Defend the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 92

The Eagle's Mouth Cliff is so high that it looks like a goshawk's beak when viewed from a distance.

It is said that as early as the Han Dynasty, it was the capital of a small country, with more than 1000 households, 5000 people, and more than 800 soldiers.At that time, the big Han also set up the Dufu Mansion in the Western Regions. The Duhu led [-] troops to besiege it for a month and failed to capture it, which shows how dangerous the terrain is.

Later, because the oasis at the foot of the mountain turned into a desert, this small country also disappeared.

The old city was gone long ago, but the terrain was still dangerous. Tubo attacked once the day before yesterday and twice yesterday, and only used a hundred crossbowmen, a hundred archers and a hundred Mo Daomen to defend it.

Surrounded by Anu Shi, Yuan Jingang and other leaders of the Jimi tribe, as well as Bai Zuojian, who transported food and grass a few days in advance, Wang Qingxiang stood on the top of the hill overlooking the Tubo army below, and said with a smile: "The terrain is so high and the road is so narrow. They didn't bring siege engines, even if they brought siege equipment, they couldn't attack."

There is enough food and grass for more than 2000 soldiers and more than 4000 horses on the mountain for two months, and there is even a lot of coal brought from Baisha City to make a fire for heating.

And it was mid-winter, and there was thick snow on the mountain, so there was no need to worry about running out of water.

Master Anu didn't expect that the battle could be fought like this, so he couldn't help asking: "General, do you think Maza Dunzhu will withdraw his troops?"

Before Wang Qingxiang could speak, Yuan Jingang laughed and said, "He dare not. Since he is here, he can only starve and freeze at the foot of the mountain."

"Why didn't he dare?"

"Because we're here."

Yuan Jingang pointed to the densely packed tents at the foot of the mountain, and said happily: "If he dares to leave, we dare to chase and kill him. Although we only have more than 2000 soldiers, as long as we seize the opportunity, we can also destroy his five or six thousand soldiers." Rush away!"

The people from the Jimi tribe are all warriors who are good at riding and fighting, and the town army is also all elite.

Sweeping the Qiang tribe a few days ago has yielded a lot of rewards. The morale was already high, but now they are waiting for work. If Maza Tata's third son Maza Dunzhu has many soldiers, he may not be able to withstand it. live.

But Wang Qingxiang never fought uncertain battles, and didn't want to take that risk. He looked to the southeast and smiled and said: "Their food and grass are still enough for ten days, and now they are just freezing, not starving. They are not in a hurry, we are more Do not worry."

"That's right. We'll go down and kill them when they're too hungry to swing their knives."

"Bai Zongzheng, you Sogdian merchants should take the lead in fighting the battle so smoothly!"

"The general loves me, but my subordinates are terrified."

"There's no need to panic. This is what the general is saying. If it weren't for your all-out help, how could so many people's food and wages have been transferred? What's more, you are not only transferring, but also helping to raise money."

This time the Sogdian merchant group really helped a lot, organizing dozens of caravans to help transport grain and wounded soldiers.

More importantly, Yele Town could not afford to fight this battle. As soon as Wang Qingxiang and Han Shimei opened their mouths at that time, Bai Zuojian and Ashina Shan went back to call Sogdian merchants who had money to contribute money, grain to produce, and strength to contribute , as much as more than 300 million yuan in silver.

Thinking of this, Master Anu couldn't help cupping his hands and said: "Bai Zongzheng doesn't need to be humble, if it weren't for your help, we would be the ones who are starving and freezing."

"The governor is over-reputed, these are what I should do."

Bai Zuojian bowed in return, thinking that this bet had to be suppressed, and only by going all out to help Yele Town and Baisha Shouzhuo City win this battle, so that Yele's Sogdian merchants could survive the catastrophe in the future.

Besides, those money and food were lent to Yele Town. As long as they can win the Mazha Department, how much they borrow now can be doubled in the future.

Yele was too far away from Chang'an, and the leaders of the Jimi tribe, such as Anushi, didn't know that Anleshan was about to rebel.

Not only did Wang Qingxiang know that Anleshan might rebel, but he also knew that Bai Zuojian and other Sogdian merchants had to take practical actions to show that they were on the side of the imperial court. Just as he was about to change the subject, a soldier suddenly shouted: "General, there is smoke in the west!"

"Where?"

"there!"

When everyone looked back, they saw three or four miles to the southwest, and sure enough, three puffs of wolf smoke were rising slowly.

To the west of Yingzui Cliff is a precipitous cliff, which Tubo cannot climb up at all.

Anu Shi couldn't figure it out, frowned tightly and said, "What the hell is Maza Dunzhu doing? What are you doing to light a beacon in the west?"

Wang Qingxiang regained his composure, and murmured: "It wasn't the smoke from Maza Dunzhu, it was Han Sanlang who sent people to release it."

"Han Saburo?"

"Ah."

"He brought reinforcements here, and he intends to let us cooperate with them?"

"No."

"Then what does he want to do?"

According to the prior agreement, if three piles of wolf smoke are released in the southwest direction at the same time, it means that he is going to "change homes" with the old bastard Mazha.

The matter is of great importance and must not be leaked out.

Wang Qingxiang was both excited and worried. He was silent for a moment, and said lightly: "The Art of War does not defend a city without help. He is telling us that they are nearby, so we don't have to worry about being alone and helpless."

Master Anu subconsciously asked: "But in this way, won't their whereabouts be exposed? We can see the smoke of the wolf, and Maza Dunzhu can also see it!"

"So he cast it in the west, Wangshan ran dead horses, and when Maza Dunzhu's people chased him, they would have gone far away."

"That little lunatic is pretty smart."

Not only smart, but smart and crazy.

Wang Qingxiang sighed secretly and said nothing more.

……

At the same time, after [-] days of trekking, Mazha Tata personally led the army to the river bank between Yele City and Jun City like an overwhelming mountain.

It is about 760 miles from Kela Pass to here. If you travel day and night, you can get there in at most ten days.

The reason why it took fourteen days was because of food and grass.

He had attacked Yele City with his father when he was 15 years old, and even led his troops to attack Yele City as a forward at the age of 31. He was very familiar with the oases hundreds of miles around Yele City.

I thought that after entering Yandu, I would be able to find food and grass in the oases, valleys, and villages where the Yele people gathered, but I found that those oases, valleys, and villages had almost turned into a piece of scorched earth, and there were not even a few piles of cow dung for fire. .

He didn't believe that Wang Qingxiang and Han Shimei could drive tens of thousands of people away. They just searched oasis one oasis until they found the edge of the Chi River, and then went west along the Chi River.

In the end, nothing was gained, but four days were wasted, and four days of food and grass were wasted in vain.

"There are soldiers in the military city!"

"There is no one in Yele City, and everyone in Yele City has been driven away!"

"Is there any food?"

"No, nothing."

Maza Tata thought that all the people from Yele's tribe were hiding in Yele City, and they were all ready for a strong attack, but they never expected that Yele City had also become an empty city.

The grain and grass can only last for seven or eight days, otherwise the horse will be killed.

Not daring to delay for a moment, he ordered two centurions to lead 8000 slaves to garrison the city, and a centurion to lead [-] slaves to collect grain and grass from the villages in the north and west of the city.Let the eldest son lead [-] slaves to take a detour to attack the south gate of the army city, while he personally led the remaining more than [-] soldiers to go straight to the north gate of the army city.

Although the terrain of Juncheng is not as dangerous as Yingzui Cliff, it is not so easy to attack.

Han Shimei has not been idle in the past few days. He called more than 1000 soldiers of the town army and more than 2000 young men of various ethnic groups who stayed in the army city to fetch water from the Chihe River, and poured it on the city wall, the city gate, and the gentle slope from the river beach to the north gate.

After pouring for several days in a row, one layer after another was frozen, and it could not be broken with a hammer.

Not only is it very strong, but it is also very slippery.

Don't talk about charging upwards on horseback, you can't even stand still.

Seeing the hundreds of Tubo slaves rushing up the first group, they fell down one after another as soon as they went uphill. The slaves who managed to rush up a dozen steps slipped and fell down again. Suddenly burst into laughter.

The head of Juncheng asked eagerly: "Shiyu, do you want to let go of the arrow?"

Han Shimei looked down at Mazhata Pagoda who was rushing downhill surrounded by a group of warriors, and said flatly, "Don't worry."

"promise!"

As soon as the tall regiment leader retreated, he saw a Tubo warrior get off his horse and ordered those slaves who wanted to charge up but didn't charge up to stop attacking, and then he climbed up with difficulty all the way to the gate of the city.

When the two armies are at war, they will not be beheaded.

Han Shimei signaled the archers and crossbowmen not to shoot, got up and walked to the top of the wall, looked down at the Tubo warrior and asked, "So it's Basang, what are you doing here?"

"Han Shimei, if you are not stationed in Baisha City, you Baisha Shouzhuo, why did you come here?"

"You are well-informed about the news. You actually know about my new official position."

"I also know that there are not many soldiers in the city."

"Really?" Han Shimei asked with a smile.

Over the years, Basang has often traveled to Yele City on behalf of Mazatata, and even watched the parade in Yele Town several times.

Not wanting to waste his time, he roared at the wall: "Your emperor is willing to make friends with me, Tubo, not only to make a treaty with me, but also to send the princess to make peace with me, Tubo Zanpu. How dare you and Wang Qingxiang start a war? Don't be afraid of your emperor's crimes if you massacre my twenty or so tribes while I'm not prepared!"

"Basang, it seems that you started the war first."

"Han Shimei, don't use your tongue to turn black and white."

"You know exactly who started the war first. Mazha Tata has already been killed in my city. It's useless to talk more. If you want to attack, attack it. Han will accompany you!"

"Han Shimei, you can't keep it."

"I want to try."

"Thousand households have an order, go out of the city before dark and kneel down, and wait around for your life."

"Gouzi once said that my life is up to me, and Han doesn't need you to spare his life."

"Then wait for the massacre."

"Okay, I want to see if you have the ability."

Basang turned his head and walked away, but his foot slipped and rolled from the gate of the city to the river beach, causing another burst of laughter.Mazha Tata became furious, waved his big hand, and the war drum thumped.

Sure enough, Tubo didn't treat slaves as human beings. Those slaves who failed to attack the first time were lying on the bone-chilling ice under the scolding of several warriors.

They actually used people to pave the floor!

The people in the back stepped on the people in front and climbed up, and they took dozens of steps up in the blink of an eye.

Head Zhang realized that it was impossible to go on like this, and was about to order to release the arrows, when Han Shimei grabbed him and said, "Even if they didn't freeze to death, they would be trampled to death soon, so there is no need to waste the arrows on them."

"But if they charge up..."

"Isn't there a city wall, just defend the city."

(End of this chapter)