Autumn is a busy season for farming, especially for farmers along the Yangtze River, it is a very busy season, and the main crop planted in the south, especially in the Yangtze River basin, is rice, so harvesting rice and the corresponding farm work can make people tired and break their waists.

But for the counties on the border of Yingzhou in Chen Guo, this year's autumn harvest is a bit special, because they have no crops to harvest, and the first invasion of the Zhou army in Jiangbei has ruined the crops in all parts of Yingzhou, and in the autumn there is still a grain of rice in the field.

The number of households in Yingzhou is average, because the location is important, so there are more garrisons, and the original income from farming in this state is not enough to raise the army, but now there is no harvest and the people are all taken captive to Jiangbei, and the supply of grain and grass for the garrisons in Yingzhou has become a problem.

The grain and grass of the Xiakou garrison were transported by ship from Bazhou upstream, and the grain and grass of the garrison along the way from Xiakou to Wuchang was transported by land.

It is not enough to rely on the strength of Bazhou in the upper reaches to support the logistics of Yingzhou, and the downstream Jiangzhou also has to transport grain and grass to Yingzhou, especially the grain and grass of the Wuchang City garrison cannot be in short supply, because there are Yanji and Wuzhou, the nails of the Zhou army, and they can only take the land route.

The grain transport team from Jiangzhou went out of Xisaishan along the Jiangxi River, and then took the northwest road to Wuchang after Huangshiji, and the Zhou army, which had frequently attacked the south of the Yangtze River, had now stopped, and it seemed that they were busy with the autumn harvest and had no time to cross south.

Relying on this, the garrison of Xisai Mountain is relieved, as long as the Zhou army does not come to make trouble, then life is still very good, of course, it would be better to go home as soon as possible, in May, Chen Guo gathered a large army to go west to recover Yingzhou, because the threat is still the reason why the soldiers are stationed everywhere and can not go home.

Especially for the people who have been conscripted into the army, several months have passed since May, and they do not know when they will be able to return home after being stationed in the army, and seeing that the end of the year will be in a few months, many people's homesickness has become more and more intense.

"What do you do with sighing, what's the use of being homesick?" One soldier laughed, he was thin and dark-skinned, with a goatee under his chin about forty years old, and the other was younger but sighed, and his face was even more sorrowful.

"It's all autumn," Bao Tian muttered, goat nonsense said that everyone has no land at home, and they get up early and work late to help the big families work on weekdays, and there is not much left over after a year of exhaustion, and now there is something to eat in the army, although there is a lot of sand, but they can always be full.

Di Baotian was worried and said when it was a head, the official army could not defeat the one-legged bronze man in Jiangbei and could only defend it, and he didn't know what to do until the Yingzhou Navy regained its strength, and he didn't know what happened to the family.

"Worry about it, could it be that the generals are going to fight Yanji or Wuzhou to call you what you want?" The goatee snorted, "You don't know how many people died in Yanji?" Now in this Xisai Mountain, it is not bad to look at the wind every day. ”

The two of them are now on duty at the top of the Xisai Mountain, this kind of drudgery has to be chosen, no one wants to do it, they are drawn by lot to draw the next lot to blow the autumn wind on this watchtower, seeing that they have stayed up for most of the night and can't sleep and chat to relieve fatigue.

At the southern foot of Xisai Mountain was stationed a main fleet of Chen Guo's naval army, and the sailor soldiers and horses on the shore were mostly troops who marched west from Jiankang in May.

It is not easy to be a common man in these years, in addition to being busy with farm work, you also have to serve hard labor and military service, although it means that the time for military service and military service in a year is about a month each, but if you really want to be requisitioned by the government, you can't help yourself.

Of course, everyone is also a reasonable person, if you go to repair the river embankment or join the army to 'busy' up for a month, it will definitely not be enough, the key is that there is no salary or military salary for the days that have passed, and no one takes the deadline seriously after many years.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of the government, they are free laborers who don't even have monthly money, anyway, many people don't have fields at home, and they can barely satisfy themselves when they mix a bowl of bibimbap in the army.

"Therefore, it is best for the army to stay in this Xisai Mountain, and there is no need to fight, and it can live a mixed life." The goatee said to himself, "If you are like those unlucky ghosts in Wuchang, you will be caught by the one-legged bronze man in Jiangbei to make air-dried meat, then it will be over!" ”

Since the Chinese New Year's Eve what 'decisive battle at the top of Xiyang', the name of the one-legged copper man Yuwen Wen has spread, and the people of the Chen Kingdom along the Yangtze River know this story, the one-legged copper man of the Zhou State and the Shixing King of the Chen State fought a decisive battle in Xiyang City, and finally the one-legged copper man won a complete victory.

Then this delicious human flesh, according to reliable sources, he slaughtered and dried all the captured prisoners of the Chen army, and used them to make some 'Dongpo meat', and even the Hulin army under his command had to eat several bowls every day.

Therefore, everyone is a little afraid of this one-legged bronze man and his human-eating Hu Lin Army, plus all kinds of colorful 'personal eyes', it is a good choice to be able to nest in Xisai Mountain and watch the river scenery with peace of mind.

"There's movement on the river!" Di Baotian suddenly shouted, and the goatee hurriedly looked to the northwest when he heard the words, only to see that the river was dark and misty under the night, and he didn't see a name for a long time.

"Don't scare yourself, where is the movement?"

"I'm out of sight?" Di Baotian scratched his head, even at night, his eyesight was still sharp, but there was no moon tonight, so the situation on the river was not very clear, and the two looked at it for a while and couldn't see anything famous.

About 40 miles upstream of Xisai Mountain is the five continents in the Yangtze River, but because the Yangtze River has turned a bend, the beacon on Xisai Mountain can only overlook the river below Huangshiji 15 or 6 miles upstream, but Chen Guo also has a camp in Huangshiji, and set up a beacon watchtower to monitor the five continents upstream.

"Forget it, if Huangshiji doesn't have a beacon fire, then it's fine." The goatee yawned, and now that dawn is approaching, it is the time when people are most sleepy, "Even if the Zhou army attacks at night, it can't break through the Hengjiang iron cable, and the official warships have enough time to react." ”

"Is the iron rope real iron? Didn't you fool around with hemp rope? Di Baotian asked, the officers and soldiers pulled three iron cables on the Xisai Mountain and the opposite bank, and the soldiers were all guessing about this iron cable, and they were all thinking about how much iron it would cost to pull the iron rope on the several miles of river.

However, some people deduce that this iron rope is not good to be fooled with hemp rope, and the habit of being an official will deceive the superiors and subordinates to eat empty pay and drink the blood of soldiers, and it is a great opportunity to take advantage of the hemp rope as an iron cable.

How many catties of iron are used, how much money is spent, and the number of reports is definitely not low, anyway, the hemp rope is not worth much, and the difference in the middle can go into the money bags of the generals.

"Probably not, my fellow villager went to Jiangbei Yingzhai a few days ago, and when crossing the river, the warship checked the iron cable by the way, it was really an iron cable." Goatee was selling the news he knew, "With that iron lock, it will take a lot of time for the Zhou army's warships to break through, and the navy will be ready by then." ”

"Then you're not afraid of the Zhou army's attack, right?"

"Of course, it will take some effort to burn this iron cable." Goatee nodded, "If they use an axe to chop an arm-thick iron rope, they can chop it." ”

Di Baotian asked what to do if the official and military warships wanted to pass, and the goat said that the iron cable of the Hengjiang River was sagging, and the two ends of the high school were lowered, and the ordinary sailless boats passed from both sides.

If the big ship with a mast wants to pass, the winch of the West Sail Mountain is loosened, and the middle section of the river will definitely be submerged in the water, as long as it is lowered to the extent that the big ship can pass, and the sneaky fleet before passed like this.

"Those five ships are the shopkeepers," Bao Tian's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"You're impatient, spread this!" Goatee made a silent gesture, "These things can only be regarded as not being seen!" ”

"The officials and soldiers are desperately bleeding, but the gang of officials above are doing business with the other side in private, and the officials on both sides are not good things!" Di Baotian muttered in his mouth,

It's not a joke to touch this kind of topic, if you let anyone listen to it and tell them about it, they will have to eat the whip: Chen and Zhou are at war, how can there be a private business happening, this must be the two of you spreading rumors!

"So what does it matter to me when we win or lose, we can shrink when we fight, and if we don't get a reward for meritorious service, we will either lose our lives on the spot, or we will be caught and made to dry meat." The goatee said hatefully, "Anyway, there is a Hengjiang iron cable, and the Zhou army can't sneak attack the water village." ”

Xisaishan Shan Zhai is located in the east foot of the river bay, if you want to enter the river and engage the enemy troops coming from the west, the warships attacking in the water village have to make a bend in the river, although this layout is a little troublesome, but it can prevent the upstream enemy troops from directly going down the river to surprise the moored warships.

Of course, this terrain also makes it a little troublesome to attack in an emergency, and General Chen Jun took this into account and pulled up the Hengjiang iron cable, and specially set up a camp on the opposite bank of Xisai Mountain as the fixed end of the iron cable.

Jiangbei is the boundary of the Zhou State, but there is no large stronghold of the Zhou army on the north bank opposite the Xisai Mountain, and the original Zhou Fengsui Sentinel Fort has been uprooted by the Chen army in May, and a small piece of territory on the other side of the river is under the control of the Chen State.

"It's a big lake, surrounded by mountains, and the riverside is often flooded, and it's far away from various cities, so Zhou Jun doesn't bother to fight." Goatee is worthy of being a well-informed person, and the various inside stories he said made Di Baotian stunned when he heard it.

"So that means it doesn't matter if we look away here?" Di Baotian felt that his hard work at night was in vain, and the arrangement of the officials and troops was so strict that he would not let the Zhou army sneak attack, and they didn't dare to sleep all night looking at it was simply a fool.

"Of course, you can't look away, at least you have to stare at the direction of Huangshiji, and whether there is any movement in the beacon in the middle." Goatee yawned again, "Don't fall asleep, you'll have to whip you again in case you bump into Chagang." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he found that something was wrong, and Di Baotian pointed to the direction of Huangshi Rock as if he was seeing a ghost, and he was stunned when he turned his head: the direction of Huangshi Rock was vaguely lit up with a flickering fire, and then the beacon between Huangshi Rock and Xisai Mountain was also lit up.

"It's the enemy, it's the Zhou army coming!" Goatee came back to his senses, "Warning, warning!" You go and light the fire, I'll blow the trumpet! ”

A moment later, the beacons on Xisai Mountain were lit up, and the beacons along the river downstream were also lit up one after another, and their beacon fire transmitted the enemy's situation to Jiangzhou further downstream, while the sound of the horn sounded on Xisai Mountain woke up the sleeping garrison.

"Enemy attack, hurry up and prepare for war, it's the Zhou army coming!" (To be continued.) )