The time entered February, and Sun Ning led the army to attack Nanyang and came to the eighth day.

Although the three walls had been mottled by various attacks, and the walls had been shattered by the stone throwers, the ownership of the three walls was still firmly in the hands of the defenders.

In the past few days of continuous offensive and defensive battles, the casualties of the Vietnamese army have also been increasing, and the number of dead in battle alone has reached 5,300 to this day, and a large number of them are too serious to fight again.

However, the onslaught of the past few days has been resisted and defused by the enemy army one by one, and it is also constantly eroding the morale of the whole army, and many officers and men have already retreated in their hearts, and their war-weariness in private is secretly fermenting.

This is something that cannot be avoided, and it is also the most serious problem of the Vietnamese army at present.

Although the core of the entire army is the Southwest Army, in fact, the vast majority of the soldiers are from Jiangnan, from the private soldiers created by the nine surnames of Jiangnan that have long become history.

These soldiers and horses are indeed hard enough to practice on weekdays, and their combat power is not low, and the military discipline is strict, so they can do nothing against the city and autumn along the way under Sun Ning's orders.

However, they also have a problem unique to Jiangnan people, that is, they are not mentally tough enough, and when they encounter strong resistance, they may have the idea of retreating.

This has a lot to do with the environment in which they grew up, because Jiangnan is the richest place in the world, and these soldiers and horses have never suffered much, so they naturally have fewer setbacks. In this way, everything else is good, just this toughness, it is naturally not as good as the Southwest soldiers who live more hard, or the Central Plains soldiers and horses.

And this time, Sun Ning led all the Jiangnan soldiers, and the elite Japanese battalion that was really built by him is still in Jinling to guard the rear.

Therefore, it seems reasonable that the morale of the army in front of him is slightly shaken.

However, the generals and courtiers did not dare to excuse themselves with such a reason, and after another day of unsuccessful attack, they could only ask Sun Ning for their guilt.

"Your Majesty, it is the incompetence of the ministers to lead the troops, so that the soldiers are unwilling to work hard, and I hope that Your Majesty will punish you."

"Your Majesty, the minister is useless, he is willing to be punished!"

"Your Majesty, it's better to let the minister personally lead someone to rush back tomorrow, the minister will die in the city, and he will definitely repay His Majesty's kindness and take Nanyang for His Majesty!"

These courtiers have expressed their attitudes, at least on the surface, they are still quite loyal and hardworking.

Sun Ning's gaze also slowly swept over their faces, and he didn't see any blame and anger, he only smiled and said: "All the generals are flat, they can't take Nanyang until today, the blame is not on you, nor on the soldiers under your command." ”

When the generals heard this, they still looked uneasy, but they were sure in their hearts. They are really worried that the emperor will blame them for this and let them be responsible: "Your Majesty, the ministers are scared......"

"Nanyang, as the granary of the Central Plains carefully selected by the imperial court, in addition to geographical reasons, its city is strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is also a key factor.

"And after years of reconstruction, the city will only become more and more thick and towering, making it difficult to conquer. Unless you use another strategy, if you want to use a strong attack to capture the city, it will not take a few months, and I am afraid it will be difficult to take it. ”

When the generals heard Sun Ning say this, their hearts were also a little calmer, it turned out that it was not that they were incompetent, it was not that the soldiers were unwilling to use their lives, in the final analysis, it was really difficult to get down this city.

"However, this city is not completely impossible to take by tricks, but it requires a certain amount of prior arrangement. Moreover, once the enemy army perceives that it may not be able to hold it, they may come and burn all the jade. ”

Sun Ning's words suddenly changed, making the generals puzzled again, what is the meaning of these words?

"Still don't understand? Why is Nanyang important? Because it is the granary of the Central Plains, there is plenty of grain in it. What would you do if you were commanded to defend the city and you were about to lose it? ”

Only then did the generals react: "Destroy the grain!" It is better to burn it to the ground than to cheapen the enemy! ”

"That's it. The Nanyang I want is a complete Nanyang, not an empty city with only ashes, so even if you take it, it will outweigh the losses. ”

Sun Ning smiled indifferently: "So, we have to let them make a judgment that they can hold this city, at least they don't have to do anything to burn their own grain."

"I think that after these eight days of attack and defense, they should have such an idea, and then it's time for us to use strange strategies to break it!"

As he slowly spoke, his gaze had taken his eyes off the mottled and broken three city walls, and finally fell to the west of Nanyang, which had never really launched an attack.

Tonight, it's time to see the difference!

……

At the head of Nanyang City, watching the Vietnamese army retreat like a tide again, the defenders, including those who were forcibly requisitioned to defend the city, breathed a sigh of relief, and then a burst of cheers rang out.

Once again, they held the city and repelled the enemy.

Moreover, this time the enemy's offensive was weaker than before, and there were not even many people who actually climbed to the top of the city. It is clear that their morale is also gradually decreasing, and perhaps after a few more days, the offensive will stop.

This is indeed a thing that makes everyone feel excited, and even Xuan Huai, who is in command of the supervising army, rarely showed a smile: "Everyone has worked hard, and everyone has merit."

"This official will be rewarded for his meritorious service!"

As soon as his voice fell, many people moved a box full of silver coins to everyone: "These money and treasures are all prepared by the imperial court and Lord Taiwei, and then I will send it to you according to your previous battle performance!" ”

As he waved his hand, his soldiers distributed gold, silver, copper, coins and other property to the soldiers according to the size of their merits.

The yellow gold and the white silver are particularly dazzling under the sunset that is about to set.

However, the reaction of those soldiers was mediocre, and now that everything in the city was under martial law, nothing could be bought, and they did not know what the situation would be next, and the gold and silver were really of little use.

Xuanhuai also saw this, so he waved his hand again: "Good wine and good food!" The official has prepared a large amount of wine and meat, and everyone can have a full meal. Everyone is full, and tomorrow they will have the strength to continue to defend the city! ”

As the pots of hot and fragrant food and meat were sent to the city, the soldiers who were already hungry let out a burst of cheers, rushed forward one after another, took the food in their hands, and feasted on it.

At least for the moment, the food is much more attractive than the gold and silver.

Seeing this, Xuan Huaicai smiled with satisfaction, he could see that the morale of the whole army had recovered a little, and he would not be afraid to fight again tomorrow.

When night falls, Nanyang City is full of soldiers and people who eat and drink, this is their most rare moment of relaxation at the end of the day. There are only a very small number of people, who are still on guard, but they are also more focused on the three sides of the south, south, south, and west, and the west, which has never been attacked, and only a dozen people are scattered and patrolling at will.

And the change also appeared at this time.

Some people died, but not completely......