A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

Just as Huo Qingluan led the reserve troops to the west gate, some people were stopped by her personal guards below the city wall.

"Bring it up."

The garrison commander was taken aback.

"lady?"

Huo Qingluan glanced at him.

"I said, bring it up."

A moment later, an old man in gray was escorted up to the city wall.

His hair was gray, his robes were old and worn, but his back was straight.

His face was weathered and worn, and he leaned on an ordinary wooden cane, looking like a down-on-his-luck old man you could see anywhere in the countryside.

The old man looked at her and suddenly smiled.

"Young lady of the Huo family, I'm not too late, am I?"

The garrison commander's expression changed.

"How dare you! How dare you address Madam by her name?"

The old man ignored him and simply pointed towards the west gate.

"The Tieling army uses a pressing infantry formation, with shields in front and crossbows behind, rotating every three rounds. The siege engines are hidden behind the shields. If you use arrows to suppress them now, you won't kill many people. Once their engines reach the city wall, the foundation of the west gate will be under pressure."

Huo Qingluan's gaze froze.

That's accurate.

That's too accurate.

This was what bothered her the most.

The Tieling army advanced slowly, but each step was steady. The rain of arrows could only reach the shield soldiers at the very front.

The real siege engines and hammer squads were well hidden.

The old man was able to tell the story after only a few glances.

Trouble.

It's not the enemy that's the problem.

This old man is too troublesome.

"Who are you?"

The old man slammed his wooden cane on the ground.

"The former dynasty's Prince of Kao Shan, Xiao Heng."

Everyone on the city wall froze.

Huo Qingluan certainly knew about the Prince of Kao Shan.

He was stationed in the Golden City, but was defeated by Wei Zhao and surrendered.

This person is different from Lu Song, and also different from Emperor Yuanxi.

He sided with the former Wei because he was a member of the royal family and the Prince of Kaoshan.

But after he surrendered, he did not cause any more trouble. Instead, he went into hiding and disappeared, as if he had been wiped off the chessboard of the world.

Now he's come out on his own.

Why?

Huo Qingluan disliked trying to guess people's thoughts.

The formations have patterns to follow, but people's hearts are in chaos.

But we can't just act based on our likes and dislikes right now.

The Golden City was surrounded on all sides, with millions of refugees trapped behind it; one wrong step and it would be a mountain of corpses.

She stared at Xiao Heng.

"Has Your Highness come here to avenge the previous dynasty, or to defend the city for the new Wu?"

Xiao Heng glanced down at the knife at his neck and smiled.

"If I wanted revenge, why would I need to come see you? Once the Tieling army breaks down the west gate, Golden City will naturally fall into chaos."

That's not a nice thing to say.

But it's very real.

Huo Qingluan did not refute.

She needs the truth, not fancy words.

Xiao Heng looked out of the city, and the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

"After I surrendered, I lived among the common people for a long time. I sold horses, repaired bridges, and even listened to those refugees cursing the old Wei dynasty in teahouses."

He paused.

"That's right."

No one spoke from the city wall.

Xiao Heng continued, "I have seen many generals of this era. Han Dashan is ruthless, Zhou Laodao is bloodthirsty, Qin Lie is steady in his military tactics, Du Heng is good at playing with water, and Xu Zhongmou is good at feigning benevolence. But none of them are good enough."

Huo Qingluan frowned.

Why?

"They are fighting for themselves."

Xiao Heng looked at her.

"You are different from Wei Zhao. After you finished fighting, you were supposed to provide the people with food, land, and rules."

Huo Qingluan's fingers tightened slightly.

It's strange that these words came from the mouth of a prince from a previous dynasty.

It was so strange that she felt a little uncomfortable.

She wasn't afraid of the enemy's knife, but she was afraid of this sudden act of kindness. Because kindness could so easily conceal a treacherous trap.

Xiao Heng seemed to understand her gaze and gave a soft hum.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not here to be a loyal minister. The previous dynasty is the previous dynasty. Yuan Xi is dead, and Lu Song is utterly corrupt. At my age, who am I supposed to be guarding his memorial tablet for?"

A loud boom echoed from below the city.

The Tieling army's siege vehicles advanced another twenty paces, and crossbow bolts rained down from the city walls, knocking down a row of front shields, which were immediately replaced by those behind.

Huo Qingluan's eyelids twitched.

We can't afford to waste any more time.

What she lacks most right now is not soldiers, but the core of the formation.

The pressure on the four city walls is different, and using the same defensive method will only allow the enemy to breach them.

It wasn't that she couldn't think of changing formations, but time was too tight, the troops were too mixed, and there were too many wounded soldiers. Every time she changed formations, she might lose herself first.

Huo Qingluan looked at him.

"You say you can save the Golden City, how?"

Xiao Heng smiled.

"That's more like it."

He stretched out his hand.

The guards did not move.

Huo Qingluan said, "Give him a charcoal pencil."

The garrison commander grew anxious.

"lady!"

"Give."

The charcoal pencil was handed to Xiao Heng.

The old man squatted down and drew four formations directly on the stone slabs of the city gate.

The moment the first stroke was made, Huo Qingluan's eyes changed.

It's not just for show.

It's something that can be used.

Xiao Heng pointed to the north gate.

"There are many soldiers from Black Mountain at the North Gate, and Han Dashan relies on brute force. Don't try to outlast him with his old soldiers. Use the iron locks to block the gate."

Huo Qingluan squatted down, her gaze following the lines.

"The shield bearers in the front row form a lock, and the spears emerge from the gaps in the shields. Don't rush to smash all the rolling logs and burning oil; reserve 30% for when the siege ladders are stacked side by side, then burn them all in one go."

"right."

Xiao Heng nodded: "When Han Dashan sees that you're saving equipment, he'll think the North Gate is weak and will definitely add more people. The more people there are, the more crowded it will be. Crowded against the wall, it'll be like firewood."

Huo Qingluan's lips twitched slightly.

ruthless.

But it works.

She likes to be ruthless.

Xiao Heng then pointed to the East Gate.

"The Red Blade Army at the East Gate has many veteran soldiers, and Old Dao Zhou is personally overseeing the defense. We cannot allow them to continuously scale the wall. We will use broken ladders to counterattack."

The defending general couldn't help but ask, "Counterattack? They've already climbed the walls, and you still want to counterattack?"

Xiao Heng glanced at him.

"Getting up the wall doesn't mean you're in control. Once the Red Blade Army gets up there, they'll inevitably try to seize the crenellations. Give them three steps to lure them up, then use your short-sword squad to cut them off from both sides, and your long-spear squad to block their retreat. Chop down as many as they come up."

Huo Qingluan quickly went through the entire route of the East Gate in her mind.

feasible.

"What about the South Gate?"

Xiao Heng's charcoal pencils emphasize the south side.

"The south gate is the most dangerous. If they drive the civilians into the city, your soldiers' morale will be thrown into chaos. Use a double-gate formation. On the outer line, only shoot at those armed and armored soldiers mixed in with the civilians. On the inner line, set up barricades, rope nets, and barricades. If the civilians rush in twenty paces, do not open the gate, but open a side passage."

Huo Qingluan immediately understood.

There was originally a grain transport moat outside the south gate of Golden City, which allowed a small number of people to go around to the open space in front of the inner circle.

If that area is changed into a sieve, the people can be misled, and the real Baiyue soldiers will be revealed.

People will still die this way.

But it's better than shooting down all the civilians who were driven there.

Xiao Heng finally pointed to Ximen.

"The Ximen Tieling army is the most stable, so we can't let them be stable. Use the Chaotic Flag Eight Gates Formation."

Huo Qingluan's eyes lit up immediately.

"Are you trying to deceive Qin Lie's people?"

"It wasn't deception, it was forcing him to miscalculate."

Xiao Heng tapped eight spots on the array diagram with his fingertip.

"The flags on the west gate are divided into eight sections, alternating between real and fake. Three crossbowmen are real, and five are fake. When the siege engines are a hundred paces away, the fake flags will be thrown into disarray to lure them into thinking you are sending troops to reinforce the siege. If they remain calm, continue the advance. When they are sixty paces away, fire all the real crossbows at once, targeting the wheels and ropes."

Huo Qingluan stared at the eight flag points, and the battle lines in her mind suddenly became clear.

It turned out to be the case.

She had been thinking about how to stop the Tieling army, but she forgot that what the Tieling army feared most was not a direct confrontation, but rather turning their composure into hesitation.

The more shrewd Qin Lie's men are at calculating, the more easily they are distracted by the battle flags. If the siege engines lose their rhythm even for a moment, the heavy crossbows on the city walls can easily destroy them.

That old guy is really something.

Huo Qingluan looked up at him.

Why did you help me?

Xiao Heng threw down the charcoal pencil, his fingers covered in black ash.

"As I said, the previous dynasty is the previous dynasty."

He looked down at the people still rushing up the city walls, and lowered his voice.

"When I was young, I also thought that the world was just about who sat on the dragon throne. But after guarding the city for decades and seeing too many soldiers go, I realized that's not the case."

"The common people don't care whether the emperor on the throne is surnamed Yuan or Wei. They just want fewer people to die, to be able to farm, to be able to get married, and to be able to raise their children."

Xiao Heng turned to look at her.

"If Wei Zhao can do it, what's wrong with me defending a city for him once?"

Huo Qingluan remained silent for a moment, then clasped her hands in a salute.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After this salute was delivered, the expressions of many veteran soldiers on the city wall changed.

The former dynasty's powerful prince.

Huo Qingluan, the new martial arts master.

The two of them standing together looked awkward no matter how you looked at it.

With the eight princes' armies pressing down outside the city and millions of lives hanging in the balance inside, old grudges and new resentments suddenly seemed less important.

Those who can defend the city are our own people.

Xiao Heng waved his hand.

"Don't thank me too soon. I'll give you the formation; whether you can use it effectively is up to you. If an incompetent general were to use these techniques of mine, he would only get himself into a trap."

Huo Qingluan nodded.

"I know."

She stood up and grabbed the flag.

"Pass on the order!"

All the military officers on the city wall turned around at the same time.

Huo Qingluan's voice drowned out the drumbeats.

"Replace the north gate with an iron-locked horizontal gate formation! Shield bearers advance, spearmen thrust through the gaps in the shields, reserve 30% of the rolling logs and oil, wait for the Black Mountain Army to bring in their ladders before burning them!"

"Make way three steps at the east gate, no retreat allowed! The short-sword squad hides on both sides, and after twenty Red Blade soldiers scale the wall, they break the ladders and counterattack!"

"Open a side moat at the south gate and set up rope nets and logs to keep out enemy fire! When civilians enter the moat, soldiers will shoot them as soon as they show their heads! Anyone who fires arrows indiscriminately will be beheaded!"

"Change the flags at the West Gate to form the Eight Gates Formation! Use the fake flags to create chaos first, then fire the real crossbows. Attack the Tieling army's siege engines!"

One command flag after another was waved out.

The city wall looked as if a hand had gripped its bones again.

The shield bearers at the north gate began to lock horizontally, gradually closing the gap that was about to be torn open.

The old soldier at the East Gate gritted his teeth and took three steps back. Just as the Red Blade Army was howling as they climbed up, the short-sword squads on both sides of the city road suddenly pounced out, and blood splattered directly onto the battlements.

The moat on the south side of the gate was opened, and the driven people rushed out crying. The Baiyue soldiers behind them finally appeared, and the archers fired arrows with red eyes.

Eight flags fluttered wildly at the west gate, and the Tieling army's vanguard was indeed a beat behind.

Huo Qingluan stood on the city wall, and her eyes finally lit up.