Xie Ming

On the tenth day of the third month in the second year of the Hongguang reign, the sun rose at the hour of Xu in the evening.

To the south, there are mountains along the river, towering and steep. The setting sun is hidden behind the mountains more than half an hour in the morning, and the sky gets dark early.

After more than 10,000 troops from Xiao's army, led by Hu Chen and Chuan Wu, crossed the river and set up camp at the foot of the mountain next to Anqing City, they set up camp properly.

Xiao, along with Li and Wang, were anxious and climbed up the city wall to find Yuan Ping, who had been stationed there long ago, in order to get detailed information about the rebels.

"Hey, this is just a small job, you don't need to do anything."

"Isn't it difficult to travel on the road these days?"

"The troops have just set up camp, let's take a break first."

"Come on, this is not the place to talk, follow me"

At the gate of the city, Yuan Ping saw Xiaochuan and his two vanguards arrive and settle down, so he wanted to report the military situation.

He propped himself up from the bricks and stones, rubbed his muddy hands on his trouser legs, and pulling Xiao Lang with him, he hurriedly squeezed past the miscellaneous servants and carpenters, and went down the road into the city.

On the way, Hu Chen, who was already familiar with Yuan Ping, started talking in a loud voice.

"It doesn't matter. Who wouldn't be tired?"

"Just arrange a few shifts and take turns working, that's all." Hu Chenbang said.

"Haha, that's really not necessary."

"Well, to be frank, in reality, even if this small city is built into an iron wall, it will not help."

"It's useless and won't have any effect."

This sentence choked the three generals. Yuan Ping saw that the people around him were speechless and also slightly stunned. Then he turned his head and shook his head with a wry smile.

After a while, the four of them went down the city one after another and stayed away from the noisy city gate.

Xiao Jingchuan let out a long breath, puzzled and tried to find a way to continue.

"According to you, it is impossible to defend Anqing for a long time?"

"Brother, how many rebels are there in Jiujiang Town, and what's the situation?"

"You are the one who started the fight first, so you must tell us the truth!" Xiao Suo asked in detail.

"Hey, Xiaochuan, I'm afraid it's going to be difficult for us this time."

"I don't know whether Zuo Liangyu has a million soldiers this time."

"However, based on what I have seen and heard in Jiujiang, they are definitely a strong enemy and should not be underestimated."

"Look at the ships coming from the east. They are so numerous that you can't see the end of them."

"With such a battle, our soldiers and horses..."

As they continued to lead the way forward, Yuan Ping was worried. It was rare for him to be so afraid of the enemy, and his face looked gloomy.

Look, Hu Chen was watching from the side, not taking it seriously.

"Hey, this, this"

"I'm telling you, Yuan Ping, how unpleasant it is."

"Why? It's just that there are more people and more boats. Look how worried you are."

"Why do you only speak words that boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige?"

"General, please don't hesitate to give me this. I'm just feeling frustrated because there are no proper battles to fight."

"This is great. It's a good opportunity to pick a fight with Zuo Liangyu's navy."

"If it weren't for this tough bone, I wouldn't hesitate to take a bite, huh? Hahaha!"

Hu Chen is generous and unrestrained, and has a lot of confidence. He knows that the enemy will despise him, so he speaks without thinking.

He didn't understand why and didn't seem to care at all.

Xiao and Yuan glanced over, but there was nothing they could do about him, so they simply ignored them and focused on what they were saying.

“The rebels are strong.”

"In that case, this blocking job is indeed not easy to tackle head-on."

"Thanks to the fact that Henan in the north mobilized troops, we were cautious and brought more soldiers and horses."

"Otherwise, it might be even more difficult at this moment."

Xiao Yixu judged the current situation and talked to himself like this.

"Yes!"

"However, even if we can mobilize 30,000 troops to attack the South, I'm afraid it won't be enough."

"Xiaochuan, in my opinion, our army may face three difficulties in the short term in this battle."

Yuan Ping walked in front, talking as he walked, and raised his hand to gesture with three fingers.

Hearing the argument, Hu Chen interrupted.

"Uh, what?!"

After the interjection, Yuan Ping did not show off. With a stern face, he expressed his worries seriously.

"First, the disparity in military strength." "The Hubei rebels led by Zuo Liangyu numbered a million."

"Don't say anything about this word, it must be made up."

"But, even if we give him half of the money directly, at least four or five hundred thousand, I think there should be enough."

"Compared with us, the gap in strength between these individuals is too great."

“This is a difficult place to fight.”

"Secondly, all members of our Xiao Army, including the generals, have been training and conquering in the north in the past."

"It can be used in plains or mountains, for attacking or defending cities."

"But in the current situation, we have to defend along the river. We are not good at fighting on water!"

"On the way here, I think you have all seen the terrain in the south."

"There are many high ridges on both sides of the river, and there are no beaches or roads in many places."

"If the warships are not used, they will not only be unable to stop the enemy ships."

"And even if we can stop them, if we start to fight, the enemy ships will be able to maneuver."

"I'm afraid that we can only sigh in despair, not to mention our own two legs or the four legs of the horse, and we can only sigh in despair, and we can't reach it even if we want to."

What Yuan Ping is concerned about is very much in line with current reality.

Xiao Lang, who was listening in, was also silent for a while, and had no words to say in argument.

Only Hu Chen responded in a low voice.

"Uh, this, this is true!"

"Then, then what do you mean, Yuan Ping?"

"Since you've said all this, you must have an idea, right? Huh?!"

Hu Chen became impatient and interrupted.

"Hey, Brother Huchen, don't be impatient. Just listen to what General Yuan has to say first."

"This, this has a third one, what is it?"

Unexpectedly, on the other side, Wang Chuanwu finally got in. He had just joined the army and was obviously not very familiar with Yuan Ping, so he only addressed him as General.

"Oh, the third thing is time."

"Time waits for no one."

"This time, I flew all the way, and within half an hour of entering Jiujiang, the rebel army of Zuo Liangyu had already come east along the river and attacked Jiujiang."

"It's less than three hundred miles from here."

"How long do you think we have left to plan the defense of Anqing?"

"Oh, it's difficult."

Finally, Yuan Ping let out a long sigh, expressing his sorrow.

After hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan was also short of breath and could not come up with any good plan. What should he do?

Then, the four men gathered together and kept silent for a long time.

Gradually, Yuan Ping, following the lead of others, led Xiao, Li and Wang out of the city and came to the waterside.

Looking from afar, Xiao Pan saw a group of soldiers approaching the waterside, carrying and loading something.

"Uh, brother, why did you bring us here?"

"The soldiers in front of us, illuminated by the torches, are wearing helmets, caps and armor. They are not part of our army. This..."

Xiao Lang had sharp eyes and saw the water rushing out of the city. He hurriedly looked around for a while to see what was happening.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ping smiled mysteriously.

"Come on, Xiaochuan, I'll introduce someone to you."

"Just because we didn't learn the ways of sailors in the past doesn't mean others don't know how to do it."

"Come, come"

As he spoke, Yuan Ping started walking again, leading the three people behind him closer to the shore.

Among the soldiers who were originally near the water and moving military supplies such as rockets, the leading general was now busy supervising the work.

"Hurry! Hurry up!"

"Firearms and gunpowder are all afraid of water seepage, so don't be careless."

"You guys, check if there's anything else in the warehouse?"

"There are still five piles of garbage on the other side. They must all be cleared out tonight."

"No mistakes!"

The man followed his instructions, and the soldiers under him also seemed to be busy with their work, not letting up for a moment. (End of this chapter)