In Nanyang City, in the spacious hall of Yang Mansion, dozens of guests were standing or sitting, chattering and shouting. These leading figures in Nanyang didn't know what Master Yang had called them in a hurry to do, and they were guessing wildly.

When everyone was shouting, Yang Shilin and Master walked in. Yang Shilin walked to the main seat and stood still, waved his hands to calm everyone down, and then said: "Everyone, Yang has made everyone wait for a long time, please take a seat!" After everyone sat down, he continued: "Ladies and gentlemen, the scouts sent by Yang came back to report that Zhu Cang treacherously sent 50,000 soldiers and horses to attack Nanyang City. At present, the enemy army is less than fifty miles away from Nanyang City. ”

As soon as Yang Shilin said this, the hall was boiling like a boiling pot, and everyone was talking about it. Yang Shilin waved his hand again, quieted everyone down, and continued: "The enemy is strong and fierce. Therefore, Yang hurriedly summoned everyone to the cold house, just to hear everyone's opinions. Whether it is a battle or a surrender, everyone can express their opinions. ”

As soon as Yang Shilin finished speaking, a young man stood up abruptly and said loudly: "Master Yang, you can't surrender!" We finally took Nanyang City back from Zhu Cang's hands. If you surrender, the people in Nanyang City will suffer again! ”

"Yes, yes, the soldiers will block, and the water will cover the earth! Afraid of him?! ”

The patriarch of the Wu clan stood up and said, "Master Yang, our Wu clan people are willing to assist you in defending the city, and we want people to contribute and strength!" ”

"Yes, Master Yang, our Zeng family is also at your disposal!"

……

Seeing that everyone was dissecting their hearts and minds and the crowd was excited, Yang Shilin showed a satisfied smile on his face. After the last attack on the barracks, he organized an army of 10,000 people with the children surnamed Yang as the backbone. However, relying on only these 10,000 people is far from enough, and if you want to defend Nanyang City, you must mobilize the people of the whole city. Therefore, he summoned everyone to the Yang Mansion to first obtain the support of these village sages. After the last battle, Yang Shilin believed in the power of the people, and only by gaining the support of the people could he hold Nanyang City.

"Thank you for your trust in Yang!" Yang Shilin said, "The Nanyang city wall is tall and big, and with the support of everyone, Yang will definitely be able to defend the city." Zhu Cang's army lacked food and could not be attacked for a long time, so it was bound to withdraw from the siege. ”

Everyone left the Yang Mansion and mobilized their families, relatives, children and neighbors after returning. Yang Shilin also sent people to post notices everywhere, collect materials, and recruit strong men to defend the city. As a result, the people of Nanyang City have the money to contribute and make a strong contribution. A large number of strong men were mobilized, they repaired the city walls, carried supplies to the city, and the preparations for holding Nanyang City were carried out in an orderly manner.

Yang Shilin deployed all 10,000 troops on the city wall and designated generals to defend in sections. He himself led his trusted generals to inspect the city defenses section by piece.

Two days later, Zhu Cang's army arrived at the foot of Nanyang City and set up camp on the east, south, and north sides outside the city. The name of the enemy commander is Zheng Liren. In order to find out the situation of Nanyang City before attacking the city, Zheng Liren led a group of his men to climb a small hill outside the east gate, overlooking Nanyang City hundreds of zhang away.

Nanyang is surrounded by a blue-black city wall, which is four or five zhang high and six or seven zhang wide. The flags at the head of the city are unfurled, the soldiers standing guard with halberds are in bright armor, and the weapons in their hands shine dazzlingly under the sunlight.

After observing for a while, Zheng Liren turned his head and said, "How many defenders are there in the city?" A general next to him said: "Back to the commander, there are 10,000 troops in the city, but there are still a large number of strong men to help defend the city." Zheng Liren listened, frowned and said: "The Nanyang city wall is so tall, if we want to attack the city, we will have to pay a heavy price......" As he spoke, dark clouds suddenly appeared overhead. Immediately afterward, lightning and thunder thundered in the sky. After a while, a torrent of rain, like flying arrows, came on the wind.

Zheng Liren turned his back and said, "It's raining, let's go back to the barracks quickly." With that, he led his generals down the hill and in the direction of the barracks.

On the city wall, Yang Shilin was leading the generals to inspect the city defense, and the wind was fierce for a while, and the rain poured down. The master covered his head with his hands and said, "Master, with such a heavy rain, the enemy army will not attack the city, let's go back to the house quickly!" Yang Shilin walked to the side of the battlement, looked down, wiped the rain from his face, turned to the general who followed behind him, and said, "You must be vigilant, and you must not be careless." If there is an emergency, send someone to call me immediately. All the generals clasped their fists together and said, "Obey!" ”

Yang Shilin and his master walked down the city and returned to Yang's mansion. Yang Shilin changed into a set of clean clothes, drank a cup of hot tea, sat in the study for a while, and then slowly walked out of the room to the porch of the courtyard.

It was getting dark, and the rain was still falling. The raindrops hit the plantain leaves with a crackling sound. Yang Shilin looked up at the one foot of sky above, and thought to himself: "It's been raining for so long, why don't you stop it?" Obviously, Yang Shilin would not have thought that not only would the rain not stop tonight, but also tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

On the official road more than 100 miles away from Nanyang City, an army is marching in the rain, and this team of 3,000 people is the new army that reinforces Nanyang. The sky was thundering and raining. The soldiers braved the strong winds and tread on muddy roads, making their way with difficulty.

Scarface, wearing a hat and a cloak, rode from the front of the group. He came to Li Zhiyun, hugged his fists and said, "Lord Wang, it's raining too much, are you camping on the spot?" Li Zhiyun held the hat in his hand, looked up at the lead-gray sky, and said, "Okay, it's getting dark anyway, let's find an open space and camp!" ”

"Yes!"

The Forces nouvelles were stationed next to the official road. The soldiers set up their tents, went to the nearby woods to cut branches and firewood, built a bonfire in the tent, and baked their damp clothes while cooking in pots.

After a night's rest, the next day, the rain continued to fall. Scarface advocated waiting for the rain to stop before leaving, Li Zhiyun shook his head and said, "No! Jutan is close to Nanyang, and the champion city is far away from Nanyang. Zhu Cang's army set off first, and at this moment, I am afraid that it has already arrived in Nanyang. Nanyang is in danger, we can't delay for a moment, we must brave the rain to hurry! ”

"Okay."

After the team set out, they braved the storm and marched for more than half an hour, but stopped by a small river. Li Zhiyun didn't know what was going on, so he rushed to the front to take a look. It turned out that a flash flood washed away the bridge over the river, and the team could not cross.

The river was not too wide at first, but now that the river is rising, the river has become wider, about ten zhang.

"Lord Wang, what should I do?" Scarface on the side asked.

Li Zhiyun thought for a while and said, "Build a pontoon bridge." ”

"What do you call a pontoon?"

"You'll find out in a moment."

The avenue is lined with mountains and lush forests. Li Zhiyun had the soldiers go up the hill to cut down trees and vines, then cut the trees into five-foot-long logs and tie them with vines.

After more than an hour of busy work, the pontoon bridge was built, and the two ends were fixed to the river bank with wooden stakes. However, the pontoon bridge was very retractable, and as soon as the people walked up, the pontoon sank. In particular, when the gun truck crossed the bridge, the bridge deck sank completely into the water, and it was impossible to pass smoothly at all.

Li Zhiyun knew that this was all caused by the lack of bridge piles, and wooden boats were needed to drive piles in the river. Building a ship first and then driving a pile would be too much of a waste of time. Without saying a word, he took off his hat, took off his coat, and jumped into the water. A soldier had just waded across the river, and he knew that the river was not too deep, and the deepest part had just reached his chin.

When Scarface saw it, he was surprised: "Lord Wang, what are you doing?" ”

Li Zhiyun did not answer, but walked to the pontoon bridge and held up a log with his shoulder. In his previous life, he watched a TV series that described an Eighth Route Army going to the front to fight devils and encountered a river. The women of the village jumped into the river, held up the pontoon bridge on their shoulders, and finally allowed the warriors to cross the river without a hitch.

When Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu saw it, they immediately understood, and they also jumped into the water. The other guards jumped in the footsteps. Then, more people jumped into the river, and everyone held up the pontoon bridge on their shoulders.

Scarface directs the gun wagons through the pontoon, and the gun trucks drive smoothly across the river. Zhu Feng'er and Yinggu were also in the river, and the two stood opposite Li Zhiyun and held up a log together. It was late autumn, and the river was very cold. They had been soaking in the water for a long time, and their lips were frozen purple. Li Zhiyun urged them to go ashore and said, "You two are women, your body is weak, don't freeze and get sick, go up quickly." ”

Zhu Feng'er said resolutely: "No! If you can hold on, so can I! Yinggu also said: "Yes, I won't go up either!" They persevered until the team had all crossed the river, and then waded with Li Zhiyun to the opposite bank.

In Nanyang City, Yang Shilin stood on the city wall, his heart full of worry. It has been raining heavily for seven or eight consecutive days, as if someone had dug a hole in the sky, and the water in the heavenly river was pouring down vigorously. The five or six people around Yang Shilin, although they were all wearing hats and robes, their clothes were wet from the rain.

Yang Shilin walked to the battlements and leaned over to look down at the city. The terrain of Nanyang City is low, and the flood rushing down from Dushan Mountain in the east of the city is blocked by the tall walls of Nanyang City, and it is forced to flow north along the root of the wall. In this way, a river was actually formed outside the city. The river was surging, and the entire Nanyang City seemed to float on the water.

Outside the city, the flood was raging, and the swells were constantly washing away the foundations of the city walls. In the past few days, Yang Shilin has been worried that the city wall will be washed away by floods. After all, the walls of Nanyang City were made of clay, but with a layer of green bricks on the outside. If the city wall is soaked in water for a long time, it will inevitably collapse. Because of his worries, he had to go up to the top of the city several times a day.