waiting for Chen Wu's order to send troops.

As far as the location of Tianlong City is concerned, the distance between sending troops directly south from the Closed City Mansion is relatively closer, and it can even be less than a full three days. But the reason why Chen Wu didn't choose to hoard the army in the southeast of the Closed City Mansion, but put it on the pond, was to surprise with one word!

For the direction of the lockdown due north, the Omanis must have maintained sufficient vigilance and attention. Chen Wu's secret agent in the military intelligence department over there also confirmed this result. But on the side of Chishang Mansion, the investigation of the black-clothed guards is much smaller. Coupled with the Taiping army's feints and camouflage in the Blockade Mansion, as well as the tight blockade of the border, it is now difficult for the black-clothed guards to determine the location of the main force of the Taiping army.

Of course, in addition to these reasons, the most important thing is the confidence of the Omanis in their own strength.

Even Leji's Tiannan Army was beaten by the Omanis and retreated to Tianlong City, not daring to come out. A gang of thieves, whose weapons and equipment are still supported by the Omanis, and there are only so many more than 10,000 people killed, what kind of storm can be set off?

Many intelligence officers of the "North Wind" group of the black-clothed guards believed that the Taiping Army did not dare to go south at all. They believed that even if Zhao'an wanted to give an account to the empire, at most he would send a small force casually. If you take 10,000 steps back, even if more than 10,000 thieves really pour south, Oman's 190,000 army will not care.

This kind of contempt is the biggest reliance on Chen Wu's daring to act!

The imperial officials and soldiers of Taiping County and Songjiang County have all suffered this loss, so the current imperial officials no longer dare to despise the Taiping Army. But the Omanis have not dealt with them yet, and it is not surprising that they, who already look down on the emperor, have such an attitude towards a group of thieves. So, now it's the turn of the Omanis to pay for their contempt.

September 13th!

After the continuous attacks of the Omanis, the tunnel was finally secretly dug under Tianlong City.

However, Leji had already ordered someone to place an upside-down wine urn under the city wall, and the amplified sound of excavation could be easily heard. The soldiers of the Tiannan Army, who had been prepared for a long time, chose to blow a large amount of poisonous smoke into it, and smoked to death hundreds of Omani soldiers who infiltrated along the tunnel. Soon after, the water from the moat seeped into the soil and poured into the tunnels, completely dismissing the idea of the Omanis entering the city through tunnels.

Seeing that this trick was not good, the Omanis could only choose to continue the attack.

The moat outside the moat had been piled up to Cheng dù, which was level with the city wall and even slightly higher. Thousands of Omani archers, who had been preparing for a long time, took turns climbing the dirt hill and began to attack the soldiers on the city walls. The Tiannan Army's original advantage in defending the city was greatly weakened in front of these foot archers, and the death toll began to increase rapidly.

September 15th!

With the addition of the second batch of 10 counterweight trebuchets, the siege firepower of the Omanis was greatly enhanced. After the continuous attack, the huge stones smashed the walls of Tianlong City into potholes, and even a few sections were shocked out of the cracks the thickness of fingers.

Due to the suitable large rocks that can be found nearby, they have been basically thrown out by the Omani army. In order to maintain the offensive, they had to levy manpower to quarry and transport stones from a hill more than a dozen miles away.

September 21st!

After paying a heavy price, the Omani army smashed down a section of the city wall of Tianlong City for the first time. Although it is only a small part of the top, it still boosts the morale of the Omani army.

The news was transmitted back to Chishang Mansion, and Chen Wu realized that the time for the Taiping Army to secretly enter was not far away!