The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 14
The brutal siege lasted for three days before finally stopping.

Under the east and west sections of the city wall, the piles of dead bodies were five or six feet high. From a distance, it looked like a new outer wall had been built outside the city wall.

The high walls were covered with marks from knives, axes, gouges, and arrows. The smoke, fire, and blood poured on the brick walls left large black marks.

Many external wall crenellations were pulled down by castellation trucks and collapsed, forming gaps. Zhao Puzheng arranged for craftsmen and civilians to repair them.

Along the city wall road, a large number of city defenders will lean on each other, falling asleep from exhaustion.

Blood seeped into the cracks of the bricks, staining large areas of black and red. There were men carrying baskets on their backs, picking up broken arms and legs scattered everywhere, and they also picked up a lot of human heads with hideous faces.

Wounded soldiers covered in blood were carried off the top of the city one by one, and groups of soldiers taking turns to rest quickly filled the empty positions.

Under the inner wall, piles of wood and stones that had been removed from the house were piled up. A temporary wounded soldier camp was set up in the open space not far away, and it was already overcrowded.

The Khitan soldiers stormed the east and west gates, and even rushed to the top of the city several times. Chai Rong and Fu Jinzhan personally led their troops to defend the city. The two sides fought repeatedly, and the hand-to-hand combat was extremely brutal.

On the top of the east city, Chai Rong stood with his sword in hand, leaning gently against the female wall, looking at the Khitan camp in the distance.

At this moment, he was covered in blood, the red tassel on the tiger's head had been burned to pieces, the originally bright mountain armor was full of marks, and his face was covered with a thick layer of black dirt, which was a mixture of sweat, smoke, and blood. .

The only things that remained unchanged were his resolute and deep eyes and his spine as strong as pine.

Seeing him and the broken Tianxiong military commander's flag flying high above the city, the soldiers felt at ease and were confident in repelling the Khitans and defending Cangzhou City.

The solemn look in Chai Rong's gaze remained unabated. The Khitan people's offensive was more fierce than he expected, and they seemed to be going crazy to capture Cangzhou City.

What exactly does Yelu Wuyu want to do?
Why are you so eager to capture the city?

Could it be that there was a major change in the upper echelons of Khitan?
Chai Rong guessed silently, but unfortunately the war broke out and communications were blocked. The messengers he sent to inform neighboring states had not yet returned, making it impossible to judge the enemy's internal movements.

A personal guard brought a large bowl of water, and Chai Rong took it, his chapped lips moving slightly, burning in pain.

As soon as he took a sip, the bowl of water was stained red, and his cracked lips were bleeding. Chai Rong was startled, then raised his head and finished the drink in one gulp, licking the blood on his lips.

Pan Mei, whose face was covered in black and gray, strode over and saluted with a heavy clasped fist.

After three days, his view of Chai Rong changed drastically again. His previous contempt and dissatisfaction completely dissipated, leaving only full admiration.

As the supreme commander of Cangzhou, Chai Rong stayed at the head of the east city for three whole days, commanding the defense with all his strength.

Whenever Khitan soldiers climbed to the top of the city along the ladder, Chai Rong would personally lead the soldiers to fight.

The soldiers took turns to rest, but Chai Rong did not sleep a wink for three days.

Water and food were delivered to the city. Chai Rong also asked the soldiers to eat and drink first and take a break while he himself inspected the east and west gates with dry biscuits and water bags to check whether there were any loopholes in the defense.

With such a commander-in-chief, it is no wonder that Tianxiong's soldiers sacrificed their lives and fought bravely to kill the enemy.

"How is the situation in the Xicheng Tower? Has Mrs. Fu regained consciousness?" Chai Rong said in a hoarse voice.

Pan Mei hurriedly said: "Five wall stacks collapsed at the top of the west city. I have ordered people to step up emergency repairs! The eldest lady also woke up at noon. The doctor said that her heart and veins were thankfully not hurt. Her life was saved, but she had to stay in bed to recuperate. Months.”

Chai Rong nodded: "Tell Madam Fu to rest in peace and not to worry about the war. From today on, you will temporarily command the Henghai Navy on Madam Fu's behalf and defend the West City Tower. Do not allow the Khitans to cross the Western Wall."

"I obey my command!" Pan Mei promised loudly.Chai Rong looked at his leaving figure and secretly remembered his name in his heart.

Yesterday, Fu Jinzhan was supervising the battle at the head of the west city. Unfortunately, he was injured by a stray arrow. Pan Mei took her place at the head of the city and led the army to repel the Khitan's fierce attacks many times.

Chai Rong admired Pan Mei's performance and felt that he was a promising talent.

Zhao Pu panted and climbed to the top of the city: "General, for the past three days, our army has suffered more than two thousand casualties every day, more than a thousand seriously injured, and countless minor injuries. There is a shortage of medicinal herbs in the city, and sixty-seven of the seriously injured have died." Treatment is not as good as death.”

Chai Rong sighed: "Try your best to treat them. To avoid the spread of the immune disease, the bodies must be burned and buried as soon as possible. Are the remaining military supplies and equipment sufficient?"

Zhao Pu smiled bitterly and said: "The food is enough to last for half a month. There are only three carts left to use, more than 200 kilograms of fire oil left, more than [-] jars of cupping, and enough wood and rolling stones. The remaining flying hooks, hanging spleens, and The collision and other equipment were almost completely damaged. The worst part is that the arrows have been exhausted. It seems that we need to organize manpower and go out of the city to collect the arrows, otherwise our army will have no bows and crossbows to use."

Chai Rong thought for a while and said: "Without the suppression of bows and crossbows, the enemy's charge into the city will be difficult to control. I ordered Zhang Yanchao to select a group of brave men who are not afraid of the dead, plus prison prisoners, to leave the city as soon as possible to collect the arrows."

The situation was urgent, Zhao Pu didn't think much, he responded and resigned quickly.

Shi Kuangwei hurried over with several messengers and whispered anxiously: "The troops who went to Jingzhou and Qizhou to ask for help encountered Khitan soldiers blocking the road halfway, so they had to withdraw! Now it is not only us here, but also Dingzhou and Qizhou. , Shenzhou, and Jingzhou are all at war, and it’s a mess! Are the Khitans crazy and want to swallow up Hebei?"

Chai Rong took a deep breath, clenched his fist and slammed it on the wall: "It seems that we can only rely on ourselves here in Cangzhou! There must be a major change in the upper Khitan, but what happened?"

~~~
The state prison was also in chaos.

Since yesterday, not a single jailer has appeared. More than 200 prisoners have been howling and cursing all day long, smashing cell doors, trying to take advantage of the chaos to escape.

At the end of the corridor, Zhu Xiu was leaning on the railing like the other prisoners, but he was not crying like they were, or screaming "let me out", "I'm wronged" and other nonsense.

He was trying hard to find Fu's personal guards and Ma San.

The day before yesterday, all the soldiers of the Zuo Wei Army and Fu's bodyguards had withdrawn, but Zhu Xiu was not happy at all.

Judging from the constant sound of war drums in the city day and night, and the crashing sounds of flying rocks destroying houses, this battle to defend the city was more intense than he imagined, and the situation was not optimistic.

If the city was broken and the Khitans entered the city, and he didn't escape from the prison in time, wouldn't he become a prisoner of the Khitans again?

Zhu Xiu's face was pale and panicked. He didn't have the confidence to explain again in front of the Khitan people that he would not be afraid of being shattered into pieces.
He desperately wants to find Ma San and ask him to see Pan Mei or Zhao Pu.

During the war, Zhu Xiu felt that she was forgotten by them.
Just when Zhu Xiu was feeling anxious and helpless, a large number of soldiers suddenly rushed into the prison, opened the cells one by one, and roughly dragged out the prisoners one by one.

Zhu Xiu was overjoyed at first, but when he saw Zhang Yanchao walking towards him wearing armor and carrying a sword, his heart immediately went cold.

The cell door opened, and Zhu Xiu retreated to the corner, pressing against the stone wall with a frightened expression on her face.

"Hehe~ Brat! I won't kill you either. I'll send you outside the city to be killed by the Khitans! Take it away!"

Zhang Yanchao slapped Zhu Xiu on the face, waved his hand, and two soldiers stepped forward, grabbed Zhu Xiu's arms and dragged him out of the cell.

Zhu Xiu's face was filled with death, she struggled and shouted: "I want to see Mrs. Fu!"

Zhang Yanchao raised his foot and kicked Zhu Xiu on the butt, cursing: "Fu Jinzhan was hit by a stray arrow yesterday. He was seriously injured and unconscious. He has no time to take care of himself! I want to see who else can protect you! Take him away!"

Zhu Xiuru was struck by lightning and dragged out of the cell like a dead dog by the soldiers of the Left Guard.

　Summon collection to vote~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)