fifteen 2
"Look at that fire! Look at that fire!" a member of the Yugusa tribe shouted, "That's the fire from the Black Spring!"
Liu Qingye recognized this man, who was the one who went to Ibeger that day. After this reminder, he noticed that the flames were burnt yellow with a blue glow, which was the appearance of burning oil. When the other Uyghurs heard this, they whispered to each other. Some of them who had been to Ibeger explained it to the people nearby. Everyone was surprised and said, "This black spring water was given to us Uyghurs by Allah. How could the Junggar bandits have it?"
It was a mess. A soldier rushed over from the south to report the news and shouted, "Master! Master, I was in the south of the city and saw the Junggars throwing fireballs from the city walls, which landed among our troops... Hero Cheng Anren, do not allow us to retreat and force us to attack the city... There are heavy casualties..."
Fu Chatao's expression suddenly changed, and Liu Qingye's heart skipped a beat: Where is Dan Ying? Is Dan Ying in the south of the city? Is he injured?
Fu Chatao ordered the messenger, "Pass my order, and order the three armies south of the city to retreat immediately!"
The soldier said, "Yes." He turned and ran away, but at this moment, a fireball shot down from the city. The soldier could not dodge in time, so Liu Qingye jumped off his horse, grabbed his vest, and jumped several feet away. The fireball exploded behind them, and flames flew.
Liu Qingye turned around and said, "Master Fucha, I'm going to the south of the city to take a look too."
Fu Chatao said: "Very good, you must ask Cheng Daxia to retreat - if you see Miss Danying and Wang Daxia -"
Before he finished speaking, he heard another burst of exclamations from the Qing army. The soldiers pointed at the Nalati Tower and shouted, "Sir, look—what is that?"
Fu Cha Tao looked up and saw that where the smoke had dissipated, a high platform had been erected on the Nalati city wall. It was about fifty or six feet high, and looked like a general's platform or an altar for offering sacrifices to the sky. He didn't know what mystery the Dzungar people were playing.
Liu Qingye was also slightly stunned, staring at the high platform on the city. He only heard the sound of horns and drums, and the spears in the hands of the Junggar soldiers in Nalati City were all pounding on the ground. The sound of "Kankan" came from afar, as if some kind of worship ceremony was being held. He knew from the battle of Chelegou that the Junggar people believed in Lamaism. Could it be that when they defended the city, they also asked for help from the gods?
Everyone stared at the movements on the city wall, and saw that the archers were still lying on the battlements, and those holding spears were gradually surrounding the platform. As they moved, the platform was surrounded like an iron barrel, while a dozen wooden pillars of the same thickness gradually appeared on both sides of the city wall, as if plum blossom stakes were nailed on the city wall.
Everyone was stunned when suddenly a sharp horn sounded. More than ten Junggar soldiers climbed up the tower, each dragging a prisoner and tying him to a wooden pillar. Liu Qingye couldn't see the faces of those people, but he recognized one of them with only one arm. Who else could it be but Wutan?
Liu Qingye felt as if he had been punched in the chest, and even his breathing stopped - Wutan fell into the hands of the Junggars! Then couldn't the person next to him be Asu? How could the person on the other side not be Zai? Ah... Then Dan Ying... Dan Ying too... Uncle Wang too...
He didn't dare to think about it anymore, and immediately ran towards Nalati City. Fu Chatao called out from behind: "Liu Qingye! Come back!" But he just ignored it. A gust of arrows rained down from the city, and he grabbed them with both hands, catching and throwing them, shouting in a hoarse voice: "Dan Ying - Dan Ying -"
Amid the shouts, he saw Dan Ying indeed—in red clothes and red skirts, being carried by a man and flying to the high platform. The man's robe sleeves fluttered, and in a flash, he tied Dan Ying to the wooden pillar of the high platform. Liu Qingye was trapped in the arrow net and could not move forward, but he was unwilling to retreat—he was shocked to recognize that the man with fluttering robe sleeves was actually Wang Chunshan!
"Uncle Wang, you——" Liu Qingye was so frightened that he was not careful and was almost pierced through the heart by the sharp arrow.
Wang Chunshan looked down after hearing this call and said, "Qingye, you go back first. I have something to say to that little Tartar. I promise not to hurt your red eagle!"
How could Liu Qingye listen? He dodged several arrows and shouted, "Uncle Wang, what are you going to do?"
However, this time, Wang Chunshan ignored him and shouted loudly to the Qing army camp: "Fu Chatao, you little Tartar, go back quickly, kill your father, and bring his head to me, otherwise, Dan Ying will die, and all the Uyghurs under her will die!"
Fu Chatao was stunned for a moment, then he frowned and said angrily, "Wang Chunshan, my father and I respect you as a great hero, and Mr. Li also sacrificed his life to protect you. How could you do such a thing today?"
Daheya and other Uighurs also understood what had happened and started to curse: "Wang Chunshan, you said you were our brother and wanted to help us attack the city - but you actually betrayed the Danying! You actually sold out all of us!"
Wang Chunshan said coldly: "I have already advised you not to form an alliance with the Qing army. You are asking for trouble! Now that you have rebelled against these Manchu Tartars, I will naturally release your leader!" He then spoke a few words to the Junggar generals on the city wall, and then said: "The Junggar friends have also agreed. From now on, we will use Nalati City as the boundary and keep our distance from the Uyghurs!"
The Uighurs became even more angry. Some said, "Get lost! What do you mean by using Nalati City as the boundary? The grasslands were originally ours. Tell the Junggars to go back to Mongolia!" Some said, "They are so friendly with the Junggars. We should have seen through them long ago! Only the Qing Dynasty is our friend!" Some said, "What about Miss Dan Ying? How can we save her?"... They all looked at Fu Chatao.
Fu Chatao frowned and was at a loss for a moment.
Korla said: "Brother Fucha, let's blow up this city, rescue the little girl Danying, and crush Wang Chunshan, this inhuman thing!"
Reiza glared at him and said, "Even if we destroy Nalati City, Dan Ying will die!"
Korla was stunned, waved his fist angrily and remained silent.
Liu Qingye was still fighting against countless arrows, but when he heard a horn from the city, the archers all stopped. He ran forward a few steps, and suddenly something was thrown down from above, almost hitting him. He looked down and saw the body of a Kazakh!
Wang Chunshan on the city wall said, "Fu Chatao, if you don't withdraw your troops and go back to kill your father, I will kill a Uyghur or Kazakh every other incense stick. When I kill him to the end, don't blame me for killing Dan Ying - Liu Qingye. If Dan Ying gets hurt, you can take revenge on the Tartars yourself!"
Liu Qingye's eyes suddenly went dark, and he was about to fall. He asked, "Uncle Wang, why are you doing this...what...what are you doing this for!"
Wang Chunshan said: "Silly boy, the Uighurs are no longer allies of our Chuan Deng Society. I handed them over to the Dzungars. The Dzungars have reported to Khan Galdan overnight. From now on, we Han people will unite with the Dzungars to drive the Manchu Tartars out of the Central Plains and restore our Ming Dynasty!"
His words were so convincing that Liu Qingye was dumbfounded - to ally with the Dzungars and restore the Ming Dynasty? This... this was really crazy!
Seeing that Fu Chatao didn't move, Wang Chunshan shouted again: "Fu Chatao, are you going to leave or not? If you don't go back to kill your father, then you can just commit suicide here, that's OK!"
This time, the Qing soldiers also started to curse: "Go and commit suicide! Dream on! Why do you ask you to commit suicide? We will charge into the city and cut you into pieces!" Some of them immediately asked: "Master, the artillery can't be used, we will use ladders to attack and rescue the Uyghurs no matter what!"
Fu Chatao had a gloomy face and was confused. He thought: "In fact, if I can exchange my life for the entire Ale tribe, it is certainly worth it. However, after my death, the army will be in chaos. Who will command it? The reinforcements from the Dzungars are coming. Won't the Uyghurs and these Eight Banners soldiers die in vain? Mr. Li, if you were still here, what would you do? Why is that dream so far away?"
But the Uyghurs did not have to obey his orders. Korla shouted, "Our warriors from the Bakhai tribe will go first! Damn it, save the girl Danying!" After shouting, he was the first to draw his sword and rushed towards Nalati City.
The Uighurs responded with a roar, picking up their swords, knives, scimitars, sabers, spears, and sticks, and rushed forward with him. Even Reiza, who was usually the most cautious, ran at the front of the team waving his jewel-studded knife.
The Junggar general on the tower laughed coldly and ordered the arrows to be fired. The Uighurs barely ran to the reach of the crossbows, but were forced to stop and could not move forward. A few of them barely rushed to Liu Qingye's side, but Liu Qingye could only protect himself and could not care about others. These people immediately became living targets for the Junggars.
Although Liu Qingye was concerned about Dan Ying's safety, he could not bear to let innocent Uyghurs die. He pushed back the two men who were approaching him and said, "Back off, back off quickly!" The two men were pushed back several feet by him, avoiding the fatal arrow, but the people next to them were shot dead!
Suddenly, a loud shout came from the south: "Damn it! Wang Chunshan, I misjudged you!" It was Cheng Anren who got the news and led the Right Third Army to withdraw. While cursing, he jumped up and down to Liu Qingye's side, helping him to deflect dozens of arrows, and turned around and ordered: "Damn it, they shoot arrows, let's shoot arrows too, let's see who is better, the Qing archers or the Junggar archers!"
The Qing soldiers were usually on good terms with the Uighur warriors, but now that they were trapped by arrows, they did not bother to ask Fu Chatao for orders, but propped their shields on the ground, hid themselves, and began to shoot arrows at the city walls. They were all good warriors of the Eight Banners, and all of them were good archers on horseback. Almost every arrow they fired hit the target, and dozens of Junggars on the city walls fell down in an instant.
The Junggar general was so angry that he kept cursing. His interpreter shouted to the people below the city: "You Qing general, we are fighting for territory with the Uighurs, what has it got to do with you? You should withdraw your troops immediately and don't get involved in this! Otherwise, we will kill more Uighurs!" As soon as he finished speaking, another Kazakh body was thrown down.
At this point, the Uighurs in front of the city were filled with grief and anger, but they fought even more bravely. With Liu Qingye and Cheng Anren blocking the arrows, and the Qing soldiers clearing the way with their shields, they approached the city wall step by step, shouting, "Kill all the Junggar bandits! Rescue Miss Dan Ying!"
The Junggars on the city wall panicked and quickly lit a can of oil and threw it down. The Uighurs and Qing soldiers were aware of the power of the oil and quickly dodged to the sides, but Cheng Anren was so angry that he did not dodge and kicked the can more than ten feet away, cursing: "Damn it, Wang Chunshan, you villain!"
