There are many pine and cypress trees growing in the upper valley canyon. These straight trees are very suitable for cutting down and making siege ladders.
There were constant sounds of chopping and axe-cutting in the Jie tribe's camp, and the people who built the siege ladder were all Han people they had plundered from Hebei Province.
Under the scimitar of the Jie tribe, they are helpless. If you want to live, you have to keep working. If you fall down from exhaustion, there is no use value. The scimitar will be swung at you without hesitation. .
"Hurry up. If you dare to be lazy, I will kill you all." The Jie soldiers shouted. Although many of these people could not understand the Jie language, they knew what the Jie soldiers wanted to express.
When the sun rose from the valley, everyone was already exhausted. After a short breakfast, they continued to work on building the siege ladder.
The reason there is breakfast is because they still have value, otherwise no one would care about their life or death.
At noon, two hundred ladders had been made, and 30,000 troops drove two thousand Han people to Xiguan City. Looking at the soldiers on the city wall from a distance, Shaerzhu's eyes were full of hatred.
He rode on his war horse and slowly came to the front of the army. His eyes were filled with blood stains as he stared at his warriors.
He lightly clamped the horse's belly with his feet, and the horse gradually began to run. In front of the soldiers' formation, he was inspecting his troops as a big leader, and also to boost the morale of his troops before setting off for the expedition.
"My son, your young leader, was killed by those despicable Han people. What are we going to do?" Shaerzhu shouted.
Waves of shouts came from the military formation: "Revenge! Revenge!"
"Yes, we want revenge, let those despicable Han people pay the price of blood, let them use their blood to repay the blood debt they owed,
We want to kill all their men and enslave their women. We want to turn the fertile land of Yancheng into the pasture of our Jie people. "Sharzhu shouted with all his strength.
"The big leader gives the order!" Modohar shouted.
Sarju took a deep look at his general, swung his scimitar forward and shouted: "Attack the city!"
The sound of attack horns resounded throughout the valley, and two thousand Han prisoners were driven towards the foot of Xiguan City. This was their usual tactic.
Using Han prisoners as a shield for the charge would not only consume the defenders' arrows and defensive equipment, but also serve as a shield for the Jie people. These enslaved captives knew that no matter what they did, they would die.
Because if you don't run forward, the Jie soldiers behind you will chop their scimitars into your back without hesitation, so everyone is sprinting forward.
On the city wall of Xiguan, densely packed soldiers had already gathered. When they came out of the city, the Jie people's bows and arrows had already shot towards the city.
Relying on their strong arm strength and strong stature, they are far more powerful than the Han people, so their hard bow shooting range is nearly a hundred steps farther than the Han soldiers.
This is the tactic of the Jie people. The leading troops charge forward, and the crossbowmen behind them suppress them from a distance.
On the Xiguan City Wall, Zhang Da, who was hiding in the tower, gave the order to release arrows. The soldiers guarding the city had no choice but to fight back with all their might against the Jie people's arrows.
Since they had to block the Jie soldiers charging down the city, the soldiers guarding the city had no time to use shields to block them, so they could only risk their lives to fight back with the enemy's arrows. And every time the Jie people's arrows came, there would be many people. The young soldier fell to the ground after being hit by an arrow.
But Zhang Da doesn't care about this. There are 50,000 soldiers in Xiguan City. Let alone hundreds of people dead, even if a thousand people die, he doesn't care about the lives of these soldiers. He doesn't care about the Han or Jie people charging below the city.
Whether it was on top of the city wall or below the city, there were constant screams and wails. After several rounds of shooting, the siege ladder also leaned against the city wall.
The Jie soldiers held up their scimitars and urged the remaining hundreds of Han slaves to climb up, and they followed closely. Because they were too close, it was no longer convenient for the soldiers on the city wall to shoot arrows. The battle begins.
Countless stones and rolling logs were thrown from the city wall, and batches of soldiers climbed up risking their lives. Many siege ladders were also smashed, but soon, new siege ladders came up again, and the Jie soldiers continued to climb up.
Soon countless corpses were piled up under the city wall. As time goes by, the sky gradually darkens. The Jie soldiers finally stopped charging, and the soldiers guarding the city breathed a sigh of relief.
After half a day of fighting, the Xiguan defenders counted their numbers and found that the number of casualties was about 3,000, some of whom were injured by arrows and were not life-threatening.
About 1,500 people were killed by arrows and killed in close combat on the city wall. On the other hand, on the Jie side, including the driven Han captives, there were about 5,000 casualties.
Zhang Da stood on the city wall, looking at the torches disappearing in the night and sighed.
"General Zhang, what should we do next?" Hou Tai asked, standing behind Zhang Da.
The soldiers on the side didn't know the purpose of Hou Tai's question, so what should they do? When the soldiers come, they will block the water and cover it with earth.
But Zhang Da understood what he meant. From today's battle, it was obvious that the opponent's troops were not too many, only thirty or forty thousand.
If they want to hold on, there will definitely be no problem. Even if they get another hundred thousand, they can probably hold on. But they can't defend it anymore.
Zhang Da said calmly: "Go and prepare."
Hou Tai hesitated for a moment and finally responded: "It's the general."
Hou Tai turned around and went down from the tower. At this time, in the inner city of Xiguan, the soldiers were eating. Hou Tai arranged for him to accompany the troops and start packing their bags.
Just after Haishi, Hou Tai issued an order. Except for the thousand soldiers who were keeping watch on the city wall, all the other soldiers gathered in the outer city. Many soldiers didn't know why, but they had no choice but to obey orders.
Soon, except for the thousand people on duty on the city wall and the injured soldiers, everyone gathered outside the city. Following the order, the 40,000-strong army began to move away from Xiguan. The soldiers on duty gradually began to stir as they watched the torches disappear.
"What's going on?" a soldier murmured.
"Is it possible to withdraw the troops?" the soldier beside him exclaimed.
"What? The troops are withdrawing. What about us? What should we do?" The other soldiers gradually started to panic.
At this time, a man came up from the city and shouted sternly: "Whoever dares to talk nonsense and disturb the morale of the army will be killed immediately." The soldiers guarding the city stopped talking when they saw the person. This person was Zhang Da's deputy. , Pei Shao, the captain of Guoyi.
Pei Shao walked up to the city wall, softened his serious expression and said, "General Zhang has other military operations tonight. Brothers, don't worry too much. Just guard the pass."
"It's Captain Pei!" The soldiers felt relieved when they saw that Pei Shao was still there. If the troops were to withdraw, Zhang Da would not fail to bring his cronies with him, they thought.
But the reality was not what they expected. Pei Shao had already arranged his evacuation before calming the emotions of the soldiers defending the city. He stayed only to temporarily stabilize the morale of the troops and buy time for Zhang Da and others to evacuate.
Among the evacuating troops, Hou Tai asked Zhang Da beside him: "General, should we bypass Yancheng or not?"
"No, brothers, it's urgent to set off. We don't have enough food and grass. We need to go to Yancheng to replenish our supplies before setting off." Zhang Da replied.
"But what if King Yan asked?"
"Just say I was ordered to change defense."
"Then what if King Yan refuses to hand over the food and grass?"
"The 40,000-strong army is still afraid that he will not surrender. If he dares not to surrender, then he will directly lead people to occupy the warehouse. After all, after we withdraw our troops, Yancheng will be an abandoned city. Instead of letting the Jie tribe plunder, why don't we come? This is him What will happen if you offend His Highness the Crown Prince and our Zhang family," Zhang Da said.
At the same time that Zhang Da and others were evacuating Xiguan, the detective horses sent by Qin Fang also rushed back to Yancheng overnight and reported the news of the Jie people's attack on Xiguan to Qin Fang. Qin Fang did not dare to be careless after receiving the news, so he stayed overnight Rush to Prince Yan's Mansion.
Since it was already dark, the guards at Prince Yan's Mansion did not see the person coming clearly, so they asked, "Who is coming?"
"I am Qin Fang, the captain of Yancheng. I have something important to report to King Yan. Please convey it to me as soon as possible!" Qin Fang's voice had already arrived before anyone from Qin Fang arrived.
"Captain Qin?" the guard asked in confusion.
"I wonder if Captain Qin has something important to do?" The guard did not go directly to the palace to report, but asked again and again.
Qin Fang reined in the horse's rope, turned over and dismounted, and said, "Tanma came to report that the Jie tribe will attack Xiguan this afternoon."
"What? The Jie people are attacking Xiguan. Captain Qin is coming with me. I will inform the prince right away."
After the guard finished speaking, he ran straight into the palace, regardless of whether Qin Fang followed or not.
At this time, Zhao Bin, accompanied by Xing'er, was compiling teaching materials in the backyard. Yancheng wanted to run an education, so naturally some good educational materials for future generations would be used.
Ling'er knocked on the door and said, "Your Majesty, Captain Qin is here. He said he has something important to report."
Zhao Bin and Xing'er looked at each other, wondering what happened in the middle of the night. Zhao Bin stopped writing, stood up and walked out of the room. Ling'er was standing outside the door waiting. Zhao Bin asked: "Did Lieutenant Qin say what happened?"
Ling'er blinked and shook his head, expressing that he didn't know.
"Let's go take a look." The three of them did not go towards the front hall.
At this time, Qin Fangzheng was sitting on a chair in the front hall. When he saw Zhao Bin coming in, he quickly stood up and saluted: "I have met the prince."
"Captain Qin, there's no need to be polite. Why are you here so late at night?" Zhao Bin asked curiously.
"Go back to your lord, the detective horse we sent out just came back to report that a large number of Jie people attacked Xiguan this afternoon. My subordinates did not dare to delay, so they came all night to report."
"Oh? Do you know how many soldiers and horses there are?" Zhao Bin asked hurriedly
"I don't know. Xiguan is heavily guarded. It is difficult for the scouts to cross the pass to find out the specific situation of the Jie people. But if they dare to attack Xiguan directly, their number should be no less than that of the Xiguan defenders."
"Is it because of the sand sculpture?"
"The son of the leader of the Sand Wolf tribe?"
"Yes, Sha Diao led his army to plunder the territory of Yancheng, but he has not returned yet. I think the Sha Lang tribe must have heard some news." Zhao Bin thought for a while and said.
"My lord, I think we should make arrangements early. The Jie clan and I have not had a large-scale war in Daxia in the past ten years. This visit should not be a bluff. If there is a loss in Xiguan, the Jie clan cavalry can reach Yancheng in one day. .”
While several people were talking, Xiao Chu and Wang Wu also arrived one after another.
"This subordinate has met the prince!"
Zhao Bin waved his hand and motioned for him to sit down.
"My subordinates just heard the report from the guards that the Jie tribe attacked Xiguan?" Xiao Chu asked.
"Yes, we don't know how many troops the enemy has now." Qin Fang replied.
"There are 50,000 troops stationed in Xiguan. There shouldn't be any problems for a while, but should we write a letter to the court to remind us?" Xiao Chu said.
"The General of Xiguan will report this matter to the military. It is not appropriate for us to interfere." Zhao Bin said,
"Captain Qin, please send people to prepare rolling wood and thunder stones, and move all the city defense equipment to the vicinity of the city wall."
"It's the prince!"
"Xiao Chu, all the thousand new swords newly forged by the iron smelting plant will be replaced tomorrow for the soldiers guarding the city. In addition, the Zhuge Liannu and Sanbed Crossbow will be moved to the city wall."
"It's the prince!"
"Lao Wu, tomorrow we will send people to inform the people in the villages and towns near Yancheng that they must either temporarily move into the city or temporarily evacuate the surrounding areas of Yancheng."
"It's the prince"
"In addition, Xiao Chu asked the brothers in the transportation team to withdraw as quickly as possible."
"yes".
"Okay, let's stop here today. Let's think about it when we get back. Is there anything else we can prepare? I'll report any other things at any time."
Several people took the task and retreated.
