In the late July of Jingnan, trekking in the rainwater that is now stopped is not an easy task.

The road full of mud and puddles made most soldiers whisper at some point as they walked. The brisk straw sandals and steps had already taken off their feet and fell into the sticky mud, and then they were stepped on for a few more times and disappeared.

This also made the soldiers who had only worn a pair of good shoes in their lifetime, and it was not long before they felt very distressed and helpless. Therefore, many people simply put their shoes away and tied them around their waists, and traveled barefoot.

Not to mention those animals carrying items; if you accidentally step on a deeper hidden puddle and break your hooves, it will hurt a lot. In contrast, those old men who are lucky enough to get a pair of high-top hard-soled fast boots in the Guanshuilou platform style will undoubtedly be much luckier;

Although he also walked with mud and looked so heavy, the boots with high edges and legs tied together almost couldn't be filled with much mud and still closely matched with the ankles. The boots with nitrate glued are also strong and wear-resistant. In addition, they are hard inlaid with iron, so they are not afraid of gravel hiding in the mud.

Therefore, compared with most of the soldiers in the team who were tired and exhausted, they still had a little effort or were at ease. The person responsible for exploring the way forward or staying at the end of the team, supervising and sheltering those who were walking slower and slower were mainly to add new soldiers who had not been long and some gentle regular soldiers.

Despite this, Cao Shixiong, who was also struggling hard while carrying the heavy mount, was still full of energy and encouraged with a hoarse voice:

"Everyone, work harder...it's almost gone."

"I just need to go to the next place. I will keep everyone's hot soup cakes and jar of meat."

As his voice dissipated under the low clouds, when he heard the news of the supply of meat, the muddy and exhausted team finally regained his spirit and enthusiasm.

This jar of meat is the same as the hard marching rations, but it is one of the great inventions obtained by the rebels in Canton. It is said that it is a special military offering that can be stored for a long time and transported by stewing many dried tofu and sewage, plus a lot of secret heavy ingredients such as cornus, coarse salt, sauce and soybean, and stewed, and sealed by a large jar. Therefore, in terms of specific taste and taste, it is much more outstanding than marching rations except for chewing salty crumbs.

Therefore, many people only remembered it once when they broke through Tanzhou City, and they kept thinking about it. So more than an hour later, as a temporary stop, the soldiers were happy to get a piece of meat from each person, and dipped it in the rations soaked in water, and chewed it very deliciously.

However, Cao Shixiong did not sit down and rest like others, and took a breath and ate some hot food with the fire and dried clothes. Instead, he continued to patrol the camp in a straw raincoat. After this trek, he could not help but fall behind and nearly 10% of the soldiers, almost all of whom were newly added, but it was still in his heart that he expected.

In order to recover the remnant enemy this time, he even persuaded Wang Chongyin to allocate most of his troops and led his troops to the north at a rapid speed; but therefore gave up the plunder of the army after the great destruction of Tanzhou City for several days and the routine rest and rest activities of seeking fun; just to get this secretly informed first and opportunity.

"Monk, I'm just putting all my wealth on this... I just hope you don't have much deviation from what you said."

According to the other party's previous accurate face-to-face advice, compared with Tanzhou where heavy troops gathered, Wang Duo, the current Jingnan Jieduo and Prime Minister in Jiangling, who was in charge of Jiangling, was actually a civil servant with a limited army, and his troops were much weaker. Therefore, after hearing that Tanzhou was invaded, there was a high probability that he would be afraid of the enemy and flee without fighting.

And this is the opportunity for Cao Shixiong to lead the back wing. As long as he can win this relatively empty Jiangling important town and the population and wealth it gathers, he will not only have the opportunity and foundation to form a single army among the rebels, but also to have a unique way of making a journey.

You should know that the Jingnan area controlled by Jiangling is small in area but its economy is quite prosperous. Therefore, during the Qianyuan period of Emperor Suzong of Tang Dynasty, it was twice set up as Jiangling Prefecture, the southern capital of Jiangling Prefecture, which was one of the five capitals of the Tang Dynasty after Chang'an in the west, Luoyang in the east, Taiyuan in the north, and Chengdu in the south. It is also a prosperous place with cultural heritage that is known as "the pipa is more than rice bowls" and "the planting more flowers are more than farming". The water and land ship transport is extremely developed.

Therefore, he only brought ten days of food to make light and fast. In the other party's suggestion, taking a boat along the water was the most preferred option; but because of the newly established naval army in the General's Mansion, almost all the ships that could be found in the local area were searched; so he could only settle for the second best, and exchanged the boss's favors and costs, and exchanged many livestock for transportation from other rebels, and took the land to take a dangerous attack.

To be honest, even though he had already walked here without any resistance, he still had a vague regret and conflict. Why did he follow the monk's plan as if he was obsessed with the will of a doubt? You must know that he was far away in the Canton and was beyond the reach; could the other party really have such a magical foresight, or was it just that he would rather have a gambling nature?

But because he got here, he couldn't help but have much room for regret; although it really didn't work, he could still settle for the second best, and then he would have taken the second-class police and the Shishou land. After such a big effort, the benefits he could get would be greatly reduced.

As if in accordance with his uneasy mood, the rain in the sky became thicker again. After a while, when Cao was so bored that he wanted to give orders, he stopped the camp and spent the night; a fast horse that had penetrated the rain curtain brought the latest investigation of the scouts.

"I have discovered Jiangling City. The outskirts of the city are unsuspecting, but there are still pedestrians and business travelers."

His heart was filled with ecstasy, and he rushed to the scene and finally arrived first.

.....

On the sunny day two days later, Cao Shixiong led a mighty team and arrived through the wet fields. Outside Jiangling City on the bank of the river, he made a camp attack.

"What a big city..."

"I'm afraid it's bigger than Tanzhou..."

"Is this city wall several feet high?"

"How can people attack directly?"

Listening to the discussions of the generals beside him, Cao Shixiong's face became tight again; but he silently said in his heart: Monk, monk, I have come to this point, I will believe you again. Then he ordered:

"Beat the drums and gongs, prepare to push the city..."

In fact, except for Cao Shixiong leading more than 4,000 troops in the back wing, the rest were all broken through the surrounding fort villages and villages, and then gathered along the way using the grounds of loose grain, and were only hungry villagers who bluffed and shouted.

But he deliberately put the equipment in front of the formation by the best people, and made detailed preparations for the siege; while most of the elderly, weak, sick and disabled covered up and hid in the back team, responsible for shaking flags and shouting and carrying out civil engineering operations in building camps; for a moment, such a vast crowd of people surrounded the city of Jiangling, and shouted a slogan back and forth with the sound of mountains and thunder.

"Break Jiangling and capture Wang Duo alive..."

"Break Jiangling and capture the king's thief alive..."

Amid the howling sounds, the "banners" (cannon fodder) holding simple rows and temporary growth ladders, or piled up soil trucks began to slowly advance; Cao Shixiong was holding the whip handle in his hand, but it became tighter and tighter, soaked by sticky sweat. His mood seemed to be burned directly under the scorching sun, full of torment.

Until those "banners" close to the moat had already begun to fill the soil in the moat; the flag-lined Jiangling city still had unknown movements, without much reverse or movement; Cao Shixiong's mind was getting more and more lifted up, and he felt that the alternating heat and cold behind him were quickly evaporated by the sun.

The four thousand soldiers he brought were strong in the back wing, and the food in the army was only a few days' worth of his own. He could never lose all of them because of his own reasons. The defenders in the city had at least tens of thousands, and perhaps half of them were divided out of the city to fight once, it would be enough to break the false situation he created.

"Not right..."

"What's wrong, why is there no movement in the city?"

"How come there is no arrow stone falling down in the city? Is there any fraud..."

Such noises could not be suppressed from Cao Shixiong's side again; but it calmed down again; was the monk really not bullying me?

However, a huge noise and movement suddenly broke out in the city, which made his mood sink into the abyss again; this was obviously the sudden opening of the city gate and the large group of people came out. Could it be that the other party was really cheating and ambushing?

He couldn't help but raise his hand, preparing to order the good people who had already been listed, immediately dropped the "listers" of the front drive, retreated and retreated to the unfinished camp to set up a formation and wait for the time being; but he saw several scouts standing around waiting for the time being, slapped over and shouting loudly:

Cao Shixiong couldn't help but hesitate for a moment before hearing their faint shouts:

"It ran away...it all ran away"

"The government army opened the door and ran away..."

"Run from the east..."

More than an hour later, Cao Shixiong stood on the messy city, looking at the dusty city yard.

As expected, only some local groups took the opportunity to rob the city. Long before the army arrived, the prime minister Wang Duo, who was in Jiangling, still led his troops to Xiangyang north; even the troops who were fully in power, Liu Hanhong, who was the one who left behind, took the lead and flew along the Yangtze River to the southeast Yuezhou;

At this moment, Cao Shixiong couldn't help but feel a bit full of indescribable awe and other feelings:

"This monk is really a monster person... He can predict every step of this."

"The Huang King is really a big mistake,..."

"Hurry up, collect the troops quickly, count the gains from the city, and load them in the south as soon as possible..."
Chapter completed!