Chang'an City, Xianyang Hall, Yao Xing's palace.

It was past midnight, but weak coughs still came from the palace. The attendants outside the palace were leaning listlessly on the pillars. The emperor had not slept well for two days, and even the attendants who were keeping watch at night could not doze off.

Two days ago, news of the loss of Tongguan came. Yao Xing was so excited that he vomited a mouthful of blood and fell into a coma. After waking up, he ordered Prince Yao Hong to supervise the country and discuss ways to resist the Jin army.

At the end of the day, Prince Yao Hong came to the palace to report. In addition to recruiting people to strengthen the city's defense, he suggested that Qi Gong Yao Hui be transferred back from Anding City to strengthen Chang'an's defense. He quickly ordered Yan Sheng, the captain of the Yue Cavalry School, to go to Jingkou and stop at Jingkou.

A dense wooden fence was built in the area to prevent the Jin navy from landing; in addition, envoys were sent to Jiankang to sue for peace from the Jin court, and even asked for surrender and becoming a vassal state in the future.

The stars in Yao Xing's eyes were spinning wildly, and he felt miserable in his heart. It had always been Jin who asked for peace, but now it was his turn to ask for peace from Jin, and he even had to kowtow and surrender. It was really a shame and a great humiliation.

However, Yao Xing knew that the Qin State was at a critical moment, and he could no longer care about his face. He tried his best to concentrate and said: "Quick report. In addition, send an envoy to Panhan to see the King of Henan, Qifu Chipan, and ask him to lead the army.

If you help guard Chencang, I will definitely reward you heavily afterwards."

After taking a few breaths, Yao Xing gathered his energy and continued: "The Jin army attacks Lantian in the south, reaches Dingcheng in the east, and Jingkou in the north. Chang'an is surrounded by enemies on three sides. There is no room for failure. At this critical moment of life and death, we must hold on. The Jin army has come from afar to provide food and grass.

Supply is difficult, and as long as we wait until next year, the Jin army will retreat."

On the north bank of the Wuding River, where the Daxia king's tent was located, Helian Bobo learned that the Jin army had actually broken through Tongguan and threatened Chang'an. He rose up and said: "The Qin State is on the verge of death, and you are too stupid to miss this opportunity. Blow the trumpet and summon your sons.

Let's send troops to Anding City."

At Aoguan, the Qin army's offensive was extremely fierce. After twenty-two days of attack and defense, the stone walls were destroyed, three trenches were filled in many places, the archery towers and tamping platforms were demolished, and the Qin army's cavalry rushed to the pass many times.

Fortunately, the craftsmen who accompanied the army rushed to make wooden huts, wolf fangs, etc., and cooperated with the closed Wanjun divine crossbows and catapults to repulse the Qin army's attack.

After the Qin army retreated, Zhu Lingshi ordered his men to clear out the battlefield and dig trenches on the pass wall again overnight. Yao Bi was afraid of the Jin army's loud weapons and did not send anyone to attack at night.

As the sun set, the afterglow fell on the critical moment, and the Jin army soldiers were dyed red by the rays of light. Zhu Lingshi was in a gloomy mood, and the joy of breaking through the barrier had been wiped out by the collision of the Qin army's cavalry.

According to the Qin army's offensive, the Pass cannot be defended for more than a few days. If the Pass is broken, the 20,000 soldiers will be exposed to the cavalry and have no ability to resist. Zhu Lingshi has secretly discussed with Zhao Tian, ​​Zhang Feng and others.

Give way to Aoguan and retreat to Luocheng.

Zhang Feng strongly disagreed, believing that if he had reported the news of breaking the pass to his lord a month ago, the lord would definitely send troops to rescue him. Since he had worked so hard to break the pass, he should stand firm and wait for help, otherwise all his efforts would be wasted.

Zhu Lingshi frowned and held on for two more days. If there was still no reinforcements, he ordered to withdraw from Yaoguan. As the leader of the army, he was responsible for the lives of 20,000 soldiers under his command.

"General, look, reinforcements are coming." A cry of surprise made the soldiers turn around and look back at the critical moment. They saw flags flying in the distance and a dozen fast horses galloping towards Guanxia.

The cheers were earth-shattering, and the soldiers responded excitedly waving their flags.

The horse quickly passed through the camp under the pass and entered the pass, shouting loudly: "The lord himself has led an army to help."

The cheers became more and more earth-shattering, and Zhu Lingshi laughed loudly and said: "The lord has arrived in person, and the overall situation has been decided. Sons and gentlemen, please go with me to greet the lord."

Black shark armor, star-chasing horse, mulberry tree, Qingyun bow, Yang Anxuan's figure rises and falls slightly on the horse, but his waist is as straight as a pine, the bow is in his left hand, and his right hand frequently gestures to the cheering soldiers.

Zhu Lingshi, Zhao Tian and others rushed to greet Yang Anxuan, knelt down on one knee in front of Yang Anxuan's horse, and shouted loudly: "Welcome my lord."

The three armies shouted in unison, "Welcome the lord, welcome the lord, welcome the lord." The sound stopped and the birds fled away in shock.

Yang Anxuan looked at the men of the three armies, his heart was surging, he raised his long spear high in the air, and shouted back in a vibrating voice: "You men, kill the enemy, perform meritorious service, and regain Chang'an."

Soon, Yao Bi learned the news that Yang Anxuan had come to Yaoguan, and sneered: "I have tens of thousands of cavalry. Even if the gods and Buddhas come to the world, I will bow my head. Tomorrow I will go to battle in person and cut off Yang Anxuan's body."

Dog head, break the backbone of the Jin army and show your father how brave I am."

During this period, the Jin army was beaten like a turtle by him. When they were about to seize the Pass, Yang Anxuan actually led his army to help. Yao Bi was full of confidence and prepared to capture Yang Anxuan, turn the tide, convince all the ministers, and take the throne of the prince.

Leave it to yourself.

The next day, Yao Bi led 6,000 heavy cavalry and 8,000 light cavalry to attack the Aoguan Pass fiercely. He found that a new circle of chariots had been deployed outside the Aoguan Pass overnight, and the moon arc covered the Aoguan Pass behind the chariot formation. The chariots

Afterwards, the flags were flying, and the Jin army was ready.

Yao Bi sneered and said: "You are trying to make a fool of yourself. Even I, Iron Che, will smash him to pieces. Yin Hong, you ride forward to overwhelm the Jin army camp and seize the pass."

Yin Hong was the younger brother of Yin Chong, the servant of Huangmen who was a close confidant of Yao Bi. He received the order to mount his armor again and prepare to attack the Jin army's chariot formation.

General Liu Qiang was in the left army. When he saw the Jin army forming an arc car formation, he immediately recalled the scene when his late Qi Gong Yao Chong was defeated by Yang Anxuan outside Yanshi City. He immediately urged his horse to come to Yao Bi.

, cupped his hands and said: "General, this formation of the Jin army is powerful, so Qi Gong was defeated by this formation. General, please postpone the attack."

The relationship between Yao Bi and his third uncle was not good because Yao Chong supported the prince Yao Hong during his lifetime. Hearing Liu Qiang's words, Yao Bi said coldly: "You don't need to teach me how to fight. Why don't you return to our formation quickly?"

Otherwise, you will be punished for rebelling against the army."

Liu Qiang had no choice but to turn to the left side of the formation. Jiang Ji, an adviser beside Yao Bi, said softly: "My lord, don't underestimate the enemy. You might as well send three thousand people to test it out."

Yao Bi nodded. A moment later, Yin Hong led 3,000 heavy cavalry and charged menacingly towards the Jin army's chariot formation.

A hundred steps away, one could only hear the sound of gongs in the Jin army's formation, and the Jin soldiers on the chariot used wooden hammers to smash the triggers of the crossbows on the chariot.

After Zhang Gang surrendered to Yang Anxuan, he modified the chariot. The modified chariot was five feet long and eight feet wide, with three wheels on each side. It could be equipped with a bed crossbow, driven by oxen, and could carry several thousand kilograms.

.

Last night, Yang Anxuan ordered the chariots brought by Yang Anxuan to be connected with iron ropes to form an arc array. The arc formed by the three hundred chariots was four miles long. Each vehicle was equipped with a bed crossbow and fifty modified crossbows.

iron crossbow.

There are two crossbowmen on the cart, three bowmen, two hammermen, two shield bearers, two wolf bearers, two spearmen, three archers on the back of the cart, and eight feet on the cart.

A curtain was hung to block the arrows shot from the air.

Hearing the sound of the gong and the sound of "collapse", the dark crossbow arrows shot forward with a roar of death.

The Qin army's 3,000 heavy cavalry spread out over several miles. When Yin Hong saw the Jin army firing crossbows, he shouted: "Be careful to dodge."

Hundreds of crossbow arrows were fired at once, covering the entire front of the formation. The Qin army had no way to escape and could only rely on the heavy armor on their horses to resist.

The shrill roar was breathtaking, and the black crossbow arrows brought up blood all over the sky. Countless Qin army horses were pierced by the crossbow arrows in the blink of an eye. The horses wearing leather armor could not stop the crossbow arrows, and the iron arrows penetrated the rest of the horse's body.

He continued to shoot backwards without losing momentum.

The war horses neighed and fell to the ground, throwing the soldiers on them into a pool of blood. The cavalry behind them quickly reined in the horses, and the horses rushed forward with inertia under the load. Many of the horses broke their front hooves.

The second round of crossbow arrows came again, and there was another spray of blood from the horses. After several rounds of crossbow arrows, three thousand cavalrymen had fallen to the ground, and six or seven hundred cavalrymen had fallen to the ground. Yin Hong looked at the fallen soldiers in front of the horses, and he was covered in cold sweat. If it weren't for

After hearing Liu Qiang's warning, he rushed to the front line, but he was probably already lying in a pool of blood.

In the Qin army's formation, Yao Bi was dumbfounded. He never expected that the Jin army's crossbow arrows could easily tear through heavy armor. Jiang Ji said urgently: "My lord, quickly order the withdrawal."

The horn sounded, and the heavy cavalry of the Qin State turned their horses in despair and returned to camp, leaving the screams behind. Yang Anxuan did not order an attack and allowed the Qin army to send people to clean up the battlefield.

In the Qin army's camp, in Commander Yao Bi's tent, everyone had gloomy faces and said nothing, and the atmosphere in the tent was gloomy. Jiang Ji stood behind Yao Bi, stretched out his hand and gently pulled Yao Bi's clothes. Yao Bi woke up as if from a dream, and said with a forced smile: "

Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists, and you may have strategies to defeat the enemy. Liu Qiang, thank you for reminding me in advance, what can you do?"

Liu Qiang cupped his hands and said: "When Qi Gong was defeated by the Jin army's strange formation, he specially organized the generals to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy. I still remember a few of them."

Yao Bi perked up and said with a smile, "General Liu, please tell me."

"Firstly, when fighting with them in an open area, it is difficult for chariots to assemble into a formation. You can go around the empty space and rush in with light cavalry to easily defeat the enemy; secondly, when the chariot array uses iron crossbows to injure the enemy, iron crossbows are rare and can be used in small numbers.

Soldiers and horses lure the enemy, and then attack after their arrows are exhausted; thirdly, if the chariots are well defended, it is difficult to attack. If you defend the city, the danger, or the heights, the chariot formation will have no advantage." Liu Qiang spoke eloquently.

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Jiang Ji added on the side: "The strength of the chariot formation is to use bed crossbows to fire iron crossbow arrows, and the soldiers can be ordered to hold iron shields to block them; the Jin army used crossbow arrows, and our army can also use crossbow arrows to tear the chariots apart, and can also use sling stones to destroy the chariots."

.”

Everyone came up with various plans. Some said they could ram an earth platform and attack the Jin army from a high position. Others talked about building archery towers and digging trenches to block the advance of the chariots. For a while, they put aside the frustration of defeat.

The next day, Yao Bi did not lead his troops to fight because he did not think of a way to destroy the chariots. At this time, Tan Ma flew to report that the Jin army was coming towards the camp.

Yao Bi quickly climbed up to the high platform to watch the enemy. He saw the Jin army forming a square formation and advancing with drums beating. There were more than a thousand light cavalry cruising on both sides. They were still a few miles away from the east gate of the camp.

After carefully seeing that the Jin army did not dispatch chariots, Yao Bi became more confident and ordered the soldiers in the camp to stand ready. When the Jin army approached a hundred steps away, he would shoot with bows and arrows. He ordered Yin Hong and Liu Qiang to each lead 3,000 light cavalry from the north and south gates of the village.

He went out to attack the Jin army in a pinch; he also ordered his heavy cavalry to be ready to put on armor and leave the camp at any time to encircle them.

Two hundred steps away from the Qin camp, Yang Anxuan ordered five thousand soldiers and horses to form a circular formation. At this time, two teams of Qin cavalry had already rushed out. Zhu Lingshi and Zhang Feng each led a team of light cavalry. Seeing the Qin cavalry rushing out, they did not fight, but instead went towards

He retreated and vacated the circle.

Yesterday, Yin Hong led his heavy cavalry and was defeated by the powerful crossbows of the Jin army. He was eager to take revenge. When he saw the Jin army's infantry forming a formation, he raised his machete with a grin and swung it forward, shouting: "Kill all the Jin dogs."

On the other side, when Liu Qiang saw Yin Hong launching a charge, he also ordered to kill in the circular formation. The arrows rained down densely, unable to stop Qin Qi's charging speed at all, and the intensive sound of horse hooves shook the ground.

Yang Anxuan saw that the Qingqi were fifty steps away and ordered a change of formation. Thousands of soldiers came out carrying the wolf tent and placed the erected wolf tent at an angle, and branches immediately filled the space.

The Qingqi came at a rapid pace and could no longer rein in their horses, so they had to run straight towards the wolf fence. The soldiers slashed at the branches of the wolf fence with their swords, but the war horse was injured by the spikes tied to the wolf fence.

The war horses stood up in surprise, knocking off the Qin soldiers on their horses. Some horses turned around and fled, colliding with the light cavalry behind them, trampling on each other, and creating chaos.

Zhu Lingshi and Zhang Feng saw that Qin Qi was the enemy and led their troops to charge over. The Qin soldiers were in a panic and could not organize a counterattack. Yang Anxuan ordered his soldiers to charge forward with wolf spears.

On the high platform of the Qin army's camp, Yao Bi saw Qingqi defeated in an instant. Another thunderbolt from the blue shook him to his wits. He stared blankly at the fleeing Qingqi, at a loss.

Jiang Ji reminded: "Lord, send the army out of the camp quickly to rescue and cover the light cavalry back to the camp."

The heavy cavalry had not yet been dressed up, so Yao Bi had to send 2,000 light cavalry and 4,000 infantry out of the camp to help. Yang Anxuan estimated the time, sounded the trumpet, and retreated back to the Pass.
Chapter completed!