After Zhong Heng took over the Hanzhong Army, he had carefully studied the Southwest Army. In his opinion, the current strength of the Southwest Army, even if it was added with thunder, was not enough to go out to Shu to fight eastward. At least it would have to accumulate strength for several years.

But there are only one million households in the southwest. Even if the troops are strong and forcefully recruited, they will not be able to overthrow a unified dynasty. Therefore, it is not realistic to rebel in the southwest.

Last year, the Yuwen Department of Northern Xinjiang was the best opportunity for the Southwest. At that time, as long as the Southwest Army put aside the Han family and joined forces with the Yuwen Department, and under the attack of the north and south, it was not impossible to destroy the Great Jin Dynasty.

However, compared with the Yuwen Department, the Southwest Army was not strong enough. Even if they joined forces with the Yuwen Department to destroy the Great Jin Dynasty, they would probably not be able to get the world. They could only get half of the country and confront Yuwen Zhou like the previous Southern Jin Dynasty.

In Zhong Heng's opinion, after this Marquis of Jing'an missed this opportunity, he would probably not make any big moves. He would retreat back to the southwest to become the local emperor, quietly waiting for the next opportunity.

However, Li Xin's behavior is always beyond the expectations of the crowd.

Ankang is not very far from Xiangyang. Even though the marching speed is not fast, more than half a month later, 100,000 Southwest Army has arrived at the city of Xiangyang.

Yes, the Southwest Army did not come out in full swing. Mu Ying and Li Shuo each led 50,000 people to attack Xiangyang.

On the walls of Xiangyang, Pei Jin, Zhong Heng and Xie Jing each held a thousand-mile mirror produced by the capital general as a supervisor, watching the Southwest Army several miles away.

Xie Jing put down the Qianli Mile Mile Mile, turned his head to look at the two generals standing beside him, and said, "Two, the scouts have sent more detailed information. This time, the Southwest Army did not dispatch the entire army, only 100,000 people came. Now, our Xiangyang City has about 150,000 troops. In my opinion, there is no need for us to defend the city and go out to meet the enemy directly."

"They are in Shu County. We are not familiar with the terrain and there is Jianmen Pass blocking the road. The court cannot do anything to them, but they took the initiative to walk out of Jianmen Pass and collided with the court head-on. How can we not do this military merit that comes to the door?"

Xie Jing said in a deep voice: "If we annihilate these 100,000 Southwest Army, the remaining Southwest Army will not be able to defend Jianmen Pass. We can even wipe out the Southwest in one fell swoop and return to Beijing to receive rewards!"

Zhong Heng frowned slightly and didn't say anything.

Pei Jin, who was beside him, glanced at Xie Jing and said slowly: "General Xie has never fought with Li Changan, nor has he seen his power, so he underestimated the enemy too much."

"He Li Chang'an has rarely lost all kinds of battles, big and small. This person is extremely meticulous and will never make such a mistake. Maybe he just wants to use his relatively weak troops to lure us out of the city and fight him head-on. At that time, he buried some thunder in the ground or set up an ambush, and Xiangyang City will be destroyed in an instant."

Pei Jin suffered a great loss from Li Xin.

In the early years of Taikang, Pei Jin was the general of the imperial guards, and was in charge of the two battalions of the imperial guards. He was also driven from this position under the design of Li Xin and Emperor Taikang. Especially in the eighth year of Taikang, Pei Jin was ordered by Emperor Taikang to expedition the west and wanted to completely destroy the city of Hanzhou. As a result, Tianlei made its first official debut. Pei Jin's army of more than 100,000 were defeated. After returning to the capital, he was directly demoted to a commoner by the furious Emperor Taikang!

That time was also a battle to become famous by "Tian Lei".

Pei Jin knew very well that the great loss he suffered in Taikang in the eighth year must have been the one who was doing something behind his back. From that time on, he was extremely afraid of Li Xin.

Seeing Pei Jin speak, Zhong Heng, who is conservative, breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "I also agree with General Pei. Marquis Li can't do such a stupid thing. If he dares to attack Xiangyang, he must have some support. We cannot act rashly, and we cannot go out of the city to meet the enemy without knowing nothing about the enemy."

"Xiangyang City is the mighty city of my Great Jin Dynasty. The ancestors of my family relied on this city to resist the Northern Zhou Dynasty for decades. There is no reason for us to abandon the city and fight head-on with the enemy."

Speaking of this, Zhong Heng said in a deep voice: "It's better to guard it first, and see what the Southwest Army has to rely on. Once you understand it, it's not too late to make a decision."

"What else can the Southwest Army rely on? It's just heavenly thunder."

Xie Jing gritted his teeth and said, "General Pei has created a battle formation to restrain the sky thunder. There is no need to be afraid of this thing anymore. You two are both scared by him, Li Xin!"

Xie Jing and Zhong Heng were both generals of the next generation of the Great Jin Dynasty, while Pei Jin was among the seniors. If it weren't for the great defeat in Taikang in the eighth year, he would have been the one who took charge of the southwest affairs of the court at this time, rather than discussing with these two juniors here.

The general frowned and looked at Xie Jing, and said lukewarmly: "If the uncle wants to fight, he will take the Hanzhong army to fight. Our Ankang army will not leave the city alone."

After saying that, Pei Jin turned around and left, unwilling to stand with Xie Jing.

Zhong Heng sighed slightly, turned his head and spoke to Xie Jing, "General, let's take a look first."

In desperation, Xie Jing could only nod and agreed.

The two of them continued to watch the movements of the Southwest Army with a thousand-mile mirror. They saw that these Southwest Army camped about ten miles outside Xiangyang City, and then began to cut down the surrounding trees to make catapults.

With the transportation capacity of this era, heavy objects such as catapults are difficult to carry remotely. They are usually taken locally at the siege. This is a compulsory course for all generals in this era. Every qualified general will make catapults for siege.

Xie Jing stood on the city wall and looked at the busy Southwest Army, and curled his lips disdainfully.

"No matter how many catapults they made, there were not many stones nearby. Even if there were, catapults could not threaten Xiangyang City. If they wanted to attack the city, they would have to fill it with their lives!"

"I want to see how many lives their Southwest Army can die!"

The insufficient number of people is the key to the Southwest Army. Although the court's standing army plus the border army is only 500,000 or 600,000, there is a huge base of people. As long as the court gives orders, it is not a problem to create a million troops, and if the entire southwest is empty, it will not create a army of 300,000.

If you can make it out, you can't afford it even in the southwest.

In this way, the Southwest Army was busy outside Xiangyang City for three days and had been making catapults. On the third day, twenty catapults were almost ready. Li Xin, covered in armor, rode on a horse and slowly walked towards Xiangyang City. Then he looked at the three generals on the city wall with a thousand-mile mirror, and found that they were all old acquaintances.

He stopped at the top of the city, then took off a simple amplified iron speaker from the horse and shouted loudly to the city tower.

"There are all acquaintances on the city walls, and some of them are my old subordinates in the imperial guards. Li can't bear to let you all be miserable. You can open the city and surrender!"

The people on the city wall vaguely heard Li Xin's voice, and everyone's expressions were different.

Xie Jing sneered and whispered to the city wall: "Master Li is the one who has lost his skills? How can he say such stupid words? Your 100,000 Southwest Army will die and you will not be able to reach the city wall of Xiangyang City!"

"It's better for Marquis Li to kneel down and surrender now. His Majesty may give your family a way out for the sake of Princess Qinghe!"

Li Xin, who was sitting on the horse, shook his head helplessly, threw the iron trumpet aside, and waved to the back.

Then he turned his horse's head.

Mu Ying, who was behind her, saw Li Xin's gesture, blushed and shouted fiercely.

"Take a catapult, beat me!"
Chapter completed!