In the Heavens

Shangyang City, located at the junction of Yuedi and the southwest, rose due to water transportation and became a city of commerce and trade that is rare in Yuedi.

With the advent of troubled times, the strategic value of Shangyang City became more and more prominent, and it became the focus of competition between the Southwest Army and the Vietnam Army.

After taking down Shangyang City, the southwestern army can go down the river, enter the hinterland of the Jianghuai River, and take over the land of Wuyue.

It can be said that Shangyang City is not only the gate of the King of Yue, but also the gate of the King of Wu, but it happens to be in the hands of the King of Yue.

This is also the fundamental reason why Li Mu took the lead in attacking Yue last year. The geographical location determines that it is better to attack from Shangyang City and go down the river.

Otherwise, you have to go over mountains and ridges, and attack the fortresses all the way. Other issues are easy to talk about, the key is that the logistics can't keep up.

Even in the world of high martial arts, food transportation still depends on civilian husbands. Although there are high-end equipment such as storage rings, compared to the consumption of the army, it is really too little.

For the sake of strategic value, Shangyang City, which used to be prosperous in commerce and trade, has now turned into a war fortress.

In order to strengthen the city defense, King Yue began to build fortifications here as early as two years ago. In Shangyang City at this moment, the city wall is more than ten feet high and three or four feet wide.

Such a solid city defense was not enough for the King of Yue. He also spent a lot of money to invite the formation master, and arranged several formations on the city wall.

Not only is the city defense strong, there are also 200,000 troops stationed in the city, and enough grain and grass to feed the army for two years have been hoarded, just to prevent the long-term siege of the Southwest soldiers.

Such a full preparation can be described as impenetrable. But Zhao Wenge, who was the guard, still felt uneasy.

Since the king of Wu sent troops to attack Dongyue, the king of Yue has mobilized troops on the southern front. Except for the strategically important city of Shangyang, the number of troops stationed in other areas has been greatly reduced.

Having fought against the Southwest Army for a long time, Zhao Wenge is very aware of the strength of the opponent. It's not how strong the enemy's individual combat power is, the key is that the enemy's army is not empty-handed.

For the generals in command, not being paid for nothing not only means cleanliness, but also means that the supply of logistical materials is sufficient.

In fact, signs of empty pay after entering the troubled times have been contained. All commanding generals know that the army in their hands is their capital.

If the situation permits, most generals would like to have more and more elite soldiers in their hands, but the problem is that the actual situation does not allow it.

Theoretically speaking, the military pay paid by the King of Yue is sufficient. The reality is that this sufficiency is limited to the full amount at the time of delivery, and half-way transportation also requires loss.

The approved transportation loss is only in a theoretical state. In many cases, losses caused by various emergencies cannot be reported, and they can only be borne by themselves.

In order to ensure sufficient supply, it is the best choice to falsely report some soldiers and eat empty pay. The difference is limited to the courage of the generals. If you are brave, you can just wipe out the expenses, and if you are brave, you can make a fuss.

Fighting against this background, not only must be careful of the enemy, but also be careful of your teammates.

Because of the 100,000 troops in name, there may be only 50,000 to 60,000 in place in reality, and there may be only 10,000 to 20,000 in trouble.

The enemy's army of 500,000, our army of 1 million, the advantage is mine!

As a result, when he arrived on the battlefield, he found that the enemy's army of 500,000 troops was a real 500,000 troops; his own army of 100, maybe only 300,000 to 400,000 people came, and some of them were temporarily pulled out to fill up.

The upper limit is easy to calculate, but there is no way to estimate the lower limit. No one knows how bad their teammates are, after all, they came from the Great Zhou era.

Therefore, in the previous wars, the Vietnamese army was always suppressed and beaten by the Southwest soldiers. The generals in charge of the army did not have two or three times the paper strength advantage, so they did not dare to take the initiative to attack.

The only thing that made Zhao Wenge feel gratified was that the Southwest King was deeply trapped in the Lingnan battlefield, and he didn't have time to come to fight the autumn wind for a while, so he could sleep for a while.

After patrolling the city defense, Zhao Wenge, who was about to go home to prepare for the marriage of the twenty-eighth concubine, just stepped down the tower when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"There is something wrong with the general. There is a fire in the south. I'm afraid the Southwest soldiers are going to fight over."

Disregarding the issue of marrying a concubine, Zhao Wenge leaped onto the tower, looking at the blazing smoke in the distance.

To be able to serve as the defender of a strategically important place like Shangyang, Zhao Wenge's own ability is also an important factor in addition to being the younger brother of King Yue.

King Yue had just mobilized his troops to leave when the enemy rushed to attack, obviously leaking the news.

The mobilization of the army is too dynamic, and it is impossible to keep it secret. But under normal circumstances, the news spread out slowly, and now it is obvious that there are spies inside to pass the information.

Realizing that it was not good, Zhao Wenge immediately ordered to the general: "Immediately send scouts to investigate the strength of the invading enemy, and call the aristocratic families in the city to discuss matters of defense."

There is no mention of asking the King of Yue for help. Now that the enemy's situation is unknown, asking for help will only disrupt the King of Yue's strategic deployment.

If the enemy is just a tentative attack, he can also keep Shangyang City by relying on the defenders in the city. As for other areas, if you lose it, you lose it.

In troubled times and hegemony, who hasn't lost their city or territory? It's nothing more than a question of whether it can be taken back, as long as the lost ground can be regained later, it will be harmless.

If the main force of the southwestern army came to attack, even if the king of Yue sent reinforcements, it would be useless. The current East Vietnam battlefield has already held back a large number of troops of the King of Yue.

As his own family, Zhao Wenge is very aware of King Yue's strength. One-on-one is still difficult, and facing the two enemies of the King of Wu and the King of Southwest at the same time, the protagonist has no chance of winning at all.

Right now, all he can do is to pull the aristocratic families in the city into the chariot, and buy time for his lord as much as possible.

Fortunately, the King of Southwest did a great job in suppressing the powerful families, and these powerful families would not go there unless it was absolutely necessary, otherwise Zhao Wenge really didn't know what to do.

...

Under the scorching sun, Li Mu's army finally appeared under Shangyang City. Looking at the strong city in front of him, he put out the idea of ​​doing it himself.

Mainly it is unnecessary. A king has the bearing of a king. If he had to take a mere Shangyang City by himself, what would his subordinates do?

Glancing at the army behind him, Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Send the order, set up camp on the spot, and launch an attack at midnight tonight!"

Saying it so openly is clearly telling the enemy that they will attack the city tonight. Hearing that the general in the army had a toothache, he didn't bring such a trick.

An upright old general stepped forward to persuade him: "Your Majesty, the defense of Shangyang City is extremely strong, and a multi-layer defensive formation has been arranged. If you want to break through the city defense by surprise attack, I'm afraid it won't be enough..."

Li Mu was still very satisfied with the reaction of his subordinates. Such a messy tactical deployment, did not say that he did not understand the art of war, and he should not command blindly, it was all for the face of his master.

"General Zhou, don't worry. Gu just observed the aura of Yangcheng, and found that the black energy here is billowing, and there is another evil spirit gushing out. It is obviously a sign that the people in the city have sinned deeply and doom is imminent. Something big must happen in the city tonight. It is a good opportunity to break the city."

With more "heavenly secret arithmetic", unreasonable can also become reasonable. Li Mu didn't keep it secret. Everyone knew that he was not only a master of cultivation, but also a master of formation and secrets.

This ability to pinch and count has frightened many people. After learning that Li Mu is the master of Tianji, all the subordinates have become more obedient.

Li Mu is also happy to see the success of this, but it is very troublesome to control it, especially when facing a bunch of bureaucrats. The simplest operation is to make them fear.

The founding monarch loves to kill people. In addition to the need to use heavy codes in troubled times, the more important thing is: killing people is the easiest way to solve problems.

It is better to let the subordinates be afraid than to let them lose their sense of awe and toss around unscrupulously.

After hearing Li Mu's explanation, General Zhou, who was upright at first, hastily apologized: "It's the old general who is stupid, my lord, please make amends!"

If it wasn't for the armor, he might have already knelt down.

Seeing everyone's reactions in full view, Li Mu waved his hand generously and said, "It's okay. General Zhou also wholeheartedly serves the public, so why should he be guilty!"

Except that the imminent doom is true, after all, the coming of military disaster is itself a disaster, and the rest is artistic processing. Anyway, they are fooling a bunch of laymen, and Li Mu is not afraid of being cheated.

Even if a master of celestial secrets found something wrong, it was because his cultivation was not deep enough to see it.

...

The sky gradually dimmed, but Zhao Wenge, who was guarding the city, became more and more nervous, as if something big was about to happen.

This premonition has saved his life several times. At this juncture, he dared not take it lightly.

In order to prevent accidents, he even brought all the elite children of the aristocratic families in the city with him. He pretended to focus on training them, but they were actually hostages.

Even though this kind of restriction did not have much influence on the aristocratic family at the time of life and death, he still did it.

A constraint is better than no constraint. In order to fool everyone, he has repeatedly assured that King Yue's reinforcements are on the way.

Under the night, shadows continued to flash. All of them were dressed in armor, as if they were an army of black armor.

"Ghost!"

I don't know if it was a shout, and Shangyang City fell into chaos in an instant. In the face of ghosts, ordinary people's survivability is too weak.

The ghost disaster reappeared, and many people's hearts were broken. Fortunately, the target of these ghosts was not them, but launched an attack on the City Lord's Mansion and the residences of the major families.

Seeing the organized Yin soldiers appearing, Zhao Wenge was stunned. He has seen many ghosts, but this is the first time Yinbing has encountered them.

Even if it is recorded in ancient books that the ancient gods raised Yin soldiers, that is just a mention, and no one has actually encountered it.

Right now, this sudden Yin soldier has become the biggest disaster. The strong evil spirit, coupled with the leading ghost kings, all told him that something was going to happen.

"Form an army quickly!"

It was too late to order at this time. Panic spread, and many soldiers had become headless chickens and started running around.

How could the hundreds of guards in the city guard mansion resist the Yin army's surprise attack? Even if the golden elixir in the city was enshrined, it didn't cool down after a few tosses.

The city guard's mansion is gone, and the aristocratic family is gone. The officers and soldiers defending the city were collectively dumbfounded. There were ghosts inside and the enemy was attacking the city outside. They really didn't know what to do.

"It's important to kill the ghosts first, or we'll surrender!"

I don't know who yelled, and it triggered a chain reaction in an instant. The defenders, whose morale had already collapsed, had no desire to fight at all.

Especially among the private troops of aristocratic families, the desire to surrender is even stronger. His wife, children, and children are still in the city, if they don't suppress the ghost disaster soon, the whole family will be desolate.

The city belongs to the king of Yue, but his wife and children belong to him. It is clear at a glance which is more important.

The gate of the city was slowly opened, and the Southwest soldiers who had just launched an attack and did not understand what was going on were welcomed into the city.

But at this moment, the yin soldiers who caused chaos no longer existed, only some ghosts who took advantage of the fire and looted were still doing things in the city.

The battle of Shangyang was just the beginning of the legend, and then various accidents and coincidences happened one after another, using the facts to explain what "destiny belongs to".