Lu Biao came to the city wall. There were many defensive tools on the city wall, including rolling wood, thunder stones, flying feathers and arrows, and defensive shields. The soldiers also carried all three crossbows sent from Yancheng to the city wall and fixed them there. Under the city wall, three rows of resisting horses were placed in front of the pass, which could slow down the enemy's attack.
Lu Biao stood at the top of the city and looked up at the canyon in front of the pass. At this time, the canyon was already green. The grass had already broken out of the ground and was growing densely. All kinds of mountain flowers were blooming on the mountain walls on both sides.
Lu Biao pointed to a pink flower bush on the mountain wall and asked the soldier on the side: "What kind of flower is that?"
The soldier glanced in the direction that Lu Biao pointed, then turned to Lu Biao and said, "Come back to the general, that is the mountain peach blossom, which blooms at this time of year every year."
"Peach Blossom?"
"Yes, General. The fruits of this mountain peach blossom are very small and not tasty."
Lu Biao didn't say anything else. He just looked at the flowers on the mountain quietly. It was all so beautiful, but this beauty could not last long because a war was about to come.
What will be left after the war will be the bones of the soldiers and the red blood. Under such a scene, no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it will look extremely miserable. Lu Biao walked along the city wall, casually greeting and talking to the soldiers guarding the city. He wanted every soldier to know that as a general, he would always be with the soldiers.
As night fell, a southeasterly wind blew in the valley. Due to the effect of the valley, the wind roared loudly. Under the darkness, several scouts rode into the pass.
In the meeting hall, Lu Biao, the leader, sat in the center of the main hall, with generals at all levels lined up on the left and right.
The scout came to the meeting hall, knelt down on one knee and said: "Report to the general, the enemy's leading troops have arrived at the outer edge of the canyon and sealed the entrance of the canyon."
"How many troops are there in the former army?"
"About twenty thousand."
"Always monitor the enemy's movements."
"It's the general."
After the scouts withdrew, a general who was about forty years old said: "General, the Jie people are marching a long distance, so why not take advantage of their fatigue and lead a night attack on the Jie army camp with 5,000 troops?"
The speaker was one of the ten generals under General Zhenguan, named Fan Zhi, who commanded five thousand soldiers. General Zhenguan has one deputy general and ten generals under him. The deputy general is Hou Tai, who assists General Zhenguan in personal command. There are ten generals under him, each commanding 5,000 troops.
Lu Biao glanced at Fan Zhi and said: "The Jie people are a horse people. They grew up on horses. Although the march is a bit tiring, we should not underestimate the enemy. Besides, the enemy has sealed the entrance of the valley. You can only start from When marching in the canyon, as long as the enemy sets up outposts, you will be easily exposed and may not succeed."
Fan Zhi thought for a while and felt that this was indeed the case, so he didn't say anything and sat back in his seat again.
"General, there is a southeast wind tonight. Taking advantage of the wind, you can use bows and arrows to launch fire attacks to attack and burn the enemy camps. Even if they are discovered, as long as the fire is strong, the enemy troops will be in chaos, and then they will rush to kill the enemy camps." Another figure. The general wearing armor said.
After listening to the general's words, everyone couldn't help but look outside the hall. The whistling sound of the wind outside the hall reached everyone's ears.
Fan Zhi slapped his thigh and said: "Brother Jingde is absolutely right. General, let the last general lead the army to burn the enemy camp?"
The general named Jingde said with a look of disgust: "Lao Fan, I came up with this idea, why should I let you go? General, I should go."
Fan Zhi replied nonchalantly: "What's yours and mine? I asked for your life first, so I should go first."
Lu Biao saw that the two men were unwilling to give in to each other, so he said: "There is no need to fight between the two generals. Both of them are veterans on the battlefield. I naturally believe in the abilities of the two generals. It's just that it is too early to let the fire go. , don’t you two want this fire to be even bigger?”
"Bigger? General, what do you mean?" Jingde asked.
"You will know when the time comes."
"Then let them easily camp at the entrance of the valley now?" Fan Zhi asked still unwillingly.
"General Fan, don't be impatient. A little impatience will ruin your big plans." Lu Biao said with a smile.
After arranging the next task of defending the city, everyone left separately.
After Hou Tai on the other side arrived at the canyon leading to Zijing Pass, he immediately ordered the soldiers to cut down trees and built two camps at the end of the canyon to block the mouth of the canyon. At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to look for possible solutions along both sides of the mountain. Ambush position.
It's just that the sides of the mountain are extremely steep and extremely difficult to climb. In desperation, the soldiers had to go through the canyon and look for a place to climb deeper. Fortunately, after passing through the canyon, the mountain became gentle and they could climb up. The top of the mountain, and then grope all the way back to the top of the canyon along the top of the mountain.
After the soldiers returned to the top of the canyon to rest for a while, they began to cut down trees and build stones. Some dry branches were also cut down and tied together to make a fire, which could be lit when the Jie tribe cavalry entered the valley. , thrown into the valley.
The night of the battle was quiet, and the mountains were also extremely quiet. No sound could be heard. The animals that had a premonition of danger quietly left their original habitat and headed deeper into the mountains.
In the early morning, as the sun rose from the horizon, except for some of the Jie tribesmen stationed at the mouth of the valley for defense, the remaining Jie tribesmen rushed to the nearby woods, and the wood was cut down and transported back to the camp.
At noon, the Jie tribe's large army finally arrived. The trees near the mouth of the valley were almost completely cut down. Almost the entire periphery of the valley is occupied by the Jie people.
A tall man rode a black horse, accompanied by a group of guards, to the mouth of the valley in front of Xiguan. I saw this man with deep eyes and a high nose, dark yellow hair, cheeks and chin covered with hair, and a pair of shining eyes. It shines with blue light, like a prairie wolf that haunts the night.
A Jie soldier ran to this man and knelt down on one knee: "Report to the Khan that part of the wood has been collected."
The tall man riding on the horse is Shile, the great Khan of the Jie tribe. Shi Le looked at the piled wood and the Jie soldiers who were still transporting wood.
"Go, let those Han craftsmen build catapults and siege engines immediately. Within three days, I will see that if the catapults and siege engines cannot be built, everyone will be killed." Shi Le said to the soldiers with an expressionless face. commanded.
The Jie soldiers responded and left immediately. Soon, thousands of shackled Han slaves holding axes and chisels appeared around the wood. Under the supervision of the Jie soldiers holding scimitars, they began to chop the wood.
These Han people were the craftsmen who were kidnapped by the Jie tribe in the past. The useful Han people will be left behind, while some useless ones have long since disappeared.
"Osa Chaha, you said before that the Han people have a new type of bow and arrow?" Shi Le asked without looking up.
"The Great Khan of the time, Chief Sharzhu was shot to death by that kind of arrow. This kind of arrow is very large, similar to a spear, and it is very powerful and has a very long range. It should also be fired by some kind of equipment." Ossa Chaha replied from behind Shi Le.
Shi Le murmured expressionlessly: "An arrow like a spear?"
"Does any of the Han prisoners we captured know about this kind of arrow?"
"Back to the Great Khan, I have already asked. No one knows about this kind of bow and arrow. When the leader of Shaerzhu attacked Xiguan, he had not seen them use it. But when he attacked Yancheng, this kind of arrow almost killed Shaerzhu. The leader’s body was shot to pieces, I think it must have been newly made.”
Shi Le looked silently in the direction of Xiguan. He didn't say another word, but he had already sworn in his heart that he would cut the body of the person who killed his brother into thousands of pieces and let the entire Yan City be buried with Sha Erzhu.
