Dengzhou.

Fifty thousand Xiliang troops were stationed on the plains, fifteen thousand Xiliang cavalry, and five thousand imperial cavalry were on standby at any time; preventing the King of Chu from counterattacking from Xiangyang, and locking the imperial troops in Guanzhong Road again.

In the central army's tent, the hot ghost weather made many generals wearing armor sweat and the heat steamed, and even the scenery outside the tent was slightly distorted.

The general of Xiliang, Tu Qianchu, sat in the tent to drink tea, was indifferent to the discussions of many generals and military advisors. Anyway, he came out to help the court fight, so he would do whatever Guan Hongye asked him to do, and it had nothing to do with him as long as he didn't die in vain.

The coach Guan Hongye stood in front of the map, his face was calm and without any emotion, and he was as if he was paralyzed in his face. Since the last time he was humiliated by Xu Buling in Nanyang, he has been maintaining this face, and no one can see through how much emotion Guan Hongye has hidden in his heart.

Everyone discussed for a while, and a deputy general rushed over, glanced at the generals for a while, and did not make a sound like last time, but walked to Guan Hongye's side and whispered:

"General, Prince Su did not obey the order and insisted on ordering 20,000 troops and heading towards Xiangyang. At the speed of the march, he would arrive in Dengzhou at night and arrive in Xiangyang the day after tomorrow. Look..."

Guan Hongye's eyelids twitched, but he couldn't laugh at Xu Buling for no reason like he did last time. A few days ago, Xu Buling had already sent a letter of request for war and asked to lead troops to fight in Xiangyang. Guan Hongye was instructed by the emperor and could no longer let Xu Buling go to the front line. Naturally, he rejected it on the spot, allowing Xu Buling to stay honestly in the rear.

Now Xu Buling is disobedient and forced his troops to come over, and even issued a military order, saying, "If you don't take Xiangyang, come and see you." Guan Hongye will not be able to stop Xu Buling unless he cuts him down.

Can Xu Buling capture the Xiangyang defense line with more than 100,000 troops with 20,000 miscellaneous soldiers? Guan Hongye almost didn't even think it was impossible. He led the 100,000 army, and there were 50,000 Xiliang troops in it. He had no idea how to fight the 20,000 government soldiers?

Although there was a precedent last time, such as "the master casts spells and lightning breaks the city", Qin Jing is not a fool. How could he take it again after suffering a loss? At this time, a hundred words "Thunder Lord helps me" may not be used. He didn't believe that Xu Buling could still shoot thousands of arrows at the end of the city and open and close the door. Besides, what if he opened and closed the door? After entering the 20,000 government soldiers, he could still slaughter the coalition forces of more than 100,000 four kings?

Guan Hongye was silent for a moment and said calmly: "By 20,000 people who had just trained for a month, I can conquer Xiangyang. I will cut my head down and serve as a urinal for him. I will give Xu Bu Ling the military orders, so that he can sit in Nanyang and not act rashly. If there is any mistake in the marching, I will deal with it according to military law."

The deputy general looked puzzled: "The army orders of Prince Su have been issued, and the imperial edicts may not be stopped. If Prince Su insists on attacking Xiangyang, should we watch the fire across the river or..."

Guan Hongye suffered a loss once, and he dared not stand behind without moving as if he was like a mountain. He thought about it: "Xu Buling is coming, just let him fight. Anyway, there are only 20,000 unhelpful soldiers in the palace, and they are defeated. However, just in case, let the army stand behind him. If Xu doesn't have good luck, he will really break Xiangyang City and quickly go to help. Don't let him find an excuse for being too far."

The deputy general didn't believe that 20,000 soldiers could break Xiangyang, but it was always right to be prepared for any trouble. He nodded slightly and turned around and left...

--------

A hundred miles away, directly opposite Dengzhou, Xiangyang.

Under the scorching sun, the towering royal flag of the city was waving, and endless weapons gathered inside and outside the city walls, bunkers, trenches, river estuary fortresses, etc., waiting for battle, like a solid steel fortress, rooted in the plains between the two mountains.

Above the city wall, the commander of the Chu army, Qin Jing, pressed his hand on the sword, walked behind Song Zhengping, wearing a python robe, and raised his hand to point the north:

"... The day before yesterday, Guan Hongye sent troops to attack Caozhuang for a generation of tentatively. There were about 5,000 people. After not chewing, he retreated immediately. In the eyes of the last general, Guan Hongye had not many elite soldiers, and he was afraid that he would defeat the Xiliang army and had no intention of taking Xiangyang at all. However, it was not easy for us to counterattack back; Dengzhou was stationed in 15,000 Xiliang cavalry, of which 5,000 "Tiger Cavalry" were armored cavalry equipment, almost invincible on the plain. When we went out, we would become the sword ghosts of the Xiliang army..."

Song Zhengping walked with his hands behind his back, frowning. Losing Nanyang and Mashan Pass was basically a disaster for Chu. If the court was blocked in Wuguan Road, the terrain was narrow and rugged, and there were many passes in it. No matter how powerful the cavalry was, they could only dismount and lead them, and there were no need to be afraid of the Western Liang cavalry.

Now, Mashankou and Nanyang are gone, and the only places that can be defended in Chu are Xiangyang. From Xiangyang to Nanyang, it is a plain of nearly a hundred miles, with no mountains, no waters or passes, just a large flat land. Although the cavalry cannot attack Xiangyang, five thousand Xiliang heavy cavalry squatted at the door, and died as much as they go out, and they will die.

If you want to enter Guanzhong, you will not be able to get back from Nanyang. Song Zhengping thought about it:

"The King of Wei is in charge of Nanyue. He has 20,000 elite cavalry under his command. I guess he can fight against the Xiliang cavalry. Zhou Gong, please write a letter to the King of Wei and ask him to transfer the cavalry over quickly."

Zhou Kai walked beside Song Zhengping and shook his head when he heard this: "The King of Wei is the strongest among the four kings, but only his family background. The 20,000 cavalrymen still said good things back then. They came from Emperor Xiaozong and were always regarded as their lifeline. He was afraid that he would not agree to let the King of Wei go to meet the Xiliang cavalry."

Song Zhengping frowned: "What can that be done? I am blocking it in front, and the three of them will send some miscellaneous soldiers who can't even get a full armor? The 50,000 Xiliang troops on the opposite side are stuck there. Could it be that if I let the king fill it with his life? Tell them directly that if no one is sent to pay the grain, I will surrender to the court to defend Ezhou now and see how the three of them fight."

Zhou Kai sighed and hurriedly asked the strategist to go down to draft the letter, then looked at Qin Jing next to him:

"I haven't figured it out until now. I have sent 10,000 troops to attack Luanshan County. Even if I die outside, five thousand soldiers will be foolproof. Xu Buling will lead two thousand cavalry to break the city? If I come to Xiangyang again..."

Speaking of this, King Chu and Qin Jing were a little annoyed. After all, they didn’t have the idea of ​​“military action”, and Nanyang really might not be lost.

But Zhou Kai was the father-in-law of the King of Chu after all, so there was no problem with paying attention. It was just that the opponent was just a chess game, and the King of Chu did not blame Zhou Kai.

Qin Jing was always worried about what happened last time, hesitated for a while, shook his head and said:

"It is nonsense to say that Xu Buling invited a master to cast spells on the other side. The city was broken too quickly at that time. According to the escaped guard, Xu Buling brought four Qimen weapons in the cavalry. It sounded like a fire dragon spitting out a letter, and the sound was like thunder spreading for several miles, which was so loud that it was so powerful. At that time, the crossbow soldiers on the top of the city were scared and they were just hiding, so that Xu Buling could reach the top of the city with his extraordinary martial arts and opened the city gate from inside..."

Zhou Kai frowned: "If you dare not shoot arrows on the top of the city, who can stop those people in the martial arts world? General Qin will have a solution?"

Qin Jing lost the city. If he pretended that nothing had happened, he would not be worthy of being a general. He raised his hand and pointed to the stone bunker outside the city wall:

"There are not many weapons in Qimen, and they are very powerful. The actual range is far lower than that of a crossbow, and the damage is not as good as a catapult. At most, a small hole was smashed into the city gate. At that time, the soldiers guarding the city suffered an inexperienced loss, and were in chaos. In fact, even if they stood still, they would be killed at most 12 people, and they could be treated as non-existent...

...The last general said hello to the defenders at several passes in advance and was mentally prepared; the crossbow was about two miles away and could shoot the ghost weapon; and there were also many stone bunkers outside the pass, which were about four feet thick, so the weapon could not be penetrated at all. There were small arrows on the bunker, and as long as Xu Bulinggan forced his way through the pass with his martial arts, even the real gods would shoot him into a sieve..."

With such a full preparation, King Song Zhengping of Chu nodded slightly, felt relieved, thought for a moment, and reminded:

"Xu Buling used four Qimen weapons, not necessarily only four gates; and he was raiding from the mountains at that time, and he could not carry heavy objects, and maybe there were even more powerful ones. Just like the last time the divine arm crossbow was used, this time I pushed the crossbow over here, so don't scare the soldiers who had never seen the world again."

Qin Jing thought about it and felt it made sense, so he quickly raised his hand and held his fists:

"The prince will make a clear account. Finally, let the engineers thicken the bunker a layer to ensure that everything is foolproof."

The King of Chu nodded slightly, and after inspecting the border, he took Zhou Kai and left Xiangyang...

------

"Young Master, a total of twenty-four cannons were transported from front to back, sixteen were the small cannons used last time; eight three thousand kilograms of cannons, the range of the test firing was about four and a half miles, and the power was ten times greater than the last time, and it was enough to collapse the city wall..."

Outside Nanyang City, 20,000 infantrymen left the barracks one after another and marched towards Xiangyang, two hundred miles away.

On the dock on the Baihe River, several merchant ships docked on the shore, temporarily renovating the cargo ship that cleared the deck and lowered the heavy pedals on the shore.

Yang Guanyu, who was like a giant bear, held a hemp rope in his hand and slowly walked forward on the deck in sweat. Eight Western Liang soldiers held the giant wooden base with their hands and pushed it onto the cargo ship.

Above the base, a huge three-meter-long cylinder was tightly bound and covered with black cloth. The extremely heavy weight drove out deep grooves on the ground, almost bent the pedal.

Xu Buling stood under the merchant ship, and with a few strong men, he assembled the cannon barrels that had just been taken out of the pile of merchant ships on the base that was split into parts.

Nightingale stood in front of her, holding a small account book in her hand, earnestly reporting on the current inventory.

After Xu Buling installed the last cannon, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and looked at the temporarily renovated cargo ship:

"I saved up this little property for half a year. I took half of it away first, and left the rest in Nanyang, so as not to sink on the road, and nothing left. I also put gunpowder on the boat separately. Please pay more attention, otherwise Qin Jing and Guan Hongye can directly watch the free fireworks when the natural dry things explode."

Nightingale nodded seriously, closed the account book, and ran onto the ship.

Xu Buling supervised his subordinates on the dock. After transporting the treasures onto the stairs and set off, he turned over and returned to the military camp to hand over to General Yang Zunyi, and then caught up with the army to head for Xiangyang together.

However, Xu Buling and his personal soldiers had not arrived at the military camp, a scholar riding on a horse on a plain path attracted his attention.

In the war in Chu, there were heavy troops stationed in Nanyang City. Except for the people who could not be removed, the rest of the people basically went to take refuge elsewhere. Apart from the military, armored and grain trucks on the official road, even the caravans could not be seen, and it was even more impossible for scholars who were studying abroad to come to such places.

Xu Buling glanced casually and felt familiar. He raised his hand and asked his personal soldiers to rush to the military camp first, drove his horse through the fields, and came to the path between large farmlands.

The scholar riding a horse carried a bookcase with a long strip wrapped in black cloth next to the bookcase. He was still flipping through the pages while walking, and he looked a bit talented.

Xu Buling took off his sword from the side of the horse, hung it on his waist, quickly walked to the scholar's side, and said with a smile:

"Mr. Mei, are you lost? Yuelu Mountain is a thousand miles south. Are you going west to prepare to go to Beijing to take the exam?"

On the horse's back, Mei Qusheng closed the book and turned his head to smile:

"Crown Prince Xu, long time no see. I heard that Yu Fu is on the other side of Fengshan, so I will come and take a look."

Xu Buling didn't believe this lies at all, so he rode his horse and reached out to him:

"Is Grandpa Fubao making trouble again? Is it a killer or a robbery of the jade seal this time?"

"hehe……"

Mei Qusheng shrugged his shoulders a little helplessly:

"I'm just an errand, how can I know this? However, last time you hit Nanyang, you almost shocked my master and the old man. I thought about it all day and night before I put the chessboard back on. According to me, what I gave you this time should be good news."

While speaking, Mei Qusheng took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Xu Buling.

Xu Buling raised his hand to take the envelope, opened it, and glanced slightly...

"Damn! This old man..."

"Hey, that's your grandfather, be careful."

Xu Buling frowned and looked at the handwriting on the letter paper. In fact, there was a sentence on it, "I wish to be a concubine in my arms, not a concubine in the imperial palace." However, Xu Buling quickly understood the various meanings.

Mei Qusheng rode on his horse, looked at the army that could not see the end in the distance, and said softly:

"You were caught by Song Ying in the Queen's Mausoleum and could not be concealed. The emperor would guess what you did soon. This sentence is just to add firewood to you. You can even break the death situation in Chang'an City. This small problem should be solved, right?"

"Is this a small problem?"

"No matter how big the problem is, it is caused by Mr. Xu's mercy. You can't lift your pants and refuse to admit it."

Mei Qusheng chuckled, then turned his horse's head and walked to the south.

Xu Buling looked at the letter paper a few times, then said, "When did it happen?"

"I guess now, Youzhou is two thousand miles away from Chang'an. I will help you stop the news on the road. If you can conquer Xiangyang, the news will be able to reach Chang'an. If you can't beat it, the master will splash dirty water on the Cui family, which is considered Yufu's betrothal gift. However, once the disaster is in the east, this opportunity will be missed."

Xu Buling nodded slightly and thought for a while: "Next time the old man will do his business, it's better to say hello to me, otherwise it will be sad."

"My master, no feelings. See you again."
Chapter completed!