Mei Jiu and Qin Xinming stood side by side on the city tower and looked into the distance. Unlike Qin Xinming's calmness, Mei Jiu was still a little nervous.

News came yesterday that Baoying had already taken the battle, and in the direction of Yizheng, the enemy team had arrived. What worried Mei Jiu even more was that the Huainan Navy led by Gong Bin directly penetrated into Yangzhou along the water river. Yangzhou said there was a navy, but only five warships brought by Li Hao. In the past few months, the Yangzijin Shipyard has started construction day and night, and only one was created, and the other was only an empty shell, which could barely float on the water.

However, the Huainan Navy had hundreds of warships.

Now, the entire city defenders in Yangzhou, after putting aside the 1,000 naval troops led by Li Ze himself, the remaining only five thousand garrisons were only recruited by young and strong men, but the officers were all veterans.

"Don't worry about the magistrate." Qin Xinming patted a powerful crossbow beside him and smiled: "Bandage machines like this are the latest things that the Tang generals are in charge of the prison. Except for the left and right Qianniu Guards, other troops have not had time to equip them. Look, the wheel-like strings are six shots, and the interval between the second shots is just a few breaths. How about the powerful crossbows of the Huainan Army before?"

"Of course, it's far inferior." Mei Jiu forced a smile.

"Look at our catapult again!" Turning his head and pointing to the city, there was a large catapult with every hundred steps, with a huge body and huge throwing arms, which made people daunt. "These things are enough to destroy any large-scale equipment that the enemy sieges."

"The canal is narrow, why not try to stop Gong Bin's navy from both sides of the canal?" Mei Jiu was a little puzzled: "A trencher like this can completely destroy a small warship with just one shot, right?"

"We also want to do it, but we can't do it!" Qin Xinming smiled and said, "Gong Bin is not a fool. In addition to the navy, he also has three thousand land divisions on both sides of the canal. Our main forces are all arranged in Baoying and Yizheng to block Zheng Guoqiang and Jiang Qiaoan. The rest are mainly young and strong, and they will fight against the elite boys in Huainan. Do you think there is hope for winning? If you don't annihilate their land division on the shore, how can you stop his navy? We don't have many people, so we can't waste it in such field battles. It's better to stay in the city and wait for the effort. At that time, let them taste the power of our treasures."

"Even if there is a city for your support, I'm worried!" Mei Jiu sighed: "A few months ago, these people were still farmers, buddies, waiters, and even rogues."

"Their Lu Army has only 3,000 people." Qin Xinming laughed and said, "So they can only choose to attack on one side. Yangzhou City faces water on three sides, and the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River converge, which just encloses us. What the enemy Lu Army can choose is just this side of our current situation. What are you afraid of if he does?"

"The Navy, the focus is on the Navy!" Mei Jiu shook his head and said, "We only have six warships, but the enemy has more than a hundred warships. No matter how you look at it, you can't fight?"

"There are also differences between warships and warships." Qin Xinming comforted: "At that time, the magistrate will listen to the good news."

After leaving the North City Tower, Mei Jiu was finally worried and went straight to the water camp in the east city and found Li Hao.

Three days ago, in order to prepare for this war, Li Hao sent away almost all the merchant ships docked on the Yangzhou Wharf. His reason was that they could not help much here, but only increased casualties. These merchant ships and sailors were all wealth. Sinking one ship or killing one was the loss of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, on the current Yangzhou Wharf, apart from the six warships docked, there was no other ship that could not be seen.

Seeing this scene, Mei Jiu felt even more heavy. He could not understand where Li Hao's confidence came from. This time Gong Bin came to attack, obviously coming from the Water Village. If the Water Village was not defended, the arrangements on the North City Tower would be useless, and the enemies rushed to the city.

If the enemy soldiers rushed into the city, everything would be over. Didn’t Qin Xinming say that now the soldiers in the city cannot fight face-to-face with the enemy?

"Don't worry, magistrate." Like Qin Xinming, Li Hao's chest was slapped, "There are now 3,000 people in the navy, one thousand of whom came with me, and the other two thousand are newly summoned young men. After the war begins, I will leave five hundred elite troops to help the young men defend the water camp. Our water camp is not as solid as a rock, but it is not easy to break. Come and take a look."

The smiling Li Hao pulled Mei Jiu onto the wall of the Water Village, just like the defense of the North City. There were rows of trenchers. The trenchers here were not produced by the Tang Dynasty, but Li Hao gathered all the original trenchers in Yangzhou City here.

"If the enemy wants to break the water camp, they must first break through these long-range attacks. These catapults cover all the distances that were about 500 steps long and about 1,000 steps wide."

"Look at these crossbows again."

"Look at this underwater mechanism we secretly set up. You guys, pull up the chain."

Accompanied by Li Hao's roar, the soldiers on both sides of the water gate turned one winch after another, and thick iron chains floated out from under the water.

Seeing this, Mei Jiu felt relieved and said to Li Hao: "General Li, you left five hundred elite troops to guard the water camp, and there were fewer people on the warships there."

"No, many, many. I selected hundreds of people from the young and strong people to board the boat and fill in the gaps of these elites. They don't need to fight against the enemy. At that time, they just need to follow the orders to drive the boat. In the past two months, they have almost finished training." Li Hao smiled and said, "They are just the next step. As long as the boat doesn't realize it, they will be fine. Of course, if the boat sinks, everyone will be braided."

Mei Jiu could not completely empathize with Li Hao's sense of humor at this time.

“There are too few ships!”

Li Hao smiled, but didn't say much. There is no need to say some things now.

"It would be best if they could be intercepted in the canal." Old Mei Jiu reiterated his words.

"My good magistrate!" Li Hao smiled and pointed to the warship on the dock, "Look at our warships, it is difficult to turn around in the canal. If you really want to fight the enemy, you are looking for death. Only at the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, the water surface is wide, can we fully play. You, lie high in the mansion and listen to the good news at that time."

I was lying high in the mansion again, and I was lying high in my own right, can I sleep?

"If you are really worried, come to my water camp to see how I annihilate the enemy!" Li Hao looked at Mei Jiu's expression and said, "But the magistrate, when you come, you must put on armor and let the guards protect you. At that time, it will probably be arrows like flying locusts and stones like rain."

"I will definitely come then." Mei Jiu nodded vigorously: "Although I can't do it, there are dozens of generals in my mansion, who are also brave men, and will definitely help the general. Now I'm going first to prepare meals and hot soup for the soldiers."

"That's good!" Li Hao laughed and turned around, but shouted at the soldiers in the water village: "The magistrate said that after this battle, each person will reward you with a lifetime of money!"

The soldiers on the water camp shouted happily. Even the Yixing members from the north were very happy. Who would think there was less money?

Mei Jiu was dumbfounded. With a word from Li Hao, he would be no longer at home if he had tens of thousands of coins. But as long as he won this battle, what would it be like? How much tax can he collect in a day with just a Yangzhou wharf?

With a nervous and heart-warming attitude, Mei Jiu turned around the city government office. What was excited was that the soldiers were fighting with high spirits and the generals were full of confidence. What was nervous was that from paper, the strength comparison between the two sides was really a huge difference.

Fortunately, there has been no news from Baoying and Yizheng so far. For him, there is no news, but it is actually good news. He even began to fantasize that Baoying and Yizheng's army could quickly defeat the opponent and then go in return to rescue Yangzhou. Those guys who invade Yangzhou in the future will close the door and fight the dog.

Just as the two men led by Gong Bin approached Yangzhou step by step, Baoying was actually the first to start.

The veteran Zheng Guoqiang, the person in charge of attacking Bao'an, was responsible for attacking Bao'an. This time, Huainan advanced without any care. Not only did he take action step by step, he also carried a large number of siege equipment, catapults, siege ladders, and cloud towers, densely packed and countless.

Hundreds of catapults were shouted by the soldiers and pushed forward with the attack of the catapults in the city. From time to time, a catapult was hit by a stone bullet with bad luck, and then shattered all over the ground with a loud bang. Zheng Guoqiang's eyes twitched straight. There was no way. The catapults in the city had a longer range and occupied the advantage of the territorial area, so they could only take huge risks to move forward. Fortunately, the accuracy of the stone bullets smashed by the catapult was worrying. Whether it could hit them depends entirely on luck.

When about half of the 100-year-old catapults began to roar, Zheng Guoqiang finally let out a long sigh, and passed the first level, no longer being completely prepared to be beaten.

More ladders were pushed out, and the soldiers held their shields and slowly approached the city. Above the ladder, a crossbow machine shone with a faint light, and from time to time, strong crossbows flew from above the ladder to the top of the city with the sound of roaring sounds.
Chapter completed!