In Nanyang City, in the spacious hall of Yang Mansion, dozens of guests were standing or sitting, chattering and noisily. These prominent figures in Nanyang didn't know why Master Yang had called them here in a hurry, and they were making random guesses.
While everyone was shouting, Yang Shilin and Master came in. Yang Shilin walked to the main seat and stood, waved his hands, asking everyone to calm down, and then said: "Everyone, Yang has kept everyone waiting for a long time. Please take your seats!" After everyone sat down, he continued: "Everyone, the scouts sent by Yang came back to report that Zhu Can betrayed his trust and sent 50,000 troops to attack Nanyang City. Currently, the enemy is less than fifty miles away from Nanyang City."
As soon as Yang Shilin said this, the hall began to boil like water in a pot. Everyone was whispering and discussing. Yang Shilin waved his hand again to calm down everyone, and continued: "The enemy is powerful and coming with ferocious force. Therefore, Yang hurriedly summoned everyone to the humble residence just to hear everyone's opinions. Whether it is war or surrender, everyone can express their opinions. .”
As soon as Yang Shilin finished speaking, a young man stood up suddenly and said loudly: "Mr. Yang, you can't surrender! We finally took Nanyang City back from Zhu Can's hands. If we surrender, the people in Nanyang City will suffer. It’s going to happen again!”
"Yes, yes, the soldiers will block it, the water will cover it with the soil! Are you afraid of him?!"
The head of the Wu clan stood up and said: "Mr. Yang, we Wu clan members are willing to help you defend the city. We need people and strength!"
"Yes, Master Yang, our Zeng family will also all obey your orders!"
…
Seeing everyone's dissatisfaction and excitement, Yang Shilin showed a satisfied smile on his face. After attacking the barracks last time, he organized an army of 10,000 people with the Yang family as the backbone. However, just relying on these ten thousand people is not enough. If you want to defend Nanyang City, you must mobilize the entire city. Therefore, he summoned everyone to the Yang Mansion because he wanted to gain the support of these village sages first. After the last battle, Yang Shilin believed in the power of the people. Only with the support of the people could he defend Nanyang City.
"Thank you for your trust in Yang!" Yang Shilin said, "The Nanyang city wall is tall and large. With everyone's support, Yang will be able to defend the city. Zhu Can's army lacks food and cannot attack for a long time, so it will inevitably withdraw from the siege. And go."
Everyone left the Yang Mansion and after returning, they mobilized their families, relatives, children and neighbors. Yang Shilin also sent people to post notices everywhere, collect supplies, and recruit strong men to defend the city. Therefore, the people of Nanyang City contributed money and efforts if they were able. A large number of strong men were mobilized. They repaired the city wall, carried supplies to the city, and prepared to defend Nanyang City in an orderly manner.
Yang Shilin deployed all 10,000 troops on the city wall and designated generals to defend in sections. He himself led his trusted generals to inspect the city defense section by section.
Two days later, Zhu Can's army arrived at Nanyang City and set up camps on the east, south and north sides of the city. The enemy's commander was named Zheng Liren. In order to find out the situation of Nanyang City before attacking the city, Zheng Liren led a group of men to climb a hill outside the east gate and looked at Nanyang City a hundred feet away.
Nanyang is surrounded by a blue-black city wall, which is four to five feet high and six to seven feet wide. Flags were fluttering at the top of the city, and the soldiers standing guard with halberds were in bright armor. The weapons in their hands glowed dazzlingly under the sunlight.
After observing for a while, Zheng Liren turned his head and asked, "How many defenders are there in the city?" A general next to him said, "Come back to the commander, there are 10,000 troops in the city, but there are also a large number of strong men to help defend the city." Zheng Liren listened, He frowned and said: "The Nanyang City Wall is so tall. If we want to attack the city, we will have to pay a heavy price..." As he was talking, dark clouds suddenly gathered above his head. Immediately afterwards, there was lightning and thunder in the sky. After a while, bursts of rain came, like flying arrows, riding on the wind.
Zheng Liren turned his back and said, "It's raining, let's go back to the military camp." After that, he led the generals down the hill and walked in the direction of the military camp.
On the city wall, Yang Shilin was leading the generals to inspect the city defenses. Suddenly, strong winds came up and heavy rain poured down. The master protected his head with his hands and said: "Sir, the enemy will not attack the city due to such a heavy rain. Let's go back home quickly!" Yang Shilin walked to the battlement, looked down, and wiped it again With rain on his face, he turned around and said to the generals who were following him: "You must be alert and don't be careless. If you encounter an emergency, send someone to call me immediately." All the generals clasped their fists and said: "As ordered !”
Yang Shilin and his master walked down the city and returned to Yang Mansion. Yang Shilin changed into a set of clean clothes, drank a cup of hot tea, sat in the study for a while, then slowly walked out of the house and came to the corridor in the courtyard.
The sky was getting dark and the rain was still falling. The raindrops hit the banana leaves, making a crackling sound. Yang Shilin raised his head and looked at the sky one foot above, and thought to himself: "It has been raining for so long, why doesn't it stop?" Obviously, Yang Shilin would not have thought that the rain would not stop not only tonight, but also tomorrow. , and it won’t stop the day after tomorrow.
On the official road more than a hundred miles away from Nanyang City, an army was marching in the rain. This team of 3,000 people was the new army to reinforce Nanyang. There was lightning and thunder in the sky and heavy rain. The soldiers braved the strong wind and trudged forward on the muddy road.
Scarface, wearing a hat and raincoat, came from the front of the team on horseback. He came to Li Zhiyun, clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, it's raining too hard. Do you want to camp on the spot?" Li Zhiyun held the bamboo hat in his hand, looked up at the leaden sky, and said, "Okay, it's getting dark anyway." Now, let’s find an open space to camp!”
"yes!"
The new army was stationed next to the official road. The soldiers set up a tent, went to the nearby woods to cut branches and firewood, and built a bonfire in the tent. They buried pots to make rice and baked their wet clothes.
After a night's rest, it rained heavily the next day. Scarface advocated waiting for the rain to stop before leaving. Li Zhiyun shook his head and said: "No! Jutan is close to Nanyang, and Champion City is far away from Nanyang. Zhu Can's army set off first again, and may have arrived in Nanyang by now. Nanyang is in danger, we can’t delay for a moment, we must rush on in the rain!”
"All right."
After the team set off, they marched in the storm for more than half an hour, but stopped by a small river. Li Zhiyun didn't know what was going on, so he rushed to the front to take a look. It turned out that a flash flood broke out and destroyed the bridge on the river, making it impossible for the team to cross.
The river was not very wide originally, but now the water has risen and the river surface has become wider, about ten feet.
"My lord, what should I do?" Scarface asked at the side.
Li Zhiyun thought for a while and said: "Build a floating bridge."
"What is a floating bridge?"
"You'll find out soon."
There are mountains on both sides of the road, and the mountains are lush with trees. Li Zhiyun asked the soldiers to go up the mountain to cut down trees and vines, then cut the trees into five-foot-long logs and tie them with vines.
After everyone was busy for more than an hour, the pontoon bridge was built and fixed to the river bank with wooden piles at both ends. However, the pontoon bridge is very flexible. As soon as the people and horses stepped on it, the pontoon bridge sank. Especially when the artillery carriage crossed the bridge, the bridge deck completely sank into the water, making it impossible to pass smoothly.
Li Zhiyun knew that this was all caused by the lack of bridge piles, and wooden boats were needed to drive piles in the river. Building the ship first and then driving the pilings would be a waste of time. Without saying a word, he took off his bamboo hat and raincoat and jumped into the water. A soldier had waded across the river just now. He knew that the river was not too deep, and the deepest part only reached his chin.
When Scarface saw it, he was surprised: "My lord, what are you doing?"
Li Zhiyun did not answer, but walked to the pontoon and held up a log with his shoulders. In his previous life, he had watched a TV series that described an Eighth Route Army unit that was going to the front to fight the Japanese and encountered a river. The women in the village jumped into the river and held up the pontoon with their shoulders, allowing the soldiers to cross the river smoothly.
When Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu saw it, they immediately understood and jumped into the water. The other guards also jumped down. Then, more people jumped into the river, and everyone held up the pontoon with their shoulders.
Scarface directed the artillery carriages to pass through the pontoon bridge, and the artillery carriages drove across the river smoothly. Zhu Feng'er and Ying Gu were also in the river. They stood opposite Li Zhiyun and held up a log together. It was late autumn, and with the continuous rain, the river water was very cold. They had been in the water for so long that their lips were purple from the cold. Li Zhiyun urged them to go ashore and said: "You two are women and are weak. Don't get sick from the cold. Come up quickly."
Zhu Feng'er said resolutely: "No! If you can persist, so can I!" Aunt Ying also said: "Yes, I won't go up either!" The two of them persisted until all the people in the group had crossed the river, and then they waded into the river with Li Zhiyun. Arrived on the other side.
In Nanyang City, Yang Shilin stood on the city wall, his heart full of worries. The heavy rain has been falling continuously for seven or eight days. It seems as if someone has dug a hole in the sky, and the water in the Tianhe River is pouring down. Although the five or six people surrounding Yang Shilin were all wearing bamboo hats and raincoats, their clothes were all wet from the rain.
Yang Shilin walked to the battlements, leaned forward and looked down the city. The terrain of Nanyang City is low, and the flood rushing down from the Dushan Mountain in the east of the city is blocked by the tall city wall of Nanyang City and forced to flow north along the base of the wall. In this way, a river is actually formed outside the city. The river was so surging that the entire Nanyang City seemed to be floating on the water.
There was a huge flood outside the city, and the swells were constantly eroding the foundation of the city wall. In the past few days, Yang Shilin has been worried that the city wall will be destroyed by floods. After all, the city wall of Nanyang City is made of clay, and is just covered with a layer of blue bricks. If the city wall is soaked in water for a long time, it will inevitably collapse. Because he was worried, he climbed to the top of the city several times every day.
