Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 305: One hundred and forty-eight days and nights of perseverance, the Tomb of Heroes!

In Pibao City, Feng Zhiqian stood on the top of the city wall, his left hand was hanging with white gauze, there was a wound on his face, and there were injuries on his right leg, chest and back.

Despite his injury, Feng Zhixun insisted on patrolling the city walls every day as long as he was still able to walk, without missing a day.

"How many days is this?"

Feng Zhixun asked the deputy general beside him.

The deputy general pondered for a moment and said solemnly: "General, these Qiang barbarians have not attacked the city for 23 days."

After hearing this, Feng Zhixun looked extremely solemn.

"Twenty-three days is already a long time. Don't you find it strange that these Qiang barbarians have been surrounding us but not attacking us?"

The deputy general replied: "We have sent out scouts to investigate, but the Qiang barbarians are still there, and I don't know what these Qiang barbarians are planning."

Feng Zhixun looked at the Qiang barbarian camp outside with a long gaze.

"We have been defending for 117 days and nights. Twenty-three days ago, the Qiang Man started to attack every day, but later it became a small attack every three days and a large attack every five days.

At most, they would launch an attack within seven days. Now, twenty-third days have passed, and the Qiang Man have not launched an attack yet. This means that something must have happened to the Qiang Man!"

Feng Zhixun has aged a lot. During the 117 days of perseverance, Feng Zhixun has grown very quickly. If he was a young general before, he has now become a general who can stand on his own.

After Feng Zhixun arrived at Pibao City, he organized people to reinforce the city walls whenever he had free time. Originally a small city, it has now become a fortified city.

These are the results of Feng Zhixun's reinforcement after every battle.

The bigger the battle, the stronger and taller the city became, but the Qiang people were helpless.

Although the Qiang Man had little military discipline and their army was disorganized, they were strong in field battles. This strength was relative to others. Compared with the Tang army, whether it was Li Er's army or Li Yuanji's Tang army, they were not strong in field battles.

But what Feng Zhixun could do nothing about was that his army was small and there were only 7,000 people in Pibao City. Of the 7,000 people, only about 2,000 were left after holding out until now.

If he had not built the Pi Bo City to be stronger and taller, he would not have been able to hold out for so long, let alone have more than 2,000 men.

During these one hundred days, Feng Zhixun had experienced a lot, and it could be said that everyone here had survived with great difficulty.

The supplies here were all delivered by the transport personnel from Lhasa City at the risk of their lives. They were scattered and not much, and as the war progressed, their supplies were cut off two months ago, and they were completely dependent on the supplies in Pibao City to survive.

Now that the Qiang barbarians outside the city are in such a situation, Feng Zhixun has a hunch that an opportunity for war may have appeared.

When the deputy general heard what Feng Zhixun said, he immediately became anxious.

"General, you can't give up on that. We only have 2,000 people now, and most of them are injured. If it weren't for the various medical supplies distributed by the king, with the previous treatment, I'm afraid there would be only a few hundred people left now.

We must defend Pibo City. If Pibo City is lost, Luoshui City will be in danger!"

The deputy general kept advising. He already knew what Feng Zhixun was going to do. After all, they had been together day and night for more than a hundred days. How could he not know what Feng Zhixun was planning?

Feng Zhixun looked at the deputy general, and after a while, he slowly shook his head.

"I know what you want to say, and I also know your thoughts. You are not wrong. Pibao City is indeed very important. Once Pibao City is lost, Luoshui City will face the risk of being besieged.

But this time, I can't let it go. This is a great opportunity. No matter what Qiang Man plans to do, the fact that they didn't attack the city on the 23rd is enough to show that something must have gone wrong with Qiang Man.

Moreover, we have not made any moves in the past 23 days. Those Qiang barbarians would never have thought that we had been guarding for 117 days and still dared to take the initiative to attack!

I plan to lead 500 elite soldiers out of the city at night, and you stay in the city. If I really fall into the trap, you must defend the city well. The king's army must be on the way. As long as you hold on, you will surely be able to wait for the king's army to arrive.

I attacked the Qiang barbarian camp tonight. For the past 117 days and nights, we have been constantly attacked by these Qiang barbarians, and we have never taken the initiative to attack.

Those Qiang barbarians looked down on us. This time, I want to show them the fighting power, bravery and strength of our Tang army!"

Feng Zhixun was also very clear about the current situation. He had been feeling aggrieved for so long, and now that an opportunity had arisen, if he did not go out, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Upon hearing this, the deputy general wanted to refute, but he couldn't say anything. All of them felt aggrieved. They had been forced on the city wall by these Qiang barbarians and faced insults from time to time. Everyone was very angry.

None of them was afraid of death; defending the city was their duty and they had to do it.

Now that such an opportunity has appeared, although I don’t know whether it is a trap, if I don’t take advantage of it, I will regret it for the rest of my life.

The deputy general's reason told him that he could not leave the city, as leaving the city would give him an opportunity, but another voice told him that taking only 500 people would not affect the defense of the city.

Finally, the deputy general looked at Feng Zhixun firmly.

"General, if you must take the initiative to attack, I will lead the troops in the future!

Pibo City needs the general, and the general must not fail. I will lead the people there. Even if it is a trick by the Qiang Man, my death will not affect the gains and losses of Pibo City. Please agree to this, General!"

Feng Zhixun looked at the deputy general in front of him and felt helpless for a moment.

This deputy general, named Liu Changkong, was a veteran who had followed Li Yuanji from Chang'an to Lingnan. He must pay attention to Liu Changkong's opinions.

He was not sure about going out of the city to attack the Qiang barbarians this time. He might be able to accomplish meritorious service, but there was a greater possibility that he would never come back.

Seeing Liu Changkong so determined, Feng Zhixun was silent for a long time before he finally agreed slowly.

That night, Liu Changkong led 500 elite soldiers, left the city after the city gate was opened, and went all the way to the Qiangman camp, and then launched a night attack.

When Liu Changkong rushed in with 500 men, the Qiang barbarian camp was immediately in chaos, and Liu Changkong was more and more surprised, because he found that the number of these Qiang barbarians who were fleeing in a hurry was not right. This number was definitely not worthy of the scale of this camp.

Liu Changkong led his men to continue charging and after capturing some Qiang barbarians, they finally found out that there were only 3,000 people left in the camp, and the rest had all been mobilized to the rear to participate in the battle.

Liu Changkong's face was full of excitement. He knew very well that the Qiang barbarians had gathered so many troops to go to the rear to participate in the war. It must be that the army sent by their king, Li Yuanji, had arrived, otherwise why would these Qiang barbarians be like this.

Liu Changkong fought for an hour, captured thousands of Qiang barbarians, and retreated towards the city.

Feng Zhixun stood on the top of the city wall, gazing into the distance at the Qiang barbarian camp with flames rising to the sky. He waved his right hand and punched the air, feeling extremely excited.

"Liu Changkong, you have to come back safely!"

After waiting for nearly two hours, Liu Changkong returned and Feng Zhixun breathed a sigh of relief. After Liu Changkong entered the city, he quickly ran to Feng Zhixun's side.

"General, good news!"

Liu Changkong then told Feng Zhixun what had just happened, and Feng Zhixun became even more excited.

"Haha! Good, good! The king's army is here. These Qiang barbarians and those foreign tribes, don't even think about escaping!"

"You should prepare now. Go to Luoshui City in person after dawn. When you meet General Xie, tell him the news in person!"

Feng Zhixun waited every day in Pibao City, looking into the distance with a telescope every day. After waiting for more than half a month, Feng Zhixun finally discovered a large army through the telescope, with the word "Li" on the flag fluttering in the wind.

Feng Zhixun looked at this scene, his eyes were red and tears were flowing from his eyes. He then looked at the other people on the top of the city wall and shouted loudly.

"Brothers! The king's army is coming! The king's army is coming! It's outside!"

Everyone crowded in front of the battlements, looking into the distance. Looking at the familiar flags and familiar costumes, everyone suddenly hugged each other tightly with joy.

The man did not shed tears, but he did not go to the sad place.

At this moment, everyone was looking at the army sent by their king, and they were all excited, thrilled, and crying.

If we count the time from the moment they entered Pibao City until today, the person who has been here the longest has been guarding for one hundred and forty-eight days, one hundred and forty-eight days and nights!
At this moment, everyone was released. Everyone waved their hands and shouted loudly. In Pibao City, they faced the attack of more than 100,000 Qiang barbarians, but they held on. None of them brought shame to their king.

Feng Zhixuan's eyes were filled with blood-red tears and his whole body was shaking. He knew better than anyone how difficult it was to defend Pibao City. He also knew how difficult it was for their king to send a large army here.

Previously, the Qiangman army assembled nearly 200,000 soldiers to go to the battle. Now that their army has arrived, it means that they won the battle.

Feng Zhixun was able to win a war involving hundreds of thousands of troops. He couldn't even imagine how cruel that war would be.

Watching the army getting closer and closer, when Feng Zhixun clearly saw Xi Junmai leading the army, his heart completely dropped.

"Brothers! Open the city gates! Welcome the army into the city!"

After everyone began to prepare to open the city gate, they stood on both sides, with their heads held high and their eyes fixed on the approaching army.

Feng Zhixun stood in front of the city gate, his eyes solemn, waiting quietly.

Xi Junmai led the cavalry and looked at the Pi Bo City getting closer and closer. When he saw the flag on the top of the city was still there, he felt relieved and accelerated again to rush towards Pi Bo City.

Arriving at the city gate, Xi Junmai dismounted and came to Feng Zhixun, looking at the soldiers on both sides who were covered in wounds and whose armor was in disarray, but who were standing neatly with their heads held high.

"Thank you for your hard work! The king is here personally with the army, and he's right behind us!"

Feng Zhixuan's eyes turned red again.

"We are incompetent and unable to control the situation. Now we have to let the king lead the army in person. I feel guilty!"

Feng Zhixun was indeed ashamed of Li Yuanji. At the beginning, he followed Xie Shufang to Tubo, and their mission was to control the situation in Tubo. However, not only has it failed to be accomplished, Tubo is about to be lost. How can he not blame himself?

Xi Junmai looked at Feng Zhixun, who looked decades older, and felt a wave of emotion. After comforting himself for a moment, he led the army into the city and took over the defense of Pibo City. He allowed all the original garrison personnel to rest, slaughtered a large number of cattle and sheep, and prepared a lot of fine wine.

Another seven days passed, and Li Yuanji led his army to Pibo City.

Li Yuanji smelled the faint smell of blood and looked at the solidified blood on the city wall. He knew that the battle here must be brutal.

When Feng Zhixun told Li Yuanji everything that happened here, Li Yuanji's heart was filled with sadness.

After a moment, Li Yuanji opened his eyes and looked at Feng Zhixun.

"I will never forget those who are still alive, and I will never forget those who died in battle!
"Order! All those who died in battle will be registered and sealed, and a monument will be erected for all of them!"

"Yang Jianhe! Pass this king's order to Haikang as soon as possible. Instruct Cen Wenben to immediately build a cemetery for heroes and martyrs in Haikang. For those who died in the battle, a spirit tablet will be cast and placed in the cemetery to be worshipped forever!
The memorial day comes every three years, and everyone, from the king down, will burn incense and pay tribute!

This king wants everyone to be remembered forever!"

The Mausoleum of Heroes is something Li Yuanji had wanted to build a long time ago. Soldiers have always been at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and even if they died, there would be almost no record of them.

This time, he would let everyone know that he valued every one of his soldiers. He would elevate the status of military men, and he would let those who fought for him and expanded his fiefdom also enjoy the incense.

He is the king of everyone. His soldiers believe in him and follow him as the king. He, Li Yuanji, will not let these lovely people down.

He knew very well that once the Mausoleum of Heroes was built, everyone would go crazy, especially the soldiers in the army. Everyone would be absolutely excited. This Mausoleum of Heroes was not only an affirmation of them, but also a way for every soldier, even a small pawn, to have a chance to be remembered forever.

Li Yuanji was even more aware of how loyal the army would be to him after this notice was passed on. That was why he had to build it now.

As for whether the army was too strong and would cause civil unrest or be impossible to suppress, Li Yuanji had no worries at all. Not to mention his own lifespan, this world was also not small.

If warriors want to fight, then let them fight. The world outside is waiting for them to conquer.

As soon as Li Yuanji finished speaking, Su Dingfang and others were all shocked. They looked at Li Yuanji with wide eyes. Their breathing became heavier and their faces gradually flushed.

Everyone knew very well what this Mausoleum of Heroes represented, especially since Li Yuanji had stipulated that memorial services be held every three years, all of which emphasized the role of these warriors.

Gradually, everyone's eyes turned red and they all knelt down before Li Yuanji.

"I swear to be loyal to the king till death!"

The crowd was so excited that they were speechless. They didn't know what words could express their inner excitement and fanatical support for Li Yuanji. These few simple words were their oath.

Li Yuanji smiled when he saw it, and then asked a few people to go down and spread the news to the entire army.

When the news spread, the army was suddenly in an uproar. Everyone looked in the direction of Li Yuanji with almost crazy eyes and shouted in unison.

"I will follow the king till death!"

Li Yuanji could hear the shouts of a hundred thousand soldiers even though he was in the city. Everyone was shouting loudly for their king, expressing the enthusiasm in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)