Not long after the Huainan army withdrew its boats and ships, dozens of warships came over the waves, and this time it was not a temptation. There are more than 5,000 sailors and soldiers, scattered on large and small boats, the largest one in the middle is the Lianfang building ship assisted by the Xuzhou Army, and there are fighting ships escorting the front and rear of the ship. Outside the fighting ships, there are more than 30 floating ships.

This way the navy went north, and it was no longer the previous rapid Sichuan trip, but a crushing momentum and slowly marched north. Once the ship runs aground, the soldiers throw the raft on the water, and the penny violently pushes straight ashore, and there are not many slaves left on the shore.

After the soldiers landed on the shore, the first thing they did was to dismantle the wooden fences and rudimentary barracks left on the shore. The earthen baskets that had been discarded by the fleeing army were also collected and burned. As for the firewood and other materials used to cut off the flow of fire, which the slave army did not have time to move, they were also not spared, and they were all thrown into the raging fire.

In this way, the navy army uprooted many of the previous arrangements of the slave army and moved forward all the way. The light boat had traveled more than 20 miles in less than half an hour, and it had even advanced less than half of the time in a whole day. The ship in the fleet is not only where the formation is, but also has the task of exploring, once it is not passable, it will anchor, and many of the forces carried on the ship will fall into the water to swim across the water to salvage the silt and pull out the hidden piles, still not arrogant and impatient.

"These southern thieves, who are so cowardly, what are they still resisting? It's better to surrender early! ”

Tao Leopard also saw that many of the previous arrangements were now destroyed by the southerners, and originally he gave up his position just to lure the southerners to go deeper, but the southerners were still slowly entering Xu Tu, and they had no scruples about building waterways! Hidden piles and grates have been removed, and many of the ditches used to divert water have been filled.

In just one day, this section of the Rushui waterway close to the Huaishui River has risen by nearly a foot, which seems to be not high, but the water flow has been much more rapid, and it has changed the previous situation that the main stream of the Huaishui River backflows Rushui, and the upstream and downstream water flows hedge and spread out of the river, forming a downstream flow from north to south. Especially in the middle of summer in Huaizhong, once the torrential rain pours to help the water potential, then many of the arrangements made by the peach leopard around this place will be destroyed!

Peach Leopard was also entangled to the extreme in his heart at this time, and he didn't know whether to sit back and watch the Huainan Army advance so slowly and finally join forces with the people of Runan, or to take the lead and make it difficult to stabilize the advantages that had been established before.

"Wait one more night, if the southern thieves are still in this state after one night, then they will no longer leave their hands behind, and they will directly slaughter the people of Runan!"

After patrolling the camp at night, Peach Leopard secretly made a decision in his heart, although the Huainan army was not far away, but the pressure on him was not small, and he was worried that if he was so light, he would not only be unable to contain the Huainan naval army, but it was very likely that the soldiers and civilians who had been besieged in the hanging place would break through, making him lose both ends.

And then, he did not evacuate the troops defending the remaining water range, but strengthened the defense. At the same time, in order to prevent the Huainan army from advancing at night, the two sides of the strait prepared more firewood and kept bonfires all night long, so as not to give the Huainan army any opportunity to take advantage of.

Another night fell, and due to the overly complex topography of the Hanging Gourd, it was not conducive to a night attack. Therefore, although the slave army's offensive has become stronger and stronger in the past few days, as long as it lasts until night, the slave army will stop, and the soldiers and civilians in the Hanging Fortress can also get a temporary respite.

Trapped here for a long time, coupled with the shortage of various resources, the combat effectiveness of the Huainan Army here is inevitably declining, and the slave army can no longer be stubbornly rejected from the hanging gourd. So now the slave army has invaded the land of the hanging gourd and occupied a territory, about 7,000 people. And the soldiers and civilians trapped here have also shrunk as much as possible, gathering in an area close to Rushui.

Although it is difficult to defend, but because the slave army has few ships, the Rushui on which the hanging land is backed has not been completely controlled by the slave army, so it is not a desperate situation at the moment, at least there is a way to hope for Rushui. But the problem is that the Huainan Army's transportation capacity here is not enough to evacuate the people on a large scale, which is why the people were afraid that the army would abandon the people and flee.

Therefore, it was not the slave army on the periphery that really trapped Mao Bao and them in the hanging gourd, but the tens of thousands of villagers. Of course, there is no need to say that it is burdensome, and it is the mission of their Huainan Army to appease the villagers. And it is true that without the help of these villagers, it would be difficult for them to support such a long time in the Hanging Place.

When Mao Bao retreated from the front formation, he was already exhausted, and even the armor on his body felt heavy, he couldn't lift his legs and feet, and his combat boots dragged slowly on the ground.

The tragedy of the war in the past few days is not reflected in the death of the battle wounds, but the physical pressure on the soldiers has reached the extreme. The complex terrain of the Hanging Fortress is not suitable for large-scale battles, and the battles are often small-scale battles between one side and the passes. Therefore, the weak strength of the Huainan army was not fully highlighted, although the slave army numbered tens of thousands, but in addition to dividing the troops elsewhere, it was also difficult to invest tens of thousands of people at one time on the frontal battlefield with such a terrain, which also gave the Huainan army the opportunity to divide and defend.

Moreover, after the previous popular uprising was suppressed by Mao Bao, the people also had a preliminary consensus and organization, and understood that only by uniting could they help the reinforcements arrive and be saved. Therefore, under the organization of some township leaders, most of the villagers were also mobilized, digging ditches and trenches, and doing their best to set up obstacles for the slave army to attack. The nearby Rushui has also been dug deep to ensure that the reinforcement ships can dock smoothly.

When it comes to provisions, these people play a much larger role. In fact, as early as more than ten days ago, when the people were about to revolt, there was already a worry about running out of food in the hanging gourd. The reason why it has survived until now is due to the fact that the villagers, men, women and children, including the sick and weak, went into battle together to collect food.

Fortunately, it is the height of summer, and the surrounding area is full of vegetation and turbulence, and the turbulence has honed the ability of the countryside people to forage in the wilderness, insects, birds, fish and shrimp, wild fruits and vegetables, and even new reed roots, all those who can eat are eaten, with a thin soup of scattered grain rice, so as to satisfy the stomach.

The reason why the villagers who were about to change would become so self-disciplined, on the one hand, was due to the environment, the slave army had completely surrounded the hanging land, and there was no peace around it except for this area that the Huainan army was fighting to protect. On the other hand, it is because of the desire for life, compared to scattering and fleeing, there is no doubt that at the moment it is under the protection of the Huainan Army, and waiting for the rescue of the army will have more hope of life. At the same time, Mao Bao's life promised, and the Huainan Army always fought at the forefront to protect the villagers from being killed by slaves.

It is precisely with the help of these tens of thousands of villagers that the army that resists the front line can retreat and work hard to maintain it despite the enemy's strong strength and inability to block it. In addition to commanding the front-line rescue battle, Mao Bao also has to select and organize hundreds of brave warriors to fight at night, and through night attacks and other means, he will regain some of the battle lines lost during the day. It is through these continuous efforts day and night that this last position can be maintained to a certain scale, and the villagers are not driven away and die in the waves. And Mao Bao has established an unshakable prestige among the villagers in this short period of time, and has even become the only hope for these people to survive.

If there is nothing busy, the people will gather in large numbers under the flag guard of honor that has been standing in front of the barracks, even if they do nothing, do not say anything, as long as they see the banner waving in the wind, they can think that there are still strong warriors fighting bloody to protect their lives at this moment!

Moving all the way back to the camp, although Mao Bao was still exhausted, but when he saw the hopeful eyes of the people looking at him against the background of the bonfire, he still cheered up and maintained a calm and determined expression, and walked to the flag under the watchful eye of everyone, took the vegetable root soup sealed by the soldiers and drank a bowl of bitter drink, which was not lacking in heroic wiping the corners of his mouth and smiled: "Today I fought several battles, and the slaves and thieves are in vain." If their skills stop here, then there is hope that our military and civilians will get out of trouble, and they will never bury their bones here! ”

Whether this statement is true or not, it is a rare comfort for people to hear such a voice of confidence in such a situation. As to whether the much-talked about reinforcements existed or not, and when they would arrive, no one dared to ask at this time, for fear that it would shatter everyone's hope of life and thus provoke public resentment.

At this point, the Huainan army did guard the villagers to the last moment, including some people with ill intentions, and they all felt that even if there were no so-called reinforcements, if they were really certain to die, it was better to keep this extravagant hope of life to the end than to die in fear.

"Mao Hou Zhuangwu!"

There were sporadic shouts of praise from the crowd, and although the breath was slightly weak, the meaning contained in it was still not lacking in excitement.

Mao Bao sat under the banner on the ground, surrounded by many soldiers nearby, seizing this little time to recuperate, and later he might launch a night attack on the surrounding enemy to regain the battle line lost during the day.

As the belief in the livelihood of all people at this moment, and he is also the person with the most serious combat load, Mao Bao's meal is still preferential to maintain physical strength, but it is only one more bowl of thin soup than others, and there is a fish body with half a tail in the soup. This soup is not delicious, the earthy and fishy kneaded together, there is a disgusting strange smell.

Mao Bao held it in the palm of his hand like a delicacy, and occasionally talked about some Huainan deeds: "Jiangdong is rich in fish and rice, and it has the help of Shen Yuma to use Huainan." Nowadays, in Huainan, even if the people are small, there are two meals continuously, full of white rice, accompanied by oil-cooked fish bream, rotary cut goose breast, autumn fat crab paste, and rice in the meal, and I don't feel that my stomach is full of ......"

Hearing Mao Bao say this, there are many people who are already thundering in their stomachs and feel even more hungry. After getting along for a long time, there is no shortage of familiar and informal people, and after hearing the words, he already smiled bitterly: "I can't eat at the moment, but Mao Hou talks a lot about good food, which really embarrasses the hearer......"

"Haha, I'm not being seductive. When the coming day is over, all of you present will come to our place for a meal if you are hungry. Even if there is a shortage of jobs, there is still a party with the seal, and there is no way to accept the hospitality! ”

Hearing Mao Bao say this, there was already laughter around him, and there were many people in the crowd who were full of dishes and shouted, and even began to order happily. After such a joke, the original hunger was slightly relieved, and I only felt that the words came out of my mouth, and my teeth and cheeks were fragrant.

After resting for another quarter of an hour, the atmosphere dropped slightly, and Mao Bao summoned Li Cang and other generals to discuss where to raid tonight to regain the battle line.

At this time, a fire suddenly lit up in the distance of the Rushui waterway, rendering the night into a hazy light. The people were even more uneasy when they saw this scene, so men, women and children approached the vicinity of the flag, and the place was overcrowded for a while. While Mao Bao was busy appeasing the public, he sent soldiers along the waterway to investigate.

After more than an hour, the fire was still not extinguished, and suddenly there was a sudden thunder and tremor in the distant night, and the rhythm was frequent and repeated.

"Could it be that the slave soldiers are going to make a big night attack?"

The panicked discussion in the crowd suddenly became loud, and after listening to it for a while, Mao Bao ordered his soldiers to beat the drum and trumpet with a little muttering, and shouted in unison: "Wang Shilie attacked the slaves, and the army and the people are about to get out of trouble!" ”