Gui Yuan

Jiazhou military camp.

Ever since he knew that Wei Yao was stationed in Gyeongju with his army, Qian Yue was always restless, like a stick in his throat.Although he had never fought Wei Yao face-to-face, he often heard of this name from other generals who were close to him. He thought that he would be lucky enough to meet him in the future, but he never thought that it would be through a battle between the two armies, and they would meet immediately.

Qian Yuezheng was thinking about it, when a military report came from outside the camp.

"General! General Zhenbei is coming to the city gate with his soldiers and horses."

"What?" Qian Yue stood up abruptly and asked, "How many people are there, and when will they arrive?"

"There are about [-] troops, and within half an hour they will be at the city."

Qingzhou is only a few tens of miles away from Jiazhou, so it would be easy for people to be caught off guard if it attacked suddenly. Qian Yue thought it would be delayed for at least a few days, but he didn't expect Wei Yao to attack so soon, but after all, he is also a man who has experienced many battles , so as not to mess up the sense of proportion.Qian Yue said: "Send the order, the whole army is on alert and will fight outside the city gate."

Wei Yao was wearing black armor and leading the army at the front, and Taxue also put on horseshoes and changed the saddle. He was more domineering than usual, with a complete demeanor of a war horse.Walking to about three to five hundred paces away from Jiazhou city gate, Wei Yao stretched out his hand to signal the army to stop.The defenders in front of the city gate stood in a dense crowd, with a total of twenty cannons lined up neatly at five steps.

Looking at these cannons, Wei Yao was really unfamiliar. The Nanman army's confident appearance was probably because of these things.

Wei Yao sent an order: "Scatter in a battle shape, the siege army will move forward with heavy shields, and the others will retreat."

With an order, more than 1000 siege troops stepped forward with heavy shields in their hands, and they stood at the forefront of the team in a short while, leading the army steadily forward another hundred steps.

Qian Yue shouted in front of the Nanman army: "The general of the Nanman army, Qian Yue, I, the Nanman, pay attention to etiquette first and then soldiers. I specially warn the Wei army not to move forward, otherwise they will definitely fight back."

Heh, Wei Yao sneered, it's really a thief calling for a thief, following the new master's shamelessness.

Wei Yao gave Zhao Min a wink, and he stepped forward and said: "Our army obeys the emperor's order to follow the people's wishes, come to close the city, and warn the enemy to withdraw quickly, our army will not make things difficult for the general."

Qian Yue frowned, absurd, isn't withdrawal the biggest embarrassment?Knowing that it would be useless to talk too much, he didn't intend to waste his time talking, and ordered: "Prepare the cannon!"

The twenty cannons were installed at the same time, and after Qian Yue said "release", they were all released.

At the same time, Wei Yao has ordered the siege army to defend the city with the shield, and the rest of the people will hide behind the shield.A series of cannonballs hit the shield, sending out a booming sound that resounded through the sky. The soldiers who supported the shield were shaken to the point of numbness. There was such power hundreds of steps away. If it was closer, the bones of the hand would have been shaken. Broken.

Nong Sang, the leader of the Southern Barbarians, is not good at firearms. When will he be able to make such weapons?

Wei Yao's doubts flashed away, he made a decisive decision, and ordered the back to form an array to shoot arrows and throw stones.Earlier, he had specifically instructed the Northern Xinjiang Army to bring long-range catapults, which could shoot up to [-] steps in one blow, and it was even more powerful to add fuel to ignite it.

The cross catapults were laid out in a straight line, soaked in kerosene on the big stones, ignited by the torch, and ejected without any delay, and the huge fireball rushed towards the city gate.

Qian Yue was startled and shouted, "Get back!"

But after hiding one, there will be continuous fireballs falling from the sky behind, and there will always be people who can't dodge before being hit by coincidence.Qian Yue said anxiously: "Don't stop the artillery, fight back!"

The sound of artillery fire continued for a long time, and the siege soldiers were so shocked by the rumbling shelling that their flesh and blood swelled, so they could only switch to another batch half an hour before the soldiers reached their limit.Although they are large in number, they can't waste their strength like this, Tian Cheng asked: "General, should we stick with them to the death, or retreat first?"

Wei Yao looked at the city gate in front of him, and said slowly, "Don't worry, just wait for a while."

The Southern Barbarian Army was slightly inferior in numbers, and now that the two sides are at a stalemate, they must be the first to fail.Wei Yao's guess was right. The protective equipment of the Southern Barbarian Army was still the same as before. The shields were useless in front of Huoshi. After several rounds of fierce attacks, there were only a lot of casualties. Qian Yue was also impatient, so he had no choice but to send someone to the camp in the city , and transferred [-] troops sent by the Nanman Queen, regardless of face, the important thing is to survive this round first.

A group of troops suddenly appeared outside the Jiazhou city gate. Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Wei Yao did not want to fight, so he ordered: "Retreat."

It wasn't until the Great Wei army dispersed that Qian Yue's hanging heart finally let go. He exclaimed: "I never thought that the Great Wei also has such a magical weapon."

Gyeongju station.

Xiao Yuan was busy bringing people to treat the wounded soldiers, Wei Yao took Zhao Min and other lieutenants into the camp to analyze the enemy's situation.

Zhao Min said: "The villain of Nanman, indeed, there are more than [-] soldiers. He kept the secret so tightly before, and finally moved in to rescue the soldiers when he couldn't hold on."

Wei Yao took off his helmet and put it aside, and said: "Jiazhou is dangerous, no matter how many troops there are, they can't use it. If it is like today, it will just wear off slowly. In the end, whichever side has more troops will have a better chance of winning."

Tian Cheng said: "We have [-] soldiers and horses, and we are superior in numbers, but we lose soldiers in vain. Although we win, we lose."

"That's right, the exact number of troops in Jiazhou City is still unknown, so don't jump to conclusions. Even if we have a lot of soldiers, we can't let the soldiers die so unworthily." Wei Yao said.

Now that the two sides are at a stalemate, it is not an option to continue like this.Zhao Min asked: "Then what should we do now?"

"Send someone to investigate the enemy's situation first, find out the number of enemy troops, and then make plans for the rest." Wei Yao pondered, "The artillery they use is a bit strange, Tian Cheng, send a message to Mengbei in Beijiang, asking him to contact The secret work in Beidi Palace, ask about this matter."

Zhao Min immediately understood what he meant: "The general suspects that these cannons were made by Beidi? Yes, Beidi is good at this, but when did their relationship with the Nanman get better?"

Wei Yao dismissively said, "Who knows why King Beidi did what he did? Who knows what he's thinking."

Tian Cheng asked: "Could it be that the message is being sent at this time..."

Wei Yao nodded and smiled, and asked Zhao Min, "Where are the things I asked you to bring?"

"Oh, yes." Zhao Min searched for a long time in the box in the corner, and found a brocade box that was out of place with this place. The satin surface was smooth, making people feel that there was some rare treasure inside.

Zhao Min handed it to Wei Yao, and Wei Yao opened it. It wasn't gold, silver and jade, or a rare ornament, but a wooden kite.

Wei Yao didn't take out the wooden kite, but directly handed it to Tian Cheng: "Use this to send a message."

Tian Cheng took the brocade box respectfully, and replied: "Yes."

...

-

In Yanzhou, the imperial capital, in Ningfu, the sky is gradually sinking.

When Ning Qing returned to the mansion, Ning Ke Cheng hadn't returned to the palace, so he went back to his room to deliver a letter and then came out. After finishing the work, it was already dark, so he stayed without interruption.On the way out of the mansion, I met the servants rushing to one place, and I happened to meet Uncle He, so I arrested them and asked, "Uncle He, is this the case?"

Uncle He was startled and said, "When did you come back, Master? Just now the study flooded, and the servants are all fighting the fire."

As soon as he heard that the water was running, Ning Qing looked in the direction of the study, and there was indeed thick smoke billowing and the fire was threatening, so he pulled Lin Rong to follow, and Uncle He advised: "The fire is too strong, so you should not go, sir, lest you Hurt yourself."

Ning Qing smiled and motioned to Lin Rong, and the two tacitly snatched the two buckets of water from Uncle He's hand into her own.

He said: "Needless to say, it is important to put out the fire now."

After finishing speaking, the master and servant went to the study, Uncle He couldn't help it, so he went back to the pool to get water.

Before Ning Qing arrived in the study, he smelled the pungent burning smell mixed with the smell of kerosene, and was startled. How could this scene seem familiar?Did his father offend someone recently?It's just that Ning Kecheng has always been friendly with others, he has never heard of any enemies of his father who could set fire to his father.

The fire in the study started fiercely. Fortunately, it was discovered early, and there is a large pond in the back garden behind it. The fire was extinguished in time, so that it would not be completely burned out, and it still looked like it.

Ning Qing entered the study room, there was still residual warmth on the beams, and wisps of smoke filled the study room.The surrounding area was burned beyond recognition, completely lost its previous appearance, which shows how fierce the fire was, and if it was later, there might be nothing left.He walked a few steps forward, and was surprised to find a strange place on the wall, the other places were blackened by the fire, only one place was not damaged at all.Ning Qing reached out and touched it, it was a little smooth, it looked like a stone door, it should be a dark room.This is strange, he has lived in Ning Mansion for more than [-] years, and he never knew that there was such a secret room in his father's study.The stone chamber was specially built to prevent it from being engulfed and destroyed by fire like it is now, right?

So much trouble, what is in the darkroom?

In such a dark room, he didn't know that the mechanism was absolutely inaccessible. Ning Qing took a few steps back hesitantly, and when he turned around, he came across the desk. The entire desk fell down, and the drawers were shaken out when it fell down, making a lot of noise.He craned his neck to take a look, and the scattered letters were all letters. Fortunately, only half of them were burned because they were placed in a drawer.His eyes slowly fell on a letter that was only half burnt. The red paint was slightly melted by the fire, but the original appearance could be vaguely seen.

Vermilion lacquer tiger pattern, this is...

He Fang was about to pick it up, but Ning Kecheng's furious voice came from behind: "What are you doing here!"

Ning Qing turned around hesitantly and looked at his father.

Ning Kecheng said to Uncle He and Lin Rong who came over after hearing the sound: "It's all burned up, and you dare to let the young master in, take it out quickly."

"Yes, yes." Lin Rong hurriedly went to help Ningqing, seeing his dull expression, he thought he was frightened, and persuaded him, "My lord, let's go out first."

Ning Qing glanced at him, nodded after a while and said, "Okay."

Ning Qing walked up to Ning Kecheng and bowed, saying: "Son, go back to the Duke's mansion first, and come to see your father some other day."

Ning Ke agreed, and turned her head to send Ning Qing out. She also felt that he was a little weird, maybe she was thinking too much.

As he walked forward, he found the letters scattered in the drawer. Seeing the letter with the vermilion lacquer tiger pattern standing there, he couldn't help frowning.

The author has something to say: In the past few days, I have to prepare the [-]D manuscript to be released next Tuesday, and it will not be updated for about three days.