Prince Caton's defeat at the city of Pai caused an uproar. No one could have imagined that the outcome of the first day of the fierce battle under the city of Pai would be like this, especially the Marquis of Pingjing, who vowed in front of Prince Caton that he would "take Pai and Stirling in one day". In his tent, he pulled his hair in agony, and he was terrified. In order to save face in front of the prince, he roared and ordered the defeated rebel army to go out overnight and continue to storm the castle. But no one obeyed his commands. Defeat undermined his prestige. The team leaders of the Far Eastern Race Army were noisy, and even the most obedient officers were muttering there. Everyone rushed to say, "You are committing suicide, our own soldiers and horses in the Far East!" "Your attack method is simply crazy!"

"You can't fight Sterling. "Said a half-orc leader.

Everyone echoed: "Yes, you can't fight Sterling." ”

Pingjing Hou roared: "Who said that I can't fight Stirling! Think about it, brothers, we have won so many battles, Chishui Beach, Moon Bay, which time was not a big victory? Now we have a large number of generals, seven or eight times as many men and horses as him, and there are also a large army of the Protoss to help us. What is Stirling, he has no soldiers now, he has no food, he can only shrink and wait until he dies! Brothers, as long as you work harder, we will be able to clean him up at once!"

"Chishui Beach, Moon Bay, Sterling is not there. One of the leader of the Serpent Clan complained, "When did we win a battle over Stirling?"

"We can see that Stirling is the reincarnation of the god of war," said a orc leader, "how can we mortals compete with him?"

Everyone buzzed and said, "That's right, that's right, otherwise where would a mortal be so fierce..."

"Yes, Sterling has a god of evil, and no one sees it today? It's not scary, it's as tall as seven or eight of our people, and our people go up and pinch one to death, like a bedbug." Our people can't get close to him at all. ”

Some people agreed: "Yes, yes! I also saw it today, and there is such a big piece of golden light! I heard the old man say that the stars in the sky are descending to earth, and there are five ghosts and six evil beings around him!"

"Otherwise, how could they have killed so many of our brothers, with so few men? ”

Pingjinghou screamed in despair: "Then what should I do! I have promised Prince Caton that I will definitely take Pai today!"

Everyone said one after another: "Even if you promise your life to the prince, it is your business! If we quarrel again, we might as well tie you up and give it to Sterling, maybe he can spare our lives!"

No matter how much Pingjing threatened, intimidated, and intimidated, the rebel team leaders refused to move, repeating like a broken gramophone: "Anyway, we won't go to Stirling to die... I'm going to go to yourself... You can't fight Sterling. "These leaders of various clans, no matter which way they meet the family's soldiers and horses, they can kill quite fiercely, but when they meet this Stirling, they will immediately wilt, their hands are weak and their feet are trembling, and they just want to run back.

There was a sound at the door, and a demon herald came in: "Marquis Pingjing, there is an order for you to go to the command of the Chinese army immediately!"

Pingjinghou shuddered.

※※※

The sky was dark and dreary, the clouds were very low, the moon was hazy in the clouds, and the stars were barely visible. In front of the open space of the command array and between the tents, the demon soldiers pushed and shoved, all of them were very frightened, the war horses were anxiously kicking their front hooves, making bursts of annoying neighing, the officers were very short-tempered, and the sternness was completely abnormal, and the orders were issued loudly, and the frightened soldiers ran in and out in a panic.

The faint clatter of the torches seemed to be unusually loud, and the air was very dull, filled with a terrifying and oppressive atmosphere. The punishment order has been down: five poorly commanded legion commanders have been ordered by the God Emperor to immediately commit suicide by disembowelment, including Count Bussey, who escaped from under the iron hooves of the Iron Armor Army today; sixty-eight white cloaks (the team leader of the Demon Clan) have their heads cut off, and now their heads have been hung high on the beam of the camp gate of the Demon Army, hanging a long string; the first thousands of demon soldiers to retreat were tied up and stuffed into sacks, and the two cavalry teams carried out the order of the God Emperor to the letter, and the horses were repeatedly trampled on it until each sack turned into a bag of rotten meat pulp。 Hundreds of thousands of demon soldiers watched this spectacular scene in a dense crowd, all of them pale.

Marquis Pingjing tremblingly walked into the command formation of the Chinese army and stopped. He was also frightened: the string of heads on the beam included Bussey, Tielun and other acquaintances who had talked together this morning. Now they were all hung on it, and the expression of the mouth and teeth was as if they were laughing at something. Pingjinghou was frightened: they are all regular demon generals, and they are usually above themselves, but they also end up like this, so the fate they will face can be imagined... He wanted to run away and leave this terrifying place immediately, but his legs and feet were weak, and he couldn't move a step, and there were regular soldiers of the demon clan staring at him on the left and right, and he didn't even have a single subordinate of his own. He was sweating like rain, his eyes were dizzy, and in a trance, he could already imagine what it would be like for his head to hang on it...

"Is it peaceful?" suddenly a voice came from behind him.

He jerked around. A figure dressed in black appeared like a ghost, standing behind him at some point. Pingjinghou's heart was beating wildly, and he had already recognized the identity of the man in black in front of him: Xiang Wuyue, the chief military division of the demon clan.

The Black Gauze Military Master Xiang Wuyue can be said to be the most mysterious figure in the Demon Court. He seemed to have descended from the sky, and one day suddenly appeared in the court of the demon clan, and received the unconditional and absolute trust of the God Emperor. No one knew his origin except the Demon God Emperor himself, no one had ever seen his face, and his entire body was wrapped in a wide black robe, covered with a thick black veil, regardless of chūn's summer, autumn and winter. The demons are even difficult to judge his race and xìng: judging from the body shape, it should belong to the royal family of the demon clan, but it may also be a human being; the high-ranking officials of the demon clan are full of curiosity about the origin of this mysterious figure, and have put forward many speculations, but the only thing that is certain is that he has the highest trust and favor from the demon god emperor: there was once a drunken general who drank too much at a banquet and asked to see the face of Xiang Wuyue after the veil. After being coldly refused, he pretended to turn around, but suddenly drew his sword and lifted the veil. Afterwards, in order to prevent the leakage of secrets, the Divine Emperor had to personally take action and personally kill all the seventy-one officers who had seen or might have seen Xiang Wuyue's face at the banquet as soon as possible.

"Army... Military Division... Your Excellency is well!" Marquis Pingjing didn't expect to meet the number one powerful person of this demon clan in Prince Caton's camp, and he stammered in surprise, and a terrible thought flashed in his mind: Could it be that he will carry out the death order against me?

"You come with me. Xiang Wuyue said briefly. The voice is deep but pleasant, giving people a very cold feeling.

Marquis Pingjing was horrified, and hurriedly said: "Master Commander, but I am still waiting for Prince Caton's meeting, he called me here..."

"I am the one who called you. The prince has been relieved of command of the troops, and is now in custody and confinement. ”

Pingjinghou's mind was suddenly confused: his biggest protector has lost power, and no one will come to save him, what to do, what to do...

His mind was in a hurry, and his legs and feet trembled so much that he couldn't support his body. Several soldiers of the palace guard brigade couldn't help but set him up and followed Xiang Wuyue into a tent. Xiang Wuyue turned around and said, "Your Majesty has an order for you." ”

Pingjinghou immediately knelt down, his face pale: "Coming, coming! I don't know if he wants to kill himself or drag him out and behead him? Don't behead him by waist or Ling Chi, in that case he would rather bite his tongue and commit suicide immediately...

"Your Majesty has an order: Since his return to our people, the Marquis of Pingjing has always been loyal to our people and brave in battle. His Majesty is very pleased, and now he will give you a special reward and promote you to Duke Pingjing?!"

Marquis Pingjing—no, it should be Duke Pingjing now—sat on the ground with weak legs and feet. He couldn't believe his ears, his eyes fixed on the boss.

Xiang Wuyue's voice turned stern: "Gong Pingjing, don't thank you yet?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Ping Jing kowtowed like a green onion: "The minister knelt down to thank His Majesty Hong'en, it is difficult to repay His Majesty with broken bones, and I will definitely do my best in the future and be loyal to my god clan..."

Xiang Wuyue let out a cold snort that seemed to be a smile, and her voice was much kinder: "Prince Pingjing, please get up." In the future, you have the right to meet His Majesty directly, and if you have any thanks, you can say it to Your Majesty in person. ”

"Pingjing Gong" was still difficult to get used to his new name, so he got up timidly and asked in a low voice: "This...... This one... Advisor, if I can, can I know why I was promoted? You know, after all, we lost a battle, this and this... It's like..."

Xiang Wuyue interrupted him: "Pingjing Gong, you are mistaken! Your Majesty rewards your loyalty, a small defeat is nothing, how can Your Majesty punish you?" Of course," Xiang Wuyue said meaningfully: "There are also people who have said good things for you in front of Your Majesty." ”

Duke Ping Jing smiled: "Ah, yes, yes, His Majesty the God Emperor is wise, wise! The minister must be brave and loyal to repay, and thank you for your promotion, Master Commander, if you have the opportunity to greet the prince on my behalf..."

"Strategist, if there is nothing else, Weichen will retire!"

Xiang Wuyue nodded.

The new Ping Jinggong nodded and left with a smile, looking at his back, the chief military division of the demon clan let out an incomprehensible snort. He slowly poured a cup of tea, but he didn't drink it, and said loudly, "It's time to come out." ”

The curtain behind the tent was lifted, Yun Qianxue walked out, he respectfully saluted Xiang Wuyue, and the chief military division returned the salute and asked in a loud voice: "Did you hear it just now?"

Yun Qianxue smiled bitterly: "I thought it was at first, but now... He is not like the man who has the guts. ”

Xiang Wuyue nodded: "And he has no motive, Yunjun." He's more afraid of the Zichuan family than we are, and they'll skin him alive if they catch him. There should really be someone else attacking you, a more cunning and dangerous enemy. ”

Yun Qianxue couldn't help but feel like laughing: "More cunning and more dangerous, are you talking about yourself?" Of course, he wouldn't really say it, and echoed and said, "The military advisor sees it." The young general has something unclear and wants to ask for a military advisor. ”

"Speak. ”

"At today's imperial meeting, all the generals accused Pingjing of being the culprit of the day - Bussey said that his troops were the first to escape, and the whole army collapsed; Gu Thorn said that he panicked and commanded incorrectly, and that our army was defeated; that Lu Di simply said that he was a soldier of our god clan who tried to commit suicide, and even Prince Caton, the protector of Pingjing, agreed with them—I wonder why the military division still tried his best to save his life?"

"It's not strange for them to say this," Xiang Wuyue chuckled: "Buxi They want to save their heads, they must shirk the responsibility for the defeat, and the best excuse is to say that "poor command", but unfortunately today's commander is Prince Caton, the future Demon God Emperor, they don't dare to offend him, so they have to find Pingjing as a substitute for the dead ghost." At the critical time of life and death, His Excellency the Prince can't care about righteousness. When it comes to the three words "morality", Xiang Wuyue's tone is indescribably sarcastic. Yun Qianxue understood what he didn't say: As a superior person, the prince does not have the courage and courage to take responsibility, and will only shirk responsibility to his subordinates.

"You don't have to think about it, he is still very useful to our army now, so I protect him, I don't mean anything else. It's just a pity for Bussey and them, after all the good words and hard work, they still couldn't escape death. Lu Di was only able to avoid death because of his military exploits, but he was deprived of the title of duke. Our majesty is really resolute, even the prince and prince have been deprived of their military powers, and they have been confined and awakened. ”

Yun Qianxue couldn't help asking: "Master Commander, I don't know who the new commander-in-chief of the army is?" In his heart, he hoped that it was the second prince Karan.

Xiang Wuyue smiled and didn't answer, Yun Qianxuejun's face turned red, and he laughed at himself and said: "This is a confidential matter, the subordinate is presumptuous, please don't hear it." ”

Xiang Wuyue took a sip of tea and said, "Yunjun, it's okay. You are the commander of the Yulin Army, a high-ranking officer, and you have the right to know-by the way, Your Majesty is very concerned about your body, and I don't know how you are recovering?"

Xiang Wuyue suddenly changed the topic, Yun Qianxue didn't know what she meant, and hurriedly said: "There is Lao Majesty Xià concerned, and his body is already well, and there is nothing to hinder it." ”

"Martial arts have also recovered, can you go into battle?"

"Ah? this, the martial arts have regressed a little, but there is no major loss. If His Majesty sends something, please ask the military advisor to give orders, and you can't miss the matter of Your Majesty. ”

"En," Xiang Wuyue nodded with satisfaction: "Yunjun, didn't you ask about the new commander-in-chief just now? As if to achieve the greatest shocking effect, he deliberately paused in his tone.

"That's you. ”

The shock of the first ten seconds passed, Yun Qianxue came back to her senses, and hurriedly humbled herself to be shallow in her studies, she was not worthy of such a heavy responsibility, I am afraid that she would have the wisdom of knowing people, and stated that there are many people in the army who can prestige above him, please think twice about the candidate... And so on and so forth.

Xiang Wuyue smiled and said: "This is the meaning of His Majesty, Yunjun, don't shirk anymore." His tone changed to stern:

"His Majesty appointed you as commander-in-chief in recognition of your talent. The troops led by the Stirling thief are really fierce in a hundred battles, and they are already very strong, but now they have no way to escape, and they will inevitably fight to the death of the trapped beast, and the power of the counterattack is abnormally strong, and this battle is not easy to fight. In order to invite favor in front of His Majesty, Prince Caton underestimated the enemy, and now he has suffered a big loss. I hope you don't let your majesty down. He deliberately said the last sentence softly and slowly, allowing Yun Qianxue to slowly understand the meaning of the conversation.

Thinking of the string of heads hanging at the gate of the camp, Yun Qianxue's back sweated: "Yes! The young general must remember the teachings of the military teacher." ”

"One thing I have to warn you of: it wasn't Stirling who commanded the heavy cavalry to defeat the prince today, and the enemy had a very clever commander hidden. Keep an eye on him. ”

Yun Qianxue was surprised: "Ah, military advisor, I saw Stirling himself in the queue of the attack, and General Yuga was also killed by him..."

"Yunjun, use some brains!" Xiang Wuyue's voice was a little impatient: "You have to think about it: at that time, Sterling himself took the lead in our formation, and it was the kind of situation where knives and guns were coming, people were turning on their backs, and dust was flying, and the people and horses were so crowded that they couldn't see five steps away. In this way, Sterling can still fight and protect himself, while commanding his nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses like his fingers, without any chaos, how did he do it? Even if he can do it, how can those more than 20,000 horses receive his orders in such a noisy and chaotic environment?"

Yun Qianxue thought of this question for the first time: "This..."

"Yun Jun, the commander of the enemy army is extremely clever. If you pay attention to the opponent's attack line, you will find that after the ironclad army defeated the Bussey legion on the flank, it did not directly attack the nearest orc legion, but went around an arc to attack the snake legion in the middle, opening a gap from the snake army with relatively weak combat effectiveness - you see that this arc is very learned, which not only avoids exposing its right flank to the frontal threat of the Yuga legion's attack, but also makes the angle and aspect of the attack very ingenious, and the defeated snake soldiers are all driven away. Pressing the Ludi army is equivalent to taking the lead for them for free and disrupting the formation of our army - this is not accidental, the latter method has appeared many times, and our people are used to disrupt our follow-up troops.

They have an accurate grasp of the overall situation, are keenly aware of our army's flaws, can quickly mobilize forces to create local superiority, are good at creating chaos in our army and then take advantage of the opportunity to expand it, and deliberately divide the connection between our army's units and the command system -- the other commander's tactics in the use of troops have cleverly reached the realm of art! Although we have an army of nearly one million, we have no place to use it at all, and can only be slaughtered little by little like a heavy dead pork, and gradually collapse in the chaos. If you think about it, Sterling is at the center of the most intense vortex of the melee, and he can't protect himself, is it possible for him to do such a near-perfect command?"

Following his train of thought, Yun Qianxue's mind recalled the scene at that time: the sky was dusk, the crowd was crowded, the sword mountain and the sword forest, the dust and smoke were filled, and hundreds of thousands of horses and horses were fighting, fleeing, dying, and bleeding in chaos, killing sounds, screams, moaning, horse hooves, and footsteps were mixed, and the hustle and bustle was chaotic, the cavalry was killed, the sweat was drenched in a top twenty, the flags on the city were fluttering, and their own soldiers and horses were completely overwhelmed in momentum, throwing away their armor, weapons, and flags...

His eyes widened suddenly: "Military advisor! I understand! It's a banner! He is at the head of the city to remotely direct the actions of the whole army! Only on the high head of the city can he see the overall situation clearly!"

"That's very right, but," Xiang Wuyue's tone was serene: "Who is this unknown commander?"

"Strategist, please rest assured," Yun Qianxue's tone was very confident: "Whether he is or Stirling, in front of our army's million-dollar army, there is only one way to die!"

※※※

At this time, the city of Pai was a sea of jubilation. From here to there, groups of blood-stained warriors cheered: "Long live! Long live! Glory! Long live Zichuan!" People were so excited that they burst into tears, hugged their heads and cried. From east to west, everywhere there are waving flags, everywhere is the proud cheers of human beings: "Hurrah! Hurrah!" Regardless of officers or soldiers, no matter what class, at this moment, people's mood is the same, whether they know or not, people hold hands and sing, hug, cheer, "We win! We win!" The cheering waves came and went, and as long as one person started, thousands of people spontaneously sang along and along:" The soldiers said goodbye to their hometowns, goodbye to their dear girls, and marched forward step by step in battle..."The majestic and loud song was sung again and again, resounding in the sky.

This is the most glorious day for mankind! A lone and weak brigade of less than 100,000 people has personally defeated the million-strong army of the demon race, avenging the shame of countless human compatriots and comrades-in-arms who have died! Even the most sharp Demon God Emperor Guard Brigade on the mainland has fled in front of them! In front of their erected chests, the surging waves of demons and rebels have been smashed to pieces. The humiliation and helplessness of mankind since the beginning of the war have finally been vented: since the first battle of Pai, who dares to say that I am a human coward? The zhōngyāng army of the Zichuan family has been famous all over the world since then!

Those who saw with their own eyes the offensive scene of the Ironclad Corps were even more excited: It was really a magnificent and earth-shattering might! I could see this scene with my own eyes in my life, and I had no regrets! Even the group of hooligans in the Xiuzi Battalion couldn't help but boil with their blood when they saw the indomitable majesty of the Ironclad Army, and they sighed with envy: "Heroes and heroes! If one day we can be so majestic, we will really be willing to die!" The captured flags of the demon rebels were thrown to the ground one by one, and everyone stepped on them excitedly (some people were still peeing on them) and then hung them on the city as an exhibition, so that the demons and rebels could "visit for free".

Looking at the jubilant figures of the people, Shirakawa Qiben burst into tears. You have the right to be proud, after all, it is you who have paid too much for this moment to come......

Many familiar faces have left us and are no longer there. Young and energetic young men, sleeping in a foreign land, quietly, forever. In the future, fallen leaves, dead grass and heavy snow in the Far East will accompany you alone. Autumn wind, please bring the soul back to your hometown, to the dreams of your mother and lover...

Shirakawa clasped his hands together and whispered a prayer for the souls of the dead who died in battle today, praying for the rest of the heroic souls.

※※※

"Victory! We are victorious!" Changchuan Qiben cheered and ran all the way to the medical team, and said to the young and beautiful female nurses: "Friend, we have won! I am so excited!" and then he hugged the people "too excited to control himself", and refused to let go, shouting in his mouth: "Long live Lord Sterling!" In less than a moment, he already had two slap prints on his face. Undeterred, he went straight to the intelligence group of the General Staff, where it was said that there were many beautiful officers. Unexpectedly, I met at the door...

"Hidekawa-sama, you... What are you doing here? Are you too..."

"This is nonsense!" Zi Chuanxiu lowered his voice, and cold air burst out between his teeth: "This is Lao Tzu's territory!"

Get out of here, don't get in the way of the Earth!"

"My lord, Roger has taken over the secretarial department, and you... My lord, there are so many beautiful women here anyway, and you can't use them all by yourself... Joy alone or joy in the crowd, which is the joy?"

"Of course it's a solo pleasure! Do you still need to ask?" Zichuan Xiu punched and kicked Changchuan away. Seeing so many female officers who were like flowers, his heart blossomed! After sorting out his facial expressions first, Zichuan Xiu spoke to the beauties (with a solemn expression and a solemn tone):

"Friends, in this great rì, we have withstood the test. Let us embrace tightly and celebrate together the most glorious son God has given us!"

He opened his arms, raised his head slightly in the direction of Tianyu, looked very religious, his face was shrouded in holy light, without a trace of selfishness and evil spirit, anyone who saw his appearance had to be moved: "What a saint of great mercy and compassion!"

Suddenly, a male officer appeared out of nowhere to block the path of the "saint", the officer was shirtless, covered in blood, sweat and sludge, and knew at a glance that this was a brave Pai defender. He greeted Zichuan Xiu warmly and stretched out his arms: "Brother! What you said is so good! Let's hug!"

Zichuan Xiu ran away.

※※※

By the time the cavalry division returned, the sun had completely set, and it was so dark that it was a little difficult to see the scenery. People flocked to the city gates to greet the warriors who had done the greatest deed of the day, and when they saw that the weapons, spears and heavy swords held by the cavalrymen were broken, and the iron armor on their bodies was shattered, they exclaimed: "Oh my God, what a fierce thing they have done!"

The warriors are so tired. Carrying dozens of kilograms of iron armor, he rushed and killed on horseback for nearly three hours, and he didn't notice anything under the agitation of the mood at that time, but now he feels that he is really out of strength, and the cavalrymen are so tired that they can't lift their arms, they are so tired that they can't get off the horse, and they are so tired that they can't even take off the armor on their bodies... The horses gasped and staggered, and from time to time there were horses in the ranks that could not support themselves while walking, and pouted their front hooves and fell to their knees, and the whole cavalryman in heavy armor fell to the ground heavily, unable to get up again. People hurried over to help him remove his armor, but the person had already fallen asleep, and people found that the inside of the untied armor was wet, all sweat, and gradually condensed into ice cubes...

Even Sterling, who was the leader, was not much better than the others, although he was much stronger than ordinary soldiers, but today he always rushed to the front of the line, and his exercise consumption was much greater than that of ordinary soldiers. With the help of the guards, he took off his heavy iron armor and helmet, revealing a handsome face that was frighteningly white.

Zi Chuanxiu was taken aback: "Are you injured?"

Sterling smiled: "It's nothing, it's just that I'm too tired for a while." The pain in his left rib was so bad, maybe it was a broken rib, but he covered the pain with a smile: "How's it going?"

"Something has changed, you can see it when you come up and see it. But I think you'd better go get some sleep first?"

Stirling didn't go to sleep, he went up to the city with Shikawa Xiu, followed by the generals of the zhōngyāng army. Along the way, he met many soldiers and officers, and they all saluted him respectfully, and he returned the salute with a calm pale face, and his attitude was very gentle, and his bearing was serene. Many years later, many of the people involved can still remember the figure of the young general clearly: he walked past him, his steps were steady, his expression was serene and peaceful. He didn't say anything stirring or wear a magnificent gold ribbon, he was wearing only an ordinary soldier's uniform, and the last red glow on the horizon was reflected behind him.

Ordinary people, ordinary pictures, but because of the demeanor and bearing of a peerless famous general, a qiē has become so touching and gorgeous. The people moved out of the way, and watched Sterling pass quietly, but no one shouted for joy, as if they were afraid of spoiling something mysterious in the air. In the eyes of thousands of followers, Sterling was not tall but as strong as a mountain, and no force could knock him down, and they were intoxicated by it, and they were willing to die for him from the bottom of their hearts.

※※※

On the vast plain of the Grey Water River, the hundreds of thousands of troops of both sides who fought here during the day have receded like water, leaving a layer of bloody corpses that cover the entire land, and the dense remnants of broken guns have spread to the sky, showing the cruelty of war.

In the distance, a line of black shadows and metal reflections appeared, and the silhouette became larger and larger, and it could be seen clearly that it was countless demon troops advancing towards this side. Like the locusts devouring the earth, the various miscellaneous tents covered the snow-capped plains like countless blooming flowers.

Sterling and Shikawa looked at each other in horror: they had just inflicted such a heavy blow on the enemy during the day, and within a few hours, the enemy's fresh force team had come up. It's terrifying to fight an enemy with such incredible resilience, and they have almost endless backups. Today, in less than twelve hours of fierce fighting during the day, almost all the resources of the zhōngyāng army were exhausted, and now the defensive tools such as bows and arrows, rolling stones, and hot oil were almost all exhausted, and the whole army was exhausted.

All the way, the demon infantry advanced with torches, and the momentum seemed to be that the enemy was unwilling to be defeated during the day and wanted to fight again overnight. The head of the city of Pai blew the horn of the sue jǐng again, and the soldiers entered their posts again. But the demon soldiers didn't advance any further, and when they reached a place less than a thousand meters away from the city, they stopped and began to tinkle something. After a while, they all understood: the enemy was arranging fences and horse ropes specially for dealing with cavalry, and there were people buried something in the ground, and Shikawa Xiu guessed that they were pretending to be thorns, which were small things with sharp protrusions, which were also used to deal with cavalry. Behind the demon soldiers, a large group of Far Eastern rebel soldiers appeared, not weapons but sapper shovels on their shoulders, and began to beat the frozen ground and dig trenches around the city of Pay. In this harsh winter, this is really a very laborious thing, it can be seen that the rebel soldiers are not very energetic, but there are many demon officers holding whips and watching, very rough whipping those who are not buried, so the rebel soldiers do not dare to be lazy.

Sterling sighed heavily. What he feared most finally happened. The enemy has changed tactics and is no longer storming, but instead of a full-fledged siege. With millions of them in the handful, it is almost impossible to break through. He himself didn't care about life and death for a long time, but he always had an inextricable sense of guilt for his subordinates who followed him here.

Guessing his thoughts, Qin Lu, the deputy commander of the Zhōngyāng Army, comforted him and said: "My lord, there is nothing to be sad about, fighting one is enough, fighting two is profitable, we have earned enough now." ”

"That's it," Shikawa Xiuya, the commander of the Xiuzi Battalion, said with a smile: "In the words of our Xiuzi Battalion, the cost has been recovered, and every money that has begun to be collected now is a pure profit, and it is after tax." ”

Everyone burst out laughing. In the past, the officers of the Zhōngyāng Army did not pay any attention to the undisciplined and unbrave motley army of the Xiuzi Battalion. But Zichuan Xiu was not afraid of life and death to come to the rescue of Sterling, they also admired his courage and righteousness, plus Zichuan Xiu is also an easy-going and cheerful person, everyone gets along very well, and they have fought several battles together, and they have long been inseparable from each other.

Sterling smiled and continued to observe. Compared with the frenzied chaos of the day, the enemy army now appears calm and orderly, and the division of labor and cooperation in batches is orderly and efficient. Stirling muttered, "Strange, did they change the commander?"

※※※

Raheem Sterling was right. The new commander-in-chief of the demon clan, Yun Qianxue, is calm. He knew very well the strength of the zhōngyāng army, once this kind of army did a trapped beast death fight, the combat power that broke out would be very terrifying, and the battle during the day had fully proved this. Although he has an overwhelming force, even if he captures this castle, it will only be a crushing victory.

Determined to switch to a steady approach, he ordered the demons and rebel troops to start digging trenches and building fortifications to prevent the enemies in the city from escaping, and to ensure that they were invincible.

"Your Highness, just wait and see," Yun Qianxue pointed to the brightly lit Pai City and smiled at Karan: "The current impregnable castle, at most, I can take him down without bloodshed!"

The latter nodded in satisfaction, deeply gratified. Because Yun Qianxue's success is compared to Caton's incompetence, it will definitely strengthen his position in the demon court.

The siege of the city of Pai began in the middle of the night on January 23, 780 in the year of the Imperial calendar. The Battle of Pai began to enter its most difficult moment. Yun Qianxue, the new commander of the demon race, is determined to use the weapon of "hunger" to force the invincible legion that has been invincible so far to submit. In order to prevent the possibility of the zhōngyāng army breaking through in a desperate battle, in accordance with Yun Qianxue's instructions, the various troops of the demon clan and the rebel army began to build trenches here and there. A large group of demon and rebel soldiers worked hard and worked hard. Although it was a very cold winter and the ground was freezing, everyone was looking forward to an early end of the fighting, and the enthusiasm was high. Within two days, the trench was formed into a ring around the city, and then at a very fast speed, the fortified positions were cut down the city in several ways. The purpose of this was very clear: to build the trench under the city of Payi, so that the troops could be safely transferred to the city at any time to carry out a strong attack. At that time, if possible, Yun Qianxue also plans to send sappers to hollow out the corners of Pai's wall, create a collapse point and make a gap in the city wall or something.

In order to obstruct the progress of the fortifications, the Stirling regiment had to send troops out every day to rob the camp. As soon as the human army appeared at the gate of the city, the demon ambush soldiers who had been waiting in the fortifications immediately pounced forward, and the two sides fought fiercely, each time suffering heavy losses and corpses. The city, the river, the plain, the moat, everywhere became graves. Many of the corpses that had not had time to be buried were lying on the ground, piled up into a small mountain. Fortunately, it's winter, and there is no need to be afraid of the corpse stinking.

In addition to the excavation of fortifications, the assault on the city of Pai continued unabated. A group of 50,000 demon or rebel teams took turns to fight, constantly sneaking attacks, assaults, and clamoring all night long, with the aim of dissipating the physical fitness and fighting spirit of the defenders in the city.

Sometimes this attack almost worked. On the night of January 26, the Demon Command mobilized 20,000 fresh troops and prepared siege ladders, and in order to prevent the sentries from discovering the reflection of the weapons, the sharp knives in their hands were wrapped in black cloth. They came out of the moat closest to the city, and under the cover of the night, they crept barefoot. They were so tired that the sentries on duty were drowsy and didn't even notice them. They suddenly appeared under the city to the east, dozens of siege ladders were supported at the head of the city at the same time, and the Senean infantry rushed up the unstoppable edge ladders. By the time the sentinels spotted them and issued a jǐng announcement, the first batch of nearly 100 demon soldiers had already come up! They were extremely brave, and quickly hacked the few sentinels to death, and there was a noise of demon soldiers in the darkness!

At a normal pace, it would take at least ten minutes for reinforcements to arrive from the camp. But in ten minutes, the demon soldiers and horses can come up and gain a stronghold on the city, as long as they stand firm, the backup soldiers and horses can continue to open up from this gap, flooding the entire city!

But at this most critical moment, it can only be said that God still did not abandon the brave Pai defenders. The conscientious Commander Sterling led a squadron of guards to patrol the area at night, and found that the demon soldiers were pouring up to the city like cháo water. Everyone's face turned white, and there was no need to give an order, and the guards rushed forward and started a battle with the demon soldiers. One side is bound to win, but the other side is desperate to protect, the blade is against the white blade, and the two sides are inseparable. The demon side has the advantage in numbers, but the human side has another advantage: they have Stirling, a super master! In front of Stirling's strong internal strength, no demon soldier can block his fierce sword! Even if he barely blocks the weapon, the sword qi can also invade the heart and kill people. In the blink of an eye, relying on the white blade to kill Stirling, he killed more than two dozen demon soldiers in one breath! The remaining demon soldiers exclaimed: "So, So! (Death)" did not dare to approach, and scattered in all directions. When the human race reached the edge of the city, the guards hurriedly pried open the enemy's siege ladder at the head of the city, while they had to deal with the fighting behind them, and the enemy kept reloading and climbing up like ants, and the situation was still very critical.

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At this time, a brigade of the 31st Division had just been handed over and laid off, and on the way back, it passed by this place and heard shouts of killing. The captain knew something was wrong and immediately came up for reinforcements. As soon as the two places met, the humans finally held their ground. Five minutes later, reinforcements of the division also arrived. With a dense rain of arrows, they slashed their heads and faces at the crowd of ants gathered under the city, and even smashed down the pre-prepared rolling wood and stones. Under such heavy pressure, the siege ladders of the demon clan were crushed into pieces one after another, and many demon soldiers fell from the air screaming. The troops who came later picked up their spears, and the demon soldiers used short knives, so they couldn't deal with this kind of long weapon, and they suffered heavy casualties. More than 2,000 of the most well-behaved Senean infantry were corpsed at the foot of the city. The rest of the men and horses, pursued by bows and arrows, hurriedly retreated into the trenches. As for the one hundred and twenty-three demon infantry who climbed to the top of the city, except for a few who had no way to escape and jumped off the city and fell to their deaths, all the rest were cut to pieces.

Knowing that the night attack failed, Yun Qianxue just said lightly: "It's a pity." He didn't pin his hopes on this kind of small-scale battle, and if he did, it would be equivalent to an accident. No, it doesn't matter. He has a strong confidence in the final victory.

Although the troops on the front line were quite sufficient, the siege of the city of Pai was impenetrable. However, Yun Qianxue was cautious, and in order to be as safe as possible, he still ordered more than 300,000 demon reserves of nearly a hundred teams to enter the second line of defense and participate in the encirclement, so that "not a single mouse can escape". The four valleys of Pai are full of colorful tents, as if a new city had been built on flat ground, and its vast area and bustling and busy are better than the besieged city of Pai.

After the preparations, Yun Qianxue asked Kahlan to help him with his advice. After inspecting the layout of the position designed and planned by Yun Qianxue herself, even Karan, who has always pursued perfection, could not find any flaws and flaws, and said with a smile:

"Ah Yun, don't worry! Sterling wants to run away, unless it is a human immortal who comes down to save him!"

The two looked at each other and smiled, as if they had seen Stirling's head being held on a golden plate as a tribute to the Demon God Emperor...

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Yun Qianxue thought that she was completely sure enough to deal with the challenge of an unexpected event. But on January 28, a sudden incident still greatly surprised him, causing the rebel formation to panic, and the whole demon army moved.

The herald splattered his saliva and reported, "The despicable devil, the cold-blooded murderer, the murderer of our babies and mothers, the mortal enemy of the entire Demon God Kingdom - here come!" He couldn't breathe, and fainted foaming at the mouth.

On January 28, the forward scout of the demon clan found that the main force of the Dilin Legion suddenly appeared in the area of Deya Province, and was coming towards Pai, the speed was quite fast, and now the forward has approached the west bank of the Greywater River!

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