Entering from Dongzhou, Nan Yanxi ordered his troops to attack fiercely and captured more than a dozen small enemy cities in succession.
They attacked until they were still a hundred miles away from Jingzhou City, and then they stopped.
Who was the leader on the other side? He had already known it by exploring the horse.
After successively capturing more than a dozen small cities on the western periphery of Jingzhou, Nan Yanxi felt something was wrong.
I don’t know if it’s a mental problem or if it’s something real, but I always feel like this victory comes too quickly.
Although these cities are not the main cities of Jingzhou, there are also large cities with dangerous terrain and complete fortifications.
If you lead your army to defend it, it will not be easy to capture it yourself.
But along the way, there was little resistance, and there were no guards at all in these cities.
Based on Nan Yanxi's understanding of Xiang Tianxing, the garrison troops in these cities must have been transferred and concentrated by Xiang Tianxing.
Although I still don’t know why he would take the initiative to abandon some dangerous cities, after all, the main city of Jingzhou is more important to Jingzhou as a whole.
When there is a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves, it is understandable to shrink our troops and carry out focused defense.
Therefore, Nan Yanxi ordered the vanguard to stop eighty miles away from Jingzhou City.
The main army stopped twenty miles behind, looking for a safe place to camp.
At the same time, a large number of scouts were sent to explore the front to see if there was an ambush and to investigate the situation in Jingzhou City.
Inside the military tent, Nan Yanxi, together with Xiang Ning'er, Xiao Li, and Li Shuwan, were studying the situation between the enemy and ourselves.
On this expedition, it was the three of them who followed Nan Yanxi. On Su Rile's side were Ye Zhiyu, Ling Yihan, and Qimuge.
Within the joint command headquarters, Ying Yue and Situ Yan were retained.
Lu Yingying and Nangong Ruoxue stayed in Zhongzhou, taking care of Mo Qingyan, who was also a mother and sister, and several other pregnant sisters.
Inside the tent, Xiang Ning'er looked at the map in front of her, frowning and thinking about something.
"Husband, based on my understanding of Xiang Tianxing, he is definitely not such a timid person."
After Xiang Ning'er pondered for a moment, he slowly said: "Now that there is a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and us, he should not miss any opportunity to consume our army's power."
"I just took a look. Since leaving the Dongzhou border, there are at least three big cities that our army must pass through, and there are two steep mountains suitable for ambushes."
"But Xiang Tianxing didn't seize the opportunity. Instead, he transferred all the defenders away. It seems that they should be concentrated in Jingzhou City."
"It feels like...you are stiffing your neck and waiting for us to fight...this...I don't understand..."
Seeing Xiang Ning'er's confused look, Nan Yanxi looked at Xiao Li again: "Li'er, what's going on in Jingzhou City?"
"Sister Ning'er's prediction is good..." Xiao Li nodded: "Our potential spy in Jingzhou City will pay off."
"As early as three days ago, Xiang Tianxing transferred all the troops to the main city. Even the thieves were not spared. Anyone with a knife was transferred away."
"We even called together the death row prisoners and serious criminals in various prisons, and transferred them all into the city and incorporated them into the army."
"There are many artillery installed on the city tower. Although they are all old-fashioned cannons, they are numerous in number. It seems that they are going to fight us to the death under Jingzhou City."
"A fight to the death?" Nan Yanxi was confused after hearing this.
"Then it shouldn't be the case. We don't have so many good opportunities, so we have to retreat to Jingzhou City and fight to the death?"
"Then if we lose...there will really be no room for maneuver."
"Is this Xiang Tianxing really an old fool? Is he just giving directions without any care?"
The three of them thought about it over and over, but couldn't come up with a reason. When they were hesitating, Li Shuwan suddenly came over and said weakly: "That..."
"No matter what his purpose is, as long as we make sure there are no ambushes outside the city, we can just attack them and we'll know."
"Anyway, if you guess here, you can't get any results."
As soon as these words came out, the three of them immediately came to their senses as if they were enlightened: "Yes... wouldn't it be nice to give them a good beating?"
After waking up, Nan Yanxi immediately ordered the scouts to find out as soon as possible to see if there were any signs of an ambush in the mountains on both sides of Jingzhou City.
The scout leader agreed and went out of his tent to deliver orders, while Nan Yanxi ordered his troops to prepare for a full-scale attack on the city.
About a day later, the scouts received a reply. There were no ambushes within a hundred miles on the left and right sides of Jingzhou City.
This made the generals even more confused. What did Xiang Tianxing want to do? Did he just want to be beaten?
But no matter what the purpose is, it will be easy to handle as long as you make sure there is no ambush.
Nan Yanxi summoned the generals and immediately ordered: "Notify all units to prepare to attack the city! Find out the enemy's true intentions!"
"Yes!" All the generals agreed in unison and turned around.
The leading 100,000 troops set up an offensive formation at the foot of Jingzhou City.
As a dull horn sounded, the Ming army's ranks instantly burst into action with thousands of artillery fire.
As the earth trembled and the mountains shook, a rain of cannonballs hit Jingzhou City, exploding into huge flames.
"Boom...boom...boom..."
The huge power of the cannonball exploded at the top of Jingzhou City, blasting shocking gaps in the thick city wall made of hard bluestone.
Shrapnel and flying rubble accompanied by strong shock waves and heat waves flew out like sharp swords, and Xiang Jun soldiers on the city fell one by one.
Wails and screams echoed through Jingzhou City.
But Xiang Jun is also no idler. Since suffering a loss in equipment during the confrontation with the Ming army last year, Xiang Tianxing has vigorously developed firearms.
Although its muskets and artillery are far more advanced than the Ming army, they are still easier to use than crossbows and trebuchets.
Since Xiang Tianxing had long expected that the Ming army would attack sooner or later, he spent a lot of money to install a large number of fortress cannons in these border cities.
The weight is huge, and although it cannot march with the troops, it is perfect for defense.
On the top of Jingzhou City alone, there are more than 500 fortress cannons of various calibers, which is not inferior to the vanguard of the Ming army in this attack.
Seeing the enemy's artillery attack, Xiang Jun did not hesitate and immediately began to fire back.
"Boom...boom...boom..."
The dull and huge sound of cannons sounded, and tongues of fire erupted from the top of Jingzhou City.
The heavy old-fashioned artillery shells hit the Ming army's ranks hard, also causing huge casualties.
Nan Yanxi and others who were at the forward command post were really stunned by the huge explosion. Fortunately, their command post was built concealed enough and had good anti-cannon capabilities.
Otherwise, you will really suffer a hidden loss!
Several people squatted in the corner and shook the dirt on their helmets vigorously. Nan Yanxi vomited twice and spit out the dirt in his mouth.