First there was a sound, and then, like an echo, the long sound of horns came from all directions, like a rising tide, surrounding the lonely Juyong City.
Juyong City is sandwiched between Qingyishui and Badaling. The surrounding terrain is very gentle and there is no danger at all. However, from a broad perspective, the location of Juyong City is still very safe. There is Xiguan in the east and the Great Wall in the north. With this
With the two lines of defense in place, Juyong City can sit back and relax.
In fact, just by looking at the name, you can tell that the original purpose of building this city was not to build a permanent fortress to guard the border west of Youzhou. It is just that it is more conducive to living here because the land here is irrigated by abundant river water.
, and there are mountains to block the severe cold coming from the north, making it an ideal area for organizing farming.
If it weren't for the barbarians who invaded for years, and if there weren't the fights between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan, this place would have been a paradise.
But there are not so many ifs in the world. Starting from the twelfth lunar month of the first year of Kaiyuan, an unprecedented disaster befell the ordinary people, shattering their dream of staying away from the hustle and bustle of the Central Plains.
When the catastrophe first began, people only had anger and resentment in their hearts. The strong resentment was directed not only at Gongsun Zan who was attacking the city, but also at Liu Yu inside the city.
People have no intention of distinguishing the right and wrong between these two big shots. If the matter has nothing to do with them, they may still be interested in treating this public case as gossip after dinner. But now, as a snipe and a clam fighting, they are in trouble.
It's impossible for them to have a favorable impression of either party.
Gongsun Zan, who commanded the army to attack the city and directly brought the threat of death to everyone, is certainly hateful, but how can Liu Yu, who led the disaster to Juyong City, be a good person?
The legendary virtue of diligence, thrift and caring for the people has never been exaggerated in Juyongguan, but exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have never been rare. In critical moments, Liu Shijun even used his home as a shelter and pulled his relatives to the top of the city to block it.
arrow!
It would be a big joke if anyone felt grateful to such a person.
Everyone just hopes that Liu Yu will be finished soon, not because of any emotional inclination, but purely out of considerations of ending the war as soon as possible. Expect Liu Yu's hundreds of remaining soldiers to defeat Gongsun Zan? Isn't that going against the grain?
When assisting in the defense, the common people did not work hard. Anyway, Liu Yu's troops were limited and it was impossible to keep an eye on every corner of the battlefield. Gongsun Zan was able to destroy the city in a short time, which is not unrelated to this.
When Gongsun Zan entered the city, the behavior of the common people changed.
Although they still didn't have much favorable impressions of Gongsun Zan, and they cursed him in their hearts for bringing disaster to everyone, and their eyes were full of fear and uneasiness, everyone mustered up their courage and used all their strength in the battle to defend the city.
Just at this moment, the sound of horns coming from outside the city was like a signal. In the ruins of the city, surrounded by fireworks, people stood up one after another. With firm steps, they stepped over the corpses on the ground and picked up weapons.
, rushing towards the dilapidated city wall.
The essence of this war is still an unreasonable disaster, but the nature has changed. It is the Hu people who attack the city, and the Han army who defends the city. Everyone is not forced to climb the city wall to be cannon fodder, but to protect their homeland.
The siege skills of the siege attackers were mediocre. As soon as they got close to the city wall, they fired several rounds. The arrows hit the top of the city in pieces, and pieces of gravel and soil flew up. Together with the blooming blood flowers, they blocked the pale sun.
.
It was not difficult for the defenders to respond to the stylized attack. Minzhuang, who was assisting in the battle, quickly squatted down behind the battlements and raised the shield made of the door panels of his own house or someone else's house above his head. The veterans of the Han army who had experienced hundreds of battles even more
He was able to move with ease, placing his body behind the battlements to avoid arrows, while observing the enemy's movements through the arrows.
Soon, the attackers discovered that this move did not have much effect, and it also consumed a lot of arrows. Therefore, as soon as the Chinese army's flag changed, dead soldiers carrying battering rams and ladders immediately rushed towards the city gate and the city gate.
city wall.
The ladder was very crude, and the green bark of the tree was not peeled off. It was obviously made in a hurry, and the power of the hammer was not strong. If the impact was too violent, it might fall apart. But the defenders did not care at all.
Don't be careless, because the walls of Juyong City are also very short, and the city gates are not much stronger than a battering ram.
Sharp arrows poked out from the arrow stacks. The Han archers did not launch a volley, but fired very targeted bursts.
The sharp arrows screamed and rushed towards the siege formation. A small number of them were blocked by the shields made of branches and covered with cowhide, while more passed through the simple shield array and caused waves in the crowd.
"Ah!" A strong man dropped the ladder and clutched his chest tightly. He looked at the arrow shaft half exposed on his chest in disbelief and wanted to pull it out. However, the strength of running like flying while carrying the ladder failed.
Because of the rapid loss of severe pain, he was unable to move the arrow shaft at all. He could only feel the rapid passage of life before his eyes, and staggered down.
As he lay dying, he murmured softly: "Two heads of cows!"
Someone heard it, but no one cared about their companions, so they moved even faster.
This is a first-place reward offered by Mr. Xianyu. Whether he stays in Youzhou and becomes a Han, or escapes to become a barbarian outside the Great Wall, life will continue. If you can get this reward, your future life will be guaranteed.
How about working hard?
The Han army's archery was precise, and the ladders lost their balance, injuring the warriors carrying the ladders, and the rams stopped again and again, advancing at a snail's pace. But the dead soldiers ignored their comrades.
The casualties came one after another, rushing toward the city wall like a tide. The arrows were intercepted several times but failed to stop them. They watched helplessly as the siege equipment came into contact with the city wall.
"Throw the log!" Gongsun Zan suddenly stood up, waving his right arm that could still be used, and shouted loudly.
The soldiers guarding the city put down their bows, lifted up the rolling logs from behind the battlements, and smashed them down along the ladders. There were wailing sounds from below the city, and the soldiers who tried to climb the city and hold the ladders were knocked down one after another, and the offensive suddenly stalled.
.
After all, the Zahu Army had a large number of people. After days of fierce fighting, they had become accustomed to such tragic scenes. After the officer's order, they quickly reorganized their offensive.
If you attack the city first, your family will be sent away early, regardless of life or death. You will escape from the hands of the murderous King Yama, and Mr. Xian Yu will fulfill your promise without compromise. As long as you don't become a deserter, your family will get the two cows.
You can take the reward with you on the road!
The one who climbs the city wall will be rewarded with five other sheep. If he is the first one, the reward will be doubled!
There must be brave men under a heavy reward, not to mention that the enemy defending the city is at the end of its battle and is in danger. Who doesn't want to earn more credit? If you are lucky and get Gongsun Zan's head, one hundred cattle and three hundred sheep.
Rewards, even in the bitter cold outside the Great Wall, can make people live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
With such a mood, the Zahu army rushed towards the city wall one after another, climbed up the ladder with swords in their teeth, and resisted the rolling logs with simple shields or their bodies.
"Pour water!" As if to extinguish the enthusiasm in the enemy's heart, after the rolling logs lost their effectiveness, Gongsun Zan shouted a strange-sounding order.
"Wow..."
However, when hundreds of people carried buckets and wooden basins and risked their lives to lean out from the top of the city, and when the slightly warm water emitted white mist and poured down on their heads like a whitewash, even under the heavy reward,
The brave men who were not afraid of arrows and rolling logs all changed their faces.
Water, of course, has no lethality, but it is winter now! This is the northern frontier where dripping water turns into ice!
The heat has dissipated in the air. The water poured down cools at a speed visible to the naked eye, taking away the heat from the human body. But this is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is that the ladder begins to slip because the water is freezing.
!Although it won’t freeze to a solid state immediately, the slippery and cold feeling can make even the bravest person tremble.
Under the city wall, people were on their backs and their horses were overturned.
No matter how high the morale is, it will only be ruined after suffering such a terrible head-on blow.
The Zahu army retreated like a tide, and many people had already begun to tear off their clothes before their feet even touched the ground. Of course they were not crazy, but in this severe cold, if they didn't deal with it as soon as possible, they would wait until the water turned into ice and their clothes would be torn.
If it sticks to the skin, don't even think about removing it, as it may cause the skin to fall off the body.
"Don't waste water, release arrows, release arrows, aim and shoot!" Gongsun Zan saw that the enemy's momentum was slightly weakened, and immediately changed his strategy. The archers leaned out half of their bodies, aimed at the hurriedly retreating enemy, and fired another rain of arrows.
This time it was a volley, and the effect was much better than before. The hurried enemy troops had neither archers to cover nor shields to cover them, and they suffered heavy casualties immediately.
The Zahu troops who had retreated in a hurry were gathered together, and in front of both the enemy and ourselves, the officers leading the team were executed under military law. After simple threats and mobilization, another wave of rebels, led by a new lieutenant,
Rushing towards the city wall again.
First, there was a suppressive shooting with feather arrows, and then a rapid charge. He raised the ladder on the corpse of his companion, raised the battering ram, and mechanically repeated the previous process.
Gongsun Zan's command was still strong, but his heart had sunk.
There are too many enemies. Even if human lives are used to consume the physical strength and resources of the defenders, there is no doubt that victory will be achieved. Although snow can be turned into water, the defense mode just now cannot be carried out a few times. Boil snow and turn into water.
The steps are very long.
Brother Xianyu is not a famous general, but he still has these basic common sense. If the opponent is worried about casualties, there is still a way to last longer, but now...
"Lord..." Gongsun Zan responded and turned his head, only to see Chang Shi Guanjing looking at him with concern.
He shook his head. He knew what Guan Jing wanted to say. Guan Jing was not the first person to persuade him to break out of the encirclement, but it seemed that he might be the last one. However, what dignity did he have to break out of the encirclement?
Thirty thousand men trusted him unreservedly, followed him north, and fought two enemy armies of more than 100,000 people... Now more than half of them have died in the battle. Let me ask, if I had escaped alone, would I have survived?
, will you be able to live with peace of mind in the future?
No! Of course not!
"The barbarians are raging in Youzhou, all because of Zan. The matter has come to this. Today, we can only fight to the death!" He flatly rejected the suggestion of his staff. Guan Jing still wanted to persuade him, but at this moment, a sudden sound came from the distance.
There was a loud noise.
When the two of them raised their eyes to look anxiously, they found that the sound was coming from the southeast, where there was smoke and dust like pillars, straight into the sky. Under the smoke and dust, the sound of drums and horns came from the ground.
"This is..." Above and below the city, both sides of the battle changed their expressions. (To be continued...)