"...Your Highness the Prince, Your Highness the Prince..."
A general found Shahalu who was fighting and suddenly hugged Shahalu's hands.
"What dare you? The Ming army is about to rush over. Why don't you go and kill the enemy?" Shaharu struggled for a moment, but did not break free.
The general took out a token and said quickly: "I have a secret order from His Majesty the Sultan to protect His Highness the Prince in times of crisis. The Nusrato Ku Fortress cannot be defended. Please leave with me."
Shaharul only glanced at it and recognized it as his father's ring. Obviously what the general said was true. He raised his eyes and glanced, and based on his experience, he could naturally see that his side was retreating steadily now, and the Nusrato Ku Fortress could indeed not be defended.
But Shaharul was not willing to give in. He suddenly slashed at the battlement in front of him with his sword, sparks bursting out.
"When I was in Herat City, I escaped. Now at Nusrato Ku Fortress, I want to escape again. Will I go to Samarkand in the future and continue to escape?"
Shaking his head, "I don't want to escape, so I'll fight the Ming army here! I want to live or die with Nusrato Ku Fortress, kill me!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Shaharul's words inspired the bloody courage of the Timurid people, and someone immediately responded with a loud shout.
The general put away the ring token, stepped forward and punched Shaharul in the back of the head.
Shaharul was not prepared for this blow and instantly rolled his eyes and fainted to the ground.
The general immediately said to the soldiers: "Take the prince and let's go to Samarkand immediately!"
The two soldiers took out the cloth bags they had prepared long ago, put Shahalu directly in them, put them on their shoulders and hurriedly walked down the city wall.
A group of people came out from behind the fortress, and thousands of cavalry escorted Shaharul away.
At the same time, a team of fast horses headed towards Yilipauli to deliver the news to His Majesty the Sultan that the Nusrato Ku Fortress had been lost!
...
Jiayuguan.
As the sun sets in the west, the bright red rays of light illuminate the city. It's hard to tell which ones are blood stains and which ones are just the light of the setting sun.
night.
In the commander's mansion, the blue jade armor was taken off, half of the clothes were taken off, and half of the arms were bare.
A doctor was carefully wiping the wound on Lan Yu's arm. The strong alcohol gradually dissolved the coagulated blood, turning it into blood and flowing down the arm.
After cleaning up, applying medicine, and bandaging, he slowly retreated.
"Master, your injuries..."
A deputy general asked with concern.
While putting on her clothes, Lan Yu said, "Never mind... Let's talk about food and grass. Is there still no news from Lanzhou?"
"...No..." The deputy general's tone was extremely low.
He didn't know what to say. Lanzhou Prefecture had sent people there many times, but every time they returned without success.
The original magistrate of Lanzhou gritted his teeth and sent 40,000 shi of grain, but then he was directly captured by the Gansu chief envoy. If it weren't for these 40,000 shi of grain, Jiayuguan might not be able to sustain itself at all.
After that, no more grain was delivered to Jiayuguan.
Even Lan Yu sent people to ask the Chief Secretary for food in the name of Liang Guogong, but he was pushed around.
If it weren't for the critical situation at Jiayuguan Pass, Lan Yu would have wanted to lead his troops to attack Lanzhou City and capture the chief envoy directly. At that time, Lan Yu dared to use his army to break through the barrier. What was a small Lanzhou city?
Lan Yu's eyes gradually became fierce, "It seems...someone in the court wants me to die!"
Now the food supply of the army is almost at the bottom. In order to save food, only the soldiers who need to defend the city in Ming Dynasty have a little gruel to eat.
The lieutenants didn't know how many more days Jiayuguan could hold on. If the food ran out, everyone might really die.
"Sir, is there something wrong with the household department?"
Lan Yu shook her head slightly, extremely sure
He said: "Impossible! There is no shortage of money and food in the household department, and Han Du is in charge of the household department, so it is impossible for me to miss a grain of food."
"Since it can't be Hubu, then there is only..." When the deputy general said this, his face couldn't help but change, "Then there is only Hubu!"
"Bingbu...Qi Tai..." Lan Yu murmured to himself, and two sharp rays of light suddenly appeared in his eyes, "If it is really Qi Tai, if I can go back alive, I must Cut him into pieces!"
Due to the lack of gunpowder, shells and food, the casualties of Lan Yu's soldiers increased several times. These are tens of thousands of lives. If he doesn't ask Qitai to get them back, how can he be worthy of those dead soldiers?
...
Timur was not feeling well either.
After a tentative attack on the first day, they were met with fierce artillery fire from the Ming army. Timur thought that Jiayuguan had enough artillery shells, so he gave up the idea of building siege engines and trebuchets the next day.
It was only later that I slowly discovered that the Ming army was simply bluffing and they did not have many cannons at all.
Tamerlane regretted it so much that he ordered the construction of a large number of siege engines and trebuchets in anger, preparing to conquer Jiayuguan in one battle.
But after Timur regrouped, the siege engines and trebuchets that rushed forward were taught a lesson by Lan Yu, who had been prepared.
Lan Yu took out the last gunpowder and cannonballs and destroyed Timur's preparations for many days, all in one fell swoop.
Timur was angry and continued to build siege engines and trebuchets regardless of the order.
When the next attack came, as the siege engines and trebuchets gradually retreated, there was never a sound of artillery fire on the Ming side.
Timur knew that he was right. The Ming army's artillery shells are extremely limited, and they have now been exhausted.
"kill!"
With the help of siege engines and trebuchets, the beaten side became the Ming army, and the most bloody and cruel siege battle officially began!
However, after two months of continuous siege, Timur was shocked to find that even though the Ming Dynasty did not have cannons, it still persisted until now under his fierce attack.
Obviously he found that the Ming army was very tired. It was clear that his army occupied the city wall several times, but they were all beaten back by the Ming army.
Timur sat in the tent without saying a word, and he could not arouse the slightest interest in the roasted lamb.
At this moment, Rashid suddenly opened the curtain and rushed in.
Timur frowned. Such a rude behavior made him feel dissatisfied even if Rashid was his confidant.
"Rashde, why is it so urgent? Such a frivolous move is not what you, who have always been steady, would do."
If it were the past, Rashid would definitely confess to His Majesty the Sultan first, but the news he got now was too shocking.
Not even bothering to accuse him, Rashid said with a face full of pain: "Your Majesty the Great Sultan, the news just came... Nusrato Ku Fortress has been lost..."
"What did you say?"
Timur's eyes were as wide as bells, and he subconsciously kicked the wine bottle in front of him into the fire. He came to Rashid and stared at him. .five
Nusrato Ku Fortress was lost, and the land thousands of miles between the fortress and Samarkand was no longer safe to defend. Once the Ming army breaks through Samarkand, it will be in danger of annihilation.
Moreover, Shaharul is still at Nusrato Ku Fortress.
"Where's Shaharul, how is he?"
Timur still valued his fourth son very much. Even more important than the others, otherwise the empire's second largest city would not have been directly sealed to him.
Shaharul had never let Timur down before, and made countless meritorious deeds during the Western Expedition.
Hearing that Nusrato Ku Fortress was breached, Timur couldn't help but worry about the safety of his beloved son.
Rashid hurriedly handed the news to Timur, "Your Majesty the Sultan, please rest assured. Although His Majesty the Prince wants to make peace with Nusrato,
·Ku Fortress coexisted and died, but was taken away before the fortress fell and has now returned to Samarkand. "
Phew~ Timur breathed slightly.
But when he thought about the fall of Nusrato Ku Fortress, his face became gloomy and almost dripped with water.
"Summon all the generals for discussion!"
All the generals rushed over after receiving the news. When they came to the golden account, everyone's expressions were extremely solemn. They had received the news and knew that Nusrato Ku Fortress had fallen.
When Timur saw everyone gathered, he said calmly: "You all know, right? Nusrato Ku Fortress has fallen, and now the Ming army can march straight in and reach Samarkand!"
"Everyone, let's talk about whether we should attack Jiayuguan or just return reinforcements!"
Both of these choices are too difficult. Continuing to attack Jiayuguan means giving up Samarkand. If Samarkand is captured...
And this return of aid means that the Eastern Expedition has completely failed. The Timurid Empire mobilized a large amount of materials for this eastern expedition, and once it failed, it meant that these materials were wasted.
It will take at least several years for the entire empire to recover, and the price paid is too high.
"Retreat, Your Majesty..."
"Yes, there are only four elite legions in Samarkand now, and the number of troops is insufficient. Once it falls, the losses will be too great..."
"Your Majesty, please come back for help..."
To Timur's surprise, everyone almost unanimously supported the return of aid.
Faced with this situation, Timur's hesitant heart seemed to be biased towards returning aid.
However, he was still a little unwilling to pay such a high price but failed in the end.
Subconsciously he looked at Rashid and asked, "You haven't said anything. Do you agree to return the aid or continue to attack Ming?"
All the generals' eyes were focused on Rashid, and they all knew that Rashid's opinion was extremely important in His Majesty's heart.
They all hope that Rashid can support the return of aid, because everyone's wealth and life are in the city of Samarkand. If Samarkand fell, they could not imagine the consequences.
Facing everyone's gaze, Rashid took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, the great Sultan, I would like to...continue to attack Ming!"
"Rashed, you have to think clearly..."
"That is, everyone's family fortune is in Samarkand. You must not put His Majesty in danger just to show that you are different!"
