Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 455 Bloody Chang'an

The enemy's siege of Chang'an caused great panic throughout the city, but this panic did not last long.

Because there were not only enemy troops outside the city, but more importantly, foreign ethnic groups like the Qiang people. Once Chang'an City was breached, everyone would suffer a devastating disaster.

In addition, Jia Xu also announced to the public that the emperor was on his way back with his troops to provide assistance, and as long as they could defend Chang'an City for a month, they would be able to survive.

Therefore, under the fear of death and hatred of foreigners, the people of Chang'an City developed a strong desire to resist the enemy and actively participated in the fight.

Everyone knows that the only way to survive is to defend Chang'an City to the death!

For a time, the people of Chang'an enthusiastically joined the army to join the resistance, even the elderly in their forties and fifties were no exception.

Whether it's for the family or for the man.

None of them could sit idly by and watch Chang'an fall.

The old soldiers who had been discharged due to injuries were extremely excited when they heard the news. Even though their legs were broken, they still leaned on their crutches and shouted that they wanted to go up to the city wall to kill the enemy.

For them, Chang'an is the emperor's Chang'an. They are deeply blessed by the emperor and would not let Chang'an fall into the hands of the enemy even at the cost of their lives!

It's nothing but death, nothing but eternal rest in the martyrs' cemetery!

This spirit infected many soldiers and civilians, and made the resistance of Chang'an City extremely tenacious. The enemy outside the city attacked for thirteen consecutive days and launched more than ten offensives, but failed to capture the city wall.

Chang'an, Imperial Palace.

Today, all officials held a routine court meeting. Jia Xu personally presided over the meeting and summoned all officials to Chengming Hall to discuss matters.

Although a powerful enemy is at hand, the court meeting cannot be cancelled. This is done both to stabilize people's hearts and to facilitate the coordinated defense against the enemy.

However, the officials actually had little interest in the court meeting. They all looked listless and gloomy.

After all, the enemy was outside the city. Although Chang'an City could hold out for a while relying on the solidity of the city walls and the tenacious resistance of the people and soldiers, no one knew how long it could last, and everyone felt uncertain.

"May I ask the Minister of the Central Secretariat, when will your Majesty's reinforcements arrive?"

Shen Rong couldn't help but ask Jia Xu, "The villain Ma Chao has been attacking the city for more than ten days. Thousands of soldiers in the city have been killed or wounded. I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out for much longer if this continues."

The battle of attack and defense was the most brutal.

The seven-day-long siege resulted in many casualties among the defenders in the city, and the number of available soldiers was dwindling.

Although Ma Chao's casualties were more than ten times theirs, those killed and wounded on the other side were basically slaves.

Ma Chao was obviously using the slave army to consume their strength. If he continued like this, as long as the defenders were almost exhausted, Ma Chao's elite troops would launch a general attack and Chang'an City would be broken.

Jia Xu has been working very hard these days to coordinate the defense of the city. He has very little time to rest every day and has dark circles under his eyes.

Hearing Shen Rong's words, he said calmly: "Your Majesty is far away in Jingzhou. It will take some time for him to rush back to help. We just need to guard Chang'an."

"Ma Chao's army is large, but they also have heavy losses. As long as we continue to drag it out, they will definitely not be able to hold on."

"The enemy's increasingly fierce offensive in the past few days is the best proof. It can be seen that Ma Chao is also anxious to break the city."

"With the garrison in Chang'an, it won't be a problem to delay until your Majesty's army arrives to help. You don't have to worry too much. Just do your own job well."

Jia Xu's words made the ministers feel a little relieved.

Then he said, "Let's end today's meeting here. I still have to go to the city wall to inspect it. I'll leave first. Please do as you please."

After saying this, Jia Xu took Fa Zheng and left Chengming Hall.

The officials in the palace also left the court one after another.

On the way out of the palace, Fa Zheng could not help but say to Jia Xu worriedly: "Minister of the Central Secretariat, there are only a few thousand soldiers left on the city wall."

"It will be hard for us to sustain if this continues."

In fact, the current situation is far from as optimistic as Jia Xu said. The reason why Chang'an City has been able to hold out for so long is because the people in the city enthusiastically joined the army to resist the enemy.

But after years of war, how many young and strong people could there be in Chang'an City?

Most of them had already joined the army.

Moreover, the newly recruited soldiers were not strong enough in combat, so casualties occurred quickly. However, the specific casualties were suppressed and concealed by Jia Xu.

According to Fa Zheng's calculations, Ma Chao would launch a general attack in the next few days, and it would be a question whether they could stop him.

"You have to hold on even if you can't!"

Although Jia Xu was very tired, his eyes and tone were particularly firm. He narrowed his eyes and said, "At this point, we have no way out."

"If Chang'an City is captured, I will personally go up to the top of the city and kill the enemy!"

Hearing the determination in Jia Xu's tone, Fa Zheng couldn't help but be shocked. It turned out that Jia Xu had already made preparations to sacrifice his life for his country and would rather die than surrender.

In comparison, he still lacks awareness.

Jia Xu continued to instruct: "Release the more than one thousand prisoners in the cell tomorrow and let them participate in the fight against the enemy."

"As long as we can defend Chang'an City, I will report to His Majesty to pardon their crimes and even commend them for their achievements!"

Every bit of help we can get now is valuable.

Prisoners are not wasted.

"Yes."

Fa Zheng nodded in agreement, and then asked: "Lady Lu has been asking to go up to the city wall and fight with the soldiers. What do you think..."

Jia Xu pulled the corner of his mouth and rolled his eyes at Fa Zheng, saying, "Are you really stupid or just pretending to be stupid? She is your majesty's concubine and the daughter of Duke Wen. Can you really let her climb the city wall to kill the enemy?"

Although Lu Lingqi is quite skilled, Jia Xu doesn't dare to let her go to the battlefield because of her status.

The battlefield is no joke.

Fa Zheng smiled awkwardly, and Jia Xu said unhappily: "Let's go to the city wall to see the situation of the enemy outside the city."

"Yes, Zhongshu Ling."

……

Chang'an, west city wall.

The enemy outside the city launched an attack this morning. The battle has just stopped and Yuan Xi and Gao Lan are resting on the city wall.

At this time, a little girl about twelve or thirteen years old came over with a food basket with some difficulty, and distributed snacks to the soldiers along the way.

These were all done by the people in the city.

When it was Yuan Xi's turn, she took out a water bag from the basket and quietly put it into his arms.

"Master Yuan, this is the wine that my father hid. I brought it to you secretly. Don't tell anyone else!"

The little girl spoke mysteriously to Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi was stunned when he heard this, he opened the water bag and smelled it, and indeed he smelled the tempting aroma of wine.

"Thank you."

Yuan Xi raised his head and smiled gently at the little girl.

Even though he was covered in blood and looked very disheveled, Yuan Xi was born into a prominent family after all, and his aura was still hard to conceal.

To be honest, Yuan Xi is quite handsome.

Moreover, in order to be loyal to the Han Dynasty, he sacrificed his own relatives for the sake of justice and donated all his property to help the victims of the disaster, which earned him an excellent reputation and word of mouth among the people.

This smile immediately made the little girl blush, and she waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "It's okay, it's okay..."

A pair of small hands happily pulled at the corners of the clothes.

"A pretty boy."

Gao Lan, who was standing next to him, couldn't bear to watch it any longer, and couldn't help but turn his head and curl his lips, his tone full of bitterness. Although the voice was not loud, it was still heard.

The little girl's eyebrows immediately stood up, and she rolled her eyes at Gao Lan and said, "You are just jealous of Master Yuan's good looks!"

"My father said that Master Yuan is a loyal minister! He is also a kind man, much better than you! Humph!"

After the little girl finished speaking, she ran away angrily.

Only a black line of Gao Lan was left.

"Ha ha ha ha--!"

The soldiers on the city wall burst into laughter, and the oppressive feeling brought by the war was greatly reduced.

Yuan Xi couldn't help laughing. He opened his wine bag and took a swig of the wine. Then he threw it directly to Gao Lan and said with a smile, "Although I am not as good as General Gao in leading troops and fighting on the battlefield, I still have some advantages."

"But General Gao looks very heroic. If he didn't have such a cold face all the time, he would definitely be quite likable."

There was a hint of sarcasm in his words.

"cut."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Gao Lan curled his lips, too lazy to argue with Yuan Xi. He opened the wine bag, took a big sip of wine, and then let out a long sigh.

Although drinking is prohibited during wartime, no one cares about it now as our lives are in danger.

Just then there was a commotion not far away.

Yuan Xi and Gao Lan looked and actually saw Jia Xu and Fa Zheng coming to the city wall and patrolling around.

Jia Xu walked towards them and asked with a smile: "General Gao, Minister Yuan, how do you feel? Can you still hold on?"

Yuan Xi and Gao Lan had been defending the city wall since the enemy began to attack the city, so he asked this question.

The four walls of Chang'an were defended by Yuan Xi and Gao Lan on the west, Pang De on the south, and Ma Teng and his two sons on the east and north.

"Thank you for your concern, I am fine."

Yuan Xi smiled, his tone relaxed.

Gao Lan also nodded slightly to indicate that he was fine.

Seeing this, Jia Xu did not ask any more questions. He just looked outside the city wall and squinted his eyes and said, "According to the Embroidered Uniform Envoy, it will take about seven days for your Majesty's reinforcements to arrive."

"But the enemy's general offensive is expected to begin in the next two days."

"Whether we can hold on for three days will determine victory or defeat, and also determine the fate of our Han Dynasty!"

Although Chang'an City was under siege, as the imperial capital, it had secret passages leading out of the city, which were sufficient for the Embroidered Uniform Envoys to pass on messages through the secret passages.

The reason why Jia Xu did not inform all the officials of this news was because he was worried that the group of people would think of escaping after learning of the secret passage.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi and Gao Lan looked at each other and saw a solemn look in each other's eyes.

A general offensive means that all the enemy's elite troops will participate in the battle.

The pressure will be several times greater than before.

The combat effectiveness of the enemy's elite troops is not comparable to that of those slaves, especially when they have been consumed for so long.

"Woo-"

"Woo-"

Just as Jia Xu and Yuan Xi were talking.

A heavy and long horn sounded from the enemy army outside the city, spreading throughout the entire Chang'an City.

After hearing the horn, all the soldiers on the city wall grabbed the weapons beside them, and even the sleeping soldiers were immediately awakened.

The sound of this horn means that a new siege has begun!
Jia Xu suddenly looked up at the enemy troops that had begun to gather outside the city, his eyes full of coldness.

"Get ready to fight!"

Jia Xu uttered this murderous remark, then suddenly turned around and walked towards the city gate tower.

"promise--!!"

The Han soldiers on the city wall responded in unison, and their voices reached the sky!

Gao Lan threw the wine bag in his hand back to Yuan Xi and punched him hard on the chest.

“Remember to live.”

After Gao Lan finished speaking, he walked away without looking back.

Yuan Xi looked at Gao Lan's tall and burly back as he walked away, and couldn't help but smile. Then he walked away with his gun in hand, with only a burning desire to fight in his eyes!
"You must live!"

……

……

At the same time, at the enemy's main camp outside the city.

Ma Chao frowned and stared at the Chang'an City in the distance. He could vaguely hear the morale-boosting shouts of the Han soldiers on the city wall.

His face was gloomy and he said nothing.

Ma Chao had been a soldier for half his life and had experienced many battles, but he had never felt so difficult taking a city.

He had to admit that the resistance of the Chang'an defenders was strong.

He even began to doubt the number of defenders in the city.

Are the defenders in the city really weak? Why do they feel like there are at least tens of thousands of soldiers? Otherwise, why can't they take the city?
"If we still cannot capture Chang'an City, I'm afraid that when the imperial court's reinforcements arrive..."

Thinking of the terrible result, Ma Chao subconsciously shook his head and put this bad estimate behind him.

"Chang'an must be captured!"

The confusion in Ma Chao's eyes was gone, leaving only ferocity - he was determined to capture Chang'an City no matter what!
……

……

The war had been going on for many days.

There is no prelude to starting a war now, and the most fierce general offensive will begin right away!

An army composed of countless slaves densely climbed up the walls of Chang'an City and launched a fierce attack on the wall!
Yuan Xi and Gao Lan led the troops to guard the west wall together. Holding spears in hand, they were invincible and looked like one man blocking the pass and ten thousand men unable to break through!

The many Han soldiers behind him had already cooperated with him tacitly, and all of them focused on Yuan Xi to kill the enemy.

No matter how many enemy troops climbed onto the city wall, they were blocked by them!
"Pour the oil!"

Yuan Xi roared, raised a clay pot and smashed it on the head of a slave who was trying to climb up the siege ladder.

With a scream, the oil tank smashed into the slave's face. In an instant, his head was bleeding and he fell off the ladder.

At the same time, kerosene splashed everywhere and flowed down the long ladder.

Seeing this, a Han soldier immediately threw down a torch, and the siege ladder quickly caught fire, emitting a lot of black smoke.

If it was military kerosene, there wouldn't be such a lot of black smoke, but this was not ordinary kerosene, but cooking oil and lamp oil donated by the people in the city.

The kerosene tanks used for city defense had been used up several days ago.

The ladders were burning fiercely and black smoke was billowing, but the enemy had too many siege ladders and there were still many ladders left, so the enemy climbed up along the ladders.

"Bam—"

A Han soldier, exhausted and in a trance due to days of fighting, was pushed to the ground by an enemy soldier.

In an instant, four enemy soldiers rushed up the city wall!
What’s more surprising is that they are not ordinary slaves, but elite soldiers wearing armor and holding weapons!
In this siege, Ma Chao actually let his elite troops mix in with the slave army to join the battle!
(End of this chapter)