A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1176: Soldiers Besiege Suiye
In the wind and snow,

Wu Huaiyu's beard was covered with ice and his face was frozen stiff. They chased after Asijie Quejijin and his entourage in the snow.
Chasing closely,

The Tang army chased Que Jijin and his entourage like rabbits. On the way, Que Jijin and his entourage stayed in the winter dens of several Asiji herdsmen. As soon as they arrived, the Tang army would chase them.

They had no choice but to hastily replenish their supplies, pick up some strong men and continue their escape.

The Tang army followed their footsteps and swept through many winter dens along the way. The peace of the winter dens was broken, and these herdsmen became captives. Their cattle and sheep became trophies, which were directly slaughtered and divided into meat to provide supplies for the Tang army.

"Report,"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, the front is Jiedan Mountain, forty miles south of Jiedan Mountain is the Suiye River, and on the north bank of the river is the Suiye City."

Jiedan Mountain, a sacred mountain of the Turks, is said to be the residence of Tengri, the god revered by the Turks. The Turks swore an oath on Jiedan Mountain, and the succession ceremony of the ten Khans of the Western Turkic Khaganate was also held on this sacred mountain.

Forty miles south of the mountain is the Suiye River. On the north bank of the river there is a city with a circumference of six or seven miles, where merchants from various countries live together.

It was also the city where the Asikyi Nisu tribe's Shijin was stationed.
This is an important transportation route from the Western Regions to the west of the Pamir Mountains and to the Central Asian region. It is also the traditional dividing line between the left and right wings of the Western Turkic Khanate.

The location here is very important.
Not only was Ni Shujijin's tent located here, but it was also a very prosperous hub on the Silk Road.

Like Gaochang City in the eastern Tianshan Mountains, this place has a prosperous industry and commerce and is an important commodity distribution center in the northern Tianshan Mountains.

At this time, Que Jijin fled all the way to Suiye City.

Suiye City, also known as Suye City, is named after Suiye River.

This river was called Sai River before the Han Dynasty. After the Western Han Dynasty drove the Huns out of the area west of the Tianshan Mountains to the Syr Darya River, they built a city here and garrisoned there. The city was named Chu, and the Sai River was renamed Chu River.

It was named Chu because most of the soldiers stationed there at that time were from Chu.

How many years have passed,

Now the army from the Central Plains has come here again. The former Chu River and Chu City are now called Suiye River and Suiye City.

"Among our Anxi soldiers, there should be people from Jingchu as well."

Nearly seven hundred years later, the Chu people came again, but the Chu city they once built was no longer there, and the Chu River they named after was also renamed.

"Que Shijin has just fled to Suiye City, and Ni Shushijin has not had time to gather troops. Tell the brothers to make more efforts to surround Suiye and don't let Que Shijin and Ni Shushijin escape.

If we take over Suiye City, we can have a hot meal in the city tonight and have a good sleep!"

This road of pursuit,
Wu Huaiyu was also very tired. It was freezing cold, with snow and wind blowing. He rode a horse all the way in pursuit, almost non-stop. Although he was still young and had very warm furs on his body, he was still so cold that his ears were almost falling off.

Along the way, we mostly ate dried meat and milk, and drank ice water when we were thirsty.

Everyone is almost at their limit.

The enemy is just dozens of miles away.
They took the cold armor off the packhorses, helped each other put it on, and put the frozen bowstrings in their arms to warm them.
Everyone was chewing dried meat and milk.

Making preparations for war,
The sky is gloomy.
The soldiers became excited. The city of Suiye was in sight, which meant that they were finally going to end this somewhat painful journey.

They were confident that the Suiye City, which was seven miles away, could not stop them.

They have full confidence in Wu Xin.

In Suiye City,

Ni Shushijin met Queshijin,

Que Jijin and his group of more than a thousand people fled into Suiye City in a very miserable state.

Ni Shujijin looked at the group of people in shock. Quejijin was nicknamed Snow Leopard. He followed his father and brothers to the battlefield when he was a teenager. When he was young, he made a name for himself as a brave and unparalleled warrior.

He is only in his fifties now, and when they parted some time ago, his back was still straight.

But it's been such a short time since I last saw him, and he's in such a mess.
Like a lost dog,

"Hot soup,"

When Que Jijin met him, he said that he had been running all the way and was in such a mess. He was tired and hungry. His face was bruised by the wind, his lips were chapped, and he had ulcers in his mouth.

My throat is dry and my stomach is rumbling.
As he was speaking, his horse's front hooves suddenly gave way and it fell to the ground. Although Que Jijin quickly removed the stirrups and jumped off the horse to avoid being crushed under the horse, he still fell in the snow in a very embarrassing manner.
Ni Shushijin quickly helped Queshijin up.
At this moment, he had a thousand words to ask his cousin Que Jijin how did things become like this.

"Let's go into the mansion first."

The Nisu tribe occupied the city of Suiye, so he spent the winter in the city. He also had his own Dajijin Mansion in the city, which made it quite comfortable in winter.

Que Shijin and Duman Teqin, father and son, warmed themselves by a fire in Dashijin's house and drank hot mutton soup, and they finally recovered.

This body that was almost frozen stiff is finally mine again.

The two of them took off their clothes and armor that were almost frozen to their bodies, and put on warm, comfortable and clean fur coats and fur robes.
"What happened?"

Ni Shushijin couldn't help but ask.

After changing into comfortable clothes, Que Jijin didn't care about the dirt on his face or the pain from his ulcer. He drank another bowl of mutton soup.

This mutton soup cooked with pepper makes you feel warm when you drink it.

After drinking another bowl of soup, Que Jijin picked up a piece of mutton with bones in the head and started talking while chewing it.

"That damned Han slave Wu Huaiyu accepted our gifts of gold and silver, but turned around and showed no loyalty. He personally led a large army to follow the envoys I sent to deliver gifts and then killed them."

I spent the winter in the winter pasture, completely defenseless.

If I hadn't been out hunting at the time, I would have been blocked by Wu Huaiyu in my winter den. They chased me all the way while I was running away."

Although Ni Shushijin had expected this, he was still shocked when he heard the result.

"Wu Huaiyu personally led the troops?"

"Yes, I saw his banner,"

"How many troops are there?"

"At least 20,000. The Tang army is estimated to have 18,000. The rest are from Huluwu, Mukun, Yuechu, Mishe, Sheti, Tuqishi, Gongyue, etc. Damn these guys!" Que Jijin bit the mutton fiercely, as if he was gnawing at Wu Huaiyu's flesh and blood.

"How far is the Han army from here? How many days does it take?"

Duman Teqin threw the bone he had just gnawed on the ground and said, "How many days? At most half an hour, their vanguard should be at the foot of Suiye City."

Ni Shu looked at Que Shijin, hoping to hear different news from him.

Que Jijin just nodded and continued to gnaw on the mutton. This snow leopard, which was once famous in the Western Regions, no longer looked as majestic as before.

Ni Shu swallowed his throat.
"How far is Wu Huaiyu's main force from here?"

However, Duman shattered his luck with ruthless words, "An hour at most."

Que Jijin drank two bowls of mutton soup and ate several large pieces of mutton. Finally, he felt less empty. He poured himself another bowl of milk tea and said as he drank, "Hurry up and send people to the various winter dens to gather troops. A fierce battle is inevitable."

Duman Teqin was still chewing meat in his mouth. "Yes, quickly gather people, gather all those who can fight, and let them come to support Suiye City.
We must rely on Suiye City for defense. I don't believe that if we defend the city and have a constant supply of reinforcements and it's cold and snowy, no matter how capable Wu Huaiyu is, he's not a god!"

You cursed in your heart,

Why couldn't the father and son send someone to inform him in advance so that he could be prepared? Now they had just entered Suiye City, but Wu Huaiyu's army also arrived, and he was completely unprepared.

But after confirming these fatal information, Ni Shushijin didn't bother to say anything else and hurried to make deployments.

Send people to close the gates of Suiye.

Additional soldiers were sent to the city for defense, and several messenger cavalry teams were urgently dispatched out of the city to send orders to various troops to come to the rescue.
While we are still hastily preparing here,

On the white snow outside the city,
A hint of red appeared.
Then there is a black line.

red flag,

Black cavalry,
"Tang Qi!"

The warriors of Ashkelon shouted in panic.

The black line in the distance became thicker and thicker, and gradually became a black tide that seemed to fill the entire sky.

Tang riders, lots of Tang riders,
The Tang army really came, and it came faster than expected.

It really arrived right after Que Shijin and the others.

A centurion from Asikkel blew his horn.

The blaring horn wailed in the wind,
Ni Shujijin, who was making arrangements in the city, heard the ox horn, bit his cheek, and hurried to the top of the city.

When he reached the city wall,

We have seen that the Tang army is dividing its forces to surround Suiye City from all sides.

Outside the north gate of Suiye City, six large banners stood in the army, and there were many other flags around them. Ni Shushijin also saw the word "Wu".

In addition to the six most prominent flags,

The Tang army had all kinds of flags like clouds,
The red military flag, the five-color five-sided flag,
There are five team flags with paintings of various birds and beasts.

The generals' flags were embroidered with their surnames.
Battalions, regiments, brigades, and teams also have their own flags.
There are also command flags,

This whole set of strict flags, various colors, various birds and beasts, and various surnames,

There are also flags with official titles and errands inscribed on them.
The flags are like clouds and there are thousands of cavalrymen.

"Situ Tongzhongshumenxia Pingzhangshi Anxi Grand Protector and Liangzhou Governor Shangzhuguowu!"

"Martial"

Ni Shushijin was very familiar with the word "Wu". He had been to Gongyue City to pay homage to Wu Huaiyu before, and then followed him to Gaochang. Along the way, he witnessed the elite of the Tang army and saw the greatness of the Prime Minister Wu.

At this time, he saw Wu Huaiyu leading his troops to appear at the foot of his Suiye City, and saw the Tang army surrounding Suiye City.

Ni Shushijin just felt weak all over.

Suiye City is not very big and the city walls are not high.

Although it is usually very lively, it is snowing heavily in winter.
Many merchants have stopped trading, and only a few merchants are staying in Suiye City for the winter.

There weren't many people from the Nishu tribe in the city, and most of them were not Nishu's direct guards.

His personal guards were only about a thousand.

Even if all the young and strong men in the city were gathered to defend the city, together with the thousand or so people brought by Que Jijin, they could only gather three or four thousand people.

Even though Asijie said that his two tribes together had more than 100,000 tents and could muster hundreds of thousands of cavalry, this was true. However, although all nomadic peoples are soldiers, they are also herdsmen in normal times.

Dajijin's direct guards only had 1,800 people.

At some point, Que Jijin and Duman, father and son, also arrived at the top of the city. They looked at the Tang army outside the city with deep hatred in their eyes.

"Wu Huaiyu is too much of a bully. I want to see how his 20,000 men can attack the city in this icy and snowy weather. Let's get some people to boil some water and pour it on the outer wall of the city so that a layer of ice can form on the outer wall."

This weather,
When water is poured on the city wall, it will quickly freeze, which will not only increase the defense of the city wall, but also prevent the Tang army from climbing.

"The Tang army has no siege equipment. Their 20,000 troops can only watch helplessly from the foot of the city."

At this time,

Duman Teqin interrupted.
"The Tang army has firearms. They used firearms to easily destroy the walls of Gongyue City and Tiandi City before."

Que Jijin opened his mouth and could not continue.
Ni Shushijin looked even more worried.

It was true that the Tang army came from afar and did not bring any siege equipment, and it was also freezing cold, but they all forgot that the Tang army had secret siege weapons.

This is how to do?
(End of this chapter)