Autumn in western Liaoning has begun to turn cold.
But compared to the harsh wind outside the Great Wall, the environment here is much gentler.
This is the favorite time for many Huqi. The air in Han Dynasty seems to be filled with the fragrance of wheat.
They all know that the Han people are the richest during this season.
Gold, silver, cloth, grain, and white-haired women or men...
Driven by desire, Hu Qi went south and attacked Feiru City at the cost of his life.
It was as fat as the original rammed earth city wall, covered with pieces of flesh and blood.
Several black smoke pillars rose into the sky and lingered for a long time.
Gongsun Gu stood at the top of the city with disheveled hair.
His face was covered with black, gray and maroon blood stains, and his beard on his chin was clumped together.
He leaned on the notched long knife and watched as a wave of barbarians as dense as a swarm of ants retreated, leaving countless corpses under the city.
As the county magistrate, coordinating the internal and external affairs, and taking the lead at this time, it was a big burden for Gongsun Gu.
He could barely stand, overwhelmed by physical and mental exhaustion.
But he still held the long knife, with a calm face, and smiled at the subordinates beside him: "Go, count how many corpses these barbarians have left behind this time?"
The subordinates around him were equally tired and laughed in harmony with him: "Countless!"
When the soldiers on the left and right heard this, they also laughed with joy.
On the city wall, everyone was injured, but morale could still be maintained.
After a few more instructions, Gongsun Gu casually threw away the long knife in his hand, wiped the blood on his face, and strode towards the barracks under the city wall under the admiring eyes of the soldiers.
As soon as he entered the tent, Gongsun Gu's originally straight back suddenly collapsed.
Out of sight of the soldiers, he no longer had to pretend.
His whole personality became dejected.
"County Lord." The cronies following behind him hurriedly supported his shaky body.
"It's okay." Gongsun Gu waved his hand, and with the help of his trusted aide, he sat on the bench and breathed heavily.
He lifted the kettle on the desk and brought it to his mouth, only to find that the kettle was empty. He threw it away angrily and asked his cronies: "How much food and grass is left in the city?"
The confidant looked embarrassed, but still said truthfully: "It won't last more than three days."
Hearing this, Gongsun Gu was stunned for a long time and sighed heavily.
Are you going to watch the barbarians wreaking havoc in the Northland again?
This situation has happened again every year during the three years since he took office.
Every year, he would taste this most bitter taste in the world.
Thinking of this matter, Gongsun Gu's expression darkened.
Seeing this, his cronies comforted him: "You don't have to be like this, Lord County. No, isn't it said that support from the Lingzhi side has come? Maybe..."
Like Gongsun Gu, the henchman, who was in a mess and tired, could no longer talk.
As the person Gongsun Gu relied on most, he knew that great changes had taken place in Lingzhi City.
Yuan's army bypassed Xiangguan and joined forces with the rebellious bandits to attack Lingzhi. The prefect Gongsun Jing was killed in the rebellion.
Later, although Zhao Yun, the magistrate of Lulong County, sent troops to support and turned the tide, the whole western Liaoning Province changed.
I'm afraid that western Liaoning will never be Gongsun's western Liaoning again.
Gongsun Gu smiled bitterly: "How can Ling Zhi have any spare strength to support him?"
As he spoke, he took out a silk book from the hidden compartment of the desk.
This is a letter from the clan sister Gongsun Yan.
Gongsun Gu did not believe a word of what was said in the letter.
According to Gongsun Gu's analysis, it is now a certainty that Liaoxi will change its surname to Zhao.
When he thought about it, he was afraid that the Gongsun family had already been manipulated by Zhao Yun, so he pushed out this little girl Gongsun Yan.
Under such circumstances, how could those precious grains and troops be handed over to support Gongsun Gu?
Not to mention, as the letter said, two fierce generals were leading the troops.
Gongsun Gu thought, the little girl is easy to deceive.
Strong generals are not weeds on the roadside. There are only a handful of them in western Liaoning that can be called strong generals. How could they be driven by her and get two at once?
Sighing again, Gongsun Gu crumpled the silk book in his hand into a ball and stuffed it back into its original place.
With the help of his confidants, he took off his armor, barely washed himself and changed his clothes, then lay down in the tent and fell asleep.
The sun sets and rises again.
The flesh and blood on the city wall were simply washed with water, but there were still traces of sauce.
After resting for the night, both sides started running again.
After a restless night's sleep, Gongsun Gu changed his clothes, tied up his hair, cleansed his face, and stood on the city wall again with a refreshed face.
The barbarians outside the city were also busy cutting down trees, moving tree trunks, and building ladders and siege equipment.
Groups of barbarian cavalry wearing dirty sheepskin robes ran around outside the range of arrows, shouting and inviting battle.
The strongest county lieutenant under his command had died in the battle. In response to these barbarians' provocations and invitations to fight, Gongsun Gu could only pretend that he could not understand clearly.
Provocations and invitations to fight were useless, and the barbarians in the distance let out deliberately harsh laughter.
What's more, they took off their pants and made obscene gestures on the tower.
The fat defenders on top of the city tower all turned red in the face.
Gongsun Gu could only wish to cut these pieces of debris into pieces with a thousand knives, but his face remained as calm as before.
Two hours later, the siege began, and instantly arrows were flying inside and outside the city.
The iron arrows of the Han army and the bone arrows of the Hu people were like swarms of flying locusts, crisscrossing in the air.
Gongsun Gu stood on the top of the wall, with a large banner erected behind him, and his followers held up wooden shields covered with several layers of cowhide to protect him from the rain of arrows.
His eyes fell on the city.
Under the pressure of a group of Hu cavalry with obviously excellent armor and swords.
Ragged slaves and the old, weak, sick and disabled at the bottom of the tribe formed a dense crowd, dragging ladders towards the city wall.
This kind of scene of oppression among the same clan, this kind of habit of valuing the strong and despising the old and the weak, and killing the father and brother when angry, is actually common among many tribes outside the Great Wall.
But Gongsun Gu still feels frightened every time he sees it.
The Han army's arrows arced in the air and then fell like rain.
Every time they fall into the crowd, countless people fall.
The people behind him stepped on the fallen body and continued to move forward.
Hu Qi, the supervising team member, fell behind the crowd and killed those who tried to retreat and escape on the spot.
After a while, the crowd approached the city wall, and dozens of crooked ladders were erected.
"Don't retreat! Hold on!"
The arrow rain had stopped, and Gongsun Gu ran on the city wall, urging the defenders along the way to hold on to the spears in their hands.
At the entrance of the crenel, stab the enemy who is probing down.
At this time, no one has time to think about anything else.
Both sides fell into the most primitive and bloody fighting.
Gongsun Gu carried a Han army's standard ring-headed sword and struck a barbarian who was climbing up the ladder head-on.
This young Wuhuan had a scimitar in his mouth. As soon as he stuck his head out of the crenel, his head was cut in half by Gongsun Gu.
Red and white water flowed out from the crack. Before he could scream, he lost consciousness and fell directly on the ladder.
The body was then pushed away as an obstruction by those who caught up with him.
It fell from the ladder and was impaled on the broken spear at the bottom of the city wall.