In this siege, Fang Qi's Buddha army returned in vain, and the number of casualties reached as many as one or two thousand.

This is only an attack on the southern city, if it is attacked from all sides, it is impossible to say how many soldiers will be lost.

Returning to the big tent of the Chinese army, Fang Qifo pondered for a while, this Jiangning City was heavily guarded, and when dealing with the siege, it was calm and orderly, calm and not chaotic, which was completely different from other cities that had been fought before.

Although Jiangning City is tall and strong, what is more important is the command ability of the defending generals and the overall combat strength of the defending army.

Fang Qifo remembered the strategy mentioned in the letter of the right envoy Li Fei, and hurriedly summoned Luo Jinshui and Wu Song, and asked the two of them to contact the city tonight to discuss the time for the internal and external joint sneak attack.

He was anxious, the army of the Holy Father and Tong Guan in Suzhou had been fighting, the longer this war dragged on, the more unfavorable it was, and if it could not be swept like the autumn wind and falling leaves at the beginning, then it was very likely to fall into a confrontation situation in the future, and even worse, which was contrary to the five-year plan for the Central Plains set at the beginning of the incident.

Fang Qifo regretted very much at this moment, if he knew that Fang La actually went east to fight Suzhou, then it would be impossible for him to go south to eastern Zhejiang at that time, but to take the towns around the Yangtze River, and take Jiangning, Zhenjiang and other places before the Zhao and Song Dynasty sent troops to support.

But now it's too late to say anything, so I have to try my best to make up for it, and try every means to seize the cities on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and then kill the north of the Yangtze River in one go, so as to regain the initiative in the war.

In the middle of the night, Fang Qifo took Shi Bao and Bao Daoyi to Jiangning Xicheng.

There are also camps stationed here, and Luo Jinshui, Wu Song, and Shi Qian all live here with their subordinates, and they are ready to contact the city at this moment.

Luo Jinshui and Fang Qifo said that the method of contact is that every single day at noon or midnight, they can contact the city outside the west city, of course, this contact can not shout, nor can it pass letters, but it can play secret flag gestures and torch signals.

These flag gestures and torch signals can only be understood by the two parties, and no one else can guess, after all, although these actions may seem simple, they can express thousands of meanings in the world, and they can be casually covered anywhere.

At this time, the moon was dark and the wind was high, in order not to show his feet, Fang Qifo specially ordered the besieging troops on several other sides to shoot torches at the same time, and then asked Luo Jinshui to bring people forward to contact.

At this time, he could see clearly behind him, and saw that the torch was spinning in circles and swaying up and down, and the time between each movement was also different, and he couldn't help but be amazed in his heart.

Eighteen gates of the outer city of Jiangning, the right envoy Li Fei guards the Jiangdong Gate, this city gate and the stone city gate above are all protruding from the city, the urn city is huge, and the city tower is more majestic.

At this moment, above the Jiangdong Gate, after Luo Jinshui and others gave the torch signal, they responded to a few actions very secretly, if it wasn't for the fact that the two sides were communicating with torches, outsiders wouldn't have been able to see what was going on.

After about a quarter of an hour, Luo Jinshui ran away with a group of people, and after making some feints in a row, he returned to the camp to return to Fang Qifo.

Fang Qifo asked, "Brothers, what did Li You's envoy say?" ”

Luo Jinshui said: "Marshal, everything is ready on the right envoy's side, but you need a suitable opportunity to do it, I look at the torch flag, and the right envoy means that the specific sneak attack date will be set at noon in two days!" ”

He opened his eyes and said nonsense, except for the fact that the message was sent again two days later, which was true, everything else was nonsense, the torch gesture just now was to report the situation in Fang Qifo's army, and there was no other inquiry at all.

Fang Qifo did not doubt him at this moment, nodded and said: "It really needs a suitable time, this kind of thing must not only be carried out when the enemy is most neglected to take precautions, but also watch the weather, wind and rain, etc., it is not easy to decide." ”

Luo Jinshui hurriedly nodded yes.

Fang Qifo thought for a while and said, "At noon two days later, will Li Right Envoy be at the head of the city?" ”

Luo Jinshui was stunned, he really didn't know this, so he had to say helplessly: "Marshal, my subordinates didn't ask, and it's not good to ask about it with a torch." ”

Fang Qifo smiled, and said in his heart that he regarded this torch code language as an all-powerful, and after all, the things that could be used to talk with this torch gesture were limited, and some complicated things could not be demonstrated.

He said: "Then we will talk about it in two days, and we will continue to attack the city in the next few days, and Li You's envoy said in the letter that it is best to attack the city after the siege and wait for the defenders to be tired before making a sneak attack, which is very reasonable." ”

After that, he took people back to the big tent of the Chinese army in the south of the city, and Luo Jinshui and the others here also rested.

The next day, Zhao Ta Zhang Bang calmed the hearts of the people, after all, the thief army attacked the city yesterday with a lot of momentum, and even the cloud ladder was hooked up.

Although the battle outside the city is terrifying, the work that should be done must be done, and the stall should be worked hard, and it must be the same, otherwise as long as it is delayed for a few days, there will be no food or drink at home.

But those nobles were different, all of them were like ants on a hot pot, either busy digging cellars in the palace to bury gold and silver, or sending people outside to buy coarse cloth clothes in adobe houses at high prices, preparing to disguise themselves as ordinary people as ordinary people to get through the customs once the city was destroyed.

But no matter how they tossed, their every move was under the surveillance of Zhao Ta, if they could escape so easily, then the big families in Hangzhou, Yuezhou and other places who did not leave would not be pulled out and killed by Fang Ladu.

In the evening, Zhao Ta went to see Zhu Xiuniang again, this time brought a lot of books, and ordered someone to put them in the house.

Zhu Xiuniang's face turned pale, obviously she already knew the news of the thief army's attack on the city, and in the past two days, seeing that Zhao Ta had not acted rudely, her heart relaxed slightly, but she was still angry: "When will the prince let the people leave?" ”

Zhao Tan frowned and said, "Xiuniang, you are so ignorant, you didn't see that the thief army outside was attacking the city fiercely, why did you still leave in a hurry?" ”

Zhu Xiuniang said righteously: "It is the urgency of the thief army that the prince must guard the city wholeheartedly, and there can be no slackness, the people's daughter will only distract the prince in Fusi, and the prince should hurry up and let the people's daughter go home!" ”

Zhao Ta smiled when he heard this: "Xiuniang said that she would distract the king, and this is not true, but once Xiuniang leaves, the king will become worried, right?" ”

Zhu Xiuniang's cheeks flew when she heard this, she knew that she had said the wrong thing, so she made the other party ambiguous, and hurriedly remedied: "Lord Wang, what the people mean is that I am an eyesore here, so that the prince can't concentrate on military affairs." ”

"What's in the way?" Zhao Ta looked at her and said with a smile: "Compared with flowers, like jade and fragrant, during this war, with Xiuniang by his side, this king can relax a little, otherwise the war hangs every day, and this king is about to die of a headache." ”

Zhu Xiuniang's face turned even redder, and she waited for words again, but she heard Zhao Ta continue: "I have asked someone to prepare a banquet, Xiuniang and I have two glasses, and talk about some knowledge, isn't it happy?" ”

Zhu Xiuniang's expression changed slightly when she heard this, and she said nervously: "Lord, this matter is not allowed!" ”

Zhao Qi wondered: "Why not?" ”

Zhu Xiuniang frowned, she was worried that Zhao Ta was immoral in drinking, but she couldn't say that alcohol can mess with sex, as if she was reminding the other party.

She said: "The folk girl is not good at drinking! ”

Zhao Ta smiled: "Then don't drink, this king didn't force you to drink." ”

Zhu Xiuniang continued: "I, I'm not hungry either......"

Zhao Ta frowned and laughed: "Then you can watch me eat and drink!" ”

He said that he would send the maid in the house to urge the wine and food, and exchange some fresh fruit by the way, and then he flipped through the book and sat there and read it with relish.

Zhu Xiuniang stood there and peeked at him, only to see that this Qin Wang Feng was like jade, and his expression was free and easy, especially when he was reading, his focused expression was even more handsome.

She couldn't help but move in her heart, and said, "What book does the prince read?" ”

Zhao Ta raised his eyes to look at her and said with a smile: "Mr. Huo Sijiu in Tokyo has compiled three points, more than one copy, Xiuniang likes it, and you can take it and read it now." ”

Zhu Xiuniang shook her head: "But I've heard of it, but I don't read it!" ”

Zhao Ta didn't think it was angry when he heard this, just continued to watch, and after a while, the maid brought the fruit, and the east kitchen sent wine and food, and set up a table full of Dengdeng, the aroma was fragrant, and Zhao Ta didn't need to be served by others, just poured himself a drink and ate heartily.

Zhu Xiuniang watched him eat and drink so sweetly on the side, as if there was no one around, she couldn't help but be angry in her heart, this King of Qin was hypocritical, deceived her to the palace and was not allowed to return home, what to say to protect her, it was clearly a false excuse, although she hadn't figured out the real purpose yet, but no matter what, it was getting late, and it was always inappropriate for him to run to his house and sit, not to mention that he was still drinking here, what kind of person did he treat her?

The more she thought about it, the more angry she became, even if she had always been calm and quiet, she couldn't help but open her mouth to drive people away, but at this moment, she heard Zhao Ta chanting: "Zhumen's wine and meat stink, there are frozen bones on the road, the glory and withering are close to each other, and the melancholy is difficult to recount, Xiuniang, what do these sentences mean?" ”

Zhu Xiuniang was shocked when she heard this, these two poems of Du Gongbu can be regarded as forbidden in the world, not to mention that scholars and scholars don't read them, even some dramas are not allowed to be written in the book, and I don't know the places next to them, at least in the Jiangnan area.

She can't answer, it's not that she won't answer, but it's not easy to answer, although she was born in a high-ranking family, a family of scholars, but it doesn't mean that she doesn't know the situation of the people in the market and the countryside outside, but although she knows, she feels pity in her heart, but she only blames fate for this, everything is destined.

Zhao Ta saw that she didn't answer, but looked at her expression and knew what she was thinking, stood up with a snort of wine, walked over in a few steps and said: "If the thief army enters the city, kills the Zhumen clan, robs their money, robs their grain, and robs their wives and daughters, is it also destined by God?" ”

Zhu Xiuniang was so frightened by him that she retreated again and again, and sat directly on the couch, Zhao Ta stretched out her fingers to hook her delicate and white chin, shook her head and said: "Zhumen wine and meat stink, and there are frozen bones on the road, in fact, there is another explanation!" ”

After finishing speaking, Zhao Tan smiled, withdrew his fingers, but gently touched her cheek, and then turned around and walked out of the door without looking back.

Zhu Xiuniang sat on the edge of the couch, her heart was beating "thump", but she didn't expect that just now she was pretending to be a hypocrite and pretending to be a dignified King of Qin, and suddenly she tore her mask and moved her hands and feet?

He actually touched his own house, for more than ten years, no man has ever touched his own house, even if it is the things she uses, it is not allowed to pass through the hands of men, but he ...... I actually touched my cheek.

Zhu Xiuniang was so angry that she trembled, and her tears fell down uncontrollably, but she cried and cried, she remembered something again for some reason, what is the smell of Zhumen's wine and meat, and there are frozen bones on the road, and there is another explanation?

Thinking about it, for some reason, she suddenly became scared in her heart, she shivered, thought of some extremely terrible things, her originally dull face suddenly became frightened, she stood up and wanted to go out of the door, but was pulled by the maid and the mother-in-law......

Early the next morning, Fang Qifo began to command the army to attack the city, but this time it was a full-scale attack on Jiangning, and the four directions were launched together.

With the experience of the last siege, the soldiers first carried the planks, and then the shield carts in front of them opened the way, carrying the logs to the moat to build a bridge.

Although the sound of flying cannons on the head of the city continued to sound, and the stones fell like raindrops, but the number of people who died on the bridge this time was not as many as last time, the wooden bridge on the moat was erected, and the soldiers began to remove the camouflage on the first trench after running over, but this was only the situation under the other three city walls, as for the trench under the southern city, it had already been exposed, and at this time, the soldiers attacking the southern city had put the two trenches on the wood, and ran to the bottom of the city wall like crazy.

For the besieging soldiers, the position close to the city is the safest place, because the cannon can't hit here, the bow and arrow are extremely difficult to shoot, and the only thing to guard against is rolling wood and stones.

With more and more soldiers pouring over, there are more dead bodies on the ground, and crossbows have begun to be used in the south of Jiangning, crossbows are not easy to use, although the power is huge, but crossbows are not better than bows, crossbow machine ballista structure is complex, there is a certain wear cycle, the number of times it is used, it will be abolished, and crossbows can only be made by the Tokyo Ordnance Supervisor, not to mention the people, even if it is not allowed to make crossbows privately.

Therefore, the crossbows in Jiangning City are used up one less piece, and they can't be like bows and guns, even if they are used up in the arsenal, they can be replenished on the spot.

However, Jiang Ning itself has five bed heavy crossbows, and there are also some crossbows of other magnitudes, and Zhao Ta brought ten bed heavy crossbows from Tokyo, and other light and heavy crossbow machine ballistas, no less than hundreds.

The bed crossbow is a general term, and the lightweight ones in it are derived from the god arm crossbow, and the middleweight ones are double bow bed crossbows, large cicada crossbows, etc.

As for the heavy crossbow, the most famous of them is the eight-bull crossbow, which is two positive and one reverse loaded with three crossbows, and the strength is unprecedented, requiring less than twenty or thirty people and more than seventy or eighty people to turn the winch and stretch the strings in order to operate.

The arrows fired by the heavy crossbow are also different, there are the so-called "one gun and three sword arrows", like a large javelin, the arrow feather is three pieces of iron feathers, and the so-called "stepping arrow", after firing, it can be nailed to the city wall, which can be used by the besieging party to step on the edge to climb up, this kind of crossbow is the best to attack low and small cities.

At this moment, every time the eight-bull crossbow on the head of the southern city of Jiangning was fired, whether it hit the bridge or the shield car, it would blow up all the wooden bridge shield cars, even the soldiers hiding behind the shield cars could not be spared.

After a round of crossbow arrow attacks was completed, there was an extra layer of dead corpses under the southern city, and even the attack momentum of the opposing army was slowed down by force, no longer so fierce and ferocious, obviously frightened by the power of the crossbow arrows.

Zhao Ta was standing at the head of the city with his hands in his hands at the moment, looking at the scene under the city, and Wang Yu said beside him: "Lord Wang, isn't it a bit of a waste to use a heavy crossbow now?" ”

Zhao Ta smiled and didn't speak, stretched out his hand and pointed to the Chinese army commander flag of the Seven Buddhas far away from the city, and then pointed to another heavy crossbow next to the Eight Bull Crossbow, and made a gesture to launch.

Next to the Eight Bull Crossbow is a giant bed crossbow, commonly known as the thousand-step crossbow, which can hit as far as the Sansong Dynasty away, about more than 1,800 meters in later generations, and the range can be described as unparalleled in ancient times.

Wang Yu immediately said: "Command!" Then he began to command the soldiers to fill the crossbow strings, and after a while, a crossbow arrow like an iron spear broke through the air and roared, shooting straight towards Fang Qifo's Chinese army commander......

(End of chapter)