Although the county governance area of Xiaxiang is vast, the county governance can be described as cold.

This place is located on the front line of the confrontation between the north and the south, and the original county seat has long been destroyed in which battle, and even the specific jurisdiction is not clear, not to mention the specific details of government affairs such as registered households. Theoretically, all households and their land that are willing to accept the jurisdiction of the county office can be counted as the scope of county governance.

From this point, it can also be seen that the imperial court has lost control over local management, and there is almost no ruling order to speak of. The reason why the people are willing to accept the jurisdiction of the county office is only to avoid the intrusion of the army and the persecution of local tyrants. Chun Yu'an can be said to be an outlier among many local military leaders, and he is not keen on raiding the countryside and strengthening his strength, so he has won the support of the surrounding people. But these people just want to put on a layer of protection from the royal religion to avoid being wiped out as chaotic people.

Because the original county seat has long been destroyed in the war, the county office is often where the army of the previous county commanders is stationed. Most of Chun Yu'an's predecessors directly requisitioned a certain township settlement as a garrison and county seat. But Chun Yu'an is only a weak county commander, and even if the township sects are willing to have such an official, it will never be possible to achieve the support of destroying the family and relieving the hardship.

Therefore, the current county governance of the lower prime minister is just a simple camp. It was based on an abandoned village with no more than a few hundred houses and no basic city walls. Although some fortifications have been built recently due to the support of the county people and townsmen, it is only a circle of fences with a few arrow towers and sentry towers, and the protection is better than nothing.

Liu Dinai is the chief general of the Huainan reinforcements this time, and under the leadership of Chun Yu'an, he circled around the county governance, and his face also showed a rather helpless sadness. If it weren't for knowing that Chun Yu'an next to him was the official magistrate of the Xuzhou Thorn History Mansion, he would have thought that he had strayed into some homeless camp, which was really shabby.

"Xuzhou, Huainan, the scenery is different, although I live here as an official, but the military strategy to resist the enemy and the like, I am really not very good at it. The Huainan Army is the best in the world, and since General Liu was sent by Shen Dudu to help, he must also be brave and capable of fighting. At present, the military situation is urgent, the bandits must attack in a hurry, and the county is willing to surrender to the general. If, if this situation cannot be stubbornly defended, the general may wish to give instructions, where to fight? ”

Seeing Liu Di's expression change, Chun Yu'an was also embarrassed and ashamed for a while. For the Huainan Army's reinforcement, he was happy from the bottom of his heart, although Xu Zhennei had mixed reviews for the Huainan Army, but it must be admitted that the Huainan Army was by no means mediocre in defeating the hundreds of thousands of troops of Qianhu in the front. But after being happy, he didn't have the luxury of winning this battle.

One Huainan reinforcement is too few, but only 600 people. Previously, his fellow villager Wang Xue asked his family to report the news, but he said that there were at least 2,000 enemies in Zezhong, not to mention that there might be other enemies behind his back who wanted to put him to death.

Second, the pragmatism of the county is too poor, and there is no danger to defend at all. Those fences not to mention blocking the enemy, even the beasts could be crushed if they hit too hard. The only thing to be afraid of in the surrounding area is a river several zhang wide in the north of the county, and the significance of the existence of this river is more that once the front is defeated, the soldiers can wade through the water and swim to escape.

Hearing Chun Yu'an say this, goodbye to the prime minister, such a harsh combat environment, Liu Di really didn't know where to complain. The two towns of Huainan and Xuzhou stand side by side, and he has also heard that the situation in Xuzhou is not as good as that of Huainan, but only when he sees it with his own eyes can he know that the gap is so huge. After being ordained, long before entering the county, he also inquired in the countryside along the way, and Chun Yu'an's official reputation was not low, and he was quite loved by the people.

But the problem is that the prime minister is on the front line of the confrontation against the encirclement and suppression of the rebel army, and his armament is so lax! Chun Yu'an, an official, may have a good reputation among the people, but blindly inviting the people to favor him, resting in peace with the people, and ignoring the threat of military disasters that are close at hand, is simply joking with the lives of the people!

Xiaomin may be short-sighted and can rejoice in a moment of peace, but since this Chun Yu'an is an official, even if he wants to go against the will of the people, he should organize the people's strength to be prepared. If you don't have that ability, you should simply tell the people where the distress is, instead of letting the small people happily wait for a desperate situation!

As a ruler, if he only shares the joys and sorrows of the people and ignores the rest, then what is the meaning of this official? How can you completely let the small people fend for themselves! It is precisely because the officials are above the common people that they should have a vision beyond the common people and have a sense of prevention.

And Chun Yu'an said that there were 2,000 armor soldiers in the county, and Liu Di's brows furrowed even deeper after reviewing it. In his opinion, these soldiers were even inferior to the outcasts, and even if they were put together, they were completely useless, and they only added convenience to the enemy's slaughter.

Although there are many dissatisfactions in his heart, Liu Di also knows that as a guest reinforcement, it is not appropriate to take the lead and try not to express his opinions. Otherwise, the goodwill of this rush to help may attract resentment.

However, Liu Di would never allow his Huainan army comrades to mix with these unsuccessful stragglers, who seemed to be outnumbered, but in fact they were vulnerable.

"The thief army came this time, and since it is a big county, it will inevitably re-seek the Ming Mansion. If the county government is destroyed, the villagers will surely flee, and then they will die in the wilderness. ”

After some inspection, Liu Di could also feel that Chun Yu'an, the county order, had a weak control over the county governance of the villagers. If there was more time to inform the countryside, even if Chun Yu'an didn't mention it, he would have proposed to abandon the county administration and choose a dangerous place to defend, even if it was to choose a township dock wall, the defense would be much more reliable than this ridiculously simple county governance.

However, it is now less than two hours before dark, and it is too late to choose a side arrangement, and once the county government is abandoned, the people do not know where the officials are, and there will definitely be greater chaos at that time.

"In the battle to the death, the winner is not limited to the number of soldiers. When the rebel army attacks, it must seek a quick victory. If there are many villagers in the county, if a strong enemy comes to attack, they will worry about the Sangzi homeland, and if they are defeated without a fight, they will harm the king. Lao asked the Ming government to send the villagers back to their homes and close their homes. We and other Huainan soldiers will protect the Ming Mansion in the county, and even if they do not win, they can temporarily avoid protection. Even if the rebellious army wins a small victory, it will not dare to abuse the countryside because of the encirclement and suppression of the rest of the king's division......"

After a little silence, Liu Di proposed that those township soldiers be dismissed to return to their hometowns to defend the countryside, and the Huainan Army would be responsible for the frontal defense, which was full of arrogance.

When Chun Yu'an heard this, he couldn't help frowning, his understanding of military affairs was still only in terms of the number of people, but firstly, he did not have any clever plan to win, and secondly, out of trust in the Huainan Army, he still followed Liu Di's advice. It can also be seen from this that this person is really an outlier in the world, and he actually scattered his troops because of a few words from the reinforcement generals, which is really unbelievable in the eyes of others.

Even Liu Di was stunned for a while when he saw Chun Yu'an accepting his opinion. To be honest, he only mentioned this strategy casually, and he didn't believe that Chun Yu'an would agree to it at all, and he could also take advantage of the situation to ambush the soldiers outside the county government, and use these county soldiers as bait, and wait until the two armies are fighting chaotically before killing.

However, since Chun Yu'an was so simple, Liu Di no longer shirked, and took advantage of Chun Yu'an to disband the county soldiers, and arranged for the Huainan soldiers who stayed abroad to enter the county in batches, and slightly modified some defenses according to the fighting habits of the Huainan army. Although these defensive facts are rudimentary, they are better than nothing, and they can enjoy a slight home advantage.

In the evening, when Chun Yu'an completed the disbandment of the soldiers and returned to their hometowns, they returned to the county again. For Liu Di's proposal, he also admired it a little at this time. The disbandment of the soldiers went so smoothly that almost half of the soldiers dispersed almost soon after he gave the order, without even asking why. This also made Chun Yu'an realize how low morale is, there is no cohesion to fight and hold on to it, and once the thieves arrive, they may collapse at the touch of a button.

At this time, the prevention of the county has undergone great changes. Several of the shallow moats that had existed inside and outside the fence had been flooded by this time, leaving only a few small bridges of wood and stone due west, but the fence had been uprooted and replaced with small sharp thorns and horses placed in the trenches, revealing half of the spikes. And those arrow towers that are nearly two feet high and have high hopes for Chun Yu'an have also been completely abandoned.

As a result, the entire county defense line was withdrawn by more than ten zhang, and it directly shrank nearly twice. And Liu Di is still commanding the soldiers and nearly 100 officials in the county are selectively demolishing the already small number of houses, and the demolished beams, wood, earth and stones are dragged out by the board truck and piled up into piles of mounds as high as more than zhang.

The newly piled mounds were each topped with a car more than a foot long. The drivers were originally camouflaged as trucks, with half-foot-high items piled on top of them and covered in thick straw felt. Next to each car sat Huainan soldiers with as few as seven or eight people and as many as twenty or thirty people, chatting and resting, and the atmosphere was actually a little brisk for a while.

There are more than 10 cars of this type. Chun Yu'an saw it in his eyes, and couldn't help but be happy in his heart, although he had never seen the Huainan Army fighting, but he had also heard that the Huainan Army had a powerful chariot array, and once it was set up, even if it faced several times the enemy, it could hit the attackers. It's just that these cars are lonely on the mounds, which is really not in a formation, which can't help but make Chun Yu feel at ease.

He walked towards Liu Di and wanted to ask a little question, but Liu Di frequently ordered there, so he didn't have a chance to interject. After a while, Liu Di turned his head and asked with a smile: "There should still be Qu Cong in the Ming Mansion, I wonder if you can prepare a meal for the soldiers?" ”

Chun Yu'an nodded hurriedly after hearing this, and then hurried to prepare. Although more than half of the soldiers in the county have dispersed, there are still hundreds of people who said that they want to stay and live and die with Chun Yu'an, which naturally moved Chun Yu'an. At present, the Huainan Army is responsible for arranging the battlefield frontally, and these soldiers can only serve as envoys temporarily.

Although the armament of Xiaxiang County is not repaired, the civil affairs are not bad, so the diet is also sufficient. At nightfall, everything was ready, and then it was carried to the front line in bamboo baskets. A gong sounded, and many figures poured out of the night, all gathered in front of a newly built high platform, with torches blazing on the high platform, and a staircase made of earth and stone below.

Hundreds of soldiers gathered here to eat, and there was little sound other than the inevitable sound of chewing and swallowing. Seeing this scene, Chun Yu'an couldn't help but sigh that the spirit and courage of the Huainan Army really lived up to its reputation. Looking at the hundreds of soldiers behind him, although they were loyal and commendable, their formation was scattered, and they were filled with the murmur of people talking to each other.

"There are still hundreds of soldiers in the county, or they are not as brave as Huainan's strong soldiers, but they are also loyal and commendable, and they are all dispatched by General Liu to fill the array."

Hearing Chun Yu'an's words, Liu Di just smiled and nodded, and asked people to take the tricolor flag order and hand it to the commander of Xiaxiang County to teach how to use it. But after the meal, these people were simply arranged around the high platform and simply lined up.

At this time, it was already extremely dark, and the Huainan soldiers immediately returned to their assigned positions after finishing their meal. And Liu Di also invited Chun Yu'an to climb on the high platform and overlook this prepared battlefield, and then he raised his hand and waved, and heard the soldiers shouting from the front of the car drivers: "Be armored!" ”

As these words fell, the blankets covering the chariots were quickly torn apart, revealing the armor, swords, shields, and other ordnance that had been piled up on top of them, and the soldiers began to distribute and put them on in an orderly manner.

"It turned out to be just a truck for transporting machinery......"

Seeing this scene, Chun Yu'an couldn't help but be a little disappointed, he had heard the power of the Huainan military vehicle formation for a long time, and thought that he was fortunate enough to see the majesty this time. However, he was soon attracted by the sophisticated equipment of the soldiers of the Huainan Army, with an iron mask, a half-body armor, a cold sword body, and an iron hoop and bamboo shield, which not only maintained toughness but also reduced weight.

Huainan has excellent ordnance and is now known in both the north and the south. Although Chun Yu'an has little interest in military affairs and the like, he is now on the front line of the battlefield, and he can't help but step forward to take a closer look.

This whole set of equipment, the weight is about 40 catties, go forward to touch it with your hands, only to know that the armor is not all made of iron, the part of the iron is only in the chest, abdomen and other vital points, as for the intercostal and shoulder back, it is a material between rattan and paper, light and tough, so that the weight of the whole armor is reduced by more than double. This kind of armor is used by soldiers, and the other half-body plate armor is used by the commander.

Seeing that the Huainan soldiers were armored, Chun Yu'an couldn't help but smack his tongue for a while. Previously, he had made a great determination, and he collected the goods in the governance and donated the goods from the township sect, and only ordered a few hundred pairs of swords and shields, but as for the armor, he really couldn't afford to buy too much, so he only bought eighty pieces. Now seeing that the Huainan Army is so well armed, it is also full of envy for a while.

When he got closer, he realized that the cars were also unusual, and after the equipment was emptied, he saw that the car had another mystery. Many parts are arranged in the grooves of the board, and then a fully equipped soldier comes forward to erect it, and soon it is erected into a single arm bed crossbow! There are three bows in front and back of this big crossbow, and the crossbow arrows are half a foot long, and the iron arrows at the front end alone are more than a foot long, and they are extremely blunt blades, which make people feel shocking when they look at them!

In the night, several figures rushed in, which were scouts arranged by the Huainan army, rushing to the high platform to report that the enemy was coming. In fact, there is no need to report, just looking at the light and shadow of the torches in the distance, you can already determine the movement of the enemy army.

"Please stay here with me."

Liu Di stood on the high platform and invited Chun Yu'an to take the stage, and then all the torches around the car in the battle line were extinguished, but the torch light around the high platform was even hotter, and it suddenly became the focus of this world.

Chun Yu'an climbed the high platform, saw the light of the torches getting closer and closer in the distance, and there was no lack of dryness between his lips and teeth, and then he heard Liu Di standing beside him whisper: "About three thousand people are fighting, no wonder they are so flamboyant and light." ”

Hearing Liu Di say this, Chun Yu'an's eyebrows couldn't help jumping, although he had been in the troubled times for a long time, he had not yet learned the ability to watch the formation and estimate the numbers, but seeing the Huainan Army's orderly preparations, he had some trust in Liu Di, and then sighed: "The chaotic army is less than 10,000, and now there are more than 3,000 people attacking me, I should really be lucky about this." It's a pity, if Gong Xi can have a thorough arrangement, he will be able to destroy all the pawns who come here, and he will definitely be able to hit the chaos hard! Later, if I really can't resist it, after I lead the crowd, General Liu can leave the battle first. The strong are coming, although they retreat, they are not humiliated. ”

Liu Di's lips pursed slightly, and he didn't say more, but the hand holding the knife was frequently clenched and released.

The rebel army marched extremely fast, with few troops in the middle, and rushed here almost in a straight line. Even if Chun Yu'an is not familiar with military affairs, after seeing this scene, he also knows that the other party is attacking this time, and the captivity is still secondary, and the primary target is still himself. For a while, the mood was inevitably worse, after seeing Liu Di standing silently beside him, his expression was a little complicated, he was also a subordinate official of Xuzhou, but secretly someone wanted to put himself to death, but Huainan came to the rescue from a long distance. The meaning of this is really emotional.

Nearly half an hour later, it was almost midnight, and the sound of chaotic running was already heard in the cool night wind. Thanks to Chun Yu'an's prudence, the county government was placed far away from Qing Shui Ze, and the rebel army had to travel for nearly two hours to arrive here after landing on the shore, and it was already difficult to reap the effect of the surprise attack. But there is really no more arrangement to be made at this time, and if there is no help from the Huainan Army, Chun Yu'an can only wait in a tormented way.

Maybe you can abandon the city and flee?

After this thought welled up in his mind, it seemed that in response to Chun Yu'an, a large area of fire suddenly lit up in the northeast. Seeing this scene, Chun Yu Anxin sank even more sharply. If he could have been more naïve, he would have thought that reinforcements were coming from the northeast. But it was precisely because of his insight into the sinister nature of people's hearts that he realized that it was not the reinforcements who came to save his life, but the comrades who were waiting to harvest their lives!

It was not only Chun Yu'an who received the signal from the northeast, but also the rebel army that was getting closer and closer to the county government, and their speed was more chaotic and faster, and the outline of the figures surging under the torches was becoming clearer and clearer.

Knock knock!

On the high platform, Liu Di took a step forward, the war drums placed in the corner suddenly sounded, and the torches that were originally extinguished next to the car in the battle line were instantly ignited again, and the Huainan soldiers and crossbows hidden in the dark front appeared again.

"The king will set the chaos, and the one who will bring disaster to the country will die!"

The six hundred soldiers suddenly snorted violently, and for a time the sound shook in the field, and the sound was like a strong embankment, which immediately shocked the rebels who were rushing here, and some of the rebel soldiers who were running in the front subconsciously guarded their footsteps, and some looked suspiciously at the slightly strange battle formation in front of them.