Zhang Hong persuaded Jiangdong Sun Jian and prepared to set off for Jingzhou.
Recently, there is information that there are unidentified people operating around Jiangdong. Suspicious people were also found near the posthouse where Zhang Hong and others lived.
The Wu County government has been sending people to secretly protect Zhang Hong, and captured a suspicious person near the post house. However, the man was caught and immediately committed suicide by taking poison. Zhang Hong is the envoy of Yuan Xi in Hebei Province and must not cause trouble on the ground in Jiangdong. Sun Jian ordered Gu Tan, Gan Ning, and Qu'a general Tang Ji to lead troops to escort Zhang Hong and his party.
"There's a situation!" Zhao Yun shouted, holding a bright silver spear, and rushed forward on horseback. Tang Zhao did not dare to be careless. He said hello and ordered his subordinates to follow the whistle and gather around the river!
Xiaojiang is a small tributary of the Yangtze River. The river surface is narrow, but the drop is very large, and the water is very fast.
Whistling sounds came from the upper reaches of the river. I saw a short and narrow boat, like a sharp arrow, galloping down from the upstream! There was a person on the boat, his hands dancing in the air. The boat was in the fast river, rushing down the river!
The boat was speeding along, and the river wind was blowing my clothes. It was extremely dangerous to sail like this! But the people on the boat had no fear. He didn't actually use the oars, but only relied on the twisting of his body to control the direction of the boat. Sometimes it roars, sometimes it screams.
Although it cannot be determined whether this person is a thief, Tang Zong is responsible for escorting the Hebei envoys and does not dare to be careless. With an order, he ordered his Jiangdong soldiers to immediately go into the water and hide in ambush where the boat might dock. They would capture him first! The boat rushed through the rapids and headed to a gentle place.
Jiangwan. "Hey..." The people on the boat shouted, put their fingers in their mouths, and let out a sharp whistle.
"Take it!" Tang Zhi shouted, and the ambushing Jiangdong soldiers swam over quickly from several directions. The people on the boat were captured before they could figure out the situation.
"Why are you arresting me?" The man's clothes were all soaked, but it could still be seen that the clothes he wore were all made of fine silk. This man is slightly short in stature, but handsome in appearance. However, there is a cynical and unrestrained look between his handsome eyebrows. "Stop talking nonsense! Take him away and hand him over to Mr. Gu for interrogation!"
All the way west to Pengze. Pengze is an important town in the northern part of Yuzhang County. To the north is the Yangtze River and to the west is Pengli Ze. (Penglize is basically equivalent to today's Poyang Lake. For the convenience of reading, it will only be called Poyang Lake from now on) To the west of Poyang Lake, from north to south, are the four counties of Chaisang, Liling, Haihun and Nanchang. Further west among the four counties is the border of Jingzhou. After seeing you for thousands of miles, we must say goodbye.
Yuzhang was not ruled by Sun Jian. Gu Tan Ganning and others sent Zhang Hong and his party to Pengze to say goodbye. When Jiangdong's escort returned eastward, Yuzhang County was sandwiched between Liu Biao and Sun Jian's rule. The situation was the most complicated and chaotic.
Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China. It is as vast as the sea, endless as far as the eye can see; the mist is vast and the water mist is transpiring. Wang Shuang has been at the frontier for a long time and has never seen this big lake.
Before boarding the ship, I was already dizzy. "How are we going to get through Dazezi? Let's take a detour and take the land route."
Although he was frightened, Zhang Hong insisted: "It will take hundreds of miles to take a detour by land, so let's go by boat."
Gu Tan prepared two large ships for Zhang Hong. The ship is spacious and stable. However, including Zhang Hong, Zhao Yun and Wang Shuang, they have all lived in the north for a long time. No matter how stable the boat is, it is still worse than riding a horse. The ship shook, and everyone's faces turned pale and they felt dizzy and light-headed.
Zhang Hong has long known that the water surface of Poyang Lake is wide in the Pengze City area. Crossing Poyang Lake from here, I'm afraid everyone will have to vomit their bile before they can reach the west bank. To the south of Pengze, the water surface of Poyang Lake is narrower and the wind and waves are smaller. The big boat headed south along the east coast of Poyang Lake, preparing to find a narrow place in the lake before heading out.
It was already August and late autumn, but the thief lord Bai Luo still had his dark chest exposed, and his knotted muscles were clearly visible. After listening to Zhang Yan's words, he yelled loudly.
Zhang Yan's eyes were as bright as fire and he snorted coldly: "Hmph, we should take the initiative on the battlefield. How can we let the enemy lead us? Qianzhao wants me to divide our troops to rescue Sun Qing, but I won't send any troops!"
As he spoke, he glanced at the scout who was delivering the order, and said sternly: "Send my military order to Sun Qing, and ask him to fight to the death to hold off Sun Li and Qian Zhao. Even if he fights to the last man, he must hold off Hao and Qian before the city is broken. The soldiers and horses of the two kings!”
"promise!"
The scout agreed and rode away, the horse's hooves raising a cloud of dust on the loess.
Zhang Yan glanced around again
The generals ordered: "The whole army is fighting to the death to attack the city. We must defeat Dingxiang before the sun sets! The first to climb to the top of the city and stand firm will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold and the title of general!"
As soon as Zhang Yan gave the order, more than a dozen cavalry messengers, holding flags, circled Dingxiang City and loudly offered rewards: "Zhang Zhaolie has an order. The first person to climb the city will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold, and will be given the title of general! He shrank away. Those who are greedy for life and afraid of death will be killed without mercy!"
Under the heavy reward, there must be brave men. Under the instigation of the messengers, accompanied by the earth-shattering rumbling drums, and the melodious and melodious cheering of the horns, more than 60,000 Black Mountain bandits once again launched a tidal wave towards the Dingxiang city wall. attack.
After a day of fierce fighting, more than 2,000 soldiers and civilians at the top of the city had been killed. Only less than 4,000 tired soldiers were left, as well as more than 2,000 servants of the nobles and civilians, plus more than 2,000 old, weak, women and children. The resistance against the city is like an extinguished flame, getting weaker and weaker...
What's even more terrible is that there are fewer and fewer defensive items in the city. At the beginning, there were 200,000 arrows in the city, but after many days of holding on, there were less than 40,000 crossbow arrows left, and rolling stones and wooden logs were everywhere. Not much left.
In desperation, the civilians without weapons could only peel off the tiles from the walls, knock down the walls, and use bricks, tiles, and broken walls to attack the enemies under the city. The old, weak, women, and children even used pots and pans from home to attack the city. The thieves, Dingxiang City has only its last breath left...
"I'll crush you bastard thieves to death!"
A twelve-year-old child with a pierced moustache, holding a porcelain bowl in his hand, threw it at the soldiers who were ascending the city. His name is Zhang Ergou, and he is the youngest among the soldiers and civilians guarding the city.
The thrown porcelain bowl hit a soldier at the bottom of the city. Unfortunately, the child was too weak after all, and the soldier wore an iron helmet. The porcelain bowl shattered but did not hurt the soldier.
"You kid is looking for death!"
The soldier was furious, cursing, picking up his bow and arrow, and shot an arrow at Zhang Ergou at the top of the city.
With a "pop" sound, the arrow suddenly penetrated the child's chest, and the blood quickly dyed Ergou's clothes red. The young man's body suddenly went limp and weak, and he threw his head up and fell backwards...
"Two dogs!"
Zhang Ergou's grandfather is 69 years old and is the oldest among the defenders. Seeing his grandson lying bleeding, the white-haired old man couldn't help bursting into tears. With a trembling roar, he picked up a simple knife from the ground and rushed towards a fierce soldier who climbed up the city...
Which of the dead soldiers who took the lead in the city was not a capable desperado? How can an old man with white hair be compared?
"Old guy, you're looking for death!"
A military commander eight feet tall, with a beard on his face and a hunky back carried a red-tasseled spear. He thrust forward and pierced the old man's body like a poisonous snake, entering from the chest and exiting from the back. The old man didn't even have time to scream. Then he took his last breath unwillingly...
"Haha... so happy!"
The horny-bearded soldier smiled ferociously. He used the spear in his hand to pick up the old man's body and threw it viciously into the moat below the city. "Old guy, if you don't take care of your children at home, you are looking for death yourself. No wonder Grandpa!"
"Thieves, please die!"
Seeing the old man and the young man who spared no effort to help defend the city and shed blood on the city wall, Wang Ling's eyes burned with scorching fire, and the saber in his hand struck the proud soldier with lightning speed. .
The knife is made of hundreds of refined steel, and the blade is so sharp that it can blow hair off short hair. This knife contains the anger of the entire Dingxiang army and people. The power of this cut is more than a thousand catties!
With a sound of "duh... poof...", the soldier who looked fierce just now was forcibly divided into two parts from the top of his head.
The helmet was split into two pieces, cut from the middle of the head, split the neck into two pieces, and cut off all the bones of the upper body, avoiding the vagina, dividing the entire body into two pieces.
The blood "bang" spread all over the city like exploding fireworks!
Wang Ling's sword cut the first warrior on the city wall into two pieces. Everyone around him was shocked. They opened their eyes wide and held their breath, for fear that the next sword would hit them. Same on the head.
For a moment, there was silence on the city wall.
A ladder, high, leaned from the corner to the city wall. At this moment, there were more than a dozen people
The soldiers carried shields on their heads and held steel knives, climbing up like ants climbing a tree. However, the few people at the top were shocked by Wang Lingsheng's feat of chopping up the tough soldiers. They forgot to move for a while and stared blankly at the two men falling towards the city. A bloody corpse...
"Hoo ho..."
Wang Ling shouted, put the saber on his waist, took a step forward, grabbed the ladder with both hands, and used all his strength to throw the ladder out of the wall. The soldiers who were climbing up the ladder to the top of the city were suddenly stunned. Like dumplings being cooked, they fall to the ground with a "crackling" sound...
Some people fell into the moat and were choked by the water and fainted to death; some fell to the ground and broke their muscles and bones, screaming in agony; some unfortunately fell on weapons and were pierced by sharp blades; they died; and there were even more. The person, head and feet, lost his helmet during the fall. His head suddenly hit the hard ground, and his white brains splashed all over the floor...
Wang Ling's furious outburst greatly boosted the morale of the troops at the South City Gate. All the soldiers and civilians shouted in unison, everyone rushed to be the first and fought to the death to drive down the Black Mountain bandits who had climbed up to the top of the city.
After all, there is only one Wang Ling in Dingxiang City, but there are four walls. Although the south gate repelled a wave of fierce attacks by the bandits, the other three gates were already in danger. Dingxiang was already in danger!
At this moment, General Ding Sheng led a dozen soldiers and rushed from the east gate to the south gate. He took Wang Ling's arm and said, "Prefect, the bandits are so powerful that I'm afraid we can't hold Dingxiang anymore. Breaking through, right? The general will lead the way, and the prefect will follow!"
After listening to Ding Sheng's words, Wang Ling became furious, his beard and hair stood out, and he shouted angrily: "All the villagers risked their lives to help me defend the city. The young ones are like Zhang Ergou, and the elders are like Grandpa Ergou, one by one. The city is bleeding with blood. The people are still fighting to the death. As a prefect, how can I, Wang Ling, leave the people to escape? If I leave, all the people in the world will be in ruins!"
Seeing Wang Ling gnashing his teeth, Ding Sheng lowered his head in shame and defended: "I...I am also doing it for the sake of the prefect!"
"You still dare to quibble? I have repeatedly ordered that if the city is alive and the people are alive, the people will die! As a general, you do not fight to the death at the top of the city, but you lead the soldiers to run around and shake the morale of the army. Who will defend the city? You are so greedy for life and afraid of death, What's the point of keeping you?"
Before he finished speaking, the sword flashed and Ding Sheng's head fell to the ground.
Wang Ling stood at the top of the city with a steel knife in his hand, letting the autumn wind blow his wild hair, and shouted angrily: "Soldiers, listen to the order, Ding Sheng has been with me for many years, but he is greedy for life and afraid of death. I have beheaded him on the spot. Whoever dares to escape from the battle will end up like this! Today, the city is still alive and the people are dead. Everyone is working together to kill the thieves. If you kill one, you will not lose money, and if you kill a pair, you will earn one. If this person can repel the thieves, Once we attack the city, reinforcements from Hebei will arrive tomorrow, and all the villagers will be able to survive!"
"When the city is here and people are there, when the city dies, people die. I swear to live and die together with Dingxiang!"
After listening to Wang Ling's instigation, the seven or eight thousand soldiers, civilians, old men, women and children on the top of the city shouted in unison. They mustered up their courage again and desperately blocked the fierce attack of the Black Mountain bandits. The hand-to-hand combat on the city wall once again fell into a stalemate.
The blood-red sunset gradually set in the west, and the sky slowly darkened.
Zhang Yan stood under the commander's flag, overlooking the battle for the top of the city. He saw that the Black Mountain Army was about to succeed again and again, but Tian Yu always managed to boost their morale and drive off the dead soldiers who climbed to the top of the city first. Go, he couldn't help stroking his beard and exclaiming: "What a Wang Ling, he is really good at deceiving people! However, with two more rounds of charges, we can break the city. How long can you hold on?"
"Report..."
A scout came from the south with a long voice and a galloping horse.
"What's the matter?" Zhang Yan stared at the city head intently, holding the reins in one hand and the riding crop in the other, looking as steady as Mount Tai, and asked in a deep voice.
The scout reined up his horse and reported: "Replying to General Zhaolie, a cavalry team came from the south. Under the banner of our Black Mountain Army, they are approaching us quickly from far to near. Please make a decision quickly, General!"
"Cavalry? Where did they come from?" Zhang Yan said to herself with a confused look on her face.
Bai Yao, who was standing next to him, interjected: "Almost everyone who is supposed to come has arrived. Is this cavalry the reinforcements of Kushu?"
Zhang Yan locked his eyes and whispered: "Kuchi has more than two thousand men and horses under his command, but he has always been reluctant to send them to the battlefield. This time, there is no need for cavalry in the siege. Could it be that he will send cavalry to assist in the battle?"
With a wave of the riding crop, the horse whip was lowered.
The order said: "Bai Rao, lead your troops to see which tribe's reinforcements are coming?"
"I know!"
Bai Rao agreed and called to his subordinates: "Young men, follow Ben Qushuai to the south to see which tribe is coming? Damn, you don't take General Zhaolie's words seriously. We are fighting to the death below the city." These days, this bunch of dogs just arrived now, what a fucking bastard!"
The three thousand men and horses guarding Zhang Yan meandered southward, following Yu Du southward.
In just a cup of tea, Bai Rao led his Montenegro army to meet the oncoming cavalry.
"Hey... Brother opposite, stop for a moment. Zhang Zhaolie asked me to ask, which tribe is here? Why the hell are you here so late? You don't even care about General Zhaolie! You still want to be in Taihang in the future Are you hanging out in the mountains?"
Bai Luo immediately swung his sword across the sword and yelled loudly at the other side, his hoarse voice quickened.
The cavalry that came was none other than reinforcements from Yecheng led by Taishi Ci, Duan Pixi and Sima Yi who joined the army.
On the 700-mile journey from Yecheng to Dingxiang, this 3,000-man cavalry team hurried along, but the autumn rain continued, so they walked away before arriving at Dingxiang City.
When passing through Yangqu, Sima Yi proposed a plan to Taishi Ci and ordered his soldiers to rush to make many flags of the Montenegrin army at night. Then, they would be confused and launch a surprise attack on the Montenegrin bandits.
After entering the territory of Dingxiang, he heard from spies that the bandits were in a hurry to attack the city. Sima Yi ordered the entire army to wear civilian clothes outside their armor, and under the banner of Montenegro, they tried their best to deceive the spies of the Montenegro army's scouts.
The Black Mountain Army was originally a mob with no uniform uniforms and the soldiers were dressed in a mess. After Taishi Ci's men wrapped themselves in ordinary clothes, they marched all the way to Dingxiang under the banner of the Black Mountain and successfully deceived the Black Mountain bandits. The scouts made them think that they were their accomplices, and reported the news to Zhang Yan. Until Bai Rao's men and horses met the officers and soldiers head-on, they still didn't know where the cavalry came from?
Taishi Ci took the lead and led the team to rush forward. Everyone didn't answer, and they charged straight towards Bai Rao's team. The three thousand cavalrymen stirred up dust all over the sky.
"Hey...can't you hear what I'm saying?"
Seeing that the other party had no intention of stopping, Bai Rao became a little panicked. The team behind him are all infantry. If this cavalry rushes in and tramples them with their horses, it will be enough for him to drink a pot!
"What the hell? Are the officers and soldiers pretending?"
Bai Rao seemed to have woken up and ordered: "Put away the carbine and release the antlers and thorns!"
It's a pity that it was too late when Bai Rao noticed it. The Wuhuan Jingqi who were leading were already far away from the Black Mountain bandits.
"Let the whole army fire arrows and shoot them hard!" Taishi Ci waved his roaring spear and ordered loudly.
Duan Pixi and the Wuhuan cavalry did not stop at all while galloping. They picked up their bows and arrows and shot on horseback. With the sound of "whooshing", the arrows rained down on the Black Mountain bandits like a heavy rain...
With the rain of arrows all over the sky, the Montenegrin troops fell down like waves of wheat.
The distance was so close, and the power of this specially made bow and arrow was far greater than that of ordinary crossbows. The arrows of the Wuhuan cavalry were almost always missed. A wave of arrows shot through, knocking down more than a thousand Black Mountain bandits, including Qu Shuai. Bai Rao was also hit by two arrows, one in the shoulder and one in the buttocks...
