The 500,000-strong army led by Emperor Mengtan of the Scorching Sun Kingdom swept across the border of the July Kingdom and was invincible. The speed of the march of the army was not slow, and it could penetrate fifty or sixty miles into the hinterland of the Seven Kingdoms every day.

Wang Yan led the troops with Zhou Shan and Dong Yun to the fortress.

The Hukou Fortress is built on the mountain, the terrain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. But in the past 100 years, the July Kingdom, which has not experienced war, has gradually neglected the role of this fortress. Due to the need for trade, it slowly evolved into a bustling town.

At this moment, the Tiger's Mouth Fortress, which had been shrouded in the clouds of war, lost its due prosperity and was replaced by panic and desolation.

The soldiers guarding the fortress were also panicked, although under the leadership of the general Li Zihao, they were preparing for battle, but they did not have confidence in blocking the army of the Scorching Sun Country with the natural danger of the fortress, and their only hope was to wait for reinforcements.

"Report to your lordship, Wang Yan, the general of the shooting sun, led 5,000 elite soldiers to support. A soldier walked quickly up to Li Zihao and told him the news of Wang Yan's arrival.

"Hurry up and ask General Shooting Sun to come to the council chamber, I'll arrange it, and I'll be there right away. Li Zihao, who was directing the soldiers to strengthen the fortress, was immediately overjoyed when he heard the soldiers' report. There are two reasons why he is so happy, the first is that the time for the arrival of reinforcements was greatly unexpected and too fast. In his original consciousness, it was inconceivable that reinforcements could arrive within ten days, because he knew that the domestic army had been mobilized to the border directly bordering the Scorching Sun Kingdom to resist the attacking Scorching Sun Army there. And now, just two days later. There are reinforcements arriving, I have to say that it is a miracle, although the number of reinforcements is not much, but they are all elite soldiers. Besides, the first batch of reinforcements has arrived, will the second batch be far away? Li Zihao's confidence in holding the fortress has greatly increased. Secondly, with the arrival of the Japanese general Wang Yan, the responsibility of defending the fortress falls on Wang Yan, even if the fortress is lost, he Li Zihao does not need to bear much responsibility.

When Li Zihao rushed to the conference hall, Wang Yan. Zhou Shan. Dong Yun was sitting on a chair looking at the fortress defense map sent by the soldiers, and the tea in front of them didn't move.

Li Zihao was obviously stunned when he saw the new Sun Shooting General accompanied by two women. Thought. This general will really enjoy it. When you come to war, you have to bring the women who serve. Can the emperor send such a person to guard the fortress?

Of course. The words in my heart can only rot in my heart, after all, it is not easy for this sun-shooting general to dare to risk death to come to support.

The last general, Li Zihao, is late, and I hope the general will forgive him. Li Zihao clasped his hands into fists and bowed to Wang Yan.

"General Li doesn't have to be polite, the enemy is now, we should hurry up and discuss countermeasures, so as not to delay the fighter. When Wang Yan heard Li Zihao's voice, he realized that he was already standing in the conference hall.

"General Qiyu shoots the sun, the last general has led the soldiers to strengthen the fortress, we just need to hold on. Li Zihao said loudly, in his consciousness, this is the best decision.

"General Li, I just looked at the defense map of the fortress. With us alone, I'm afraid it's hard to defend. I need more detailed information to be sure that I can stop the enemy army and live up to the emperor's trust. After Wang Yan finished speaking, he glanced at Li Zihao, and then added: "You should know that we have no more reinforcements." “

"What?" Li Zihao was shocked: "General Shooting Sun, without reinforcements, it is impossible for us to hold the fortress!"

"It's man-made. Even if we really can't hold the fortress, we have to find a way to inflict heavy damage on the enemy army and delay time, so that the emperor can be fully prepared. Tell me about the enemy and the fortress. Wang Yan said with a solemn face

"Okay. Li Zihao had no choice but to speak: "According to the news obtained by our army scouts, the army of the Scorching Sun Kingdom is well-armed and arrogant, and there are no chickens and dogs left wherever they pass. At the current pace of travel, it will take three days to reach the fortress. As for the fortification, there are only 2,000 defenders, and only 3,000 soldiers who have fled from the border, and I have arranged for the soldiers to strengthen the walls of the fortress, and to cut huge boulders from the nearby hills, and to cut down large trees as rolling stones against the enemy. There were still nearly 10,000 residents in the fortress who did not have time to flee. The stored grain and grass can last for a month. However, there was a serious shortage of weapons, with only 20,000 arrows. Armor and shields are also not guaranteed to be equipped on every soldier. However, since the general of the shooting sun brought troops to support, he must have also brought corresponding supplies, and the lack of weapons and equipment of the soldiers should be alleviated. ”

"You are wrong, in order to hurry, the five thousand soldiers I led were all lightly armed and did not have extra weapons. It seems that there is only another way. Wang Yan sighed after listening to Li Zihao's report.

"......" Li Zihao couldn't say a word, only felt a piercing chill running through the soles of his feet from the top of his head, and froze in place.

"Don't be discouraged, there's always a way. First, take me to see the reinforcement of the fortress walls. Wang Yan saw Li Zihao's lost appearance and immediately guessed his thoughts.

The thirty-meter-high Hukou Fortress city wall, although it has been simply reinforced, is still mottled and full of cracks.

"This is what you are talking about, the city wall that has been strengthened?" Wang Yan was obviously angry, it was really wishful thinking to use such a fortress to stop the army of the Scorching Sun Kingdom.

"Your Excellency, the Sun Shooting General, there is a shortage of manpower and property, and it is not easy to strengthen it like this in a hurry, and the soldiers have done their best. Li Zihao defended himself and the soldiers.

"Immediately call on all the people in the fortress to strengthen the city walls, make sure to increase the walls of the fortress to more than fifty meters, and repair all these cracks, so that the enemy does not leave the slightest chance to climb. Wang Yan stated his request for the fortress.

"Lord Sunshooter, even if you can collect the manpower, where can you find the materials you need?" Li Zihao is still in a dilemma, this is not something that can be solved by words.

"The earth was dug from the main road outside the fortress, and the stone was collected from the high mountains on both sides. Leave enough grain and grass in the fortress for ten days, and boil the rest into glutinous rice paste. It was mixed into the earth and used to glue the city walls. After a moment's thought, Wang Yan gave an order: "I want to see the new and solid fortress walls before the enemy army arrives." ”

"The last general obeys the order!" Li Zihao immediately took the order and left.

Scenes of labor were in full swing in every part of the fortress, and the inhabitants of the fortress began to get busy after receiving the order to repair the walls, men, women, and children went into battle in unison, and did not hesitate to donate their goods. This is to protect the family and the country, and no one wants to be a slave to the country.

The walls are getting taller and thicker little by little, and the enemy is approaching step by step. Wang Yan began to think about weapons and soldiers again. War is bound to take its toll on soldiers. There were no reinforcements. It's about finding ways to protect the existing soldiers from as little damage as possible, but that's easier said than done.

"Wang Yan, eat first, you haven't eaten for a day. And so on. How can it work. The soldiers will still count on your command. Zhou Shan brought the food to Wang Yan, these meals had been heated by her three times, but they still maintained the appearance of freshly cooked.

"Shan'er. Without a good strategy against the enemy, how can you let me eat? Wang Yan looked at Zhou Shan's eyes full of concern and understood her intentions. Just when he saw the food, he couldn't swallow it.

"Even if it's for me and Yun'er, you can eat a little more. Zhou Shan continued to persuade Wang Yan, and at the same time scooped up a spoonful of food and sent it to Wang Yan's mouth.

Wang Yan reluctantly opened his mouth and ate the mouthful. But he immediately stopped Zhou Shan from continuing to feed him like this: "Okay, Shan'er, you just let me concentrate on thinking for a while, and don't interrupt my train of thought again." ”

"I ......" Zhou Shan felt a little aggrieved, but she still swallowed the words behind and quietly stepped aside.

"Wang Yan, are you worthy of us like this? Isn't there just that there are not enough soldiers, so we can just make some dummies to confuse the enemy, anyway, we just block the enemy, and we don't really need to kill the enemy. Dong Yun saw that Zhou Shan was very aggrieved, so she was upset for her, but what she said was boundless.

"Who said you don't have to kill the enemy?" Wang Yan was very annoyed when Dong Yun interrupted his train of thought, but he was quickly enlightened by Dong Yun's unintentional words: "Wait, you mean to be a dummy, this reminds me." ”

Dong Yun was confused: "What did I say?"

"Wang Yan, do you have a way?" Zhou Shan saw that the expression on Wang Yan's face was obviously relaxed, and asked suspiciously.

"Hmm!" Wang Yan nodded affirmatively: "The dummy Yun'er said is indeed a good idea. You all know the story of the grass boat borrowing arrows, and we also used this method this time. Make tons of straw figures, dress up as soldiers, and let real soldiers hide under battlements. In this way, when the enemy sees a large number of defenders in the fortress, they do not dare to attack indiscriminately, and they will definitely shoot arrows. We'll get arrows to hit the strawmen, and once the enemy starts attacking, the soldiers hiding under the battlements will be able to drop the rocks and destroy the enemy. By repeating this a few times, we will no longer have to worry about running out of weapons, and it will also protect our soldiers very well. ”

"This can also be figured out by you, and I really convince you. Dong Yun pouted: "Let's eat, don't let our Shan'er worry." ”

"Eat, eat. Wang Yan hurriedly picked up the rice bowl and devoured it, which made Zhou Shan and Dong Yun giggle.

After eating, Wang Yan led Zhou Shan and Dong Yun to the city wall of the fortress, and he wanted to see how to arrange the soldiers so that the enemy would not find out about the fake straw men.

"General Li, you send someone to hurry up and make a hundred straw figures, put on the soldier's cloth armor, and put them here. Wang Yan said to Li Zihao, while pointing to a clearing on the city wall.

"What are you doing as a straw man?" Li Zihao didn't understand.

"Do as I say, and you'll find out later." Wang Yan didn't explain too much, he had to ask everyone to follow his orders meticulously. Otherwise, once the war starts, something will go wrong.

"Yes!" Li Zihao agreed, and hurriedly prepared to go.

"Let's take a look outside the fortress. After Wang Yan selected a lot of locations to place the straw man fake soldiers, he said to Zhou Shan and Dong Yun. He wanted to see if he couldn't tell the real from the outside of the fortress, and only by being foolproof could he really confuse the enemy.

"Lord Sunshooter, what should we do with these deep pits on the road where the earth has been taken?" a soldier guarding the gate of the fortress saw Wang Yan coming and asked.

"It's all made into a trap. Placing sharpened wooden thorns in it can help us kill a lot of enemies. "Wang Yan is a master at making traps, and of course he will not waste these existing resources.

"It would be nice if there was an oversized trap that buried all the enemy troops at once. "The soldiers guarding the gate were somewhat whimsical.

"Makes sense. It's a bit difficult, but you can give it a try, and the effect is much better. Wang Yan was inspired again, thought for a moment, and said: "Send someone to dig all the pits into a large and deep pit, and the farther away from the fortress, the thicker the camouflage on the traps, so as to avoid the disadvantages of the enemy army falling into it as soon as they step on it." When a large number of enemy troops step on the trap, the trap will eventually collapse because it is unbearable, and in this way, the enemy will not only suffer heavy casualties, but also infinite fear. ”

According to Wang Yan's order, Li Zihao put the straw man on the fortress wall, and sent someone to inform Wang Yan: "Your Excellency, the straw man has been arranged according to the instructions of the person, please take a look at it." ”

"What do you think of the effect?" Wang Yan looked up from outside the fortress, and really couldn't see any difference between these straw men and real soldiers, and he was very satisfied.

"Wang Yan, it's hard to distinguish between truth and falsehood, but these straw men can't move, and after a long time, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deceive the enemy. Dong Yun looked at the straw figures that had been placed in various poses, and thought of a very critical point.

"It doesn't matter, let's plant more flags next to the straw men, the fortress is windy, and fluttering flags can affect the feeling of the enemy troops, and make them mistakenly think that those soldiers are moving. After Wang Yan finished speaking, he immediately sent soldiers to plant many flags next to the straw man, and the effect was really different.

"Report! The army of the Scorching Sun Kingdom is less than 60 miles away from the fortress, and it will be there tomorrow. "The scout brings the latest news from the enemy.

When Wang Yan heard the news, he stood on the wall of the fortress and looked into the distance. The preparations have been completed, just waiting for the arrival of the enemy army. The battle between life and death is about to begin. (To be continued......)