The sound of the waves roared, and around the valley on the bank of the Yellow River, the boiling voices lit up the whole night.

It was dusk in the past, but it was already dark, and the fire arrows were like fireflies flying in the night sky, illuminating the vision of people in the snow one after another. In the western foothills, a large number of soldiers with shields rushed through the snow, some carrying ladders, and arrows fell on their shields, on their bodies, and on the snow around them. In the woods behind them, the flames were blazing, and the archers who had lit the arrows rushed out one by one, shot the arrows, and spun back into the snowy forest where the campfires were burning. At this time, you will see a large number of locust-like points of light falling down on the wall of the summer village camp.

The covering blows fell on the high points of the wooden camp wall one after another, and too many fire bolts fell on the wood in this harsh winter, and some even burned.

At the head of the wall of Xia Village, there was no sound of elm cannons, and in the charge of the Changsheng army all over the mountains, there was always a considerable distance between the soldiers and the soldiers, and they ran outside the wall with their shields, only at a few points suddenly launched a fierce attack. The ladder was erected, the crowd swarmed up, inside the summer village, the defenders poured out with boiling water, and the spear array stabbed out from the camp wall like a forest, stabbing the elite of the Changsheng army who tried to climb in to death at the head of the wall, and a little spot of light ran out of the woods in the distance, and when they tried to fire a volley at the head of the wall on this side, the archers who rushed over inside the camp wall also shot fire arrows at the opponent's archer group.

Sometimes the victorious army shoots faster, and sometimes it is the defenders of Xia Village. When a little fire fell on the wall and the ground inside and outside, and the defenders who could not dodge rolled on the ground screaming at their wounds, another wave of attacks came up from outside.

The wounded were still rolling on the ground, and the reinforcements were still in the distance, and the soldiers behind the camp wall rushed out from behind the bunkers and engaged the elite of the victorious army who tried to storm in.

The general who was responsible for the defense of the west side of the camp wall and the second section of the second section was named Xu Lingming. He was five short in stature, his body was as strong as a black iron tower, and he had more than 500 men under his command, defending against a camp wall forty zhang wide. At this time, after the repeated attacks of the victorious army, the originally abundant manpower was rapidly decreasing. As far as the eye could see, there were fires that were clearly extinguished, running figures, the shouts of the heralds, the screams of the wounded, and many arrows stuck in the dirt on the ground inside the camp, some still burning. Since the village is a valley, it is impossible to see the outside from the low point of the inside. He was now standing on a high lookout and looking out, and on the slope outside the wall, the charging Changsheng soldiers scattered and shouted, running like an ant colony, only occasionally attacking a certain section of the camp wall.

Farther away, countless spots of fire in the woods were about to rush out, but they didn't know where they were going to shoot.

"They're going to rush, they're going to rush...... Xu Er. Get your brother ready! Rockets, I say ignition, ignition. When I let you rush, all go to the wall! ”

He suddenly shouted loudly on the watchtower, and below, Xu Er, who led the archery team, was his brother, and then he also shouted, and more than 100 archers around him immediately picked up the arrows wrapped in oilcloth. Doused more viscous oil and ran to the campfire to stand by. Xu Lingming quickly rushed down the watchtower, picked up his shield and long knife: "Xiao Zhuo! Reserve brothers, rush with me! ”

Waiting in the rear bunker were more than fifty of his most elite men. At his command, he picked up his shield and long knife and rushed forward. While running, Xu Lingming was still paying attention to the colors in the sky, but halfway through the run, on the wooden wall in front of him, a soldier in charge of observation suddenly shouted something, and the voice was drowned in the tide of shouting, the soldier turned around, shouting and waving. Xu Lingming opened his eyes wide to see the sky, it was still black, but the cold hair stood up on the back of his head.

"Take cover—beware—"

Xu Lingming squatted down, raised his shield, and shouted hard, and the soldiers behind him also hurriedly raised their shields, and then, the rain of arrows fell in the dark, and someone was shot to the ground. Near the wooden wall, some people were already hiding behind the bunker, and some fighters who had no time to dodge were shot and fell to the ground.

In the previous period, the Chang Sheng Army had been suppressing the Xia Village defenders with rockets, on the one hand, burns would indeed cause great damage to the soldiers, and on the other hand, for the elm cannon that could block the advance of the Chang Sheng Army soldiers two days ago, as the supreme general of this army and one of the famous generals in the world, Guo Yaoshi did not show excessive awe of this new thing.

When he was in the north, he had also come into contact with the immature firearms of the Wu Dynasty, and at this time he rushed to Xia Village, and at the first time, he made a response to the storage of elm cannons: a large number of rockets were used to set fire to the high place of the camp wall where the elm cannon was originally placed.

Originally, these positions were also blocked on his side, but in the case of flying arrows, the window for firing the elm cannon did not dare to open at all, and once the arrow was really fired into the muzzle, the consequences of the gunpowder being ignited were unimaginable. In front of the camp wall, when the soldiers were as scattered as possible, the damage that the elm cannon could do was not enough. Therefore, during this time, the Xia Village side did not let the elm cannon fire for the time being, but sent people to remove the gunpowder and shells nearby as much as possible.

And as the sky gets dark, bursts of fire arrows fly, which basically makes the soldiers behind the wooden wall form a conditioned reflex, once the arrows fly in the light, they immediately make dodging actions, but at this moment, it is not the rocket that falls.

Xia Village's side immediately suffered a big loss.

"Xu Er-ignition-on-wall-kill with me-"

Xu Lingming shook his head and shouted violently, next to him, several injured people were screaming, some of them were crawling on the snow in front of them with arrows in the thighs, and farther away, the Jurchen ladder set up the camp wall.

The soldier who had warned earlier grabbed his long knife and turned to kill the enemy, but a resentful soldier rushed in and slashed at him, slashing his arm into the air, and the surrounding defenders rose to fight on the wall. Xu Lingming roared "ah-" and rushed towards the wall.

In the blood-spattered battle, a soldier of the Changsheng Army jumped into the wall, the long knife slashed down with the leap, Xu Lingming raised his shield and waved it violently, the shield smashed the steel knife, his tower-like figure collided with the burly Northeast man, the two suddenly crashed into the camp wall, their bodies entangled, and then slammed into the blood.

"Kill—"

In the shadows, the resentful man fell, Xu Lingming drew his knife and drank wildly, ahead. The soldiers of the Changsheng army crossed the wall, and in the rear, the elite under Xu Lingming and the archers who lit the rockets also swarmed towards this side, and everyone rushed to the wall, setting off a wave of blood on the wooden wall, and the archers rushed to the walls on both sides. Began to rain arrows from this piece where the usual victorious armies were concentrated.

Similar scenes are happening in different places on this camp wall. In front of the main gate of the camp, several large carts with shields were temporarily paralyzed by the fire of two bed crossbows and bows and arrows at the head of the wall, and to the east, they stepped on the heads and corpses in the snow. The massive assault on the camp's defenses continued unabated.

Although in the battle of Chaobai River, Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren were temporarily out of the control of Guo Yaoshi, but now. With the option of surrender already erased, the commander of the victorious army regained control of the entire army as soon as he arrived. Under his strategy, Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren have also cheered up and made every effort to assist the other party in this attack.

For the elm cannon and the more than 100 heavy cavalry that had previously made meritorious contributions, Guo Yaoshi had to be more sensitive and resolute than Zhang and Liu, which was also because he had more available troops under his command. At this time, outside the Xia Village Valley, the strength of Chang Sheng's army had reached 36,000 people. All of them are elite factions that follow south, but in the entire summer village. The actual strength of the army is only more than 18,000 people. More than a hundred heavy cavalry can expand the advantage in a small area, but on the battlefield of a resolute general attack, once attacked, Guo Yaoshi will firmly eat the other party, even if it is a price. As long as the opponent's trump card is defeated, the opponent's morale will inevitably plummet.

As for the firearms, in the past, the firearms of the Wuchao Dynasty were flashy and almost unusable. At this point, it is considered to be at a usable level. What has just appeared, the momentum is big and the power is small, and the skirmishers may not be able to kill a person at once, compared to the bow and arrow, what is the difference. He let go of his courage and suppressed it with rockets, and in the blink of an eye, he restrained the weakness of this new type of weapon.

"There is no vanity under the fame......"

In the attack of the resentful army, the valley of Xia Village was also noisy and noisy. The soldiers on the periphery have already entered the battle, the reserves are all tense, and on the high platform in the center, they are receiving all kinds of information, looking at the fighting on the periphery, the arrows coming and going in the sky, Ning Yi also has to sigh at the power of Pharmacist Guo.

His ability to control the battlefield in real time is actually not strong, in this valley, the people who are really good at fighting and commanding are Qin Shaoqian and several generals of the previous Wurui Battalion, and there are also famous generals like Yue Pengju.

Soon after understanding this matter, he put all the heavy responsibility of command on Qin Shaoqian's shoulders, and he no longer made superfluous speeches. As for the young general Yue Fei, his training is still insufficient, and he is still inferior to Qin Shaoqian in the overall situation, but he is decisive and keen in dealing with small and medium-sized situations, and Ning Yi entrusted him with commanding the elite troops to respond to the surrounding war and make up for the gap.

At this time, there was not yet a big gap near the camp wall, but the pressure was gradually emerging. Especially the suppression of the elm cannon made Ning Yi understand that this new weapon with a heavy thunder and small rain could not be confused for too long for a true good fighter after all - although Ning Yi did not expect them to dominate the battle, he was still surprised by the speed and accuracy of Guo Yaoshi's response.

The other party is so powerful, which means that Xia Cun will face the most difficult future next......

Of course, there is no room for fighting back in this matter.

In the chaotic battle situation, Yuwen Feidu and several other members of the Bamboo Record with strong martial arts rushed in the battle array. Although the boy's legs were limping and had some impact on running, his own cultivation was still there, and he was sharp enough, and the stray arrows of ordinary projectiles posed little threat to him. Although this batch of elm cannons was transported from Luliang, the person who was the best at manipulating the cannon was still in the bamboo record at this time, Yuwen Feidu was one of them, and during the battle of the grandmaster of Luliang Mountain, he even carried the elm cannon to threaten Lin Xichan.

The boy ran past the camp wall of the second section, and the fighting on the outer wall continued, he released an arrow, and then ran to a nearby wall where elm cannons were placed. Most of these elm cannons are protected by outer walls and roofs, and the two elites of Lu Liang, who are in charge of operating the cannons, do not dare to open the muzzles of the cannons, and are also killing the enemy with arrows, they hide behind the camp wall and say hello to the teenagers who ran over.

Xu Lingming was fighting at the head of the wall, and as an officer leading 500 people, he had a half-iron and half-leather armor on his body. At this time, in the fierce battle, he was also stabbed in the shoulder, and he was bleeding. He was smashing the tip of the spear of a victorious soldier who had climbed the ladder with his shield, and on one side of his vision, he saw someone carrying an elm cannon to the roof high above the camp wall. There was a bang.

The firelight shot directly into the gathered crowd outside the camp wall, and exploded, sparks in all directions, dark red blood splashes, limbs flying, shocking, after a while, only to hear another sound on the other side, several shells fell into the crowd one after another, boiling like a tide of killing. The men who operated the cannon moved the elm cannon down. After a while, it was covered with rockets again.

On the huge battlefield, the earth-shattering sound of fighting, thousands of people rushing together from all directions, the occasional cannon sound, the flames and snowflakes flying in the sky, the blood of people boiling and draining. Looking at the night sky, I saw that the shape of the battlefield was constantly changing. Only on the inner side of the valley in the middle of the battlefield. More than 1,000 people who were rescued gathered together, trembling because of every battle and shouting. There are also a few people who fold their hands and read words. Elsewhere in the valley, most of the people are running forward, or ready to run forward. In the camp of wounded soldiers, screaming and scolding, crying and shouting were mixed, and there were also seriously injured who finally died. They were carried out from behind and placed in the emptied snow......

*****************

The battle in the night gradually stopped, and the smell of blood and charred filled the air. Mao Yishan sat down inside the camp wall, there was sticky blood on the camp wall, but it had basically begun to freeze. He didn't care about that. His body felt only intense fatigue and tearing pain, and at first he thought he had been slashed in the back or somewhere, but then he realized that he had lost his strength.

The tense nerves began to relax, and the pain was still intense, and he grabbed a small piece of snow in the corner of the camp wall that had not been stepped on or stained with blood, and subconsciously put it in his mouth, wanting to eat.

This night, he killed three people, and he was lucky not to be injured, but in the case of concentration, all the strength of his body was drained.

Far and near, there were brothers from the rear who came over and quickly looked for someone to take care of the wounded, Mao Yishan felt that he should also go to help, but he didn't have the strength to stand up for a while. Not far from him, a middle-aged man was sitting on the edge of a large rock, tearing off strips of cloth from his clothes and bandaging the wounds on his legs. In that place, there were mostly corpses and blood around, and I didn't know if he was seriously injured, but the other party just wrapped his leg and sat there panting.

The man glanced at Mao Yishan, and then continued to sit and look around. After a while, he took out a steamed bun from his arms, broke it in half, and threw it to Mao Yishan.

"Thanks, thanks......"

Mao Yishan said a word, and the other party waved the steamed bun in his hand to himself, and then began to gnaw.

After a while, someone came over, looking for the wounded, and by the way, he made up for the resentful soldier in the corpse with a knife and a half, and Mao Yishan's Shangguan also passed nearby: "Are you okay?" One by one, when asked about the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man shook his head: "It's okay." ”

When the change of guard came up, the nearby companions retreated, and Mao Yishan stood up hard. The man tried to get up, but after all, he waved his hand at Mao Yishan on his thighs: "Brother, help me." ”

Mao Yishan went over and staggered him up, and the man's body also shook, and then he didn't need Mao Yishan's support: "Xinding, right?" He glanced at Mao Yishan.

"I've been a soldier, a soldier for six years. The first murder the day before yesterday ......"

"No wonder...... You're too flustered, you're trying too hard, it's hard to fight for a long time......"

The middle-aged man staggered a few steps forward, and helped the things around him with his hand, Mao Yishan hurriedly followed, and wanted to support the other party, but the other party refused.

"Big brother...... He's a veteran of the battlefield......"

"The veteran can't talk about it, it's just that the expedition to Fangla, and I participated under Tong Wangye, which is not as tragic as the one in front of me...... But I finally saw blood. The middle-aged man sighed, "This ...... It's hard. ”

During the period of time of fighting against the Jurchens, countless armies were defeated, and the Xia Village was also gathered in various formations, most of them were scattered, and some of them did not even recover their status as officers. This middle-aged man is quite experienced, Mao Yishan said: "Big brother, is it difficult?" Do you think we can win? I...... The Shangguan I used to talk to were not as powerful as this time, and when I fought with the Jurchens, I hadn't seen anyone yet. The army collapsed, and I had never heard of us being able to fight like this with the victorious army, and I thought, I don't think we can win this time......

"It's indeed the first time I've seen such a Shangguan, and it's the first time I've been beaten like this. Maybe we can win......" The middle-aged man's gaze swept around, and he said this, and after a moment, he turned around and looked at the place that was previously a battlefield, "But this is the beginning, look at the ...... over there"

They were already a little higher at this time, and Mao Yishan looked back. Inside and outside the camp wall, the corpses and blood stretched out, the arrows stuck in the ground were like autumn grass, and farther away, the fire stretched between the snowy ridges at the foot of the mountain, and the figures of the victorious army overlapped, and the huge military formation surrounded the entire valley. Mao Yishan took a breath. The smell of blood still lingers in his nose.

Xia Village was pressed in this valley by the opponent's entire military formation. There is no place to go except the Yellow River. Anyone who looks out of here will have a huge sense of oppression.

He glanced at it, his gaze almost drawn to the light of the surrounding formation, but then, a procession walked by. The sound of conversation rang in his ears, and the middle-aged man patted him on the shoulder, and asked him to look behind him, and in the entire valley, there were also continuous military formations and bonfires. Walking around, the smell of porridge and vegetables has wafted up.

"It's ...... The two armies are facing each other, and you really live and die. Brother, you're right, before, we could only escape, but now we can fight. The middle-aged man walked forward, then stretched out his hand, and finally asked Mao Yishan to come over and support him, "My surname is Qu, called Quqing, the celebration of Qing, what about you?" ”

"Mao Yishan."

"Good name, easy to remember." Walking across a section of flat ground in front of them, the two of them walked up a small ramp and stairs, and while walking hard, Qu Qing whispered with some sighs, "Yes, who doesn't want to win, although it ...... Victory also has to kill a lot of people...... But a victory is a victory...... Brother, you're right, I was wrong...... Resentful army, Jurchens, let's be soldiers...... What else can be done if you are not victorious, you are slaughtered like a pig...... Now the capital is going to be broken, and the court is going to die...... We must win, and we must ...... victory."

His words seemed to be said to Mao Yishan, but it was more like he was talking to himself, Mao Yishan didn't understand much, but after going up the ladder, the middle-aged man looked back at the barracks of Chang Shengjun, and when he turned around and left, Mao Yishan felt him pat his shoulder: "Brother Mao, kill more people......" Mao Yishan nodded, and then heard him add in a lighter tone: "...... alive" Mao Yishan nodded again.

His own brother all over the mountains...... To live, of course...... He thought.

At this moment, the soldier who had been running away had not thought about how difficult these two words were, and at this moment, he was not very willing to think about the difficulty behind it. There are enemies all over the mountains, and there are also companions all over the mountains, and all of them are fighting for the same thing.

After this day's fighting, Mao Yishan handed over a good brother who was one of the few in the army. In the camp of the Changsheng army outside the camp, Guo Yaoshi, who rushed over at a resolute speed, re-examined the combat strength of the Wu Dynasty army in Xia Village, this famous general of the time was calm and calm, and arranged the camp of the large army on the way to command the strong attack, and at this time revised the attack plan on the Xia Village camp in a terrible silence.

After receiving the news of the firearms, he already understood that it was the Wu Dynasty troops in front of him who planned to break the Yellow River. Because in the letter sent to Zongwang, gunpowder was used in the plan to break the mouth.

On the other side, in the command post where the main generals gathered above Xia Village, everyone had already realized the strength of Guo Yaoshi and Chang Shengjun, realized the difficulty of this matter, and swept away the relaxed mood of the victory the day before yesterday. Everyone is seriously working on the revision and supplementation of the defense plan.

On a higher platform, Ning Yi stood in the wind and snow, looking at the army camp in the distance, and also at the valley crowd below, Juan'er's figure was running in the crowd, directing the preparation of the joint distribution of food, and he would also smile when he saw this. After a while, someone came over to him, beside him, and gently took his hand.

That's red grapes, because she is a woman, she looks a little thin in the wind and snow, and the two are standing hand in hand, but they are very husband and wife.

"What are you thinking?" Hongti said softly.

"I thought it would be hard." Ning Yi smiled softly, lowered his gaze slightly, and then raised it again, "But when I really saw them pressing over, I was also a little scared." ”

“…… I'm scared too. After a while, Hongti said softly.

Ning Yi turned his head to look at her plain face. laughed: "But I'm afraid it's useless." Then he said, "I've been scared many times, but I can only get through it......"

Hongti just smiled, her fear of the battlefield was naturally not the fear of ordinary people, but it did not prevent her from having the feelings of ordinary people: "I'm afraid it's more difficult in the capital." She said, "It's going to be a while." If we hold it and the capital is broken, will you go back to Luliang with me? ”

"You can think about it." Ning Yi looked in the direction where Bianliang City might be, where the wind and snow and darkness were all over there, "At least I have to bring these brothers back for you." ”

"Yes, there are also Tan'er girls, they ......" Hongti smiled slightly, "Liheng, you promised me that you would give me a peaceful and prosperous world, and you would go to Luliang Mountain." I have made the stockade for me, and you come to help the Prime Minister Qin, hoping to save Bianliang. I'm your wife now, I know how much you've done, how hard you've worked, and you've given me everything I want. Now I want you to think for yourself, if the Bianliang is really broken. What do you do next? I...... It's your woman, no matter what you do. I will follow you for the rest of my life. ”

Ning Yi looked ahead, raised his clasped hands, and looked stern: "...... I haven't thought about it so much, but if I really want to, Bianliang City is broken, and there are two possibilities. Either the emperor and all the ministers go to the south. According to the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River is guarded, and the river is ruled by rowing, or within a few years, the Jurchens will push it over again, and the Wu Dynasty will fall. If it's the latter, I'll consider taking Tan'er and all of them to Luliang Mountain...... But no matter which possibility it is, Lu Liangshan's future life will be more difficult. I'm afraid I can't get through the peaceful days now. ”

He was silent for a moment: "No matter what, either I can hold it up now, fight with the Jurchens for a while, and think about it later, or ...... It's a lifetime. Then he waved his hand, "Actually, there's no need to think too much, you see, we can't escape, maybe like I said, there will be a river of blood here." ”

He pointed to the camp of the Changsheng Army, Hongti nodded, and Ning Yi then said, "However, I am also a little selfish. ”

"What selfishness."

"Look below." Ning Yi motioned to the crowd below, and in the crowd, a familiar figure walked through, and he said softly, "I want to send Juan'er away." ”

In the crowd, Juan'er seemed to sense it and looked up. Hong Ti smiled, not long after, Ning Yi also smiled, he stretched out his hand, pulled Hong Ti over, hugged in front of him, in the wind and snow, the bodies of the two were tightly snuggled together, after a long time, Ning Yi closed his eyes, opened them, and exhaled a breath of white air, his eyes had regained complete calmness and sanity.

It is normal for people to be afraid, but in such a time, there is not much room for fear to stop. For Ning Yi, even if Hongti didn't come over, he would quickly recover his mentality, but naturally, having this warmth and not having it are two different concepts.

The wind and snow continued, and the two armies that had just fought to the death faced each other under this night sky, and in Bianliang City in the distance, the Jurchens had already collected their troops. On the ground, the whole battle situation was as cold as condensed ice. To the north, which looks similarly crumbling, is the city of Taiyuan, which has been left in a lonely city and has been deprived of any resources throughout the winter, the people of the city have long lost contact with the outside world, and no one knows when this long war will stop.

On the fourth day of the twelfth month, the victorious army launched an all-out attack on the defenders of Xia Village, and the desperate fight boiled and spread in the snow of the valley, and the blood inside and outside the camp wall was almost soaked in a qiē. In such a battle of strength, almost any conceptual trick is difficult to establish, the firing of elm cannons can only be converted into the power of a few bows and arrows, and the generals of both sides are playing back and forth at the highest level of the war, and what appears in front of them is only the tragic scarlet of the whole world.

Arrows flew through the sky, shouts shook the earth, countless people, countless swords and guns fought past, death and pain raged everywhere the two sides fought, inside and outside the camp walls, in the fields, in the ditches, in the foothills, beside the woodlands, by the boulders, by the streams...... In the afternoon, the wind and snow stopped, and with the incessant shouts and charges, blood flowed from every place where the battle was fought...... (To be continued......)

PS: Seven thousand five hundred words!