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The roar of sound waves, the surrounding valleys of the Yellow River, and the boiling voices ignited the entire night. Search: 完本神站 (Wanben God Station) for free access to high-quality literature.

It was the usual twilight time, but it was already dark. The back-and-forth fire arrows were like shooting stars flying across the night sky, illuminating people's vision in the snow. On the western foothills, a large number of soldiers holding shields rushed through the snow. Some of them carried ladders, and arrows fell on their shields, their bodies, and the snow around them. In the woods behind them, the fire burned into a sea, and the archers who lit the arrows rushed out in batches, shot out their arrows, and then retreated into the snowy forest with bonfires. At this time, a large number of light spots, like flying locusts, would be seen falling on the Xia Village camp walls.

The blanket bombardment fell on the high points of the wooden camp walls wave after wave. Too many fire arrows fell on the wood in this harsh winter, and some even caught fire.

On the walls of Xia Village, there was no sound of elm wood cannons. In the overwhelming charge of the Ever Victorious Army, there was always a considerable distance between soldiers. They ran outside the walls holding shields, and suddenly launched fierce attacks at certain points. The ladders were set up, and the crowd swarmed up. Inside Xia Village, the defenders poured out boiling water, and the forest of spears protruding from the camp walls stabbed the elite soldiers of the Ever Victorious Army who were trying to climb in to death on the walls. From a distance, spots of light darted out from the trees, trying to volley at the walls. The archers rushing out from inside the camp walls also shot fire arrows at the opposing archer groups.

Sometimes the Ever Victorious Army shot faster, and sometimes the Xia Village defenders. When spots of fire fell on the walls and the ground inside and outside, and the defending soldiers who couldn't dodge screamed and rolled on the ground holding their wounds, another wave of attacks pressed up from the outside.

While the wounded were still rolling on the ground and reinforcements were still far away, the soldiers behind the camp walls rushed out from behind the fortifications and engaged in a melee with the elite soldiers of the Ever Victorious Army who were trying to force their way in.

The general in charge of the western section of the camp wall, section B2, was named Xu Lingming. He was short and stocky, his body as solid as a black iron tower. He had more than 500 men under his command, defending a 40-zhang wide section of the camp wall. At this time, under the repeated attacks of the Ever Victorious Army, the originally ample manpower was rapidly decreasing. As far as the eye could see, there were flickering lights, running figures, the shouts of messengers, and the screams of the wounded. On the ground inside the camp, many arrows were stuck in the soil, some still burning. Because Xia Village was in a valley, it was impossible to see outside from the low ground inside. He was standing on a high watchtower, looking out. On the slope outside the wall, the charging soldiers of the Ever Victorious Army were scattered, shouting, and running like ants, only occasionally launching attacks on certain sections of the camp wall.

Further away, countless spots of fire in the woods looked as if they were about to rush out, but it was unknown where they were going to shoot.

"They're going to charge, they're going to charge... Xu Er, get your brothers ready! Rockets, light them when I say so. When I tell you to charge, all of you get on the wall!"

He suddenly shouted from the watchtower. Below, Xu Er, who led the archer team, was his cousin, and immediately shouted as well. The hundred or so archers around him immediately picked up the oilcloth-wrapped arrows, poured more viscous oil on them, and ran to the bonfire to stand by. Xu Lingming quickly rushed down the watchtower, picked up his shield and long knife: "Xiao Zhuo! All brothers in the reserve team, follow me!"

Waiting in the fortifications behind were the fifty or so most elite men under his command. At his command, they picked up their shields and long knives and rushed forward. While running, Xu Lingming was still paying attention to the color in the sky. But as he was running halfway, a soldier in charge of observation on the wooden wall in front suddenly shouted something. The sound was drowned out by the tide of battle cries. The soldier turned around, shouting and waving. Xu Lingming opened his eyes wide to look at the sky, which was still black, but the hairs on the back of his head stood up.

"Take cover -- watch out --"

Xu Lingming squatted down, raised his shield, and shouted loudly. The soldiers behind him also quickly raised their shields. Then, a rain of arrows fell in the darkness with a "啪啪啪啪" sound, and some people were shot down to the ground. Near the wooden wall, some people were already hiding behind fortifications, and some warriors who couldn't dodge were shot down to the ground.

In the previous period, the Ever Victorious Army had been suppressing the Xia Village defenders with rockets. On the one hand, burns would indeed cause great harm to the soldiers. On the other hand, regarding the elm wood cannons that could block the advance of the Ever Victorious Army soldiers two days ago, as the highest commander of this army and one of the famous generals of the time, Guo Yaoshi did not show excessive reverence for this emerging thing.

When he was in the north, he had also come into contact with the immature firearms of the Wu Dynasty. Now, coming to Xia Village, he immediately responded to the existence of the elm wood cannons: he used a large number of rockets to concentrate fire on the high points of the camp wall where the elm wood cannons were originally placed.

His side had also made some cover for these locations, but with the fire arrows flying around, the windows for launching the elm wood cannons were not dared to be opened at all. Once arrows were shot into the muzzle, the consequences of the gunpowder being ignited would be unimaginable. And in front of the camp wall, with the soldiers as dispersed as possible, the damage that the elm wood cannons could cause was not large enough. Therefore, during this period, the Xia Village side temporarily did not let the elm wood cannons fire, but sent people to remove the nearby gunpowder and shells as much as possible.

As the sky gradually darkened, and waves of fire arrows flew, the soldiers behind the wooden wall had basically formed a conditioned reflex. Once the arrow tracer flew, they immediately took evasive action, but at this moment, what fell was not a rocket.

Xia Village immediately suffered a great loss.

"Xu Er -- light the fire -- get on the wall -- kill them all --"

Xu Lingming shook his head and shouted loudly. Beside him, several wounded were screaming. Someone with an arrow in their thigh was crawling on the snow in front of him. Further away, the Jurchens' ladders were set up against the camp wall.

The soldier who had warned earlier grabbed his long knife and turned to fight the enemy. A soldier of the Resentful Army had already rushed in and slashed at him, cutting off his arm. The surrounding defenders rose up and fought on the wall. Xu Lingming roared "啊——" and rushed to the wall.

Blood splattered in the melee. A soldier of the Ever Victorious Army jumped into the camp, his long knife slashing down with the jump. Xu Lingming raised his shield and slammed it open the steel knife. His iron-tower-like figure collided with the burly northeastern man. The two crashed into the camp wall, their bodies entangled, and then suddenly splattered blood.

"Kill the enemy——"

In the shadows, the Resentful Army man fell down. Xu Lingming drew his knife and roared. In front of him, soldiers of the Ever Victorious Army jumped over the wall. Behind him, the elite under Xu Lingming's command and the archers who had lit the rockets also swarmed over. Everyone rushed onto the wall, creating a bloody wave of fighting on the wooden wall. The archers rushed onto the walls on both sides and began to shoot a rain of arrows at the concentrated soldiers of the Ever Victorious Army.

Similar scenes were constantly happening in different parts of this camp wall. In front of the main gate of the camp, several large carts decorated with shields had temporarily stalled due to the shooting of the two ballistae and bows and arrows on the wall. On the east side, stepping on the heads and corpses in the snow, the large-scale harassment of the camp's defenses never stopped.

Although Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren had temporarily broken away from Guo Yaoshi's control in the battle of Chaobai River, under the current circumstances where the option of surrender had been erased, the commander of the Ever Victorious Army, immediately after arriving, restored control over the entire army. Under his command, Zhang Linghui and Liu Shunren had also cheered up and fully assisted the other party in this siege.

Guo Yaoshi showed more acuity and determination than Zhang and Liu towards the elm wood cannons and the hundred or so heavy cavalry that had made achievements earlier. This was also because he had more available troops under his command. At this time, outside the Xia Village valley, the strength of the Ever Victorious Army had reached 36,000, all elite troops who had followed him south. But in the entire Xia Village, the actual strength was only more than 18,000. One hundred or so heavy cavalry could expand their advantage in a small area, but on the battlefield of a resolute general attack, once they attacked, Guo Yaoshi would firmly eat them up, even if it cost him. As long as the opponent's trump card was eliminated, the opponent's morale would inevitably plummet.

As for the firearms, the Wu Dynasty's firearms were flashy and impractical in the past, and almost unusable. Even if they had reached a usable level at this time, the newly emerged things were loud but lacked power. On the skirmish line, they might not even kill one person at a time. Compared with bows and arrows, what was the difference? He let go of his worries, and suppressed them with rockets again. In the blink of an eye, he restrained the weakness of this new type of weapon.

"There are no undeserved reputations under a great name..."

Amidst the attacks of the Resentful Army, the Xia Village valley was also a scene of noise and commotion. The soldiers on the outer perimeter had entered the battle, and the reserve team was on high alert. On the central high platform, various messages were being received. Looking at the fighting on the outer perimeter and the arrows flying in the sky, Ning Yi couldn't help but sigh at Guo Yaoshi's prowess.

His real-time control ability on the battlefield was actually not strong. In this valley, those who were really good at fighting and commanding were Qin Shaoqian and several generals of the former Wu Rui Camp, as well as famous generals in the making like Yue Pengju. As for Hong Ti and Han Jing, the leader who came from Mount Lüliang, their control in such battles was not as good as those who came from formal military academies.

Soon after understanding this, he placed the heavy responsibility of command entirely on Qin Shaoqian's shoulders, and no longer made superfluous remarks himself. As for the young general Yue Fei, his training was still insufficient, and he was still not as good as Qin Shaoqian in the overall planning, but he seemed decisive and敏锐 (minrui, sharp/acute) in dealing with small and medium-scale situations. Ning Yi entrusted him with commanding the elite troops to respond to the surrounding battles and make up for the gaps.

At this time, there were not yet large gaps near the camp wall, but the pressure was gradually showing. Especially the suppression of the elm wood cannons made Ning Yi understand that this new weapon, which made a lot of noise but had little power, would ultimately not be able to deceive those who were truly good at fighting for too long – although Ning Yi did not expect them to dominate the battle, he was still surprised by Guo Yaoshi's speed and accuracy in responding.

The fact that the other side was so powerful meant that Xia Village would face the most difficult future...

Of course, there was still room to fight back against this matter.

Amidst the chaotic battle, Yuwen Feidu and several other members of the Bamboo Chamber with high martial arts skills ran through the battle formation. Although the boy's leg was limping, which had some impact on running, his own cultivation was still there, with enough敏锐 (minrui, sharp/acute) that ordinary thrown arrows did not pose a great threat to him. Although these elm wood cannons were transported from Lüliang, the most skilled cannon operators were still in the Bamboo Chamber at this time. Yuwen Feidu, with his youthful spirit, was one of them. During the battle of the grandmasters on Mount Lüliang, he even carried an elm wood cannon to threaten Lin Echan.

The boy ran past the camp wall of section B2, where the fighting was still continuing. He casually fired an arrow, and then ran to a nearby wall where an elm wood cannon was placed. Most of these elm wood cannons had the protection of outer walls and roofs. The two Lüliang elites in charge of operating the cannons dared not open the muzzles at random, and were also killing enemies with arrows. They hid behind the camp wall and greeted the boy who ran over.

Xu Lingming was fighting on the wall. As an officer in charge of 500 men, he wore a suit of half-iron and half-leather armor. At this time, in the fierce fighting, he was hit by a knife on his shoulder, and blood was dripping down. He was using his shield to smash open the spear point of a soldier of the Ever Victorious Army who was climbing a ladder. On the side of his vision, he saw someone carrying an elm wood cannon to the roof of the camp wall, and then, there was a "轰" (hong, boom) sound.

The fire shot straight into the crowd gathered outside the camp wall and exploded with a loud bang. The scattered sparks and dark red blood splattered, and limbs danced. After a moment, another sound was heard from the other side. Several shells fell into the crowd one after another. Amid the boiling tide of killing sounds, those cannon operators moved the elm wood cannon down. After a moment, another wave of rockets covered them.

On the huge battlefield, the earth-shattering sounds of fighting, tens of thousands of people from all directions rushing together, the occasional sound of cannons, the flames and snowflakes dancing in the sky, people's blood boiling and flowing away. Seen from the night sky, the shape of the battlefield was constantly changing. Only inside the central valley of the battlefield, more than a thousand people who had been rescued gathered together, trembling at each wave of fighting and shouting, and a few people, with their hands clasped together, muttered words. In other parts of the valley, most of the people ran forward, or were ready to run forward at any time. In the wounded camp, screams and curses, crying and shouting mixed together, and there were also critically wounded who finally died, being carried out from the back and placed in the cleared white snow...

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

The battle in the night gradually subsided, and the bloody and scorched smell permeated the air. Mao Yishan sat down inside the camp wall. There was viscous blood on the camp wall, but it had basically begun to freeze. He didn't care about this. His body only felt intense fatigue and tearing pain. At first, he thought he had been cut in the back or somewhere, but then he realized it was exhaustion.

The nerves that had been strained to the extreme began to relax, bringing with them still intense pain. 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 something.

That night, he had killed three people and was lucky enough not to be injured, but under intense concentration, all the strength in his body had been drained.

Far and near, brothers from the rear came to quickly search for and take care of the wounded. Mao Yishan felt that he should also go and help, but he simply didn't have the strength to stand up for a while. Not far from him, a middle-aged man was sitting by a large rock, tearing off strips of cloth from his clothes to bandage the wound on his leg. That area was surrounded by corpses and blood, and it was unknown whether he was seriously injured, but he just bandaged his leg like that and sat there panting.

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

"Th-, thanks..."

Mao Yishan said a sentence. The other party waved the steamed bun in his hand on his own and then began to gnaw on it.

After a while, someone came to look for the wounded and incidentally gave the soldiers of the Resentful Army in the corpses another knife or two. Mao Yishan's superior also passed by nearby: "Are you okay?" Asking one by one, when he asked the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man shook his head: "I'm fine."

The replacements came up, and the nearby companions retreated. Mao Yishan stood up with effort. The man tried to get up, but after all, his thigh was injured, and he waved to Mao Yishan: "Brother, give me a hand."

Mao Yishan went over and shakily helped him up. The man's body also shook, and then he didn't need Mao Yishan's help: "New recruit, right?" He looked at Mao Yishan.

"Been a soldier, been a soldier for six years. Killed someone for the first time the day before yesterday..."

"No wonder... you're too flustered, using too much strength. It's difficult to fight for a long time like this..."

The middle-aged man swayed forward a few steps, using his hands to support himself on the surrounding things. Mao Yishan hurriedly followed, wanting to help him, but was refused by the other party.

"Big brother... you're a veteran, right..."

"Not really a veteran, I just followed Prince Tong in the campaign against Fang La. It wasn't as tragic as what's in front of us... but I've seen blood anyway." The middle-aged man sighed, "This... is difficult."

Since the beginning of the war with the Jurchens, countless armies had been defeated, and Xia Village had gathered all kinds of disorganized units. Most of them had been scattered, and some had not even restored the identities of their officers. This middle-aged man did seem quite experienced. Mao Yishan said, "Big brother, is it difficult? Do you think we can win? I... the superiors I followed before were not as厲害 (lihai, awesome/capable) as this one. When fighting the Jurchens, the army formation would collapse before we even saw anyone. I have never heard of us being able to fight the Ever Victorious Army like this. I think, I think this time we might be able to win..."

"Such a superior officer is indeed the first time I've seen one, and fighting like this is also the first time. Maybe we can win..." The middle-aged man's gaze swept around, saying so. After a moment, he turned around and looked at the place that had been the battlefield earlier, "But this is just the beginning. Look over there..."

They were now in a slightly higher place. Mao Yishan looked back. Inside and outside the camp walls, corpses and blood stretched out. The arrows stuck in the ground were like autumn grass. Further away, flames stretched along the snow-capped mountains. The figures of the Ever Victorious Army overlapped, and the huge army formation surrounded the entire valley. Mao Yishan took a breath. The bloody smell still surrounded his nose.

Xia Village was pressed into this valley by the other party's entire army formation. Besides the Yellow River, there was nowhere else to go. Anyone looking out from here would feel a huge sense of oppression.

He took a look, his gaze almost attracted by the light of the surrounding army formation, but then, a team walked past him, and the voices of the conversation sounded in his ears. The middle-aged man patted him on the shoulder and asked him to look to the rear. In the entire valley, there were also long army formations and bonfires, walking crowds, and the smell of porridge and vegetables was already floating in the air.

"This is... the two armies facing each other, a real life-or-death battle. You're right, brother. In the past, we could only escape, but now we can fight." The middle-aged man walked forward, and then stretched out his hand, finally allowing Mao Yishan to help him. "My surname is Qu, named Qu Qing, Qing of celebration, what's yours?"

"Mao Yishan."

"Good name, easy to remember." Walking past a section of flat ground in front, the two went towards a small slope and stairs. Qu Qing was trying to move forward, while some感叹 (gantan, sighing) in a low voice, "Yeah, who doesn't want to win if they can win. Although... winning also means many deaths... but winning is winning... you're right, brother, I just said the wrong thing... the Resentful Army, the Jurchens, we soldiers... what other way is there if we don't win, not winning is like being slaughtered like pigs... now the capital is about to be broken, the imperial court is about to perish... we must win, we must win..."

His words were like he was saying to Mao Yishan, but more like he was talking to himself. Mao Yishan didn't understand them very well. But after going up the stairs, the middle-aged man turned to look at the Ever Victorious Army's camp, and then turned back to walk. Mao Yishan felt him pat his shoulder: "Brother Mao, kill more people..." Mao Yishan nodded, and then heard him add in a lighter tone: "Live..." Mao Yishan nodded again.

His own brothers were everywhere... of course he had to live... he thought so.

At this moment, the soldier who had been running away had not thought about how difficult these two words were. At this moment, he was also not willing to think about the difficulty behind them. Enemies were everywhere, and so were his comrades. Everyone was fighting for the same thing.

After this day's fighting, Mao Yishan met one of the few good brothers in the army. In the Ever Victorious Army's camp outside the camp, Guo Yaoshi, who had rushed over with lightning speed, re-examined the combat power of this Wu Dynasty army. The famous general of the time was沉着 (chenzhuo, calm/composed) and calm. While directing the strong attack, he arranged for the army to set up camp. At this time, in terrible silence, he was revising his attack plan on the Xia Village camp.

After receiving the news of the firearms, he had already understood that it was this Wu Dynasty army that was planning to breach the Yellow River. Because in the letter to Zongwang, the plan to breach the river would use gunpowder.

On the other side, in the command post where the main generals gathered above Xia Village, everyone had also realized the厲害 (lihai, awesome/capable) of Guo Yaoshi and the Ever Victorious Army, and realized the difficulty of this matter. The relaxed mood of the previous day's victory had been swept away. Everyone was seriously revising and supplementing the defense plan.

On a slightly higher platform, Ning Yi stood in the wind and snow, looking towards the distant army camp and the crowd in the valley below. Juan'er's figure ran through the crowd, directing the preparation and distribution of food. Seeing this, he would also smile. Before long, someone came over past the guards and gently took his hand by his side.

It was Hong Ti. Being a woman, she also looked a little thin in the wind and snow. The two stood hand in hand, looking very much like a couple.

"What are you thinking about?" Hong Ti said softly.

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

"... I'm also scared." After a good while, Hong Ti said softly.

Ning Yi turned his head to look at her plain face and smiled: "But it's no use being scared." Then he said, "I've been scared many times, but we can only get through it..."

Hong Ti just smiled. Her fear of the battlefield was naturally not the fear of ordinary people, but it didn't prevent her from having ordinary people's feelings: "The capital is probably more difficult." She said, after a while, "If we hold on, and the capital falls, will you come back to Lüliang with me?"

"I can consider it." Ning Yi looked towards the direction where Bianliang City might be, where there was a sky full of wind, snow, and darkness, "At least I have to bring these brothers back for you."

"Yes, and Tan'er and the others..." Hong Ti smiled slightly, "Liheng, you promised me at the beginning to give me a peaceful and prosperous world. You went to Mount Lüliang, set up the village for me, and you came to help that Prime Minister Qin, hoping to save Bianliang. I am your wife now. I know how much you've done, and how hard you've worked. You've actually given me everything I wanted. Now I want you to think about yourself. If Bianliang really falls, what will you do next? I... am your woman, no matter what you do, I will follow you for the rest of my life."

Ning Yi looked forward, raised the hands he was holding, and his gaze became serious: "... I haven't thought about this so much, but if I really have to think about it, the fall of Bianliang City has two possibilities. Either the emperor and all the ministers go to the south, defending by the Yangtze River, ruling on either side of the river, or the Jurchens will push over again in a few years, and the Wu Dynasty will perish. If it's the latter, I will consider taking Tan'er and everyone else to Mount Lüliang... but no matter which possibility, the days ahead for Mount Lüliang will be more difficult. The peaceful days we have now are probably gone."

He was silent for a moment: "Anyway, either we can hold on now, and fight the Jurchens for a while, and then think about it later, or... we will be fighting for the rest of our lives." Then he waved his hand, "Actually, there's no need to think too much, you see, we can't escape, it might be like I said, there will be a river of blood here."

He pointed to the Ever Victorious Army's camp, Hong Ti nodded, Ning Yi then said: "However, I also have some selfish motives."

"What selfish motives?"

"Look below." Ning Yi gestured to the crowd below. Familiar figures were walking through the crowd. He said softly, "I want to send Juan'er away."

In that crowd, Juan'er seemed to sense something and looked up. Hong Ti smiled. After a while, Ning Yi also smiled. He stretched out his hand and pulled Hong Ti into his arms. In the wind and snow, the two bodies clung together tightly. After a long time, Ning Yi closed his eyes, opened them, and exhaled a puff of white air. His gaze had returned to complete calmness and rationality.

It is human nature for anyone to fear, but at this time, there is not much room for fear to take hold. For Ning Yi, even if Hong Ti had not come over, he would have quickly recovered his mentality, but naturally, having this warmth and not having it are two different concepts.

The wind and snow stretched on, and the two armies that had just fought a fierce battle faced each other under this night sky. In the distant Bianliang City, the Jurchens had also already withdrawn their troops. On the earth, the entire battle situation was coldly also like congealed ice. To the north, also looking precarious, was Taiyuan City, which was trapped in a solitary city and could not get any resources throughout the winter. The people in the city had long lost contact with the outside world. No one knew when this long battle would stop.

On December 4th of the lunar calendar, the Ever Victorious Army launched a full-scale attack on the Xia Village defenders. The desperate fighting boiled and spread in the snowy valley. Inside and outside the camp walls, blood almost stained everything. In such a clash of strength, it was difficult for almost any conceptual tricks to succeed. The firing of elm wood cannons could only be converted into the power of a few bows and arrows. The generals of both sides were playing back and forth at the highest level of the war, and what appeared before them was only the tragic scarlet of the entire world.

Arrows flew across the sky, shouts shook the earth, and countless people and countless swords and spears clashed. Death and pain raged in every place where the two sides fought, inside and outside the camp walls, in the fields, in the ditches, on the foothills, by the forests, by the boulders, by the streams... In the afternoon, the wind and snow stopped, and accompanied by constant shouts and charges, blood flowed down from every place where fighting took place...

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