Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 336 Heavenly Soldiers But Came from Hexi ([-] words, two in one)

In Chang'an City, it should be called Jingzhao Mansion or Yongjing at this time, but the residents living here still call themselves Chang'an people.

Even though Suzaku Street is already overgrown with weeds and foxes and rabbits, they still insist on calling this place Chang'an.

Among the population, the most talked about is either Emperor Taizong Wen or Emperor Gaozong.

Even the great sage Emperor Mingxiao, the people of Chang'an still miss him very much, but they can't help but sigh when they say it.

'The saint is wise, but why don't he die early? '

This year is 937, exactly 30 years before the Tang Dynasty was destroyed, a group of elders from Chang’an City made some sacrifices, melons and fruits, and burned incense to sacrifice to the emperors of the past dynasties outside the Danfeng Gate of the original Daming Palace, especially those Chang’an people. The emperors of the late Tang Dynasty who do not want to mention.

In fact, it's not that Chang'an people look down on the emperors of the late Tang Dynasty. In fact, they feel sorry for them, especially Emperor Zhaozong, who had high hopes for the Shence Army composed of Chang'an citizens.

In the end, they couldn't beat Li Keyong and Fengxiang Li Maozhen, not to mention it. It's outrageous that they can be disarmed by a group of solidarity veterans with all their armor.

It can be said that the situation in the late Tang Dynasty was corrupt, and the shence army built with a lot of money was corrupt and unable to fight, which was also one of the most deadly reasons.

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow! , !!" After the sacrifices, fruits, joss sticks etc. had been placed, before the prayers had started to be chanted, there were cries from around.

This old man was born in the fourth year of Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty (887). Although he was only 50 years old, he was considered an "old man" in this era.

We must know that Chang'an has experienced more than 30 wars in the [-] years since the Tang Dynasty was destroyed, and the turmoil during the Emperor Zhaozong's period was even more staggering.

Being able to live to 50 years old under such circumstances without being killed by rebels, starved to death, or dying of illness or falling on the way to escape, is indeed a long life.

"In the past, Emperor Zhaozong ordered the Shence Army to station in Xingping to attack the bandit Li Maozhen, but before the bandits arrived, the Shence Army was in chaos.

Later, the thieves went to Xiwei Bridge and Lingao Post Station, and killed the Prime Minister Du Taishi brothers, and the privy Ximen Junsui, Li Zhoutong, and Duan Xu, and the thieves retreated.

The Jingzhao Yin An Taibao appointed by the imperial court has not yet arrived, and the thieves have already arrived at the Xiwei Bridge. There are no prime ministers or privy secretaries in the city. Who can save us? "

Li Shouling knelt on the ground and mourned from the bottom of his heart. As soon as he said this, dozens of elders and hundreds of people from Chang'an who came to offer sacrifices burst into tears.

The scale of Chang'an at this time is actually not small. There are more than [-] residents inside and outside the city, including Xingping County, and there are more than [-] people in the city alone.

Although most of the square cities were destroyed, people could still live in the Kaiyuanmen to the imperial city in the west. Merchants from Anxi, Hexi, the Central Plains in the east, and Bashu in the southwest gathered here.

This certainly cannot be compared with Chang'an in the past, but in China and even in the whole world, it is still considered wealthy.

You must know that Damascus, which has been hailed as a paradise, has only a few hundred thousand people at this time, and it is very likely that there are not yet.

The cries became louder and more and more people came. Li Shouling even cried and fell to the ground. This experienced "runner" also knew that he probably couldn't escape this time.

The enemy has always come from the west, as long as they capture the Xiwei bridge, they will not be able to defeat Chang'an. Moreover, the Jinchang army guarding Chang'an did not allow them to leave the city to escape, forcing the residents of the city to draw one out of three, saying that they would fight the enemy decisively. .

Li Shouling knew why, the rebels outside the city originally wanted to loot Chang'an, and they were forced to assist in defending the city, after the rebel army captured the city, they would definitely retaliate even more severely.

The Jinchang Army wanted to create this situation, so that they had to help defend the city.

"Emperor Taizong Wen! Open your eyes and see! Are the descendants of the Li family going to be extinct today? What are we going to do? How many years can we live in peace?

The descendants have been fleeing disasters every year since they can remember. If the emperors of all dynasties knew from heaven, please send some heavenly soldiers to save our descendants, right? "

Following Li Shouling's howling, hundreds of people cried almost to death outside the Danfeng Gate of the already dilapidated Daming Palace.

Danfeng Gate was originally the main passage for the emperors of the Tang Dynasty to enter and exit the palace city. It is the highest standard among the gates of the Daming Palace, and there is a tall gate tower on the gate.

These people, thinking about the glory of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty in the past, feel like a knife is being twisted inside.

Because they are actually not ordinary Qianshou, but descendants of the royal family of Li and Tang.

Although Zhu Wen once slaughtered almost all the kings of Li and Tang in the sixteen kings' house, when the white horse disaster happened, he directly came to exterminate the grass and roots.

But those are all the blood of Li Tang's clan. Li Tang originated from Longyou, and during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, he was a noble family.

These Li family members gathered in Chang'an City are mostly descendants of the branch royal families who were entrusted by Li Tang in the past.

These people lost their aura after the fall of the Tang Dynasty. With the wars in various places, it was difficult to survive. Finally, relying on the relief of merchants or clansmen, they gradually gathered in Chang'an.

Although many surnames are Wang, Hu, and Tang, but if everyone traces back to their ancestors, they are indeed Li and Tang.

"Emperor Taizong Wen please send down the heavenly soldiers! Save us!!"

"Ancestor! Open your eyes!"

The cry of Danfeng's disciples was loud, and the worshipers were like waves. It's just a pity that there are too few of these Li and Tang remnants who can fight with swords and guns like their ancestors.

Just like that distant dynasty, their heroic aura has long since disappeared.

However, at this moment, a gust of wind blew up, blowing up the dust between the sky and the earth, and a few dark clouds pressed down, covering the red sun in the sky, and there was a faint thunder coming from the sky.

Li Shouling let out a miserable cry, wanting to go over to protect the memorial tablet and the sacrificial sacrifices, melons and fruits.

But how can a person be faster than a strong wind? In an instant, the strong wind that was wrapped in dust overturned all the tablets of the Lord God, sacrifices, and melons placed on the table to the ground, and a few drops of drizzle floated on the faces of everyone along with the strong wind. superior.

"But the breath is gone? Hahaha! It's already gone! The ancestors don't protect the descendants anymore!" Li Shouling was disheveled in the wind and rain, looking like a madman.

Everyone also looked at the completely overturned sacrificial tablet, dumbfounded, and their hearts were ashamed.

They came to sacrifice today because they felt that their lives were not long, and they were upright for 30 years. They came to ask for a final comfort in their hearts. Unexpectedly, God would not even let them complete this.

"Shouweng! Shouweng! Great joy! Great joy!" At this moment, a yellow horse came galloping from a distance.

Li Shouling raised his eyes and saw a young man named Guo Zhao. His uncle was Guo Zaihui, the Honglu Shaoqing in the Mingzong period of the later Tang Dynasty, and the fifth grandson of Guo Ziyi, the king of Fenyang.

Guo Linggong's granddaughter, married Tang Xianzong Li Chun, and gave birth to Tang Muzong Li Heng, who was Empress Yi'an.

Empress Yi'an went through the five dynasties of Tang Muzong, Jingzong, Wenzong, Wuzong, and Xuanzong.

"Great joy? Why is there any joy? The tablets of the God Lord were overturned by the strong wind. We are exhausted, so why are there any joy?" Li Shouling looked sad, and after sobbing a few times, he looked at Guo Zhao and cried loudly.

"Of course there is joy! It's a great joy!" Guo Zhao didn't seem to see Li Shouling's miserable appearance and the mess on the ground. He grabbed Li Shouling's shoulder and shook it for a while.

"Shounen, the rebellious army at the West Wei Bridge has retreated, and a team guarding the Anyuan Gate is saying that more than ten Xiaoqi rode into the Anyuan Gate last night with the Sanchen Banner.

On the gate of his letter, he claimed to be a survivor of the Tang Dynasty, and he returned to the rebel army Jiedu envoy Zhang, who led ten thousand horses to the king of Jingqin, told us to guard the city tightly, and they would defeat the rebels.

Sure enough, just now I got a report from scouts outside the city that tens of thousands of thieves broke out from the West Wei Bridge and went west! "

Sanchen flag?A survivor of the Tang Dynasty?Enter Jingqin King?Li Shouling was stunned by these three news.

If you talk about entering Jingqin King, with the current name of Chang'an Jingzhao Mansion, it can barely be justified, but the news of Sanchen Banner and Datang survivors is very puzzling.

"The Guiyi Army Jiedu envoy Zhang's family? Didn't it mean that the Zhang family has long since fallen into the dust? It has been 50 years since the fall of Hexi? How did the Guiyi Army come to Guanzhong?" Li Shouling muttered to himself, puzzled untie.

Suddenly, Guo Zhao pointed to the distance and shouted again: "Huh? Whose emperor's tablet is that? Why do you have to sit on a hill?"

Everyone followed Guo Zhao's fingers and looked up. The Daming Palace was built on the Longshou Plain. After it was abandoned, many hills covered with earth were left everywhere. At this time, on the hill closest to them, there was indeed a tablet of the Lord God. Sitting on the top of the hill, it seems that it has been deliberately placed.

Li Shouling remembered his cry just now, raised his legs, and ran over like the wind under his feet. When he got close, he squinted his old and dim eyes before he could see clearly, Guo Zhao yelled again.

"Isn't this the tablet of Emperor Taizong Wen? Who put it on this hill?"

Hearing this, Li Shouling felt numb all over his body and became a little stiff. He turned his neck with difficulty and looked at the dozen or so elders who were about his age behind him. The shock in everyone's eyes was comparable to seeing a god and Buddha descending to earth.

Plop!Almost at the same time as Li Shouling, the old man knelt down crookedly, with tears streaming down his face.

"Unfilial sons and grandchildren, thank Emperor Taizong Wen for saving his life, the heavenly soldiers have arrived! We will have no worries!"

Guo Zhao, who had just figured out what was going on, was also dumbfounded, and then slowly knelt down with everyone.

After the prostration, earth-shattering cheers came, and everyone was celebrating their narrow escape. Immediately after, Emperor Taizong Wen manifested his sanctity and summoned heavenly soldiers to rescue Chang'an with the wind and rain, and the dragon spread throughout the city.

After a while, rumors began to spread in the city again that the ones who frightened away the bandits were the descendants of Zhang Taibao in the past, so another old man led the crowd to find the ruins of the mansion of Zhang Yichao, the founding governor of Nanyang, who was given the title of Jiedu Envoy to the Rebel Army. , Burning incense and prostrating outside.

. . . .

Outside Mapaoquan Village, the sounds of people and horseshoes seemed to come from the sky, and countless flags, large and small, appeared chaotically in this vast plain.

At the same time, the rebel cavalry in Mapaoquan Village also began to send out a small group of elites, desperately protruding from the village, trying to get close to the approaching army.

After being silent for a long time, the fierce cavalry chase began again in the distance between the bandit army's main formation and Ma Paoquan Village.

Bai Congxin led hundreds of cavalry to gallop back and forth around the formation of the rebels. Although these rebels looked like a mess, they were extremely organized.

This army of more than ten thousand is like a slowly crawling tortoise. The inner army formation is complete, like spots on the tortoise shell. The formation is surrounded by elite crossbowmen holding crossbows.

Whenever Bai Congxin and others approached, the crossbowmen quickly formed formations to intimidate them. At the same time, a small group of knights, who seemed to be composed of elite personal guards from various generals, came out of the large formation to assist the crossbowmen.

During these ten miles or so, Bai Congxin tried more than ten times, and even found a loophole to break into the weak point of the formation a few times, but he was quickly forced back by the combination of the crossbowman and a small number of elite cavalry.

Du Lun Chixin, who was beside Bai Congxin, spat fiercely, "For his old lady, there are small hills and villages to guard on all sides, and there is no shortage of water sources. The thieves are full of bows and crossbows, like a vicious turtle." , It's really not easy to bite him!"

"The distance is still too short, but it's only a dozen miles away. Some of them wear armor and walk slowly to guard, and only a small amount of cavalry can guarantee safety. Unless I wait and don't count casualties, it is absolutely difficult to rush in." Zorbu Jiashi was also nearby. said the interface.

Bai Congxin was very calm, pointing with his whip at the army formation where command flags were constantly being waved and messengers were galloping.

"There are over [-] troops here, and they are the elites of Jingyuan Jiedu Envoy Zhangyi's Army and Binning Jiedu Envoy's Jingnan Army, how could they be taken by us casually.

Let the sons of all the capitals keep harassing and don't let the enemy have a chance to breathe. Sikong should be here soon. "

He Chuan's face was gloomy, and he knew something was wrong before he reached Mapaoquan Village, either Sun Xiaoguo's investigation was wrong, or Sun Xiaoguo tricked him.

The cavalry that harassed the army along the way came and went like the wind, swift and sturdy, and there were quite a few of them. How could it be possible that there were only two thousand cavalry?
There are at least four thousand riders, so in this way, the Hexi Army probably has more than 8000 people.

However, He Chuan thinks that Sun Xiaoguo is right in saying one thing, that is, killing the Hexi Guiyi Army who has repeatedly ruined their good deeds will deter Huazhou's Zhenguo Army and Qinzhou's Xiongwu Army, making them dare not come.

It can also frighten the courage of the Jinchang army in Chang'an City, so that they dare not resist stubbornly.

This is the reason why He Chuan persuaded the people below to give up Chang'an City, which is close at hand, and set out to fight the Hexi people to the death.

"I set up a stronghold here, and ordered General Zhao Zhen of the Jingnan Army to lead five hundred elite crossbowmen to respond, suppress the cavalry of the Hexi Army, cover General Sun Zhen in Ma Paoquan, divide the army into five squads, and take turns to rest. Pay attention to the roar of the enemy cavalry, rest assured to repair!"

Following the order after order, He Chuan's [-]-odd bandit army and the thousands of young men they engulfed came down to the village on the hillside three miles away from Mapaoquan.

There are several small streams under this hillside, which can temporarily relieve the army from worrying about water shortages. They are close to the cavalry at Mapaoquan, and they can support each other. They can even help the cavalry at Mapaoquan reduce their pressure.

As soon as He Chuan left the village, the cavalry of Sun Xiaoguo's troops in the Ma Pao Spring immediately became active, and with the support of crossbowmen, the two sides soon established contact within the short three-mile distance.

Bai Congxin quickly changed from harassing the enemy's formation to trying to cut off the connection between the bandit cavalry and the main formation. The two sides circled around this horse ranquan village, and the fight became more intense.

Just an hour after He Chuan left the battle, from the north of Mapaoquan Village, Kukuku's footsteps also sounded.

The cavalry of the Hexi Army who were still fighting outside Mapaoquan Village began to slowly leave the battle when they heard the sound.

At this time, it was the beginning of Shen Shi, and the sun began to slowly set to the west. The first thing that appeared in front of the eyes of the rebellious army was the flags that kept appearing from behind the hills in the north.

There are five red, yellow, white and black command flags indicating the direction, and the recognition flags of the generals, followed by the Sanchen flag of the Tang Dynasty, and the Dazhu and Yamen flags of the Jiedushi of the Guiyi Army, and the commander-in-chief of the Zhang character. Recognize the flag.

With the appearance of the recognition flag, countless black soldiers appeared with neat steps. On both sides were armors wearing red strings and black lacquer leaves. In the middle was a kind of strange armor that He Chuan had never seen before. .

Regardless of the cavalry and infantry, they advanced and retreated as one, as directed by the arms. Except for the occasional livestock calls and orderly footsteps, there was only the sound of drums coordinating the formation.

They poured in from the north overwhelmingly, and a dull sense of wia made He Chuan's soldiers feel a little short of breath.

The soldiers felt a little stressed, but He Chuan's brows relaxed a little. Although the enemy army looked elite, their numbers were not as large as Sun Xiaoguo said.

There were not [-] infantry troops. Looking at the formation, there should be only about [-], far less than [-]. Although there were many cavalry, there were no armored cavalry in sight.

The Defense Envoy of Wu also rode over at this moment, "Military envoy, these Hexi troops plus the cavalry who entangled us earlier should have a total of only [-] men, and among them there may not be thousands of party cavalry, they are not considered elite.

Their main force should only be about 5000 people, but there are many mules and horses. Our army is good for defense, so don't rush to attack! "

"There were a lot of armored people in that generation, but they were inexperienced. At this time, they are all wearing armor. The sun is very poisonous and the heat is steaming. After an hour, they will be exhausted.

I just need to be as steady as a rock, if someone comes, shoot him with a bow and crossbow, and when he is exhausted, he can be broken with a drum! "

He Chuan nodded in agreement. The more he looked at it, the more he felt that he had a great chance of winning. This Hexi Army's Jieshuai turned out to be a young man. He was put on armor so early, and the heat was so hot. How can he fight?

It seems that I was too careful and regarded the Hexi Guiyi Army as a personal figure.

hum!After killing them, at least thousands of good horses can be obtained, and then the elite horse troops of the Hexi Army will be recruited with Chang'an wealth. !

The more He Chuan thought about it, the more complacent he became, but there were a few strange calls of camels in the distance, for some reason, it always made He Chuan feel a little uncomfortable.

Zhang Zhao was also observing He Chuan. He rode his horse up to look carefully for a while, and saw that He Chuan set up the camp very well, and commanded it well. Although there were many people, he did not take the initiative to attack. It was obvious that he belonged to the volunteer army. It's too early to put on armor here.

He is calm, and even has the posture of a famous general. Perhaps only Yan Jin can compare with him.

However, a sneer flashed across Zhang Zhao's face, it's a pity he met himself!

"Who can call the battle, let's see how calm this congratulatory envoy is!"

Zhang Zhao rode his horse back to the commanding position, and shouted at the group of brave generals behind him.

"Sikong! This is called a battle, let the future do it!" Murong Xinchang was eager to go out, but Qiong Re Duojin on Zhang Zhao's left couldn't help it.

Zhang Zhao waved his hand, and the brave general of Tubo left.

Originally, Zhang Zhao's swearing was done by Ma Yaozi. He was eloquent and swearing, no one could compare to him. Unfortunately, after Ma Yaozi became the commander of the first battalion, he no longer liked to do it.

Only Qiongre Duojin is still keen on this. He assisted Liu Zaisheng in Yuanzhou to stabilize the situation in Yuanzhou.

At this time, the distance between the two armies was more than one mile. Qiong Re Duojin held a spear and hung Hu Lu on his side, and rode his horse towards the formation. The soldiers of the Guiyi Army roared to cheer for him.

He Chuan glanced at Qiong Re Duojin who was coming across and sneered.

"Tell all the generals not to fight, I want to see, if they put on their armor and don't hurry up, what kind of generals are they playing here, and what tricks can they play?"

. . . .

"Hexi Heavenly Soldiers have arrived, among you farm slaves, is there anyone who dares to go out to fight against a certain one?" Qiong Re Duojin lazily rode his horse to more than [-] paces, and shouted loudly.

"Hmph!" He Chuan snorted coldly, without any disturbance in his heart, that's it?Is this considered a formation?If you talk dry, he will never send people out.

Seeing that no one was moving, Qiong Re Duojin took another [-] steps forward, picked up a colorful woman's clothes with a spear into the air, and then flung it to the front of the chaos army.

"Since no one dares to fight, then you must be lacking an item in your crotch, so you may prefer this colorful dress, and you are willing to be female.

Why don't you come out and put it on and dance to a song for you, or save you from death?Who is He Chuan?Come out and try on this dress, does it fit? "

Many vicious-looking people in the rebellious army blushed. The soldiers roared and shouted loudly, their eyes seemed to be able to kill people. Anger also appeared on He Chuan's face. He swallowed hard and shouted angrily. .

"Stick to the formation, no one is allowed to fight!"

Interesting, Qiong Re Duojin touched his chin, so he couldn't bear it, he shook his heart, rode his horse and walked forward another fifty or sixty steps.

Already only more than three hundred steps away from the enemy's formation, if there is a sharpshooter holding a strong bow at this distance, it only takes a few dozen steps to shoot him.

Qiong Re Duojin, who had reached the enemy's position for more than three hundred paces, dismounted without saying a word, put the spear in his hand on the ground, and then untied Hu Lu, then the saber, and then the barrier knife.

In the end, he actually started to take off his pocket and armor, and the whole person began to disarm directly in front of more than ten thousand enemy troops.

Soon under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qiong Re Duojin took off only his casual clothes, and there was no weapon in his hand.

The scolding in the rebellious army erupted like a mountain roar and a tsunami. Even though He Chuan was so calm, his eyes spewed fire from anger.

He dared to dismount at three hundred paces, not to mention dismounting, but also dared to remove his armor. He almost regarded his more than ten thousand athletes as chickens and dogs.

"Military envoy, please let the last general go to battle!"

"Military envoy, the final general swears to kill this prisoner!"

Several brave generals threw themselves in front of He Chuan and asked to fight. He Chuan clenched his teeth and was about to refuse, when suddenly, the curse became louder.

He Chuan stared at it, and was suddenly trembling with anger. It turned out that Qiong Re Duojin spread his legs and opened the gate to release water at the rebels.

"Kill this prisoner quickly!" He Chuanji pointed at Qiong Re Duojin and shouted loudly.

A tall general who couldn't hold back for a long time immediately got on his horse and galloped out of the formation!
Horse hooves burst, Qiong Re Duojin backed abruptly, not even ignoring that his pants were wet with urine, the opposite came very quickly, more than [-] steps arrived in a blink of an eye, leaving him little time.

The cavalrymen of the rebellious army were so aggressive that they took out an arrow from Hu Lu, and within sixty steps, they were about to kill Qiongre Duojin with one arrow.

'Boom! 'The sound of the bowstring vibrating sounded, and the cavalry generals of the rebellious army were taken aback, but when they thought that they were still far away, they felt relieved a lot.

But then, a strong force came from the parapet, and the cavalier only felt a pain in his chest, as if someone had punched him from the air, and then his eyes went black, and he fell off the horse.

Qiong Re Duojin smiled triumphantly, it turned out that what he was holding was not an ordinary bow and arrow, but a divine arm bow!

"What a cunning thief!" Seeing that Qiongre Duojin hid a strong crossbow, two cavalry generals appeared in the chaos again. The crossbow is wound very slowly, and you can't kill two people at three hundred paces. .

But the two of them guessed wrong again, the divine arm bow was wound much faster than the ordinary crossbow, and when a cavalry general was more than a hundred paces away, Qiong Re Duojin shot an arrow, and the enemy general fell down with the arrow in the forehead.

His comrade fell down, but the other cavalry general was overjoyed, clamped his legs, and urged the horse to run faster. He wanted to shoot him while Qiong Re Duojin was stringing the crossbow.

However, only a few breaths later, Qiongre Duojin raised the strange crossbow again, and the cavalier screamed, and wanted to circle around to avoid it when he pulled out his horse, but it was too late, Qiongre Duojin roared and shot an arrow. Kill him.

Losing three cavalry generals in a row, the rebellious army's face suddenly became uneasy, and more than ten cavalry jumped out without waiting for He Chuan's order!

On the side of the Guiyi Army, there was thunderous cheers, Murong Nobunaga, Li Cunhui, Wen Chongle, Wang Tongtong and more than a dozen generals also rode out.

Qiong Re Duojin only took the bow of the god arm, and didn't care about the rest. With the sound of the arrows piercing the air, he rushed back desperately.

The drums were beating, and when the twenty or so generals in the formation were fighting each other, the infantry on both sides clamored, and the heavy armored infantry of the Guiyi Army even began to move forward.

"Mingjin! Tell them to retreat, the crossbowmen are ready, let the enemy attack!"

The anger on He Chuan's face faded, and he shouted loudly, they had more bows and crossbows than the Guiyi Army, and the right way is to use bows and crossbows to defend first.

Zhang Zhao smiled, and behind him, eighty whirlwind cannons had been assembled on the back of the camel.

He was afraid of He Chuan's strong attack just now, which made it too late for him to assemble his whirlwind cannon. After all, there were many bows and crossbows in the rebellious army, so he asked Qiong Re Duojin to call for an array to delay the time, and also gave the opponent the illusion that he was eager to attack.

Now that his whirlwind cannon has been set up, it is inconvenient to move the crossbow array on the opposite side. As long as the most threatening crossbowmen are smashed to pieces first, the victory will be considered great.

(End of this chapter)