Back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty to be the emperor

Chapter 370 The Death of Hezhou (1)

"Quick, lift it up, speed up!"

The Tubo army has not yet arrived, but the city of Fanghan is already in chaos. A bearded man in light armor is standing beside the stairs next to the city gate with wide eyes, shouting at the crowd who are rushing to lift up their hands. The soldiers holding the slender wood and rolling stones were none other than Zhang Mingwu, the captain of the defense school of Fuhan City.

Zhang Mingwu, a native of Lantian, Guanzhong, his father and ancestors were ordinary military households, and he had no great reputation, but he was a martial artist since he was a child, and he learned a good martial arts. He was promoted step by step from a small soldier to a lieutenant of a battalion. Although his official rank is not high, he has already touched the threshold of a general. If he has new achievements, he can be promoted to a guerrilla general. That being said, it is quite difficult.

From the school captain to the guerrilla general, it seems that there is only one level difference, but this level is not so easy to advance, especially for a pure soldier like Zhang Mingwu who has no background and background, if he wants to take another step, then He had to fight with his life. For this reason, Zhang Mingwu often asked for help, and wanted to be transferred to Shanzhou, where the war was most likely to happen. There is a bump in the horns, and when he meets such a lazy governor as Yao Wangshu, even if Zhang Mingwu wants to prepare weapons, he has no way to start. He can only do his best to use his authority to prepare some wooden rolling stones and the like. Conventional city defense equipment was thought to be just in case, but it was just a soldier's instinct, but he didn't expect it to come in handy. Ever since he heard the news of the arrival of the Tubo army, Zhang Mingwu had immediately ordered the front and rear gates to be closed. Two city gates, and urged the soldiers in his hands to prepare for the battle. Of course, Zhang Mingwu is very self-aware. He didn't think that he could repel the Tubo army in the field with such a small number of troops. What he thought was only Counting on the support of the city wall and waiting for help, Zhang Mingwu has no idea whether he can hold it, but anyway, as a commanding officer, Zhang Mingwu does not lack the courage to die with the city.

"Report, Mr. Zhang, Yao Shishi forcefully opened the back door and left for Anxiang. He said he was going to ask for reinforcements. Please tell me clearly!"

Just as Zhang Mingwu was busy with the commander's men preparing for battle, a soldier rushed up from under the city, put on one knee, and reported anxiously.

"What? You bastard! Damn it!"

Hearing that Yao Wangshu had abandoned the city at the critical moment of the battle, Zhang Mingwu was dizzy, almost vomited blood, punched the city wall, and cursed angrily.

"Master Zhang, the bandit army is here!"

As soon as Zhang Mingwu's scolding stopped, there was an exclamation from the top of the city. Zhang Mingwu didn't care about getting angry, turned around quickly, and rushed to the front of the city gate. Just looking at it, he immediately saw smoke and dust billowing behind a low mountain ridge in the distance , the rolling Tubo army arrived within a few miles of the city like a wave in just a moment.

"The whole army goes to the city, prepare for war, prepare for war!"

Zhang Mingwu has practiced martial arts for many years, and he has already estimated the size of the incoming enemy with just a glance. Seeing that the incoming enemy has more than ten thousand soldiers and cavalry, his heart sank to the bottom of the valley, he knew very well With such a small number of troops under his command, it is almost impossible to defend the city, but Zhang Mingwu did not intend to learn from Yao Wangshu, and issued an order to prepare for battle with a roar. In an instant, the entire city was in chaos, and groups of officers and soldiers They rushed to the top of the city, each holding a weapon, and nervously watched the Tubo army adjusting their formation below the city.

"Ning Gu Sidu, let your men go, and this general leads his troops to cover!"

Herzzan didn't pay attention to the few defenders in the city of Fanghan at all, and he didn't intend to consume his elite soldiers. Once the whole army was deployed, he squinted at Ning Gusdu and struck out. He yawned, and gave a careless order.

"Ah, this...well, then there is General Lao."

Ning Gusi has been under the rule of the Tang Dynasty for a long time, so he knows how powerful the Tang army is, and he is not very willing to gnaw hard bones, but when he sees Herzzan's face that is not negotiable, he is helpless. Thinking that there was still an ambush in the city, he reluctantly agreed.

"Well, it's easy to say, if you can win this city, this general will definitely report your achievements to the prime minister, and I will never lose you."

Hearing that Ning Gus agreed to attack the city, Herzzan immediately showed a satisfied smile, and cheerfully comforted Ning Gus, then he suddenly looked down, waved his hand, and there were two people on each side of the left and right wings. Thousands of cavalry rushed out of the formation, rushed to the bottom of the city, and poured waves of arrow rain on the top of the city.

"Go up, rush to the city, whoever goes to the top of the city first will reward fifty horses, thirty cows, and a hundred sheep!"

Seeing that the Tubo army had been dispatched, Ning Gusi didn't dare to be negligent, turned around, roared at the more than [-] tribal soldiers who followed chaotically, and offered a heavy reward.

"Huhehe..."

The Salar Tribe is the largest tribe in Hezhou, with a large population, but they are very poor and rely on nomads for a living. For them, the coins circulating in the Tang Dynasty are definitely not as practical as cattle, sheep and horses. Hearing such a heavy reward from their leader, they all went crazy immediately, roaring indiscriminately, picked up the crudely made ladder and rushed towards the city wall, although there was no formation at all, but that kind of wild Once the energy comes out, it is also very spectacular.

"Hold on, hold on, crossbowmen are ready!"

The city wall of Fanghan is low and lacks defensive weapons such as crossbows, and even the large arrow shields are not neat. The Tubo cavalry under the city head shot random arrows, and all the officers and soldiers of the Tang Dynasty on the city were crushed. , this battle has not yet started, and the momentum has been suppressed. Seeing this, Zhang Mingwu was impatient, but he was very helpless. He could only hold on to a shield while roaring with all his strength in order to stabilize the morale of the army. .

"Fire arrows!"

Seeing the soldiers of the Salar tribe rushing closer and closer, Zhang Mingwu didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and issued a general order with a loud roar. The more than two hundred crossbowmen who had been ready for a long time immediately stood up and fired almost at the same time. The rest of the feathered arrows whizzed and shot into the rebellious Salar army, instantly shooting the thirty or so rebel soldiers in the front into hedgehogs, but the rest of the Salar soldiers ignored the screams of their own wounded soldiers, Trampled and passed by, rushed to the bottom of the city like a wave, and when the ladder was erected, they climbed along the ladder to the top of the city shouting.

"Put the wood rolling stone!"

Zhang Mingwu didn't expect such a rare rain of arrows to stop the Salar's rush. Seeing the other side's ladder erected, he hurriedly gave orders.

The wooden rolling stone has always been a sharp weapon for defending the city, but seeing Zhang Mingwu's order, the defenders on the top of the city immediately moved according to the words, braving the arrow rain of the Tubo cavalry, and threw the rolling stone down the city with all their strength , and immediately beat the Salar soldiers who were climbing the city until they were crying for their mothers. The tribal soldiers without armor were hit by the rolling stones, and they were either killed or injured. The defenders smashed the wood several times, and the greed in their hearts was awakened. It took only a quarter of an hour to fight, and they couldn't hold on anymore, leaving behind more than two hundred corpses, even the ladder. They didn't care about carrying it, and they all retreated in a panic. A good siege battle turned into a farce.

"Bastard, Ning Gusdu, what kind of soldiers and horses are you bringing with you? With such virtue, you still want to cede land and become king? Useless things!"

Seeing that the Salar soldiers were so unbeaten, Herzzan's face immediately turned black, and he glared at Ning Gusdu angrily, and cursed without giving him any face.

"General, please calm down, so I will personally lead the army to attack the city!"

Ning Gusi didn't expect that his subordinate Erlang was so useless. After being scolded by Hertz, he couldn't hold back his face immediately. Angrily, he took off the fur jacket on his body, bare his arms, and pulled out the scimitar at his waist , Leaving aside a scene sentence, he galloped his horse and rushed in front of his own soldiers, and with the back of his knife, ruthlessly knocked down a few of the fastest-running soldiers, and cursed again and again: "Bastards, who told you to retreat, come on!" , give it to me, who dares to take a step back, I beheaded his whole family, go up, go up, take down the city of Fanghan for me, the reward will be doubled!"

"Take the bounty, go, go!"

The soldiers of the Salar tribe are masters who forget to eat but not to fight. This time the reward was doubled, and the morale that had just dropped instantly rose again. They completely forgot that they were beaten to pieces by the Tang army just now, and they went forward again They rushed back and roared wildly, baring their teeth one by one, and the wildness broke out completely.

"Go up, go up with me, and suppress the city!"

Hetzzan didn't want to add more mushrooms to the city of Fanghan. Seeing the soldiers of the Salar tribe rushing to the city again, he immediately led the whole army of cavalry to press up, leaving only a thousand infantry behind to hold the ground.

After all, Herzzan was a general, and even though he was only an ordinary general, he was not lacking in the ability to command battles on the fly. With his superior command, the attack efficiency of the more than [-] Tubo cavalry was significantly improved. It was a big cut, but I saw two Tubo cavalry of [-] each moving freely, and the cooperation was extremely tacit. The rain of arrows shooting at the top of the city never stopped, and it suppressed the defenders at the top of the city like raindrops. In the next step, the casualties of the officers and soldiers of the Tang Army who risked their lives throwing wood and rolling stones under the city increased sharply. After the battle was not long, more than a hundred officers and soldiers of the Tang Army were either killed or injured and lost their combat power. The Salar tribal soldiers took advantage of the situation and rushed to the top of the city. For the Tang army defending the city, the situation was already at stake!

"Brothers, kill the thief, kill the thief, kill the thief!"

Seeing that the situation was not right, Zhang Mingwu had no choice but to go all out. With a loud roar, he led his guards out of the city gate and charged towards several breached city defenses. Seeing how brave their lord general was, all the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty felt so brave. Not to be outdone, they roared and started a bloody battle with the soldiers of the Salar tribe who rushed to the top of the city.

(End of this chapter)