?Autumn is the busy farming season, especially for farmers along the Yangtze River. Unlike the north, the main crop planted in the south, especially the Yangtze River basin is rice, so rice harvesting and corresponding farm work can make people tired

But for the counties and counties in the boundary of Yingzhou, Chen State, this year's autumn harvest was a bit special because they had no crops to harvest. The first invasion of the Zhou army in Jiangbei ruined all the crops in Yingzhou. In the autumn, there was no grain of rice in the fields.

Yingzhou has an average number of households, and because of its important location, it has many troops garrisoned. Originally, the people who farmed in this state had not enough troops to support the army. Now there is no harvest and all the people have been captured and taken to Jiangbei. The supply of food and grass for the troops garrisoned in Yingzhou has become a problem.

The food and grass of the Xiakou garrison was transported by ship from Bazhou upstream, while the food and grass of the garrison from Xiakou to Wuchang were transported by land. Without ships, people used horses to push the horses, so the food and grass consumed halfway increased, but Yingzhou would never be lost, so the food and grass supplied to the garrison had to be delivered even if they gritted their teeth.

It is not enough to support Yingzhou's logistics with the power of Bazhou in the upper reaches. Jiangzhou in the lower reaches also had to transport food and grass to Yingzhou. Especially the garrisons in Wuchang City could not be short of food and grass, because with the two Zhou army nails, Yanji and Wuzhou, there could only be land.

The grain transport team that set out from Jiangzhou went out of Xisai Mountain along Jiangxi, and then went to Huangshiji to Wuchang. The Zhou army that had frequently raided Jiangnan before has now stopped, and it seemed that they had no time to cross the south because of the autumn harvest.

Due to this, the Xisaishan garrison was relieved. As long as the Zhou army did not come to make trouble, life would be easy. Of course, it would be better to be able to go home as soon as possible. In May, Chen State gathered a large army to advance westward to recover Yingzhou. Because the threat was still the same, the soldiers were stationed in various places and could not go home.

Especially the people who were summoned to join the army, months have passed since May and now, and they will be stationed with the army and will not know when they will be able to return home. As the next few months is the end of the year, many people's homesickness is becoming stronger and stronger.

"What are you doing when you sigh, what's the use of missing home?" A soldier smiled. He was thin and dark in his body. One goatee was about forty years old under his jaw. The other was younger but sighed, and he looked even more frowning.

"It's autumn now..." Di Baotian murmured, saying that everyone has no land at home, and they get up early and work late on weekdays. There is not much left in the year when they are tired and exhausted. Now they have some food in the army. Although there is a lot of sand, they can always make a full stomach.

Di Baotian was worried and said when it would be the first. The government army could not defeat the one-legged bronze man in Jiangbei and could only guard it. He had to wait until the Yingzhou navy recovered its strength and did not know the year of the monkey and the month of the horse, and his family didn't know what was going on.

"I'm worried, may the generals want to fight Yanji or Wuzhou Shu before you can call you?" Goathu hummed, "You don't know how many people died in Yanji? It's good to have a slut in Xisai Mountain now."

The two of them are now on the night of the beacon tower on the top of Xisai Mountain. No one is willing to do such a chore. They won the lottery draw and then blew the autumn wind on the tower. Seeing that they had been unable to sleep for a long time, they chatted to relieve their fatigue.

A main fleet of the Chen Navy was stationed at the southern foot of Xisai Mountain. The navy soldiers and the soldiers on the Luzhai shore were mostly troops advancing westward from Jiankang in May. Apart from the elite backbone soldiers, many of them were like the two of them.

It is not easy to be a commoner these days. In addition to being busy with farm work, you also have to serve hard. Although it means that you need to serve hard in the past year, and the military service will only last about one month, you will have to do it after being recruited by the government.

There is no place to reason, and the government says whatever it is. Of course, everyone is also sensible. If you go to build river embankments or get busy with the army for a month, it will definitely not be enough. The key is that you will not have to pay wages or military pay for the days that are beyond your reach, and no one takes the deadline seriously over the years.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of the government, they are free labor that doesn’t even have a monthly salary. Anyway, many people don’t have any land at home, so they can barely fill their stomachs when they go to the army to mix a bowl of sand and bibimbap. At least, Jiangnan has rich fish and shrimps from time to time and can also eat meat.

"So, it's best to defend Xisai Mountain. You don't have to fight and can live a life." Goathu said to himself, "If you are like the unlucky people in Wuchang, you are caught by the one-legged bronze man in Jiangbei for wind-dried meat, you will be done!"

Since the "decisive battle at the top of Xiyang" on New Year's Eve, the name of the one-legged bronze man Yuwen Wen has spread. The people of Chen State along the Yangtze River know this story. The one-legged bronze man of Zhou State and the King of Shixing of Chen State fought in Xiyang City, and the one-legged bronze man won a complete victory.

Then this man tasted human flesh. According to reliable sources, he slaughtered all the prisoners of Chen army and used them to make "Dongpo pork". Even the Hulin Army under his command had to eat a few bowls every day.

Therefore, everyone is a little scared of this one-legged bronze man and the Hulin Army who eats human flesh. With all kinds of vivid "seeing with your own eyes", it is a good choice to be able to stay in Xisai Mountain to watch the river view with peace of mind.

"There is movement on the river!" Di Baotian suddenly shouted. Goathu hurriedly looked northwest when he heard this. He saw that the river was dark under the night. After watching hard for a long time, he could not see any signs.

"Don't scare yourself, where is the movement coming from?"

"I'm missing?" Di Baotian scratched his head. Even at night, his eyesight was still sharp. But Wu Yue didn't see the situation on the river tonight. The two of them looked around for a while and couldn't see anything, so they gave up.

About forty miles upstream of Xisai Mountain are the five continents in the Yangtze River. However, because the Yangtze River turns a beacon tower on Xisai Mountain can only look out at the river below Huangshiji 15 or 6 miles upstream. However, Chen State also has camps in Huangshiji and set up beacon towers to monitor the five continents upstream.

"Forget it, if Huangshiji didn't fire, it would be fine." Goathu yawned. Now it was approaching dawn, and it was the most sleepy time for people to be the ones. "Even if the Zhou army attacked at night, it would be impossible for the Hengjiang iron chain. The official warships had enough time to react."

"Is that iron chain really iron? Could it be fooled with hemp rope?" Di Baotian asked. The official army pulled three iron chains on Xisai Mountain and the other side. The soldiers were all guessing about the iron chain. They were all wondering how much iron it would take to pull the iron chain on this mile-long river.

However, some people also infer that this iron rope may be fooled with hemp ropes. Officials will be accustomed to bullying their superiors and subordinates to eat empty wages and drinking soldiers' blood. Using hemp ropes as iron ropes is a great opportunity to take advantage of them.

How much iron is used and how much labor is consumed, the amount of reporting is definitely not low. Anyway, the hemp rope is not worth much, so the difference in the middle can be put into the generals' wallets.

"It shouldn't be. My fellow villager went to Jiangbei camp a few days ago. When crossing the river, the warship checked the iron cables. It was really an iron cable." The goatee was showing off the news he knew, "With that iron lock, it would take a lot of time for the Zhou army's warship to break through, and the navy will be ready by then."

"Then...were you not afraid of the Zhou army attacking?"

"Of course, it will take some effort to burn this iron chain." Goatbeard nodded, "If they cut the iron chain with an axe... they like to cut the iron chain with a thick arm."

Di Baotian asked what to do if the official warship was going to go over. Goathu said that the Hengjiang iron chain was drooping, and the two high schools were lowered, and ordinary sailless boats passed through both sides.

If a large ship with a mast is to pass, if the winch on the end of Xisai Mountain will loosen, the section in the middle of the river will definitely be immersed in the water. As long as it is reduced to the level where the big ship can pass, it will be fine. The sneaky fleet before passed by like this.

"Are those five ships the shopkeepers..." Di Baotian's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"You are impatient to live and spread these things!" Goathu made a silence, "You can only treat these things as if you didn't see them!"

"The officials are bleeding when they are fighting to the death, but the officials above are doing business with the other side in private. The officials on both sides are not good things!" Di Baotian muttered,

It’s not a joke to touch such a topic. If anyone listens to it and sue them, they will have to whip it: Chen and Zhou are fighting, so how could there be a private business? This must be the rumor you two are spreading rumors!

"So what does the victory or defeat have to do with us? If you can shrink when you fight, you will shrink when you make a contribution. If you lose, you will either lose your life on the spot or be caught to make dried meat." The goathu said angrily, "Anyway, with the Hengjiang iron chain, the Zhou army will not be able to attack the water camp even more."

Xisai Mountain Water Village is located in Jiangwan on the eastern foot of its river. If you want to enter the river and fight with the enemy troops coming to the west, the warships attacking in the water village will have to turn a bend in the river. Although this layout is a bit troublesome, it can prevent the enemy upstream from directly downstream and attacking the moored warships.

Of course, this terrain also made it a bit troublesome to attack in an emergency. The Chen army general took this into consideration and pulled up the Hengjiang iron chain. For this reason, he specially set up a camp on the other side of the Xisai Mountain as the fixed end of the iron chain.

Jiangbei is the boundary of the Zhou Kingdom, but there is no large stronghold of the Zhou army on the north bank opposite Xisai Mountain. The original Zhou Kingdom Beacon Fortress was removed by the Chen army in May. At that time, a small piece of land opposite the Jiang Kingdom is under the control of Chen Kingdom.

"There is a big lake, surrounded by mountains, and the riverside is often flooded, and it is far away from various cities, so the Zhou army is too lazy to fight." Goathu is worthy of being a well-informed person, and the various inside stories he told made Di Baotian stunned.

"That means that it doesn't matter if we take a look here even if we take a look?" Di Baotian felt that his hard work was wasted. The arrangement of the government army was so strict that it would not have allowed the Zhou army to successfully attack. They did not dare to sleep all night and looked around was simply a fool.

"Of course, you can't miss it. At least you have to stare at the direction of Huangshiji and whether there is any movement in the beacon tower in the middle." Goatbeard yawned again, "Don't fall asleep. If you catch Chagang, you will have to whip it again."

As soon as he finished speaking, he found something was wrong. Di Baotian pointed to Huangshiji like a ghost and shook his head. When he turned around, he was stunned: a swaying fire vaguely lit up in the direction of Huangshijiji, and then the beacon tower between Huangshiji and Xisai Mountain also lit up in the fire.

"Yes...it's the enemy situation, it's the Zhou army here!" Goathu came to his senses, "Show warning, hurry up and warn! Go and light the fire, I'll go blow the trumpet!"

A moment later, the beacon towers on Xisai Mountain lit up fires, and the beacon towers along the river downstream also lit up fires. Their beacon fire transmission transmission of the enemy situation to Jiangzhou further downstream, and the sound of horns on Xisai Mountain woke up the sleeping garrison.
Chapter completed!