After dismissing the soldiers and militiamen of the Xiao Zi Battalion who were scattered at the gate of the county ya, Xiao Jiu didn't have the heart to sleep, and took Li Hao and several soldiers to ride to the border between Lingshui County and Yang County.

Looking at the winding earthen wall, Xiao Jiu frowned without saying a word.

This kind of rudimentary fortification is the limit of what can be built in a short period of time, but the low height really can't stop tens of thousands of Qingzhou troops.

However, Xiao Jiu didn't expect this earthen wall to be able to stop the large number of Qingzhou troops, and only used it as a cover for Xiao Zi's battalion when shooting with crossbow arrows.

In addition, a whole thirteen cannons were embedded in the recesses in the earthen wall, and boxes of specially made cannonballs were placed aside.

For the first offensive of the Qingzhou Army, it depends on whether the power of these cannons can wait for these Qingzhou soldiers who have never seen firearms.

Except for the use of artillery once in the last time when he fended off refugees in Xiaogang Village on the Jizhou border, Xiao Jiu has always kept this battlefield weapon a strict secret.

I didn't want to expose these firearms that surpassed the entire era to the vision of the Great Xia army in advance, but now that the army of Lingshui County is pressing, Xiao Jiu has to let the Qingzhou army taste the power of artillery first.

Thinking like this, it was already late at night, and at this time, the soldiers and horses of the Xiao Zi Battalion were basically camped on the front line of this border.

Tens of thousands of Qingzhou troops did not send troops to attack the camp at night, but only sent several waves of scouts to investigate and deploy defenses.

In the big tent of the Qingzhou Army barracks dozens of miles east of Lingshui County, Lu Yaoliang and a group of Qingzhou officials and generals listened to the report from their subordinates, and the corners of their mouths gradually showed a smile.

Only Wen Jie looked at the arrogant colleagues in the tent at this time, and behaved preoccupied.

seems to have seen Wen Jie's thoughts, and retained Wen Jie's after deploying the deployment of tomorrow's army.

"Wen Jie, are you still worried about this Xiao Jiu?"

Wen Jie looked at Lu Yaoliang expressionlessly, the corners of his mouth trembled slightly, but he didn't speak.

Seeing this, Lu Yaoliang let out a long sigh.

"I know you have a deep affection for the teacher, but there are not many choices to sit in your and my seats."

"You are the only confidant in the entire Qingzhou, don't you really want to help me achieve a hegemony?"

"You know, there's no turning back for me."

When Wen Jian heard this, the expression on his face began to become gradually complicated.

I don't know when it began, the siblings who studied together when I was young became as cold and strange as they are now.

As time passed, both of them were no longer the scholars who once had sincere fantasies about the future.

The power in his hands continues to expand, and with it comes one difficult choice after another.

In the barracks tent of the Qingzhou Army, the two were relatively speechless, and the atmosphere became a little awkward, but in the end, Wen Jie's words broke the silence.

"Can't you really come back?"

Listening to Wen Jie's words that he didn't know whether it was self-deprecation or inquiry, Lu Yaoliang did not answer positively.

Instead, he promised to ask Wen Jie to send a letter to Xiao Jiu before arriving in Lingshui County tomorrow, and handed over the military power in his hand to save his life, and sent Wen Jie away after speaking.

On the way back to his residence, Wen Jie's heart was entangled.

Although he was very optimistic about this young Xiao Jiu, at this time, Lu Yaoliang's ambition to expand westward and invade was no longer questionable.

In fact, before Qingzhou raised troops, Wen Jie advised many times, believing that with Li Li's influence in the court, he should slowly develop and accumulate strength.

However, Lu Yaoliang firmly believes that although the current emperor is young, he will definitely not be a soft-hearted person, which can be seen from his secret support for Xiao Jiu in Qingzhou and the edict of Qingzhou to go west to quell the rebellion.

Now that the country is suffering from natural disasters, it is an opportunity, if you can't grasp it, when the disaster situation in various parts of the imperial court gradually turns around, he Qingzhou will no longer have the possibility of hegemony.

Thinking of this, Wen Jie laughed at himself helplessly, looked at the galaxy, and was silent for a long time.

Early in the morning of the second day, before the Qingzhou Army could be deployed, Xiao Jiu in Lingshui County received a handwritten letter from Wen Jie.

It seemed that he didn't expect that Wen Jie, who had been embarrassed by himself in every way, would come to persuade him, but the sincere tone in his heart let Xiao Jiu know that he really wanted to save Xiao Jiu's life, and Wen Jie had no need to deceive himself.

But now Xiao Jiu is not only alone, but also represents the hundreds of thousands of people in Lingshui County behind him.

So in the end, Xiao Jiu still politely declined Wen Jie's kindness, and went to the front line to prepare for the upcoming Qingzhou army.

On the earthen wall line on the border of Lingshui County, at this time, the soldiers of the Xiao Zi Battalion and the militia from all over Lingshui County were stationed, and it was roughly estimated that there were more than 5,000 people.

Behind them, there were also people and peasants from various villages and towns in Lingshui County who came spontaneously, all of whom rushed to support with farm tools and homemade weapons at this time, with serious faces.

In addition to these, there were two detachments of about 3,000 men stationed on the flank of the border to guard against the surprise attack of the Qingzhou army, and it was Jizhou and Yuzhou who sent soldiers and horses to assist Xiao Jiu.

Just by looking at the expressions on the faces of these soldiers, you can know that if the battlefield really becomes a one-sided situation, they will definitely become the first batch of deserters.

Xiao Jiu didn't have too many expectations for these bonuses from Jizhou and Yuzhou to support him, as long as he could prevent the Qingzhou army from the flank.

With Xiao Jiu's letter refusing to surrender, the Qingzhou army immediately launched an offensive.

The phalanx of soldiers neatly stopped at a distance of a hundred paces from Xiao Zi's camp and began to shoot waves of dense arrows with their bows and arrows.

The Lingshui County side hid behind the earthen wall one after another, and many soldiers and militiamen who could not avoid fell down, and there were bursts of wailing.

Faced with the enemy who was close at hand, Xiao Jiu did not immediately order the artillery to fire back, but waited for the Qingzhou army to slowly move forward, because he wanted to bombard the main figures in the Qingzhou army with artillery.

Now Xiao Jiu's red-clothed cannon is basically inaccurate, and it all relies on the burst effect of the cannonball explosion to kill and damage the enemy.

If you want to be decapitated in one fell swoop when you are defending against the disaster team, you can only wait for the enemy to get close to the range of the shell.

As the Qingzhou army slowly approached, the Qingzhou army at the front had almost reached a distance of fifty steps from the earthen wall, and Xiao Jiu's raised arm fell suddenly.

"Open fire."

With Xiao Jiu's shout, more than a dozen cannons instantly ignited the fuse, and a moment later, a loud bang came out.

In addition to the one that exploded, twelve cannons fired in unison, and the flying shells landed one by one in the phalanx of the Qingzhou army.

One of the county guards who led the charge was hit by a cannonball, and the shrapnel that exploded instantly blasted him into a puddle of minced meat, leaving his men stunned.

Although Lu Yaoliang was not affected by the power of the cannonball's explosion, he was also not happy, and fell heavily from the frightened war horse.

The Qingzhou sergeants who had been in chaos all fled backwards with frightened faces on their faces at this time, completely losing the order they had before.

At this time, in the direction of Lingshui County, with Xiao Jiu raising his arms, the soldiers of the Xiao Zi Battalion and the militia of Lingshui County shouted and rushed towards the Qingzhou Army.

The crossbow in his hand kept shooting crossbow arrows, taking away fresh lives.