Chapter 96 Jiang Chengzi (V)
"General! The scouts reported that they spotted a group of Qi soldiers. Judging from their direction, the Qi people are still determined to kill us and are planning to burn our food supplies!"
Yelu Zhen's deputy general Tuoda hurried into the tent and reported.
"Then let them come. Tuoda, you'd better be prepared and make sure they never come back." Yelu Zhen rested one hand on his knee. The candlelight in the tent made his face glow and he looked energetic.
"yes!"
Tuoda put one hand on his chest and turned to walk out.
Nelingu quietly stared at Toda's back without saying a word.
"Nielingu, look at these Qi people. Not only did they kill Prince Suchile, but they also caused your general Shi Manu to die in grief because he was unable to be treated in time." Yelu Zhen took off the iron helmet with fur edges and put it aside. "What was the name of the Qi man who killed Shi Manu?"
"No one knows his name," Nielingu thought of that man, and he couldn't help but tighten the handle of the knife at his waist. His face was extremely gloomy, "The people of Qi call him Master Ni."
"I heard that your nephew Sasso also died because of this man's scheme."
Yelu Zhen did not hide his curiosity about this Master Ni. He observed Nie Lingu's expression and saw that he looked sad. He comforted him and said, "Whether it is your Nanyan tribe or my Changbo tribe, we all belong to the Danqiu royal court. This Master Ni, when Yongzhou City is captured, I will leave him to you to kill!"
Before Nielingu could react, the felt curtain was suddenly opened. It turned out to be Tuoda who had just left. Yelu Zhen frowned: "Why are you back?"
"Those damn Qi people!"
Tuoda panted, "General, their goal is not to get the food and grass in our rear. They suddenly changed their route halfway and shot arrows and crossbows at the siege equipment in our south that had not been pulled back in time!"
Yelu Zhen was surprised.
"General Yelu, whether it is Qin Jixun or that Master Ni, they are not the kind of people who will sit and wait for death." Nielingu followed Shi Monu to participate in several battles. By now, General Shi Monu is dead, and the isolated army he brought from Juhan Pass has no food or grass, so he has to rely on Yelu Zhen temporarily.
He has figured out Qin Jixun's character. Qin Jixun and Master Ni, who dared to assassinate General Shi Monu in the midst of chaos, are definitely not people who only know how to defend the city.
Yelu Zhen was silent for a moment after hearing what Nielingu said, and then asked Tuoda, "Were all our siege equipment burned by the Qi people?"
"No, it was rescued in time, but some damage was done."
Toda said truthfully.
"Then call up the Qi craftsmen in the camp and have them repair it as soon as possible."
Yelu Zhen knew that he was careless this time. He did not show any anger on his face. He just told Tuoda, "We don't have much time. If we can't take Yongzhou City, you and I will return to Changbo and apologize to the prince."
Since Yelu Zhen attacked Yongzhou City, he has been taking the initiative to attack, but tonight was too restless. First, the siege equipment was broken, and everyone thought that the Qi army would not take any more actions tonight. Unexpectedly, in the second half of the night, a horn was suddenly blown on the Yongzhou city wall. The Hu army woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that the Yongzhou army suddenly left the city and turned from defense to offense. They hurriedly prepared for a battle, but waited for an hour, but still did not see the Yongzhou army leave the city.
The entire Hu camp was in a hurry in the middle of the night and no one could sleep.
Yelu Zhen simply led his army to attack the city again. Because some of the equipment was damaged, Yelu Zhen's military strength was much greater than in the previous seven days.
“They’re going to come out from the south gate!”
Tuoda was on horseback and saw the flags waving on the city wall. He captured a Qi prisoner, asked him the secret code, and immediately reported to Yelu Zhen.
That was exactly the gap left by the three gaps and one chasm that Yelu Zhen had built.
Just as Yelu Zhen was about to give an order, he heard a deafening roar, the dust was trampled by war horses, sand was flying, and huge rocks from the city wall fell down, almost shaking the ground.
The Yongzhou army, which was supposed to come out from the south gate, unexpectedly came out from the north gate. Dry grass was tied to the cart in the front, and the arrows shot by the Hu archers and crossbows were firmly embedded in the pile of dry grass, as dense as a weave.
Then the carriage turned a corner, and the soldiers inside threw caltrops at the Hu cavalry, causing sharp wooden thorns to appear wherever the horses' hooves passed.
The war horse neighed and raised its hooves, and the Hu man fell off, and was pierced by the caltrops.
The soldiers of Yongzhou Army followed closely, holding shields, changing their formations several times, and stabbing with armor-piercing spears. Xu Hexue, who was standing high above the city wall, suddenly called out, "Duan Rong."
Duan Rong immediately shouted: "Shoot!"
The rain of flaming arrows fell, almost burning the Hu cavalry on the south side to the ground.
"retreat!"
Duan Rong shouted again.
Upon hearing this, the rebel captain Sun Yanli immediately led his soldiers back into the city. The south gate opened and closed, but the Hu people were unable to enter.
For the first time, Yelu Zhen carefully looked at the Master Ni on the city wall that Nie Lingu had mentioned.
He looked gloomy.
For some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity.
"General Qin, Commander Yang! We have a great harvest!" Sun Yanli entered the city and shouted below.
This risky move out of the city to meet the enemy was also to alleviate the urgent shortage of arrows in the city.
"One arrow can be divided into two, and then the craftsman can add more arrows." Qin Jixun vaguely heard Sun Yanli's voice below, so he said to the people around him.
"yes!"
After hearing this, the soldier immediately turned around and went down.
"Can this method be used again?" Qin Jixun looked at Xu Hexue.
"able."
Xu Hexue nodded.
The Hu people obviously did not expect that the defenders would dare to use this tactic of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west after using it once. The flags on the city wall were waving again. Tuoda did not dare to believe it anymore. This time the secret code pointed to the north. He immediately ordered the central army to take the opportunity to rush into the city when the Qi people came out from the south gate.
Unexpectedly, the doors on both sides were not opened, and fireballs rolled down, burning the area, and the iron arrows from the bed crossbows were fired at the same time.
"General Qin, are most of the people who have climbed the city walls these days from the Nanyan tribe?" Xu Hexue squatted down and leaned against the city wall to avoid the rain of arrows from the Hu people.
"It seems so."
Qin Jixun thought about it and found that the soldiers of the Nanyan tribe and the Changbo tribe were slightly different in their attire, and they each wore the totem of their tribe.
Xu Hexue looked back, flags fluttering, smoke billowing, he thought of Nieringu beside Yelu Zhen, "Then let's not let Yelu Zhen have it too easy."
Late at night on the eighth day when the Yongzhou army was defending the city, there were loud drum beats and horns blowing on the Yongzhou city walls. The Hu soldiers who were secretly building fortifications outside and trying to observe the strength of the city were so frightened that they hurriedly stopped and ran back to the Hu camp.
The entire Hu army camp was hastily defending in the middle of the night, but there was no sign of the Yongzhou army leaving the city. After tossing and turning in the middle of the night, they were exhausted and could not sleep.
Late at night on the ninth day, drumbeats were heard again on the Yongzhou city wall. The Danqiu Hu people had fought a battle in broad daylight and almost destroyed a section of their southern city wall. They saw through the Yongzhou army's bluffing and ignored the drumbeats.
Unexpectedly, the Yongzhou army actually led the army out of the city, first captured all the Hu soldiers who were building fortifications, and then attacked Yelu Zhen's camp at night. Fires broke out. Sun Yanli remembered Xu Hexue's instructions and ordered the prisoners to lead the way, and then set fire to the military tent of the Nanyan tribe led by Nielingu.
That night, with continuous flames and sudden rumors spreading throughout the entire Hu camp.
"Lord Nelingu! Could it be that our General Shi Manu did not die at the hands of that Qi man, but..." The captain who followed Nelingu could not suppress the rumors boiling in the army, so he came to find Nelingu.
“I had my doubts before.”
Nielingu sat in the tent with a sad expression, "When Yelu Zhen came, General Shi Manu died. I also looked for that Hu doctor, but he disappeared and I still can't find him."
"Isn't this suspicious?" The Hu captain was indignant. "Lord Nielingu, most of us who came from Juhan Pass are warriors from the Nanyan tribe. Yelu Zhen wants us to be the vanguard and climb the city walls. This is clearly to cause more casualties for us. In this way, isn't it making things easier for the Changbo tribe?"
"I,"
Nieringu clenched his fists. He had been servile and subservient to Yelu Zhen these days. He had had enough of the bullying from his Changbo tribe. When Shi Monu's death was mentioned again, he became even angrier. "I can't let General Shi Monu die in vain! Although Prince Suchile is dead, we still have the Second Prince. He and Prince Suchile are of the same bloodline as Queen Nanyan. Are we going to watch the First Prince overpower the Second Prince?"
no,
At least before the reinforcements sent by the Nanyan tribe arrived, he could not let Yelu Zhen break into Yongzhou City first.
On the tenth day of the siege, Yelu Zhen's Changbo tribe army and the Nanyan tribe army led by Nielingu were in conflict. Nielingu's passive fighting attitude made Yelu Zhen very angry.
Seeing that the Hu army was in unrest, Qin Jixun took the opportunity and ordered Wei Dechang and Yang Tianzhe to lead the troops to attack the Hu camp at night, catching Yelu Zhen off guard.
The morale of the Yongzhou army was greatly boosted.
After defending the city for ten days, the Yongzhou army did not give the enemy an inch of land.
But on the eleventh day, the reinforcements led by Tan Guangwen did not arrive yet, which caused the Yongzhou army, which had finally boosted its morale, to fall into panic again.
"The reinforcements from the Nanyan tribe haven't arrived yet. They should have encountered it head-on." Zhou Ting rested one hand on the hilt of his knife and said in a deep voice, "In this case, I'm afraid we will have to continue defending."
"How can we defend this place?" Wei Dechang paced back and forth anxiously. "If reinforcements don't come, how long can we fight with Yelu Zhen here?"
"Dechang, you must not be so depressed!" Qin Jixun advised him.
"Brother! When Yelu Zhen comes to his senses, how should we respond? Reinforcements, why didn't he come earlier? If Tan Guangwen had sent his troops earlier, we wouldn't have ended up like this!"
Xu Hexue was sitting next to him, holding a glass lamp in his hand, and was in a trance for a moment.
"Why don't reinforcements come?"
"General, why don't they come?"
The man lying in the yellow sand had his chest pierced by countless arrows. Blood gushed out of his mouth. "Why, don't you come..."
"Xue Huai!"
In his memory, Xu Hexue watched him fall, but the silver spear in his hand could not kill all the Hu people in front of him. Blood soaked his silver scales and his vermilion robes.
He kept killing people.
Until he was exhausted, the Hu people's golden knife swung and cut across his eyes.
"General! Protect the general!"
There was blood all over his eyes and he could not see anything. He could only hear his soldiers shouting like this. Many of them rushed towards him and protected him with their flesh and blood.
He felt their blood, from warm to cold.
"Mr. Ni?"
Qin Jixun's sudden call almost brought Xu Hexue back to his senses immediately. His fingers were curled around the handle of the glass lamp, and the blue veins under his cold white skin were bulging inch by inch.
"Duan Rong, hurry up and go invite Miss Ni!" Seeing him like this, Qin Jixun thought that his illness was making it difficult for him to hold on.
"Mr. Ni, in my opinion, you don't have to follow us to guard the city in the front. You should take care of your health first." Yang Tianzhe said with concern.
"Yes, Master Ni!"
Wei Dechang also echoed, "Look at your body. We are still here. Even if Tan Guangwen doesn't come, we have to defend this city. You should rest for a while!"
"I think so too. Young Master, how can your body bear the pain of guarding the city with us these days?" Qin Jixun looked at Xu Hexue. "Ms. Ni will be here soon. She will definitely not want to see you neglecting yourself like this."
"I can stay away for now,"
Xu Hexue said, "But at the same time, General Qin, the tents near the city gate that are used to treat the wounded must also be moved back. Now that Tan Guangwen has not arrived, we must prepare first."
"Yelü Zhen has not yet resolved the internal strife in the army. The general and the two commanders should calm the soldiers as quickly as possible and take this opportunity to launch as many surprise attacks as possible."
Qin Jixun nodded, "My Lord, what you said makes sense. We should take advantage of the fact that Yelu Zhen's army is not united and consume their strength."
The felt curtain was suddenly lifted.
Zhou Ting was the first to look up, and saw the woman in a light-colored dress and veil walking in. He watched her walk to the side of Mr. Ni and asked softly, "What's wrong with you?"
Xu Hexue shook his head.
There were many people here, and Ni Su knew that it was inconvenient for him to say anything, so he bowed to Qin Jixun and the others, then helped Xu Hexue to stand up and took the glass lamp from his hand.
The two people walked out supporting each other.
Zhou Ting's gaze fell on their backs.
"Master Zhou?"
Yang Tianzhe called out.
Zhou Ting came to his senses and looked at him.
"Are you really going to launch a surprise attack on the Hu people's camp tonight?" Yang Tianzhe asked.
Zhou Ting nodded: "You don't have to care whether I am a Beijing official or some other official. Although I am in the Night Division, I have come here to fight for the Great Qi. Tonight, I will go."
Ni Su helped Xu Hexue to their felt tent. He had been so taciturn, but Ni Su always felt that something was wrong with his mood. She lowered her eyes and saw that he was holding the lantern pole tightly in his hand.
She squeezed his knuckles.
Sure enough, he paused, stopped, and turned his head to look at her.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Ni Su asked.
Xu Hexue saw her hair blown by the night wind, "Ni Su, the reinforcements haven't arrived yet, are you afraid?"
The word "reinforcements" startled Ni Su. She looked at him, his face still showed no expression, his whole body immersed in the silvery moonlight, distant and cold.
"In fact, when I met you, I knew that death is not a terrible thing," Ni Su led him and continued to walk forward. "Whether it is you or me, the most difficult thing is to die a worthy death."
Xu Hexue followed her obediently, "I just thought of Xue Huai."
"When he died, he asked me why the reinforcements didn't come." This was almost the most profound memory of Xu Hexue's hundred years in Youdu. He could forget all the joy and indulgence he had in socializing with others when he was young, but he dared not forget Xue Huai for a moment, and forget the 30,000 heroic souls in the pagoda. "I remembered that my soldiers fought to the last moment and used their own bodies to protect me."
Then what?
Ni Su held his hand tightly.
Then, the young general whose life was saved by the Jing'an Army soldiers with their flesh and blood was brought back to Yongzhou through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and was stabbed 136 times.
So, she never stopped him.
Those heroic souls who died were all worthy of him collecting posthumous reputations for them.
"You are a good general,"
Ni Su pressed her warm palm against his cold fingers and pulled him away, "You can definitely clear their name."
You for them,
I'm here for you in this life.
The Yongzhou army tried their best and defended the city for nearly sixteen days. Nielingu died at the hands of Yelu Zhen, and the remaining soldiers of the Nanyan tribe were suppressed by Yelu Zhen with an iron-blooded hand. At this point, his army of nearly 100,000 was reduced by half due to plague, civil strife, and repeated harassment and ambushes by the Yongzhou army.
Mountains of corpses and seas of blood are nothing more than this.
As soon as the siege equipment was repaired, Yelu Zhen immediately led his troops to attack the city again.
On the twentieth day, the Yongzhou army had run out of arrows, and after four consecutive days of crazy attacks by the Hu people, they gradually found it difficult to resist.
"Come on! Come on!"
After Yelu Zhen finished the fire attack, he gave orders to Tuoda, a deputy general beside him.
Tuoda waved the golden knife in his hand, and Qin Jixun and others on the city wall saw the Hu soldiers escorting a group of ragged people to the front.
A Hu soldier pinched an old man's chin, forcing him to raise his head and look towards the Yongzhou defenders on the city wall. His eyelids were soaked with tears, but he could not utter a sound.
They are all from Qi.
After Su Qile's death, Qin Jixun fortified the city and cleared the fields, and moved the nearby Qi people and food into the city as quickly as possible.
Those people below were Qi slaves in Yelu Zhen’s army.
They are people from the thirteen states occupied by the Hu people.
"Yelü Zhen! What are you going to do?" Qin Jixun's eyes were bloodshot after several days of bloody battles.
Yelu Zhen rode on the horse and glared at him, "Qin Jixun, if you are willing to submit to my Danqiu Royal Court, then kill that Master Ni. I, the King of Danqiu, will not treat you unfairly!"
"You're dreaming!"
Wei Dechang's eyes widened with anger.
Yeluzhen laughed strangely, "Tuoda!"
Tuoda received the order and immediately ordered the soldiers to drive the slaves towards the bottom of the city wall. When the soldiers on the city wall saw this, no one dared to shoot arrows for a moment.
Qin Jixun originally thought that Yelu Zhen was trying to force him to open the city gate, wanting him to take in these Qi people and then take the opportunity to rush into the city. However, he never expected that without them firing any arrows, Tuoda was commanding the cavalry archers to raise their crossbows.
"Yelüzhen!"
Qin Jixun's eyes were bloodshot.
In an instant, the bows and crossbows of the Hu people were fired at the same time. All the Yongzhou soldiers on the city wall watched helplessly as the Qi slaves below were pierced through the bodies by arrows and fell down one by one.
They all held sandbags in their hands, and the people and the sandbags were piled together to form a hill.
"Qin Jixun, let me ask you again, should we kill Master Ni?"
Yelu Zhen laughed wildly.
“Yelü Zhen! You are shameless!” Yang Tianzhe’s eyes were red, “You barbarians are all shameless! What have the people done wrong! What have the people done wrong!”
When he was in Danqiu, he saw the way the Hu people treated the slaves of Qi people, and he was so heartbroken that he woke up from his dream.
Yelu Zhen restrained his smile and raised his hand again.
Tuoda immediately ordered his soldiers to bring up another group of Qi people. When they saw the hill formed by hundreds of people, they were so scared that they started crying and shouting.
But no Hu soldiers showed mercy to them.
Xu Hexue hurried up from the bottom of the city wall. When he reached the city wall, he looked down and saw the Hu people's dense arrows flying out, and their cries stopped abruptly.
They carried bags of sand and dumped them on the pile of dead bodies, adding new height to the mountain of corpses.
The soldiers of the Yongzhou Army on the city wall couldn't help crying.
Xu Hexue supported himself on the city wall with one hand, bending his finger bones so hard that he almost trembled. His exposed eyes moved from the mountain of corpses under the city wall to the Hu general riding on horseback.
The cuts were cracked under his clothes, and the bright red blood flowed down his wrist bones. He almost squeezed out this name from between his teeth:
"Yelüzhen."
