In the spring of the 27th year of Zhaowu, Liang Wang Chen Huan personally led 30,000 troops and 500 warships to attack Yueyang from both land and water, and left 10,000 soldiers to guard Jingzhou.

Chen Huan knew that his life and death was hanging by a thread. If he captured Yueyang first, he could abandon Jingzhou and lead his troops south. If Zhao Fuyi captured Jingzhou first, he would be attacked from all sides and would be doomed.

So when his troops arrived at Yueyang, he did not delay. After setting up camp, he immediately began to attack the city, and at the same time ordered the navy to attack Dongting Lake.

Compared to the battle of Guangning City eleven years ago, Yan Sikong was calm today. Xue Lang and Feng Ye were in charge of the defense of the city, and he assisted on the side. The rebels of King Liang were in high spirits and attacked fiercely, but Yueyang still had nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses, and they had no worries about food and grass. They were well prepared. The first wave of siege lasted for four hours, and Yueyang City was riddled with holes, but still could not be captured. King Liang had no choice but to retreat.

Looking at the piles of dead bodies below the city, the black and red blood spilling on the city, the wounded soldiers wailing in pain, the broken armor and equipment scattered everywhere, the post-war devastation, the thick blood and the bone-chilling murderous aura permeating every breath, it makes one's scalp numb.

Yan Sikong said in a deep voice: "The rebels are coming with great force. If they fail to capture the city in one attack, they will come again soon. How much damage has our army suffered?"

Xue Lang sighed: "The damage is not great for now, but I'm afraid this city can no longer withstand the attacks of wood, stone, and cannons."

"General Xue, don't worry. Back then..." Yan Sikong held back the words, "There are records in history that a city with few soldiers and a small city could still stop a large army. Yueyang still has troops. Hurry up and let the soldiers reinforce the city. King Liang will come back soon."

After Xue Lang left, Yan Sikong looked at Feng Ye. Feng Ye stood motionless on the top of the city wall, gazing at the corpses strewn all over the ground below the city.

"Prince." Yan Sikong walked up to him, "Are you worried about the same thing as me?"

Feng Ye nodded: "I am not worried about the loss of Yueyang, I am worried about Chen Huan's navy."

"Chen Huan, the admiral of the navy, is a famous naval commander in the two lakes. If he takes over Dongting Lake, he can plunder hundreds of warships and capture tens of thousands of sailors for his own use. Then there is no need to attack any city. All he needs to do is surround Yueyang and cut off the water supply to the city, and we will surrender without a fight."

Feng Ye sighed, "It's a pity that neither you nor I are good at water battles. I have only ridden a small boat across a river since I was a child."

Yan Sikong smiled bitterly: "I have never been on a warship. I guess Chen Huan will put his chips on the navy. Should we send troops to reinforce the navy?"

"Now, I'm afraid it's too late. Chen Huan's troops are pressing on the city. If we focus on one thing, we will lose the other, and if we focus on the other, we will lose this."

Yan Sikong narrowed his eyes slightly: "I dare not ask for General Wang's victory, I just hope he won't be defeated too quickly."

The conversation between the two turned out to be a prophecy. Just two days later, news of a battle came from Dongting Lake, showing that General Wang's navy had been badly defeated and the rebels had completely taken control of the important waterways.

The rebels sent troops to seize the key site of the canal that brought water from Dongting Lake into the city. They filled it with sand and stones to build dams, and dug deep ditches to divert the water source.

Within five or six days, the rebels will be able to completely cut off the city's water supply. Chen Huan has already sent people to the foot of the city day and night to call for surrender in order to confuse the army.

Xue Lang was so anxious that he turned around and around: "Sir, what should we do? If there is no water in the city, how can we survive?"

Feng Ye said in a deep voice: "I am surrounded now. The only way is to wait for General Zhao to capture Jingzhou and come to rescue me."

"Do you know when General Zhao can capture Jingzhou? What if he fails?" Seeing Feng Ye was silent, Xue Lang turned to Yan Sikong and said, "Lord Yan, I heard that you suppressed the rebellion in Kuizhou with your eloquent words. You must be very resourceful. Tell me, what should we do?"

Yan Sikong seemed to be blind to the huge waves in front of him, his face was as calm as water: "General Xue, the prince led us to cross Nanyue, sent out a surprise attack, and attacked Yueyang in ten days to block the rebels' retreat, just to buy time for General Zhao. With our troops, we cannot defeat King Liang in a head-on confrontation. We can defend, but as the prince said, now we can only defend and wait for General Zhao to arrive with his might."

"How can we defend?" A general from Yueyang slammed the table fiercely. "The water is about to run out. Without water in this city, let alone the soldiers, the people may rebel first."

"Yes, how can we fight without water?" another general shouted, "Our troops have suffered heavy losses in the attack a few days ago. If the King of Liang attacks the city again while we are thirsty, you, you still say you can defend it?"

Wang Moxiu said in a stern voice: "How dare you! The prince is here, how dare you disrupt the morale of our army?"

"you……"

Xue Lang bowed to Feng Ye and said, "My Lord, what the generals said makes sense. Once the water source is cut off, the army will be in chaos and the people may also rebel."

Feng Ye slowly turned his head and scanned all the generals with his wolf-like sharp eyes: "If the soldiers are disorderly, then kill the soldiers. If the people rebel, then kill the people. We must not let the rebels seize this city, dominate Dongting Lake, and point their swords at the south of the Yangtze River!"

The soldiers remained silent.

Yan Sikong smiled and said, "Don't panic, everyone. The rebels can stop the water on the ground, but can they stop the essence of the earth that moistens everything?"

"Lord Yan is saying..." Xue Lang frowned, "But whether or not it rains, and when it rains, depends on God's mood. It's hard to predict for sure."

Yan Sikong raised his fist towards the sky and said, "Kong, please borrow some sweet dew from the sky to quench my thirst."

Xue Lang was skeptical: "Master Yan, you still... you still know this magic?"

Yan Sikong gave a mysterious smile.

——

Back inside, Feng Ye lowered his voice and asked, "Kong'er, can you tell when it will rain?"

Yan Sikong wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "This weather doesn't look like it's going to rain at all."

"What?" Feng Ye's eyes widened. "How dare you make such a boast?"

"You and I only brought less than 3,000 remnants of soldiers. Yueyang is their territory. Now the army is in turmoil. The situation is getting out of control. If we can't solve the water crisis, we don't know when they will force us to open the city to meet the enemy!"

Feng Ye clenched his fists: "So now... are you really going to start the 'practicing'?"

"I will stabilize them first, and delay it for as long as possible. If God has eyes, and sees our loyalty, maybe..."

"Oh my." Feng Ye patted Yan Sikong's head, "Who are you trying to fool with this nonsense?"

Yan Sikong smiled bitterly: "We can delay it for a day, until General Zhao comes to Yueyang to kill him."

"What if he doesn't come? How long can we hold on?"

Yan Sikong held Feng Ye's shoulders and said, "If he doesn't come within three days, we will kidnap Xue Lang and control all the officers and generals during the meeting. If he doesn't come within seven days, we will have no choice but to open the city and surrender."

Feng Ye said in a deep voice: "This is the only way. I will go and make the arrangements."

——

The next day, Yan Sikong set up an altar and drew a battle array on the top of the city wall. He was wearing a plain black Taoist robe, holding a dust whisk in one hand and a brush in the other. He wrote difficult-to-understand talismans on pieces of white paper, and then burned them all. At the same time, he chanted something and pretended to pray for rain.

Xue Lang and his gang of crude military generals, although they had not read many books, were familiar with Zhuge Liang's story of setting up an altar to pray for the east wind. Yan Sikong was a double-listed Jinshi and a lecturer to the crown prince. Although they had doubts in their hearts, they did not dare to suspect him openly and could only watch him work.

Yan Sikong prayed for a day and a night, but no rain fell from the sky. At this time, there was only water left in the city, which was not enough for three days.

The soldiers could not help themselves and stepped forward to urge Yan Sikong, but Yan Sikong did not even blink, and continued to mutter to himself, completely ignoring the whispers beside them.

Feng Ye coughed heavily and said, "Don't be disrespectful to ghosts and gods. Wait patiently."

"Prince, this...how long do we have to wait for this?"

"Didn't Lord Yan say that it would rain in three days and three nights at most?" Wang Moxiu said, "Lord Yan hasn't had a drop of water for a day and a night, why are you so anxious?"

Feng Ye glanced at Yan Sikong's chapped lips and dark eyes, and said calmly, "I believe that Lord Yan will be able to bring rain to the people of Yueyang!" He gave Wang Moxiu a look and continued, "Perhaps our sincerity still cannot move the Lord. General Xue, order all the generals to climb the city walls and pray for rain with Lord Yan."

"This..." Xue Lang sighed, "Okay."

Wang Moxiu secretly made a gesture towards Feng Ye.

Yan Sikong "invited" rain for two days and two nights in a row. The sky above Yueyang City was still sunny and covered with white clouds. Where was the sign of rain?

Xue Lang's generals could no longer bear it and shouted angrily: "Lord Yan, are you playing tricks on us?"

Wang Moxiu said loudly: "This matter concerns the survival of a city. Who dares to joke?"

"We have hired a doctor for two days and two nights, but nothing has come out of it. In a few days, we will die of thirst!"

"He can't make it rain, why don't we surrender!"

"If this continues, they will surrender sooner or later."

"How dare you!" Feng Ye roared, "You actually want to surrender to the traitors? Do you want to join the rebellion?"

The soldiers were suddenly silent, but hesitation was already evident on their faces.

Feng Ye waved his hand and said, "Take them down."

"Prince, what are you going to do?" Xue Lang saw that the situation was not right and was about to draw his sword.

Feng Ye kicked up and stepped on the back of his hand, kicking the sharp sword that had just been unsheathed back into his hand. At the same time, he dodged and grabbed Xue Lang's neck with his iron-like hands, pressing him against the city wall.

Wang Moxiu shouted loudly, and the soldiers who had been waiting at the foot of the city rushed forward, killing several unsuspecting Yueyang defenders, and soon surrounded all the generals on the city walls.

"You...Prince...you..." Xue Lang shouted, "Prince, I have absolutely no intention of rebelling."

Seeing the swords at their necks, the generals knelt on the ground one after another: "Sir, we have no intention of rebelling."

Feng Ye handed Xue Lang to Wang Moxiu, then helped Yan Sikong up, put the water bag to his mouth, and said coldly: "Very good, then defend the city with me and wait for General Zhao to rescue you."

Yan Sikong grabbed the water bag and gulped down a few mouthfuls of water before opening his eyes. He hadn't had a drop of water for two days and his face was pale. He looked at Feng Ye weakly and whispered, "Well done."

Feng Ye secretly held his hand.

Now their lives depend on Zhao Fuyi. If Zhao Fuyi fails to capture Jingzhou before they die of thirst, they will either die or surrender, with no way out.