Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 480 Win

The Yan army camp was already preparing for a celebration banquet, and many cattle and sheep were killed and roasted.

The fragrance filled the air all night long, inspiring the soldiers to fight bravely, and the generals also kept cheering.

"After the city is broken, women of gold and silk will take whatever they ask for!"

Cui Qianyou stepped onto the battlefield and looked at the fire in the distance. He felt sorry for the injured elites, but if you pay, you will be rewarded. He believed that Chang'an City would soon be breached.

When dawn came again, it was already the third day that he had ordered a fierce attack at all costs. The mutton roasted during the night was already cold and the fat had solidified.

"General, a celebration party?"

"What's the rush? It's almost over."

From the perspective of the Yan Army, Chang'an is indeed about to be captured. The defenders on the top of the city have become increasingly difficult to repel the Yan Army soldiers who are climbing up. At this time, a group of people has already stood firm on the top of the city. They stood up, lined up, and led more soldiers to the city.

It was a section of the city wall three hundred steps south of Chunming Gate. The moat under the city wall had been filled with corpses. The Yan army's flag has been raised high on the city. It only takes one or two hundred more people to climb up, and they may be able to attack and open the city gate.

However, the guard on the city invited the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty to come out and conduct the expedition in person, which boosted a lot of morale. The Yan army on the top of the city was unable to advance even an inch, but there was a tendency to be driven back from the city.

This was the last resort of the Tang army, and they could only be captured without mercy.

Seeing this scene, Cui Qianyou thought for a moment, recruited a soldier, whispered a few instructions, and handed over a letter.

The soldier then rode up to the city, stepped across the moat full of corpses, passed under the shields with a short body, shouted "I'll go up first", grabbed the ladder and climbed up.

The outer city wall of Chang'an City is made of blue bricks and painted with purple sand, which is very strong. The Yan army had been attacking the city for so long, but only the cannons, stones and arrows left large and small scars on it. The wall is three feet high, as high as six people, and there are many kite heads mounted on the wall, which is very annoying.

He avoided the kite's head, grabbed the battlement, and finally stood on the battlement at the top of the city, his vision suddenly became clearer.

The space above the city wall is huge, four feet wide, where the Yan army and the Tang army are fighting in formation. He actually did not jump off the battlement, but shouted loudly: "Do you want to hear the letter from Li Heng to my marshal?!"

~~
In an arrow tower, Wang Yunxiu shot an arrow and hit a rebel soldier in the neck.

She pulled out another arrow from her back and aimed it at the rebel who was standing on the battlement at the top of the city and was about to release the arrow.

"Wait a minute!"

Yuan Zai rushed to her side and pressed his hand on her arm.

However, Wang Yunxiu ignored it, and with a "swish" sound, the arrow in his hand was shot away.

"puff."

The arrow pierced the opened letter of the rebel soldier and penetrated directly into his left eye. He stumbled backward and immediately fell off the high city wall.

Yuan Zai was stunned and said: "What are you doing?!"

"Follow me to kill the enemy!"

Wang Yunxiu ignored it, took two quick steps, changed the arrow window, and shot another person.

Yuan Zai couldn't stop her, thought for a moment, turned around, rushed out of the archery tower, grabbed a soldier and shouted: "Where is the King of Peking?!"

"There!"

Yuan Zai looked around and was surprised to see Xue Bai's flag on the top of the city, erected behind a row of wooden curtains. The wooden curtain is a movable temporary city wall. If the city wall is captured, it can be used to block the enemy.

At this time, Xue Bai was personally directing the advancement of the wooden curtain. At the same time, there were defenders holding fire boxes and constantly driving away the rebels with fire attacks.

Yuan Zai hesitated for a moment, grabbed a round shield, and hurried over there.

"Hold on and repel this offensive!"

Holding a round shield, Yuan Zai rushed to the nearby place and grabbed Xue Bai, saying: "King of Peiping, I have something to tell you!"

"Push first!" Xue Bai ordered.

Yuan Zai had no choice but to stretch out his hand and follow him pushing a knife cart.

The knife cart is similar to the wooden curtain, slightly lighter. The two-wheeled cart is erected with a wooden wall, and the side facing the enemy is densely covered with swords, guns and weapons.

"Harder, faster!"

They quickened their pace and slammed the sword cart into the enemy soldiers. After a burst of screams, there were dense sounds of swords and axes hitting the wooden wall, less than two inches away from Yuan Zai.

Afterwards, on top of the wooden curtain, the defenders finally stabilized this section of the wall.

"King of Peiping, Anhuamen is asking for help!"

Xue Bai didn't even have time to breathe before he turned around and rushed south. Yuan Zai followed quickly and said, "Did the King of Peking just hear that? Li Heng wrote a letter to Cui Qianyou."

"heard it."

"I may be able to guess some of the content."

"explain."

Yuan Zai said: "First of all, this must be a letter of surrender. As Li Heng, it is impossible to say anything else to Qian Cuiyou. It must be a promise from an official to order Qian Cui You to bring order to the chaos; secondly, Cui Qianyou sent someone to bring this matter to an end." This letter tells you that there must be something very detrimental to you."

"Didn't you already know this?" Xue Bai didn't take it seriously.

"What matters is Cui Qianyou's attitude towards you." Yuan Zai said: "Since you have killed his envoy once, he still wants to send someone again. It shows that he is sincere to you."

"Don't worry about it, just keep Chang'an."

Yuan Zai said in a sincere tone: "What I said today is not because of my greed for life and fear of death, but because of your consideration... I both know that the reason why Cui Qianyou sent this letter means that your plan has failed! You want to take advantage of He has seen through the bluff and pretentiousness of the northwest frontier army!"

Xue Bai got on his horse and continued walking towards Nancheng without scolding Yuan Zai.

Yuan Zai then continued to catch up and asked, "If Chang'an cannot be defended, what will you do?"

"Chang'an City has one hundred and eight squares, and each square has a square wall. Beyond each square, there is the imperial city. Even if the rebels attack the city gate, it will not be that easy to completely capture Chang'an."

“What’s the use of procrastination?”

"As long as I can last longer than Cui Qianyou."

"So what if we defend Chang'an? Li Heng's army is coming, can we stop it?"

Xue Bai was silent for a moment and said, "We will talk about this later when we are safe."

"It will be too late when the city is broken! At this time, Cui Qianyou sent envoys twice, and there must be a matter of 'cooperation will benefit both parties'. In a word, Cui Qianyou wants to fight with you against Li Heng."

Yuan Zai was very convinced of this judgment, so he stopped Wang Yunxiu from firing the arrow earlier. Unfortunately, she was too tough.

He suddenly stretched out his hand to pull Xue Bai's reins and said: "I'm not advising you to surrender. But the situation has reached this point. We can't act on impulse. We have to calm down and find the most appropriate way out. Even if we only talk about how to save the people in the city, Is it really the best way to hold on? If the city is broken, the rebels will burn, kill and loot; but if the deal is done, there is still hope of saving them."

Before Xue Bai could rebuke him, he came closer, and then said: "King of Beiping, I know why you have endured humiliation and bear the burden all these years. If it is not enough to redress the injustice, you should rebuild the Tang Dynasty. Although Yuan Zai was born in a poor family and was utilitarian, I have a heavy heart and will never give up. I am willing to go through life and death. If Chang'an can be defended, I am willing to fill the corpse in the city gate, no matter what, but I have to consider you, Chang'an City, and Cui Qianyou first. Only by talking can there be hope, and I am willing to risk my life to be this messenger.”

As if he had returned to the time when he was trying to win Wang Yunxiu's favor, Yuan Zai's words became more sincere.

He thought that these words were enough to convince Xue Bai, and Xue Bai should understand that what he said was right. From the Western Wei Dynasty to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, from the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the conflicts in the world seemed chaotic, but in fact those people were not the ones in power. Whether it was war or negotiation, it was nothing more than a means of profit distribution.

However, Xue Bai shook his head, pulled back the reins, and drove the horse away.

"I can't even accept them being a vassal, let alone treating him as the master."

Yuan Zai caught up and asked: "The King of Peking is good at dominoes, does he like gambling?"

"I never gamble."

"But I think you are a good player at Pianqiang." Yuan Zai said, "In the isolated city of Chang'an, the saint is running away. With such a bad score, we have deceived Cui Qianyou into willing to give up part of the chips. We should just accept it when it's good."

Xue Bai thought for a while and asked: "What if we can win this round?"

Yuan Zai was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said: "Cui Qianyou is not a bluffer. He shows weakness and shows sincerity, which just shows that he has a chance to win."

"He cheated on you. His points are not as high as you think. We can win them all."

~~
The setting sun lengthened the shadow of Chang'an City little by little, and gradually touched Cui Qianyou's feet.

As long as Cui Qianyou takes one step forward, he can step into the shadow of Chang'an City.

He had already moved his banner to a place only an arrow away from the city gate, and personally shot a soldier who was guarding the city to death with his bow.

at last.

"The city gate has been breached!"

The city gate, which had been closed for more than three months, was finally opened under the fierce offensive of the Yan army.

Cui Qianyou took a step forward involuntarily and ordered at the same time: "Kill in!"

The trumpets sounded loudly, and the morale of the Yan army was high.

However, another sentry horse came from the east, whispered in Cui Qianyou's ear, and whispered a few words.

"A double attack... Tongguan..."

Cui Qianyou clenched his fist vigorously and asked, "How long will it take?"

"The fastest thing is tomorrow morning."

"Explore again."

Looking back, Cui Qianyou's face had regained his composure. He called over another confidant and asked, "Is there any new news about Tian Chengsi?"

"No, the Tang army must have defended the city to avoid fighting and has not yet captured the city."

"Enter Chang'an first..."

"Oh!"

With these words, a huge monument was slammed down from the city gate.

The Chabei is also called the "Thousand Jin Gate". It is a huge piece of wood suspended above the city gate on a pulley. It is five inches thick and covered with iron sheets. It was used when the city gate was breached, and it suddenly fell down, cutting six or seven rebels into two pieces.

Cui Qianyou couldn't help but feel upset, but the city gates had been breached, so this monument was nothing at all.

"Bump it away!"

So, Yan Jun pushed the car and rushed towards the Cha monument.

Cui Qianyou raised his head and looked towards the city gate tower, looking for Xue Bai's flag. He whispered to himself softly: "Stubborn."

"Marshal, the imperial edict has arrived."

"How did it come?" Cui Qianyou's first reaction was a little surprised, and asked: "How did the envoy get through Shaanxi County?"

"It seems... Li Guangbi let him go."

Cui Qianyou raised his hand and said: "Keep it in the camp until Chang'an is captured before receiving the order."

His whole body has been wrapped in the shadow of Chang'an City, but his eyes are still very sharp, with the greed and confidence of a gambler.

The Cha stele was smashed into pieces, and the soldiers rushed into the city. At the same time, some generals came back, rushed to Cui Qianyou, and reported: "Marshal, the Cha stele at the inner city gate has also been put down. The general also saw that the Tang army was in A wooden fence was erected in the city.

"Yes."

The general then squatted down and drew the terrain inside Chunming Gate on the ground. There was originally a wall here, but now there is a wooden wall inside the inner wall. Then, we need to check again whether there are any traps near the wooden wall.

Cui Qianyou had no choice but to recruit a soldier who climbed to the top of the city to approach and ask, "What's the situation inside the city?"

"Report to the marshal that the Tang army is ready for street fighting..."

~~
Qingmen Street.

With the clatter of horse hoofs, Xue Bai, who had just led his troops to support the south gate, rushed back to the north gate again and learned that the rebels had breached the outer city gate.

When he first heard about it, he thought for a moment that he might have lost the bet, or that he might have misjudged the situation, that is, he had misjudged the loyalty and bravery of the Tang army's soldiers. But this hesitation only lasted for a moment. He had already considered all aspects clearly and had no regrets about his decision.

Not to mention he still has confidence. At least, he had defended Chang'an City for Datang for so long. Even if he was defeated, the situation would not be worse than in history. He was already calm.

"King of Beiping, Cui Qianyou's banner is just outside the city!"

"Array up!"

Xue Bai stood on Ma Chang Street, took out the wrapping cloth and wrapped his hands again. After the calluses on his hands were pulled off, the wounds never healed. Instead, they got worse with wear and tear. Maybe we can only wait until the war is suspended for a while before we have a chance to recover from our injuries.

He decided that if the rebels broke through the city gate, he would confront Cui Qianyou once and buy time for other generals in the city to organize their forces to regain the city gate.

Presumably, this kind of hand-to-hand fighting is what Cui Qianyou has been looking forward to for a long time. After all, Fan Yang Xiaoqi's strength lies in attacking and fighting.

The war horse beneath its crotch was pawing the ground with its hooves, and two large flags were erected across the city wall. The distance was actually very close.

The halo of the setting sun shone on Xue Bai's silver helmet, dyeing it golden.

He sat astride his horse and seemed to be asleep. After all, he was too tired during this period, and the survival of Chang'an City rested on his shoulders.

Why is he carrying it? Because as the grandson of the emperor, he was granted the title of county king and had the greatest fame and power... In fact, he was not the grandson of the emperor, but was born as a lowly slave. Even if he fled to Shu County, no one would criticize him harshly.

Ultimately, it was him who wanted to bear the burden. Everything he endured was what he had been pursuing tirelessly. Confucius said: "If you seek benevolence and gain benevolence, why complain?"

Xue Bai opened his eyes, raised his weapon high, and lived and died with Chang'an.

The sunset completely fell into the western mountains, and night fell.

"when--"

In a daze, he heard the sound of a bell, thinking it was his imagination, so he shook his head.

~~
Yao Runeng looked back and saw a ray of sunset shining into the streets and lanes of Chang'an City, which was extremely beautiful.

He suddenly regretted it.

I regret that I should not be a writer of legends, but should learn to paint. I painted Chang'an in its heyday, because I was afraid that I would never see it again.

With tears streaming down his face, he leaned over and picked up the dropped knife.

In the last sunset, he saw Zhang Xiaojing being surrounded by four rebels. He had fallen to the ground. A rebel grabbed him and raised his knife to kill Zhang Xiaojing.

"puff."

Yao Runeng bumped into him and fell to the ground. At the same time, he slashed the rebel's calf with his knife. He didn't care and stabbed him in the armor.

"stand up!"

Zhang Xiaojing shouted to Yao Runeng to get up quickly, because he saw that the rebels had already swung their swords to kill Yao Runeng.

The wind blew and the sky suddenly turned dark. Zhang Xiaojing's eyes widened, trying to see clearly what was happening in the darkness.

Gradually, as his eyes adjusted to the night, he saw that the rebel's sword was tilted and struck Yao Runeng's arm.

"when--"

It was at this time that they heard a long golden sound.

While the rebels were stunned, Zhang Xiaojing suddenly jumped up to attack, pulled Yao Runeng back, and burst out with a surprised shout.

"Hold it!"

"Did you keep it?"

Yao Runeng was surprised and turned to look outside the city, only to see the banner of the rebel coach getting further and further away.

The next moment, he asked: "Why?"

"Why? We have defended Chang'an!"

"How did you do it?" Yao Runeng was very curious and murmured: "How did the King of Peking do it?"

Suddenly cheers came from the city.

"King of Peking! King of Peking..."

They turned around and saw that bonfires were lit up on Qingmen Street, and the soldiers were cheering around Xue Bai.

"Haha."

Zhang Xiaojing also threw away his weapons and joined their carnival.

Defending Chang'an gave Xue Bai an incomparable status in his heart.

~~
At the moment before sunset, Li Cong was standing on the Calyx Xianghui Tower.

This place is not far from the city gate. For his status, it is considered to be on the front line in person, and he has indeed inspired many soldiers. It just seems like it won't help at first. The moment the setting sun fell, he felt that the entire Tang Dynasty had fallen into darkness.

However, it was in the darkness that he heard the sound of the rebels withdrawing.

He didn't know the reason, but one could imagine the surprise in his heart.

He swallowed the countless "how could" and "how could" in his mouth. With tears in his eyes, he looked to the sky and murmured: "God bless the Tang Dynasty, God bless the Tang Dynasty."

"Your Highness, Your Highness defended the capital?!"

Although the more specific situation is not yet known, since Xue Bai said that this was the last battle to defend Chang'an, everyone believed that the rebels were about to retreat.

The officials behind Li Cong were also pleasantly surprised. After exclaiming, they quickly began to sing his praises.

With his father and brother running away, he managed the country alone, guarded Chang'an alone, and led a mob to block the elite main force of the rebels. This kind of credit is certainly very high, and he really deserves it.

Listening to these words of praise, a smile of great joy appeared on Li Cong's face. He seemed to be able to imagine himself ruling the world and recreating the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

However, this joy was quickly interrupted by a voice.

"King of Peiping!"

"King of Peiping!"

Li Cong walked a few steps and looked east from the railing. He could see that countless soldiers on Qingmen Street had thrown away their weapons and surrounded Xue Bai, cheering with heartfelt support.

The smile on his face froze involuntarily, and he felt a chill running down his spine, as if someone was holding a dagger against his back.

From the sunset, to the enemy troops shouting gold, to the cheers of the Tang army, only a short moment passed. However, Li Cong's heart had gone through twists and turns from despair to surprise to fear.

A dark cloud covered the moon.

But bonfires were lit in the long street.

To the west, Li Cong stood on a high pavilion in the palace, and to the east, Zhang Xiaojing stood at the top of the city with corpses strewn everywhere, while looking at the jubilant Chang'an soldiers and civilians illuminated by bonfires.

~~
"King of Peiping!"

"King of Peiping!"

Xue Bai was surrounded by cheers. He turned around and looked around, feeling a little confused.

He thought of that snowy day when he first arrived, looking around Chang'an and wondering who he was. Now amid the cheers, he finally found the answer to this question.

It has nothing to do with the title "King of Peiping", whether it is a county king or a prince, it doesn't matter at all. The important thing is that he has established a connection with Chang'an City and the fate of the soldiers and civilians in this city. He has obtained the power he wants, and will also shoulder the corresponding responsibilities, and he will protect it.

In the past, many ambitions were just words, but now "protecting Chang'an" has become a reality. He has become more and more aware of the meaning of life after rebirth.

It took a short while to digest the joy of such victory. Xue Bai calmed down, summoned Jiang Hai, and passed on the orders one after another.

"Immediately send out sentry horses to inquire about news everywhere."

Jiang Hai was still in ecstasy. He was stunned for a moment before saluting: "Here."

"Repair the city gates, treat the wounded...Please ask Yan Xiang and General Wang Nan to take charge."

"Here."

Xue Bai waved his hand, lowered his voice and said, "I want to see Wang Sili and Li Chengguang respectively, and go make arrangements quickly."

Now in Chang'an City, apart from Chen Xuanli, the general of the Longwu Army, Wang Sili and Li Chengguang are the highest-ranking generals. However, because of the defeat of Tongguan, the two of them kept a low profile. They had only defended the city as expected, giving Wang rare the opportunity to conduct sneak attacks out of the city, and did not compete with Xue Bai for command.

However, the reason why Xue Bai was able to command them was not because of his higher prestige in the army. Part of the reason is that at this critical moment, Li Cong gave him the status of the emperor's grandson and the power to act on behalf of the prince.

When the siege of Chang'an was unresolved, no one tried to break this balance. Once the rebels retreat, the situation is bound to change.

Now, Xue Bai's prestige was at its peak, and he immediately took this prestige to have a good talk with Wang Sili and Li Chengguang.

~~
Dawn.

Yuan Zai climbed up the tower and looked eastward with his telescope. As the morning light gradually fell, he discovered that the rebels had broken out of camp.

He was a little surprised, and suddenly recalled Xue Bai's words "win everything" in his mind.

"it turns out……"

He murmured, having to admire Xue Bai's grasp of the situation. But now that the sentry horse has not returned, it is not clear what has been discovered outside of Chang'an.

Then, Yuan Zai became more and more surprised and subconsciously stretched his neck.

Because in the sight of the telescope, he saw that the rebels were not retreating eastward, but instead slowly marching southwest.

Why?

Yuan Zai thought about it and thought that there was only one explanation, that is, Huayin, Tongguan, and Shaanxi counties in the east were cut off by the Tang army at one or more places, and the Tang army was so powerful that even Cui Qianyou had to stop the attack in time. Chang'an, avoid its edge.

Also, if the rebels go west, they will inevitably meet up with the troops now in the west. In other words, Cui Qianyou sent a lot of troops westward.

From this point of view, Xue Bai's bluff plan seems to be half successful, but it is more likely that Li Heng really sent troops.

Yuan Zai's heart, which had just relaxed, suddenly became tense again. He then turned around, summoned a group of soldiers, and ordered: "Send more people to clean up the corpses in the city and find the letter I want!"

People like him never want to lag behind others in the power struggle. They must see with their own eyes what Li Heng is planning.

(End of this chapter)