An arrow fell down and hit Zhang Xiaojing's helmet.
He was sitting under the battlement. He looked back and saw that the rebels' offensive today was beginning to decline, so he asked his soldiers: "How many thieves have I killed today?"
"Three including those who were shot down."
Zhang Xiaojing grinned and said, "I'm taking a break. Call me after dinner."
There was no place to cover the sun on the top of the city, and the setting sun was a little dazzling. He pulled his helmet down, closed his eyes, and felt sleepy smelling the smell of blood in the air. Behind him, the enemy troops were still rumbling.
But I have become accustomed to it.
After a while, two people sat next to him, one on the left and the other on the right. They were Yao Runeng and Ye Ping who were rescued by him in the imperial city last time.
"Injured?" Ye Ping said, taking out the medicine and wrapping it for him.
"It's a small injury." Zhang Xiaojing didn't open his eyes, "Just treat it like a mosquito bite."
Yao Runeng took out a pen and paper from his sleeve and asked, "Are you still practicing calligraphy today?"
"Xi." Zhang Xiaojing said: "When I can defend Chang'an, I will also become an official."
"Then tell me more about what you know about Yang Guozhong." Yao Runeng said.
On the side, soldiers were dragging away the corpses on the city wall. Zhang Xiaojing turned his head and looked at it, saying, "I suspect that the army chopped up these human flesh for us to eat."
Ye Ping said: "No, it was burned to avoid the plague."
"Why do you care about this when you starve to death?" Zhang Xiaojing said, "I just doubt it."
Yao Runeng urged: "Talk about Yang Guozhong."
"Eating dog intestines, I have to tell you when I have no strength. In the past two years, I have seen him entering the palace from time to time. His stirrups are made of gold and are so bright that you can see the cracks in the bricks on the ground."
Yao Runeng then wrote down the four characters "Golden stirrup shines on the ground" on the paper and taught Zhang Xiaojing how to call it.
Zhang Xiaojing said: "In September of the year before last, I was on guard duty at Xingqing Palace and was leading his horse. An orange fell from his saddlebags and fell to the ground. I didn't pay attention and stepped on it. He asked me to either compensate him or not.
Or eat the rotten oranges on the ground."
"Is it expensive?"
"In September, the oranges from Dongting Lake were delivered to Chang'an by express horse for the saint to taste. The rewards given to him are priceless in the market. Of course I can't afford to pay them back."
"Then you ate?"
"No." Zhang Xiaojing said, "I received twenty canes."
"So, you shot him with an arrow in Chencang?"
"Well, I shot him with an arrow."
Zhang Xiaojing agreed casually. Thinking of that night in Chencang, he licked his dry lips and murmured: "If you let me choose again at this moment, I will definitely eat the orange."
But Yao Runeng could feel the unyielding power of a little man in the face of power. Looking at today, the little man is still enduring hunger and sticking to Chang'an. Where is the powerful man?
He lowered his head and wrote for a while, then suddenly said: "Zhang Xiaojing, I don't plan to write "The Biography of Yang Guozhong" anymore."
"I told you earlier that Yang Guozhong has nothing to say."
"I plan to write about you! Write "The Biography of Zhang Xiaojing"."
"Then there's nothing much to write about."
"I wrote the story of you guarding Chang'an. What did you think at the time? Why did you go back to Chang'an? Why didn't you go to Shu County, Shuofang?"
"You are really nagging. I told you that I like Chang'an and would rather die in Chang'an."
"Do you regret it?"
Suddenly, the sound of war drums interrupted their conversation.
Zhang Xiaojing looked back and found that the rebels who had been attacking the city all day were still preparing to retreat. Xu Shi received new orders and gathered together with more rebels to kill them fiercely under the sunset.
It seems that the rebels will continue to fight at night, which is very different from their previous strategy. It should be noted that the walls of Chang'an are high and the city is strong. The best way to attack the city is to besiege the city until the food and grass are exhausted and people's hearts are broken. Maintain the offensive and maintain the defense.
The psychological pressure on the army is enough, and a night attack will also cause heavy casualties to the rebels.
Generally speaking, it is very difficult to train a Fan Yang Xiaoqi. It would be a pity if it was damaged under the city wall.
"Break the city!"
"Kill him!"
With two rounds of arrows fired at each other, the rebel soldiers rushed to the wall and set up ladders. This time, sharp soldiers in armor climbed up. Before, they were driving captive ants to attack the city.
The defenders picked up the stones and smashed them down, killing the elite rebels as they wished. Seeing the armored body hit the city wall, the sense of accomplishment was very different. But they had been fighting hard for a day, and they were exhausted mentally and physically.
.
Gradually, some rebels climbed onto the city.
"careful!"
Zhang Xiaojing pulled the unarmored Yao Runeng away and faced the enemy who was climbing up. He clearly felt that the opponent's martial arts and equipment were very different from before, so he slashed at him with his knife.
There was a clang of gold and gold, and his knife, which had many holes in it, was broken into two pieces.
"prick!"
Several defenders came side by side with their spears thrust out, and thrust the enemy soldier onto the battlement. He was thickly armored, but he was still alive. He roared and slashed with his sword, breaking two spears and injuring one person.
At the same time, another rebel soldier was about to climb up.
Zhang Xiaojing hurriedly rushed forward, swung his broken sword down, and slashed into the enemy soldier's neck with a "poof". He slashed twice, then quickly turned around and slashed with another sword, cutting off a hand that was caught on the battlement.
"ah!"
Amidst the screams, he finally killed two elite enemy soldiers in a row. The feeling was very different from the day.
"The thief who is a straight woman is ruining his fortune! Kill him, he will not lose anything by killing the enemy!"
Having said that, the rebels suddenly went all out, and the pressure on Chang'an City suddenly increased several times.
A voice that shook people's hearts soon appeared.
"Is the city going to be destroyed?"
"The rebels have begun to attack fiercely, and I'm afraid they won't be able to hold it any longer."
Once there is such a sound, deserters will soon appear.
At this moment, with the sound of horse hooves, a group of people came on horseback holding torches, it was Xue Bai.
"Soldiers, reinforcements have arrived! This is the last moment of madness for the rebels. Win this battle and the siege of Chang'an will be lifted!"
While Xue Bai was shouting, he asked people to light up his flag with torches so that the soldiers could see that he was still there.
He was also convinced of his own judgment. Cui Qianyou had always maintained his rationality after besieging Chang'an City for so long. Suddenly, he pushed Fan Yangxiao, who was good at field combat, down the city wall at all costs, which must have given him bad news.
Because of his determination, Xue Bai's words were extremely powerful. He didn't even notice that his mood was actually one of surprise, and his shouts were louder than before. This power infected the soldiers, so everyone cheered "Win the last battle." "Battle", the morale becomes stronger.
In the past, when the morale of the defenders was high, the rebels would temporarily avoid the front. But not this time. This time it was tit-for-tat and they fought fiercely until dawn.
When a ray of morning light penetrated the clouds and shone on the top of Chang'an City, many people thought that they had won the last battle, so they looked at the rebel army outside the city, expecting it to retreat.
"Woo——"
The trumpet sounded louder and louder, and another group of rebels began to press forward, maintaining a fierce offensive on the city head.
~~
"Has the news come back?"
When Jiang Hai rushed over from Xicheng, Xue Bai couldn't wait to ask.
"No." Jiang Hai shook his head and said: "The rebels are blocking the outside of the city. With this kind of offensive, the reinforcements' sentry horses will not be able to get through."
"Where is the Forbidden Garden in the north?"
The Forbidden Garden occupies a large area and is not easy to be surrounded. Xue Bai thought that maybe the sentry horses could break through to Chang'an from there.
"The Wei River, Chan River, and Zao River are all blocked by rebel troops."
Without information, Xue Bai's judgment cannot be confirmed.
He then held up a telescope and looked at the enemy camp in the distance, trying to deduce the situation through the movement of rebel troops.
The number of rebel camps has not decreased.
In addition, the rebel camp was always billowing with dust and smoke, exactly the same as a few days ago.
There are several possibilities for this, either the rebel cavalry has recently lost weight in the camp; or Cui Qianyou doesn't want Xue Bai to see the movement of his troops; or the soldiers and horses have already been moved away and are being deceived.
"It's okay. If you keep persisting, victory is not far away."
After another day of fierce fighting, in the evening, the rebels were still attacking the city, and another group of fresh troops came to fight.
Xue Bai's brain was in a state of excitement. Gradually, the excitement passed, and he finally felt a little tired. Of course, he could still hold on, and he believed that Cui Qianyou must be even more tired than him at this moment.
Taking advantage of the opportunity for the rebels to adjust their forces, he returned to the tower, sat down in front of the map, closed his eyes, and began to imagine that he was Cui Qianyou.
"I am Cui Qianyou, Cui Qianyou..."
Xue Bai murmured, pursed his lips, and turned the corners of his mouth down, showing some ferocity. He became a child of a noble family, with a noble status. Unfortunately, his family fell into decline and he suffered from cold looks. He must do something big. Teach people all over the world to see.
"Conquer Chang'an."
With this obsession, Xue Bai opened his eyes and looked at the entire Guanzhong Plain. There were Qinling Mountains in the south, Longshan Mountain in the west, Loess Plateau in the north, and the roaring Yellow River in the east. This meant that it was not easy for reinforcements to come.
"I had enough time to capture Chang'an before the Tang army came to support. But I didn't expect that Chang'an would be defended longer than I expected. Shuofang's army came from the west, what did they want to do? It was Li Heng who wanted to fish for it. Or should we support Chang'an? I will send five thousand people to the west."
As he spoke, he laid out the war chess, and 70,000 troops came to the city. After that, he began to promote the war chess game.
In the past, it was always the case that he got the exact information. If there is no information about the future situation, he can only rely on speculation.
After several consecutive deductions, he could not come up with the possible reasons for Cui Qianyou's sudden attack on Chang'an, so he had to start over.
"I have the powerful Fan Yang Xiaoqi. I will fight decisively in the wild and sweep away the Tang army."
Following these sharp and decisive words, "Cui Qianyou"'s eyes turned ruthless, and he suddenly took action, pushing the 30,000 Yan Army cavalry directly to Fufeng.
Before, Xue Bai didn't know what Yan Wu would do and didn't dare to make such an idea, but now he no longer cares about what Yan Wu would do. Instead, he thought, what does Cui Qianyou dare not do?
"Tian Chengsi, just go. Our plan is not only for Chang'an, but also for the whole world! Chang'an is already in our pocket, and we should destroy Li Heng from now on. Since he dares to come, teach him what elites are!"
Cui Qianyou, a fearless and arrogant rebel, appeared in front of Xue Bai with ambition in his eyes.
Xue Bai looked across the map at Cui Qianyou in front of him, launched a war chess piece, and said: "At this time, I will send a surprise army to capture Huayin."
"You can't do it." Cui Qianyou said.
"Remember Wang Wei? He helped the troops out of the Pass, and then he pretended to attack Lantian. You should be slow one step at a time, and slow down every step."
"I have left more than a thousand soldiers and horses in Huayin, and once I get the news, I will send troops to support them. They can arrive in two hours."
Xue Bai said: "These are my private soldiers, not the Chang'an garrison. The equipment they are equipped with is enough to capture Huayin in two hours."
Cui Qianyou sneered and said, "As soon as my strong soldiers arrive, we can kill all these rats in one fell swoop."
"The baggage line is broken." Xue Bai said: "Have you forgotten? You are lying now. In fact, you will only know that the baggage line is broken, and your main troops will think that Tongguan has been lost."
Cui Qianyou was stunned, disappeared for a moment, changed to a solemn expression, and murmured: "Tang Jun cut off my baggage."
Xue Bai pointed at Tongguan and said: "Part of Huayin's defeated army fled back to Tongguan and told the Tongguan defenders that the Tang army captured Huayin. What will they think? They will think that the main force of the rebels has been defeated."
"We are not fools, we will immediately send sentries to investigate!"
"But in just half a day, my men can blow up the Beast Threshold Valley and block the official roads. They can station themselves in the Forbidden Valley and cut off your communication with Tongguan."
"I'll clear them out!"
"How long? They only need to defend for three days, and the Tongguan defenders will fly on horseback to inform An Qingxu that the Yan army in Guanzhong has been defeated."
Cui Qianyou was furious and shouted: "I can break through Tongguan in three days."
"But your emperor is An Qingxu, can he tell the news? He will only know that the northwest frontier army has entered Guanzhong, something serious is going on, and he will definitely call you to retreat."
"I can persuade your Majesty."
"You can't persuade me, because once the news spreads, the waiting counties will regain their confidence in Chang'an and immediately come to King Qin. All my plans, whether it is to welcome the saint back, whether it is a bluff, including sending surprise troops to attack Huayin. In the final analysis, it is to give confidence to the Tang army in the counties. As long as there is hope, people can do many impossible things." Xue Bai said: "You know, the difference between Li Guangbi and An Qingxu Where?"
"Li Guangbi won't come."
"No, Li Guangbi will dare to come as long as he can get some good news. But An Qingxu will never dare to gamble as long as he gets some bad news!"
"fart!"
"Your front is too long. As long as Li Guangbi cuts off Shaanxi Province, you will be finished."
Cui Qianyou was unwilling to give in. He stood up suddenly, looked at Xue Bai fiercely, pointed his finger at Chang'an on the map, and said word by word: "Before this, I will conquer Chang'an!"
"What did you say?"
"I will conquer Chang'an! I will conquer Chang'an first at all costs!"
Xue Bai opened his eyes wide, looked at Cui Qianyou's devouring expression in front of him, and suddenly laughed.
With this smile, the fierce Cui Qianyou disappeared little by little, and there was no one on the opposite side of Xue Bai. But he had pieced together a reason why the rebels suddenly went crazy and attacked Chang'an.
Smiling, he felt sleepy, and had the thought of "just squinting for a while" in his mind.
After that, Xue Bai stood up, rubbed his face, and forced himself to think again about whether there were other possibilities.
This was extremely difficult. When he imagined a good situation, subconsciously he was very reluctant to imagine a situation that was unfavorable to him. There was always a voice in his mind saying, "There is no other possibility. That was the only one just now." situation."
"You are wrong, Xue Bai."
Cui Qianyou appeared in front of him again in his mind, tapping the map with his fingers, and said calmly: "The reason why I attacked Chang'an has nothing to do with you."
Xue Bai closed his eyes, tapped the map with his fingers, and asked in his mind: "Really?"
Cui Qianyou said: "Li Heng has received the support of Tang troops from various towns and will soon come to reap the benefits. I have no choice but to break through Chang'an as soon as possible, enter the city, and meet Li Heng."
With these words, Cui Qianyou's image became clear, and he looked determined and resolute.
Xue Bai said: "It's impossible, he won't be so fast."
"He is more capable than you expected?"
"What else can he do if he borrows troops from Huihe?"
Cui Qianyou pondered and didn't speak for a long time, but the sound of his fingers tapping on the table kept ringing softly, "Du, du, du, du..."
"Okay, Li Heng surrendered Shi Siming. In this way, the general trend is with him, and the Tang troops in each town bowed their heads and obeyed his orders. But I, Dayan, lost Fan Yang, retreated and fought a last-ditch battle. Do you understand? It's not your ridiculous plan, but The war between you and me is over, next is the war between me and Li Heng."
Having said this, Cui Qianyou stood up, looked at Xue Bai with burning eyes, and said word by word: "So, I will win Chang'an at all costs."
This time, Xue Bai did not smile, and his eyes revealed a look of thoughtfulness.
He thought of the worst-case scenario, but now he was trapped in Chang'an City and couldn't even send sentries. The rebel offensive seemed to be endless. He had no way to arrange a new response.
"No."
For a long time, Xue Bai murmured: "If this is the case, Cui Qianyou, the first thing you do is not to attack Chang'an violently, but to send envoys to surrender."
After understanding this, he felt relieved a little, thinking that everything he had to do had been done, and now he just had to trust everyone who worked together.
Suddenly, a soldier outside reported something.
"Mr. Lang, Cui Qianyou has sent an envoy!"
~~
Yan army camp.
There were many generals standing on the battlefield, but Cui Qianyou was nowhere to be seen.
He was sitting alone in the big tent, muttering to himself in front of the map.
"The last battle? No, you are wrong, this is just your last battle."
In Cui Qianyou's mind, there is also Xue Bai.
Xue Bai was standing on top of Chang'an City to boost morale, so Cui Qianyou strode over, grabbed Xue Bai's neck, showed a confident smile and said: "I know what you are thinking, it's useless."
At this point, he suddenly opened his eyes.
"Come here, I want to send an envoy to surrender Chang'an!"
"Send the order! Let Tang Jun know that they are certain to die, and break their confidence for me!"
~~
"Li Cong, Xue Bai, since you killed the faint king, and now Li Heng has come to attack you and others, why don't you surrender to Dayan and fight the enemy together?"
Yao Runeng was also guarding the city, but while fighting, he stopped. Looking in the distance, Xue Baizheng shot the rebel envoy to death with an arrow.
"Dong dong dong dong!"
The sound of war drums became louder and louder, covering up the shouts of the rebels outside the city wall.
But vaguely, I can still hear some.
Yao Runeng hid behind the tower, picked up a pen and paper, and recorded something.
Sometimes he listened, sometimes he thought.
"What are you doing?" Suddenly someone came over and picked him up and asked.
"Zhang Xiaojing, tell me, are what they said true?" Yao Runeng asked.
"This is the strategy of the rebels." Zhang Xiaojing said: "If the King of Peiping had committed regicide, he would have made peace with the rebels long ago."
"But the saint has never shown his face since he returned to Chang'an."
"Does the saint need to see you?!"
Yao Runeng said: "What I'm afraid of is that Chang'an has no reinforcements at all, and we will be taken advantage of by the King of Peiping."
"Stop talking! Go kill the enemy."
"Have a rest and listen to me." Yao Runeng hugged Zhang Xiaojing and said: "Chang'an does not belong to people like us. Look at them, they have golden stirrups, horses, and famous ladies and fine wines. What about us? They have caused a great chaos.
But you are fighting desperately to kill the enemy, and I am afraid that you have been betrayed without knowing it."
"open."
"If the King of Peking commits regicide, what's the difference between him and An Qingxu? What else do you want to guard?"
Zhang Xiaojing held Yao Runeng's face and said: "Listen, you asked me yesterday, and I tell you, I have no regrets. I am not guarding for the King of Peiping, nor am I guarding for the saint. If all the people in Chang'an city
He's a bastard like Yang Guozhong, and I don't care if the rebels kill him for three days and three nights. But Chang'an City is not only theirs, but also ours."
He didn't know what he thought of, a smile appeared on his face, he broke away from Yao Runeng's hand and ran to kill the enemy.
When turning around, he pointed to the lights of Chang'an City behind him and emphasized again: "Ours, it belongs to us."
Chang'an City, thousands of lights.
In the Daci'en Temple, under a high hanging lantern, Jia Chang's legs were wrapped in bloody wrappings. He was pretending to be a wounded soldier and was making medicine for his injuries.
This was arranged for him by the unknown Jifang kid last time. He thought it was good. He didn't have to go to the city to die, but he could also contribute a small amount to defend the city within his ability.
Suddenly, a small colored bamboo ball rolled to his feet. Jia Chang liked Cuju and would kick it out of habit. Then he remembered that he was the injured person.
"Abo."
A little girl of four or five years old ran over awkwardly, pointed at the little colored ball, and said, "Mine."
Jia Chang smiled and said, "Take it."
The little girl picked up the colorful ball and looked doubtfully into the dark night in the distance, saying, "Uncle, what's over there?"
"There's a war going on."
"Why fight?"
Jia Chang couldn't answer, so a wounded soldier next to him asked: "What if we don't fight and the rebels come into the city and stew you little baby for army rations?"
"Wow!" The little girl immediately started crying in fright.
Jia Chang had no choice but to comfort him repeatedly and blame the wounded soldier for talking nonsense.
"What nonsense? Isn't that what it is?" The wounded soldier said matter-of-factly: "When the rebels attack the city, aren't they just burning, killing and looting?!"
Jia Chang was speechless.
Soon, a white-haired woman came over, pulled the little girl away, and said nonchalantly: "Stop crying, wait until your grandpa guards the city, then I will take you to see "Journey to the West", okay?"
?”
"We also want to see the cockfighting show, General Cockscomb."
"Okay, okay, your grandpa will also be a general by then..."
Jia Chang listened and thought, where is the fighting cock? All the fighting cocks were eaten.
He sat quietly making medicine until midnight, when a group of wounded soldiers came back, covering their wounds and saying, "Is there anyone left who can move? The last battle is over, the rebels have been repulsed, and Chang'an has completely lifted the siege."
"The brothers in the city have been fighting continuously for two days and two nights. There are brothers who have recovered from their injuries and will seize the final opportunity to make meritorious deeds."
Jia Chang quickly lowered his head and remained silent.
Further away, it seemed that someone was forcibly recruiting strong men, because he heard an old voice shouting.
"I'm not going! I'm already sixty-seven years old."
The sound got farther and farther away, becoming less and less audible.
Suddenly, Jia Chang heard someone crying. He turned around and saw that the kid from Jifang he had seen last time was staggering back covered in blood. The old abbot of Daci'en Temple hurriedly rushed forward to help him.
live.
"Strong man, what are you doing?"
"My...family members are here..."
When Jia Chang heard this, he thought he was just talking about himself, and without caring about anything else, he quickly stood up and stepped forward.
The next moment, a thin woman rushed forward, hugged the Jifang boy, and cried loudly.
"Don't cry...it's the last battle...I defended Chang'an...Chang'an is so good..."
"Don't die, wuwu... I beg you, don't die. You have saved enough. I haven't spent a penny of the rewards you earned for your military exploits. I asked today if we can buy a house in Chang'an City. Can you buy a house in Chang'an City?"
Chang'an settled down..."
Jia Chang stood behind them, a little embarrassed, neither advancing nor retreating.
He wanted to hide back, but then the Jifang boy turned his head and looked at him.
The two looked at each other, and Jia Chang was stunned. At this moment, he read a lot from his eyes, as if he was begging him to guard Chang'an City for him, because he wanted to settle down in Chang'an so much.
Jia Chang then thought to himself, what's the use of guarding it by myself alone?
He turned around cautiously, but recalled the words "Chang'an is so nice" in his mind. It was not just what Jifang Xiao'er said, but what he had heard since he was a child, giving him the dignity and dignity of a Chang'an person.
pride.
But lately, he often feels no dignity, only shame.
So, under the eyes of everyone, he turned around and asked: "You just said that this is... the last battle?"