After the first siege, the large-scale battles suddenly disappeared and turned into various small groups of spying, harassment, and sabotage, mixed with various undesirable methods.
As a result, swarms of snakes, ants, rats, and insects often appeared in the coalition camp at night. These things did not cause much harm, but they easily frightened horses, frightened people, and made everyone unable to rest well. Occasionally, an unlucky guy would step on a long, round insect and be so frightened that he would throw his torch into the tent or among the grass, causing waves of commotion.
As a result, large-scale diarrhea and poisoning will suddenly occur in some camps of the coalition forces. After an investigation, it was discovered that poison or dead animals had been poisoned at some point in the wells dug by the family. This caused each family to send people to guard each well, and the main generals had to check the wells before eating and drinking. poison.
As a result, the Rebel Army flew over the camp unscrupulously, dropping pieces of paper from time to time with words urging them to surrender. Or reveal some so-called inside stories. For example, if the Gu family wants to replace the Lu family as the leader of the alliance, Lu Lie has been eliminated. For example, the Qiulin family has already been secretly communicating with the Ji family, but the price has not been negotiated. For example, the Murong family are actually spies of the Ji family, secretly leaking information about the coalition forces, etc.
After wiping out the remaining members of the coalition forces, due to the casualties of the two governors, no one dared to take to the air to attack these arrogant rebels, and could only let them dominate the coalition forces all day long.
These large and small methods, overt or covert, seemed a bit absurd, but they slowly changed the minds of some ordinary soldiers. Each family became more wary, and frictions also occurred from time to time.
As for the coalition forces, of course they were not idle. The Cang family's cavalry with extremely long ranges would shoot friendly notes to the Northern Army camp from time to time. The above was nothing more than saying that Wu Gen treated the Fearless Army and other Northern Army soldiers differently. His direct relatives were arranged to die in the most dangerous position, while his own people were hidden in the city.
He even arranged some unpleasant things between Wu Gen and Ji Yan, which gave the army more talk.
Ji Yan was naturally embarrassed and annoyed, but Wu Genquan didn't take it seriously. He even read out these paper killings in front of the soldiers in the camps of Ai Kai, Ji Dai and Chi Huahe, as a way to relieve everyone's boredom. Such behavior made some soldiers who were resentful of Wu Gen feel a lot less defensive.
Also, the coalition forces learned from Wu Gen's approach and sent people from the Ba family to secretly dig tunnels into Huali City. The Ba family was an expert in this area, and things went smoothly at first, but later they discovered that these soldiers who secretly dug holes often encountered a giant insect. After more than a dozen soldiers died inexplicably, the rest of the people were gone. Dare to go down the hole again.
After all, means are means, and all means are to prepare for the decisive battle. Seven days later, fighting resumed.
It was still early in the morning, when the morning mist was hazy, the gates of the various camps of the coalition forces were wide open, and various flags poured out, representing each family and their generals.
The dark troops and horses filed out and took up positions in front of the camp.
This time Lu Lie and others were in the middle position and did not lead the charge like the first time. It seems that the killing and wounding of two governors by the Northern Army has made these coalition generals restrain themselves a lot.
Immediately afterwards, the flying stone carts were pushed out of the camp one after another and were placed in rows in front of the camp. They looked quite impressive. Pulled by the strong Kui ox, the flying stone chariot crunched towards Huali City and the earth wall, with countless cavalry guards on both sides.
Wu Gen stood on the earth wall and silently counted the number of the opponent's flying stone carts. There were more than 270 carts. Good guy, it’s easier to do things when there are more people. After spending so much effort, I only built a total of more than 60 units.
In the past few days, Wu Gen moved most of these flying stone vehicles to Linqiu and Huali City, leaving only a dozen behind the earth wall, in order to increase the range, and also to detect the opponent's large-scale construction of missiles. Behind the stone cart, I am afraid that if I put it in one place, it will be destroyed by the opponent in one fell swoop.
It is said that the weather has become much gloomier these days, the sky is often covered with cumulus clouds, and there is a lot of moisture in the air.
Wu Gen looked at the fluttering flags beside him, and said to Hu Jia and Yang Zheng who were standing aside: "Why does it look like it's going to rain in this damn weather? If this happens, our crossbow will not work well if it gets wet." "
Hu Jia looked at the movement on the other side with a stern expression.
Suddenly he turned around and said, "Master, look, these people are carrying a cloth bag wrapped in oil paper behind their backs."
Wu Gen raised his eyes and looked at it, and sure enough, in addition to the soldiers of the Lu family, whether it was the Cang family's men and horses who were good at shooting, or the cavalry of other families, they all carried a slightly yellow oil paper package on their backs, and they didn't know what was hidden inside.
"Fortress leader, I always have a bad feeling." Hu Jia's expression turned uglier. "And if you look at the opponent's layout, the Lu family's soldiers are obviously farther south."
After hearing this, Wu Gen's expression became serious. He carefully looked at the movement on the other side, and after a long time he let out a sigh of relief, "They want to attack Lin Qiu."
He lowered his head and looked at the dilapidated earth wall under his feet, which had been repaired a bit. The opponent didn't take the bait for such a big bait and changed the direction of attack without hesitation. It seemed that Lu Lie had indeed grown a lot.
"Yes, judging from their posture, they are using flying stone chariots to suppress our arrows and destroy our newly built fortifications." Hu Jia looked a little nervous, "With so many people concentrated near Linqiu, they avoided the soil. Qiang and Huili City were attacked by flying stone carts. It seems that they are determined to eat Lin Qiu today."
"Once Linqiu is lost, the earthen wall here will be useless. We will have to retreat westward or back to Huali City. The entire defense system will be broken. The opponent will finally see our weakness." Wu Gen continued. He added that due to nervousness, he accidentally used too much force and kicked down a large piece of adobe on the wall.
Yang Zheng suddenly spoke from the side, "Captain, I think I know what is wrapped in those oily papers. Anzi who has been lurking in the opponent's camp for the past two days reported that everyone has been given an extra bow. These oily paper packages The response was bows and arrows. The other party expected that it might rain, so they made preparations in advance. I didn’t expect that they planned so carefully."
"Captain, we don't have so many crossbows." Hu Jia looked at Wu Gen nervously, "If it really starts to rain, they still have a good bow to use, so we will..."
Wu Gen's face became as gloomy as the clouds in the sky. He looked up at the sky and loudly ordered, "Quickly inform Baoxiang that the enemy is about to attack Linqiu, so that he must be prepared to hold on.
Niu Ye was ordered to have his mastiffs and wolves prepare to attack today. If Lin Qiu could not hold on, he would send the mastiffs out to stop the enemy even if they were all dead.
Order the Rebel Army to dispatch immediately and not stop after scattering the caltrops to suppress the enemy forces surrounding Linqiu.
He ordered the specially formed Sky-shattering Bow Archers behind the wall to immediately go to Linqiu to support Lexi and the others. If it rains today, only the Zhentian Bow can continue shooting on rainy days.
Inform Ji Yan that the enemy troops may attack the camp today and surround Linqiu on three sides. She must supervise each camp to defend and not retreat.
As for me, I am still stationed on the earth wall. If there is any change in Linqiu, I will go up to the hill to provide support. Wu Yang will take over my command of the attack and defense near the earth wall. "
Wu Gen issued multiple military orders in one breath. Hu Jia and Yang Zheng also knew that the military situation was urgent and quickly ordered people to convey them. Suddenly, the Northern Army camp started to move, and groups of people ran along the hillside toward Linqiu.
"Master of the village, where is the water captain's man and horse?" Hu Jiazai reminded.
Wu Gen pondered for a moment and said decisively: "Shui Xiaowei's men and horses cannot fight in vain. If necessary, they can wipe out the enemy troops near Huili City, but they must not attack the enemy troops near Linqiu without authorization. There are too many people in the coalition. If he fills it with thousands of people, I'm afraid he won't even be able to make a splash."
"Okay, I'll send a letter to the water captain." Hu Jia responded quickly.
In the air, the Rebel Army has appeared in the sky above Huili City. They are mainly composed of five shuttles, forming five teams and flying towards the coalition forces on the opposite side. Their first task is to sow a large amount of caltrops on the path of the coalition cavalry. , hindering cavalry movement.
This kind of gadget looks inconspicuous, but if it can be connected into a piece, it can greatly hinder the movement of the cavalry. Now that Wu Gen has few people, he can only use all available means to kill the opponent's effective forces.
A shrill whistling sound came from the air, and a huge stone fell more than twenty feet away in front of the earth wall, creating a large crater. Wu Gen knew that this was the opponent who shot the stone cart at school.
Sure enough, as the stone flew out, the coalition's flying stone truck rumbled forward again.
They walked more than thirty feet. At the same time, the flying stone carts opposite Huili City had begun bombarding the city wall.
"Master, look, the wind is blowing, west wind." Yang Zheng suddenly pointed at the flag not far away and said.
Wu Gen turned his head and saw, sure enough, the flag was flying to the east and making a loud noise.
"Okay, throw out all the poison you made." Wu Gen ordered without hesitation.
"And the location of the opponent's flying stone cart is right above our newly dug tunnel." Yang Zheng reminded again.
"Wait for a while, wait for the opponent to launch a large-scale attack, and then activate it. Our flying stone vehicles can throw farther than the coalition forces, and they are placed at higher places. We will not suffer any loss from the bombardment. The only shortcoming is that the number is too small. "Wu Gen hesitated and said.
The opponent's test firing just now has shown that the master of Youqiao Ban has carefully built it. The flying stone carts of the Northern Army can throw far farther than the coalition forces. Wu Gen is not too worried about the concentrated bombardment of the coalition forces. Now, the only thing that makes him anxious is whether Lin Qiu can hold on.
At this time, someone jumped to Wu Gen's side. It was Nanjun Zhenfu Jijing. Following Ji Ye's orders, he and Yuan Xin secretly sneaked here to assist Wu Gen. They withstood the other two governors during the previous battle to defend the city. However, after the war, Yuan Xin had to command the battle on the southern front, so he returned early, leaving only Ji Jing here and accompanying Ji Yan whenever he had nothing to do.
"Wu Zhenfu, but the enemy is about to attack. I see the troops in the camp are mobilizing their troops." Ji Jing is a middle-aged man with a face as sharp as a knife and a wide forehead and nose. He looks like he has been leading troops for many years. .
"Yes, the other side may attack Lin Qiu. I am dispatching troops." Wu Gen did not dare to be too confident when facing this senior military officer.
Ji Jing raised his head and looked at the men and horses on the opposite side, his face changed slightly, "If the enemy attacks Lin Qiu with all his strength, it will be difficult to defend. Wu Zhenfu, let me put it bluntly, what are you going to do if Lin Qiu is lost?"
"Find a way to retreat to the west and retreat to Zhuolu Ridge. We will definitely not be able to defend the isolated city of Huali City." Wu Gen answered simply.
"What do you need from me?" Ji Jing stared at Wu Gen.
"You don't have to do anything more. If the opponent's master stabs her, just stop her. If the matter is urgent and the military situation is in great danger, please take the third young master and leave first. If she insists on refusing, just knock her out and push it on my head afterwards. "Enter." Wu Gen also stared at the opponent, "If I am pursued by the enemy during my retreat, I hope Shi Ji Zhenfu can lead troops to help."
"This is a matter of course." Ji Jing did not hesitate and turned around to return to the military camp to check on Ji Yan's safety.
At this moment, from the top of the forest hills, at the head of Huali City, and from behind the earthen walls, the sound of flying stone carts being ejected could be heard. Each stone flew across the gloomy sky, falling like a meteor among the coalition troops. middle.
As soon as these rocks hit the ground, bursts of smoke erupted. Whenever they were covered by thick smoke, the soldiers were all in chaos, some were vomiting, and some were slashing wildly, which actually caused quite a commotion among the coalition forces.
These stone bullets contained poisons that Yang Zheng had concocted at once, including hallucinogens, skin ulcers, and so on. As long as they could hurt people, they were all used. However, due to the shortage of supplies in Huali City, not much of these poisons could be produced, and the inventory was exhausted after this round of shooting.
After injuring more than 2,000 people, the coalition finally took control of the situation.
As the rumbling war drums sounded, the coalition forces began to mobilize their war horses and press towards Huali City.
