Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 20: Iron Horse
"Woo-"

"Dong dong dong..."

Golden weapons, iron horses, and blaring trumpets.

On the vast Hexi Corridor, accompanied by the blowing of Shazhou's horns and the beating of drums, the sound shook the four directions and echoed under the sky.

The dazzling sunlight shone on the heavy armor, reflecting a few bright spots. More than 1,900 Shazhou soldiers were like an iron stream, divided into four groups, driving the carriages, and slowly approaching the city of Zhangye.

In front of the south gate tower of Zhangye, Zhang Yichao stood on the nest car with a long sword in his hand and a firm look in his eyes.

At this moment, whether inside or outside the city, the air above Zhangye City was filled with tension and danger.

On the city wall, hundreds of heavily armored foreign soldiers were on full alert, and more than a thousand foreign soldiers wearing chain mail were forcing the able-bodied men to boil gold juice and prepare wooden beams and other equipment for defending the city.

The atmosphere on the battlefield was so heavy that it made it hard to breathe.

Faced with this scene, even the Shazhou soldiers who had experienced war couldn't help but breathe heavily.

Perhaps it was because they had experienced war before that when they saw the foreign soldiers guarding the city, they realized that their opponents were not the good-for-nothings who had previously recovered the three states of Gua, Sha and Su.

The glittering row of Tibetan armors was enough to illustrate their strength.

"Stop!"

The military order was delivered by the running flag soldiers, and the 13th and 12th Regiments finally stopped outside the east city of Zhangye.

Liu Jilong looked up and gazed at the city wall that looked very tall.

The Zhangye foreign soldiers did not set up a camp on the other side of the moat, but they did set up a camp at the city gate.

Although the camp was not big, it could only accommodate a hundred people.

But with this camp, it means that the Tibetan cavalry in the city can leave the city at any time to harass them.

Liu Jilong clenched the spear in his hand, and his hand unconsciously rested on the blunt weapon at his waist.

"Boss..."

Hearing a voice behind him, Liu Jilong turned around and saw that Zhang Chang, Zhao Qian and others who were very excited last night now had nervous looks on their faces.

"Don't worry, follow me." Liu Jilong looked back at Zhangye City, his voice heavy: "I promised to take you home!"

"Uuuuuu——"

In front of the battle formation, Zhang Huaishen looked at the Zhangye East Gate, which was less than 200 steps away, and tightly grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist.

"Huai Shen?" A young captain in his early twenties next to him spoke. He was Zhang Huaishen's cousin Zhang Huairong.

Hearing the sound of the horn coming from the direction of his uncle's command, Zhang Huai took a deep breath and looked towards the east gate of Zhangye with a determined gaze.

"Order, assemble the crash car and cloud car!"

As Zhang Huaishen issued the military order, more than 400 Shazhou soldiers outside the East City took action.

They took the parts off the horse-drawn carriage and assembled one cloud carriage after another.

In addition, three horse-drawn carriages were assembled into three human-powered rams.

As the siege equipment was assembled, six cloud chariots and three battering rams appeared in front of the army.

"The 12th Regiment is out!"

Zhang Huai gave the order calmly, and more than 200 soldiers from the 12th regiment behind him went out into the battle one after another.

"Siege!"

There are not too many words, only passion.

After he gave the order, 200 people from the 12th Regiment pushed the cloud car and the ramming car and started the action.

At the same time, the Tibetan officer (small captain) on the east city also drew the long sword from his waist.

"Let them in!"

At Xiaojie'er's command, the Tibetan soldiers on the city wall did not move at all, allowing the 200 soldiers of the 12th Regiment to push the siege equipment and start crossing the river.

The moat, which was less than ten feet thick, was of no use at all. A cloud car was pushed into the water, and then wooden boards were laid on it, and a simple bridge was built to support the crossing of the river.

Ramming chariots and cloud chariots passed by, and fifty Shazhou soldiers holding shields advanced in front of the siege equipment.

After crossing the river, what lay before them were the trenches, sheep-horn walls and other defensive fortifications outside the city gate.

"Archers, release your arrows. Cavalry, stand by and prepare for the enemy!"

In front of the city wall, Xiaojieer gave orders calmly.

Under his command, arrows were continuously shot from the top of the city and the city gate, and the marching speed of the Shazhou soldiers slowed down.

Even so, they still advanced in an orderly manner. When they encountered trenches, they laid wooden boards, and when they encountered ram walls, they pushed the battering ram to knock down the ram walls.

Arrows fell into the shield formation, and many were stuck in the gaps in the armor. Countless people were slightly injured. However, in the face of the passion in their chests, this little pain could not stop the Shazhou soldiers from advancing.

They are human beings, they are also afraid of death, but they are more afraid of recalling their miserable life under the rule of Tubo for countless days and nights. If they want to stop experiencing such a life, they have to keep moving forward... moving forward...

"Oh!"

Suddenly, there was a sound of objects colliding from the battlements at both corners of the city wall.

In an instant, two crossbow arrows the size of spears suddenly blasted into the shield formation, and several armored soldiers were pierced through the bodies by the crossbow arrows.

"Uh-huh!"

"Don't stop... move forward!!"

One of the captains kept coughing up blood, but even so, he still brandished his weapon and roared forward.

"You are a bunch of Han dog slaves. It seems that I haven't taught you enough lessons!"

On the top of the city wall, the young general saw that the soldiers of Shazhou had not stopped, so he turned around and ordered the generals on his left and right: "Bring up the stone fat!"

"Yes!" The two nodded, and then at their signal, the soldiers wearing chain mail threw the pottery jars filled with asphalt with force.

The clay pot hit the shield formation. Even though the Shazhou soldiers had smelled something wrong, the rocket was faster.

"Fire arrows!"

In an instant, flaming arrows came flying through the air in large numbers, setting the shield formation on fire.

Faced with the dilemma, the soldiers could only abandon their wooden shields and fight hard towards the city gate.

On the way forward, arrows flew at them like locust stones, and those in the front row quickly turned into "hedgehogs".

Fortunately, their efforts paid off. They rushed into the camp at the city gate and fought with the Tibetan soldiers in the camp.

"Kill the bandits!"

"Serve your country today!"

"Recover Ganzhou!"

"Han dog slave!"

During the close combat, the shouts of the soldiers filled the camp in front of the city gate.

Faced with the fierce Shazhou soldiers, Xiaojie'er on the city wall was stunned for a moment, but after he came to his senses, he became angry and humiliated.

"Don't let them come up!"

He roared angrily, but the cloud chariot was still placed on the top of the east city wall.

"Thirteenth Regiment, attack!!"

Seeing that the cloud chariot had been successfully placed on the top of the city wall, Zhang Huaishen drew the long sword at his waist and gave the signal for a charge.

Two hundred men from the Thirteenth Regiment rushed toward the city. Even though they were wearing dozens of kilograms of armor, no one wanted to miss this rare opportunity.

Not only them, but also the injured soldiers of the 12th Regiment launched a charge towards the city wall as soon as the cloud chariot was placed on the city wall.

They rushed forward with knives in their mouths, but what faced them was boiling gold juice and heavy wood.

The moment the scalding golden juice poured down, it burned blisters on the fronts of the Shazhou soldiers who were charging, and their skin and armor stuck together.

"Uh-huh!!"

"You bastard!"

"Han dog slave!!"

Shouting, screaming, the sound of metal clashing, the sound of wooden siege equipment breaking...

These sounds combined to form the main theme of the current battlefield, and the 13th Regiment, which had just rushed across the moat, also ran into the wounded soldiers who had been rescued.

"Uh-huh!!"

"My eyes! My eyes!"

"Healer! Where is the doctor?"

"Drag him away! Quick!"

The soldier, with his hands waving and his facial features burned beyond recognition, was dragged away from the Thirteenth Regiment and away from the battlefield like an animal.

For a moment, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

Liu Jilong subconsciously looked at Zhang Chang and the others. Their faces were pale at the moment. Even Ma Cheng, who was usually experienced, couldn't stop shaking.

Everyone is afraid of death, but they have to go.

Looking at them, Liu Jilong tightly grasped the weapon in his hand, and his voice drowned out the sound of fighting on the battlefield.

"Don't think too much, just follow me!"

(End of this chapter)