Tianxi, the southernmost border city of Liuzhou, rises from three mountains. Outside the south gate stands Wufeng Mountain, which stretches for nearly a hundred miles from east to west. The north gate has two north-south ridges. If you want to go north, you need to go between these two ridges. Only by passing through the saddle can you move around Liuzhou. In the years of war and disaster, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Surrounded by three mountains, if the enemy attacks the north gate and goes to the narrow saddle, it is tantamount to seeking death. Set up the battle formation from the south gate, because there is a horizontal railing behind Wufeng Mountain. If the city cannot be attacked, or if the defenders in the city are desperate, they will be facing the enemy. If they cannot win, they will most likely be destroyed.
Because of this, Tianxi City has rarely been defeated in ancient times, and most people avoided this dangerous pass when attacking Liuzhou. They went further west to break the city at the junction of Liuzhou and Bailouzhou, and encroached on Liuzhou step by step.
Although there is no need to worry about self-preservation, Tianxi City has been very busy recently, with soldiers, horses, and supplies frequently moving around. This is just because Tianxi City is the closest to Guzhou. From now on, the people and horses transporting money and food from the city to Guzhou are the fastest. Therefore, the account is correct. Where the royal court was under siege, heavy troops guarded the grain roads to ensure unimpeded passage of food, grass, people and horses. Only then did the royal court, which had been struggling to support itself, relax and hold on to Guzhou for a long time. It's a pity that the new commander of Xu Meng's Mansion has changed the formation. With an army several times larger than Liuzhou's, he forcibly destroyed the grain road. Tens of thousands of cavalry and infantry stood hundreds of miles outside Tianxi City. Although they did not bypass Wufeng Mountain and marched to the city, there were still people coming and going in the city. Delivering the tip, the informant and sentry horse hiding in the mountains looked far into the distance and could already see the cold soldiers and smoke. Although they moved forward slowly, they could already see the clues.
It is true that Tianxi City is easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, the current number of soldiers and horses in Liuzhou has been divided into Guzhou. Since Dayuan is vast and sparsely populated, that is?????????????? ?? Even if the surviving members of each tribe were divided into Liuzhou and Bailouzhou, the number of remaining troops and horses was still very limited. What's more, although the Tianxi general did not dare to take it lightly even though he had been training for more than a whole year, Liuzhou has always had a sparse population and was willing to There were even fewer people who surrendered to the army. Therefore, even in the important land of Tianxi, since the Dayuan War, there were only ten thousand people. After the grain road was destroyed by cavalry, thousands of people were killed and injured. Even in Liuzhou, all parts of Liuzhou rushed to fill the border towns with soldiers and armor. The war At the same time, only ten thousand soldiers can be mobilized. The city is strong and the ground is dangerous, but the number of soldiers is too different. It is several times that of Tianxi City. The armor of the cavalry can already reflect the snow. Stationing troops on the south slope of Wufeng Mountain is not only condescending, but also makes the sentry horses and eyeliners who are sniffing out the wind ineffective, and firmly controls this city. Tianxi City is locked.
And with this layout, logically speaking, it is not an oversight. After all, if Tianxi City is defeated and the army can pass safely from the saddle between the two mountains, then it is really possible to draw the long bows and lead the troops to the middle of Liuzhou. , like a bone-piercing knife and an arrow in the heart, the other border towns in Liuzhou also had no time to pay attention. In just a few days, letters came from them, saying that they had spied traces of cavalry outside the three cities. The number was unknown, and smoke and dust were everywhere. If there is still no time to protect the enemy, how can we talk about dividing the troops to provide assistance?
The guard general of Tianxi City was a young man from Weinan, who was only a few years old. Because he liked to travel around and enjoy the magnificent scenery, he managed to save his life during the suffering season of Weinan and came straight to Liuzhou. Because he had practiced martial arts with his uncle when he was young, He has a simple knowledge of martial arts, so he has made many military exploits, and is highly valued by the elders of the Liuzhou tribe. They are entrusted with important tasks when their talents are declining, and they must defend Tianxi City without any loss. In recent months, Feng Yuan has stepped up his military training and insisted on guarding the grain road. He also ordered the people in the city, old and young, to strengthen the city walls and build new archery towers. He just erected four turrets and several archery towers outside this strong city, and added more to the outer walls. Adding spikes to the earth and stone, and preparing fire and oil to roll the wood, only slightly relaxed the heartstrings. With such a strong city, even Feng Yuan and the two lieutenants could not help but have some lucky thoughts.
But as the smoke and dust outside the city shook with the sound of horse hooves, Feng Yuan supported the city and looked far away, and realized how ridiculous his original idea of luck was.
If you look at the number of soldiers and cavalry arrayed under the city, it covers the sky and the earth, with banners covering the clouds. There are more than tens of thousands. The cavalry are pressing behind and the infantry are in front. The array is neat and easy to count. They are almost six or seven times as many as the guards in the city. , Feng Yuan narrowed his eyes. It took him a long time to guess something, but he still didn't dare to believe it. They have been fighting for several months with the Royal Court of Zhengzhang. There were originally hundreds of thousands of cavalry, but now there are tens of thousands arrayed under the city. Not to mention that there are still most of the troops besieging Guzhou, and there are traces of cavalry in the other three cities south of Liuzhou. , no matter how you think about it, it is difficult to convince people, but if you think about it carefully, it seems that it is not a strange thing. Gathering people, money and resources from seven or eight states to recruit troops, it is not difficult to gather tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in a few months. It is not more important than the number of the three states in Guliu Bailou, but it is reasonable.
Within three days, the city was attacked more than 20 times. The walls of Tianxi City were damaged in all directions. Feng Yuan led his troops to defend the gaps in the city to resist the enemy. The remaining soldiers built the city together with the people.
After the master bookkeeper in the city, who was responsible for recording major and minor events, finished writing this line of writing, he clumsily put on armor and followed the soldiers to defend the city. He fought hard and died of exhaustion. Feng Yuan led the army to fight for three days. It was clear that the strength of the troops was far inferior to that of the Xu Meng Mansion thieves, and their physical strength was even worse than others. However, everyone was brave and brave enough to forget about death. He just relied on the arrows at the top of the city and the forest of spears below the city to intercept the enemy soldiers that looked like a tide, destroying the ladder. Countless chariots were charged at the moat bridge, and arrows and feathers were fired from the city head. Rolling logs and kerosene were released from time to time, isolating the inside and outside of the city. It was miserable and the city was defended for three full days. The enemy retreated slightly and made some adjustments. Feng Yuan was hit by three arrows in his left arm and right shoulder, with no less than ten major and minor injuries. Fortunately, no vital parts were hurt. After being bandaged briefly, he stood on the top of the city and patted the shoulders of the defenders on the city. But when he walked in front of a strong man, Feng Yuan's expression suddenly dropped. He knelt down and took the corpse from the strong man's blood-stained hands. He was speechless for a long time.
"When you first came here to join the army, there were a total of twenty-seven people from the countryside who went out with you. They were all good at riding. There were twenty-eight horses in total. After years of fighting, there were only three left. Among these twenty-eight people, you, Feng Yuan, are the best. , is also the most savvy, and knows how to arrange troops. It is not easy to reach such a high level, but as we said before, Xiao Liangzi still has a few years left to reach the crown. Don’t let him come to Tianxi City, even if Even if you come, don’t stand in front of the two armies.”
"You, Feng Yuan, promised me that when I become a general, our twenty-eight cavalry will return home in glory. You also promised not to let Xiao Liangzi go to war. If the sky falls, we will bear it."
Change source app]
The already cold young man's throat was cut off with a knife, and the blood had long dried up. In the cold and cold night of the Great Yuanji, it was condensed on his neck and armor. Feng Yuan knelt down on the spot, letting the strong man beside him The angry rebuke turned into insults in the end, and Feng Yuan remained motionless. Finally, he took off a wooden sign from the young man's waist and handed it to the deputy general beside him.
The lieutenant general held twenty-nine wooden plaques like these that were stained with blood or looked old. The top one had the word "Feng Yuan" written on it. So after seeing the wooden sign with Feng Yuan written on it, the strong man's curses became weaker and weaker, and finally there was no more movement. He just fell to his knees, knocked his forehead to the ground, raised his shoulders, and ended up crying loudly.
The screams of the wounded soldiers in the city were intermittent. The wounded soldiers who lost their limbs or had their waists and abdomens pierced were destined to be rare survivors. There were still soldiers in front of the city gate who moved the corpses of the former Paoze and the enemy corpses outside the city, dug ditches and buried them. , but they always pull out a wooden sign from their waists. Even if they can't set up the graves one by one, having this object will at least remind them of it. When the war first breaks down and the funeral is called, this wooden sign will be handed over to the bitter family at home. It is better to have something in the hands of those who are waiting than to have nothing left at all. Ever since he guessed that the enemy had the intention to attack the city, Feng Yuan had no intention of walking out alive from Tianxi City, so before defending the city, he handed the wooden sign to his adjutant and placed it with the wooden signs left by other villagers. Together, but now the people who deserve to die have not died, the people who deserve to live have not survived, and only two of the twenty-eight people are still alive.
"I'm afraid that the enemy will be even stronger in the future. There are less than ten thousand soldiers in the city. Thousands of people were killed and wounded in three days. At present, I'm afraid that less than half can stand up and hold swords and guns. Fortunately, we defend the city to the death, and there is a rebellion outside. More thieves died, but there are not enough arrow feathers, rolling wood and kerosene at the top of the city, and it is even more difficult to defend the city from behind." Feng Yuan turned his head and called two soldiers, stood up and wiped off their clothes with his hands A was dirty with dust, and said with a slight smile, "The city has been defended well these three days, but asking for help depends entirely on God's will. There have been more than a dozen waves of scouts out of the city and there has been no news. The logs and kerosene can't be replaced for a while, so I can save some." use."
Looking back at the city gate, the ground was in a mess. Many people who were repairing the city wall were injured and died from arrows, swords and guns. There were even men who were exhausted and simply slept under the city head. They quickly stood up with sleepy eyes, only to know that the enemy had temporarily stopped. He retreated, but his expression was not happy.
The smoke of the beacon fire was not extinguished, and the smell of blood, water, fire, oil, and smoke and dust came up inside and outside the city, making it difficult for people to open their eyes. Outside the city, there were dead bodies and wounded soldiers who had not yet been rescued in the city. Howling hoarsely, the frosty moon is silent, covering all the waves of beacon smoke, and I dare not lower my eyebrows to look at the world.
Although the soldiers in the city may not be old soldiers, after holding on for three days, they all know that they are helpless but unwilling to do anything about it. Liuzhou is almost at the end of its rope, and I am afraid that no more reinforcements will be sent to provide food and grass to rescue the emergency. Xicheng is probably a dead city.
Don't wash off the red color. The more red color you wash off, the lighter the red color. I am a young man. I saw you in Yinqiao yesterday. If the feudal lord returns early, don't draw an arrow from the string.
Stop weeping, stop weeping and shed tears. The luxuriant purple bamboo silk is now replaced by iron clothes. It's hard to go back at night when you're wrapped in leather, but you'd rather follow the heavy sky.
In the city, an old woman tremblingly helped up the dead old man who was repairing the city wall. She did not shed tears, but wiped the dust off the old man's face and sang softly a nursery rhyme that everyone in Liuzhou knew. Gradually, some soldiers began to sing along. , an isolated city, there are vague nursery rhymes, but no one has a sad look on their face.
Tianxi Pass is hidden among the three mountains. Tianshui surrounds the city. The west of Liuzhou is cool. As long as Tianxi Pass is still there, Liuzhou has not been conquered. Even though it is difficult and tragic, it still needs to be defended. Behind the city of Liuzhou, there are family members and old friends, some of whom have not yet been revealed. The sweetheart of my heart has the old house of my ancestors, there is rime in winter, and red peach in summer, so it seems that I am dying here, not just to serve as an arrow in someone else's string, but because I care.
Standing on the top of the city, Feng Yuan listened to the nursery rhymes getting louder, gritted his teeth, and his eyes were red.
(???????????????End of this chapter)
