With the passage of time, a major war in Lingshui County was about to break out.

To the east of Lingshui County, at this time, the Qingzhou military barracks were densely stationed, and there was a sense of oppression that black clouds were pressing down on the city.

Now in the entire northern state capital of Great Xia, the most powerful is Lu Yaoliang.

This time he led the army to attack, and he made up his mind to eat Xiao Jiu.

For the cannon that had suffered a loss before, Lu Yaoliang also took precautions in advance.

This time, instead of attacking in the form of a traditional military formation, they followed Xiao Jiu's militia squad and prepared to divide their troops to break through the townships and towns under the jurisdiction of Lingshui County, and then besiege Lingshui County.

What Lu Yaoliang did not expect was that before he led the army to attack these towns, Zhang Ben had already implemented the strategy of clearing the wilderness and transferred the vast majority of the people to the county seat.

After finding out the situation, the Qingzhou army drove directly into the townships of Lingshui County and gradually surrounded the county seat.

Outside Lingshui County, Zhang Ben looked at the figures that were not passing by under the city tower, and his brows were furrowed.

Prior to this, Zhang Ben had already sent people to strengthen the city wall of Lingshui County, and placed a lot of explosives or traps around Lingshui County.

Now that the Qingzhou army is attacking, although Xiao Jiu only gave him the order to defend the county seat, in the face of tens of thousands of regular soldiers, he really doesn't have much confidence in his heart.

Although there are thick barrels on the castle towers, everyone knows that the enemy will be on guard after using the cannon once.

Now it is impossible to use artillery to force the Qingzhou soldiers back, and there will inevitably be a tough battle to be fought later.

During this time, neither side launched an attack, but continued to test the other party's bottom line and seek intelligence.

However, this atmosphere of the Cold War will not last long, and it will not be long before the flames of war will officially spread.

Just when the Qingzhou Army continued to send scouts to collect intelligence, Zhang Ben also launched mobilization activities in Lingshui County.

Zhang Ben clearly knew that the thousands of Xiao Zi battalions in Lingshui County alone could not resist the menacing Qingzhou Army.

Only when the people are thoroughly mobilized and have a popular base can it be possible to hold on.

Fortunately, most of the local people joined the proletarian guild after the land reform, and their trust in Xiao Jiu's regime was extremely high.

Driven by the government, these people clearly knew who had brought them to a good life.

If the Qingzhou army really breaks the city, then these people in the city will return to their previous poor days, and the land they have been allocated will definitely be confiscated.

Therefore, as soon as the obituary of Lingshui County was issued, it was first responded to by the militia regiments of various townships and towns.

With the addition of these militias, these relatives and friends have also strengthened their determination to defend Lingshui County in their hearts.

In addition to the county seat, the hare mountain and wild wolf in Lingshui County were heavily guarded by the Xiao Zi battalion.

Of course, these soldiers did not really want to defend these two lonely mountains, but planned to destroy some of the technical stuff after the enemy broke through Lingshui County.

Now the steel produced in the Lingshui County Steelmaking Plant was sent to the county seat by Xiao Jiu in batches as early as the beginning of spring.

The weapons workshops in the county town are also making some batches of crossbows and ordnance at full capacity.

At present, there is a huge gap between Zhang Ben's side in Lingshui County and the Qingzhou Army in terms of the number and quality of soldiers, but it is indeed far ahead in terms of weapons and equipment.

Xiao Jiu had already taken precautions to hoard a large amount of military funds in Lingshui County, just to prevent the Qingzhou army from attacking.

Now, with the large-scale conscription activities in the county seat of Lingshui County, the newly recruited soldiers basically have military crossbows made in batches.

Although the overall quality of these recruits is not high, the side with equipment in hand and defending the city still occupies a natural advantage.

More than ten days passed quickly, and the Qingzhou army, which was gearing up, ended its cautious temptation and began to besiege Lingshui County.

Looking at the dense crowd of human heads under the city, Zhang Ben watched coldly, and all the subordinates around him also looked solemn and did not say a word.

……

Yangcheng, the county guard's house.

At this time, the atmosphere in the county guard mansion was depressing, and a group of generals gathered in the back hall.

Now that the intelligence of the Qingzhou Army's entry into Lingshui County has reached Yangcheng County, many people are sweating for Zhang Ben, who is far away in Lingshui County.

After such a long wait, Lu Yaoliang from Qingzhou finally couldn't hold back and wanted to do it!

Although Xiao Jiu had expected this, he was still a little apprehensive when a strong enemy attacked.

In the face of the menacing tens of thousands of troops in Qingzhou, many generals were suggesting that Xiao Jiu withdraw to the garrison of Lingshui County and go all out to defend Yangcheng County.

Once the battle line is extended, not to mention that Xiao Jiu's current troops are not enough, in case a protracted war starts, it will be a big trouble just to send military rations to Lingshui County.

But Xiao Jiu did not take their advice and chose to let Zhang Ben stick to Lingshui County.

This is not to say that Xiao Jiu didn't care about the lives of his subordinates for the sake of the little land and iron ore in Lingshui County, but that he had sent someone to Wang Pingkou to send a secret letter before the Qingzhou army attacked.

Xiao Jiu directly ordered Heizi to take his navy north along the coastline to Qingzhou at Wanpingkou, and specially arranged for Jin Zi to go with the newly formed 2,000 bow and crossbow battalion.

When the war in Lingshui County starts, the Qingzhou Army, which is too busy to take care of itself, will inevitably let the rear side go unattended.

At that time, the navy will surprise the enemy's rear, not to mention winning more with less, at least it will not let the Qingzhou army make meritorious contributions easily.

As long as Zhang Ben can hold Lu Yaoliang's army in Lingshui County, the army from Qingzhou will naturally be solved.

In addition, the soldiers sent by Xiao Jiu had already made contact with Wang Meng's forbidden army outside Yuzhou.

After the war began, the forbidden army that had already been stationed on the border line of Yuzhou could directly attack Yuzhou and relieve the pressure of Xiao Jiu's back from the enemy.

There is also Jizhou, when the rebel army attacked Jizhou before, it was considered to have completely offended the local wealthy clans.

Under the premise of the current tense situation, in order to protect themselves, these families can only form troops one after another, waiting for the Yuzhou rebel army and Xiao Jiuwang to compete with each other to reap the benefits.

So the key point of the matter is back to Lingshui County, as long as the Qingzhou Army that is pouring out of the nest is delayed, the ferocious offensive will collapse in an instant.

"Zhang Ben, it depends on whether you can hold on."

Xiao Jiu looked at the dim sky outside the house and muttered to himself.

……

Speaking of Lingshui County, at this time, the army was pressing, and the people and soldiers in the city were all tense at all times, revealing a depressing atmosphere.

Since the land reform in Lingshui County, the peasants have become the owners of the land, and these obedient people are no longer as docile as before.

Now someone wants to take away what belongs to them, and they resist from the bottom of their hearts.

Therefore, there is no need for Zhang Ben to use the name of the government to forcibly recruit, and the people all spontaneously join the army, looking like a harmonious relationship between the army and the people.

As time passed, the Qingzhou Army under Lü Yaoliang began to take the lead in launching an offensive.

After suffering from the enemy last time, the Qingzhou army did not gather a dense array of troops to rush to the city.

Instead, catapults and catapults were made not far outside the city, and inferior explosives and stones were thrown into the city without stopping.

Although more than a dozen cannons were installed on the tower of Lingshui County, the range and accuracy of the cannons were not enough to hit the Qingzhou army outside the city.

On the other hand, the Qingzhou Army seems to have made sufficient preparations for a protracted war, and began to station all its troops not far from Lingshui County, and constantly sent troops to sweep the towns and villages under its jurisdiction.

Lü Yaoliang's order was also very simple, that is, to implement the three-light policy, and orderly burn these villages and towns in Lingshui County and slaughter the people.

Although most of the materials and grain have already been transported to the county seat in the villages under the jurisdiction of Lingshui County, people have begun to evacuate in large numbers.

The land, which can be the foundation of farmers' survival, is not so easy to give up.

Moreover, Lingshui County is only a small county, and it is impossible to accommodate all the people to enter.

Therefore, the civilians left in the villages and towns suffered an unwarranted disaster when the Qingzhou Army arrived.

Countless people's homes have been burned down, and it is unknown how many families have been torn apart.

It seems that for the shame of eating deflated in Lingshui County before Yixue, Lu Yaoliang's attitude of ignoring it completely aroused the wildness in the hearts of the Qingzhou sergeants.

Lingshui County, which was affected by the war, was like a purgatory on earth for a while, and countless unjust souls wailed under the atrocities of the Qingzhou army.

Although Zhang Ben in Lingshui County gritted his teeth with hatred for this, he couldn't do anything about it.

As the supreme commander of Lingshui County, one decision is the life and death of tens of thousands of people, and no matter what decision he makes, he must be extremely cautious.

Now he was walking on thin ice, although he wanted to go out of the city to meet the enemy, but reason told her that this would only lead to a complete defeat.

Zhang Ben is no longer the little person on Hare Mountain before, from an ant to a superior who sits and watches the death of 10,000 people, how much bitterness is there in the transformation.

After that, the Qingzhou army went out to insult many times outside the city, but Zhang Ben still maintained the original strategy of not going out, which made many soldiers in the city resentful.

The current Lingshui County is like a turtle's shell, and Zhang Ben's Xiaoziying is like a turtle hiding in a turtle's shell.

Although Lu Yaoliang wanted to directly order the siege of the city, when he saw the cannon barrels standing on the city tower, his heart suddenly cooled.

Faced with the cannons lined up on the city tower, the Qingzhou army did not have a good way to solve it.

For this occasion, it is the best policy to gradually surround the isolated city of Lingshui County and make it collapse without a fight.

You must know that there are not only aboriginal residents and some soldiers in the army in Lingshui County, but also tens of thousands of people in one breath before.

And the materials consumed by these people every day will be massive, as long as they can cut off the connection between Lingshui County and the outside world, this lonely city will be self-defeating.

While besieging the city, Lu Yaoliang did not forget to send troops to sweep away the soldiers of the Xiaozi Battalion and the two mountains of hares and wolves stationed in Lingshui County.

After taking Wild Wolf Mountain, he seized a large amount of refined pig iron, steel, and a lot of ordnance, but he did not get anything related to the production of cannons or the ratio of gunpowder.

These craftsmen who worked in the mountains had been transferred to the county seat long ago, so Lu Yaoliang didn't get these skills that wanted to get Xiao Jiu's core.

Just when the lives in Lingshui County were in dire straits, the newly formed navy of Wanpingkou also rode the wind and waves along the coastline to Jiaolong Bay in the north of Qingzhou.