In the gray sky, pattering rain mixed with sparse snow particles fell, beating on the grass and tents in the camp, awakening the chill of winter.
As a result, the birds stopped chirping, the cicadas stopped crying, the withered grass and trees were all covered with crystal clear ice crystals, and raindrops fell drop by drop from the leaf tips, as if they were mourning their aging.
Ji Jing sat in the wooden house in the camp, listening to the tinkling sound of rain hitting the tent, with a hint of loneliness in his calm expression.
It was morning and evening in the world, and it was cold when the rain fell. As the fearless army disappeared into the vast wilderness again after attacking the camp, this veteran who had been on the battlefield for a long time also felt a chill in his heart.
The construction of this camp has not stopped since he returned. Not only is the wall taller and stronger, there are many arrow towers and watchtowers in the camp, and even the residences of the main generals have been replaced by wooden houses.
The war has returned to a stalemate. In addition to the 20,000 reinforcements assigned to Ji Zhen, there are now another 10,000 troops in the camp, and the strength is more than three times that of the Fearless Army. Every day, Ji Jing would send out a large number of scouts to search for the whereabouts of the Fearless Army in the hope of an early decisive battle with them.
But the Fearless Army seemed to have disappeared, and no trace of it could be found. Even the giant mastiff could not smell its whereabouts. Ji Zhen, who was on the north bank, also found no movement of the fearless army. This made Ji Jing couldn't help but worry. How could the battle be fought without the enemy?
There was a crackling sound outside the house, and a Qianhu walked through the mud and came to the wooden house.
"Zhenfu, the men have traveled more than a hundred miles downstream along the Xiao River, and still haven't found any trace of the Fearless Army." The soldier wiped the rain off his face and reported loudly.
Ji Jing did not turn his head, and looked into the distance through the silky rain curtain. After a long time, Fang whispered: "If you send people again, you must not only go along the river, but also spread them out and search everywhere."
Qianhu took off his helmet. Despite the cold weather, there was still a trace of white air coming out of his head.
This Qianhu follower Ji Jing had been following Ji Jing for a long time, and he could see the frustration of his Zhenfu. After thinking about it, he boldly advised: "Zhenfu, it has been raining for three days. The road is slippery and the camp is also wet. It’s cold and gloomy, so we might as well hold on. Anyway, we have a fortified stronghold and plenty of food and grass. The ones who can’t stand it are the fearless troops.”
Ji Jing slowly turned his head and looked at Qianhu, who had been with him for many years. "Geng Qing, someone is looking for you to be a lobbyist."
Geng Qing's eyes flickered, he held his helmet and bowed his head and whispered: "Zhen Fu, it has been raining continuously for the past two days. It is not easy to run in the wilderness. Some complaints are normal. The most terrible thing now is that rumors are spreading, saying that the eldest young master would rather give up. The people in the cities in the northern part of the province also wanted to kill their fathers and usurp the throne, without even the slightest trace of a human king.
Although the lord was usually harsher, he did not lose half of the land and suppressed the families so that they did not dare to make mistakes. Nowadays, the clan soldiers in the camp dare not say anything openly, but secretly mock the Confederate army as a patricide army. The sons and daughters are really angry, and there have been many frictions. Calm down. "
Geng Qing raised his head and stared into Ji Jing's eyes, "Do we really want to continue this battle? If I were to fight with the Xianyu family, I would do whatever it takes, but fighting against the lord's men is really unaffordable. Spirit."
"Are there many people in the army who think like you?" Ji Jing did not lose his composure because of his subordinates' doubts and asked calmly.
"There are quite a few, Zhenfu." Geng Qing lowered his voice, thought for a while, and then added, "But once you give the order, the sons and daughters will still follow your lead."
"They don't know it, don't you? The reason why we fight against the lord is for the Ji family, to save fewer lives and to take back some cities after the situation in the province is stabilized." Ji Jing took a step forward. , staring at Geng Qing, so frightened that he took a few steps back and did not dare to say another word.
After a long time, Ji Jingfang sighed and said, "Forget it, go ahead and let the scouts rest for a day. Please give some advice to the men. Since we have reached such a situation, there is no way back."
Geng Qing put his helmet back on and bowed his hands heavily, "I understand." After saying that, he turned around and walked out of the house.
"Wait a minute, why is the camp so muddy? Didn't we build drainage ditches?" Ji Jing asked, looking at the yellow mud on the opponent's boots.
"Oh, I don't know what's going on. I guess the terrain here is low-lying and it's been raining for many days.
, a lot of stagnant water cannot be drained out, so I have moved those flooded tents to higher ground. Seeing that Ji Jing's expression softened, Geng Qing also became more active. "However, despite the continuous rain, the water level of the Xiaohe River has not changed much. Instead, it has dropped a bit. It is estimated that there are other places as low as Daying, and the water flows into it." .”
"Get more charcoal fires. Such rainy weather is most likely to breed diseases." Before Geng Qinglin went out, Ji Jing gave one more instruction. It is better to have more water than grass. The fearless army is good at attacking with fire, so in such a muddy village, there will be less of it. Danger of fire.
It was almost dusk, and due to the continuous rain, the camp quickly became dark. Ji Jing sat in the room uneasily. The dinner on the table had already become cold, but he had no appetite.
Rumors in the military have reached his ears, and everyone is probably aware of it. He knew that this was Wu Gen's method to deceive the soldiers and lower their own morale. I had already experienced these methods when I fought against Lu, Gu and other rebels.
Rumors are like flowing water, which cannot be stopped. Blindly suppressing them will only make the rumors worse. Only by taking down the Fearless Army can we seize the momentum of victory and make our subordinates naturally forget these nonsense.
Suddenly, Ji Jing's ears moved slightly, and the sound of Xiaohe's water that had been flowing day and night suddenly became quieter. Ordinary soldiers may not be able to hear this change at all, but to someone with an accomplished cultivation like him, it is very clear.
He stood up and summoned the guard guarding the door to come in and ask him to find out what happened. After a while, the guard returned and said, "Zhen Fu, for some reason, the water in the Xiao River suddenly became much smaller and the water became much turbid."
"Oh." Ji Jing stood up and strode towards the river regardless of the fact that it was still raining.
When we arrived at the river, it was quite lively. Some soldiers were taking off their clothes and leaning over to touch the fish and shrimp in the swamp by the river.
Ji Jing looked through the light of the lantern and saw that the river fruit had indeed receded a lot, so that a large area of silt was exposed near the river bank. Many fish were blocked by reeds and other aquatic plants and were left in the mud. These soldiers were catching these fish and shrimps.
After looking around, Ji Jing jumped into the water and ran up and down the river quickly. The water has receded too much. The water level has dropped by more than ten feet, and it is still falling.
Ji Jing ran upstream for several miles, but found nothing strange. It was possible that the embankment had burst somewhere. Read the book
With this thought, Ji Jing quickly returned to the camp. Regardless of his original military order, he sent dozens of scouts upstream to find out where danger was in Xiaohe.
Feeling uneasy, he called together the young masters and governors of various families in the village to discuss countermeasures.
With so many people gathering together and chattering, Ji Jing realized that there had been many conflicts in Xiaohe's history. The area near Hanlu City was slightly better, with the Ji family sending people to repair the embankments, but further east to the various Wanhu families' territories, they were not so dedicated, so embankments often broke.
Even the camp where the army was stationed was said to have been flooded and silt washed away the wilderness, forming such a flat land.
After hearing these people's explanations, Ji Jing felt a little relieved. No matter if it is closed, it is always easier to cross the river if the water is shallower. If necessary, just use a boat to build a pontoon bridge.
After a while, Ji Jing returned to his residence, but the scout had not returned yet. Ji Jingfang fell asleep after thinking wildly until midnight.
In his sleep, Ji Jing seemed to hear someone shouting. He suddenly woke up with a heavy thought and hurriedly listened carefully. It wasn't a shout, it was the sound of water, but it was louder.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Ji Jing lay down again, preparing to squint for a while longer.
Suddenly, there was the sound of rapid horse hooves outside, and soon they arrived in front of their house without any hindrance.
There was a rapid knock on the door, and if the subordinates wanted to report it even if they were resting, something big must have happened. Ji Jing quickly sat up and said, "Come in."
Geng Qing dragged a scout who was covered in mud and ran in, "Zhen Fu, it's not good, the river has surged and will flow near the camp soon."
"What's going on?" Ji Jingwen jumped to the ground and grabbed the scout, "Tell me in detail."
The scout took a breath and recounted what he had seen along the way.
It turned out that they were walking along the Xiaohe River in the rain.
Going up, because the road is difficult, not only is it difficult to move forward, but many people also fall behind.
After walking upward for nearly a hundred miles, the location of the breach was still not found. While trudging, they suddenly noticed that the originally quiet river was roaring. Several people ran to the riverside to explore in the dark, only to find that the river surface that had been sinking was rising at a speed visible to the naked eye. Two people were unable to stand due to the collapse of the river bank under their feet and were swept into the water.
Soon, a scene that stunned them appeared in front of them. In the dim light of the lantern, a flood peak roared from the upper reaches like an evil tiger. Where it passed, the river embankments on both sides could not bear the impact of the water flow, and countless earth and rocks collapsed. The river suddenly became much wider. Not only that, but a higher and larger flood peak was faintly visible rushing downstream.
These people did not dare to neglect, no matter whether the slippery road on rainy days would hurt the horses' hooves, they beat the horses and ran towards the camp. If these flood peaks rush into the camp, the entire camp will be flooded. Where should the tens of thousands of people in the camp flee.
After listening to the scout's report, Ji Jing finally understood the source of his uneasiness. The flood would not be much slower than the speed of a horse. I guess the sound of water I heard was the first wave of flood rushing towards this direction.
Cold sweat broke out on his palms, and his face turned pale. Ji Jing shouted at the top of his lungs, "Quickly, order the entire army to abandon the stronghold and head south and run to higher ground."
The rapid sound of gongs and drums rang in the camp, and many people were awakened from their sleep. According to military discipline, they took the lead in putting on armor and carrying weapons, and then hurriedly got out of the tent and looked for the gathering place.
"Run...run south, the flood is coming." A crying voice sounded in the camp. The soldiers instinctively looked north, and their eyes couldn't help but open wider and wider.
In the dark night, the sound of violent water was approaching from far away, and a black shadow like a mountain peak was roaring from a distance along the Xiao River. It was a flood peak that had accumulated an unknown amount of power. It was angrily tearing apart everything along the coast. Wherever it passed, mountains collapsed and the ground cracked, and raging waves surged into the sky.
"The water is coming..." The screams sounded from the shore, but stopped suddenly.
The angry water rushed over the river embankment, mixed with broken branches and stones, and rushed down. It continued to rush into the camp that had already turned into a swamp, knocking down the soldiers who were trying to escape mercilessly to the ground and pinning them in the water.
The rumbling sound, mixed with the sound of broken wood and the scream of war horses, resounded throughout the entire camp. There were people everywhere like headless flies. People roared, cursed, and fought, trying their best to find a place to stay.
There were dozens of people hanging on a flagpole in the center of the village. However, as the water continued to wash away, the flagpole was finally overwhelmed and fell heavily into the water. These people disappeared into the dark water in the blink of an eye.
In the face of such a natural disaster, except for those with higher cultivation levels, ordinary soldiers could only drift with the tide, rolling and struggling in the water. But the heavy armor on their bodies, this companion who usually protected them, now became their murderer.
Three waves of flood peaks passed through here successively, each wave more fierce than the last. The entire camp became a purgatory on earth, with no lights and no place to stay. I don’t know how many people were swallowed up by this darkness.
I will die. Ji Jing knelt on a high ground, opened his hands, raised his head and roared in grief towards the dark sky.
