On the battlefield, the sound of drums and horns came and went, and the various teams responsible for the siege advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, constantly launching offensives around the tall Fancheng.

Since the field forces in Fancheng had been exhausted, the battle line as the attacking side advanced directly to a position very close to the city, piled up earth as ridges, and erected several arrow towers to attack each other with the enemy army at the head of the city.

Although the heroes of Jingzhou did not have a high degree of obedience at the beginning of the war, and even wanted to withdraw and return when the previous division was unfavorable, when they really arrived at the front line, they still reflected the advantages of the head snake of the land, and put forward many practical and effective siege methods with the rich experience of fighting with the southerners.

Li Tai's well-armed elite troops were responsible for attacking the city itself, while the powerful troops of Zhu Hao were responsible for pushing the battle line forward.

These local soldiers in Jingzhou may not be very strong in combat, but they are hard-working and extremely efficient, and they can build a complete front with a trench and ridge structure in an hour.

Although the field combat ability of the southerners is not high, it is mainly because of the lack of mobility, and the attack power of the bow and crossbow itself and hand-to-hand combat are not inferior to those of the northerners, so the protection on the battlefield is also very important.

If it weren't for the fortifications that these Jingzhou soldiers quickly built, the attack on Fancheng would not have gone too smoothly. Siege soldiers can rely on these fortifications to recuperate and attack the city at shorter distances.

Seeing that the battle line was getting closer and closer, the defenders in the city were also very anxious, and there was no shortage of soldiers asking for battle, hoping to take advantage of the enemy's slack to recruit warriors to attack the city, force the enemy army to retreat and seize the line that was pushing closer and closer.

But Liu Fanggui ignored such a request, and since he saw that the hundreds of cavalry were slaughtered by the enemy outside the city, he completely gave up his plan to go out of the city to engage the enemy, and only wanted to hold on to the city.

Compared with the enemy army that was getting closer and closer, it was the personnel news from Xiangyang City that really made Liu Fanggui feel desperate.

He originally thought that the news that the enemy had been thrown into the city to Xiangyang would make King Yueyang pay more attention to the defense line of Fancheng and strengthen the personnel investment here, but he didn't expect that instead of making King Yueyang pay attention to this matter, he would reprimand him greatly. Although the scale of the river patrol army was strengthened, it led away many boats moored on the north bank of the Han River, and he was forced to break the cauldron and fight against the water.

Although Liu Fanggui was extremely angry in his heart, he didn't dare to reveal anything abnormal, the defenders in the city were already under great pressure, and his family members who stayed in Xiangyang had already been placed under house arrest by King Yueyang.

On the Fancheng battlefield at this time, Liu Fanggui was not the only one who was anxious, but Li Tai, as the commander of the attacking side and with more and more obvious advantages, was also haunted by worries at this time.

Li Tai quietly finished reading a letter, but his heart suddenly stirred like a river overturning, he really didn't expect that his father, who had always been in his dictation, would learn his whereabouts in such a way.

He was silent for a long time before calming down the thoughts surging in his mind a little, and then lowered his eyes to look at Cai Dabao, the messenger of Xiangyang, and said in a deep voice: "My father has a bad fate, wandering the rivers and lakes, and he is a son of man, but he should rush when he hears the news. But now that the two countries are at war, I dare not be foolish and filial, credulously believe the words of the enemy country, and disregard the life and death of the soldiers.

If this matter is true, Cai should be treated as a VIP courtesy, but it is difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood today, and it is necessary to be rude for the time being, please forgive Cai when joining the army. I need to send my cronies and family members across the river to verify before I can talk about the rest. At present, the square inch is chaotic, and it is not enough to talk about things. Please join the army and stay here for the time being, and my family will cross the river with your family."

In fact, long before crossing the river to meet, Cai Dabao was also a little apprehensive, after all, according to Li Renluo, their father and son had only been separated for a few years, and his son was only a weak-crowned young man, how could he become the general of the Western Dynasty in such a short period of time?

But when he saw Li Tai, he calmed down again. The first time he saw Li Renluo, he was looking at his outstanding demeanor and lofty spirit, so he was close to each other because of his demeanor, and now he sees Li Tai again, the eyebrows and eyes of father and son are somewhat similar, and Li Tai is probably because of his youthful ambition and domineering position, compared to his father.

Hearing Li Tai's cautious plan, Cai Dabao nodded and said, "It should be so, what does it mean to forgive. Although Governor Li Dadu is resting, he is also the master of all armies, and he can only be stable and steady

can live up to the monarch and the soldier."

Hearing that Cai Dabao was quite empathetic and did not mean to blackmail him with this, Li Tai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, he hoped that his father would return safely without fright and without twists and turns, but the other party chose to inform this matter at this moment of hostility and fighting, and it can be imagined that the purpose is not simple. So in addition to joy, my heart is also full of vigilance at this time.

He didn't ask his father in detail about his experience in Xiangyang, nor did he plan to discuss relevant matters with Cai Dabao right now, so he directly summoned Li Quji, and he led a few personal soldiers to the other side of the river to verify the authenticity with Cai Dabao's entourage, and then asked Cai Dabao to be arranged in the Xia Zheng garrison, and he himself went to the front line of the battle.

At this time, on the east side of Fancheng, a round of siege battles had just ended, and the soldiers dragged the damaged ladder back to rest for a while.

Li Tai summoned the generals of the front line and asked, "Can there be a big breakthrough in the siege today?" Even if you can't take the city, can you destroy a section of the city wall, or take the next gate?"

No matter what the other side wants to achieve by using his father's bargaining chip, there must be a condition of a truce between the two sides. But the current truce is not the best, the momentum is fierce and leads the people to the south, but the result is only to dry outside Fancheng, how can it achieve the effect of establishing prestige?

Therefore, he hopes that the two sides can make a breakthrough before the truce, and not let this war end up in a tiger.

As for whether strengthening the offensive will make the other party angry and then disadvantageous to his father, Li Tai thinks it should not.

First of all, the other party chose to inform him of this news at this moment, which itself carried a sense of courtship and peace, perhaps because his previous provocation happened to poke at the core contradiction within the enemy today, forcing Xiao Jing, the king of Yueyang, to dare not blindly take a tough stance on the outside world.

Secondly, Xiao Jing may not dare to harm his Lao Tzu, because he raised troops to ask the guilt, in the end, the real spearhead is still Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang, who led the troops to commit the crime before, if Xiao Jing dares to get him Lao Tzu, this is tantamount to taking the blame for Xiao Fan and directly welding it on himself, and it is definitely immortal between each other.

In the end, the value of his Lao Tzu in Xiao Jing's eyes is also determined by how much of a threat he can pose to Xiangyang. If he can't shake the situation in Xiangyang, then his Lao Tzu's significance to Xiao Jing will also be sharply reduced.

Although the generals didn't know what was going on, seeing Li Tai's expression so serious, they all nodded and said that they would fight bravely and make a breakthrough on this day.

Because of the need to brew a more fierce offensive, all the soldiers on the front line withdrew to the camp one after another, preparing to light a fire for cooking and a full meal to recuperate.

However, at this time, the scouts cruising along the Han River in the west rushed to report that a large fleet of naval vessels had appeared in the upper reaches of the Han River, which seemed to be rushing to the aid of Xiangfan.

Li Tai immediately frowned again after learning of this, this naval army must be the power of his upstream brothers as Du Youan said. He did not agree to Du You'an's plan to jointly capture Fancheng and take the opportunity to drive away Xiao Jing, so this naval army obviously did not come to cooperate with his military operations. As for whether he brought the ransom demanded by Li Tai, there is no way to confirm, I think there should be none, after all, he turned around and sold the Du family.

If it weren't for his Lao Tzu's matter, even if the enemy army was reinforced, Li Tai would have been able to deal with it calmly. But now there is another local army, which undoubtedly makes the battle situation in Fancheng more complicated, and there is little hope in the first place, and it may be even more difficult to capture Fancheng now.

Li Taishang groaned to himself, and tall ship masts had already appeared on the Hanshui River as far as his sight could see.

Looking at the fleet that gradually showed the whole picture, Li Tai sighed that Du You'an was really true to what he said, this fleet alone didn't look easy to mess with, and the Jingzhao Du clan really had a good strength on the front line of the Han River, and looked back at the head of Fancheng City, but found that the defenders did not raise their arms and shout because of the arrival of reinforcements.

His heart moved, and he raised his hand and ordered, "Mingjin collects the troops, and the soldiers of the army return to the camp quickly!"

Only the elite soldiers who had withdrawn before were the main attackers, and there were still many powerful troops active in repairing the fortifications on the battlefield outside the city, and when they heard the sound of gold, these teams also withdrew from the front line and returned to the rear camp.

At the head of Fancheng City, Liu Fanggui looked at the enemy army outside the city

The next time he returned to the camp, he left a devastated plain, but there was no joy on his face. When it turns to the west of the river, it is so angry that it is almost impossible to hold it.

Finally, he walked along the city to the vicinity of the water gate, and saw that the Xiangyang River Patrol Army and the Du fleet downstream from the west were about to converge, and their respective flags announced that the Fancheng Water Gate would be opened to supply the water army to berth, and he suddenly sneered loudly, and his face became distorted and hideous because of this long laugh.

"The lord of the state is unkind, the thief is unjust, who are we guarding and fighting for?"

Liu Fanggui tore off the crown on his head, his hair suddenly fell apart, and he immediately drew a knife to cut through the shirt on his body, and shouted loudly: "Hang the flag! I can't tolerate it here, so I should find another way to live for my son!"

When they saw the head of Fancheng raising the banner and the city gate slowly opened, the Jingzhou army that had withdrawn to the camp was in an uproar, and I really couldn't understand why the reinforcements had arrived and the defenders had to surrender!

Don't talk about these soldiers, Li Tai was also a little stunned after he really saw this scene, he had such expectations, and his dream was so unexpected. This inevitably gave him a deeper understanding of the so-called troubled times, and the chaos was not only the situation, but also the hearts of the people.