The morale of the military is the heart of the military. As long as it is the heart of the human being, it is a very subtle thing. When countless deserters brought back the news that Zhangnan County had been attacked by the Sui army, the Xia army camp began to be shrouded in an atmosphere of uneasiness, and every soldier had his own thoughts.

The harassed attacks of the Sui army have been carried out for seven consecutive days, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night, trenchers, stone cannons, bed crossbows, and various long-range weapons appeared one after another, but the scale was not large. Over time, both sides showed a trace of fatigue.

In the Xia army camp, the camp tents within a hundred steps of the wall have been removed. The Xia army is already skillfully dealing with the Sui army's turbulent attacks. They found that the most effective way to extinguish the fire oil is not water, but sand and soaked bedding.

When the tincture oil burns, a large amount of sand and soil are covered first, and the soldiers rushed forward with wet bedding and could easily put out the fire. The Sui army's tincture oil myth was thus broken, and this discovery really made the soldiers participating in the defense feel deeply joyful.

But Dou Jiande felt no joy at all. The attack on Zhangnan County brought him a heavy blow. He was even more worried that his retreat had been cut off by the Sui army, and at the same time, the failure in the south also had a great impact on his morale.

At night, Dou Jiande walked alone in the camp with his hands behind his back, following more than a dozen personal guards from afar.

After passing by a large tent, Dou Jiande stopped. A dim oil lamp was lit in the tent, and only one soldier was tidying up his bedding.

"Where are the other brothers?" Dou Jiande walked in and asked.

"The others are defending against the wall. I was slightly injured yesterday. The lieutenant allowed me to take a day off."

In the darkness, the young soldier did not see the appearance of the visitor clearly. He thought he was a team leader or a brigade coach, so he answered casually.

But when Dou Jiande approached, he suddenly recognized him, which scared him to kneel down suddenly, "The soldier is rude, please forgive me!"

Dou Jiande smiled gently. "Don't be afraid, get up!"

He sat down beside the bed and saw that the soldier was quite young, so he smiled and asked, "What's your name? Where are you from? How old are you?"

The soldier stood aside and said timidly: "The soldier is called Wu Shiyilang, a native of Wucheng County, Qinghe County, and is thirteen years old this year."

"Haha! Wucheng County is not far from my hometown! Have you joined the army at the age of thirteen?" Dou Jiande asked in surprise.

The soldier bit his lip tightly, not daring to say that he was forced to arrest him. He lowered his head and said nothing.

Dou Jiande understood a little. He looked at the soldiers' bed again. Seeing that it was neatly tidy, the bedding was tied with ropes, and there was a small cloth bag next to it, which was stuffed with things.

Dou Jiande was stunned, "What are you doing when you pack everything?"

The soldier said for a while: "Everyone said that he might have to go home. So I'll pack it up first."

Dou Jiande's face suddenly showed anger. It turned out that it was convenient for him to escape. When he looked at other beds, he had to pack up and could run away with his things at any time. He was about to have an attack, but he thought that the soldier was still a boy, so he held his breath in his heart and stood up and walked out.

Dou Jiande walked out of the barracks and felt extremely upset. The soldiers were all ready to escape. They had no fighting spirit. How could they fight this battle?

He walked towards the central army tent with concern. He stopped after just a few steps and listened carefully. He heard. There were soldiers playing the bamboo flute. The sound of the flute was sobbing, like complaining and crying, echoing over the camp, desolate and gentle. The sound of the flute was full of longing for his hometown, and many soldiers sat on the grass, listening quietly with their backs against their backs.

Dou Jiande was a little stunned.

.........

In the Sui army camp, dozens of generals gathered together. Yang Yuanqing wore a golden helmet and bright light armor, with bright eyes bright and sharp eyes. He sat in the commander's position and glanced at everyone, and slowly said: "Tonight, breaking the enemy is divided into two lines north and south tonight. The Northern Army consists of Sima Li Jing as the main general, Yang Sien and Yang Wei as deputy generals, leading the army to break through 30,000!"

Li Jing stepped forward to receive the order, "The humble position will not disappoint the general manager!"

Yang Yuanqing looked at Qin Qiong again, "The Southern Army consisted of the general Qin Qiong as the main general, Pei Xingyan and Xue Wanche as the deputy general, and they also led 30,000 troops to break through."

Qin Qiong stepped forward and bowed and clasped his fists, "I will obey the order!"

Yang Yuanqing's eyes fell on Luo Shixin. Luo Shixin's arrow injury had almost healed. He had been asking to see Yang Yuanqing these two days, hoping to get a chance to fight.

Luo Shixin felt a little uncomfortable when he saw that all the main generals had received the task, but he was left aside. Suddenly, Yang Yuanqing looked at him, his heart pounding, and his eyes were filled with extreme expectation.

"Where is General Luo Shixin?"

Luo Shixin was overjoyed and stepped forward and clasped his fists, "The last one is here!"

"General Luo, I appoint you as the main support general, Cheng Yaojin as the deputy general. You two can lead 20,000 people to provide external assistance and support two breakthrough troops at any time."

Although he is a supporter, he is better than watching the battle while sitting in the camp. Luo Shixin said in high spirits: "The last one will receive the order!"

There was also a sound like Cheng Yaojin's broken gong coming from next to him, "Old Cheng receives the order!"

Everyone couldn't help laughing. Although his expression was very serious, as soon as his voice appeared, everyone couldn't help laughing, and the solemn atmosphere of the big tent suddenly became relaxed.

Yang Yuanqing stood up, and the tent suddenly became quiet. He said to everyone in a deep voice: "Tonight is a night battle. The attacking node listens to my drum command. Finally, I will say another word. After defeating the enemy, try to kill as little as possible, and judge the number of prisoners of war!"

The generals agreed in unison, "Abide by the order!"

...........

‘Dong!Dong!Dong!’

With the extremely rhythmic drum sound, the Sui army's North Camp gate and the South Camp gate slowly opened at the same time. Heavy catapults were pulled out by dozens of cows. There were a cavalry guards on both sides, and more than a hundred infantry followed in line, followed by a team of murderous cavalry, which was exactly the same as the time of the usual harassing attack.

The difference is that this time it was a double attack, with 30 catapults dispatched from the south and north at the same time, each with 20,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry. The two attacking troops were five miles apart.

But there is still a subtle point, that is, the heavy armored cavalry and heavy armored infantry hidden in the cavalry team. The thick night hides them. From the wall, there is only a dark cavalry.

The seven-day attack made Dou Jiande's army a little tired and numb. They had gradually formed a system where ten thousand people responded at each time, and each army took turns to each other.

Tonight, when the drums sounded from the Sui army camp, ten thousand troops immediately entered the response area, but the Xia army soon discovered something was wrong with the usual ones. Tonight, the Sui army was attacking at the same time from north to south, and a captain rushed to report to the general Fan Yuan.

This news surprised Fan Yuan secretly. He rode a horse to the wall and observed it outside the wall for a moment. He felt that the Sui army did not have the same momentum as before, but instead was a little low-key. The cavalry followed from afar, which seemed a little concealed. A years of experience in war caused a sense of ominousness in his heart.

He immediately got off the wall, turned over and ran towards the central army, and ran to Dou Jiande's tent for a while. He happened to see Dou Jiande standing in front of the tent, staring into the distance. He seemed to hear the sound of drums coming from the Sui Camp.

"Prince!"

Fan Yuan jumped off and reported, "Report to the Prince, the Sui army dispatched two attacking troops from south and north tonight."

Dou Jiande was a little restless tonight. The soldiers' morale was sluggish and unintentional fighting certainly made him feel frustrated, but more importantly, the Sui army's attack on Zhangnan made him seem to understand something.

The confrontation between the Sui army for more than ten days has not fought, isn’t it just waiting to occupy Zhangnan? So, after occupying Zhangnan County, is it the time for them to launch a general attack?

Fan Yuan's report made Dou Jiande shudder, and the abnormal mobilization of the Sui army made him immediately alert, "Take me to see!"

Under the escort of hundreds of personal soldiers, Dou Jiande quickly rode towards the wall. Soon, he also climbed the wall and stared at the slowly approaching Sui army.

Dou Jiande could not see anything abnormal, but a lieutenant next to him said, "Prince, the position of the trencher has been moved back this time."

Dou Jiande then realized that the position of the catapult was indeed about a hundred steps back than usual. He suddenly looked back and checked the landing point of the fireball, which was about a hundred steps away from the board wall.

Dou Jiande suddenly understood that the Sui army was going to attack the wall. He shouted, "Not good!"

He immediately called Fan Yuan: "This is the official attack of the Sui army. Immediately dispatch 50,000 troops to block the north and south attack points!"

A chill broke out in Dou Jiande's heart, which made him tremble all over.

...........

On the platform of the Sui army camp, Yang Yuanqing was quietly staring at the advance of the two Sui army. The cavalry stopped five hundred steps away, and the heavy catapult continued to move forward, and also stopped four hundred steps away. Some soldiers quickly led the cattle back to the camp, while others were fixing the catapult.

A total of 60 catapults from north to south were positioned one after another. Two soldiers and cavalry rushed from north to south and reported under the high platform, "Report to the general manager, the Northern Army has already taken its place!"

"Report to the General Manager, the Southern Army has already taken its place!"

Although Li Jing and Qin Qiong will command each other during the specific war, Yang Yuanqing still needs to command unifiedly for some joint attack nodes and some areas that require cooperation.

Yang Yuanqing nodded and immediately ordered: "Start the attack!"

A big man next to him raised his big drumstick and pounded hard at the giant drum.

"Dong--"

A dull drum sound came from the Sui army camp, which was particularly far away at night. This was the order to start the attack.

.........

The heavy catapult has been modified, and the winch is changed to a rear-mounted type. A huge defensive board is installed on both sides of the catapult. It is a three-inch wooden board covered with a layer of iron and five layers of cooked cowhide, which can defend against the opponent's crossbow attacks and protect the Sui army soldiers who operate the catapult.

The winch began to squeak, and the long arm was pulled down. Three soldiers put a huge stone weighing nearly 100 kilograms into the throwing iron bucket. After seven days of training, the Sui army soldiers had mastered the strength and distance of the catapult. They knew how to accurately hit the wall.

"put!"

A brigade coach shouted, and the soldiers released the winch handle at the same time. The winch wheel turned, and the long arm rod suddenly threw the boulder out.

Dozens of huge rocks flew into the air almost at the same time, drew arcs in the night, and violently smashed the wall panels two feet high four hundred steps away.

The final battle is about to break out.

...........
Chapter completed!