Chapter 64: Dongjiazhuang

  Zhuge Yu looked at the city wall and said, "The walls of Luoyun Fortress are all made of bricks. There are many neat seams, and if we place the Zhuge crossbow on the battlements at a certain angle with the fine seams on the brick wall, we can accurately hit a certain position outside the city. Perhaps we can mark the shooting position of the Zhuge crossbow in advance, so that when we shoot, we don't need to aim much, and we can greatly improve the accuracy of the shooters in the Divine Machine Battalion."

  As soon as this was said, everyone clapped their thighs and exclaimed: "That's right! How come I didn't think of that?"

  Hearing everyone's praise, Zhuge Yu just smiled slightly and didn't say anything.

  Ye Xuan smiled and nodded, letting Officer Xiao Su record this suggestion as well.

  After that, everyone spoke freely and also discussed the coordination between the fire lock soldiers on the city wall and the long gun soldiers, putting forward several effective suggestions, all of which were recorded one by one.

  That night, Ye Xuan ordered the officer Xiao Su and others to work overtime, letting them sort out the suggestions of each person and hand them over to Ye Xuan for review. After considering that some of the suggestions were feasible, he copied several copies, and from then on, every sentry post and team had to have a copy of this combat experience manual. He also let the officers memorize it, especially the sentry officers, who had to grasp it in detail and apply it flexibly.

  The next morning, Ye Xuan arrived at the city gate, and Sun Yu and Chen Fei both came to greet him. Nothing had happened overnight, but the two of them, like the other soldiers, had spent the night on the city wall, sleeping in their clothes in the thatched hut.

  At this time, the Jin army outside the city neighed and shouted, and groups of scouts walked out of the camp. Chen Fei was half asleep, rubbing his face in confusion: "Are the barbarians going to retreat?"

  Sun Yu gazed out of the city, his expression solemn: "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

  He suddenly said to Ye Xuan: "Big brother, what if the barbarians suffered a loss under our Lu Yun Fortress and found it difficult to attack, so they shifted their attention to the military fortress of the remaining Lu Yun Fortress and lured us out of the city to fight. If that's the case, we're in trouble!

  His face changed, and Ye Xuan and Chen Fei also looked ugly. Apart from Luoyunbao, there were also Dongjiazhuang, Xinzhai, Huiyao Bao and other local landlords' big forts in the territory.

  If the Jin army really adopted this tactic of besieging and relieving, without sending troops to assist outside the city, those fortresses would be captured one by one, and each would be defeated. After all, in terms of military strength and equipment, those fortresses were not as sufficient and solid as the Lu Yun Fortress owned by the Ye family army.

  However, leading the rescue mission would inevitably lead to a field battle with the Jin army. Defending the city was fine, but when it came to field battles, both the upper and lower levels of Lu Yunbao were somewhat intimidated. After all, the reputation and achievements of those barbarian soldiers were there for all to see.

  Ye Family Army was just a newly formed army. Defending the city was fine, but if they went out of the city to fight in the wild, no matter whether it was a big defeat or heavy casualties, Ye Xuan would not be able to bear it.

  Can we just sit back and watch as those Jin soldiers take down our castles one by one?

  Chen Fei hesitated and said: "Let's take a look again. Maybe the barbarian troops will be defeated under our city and retreat."

  "Look, sir, another group of mounted scouts is coming."

  On the city gate tower of Ying'en Gate on the east side of Dongjiazhuang Fortress. Several soldiers exclaimed to Chen Tong, who was originally under Chen Feiyuan, the defender of Dongjiazhuang.

  Chen Tong's facial muscles twitched a few times as he bellowed, "What's the big deal about a few barbarians? Just be careful with your defense and that's all. What's with all the fuss?"

  He said to Dong Xiang, the owner of Dongjiazhuang next door: "Look at these new recruits, they are inexperienced and naive, a few barbarians have scared them out of their wits."

  Dong Xiang's face was also somewhat pale, and he repeatedly said: "Yes, yes, with Brother Chen, such a brave general who has killed barbarians, our Dongjiazhuang is definitely as solid as gold, those soldiers are indeed making a big fuss over nothing. However, they have never fought against the barbarians, so it's no wonder they're so afraid."

  He glanced at the soldiers on the city wall who were holding the fine-tuned repeating crossbows, and his heart felt somewhat comforted. Those repeating crossbows were all high-quality ones from the Ye family's army, extremely precise, definitely wouldn't have any jamming issues, and had enough power to pierce heavy armor, making the soldiers love them so much that they abandoned their original bows and arrows entirely.

  However, apart from these fire arrows, Dongjiazhuang didn't have many defensive weapons that could be used. The armor worn by the soldiers was also simple and made of cloth, with a red military hat on their heads. The iron armor produced by Ye's army was not even enough for the four sentries in their own fortress, let alone being able to allocate any to others.

  Dongjiazhuang Fortress is two li and twenty-two hundred steps away. There is a jar-shaped city built outside the east gate.

  When Ye Xian occupied the southern part of Hebei, Chen Tong emptied the young and strong men in Dongjiazhuang Fortress, and trained two teams with more than 100 people. The crossbowmen and long gunners each accounted for half, and there were a few night uncollected, 5 stone-throwing soldiers.

  Chen Tong led a team of soldiers every day, and when there was nothing to do, Chen Tong also managed the affairs of the garrison's farmland inside and outside the fortress.

  Originally there were several military officers of various sizes in the fort, but after the original Dongjiazhuang Guan team officer was transferred to the state city, his more than a dozen family members and confidants were also transferred together.

  In addition, Tie Officer Xiao Daxin was also killed by the bandits along with former Defense Officer Du Zhen, so only one Dong Xiang remained in Dongjiazhuang.

  At present, Dong Xiang is a new army, and Dong Xiang leaned towards Gao Shiyin at the first time.

  Looking at the more than ten golden armored cavalrymen outside the city, Dong Xiang worriedly said: "Yesterday, the sound of killing shouts came from Luoyun Fortress for a whole day, I don't know what the situation is like over there. Can you hold off the barbarian army's attack, sir?"

  Dongjiazhuang is only a few miles away from Luoyunbao, and yesterday's fierce battle between the Ye family army and the Jin army was so intense that the sounds of killing and wailing could be heard even in Dongjiazhuang.

  Chen Tong gazed far into the direction of Luoyun Fortress. He also worriedly said, "Luoyun Fortress has four sentry posts of the Ye family's army. Should be nothing to worry about, right?"

  Yesterday, when the mighty army passed by Dongjiazhuang, Lu Yunbao and Dong Xiang were both pale. Their small fortress was no match for the attack of so many barbarian soldiers, but fortunately they just made a loud noise and left without stopping under the fort, letting everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

  But then they began to worry again and didn't know what was going on at Luoyun Fortress.

  Now the golden army is gathering, and the connection between Dongjiazhuang and Luoyunbao has been completely cut off. Under the situation where the Jin army's scouts are all out, although Dongjiazhuang has several night watches, they dare not send them out. Otherwise, when facing the barbarian army's cavalry teams in the wild, they would only have a dead end, and die in vain.

  Chen Tong suddenly smiled at Dong Xiang and said: "Dong younger brother, you're so concerned about the situation in Luoyun Fortress, I'm afraid it's more because you're worried about the safety of your wife in Zhai Fortress?"

  Because Dongzhuang was more dangerous, most of the officers and men in Dongzhuang had moved their wives and children to Luoyunbao.

  Dong Xiang glanced at Chen Tong, his toothless mouth also smiling: "Mutual understanding, Brother Chen. Not long ago, didn't you secretly send your wife and children to Luoyun Fortress? The general just pretended not to know."

  They looked at each other and smiled, both thinking: "You're like this too."