The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 361
The prince Sun Feng of the Yue Kingdom became the main general who attacked the city. The news quickly spread throughout the coalition camp. Many soldiers were a little surprised when they heard it, and then they felt a little uneasy, especially when they heard that the King of Yue did not believe that Taixifeng could be conquered. Under the circumstances, because Sun Feng interceded for others and forced Sun Feng to be the chief general, they all had varying degrees of concern about the prospects of this war.Everyone knows Sun Feng's bravery, but Sun Feng is too young after all. Compared with the resourceful Sun Shao, he seems too immature. Many people doubt whether he has the ability to command an army of 20.

After Momia heard the news, she didn't express anything in front of Quintus, but only agreed with Quintus' actions at that time.Quintus said that the reason why he was willing to help Sun Feng was because he did not want Sun Shao to stay in Taixifeng. Sun Shao's scheming was too deep, and he was worried that there would be unfavorable actions for Rome in the future.And Sun Feng is still young, not as gloomy as Sun Shao, so he must be easier to deal with.Sun Shao has decided to put him in the northern border of Rome. If he helps him at this time, he will definitely be grateful to Rome, which will benefit the relationship between the two parties in the future. Having him in Ctesiphon will help him suppress Gordian. The father and son are also helpful, and Philip will also have a help when he grows up.

"If the siege fails, there is no way around it. After all, the difficulties lie here. It is indeed not an easy task to conquer Ctesiphon." Quintus said.

Quintus left, and Momia showed a smile on her mouth. She hugged Philip, rubbed her nose on Philip's chest, and laughed softly: "You, you can't be like him, it's too bad gone."

Philip giggled, stretched out two small hands, and tried to grab her hair.

In the big tent of Yue Kingdom, Sun Shao, Sun Feng and Lu Xun sat facing each other. The three of them looked calm and looked at the map spread out on the table without speaking.The tea was already tasteless, so Sun Shaocai patted the desk lightly: "From tomorrow onwards, you will be the chief general of the siege, your uncle is your deputy general in name, but in fact the real chief general, and Cao Zhang and the others People, they are famous generals who have experienced many battles, you should respect them and listen to their opinions more.”

"Here." Sun Feng nodded: "Father, what about you?"

"Me?" Sun Shao smiled and shook his head: "I can't help you with the specific tactics. With a few of them here, I don't need to say more, and I have other things, Ardaxi Er is not a person who is slaughtered by others, I don't believe he will put so many troops in the city."

Lu Xun nodded: "That's exactly what your majesty is worried about, and I'm also very worried about this. The Sassanids rule the roost with cavalry, and with the size and strength of Taixi Fengcheng, he only needs to arrange 3 people to defend the city. Where are those people? I think they must be waiting somewhere outside the city. Although we sent scouts, after all, the terrain is not familiar to them, so we may not be able to find them. If when we are attacking the city, there will be [-] to [-] elite cavalry will be fatal. If we leave enough cavalry for defense, then the siege manpower will be insufficient, and the siege force will be greatly affected. If it cannot be delayed, it will be in the hands of Ardashir. I think he must have something to rely on for daring to persevere in this situation.”

Sun Feng thought for a while: "Then what will the father use to defeat those cavalry? If the number is too small, wouldn't it be very dangerous?"

"It's nothing, it's just a bluff." Sun Shao smiled confidently: "You can attack the city at ease, as long as you can break through the city as soon as possible, I will not be in danger. Ardashir doesn't believe that we can take it down in a short time. Ctesiphon, we must break his illusions and make him believe that there is no good result in fighting with gods."

Sun Feng and Lu Xun laughed. They had just learned the secret of the miracle, and Lu Xun had already figured out how to use this miracle to fight.

The next day, Sun Shao broke away from the camp of the coalition forces and set up a camp ten miles northeast of Taixi Fengcheng. A big battalion was set up in the area, and the two big battalions formed horns to protect the coalition forces behind them.Sun Feng raised his account and made war arrangements.He asked Quintus to send his men to set up a large number of brick kilns on the river beach. At the same time, he lined up the 100 ballistas that had been prepared outside the city of Tessiphon, and all the gunners entered their positions. The defenders carried out debugging under the noses of the guards. The slaves drove more than [-] siege vehicles and practiced back and forth outside the city. The loud chant was heard clearly in the city.More than a thousand ladders were also lined up below the city, and the infantry practiced siege tactics outside the range of the Sassanians. The atmosphere before the battle was well established. Seeing all this, almost everyone thought that The war is imminent.

Only Ardashir laughed and showed a smile. He leaned on the city wall, pointed to the crowd who were busy with shaft kilns on the river beach in the distance, and said, "Did you see that? All the houses have to be demolished, and the mud bricks that can be transported are brought back, and those that cannot be transported are thrown into the river.”

The generals slowly came back to their senses, regardless of how busy the enemies in the city were, the three hundred catapults looked impressive, but they didn't have enough cannon stones to use, and these catapults would become decorations in a short time , and without the most powerful ballista suppression, they would have to brave the blows from the top of the city to move forward, and the casualties would be staggering.In other words, as long as they survive a short period of time and don't break through the city before the opponent's cannon stones are exhausted, they will have an advantage, which is equivalent to defending the city.

"These fools, don't you want to burn bricks a little farther away? Let us see it, isn't it Lu Qi?" A general with a beard on his face laughed loudly.

"Maybe they are tired?" Another general with a sharp face sneered, "Besides, this place is full of endless river beaches. It is really not an easy task for them to prevent us from seeing it."

Ardasil didn't say a word, he thought for a moment, then suddenly turned around and said to a trusted general: "Send a message to people outside the city, and ask them to arrange a few smart scouts to dive into those brick kilns from the river to have a look. Let these cunning Han people fool you."

The confidant didn't think much, and immediately turned around and left.

While arranging the preparations for the siege, Sun Feng wrote another letter to Ardashir in the name of Quintus, asking Ardashir to recognize the situation and surrender as soon as possible. Feng is the one blessed by Ahura, the god standing beside Ahura in the miracle, he is destined to become the master of Ctesiphon, let Ardashir not resist in vain, leave the city and surrender early, and keep some Wealth does not mean that you will lose completely.

Ardasil dismissed it, but he quickly grasped the information. The current general is not Yue Wang Sun Shao, but Sun Shao's heir Sun Feng, a young man less than 20 years old.After pondering for a while, he was ecstatic.It is a big taboo for military strategists to change generals before the battle, and it is even more inadvisable for father and son to trust each other.Why does such a smart person as Sun Shao not be the chief general, but let his son be the chief general instead?He must have felt that the siege was not sure, so if his son came forward, even if he lost, he would have some excuses.

Thinking of this possibility, Ardashir looked up to the sky and sighed, he finally grasped the true mentality of the enemy.

Ardahill replied with a letter, and after expressing his refusal, he made some concessions, hoping to resume negotiations.He sent messengers to the camp outside the city again.The envoy did not see Sun Shao this time, but met Sun Feng, which verified Ardasil's conjecture. After negotiating in good faith, the envoy sent the news back to the city.

Three days later, Sun Feng lost patience with the negotiations and ordered a siege.On the night before the siege of the city, Sun Feng worshiped Ahura, the main god of the Sassanians, in front of many people, and publicly declared that the Han people are Huo De, and the Yue Kingdom belongs to the south among the four vassal states of the Han Dynasty. According to the Five Elements Theory of the Han Dynasty, the Yue Kingdom is a fire within a fire, which is very compatible with Ahura, the God of Light. Therefore, he should also be blessed by Ahura.If this truth is true, then Ahura must perform miracles again.

Almost everyone, including Quintus and Bodiao, was very worried about Sun Shao's oath. Although they did not deny the Sasanian gods, they couldn't believe that Ahura would really respond to Sun Shao. After all, it is hard to say anything about this god. If Ahura doesn't plan to perform any miracles, wouldn't it be a blow to morale?
Just when they were worried, weird things happened again.Not long after the night fell, when Sun Feng prayed on the altar for about an hour, a vague figure gradually appeared in the dark night sky. Just like that day outside the ancient city of Seleu, this figure floated in mid-air, as if at any time will be blown away by the wind.Slowly, this figure became clearer and clearer, and it could be clearly distinguished that this figure was the image of Ahura in the miracle that was shown that day.

50 million people inside and outside the city looked up and were stunned by what they saw. Although everyone had slightly different opinions, they all agreed on one point: Ahura abandoned Ardashir and chose That Han became the king of the Sassanids, and this Han was Sun Feng, the prince of Yue who was kneeling on the altar and praying now. Ahura answered his prayer and gave him protection.

Just when the inside and outside of the city were half insane, something even more insane happened. There was a faint voice in the air, which could be vaguely heard to be the language of the Sassanids. There was some ethereal in the voice , adding a bit of mystery.The voice didn't say much, just read a few verses from the classic teaching of Zoroastrianism "Avesta", and then said: "Be kind to my people, don't do it because of your greed. Push them into the hell of death, or I will definitely abandon you."

After receiving Sun Feng's oath, the figure slowly faded away and disappeared into the vast night sky. Only Sun Feng on the altar stood up against the firelight, raised the holy flame in his hand high, Receive thunderous cheers from all soldiers.

There was a dead silence on the city wall, Ardashir's face was pale, and he tried his best to hold on to the city wall so as not to fall.He knew it was a hoax, but he couldn't explain it convincingly because he had no idea how it was done.Is it illusion?What kind of illusion is that?He couldn't even show a figure in such a high sky, let alone make that figure make a sound, and he couldn't think of anyone who could make such a sound, which could be heard from such a distance .

It seems that it is easier to believe that this is really a miracle.

"Your Majesty..."

The generals surrounded him at some point, with shock on their faces.Many of them did not see the miracle under the ancient city of Seleu with their own eyes, but what they heard was more miraculous than what they saw with their own eyes. They all knew that after the miracle appeared, the Han Chinese broke through the ancient city of Seleu in one day, and now the miracle When it comes again, will Taisifeng follow in the footsteps of Seleucid and be defeated by the Han within a day?

"What are you afraid of? It's just an illusion." Ardashir regained his composure and said dismissively: "I have already begged the high priest to prepare, and he will reveal the truth of this illusion to everyone, and at the same time ask Ahura to show the truth. miracle." He paused and said, "Do you believe that they can break through Ctesiphon in one day like they broke through Seleucus?"

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads. This seemed unlikely, even with the help of the gods, unless Ahura sent down a fire and burned Taixifeng to the ground.However, Ahura made it clear just now that Sun Feng should treat them well and not bring them into hell. Obviously, even if Ahura wants to punish, he will not punish all the Sasanians. of Ardasil.

"Go back to your own positions, beware of the enemy stealing the city." Ardashir reluctantly said a few words on the city wall, and hurried back to the palace.As soon as he entered the palace, he fell limply on the throne. The scene he saw just now hit him too hard. The opponent's methods were so unpredictable that he couldn't guard against him. He was very worried about the next battle. What kind of tricks will there be?

Ardashir called the high priest Aquila, and asked him to immediately send the priests of the temple to refute the rumors, and at the same time demonstrate a similar illusion as quickly as possible, otherwise Taixi Fengcheng would really collapse without a fight.Although Aguila was in a difficult situation, he also knew that there was no way out right now, so he complied.

Not long after Aquila left, another news came. After receiving his order, Awad outside the city sent the most capable scouts to the brick kiln that the coalition forces had just built. They were dug out, packed in straw bags, and piled up into hills. I don’t know if they were going to be used as artillery stone or to fill in the trenches, but what is certain is that they are definitely not burning bricks, because they obviously did not The plan to burn bricks did not even prepare the necessary firewood.

Ardasil sneered, and then called several generals, and asked them to dig a horizontal ditch on the inside of the city wall facing the coalition army, and sent people to monitor it day and night, so as to prevent the Han people from digging tunnels in the name of shaft kilns. In fact, attack the city from the ground.

Ardashir's judgment was very accurate. It only took half the night for someone to listen to the underground sound. This sound indicated that the other party had already dug to a place less than ten steps away from the city wall. If the other party started to attack the city tomorrow, So even if the sound is relatively loud, it is not easy to find it in the city. After a day or two of work, the tunnel can be dug directly into the city.A direct attack might not be possible, but sneaking out at night and opening the gates is very possible.The Greeks used the Trojan horse trick to break through Troy, didn't they just use the huge Trojan horse to send dozens of soldiers to the city?

However, now that it has been discovered, it will not be so easy for the enemy to cover up their tracks. When they dig through the tunnel, sharp weapons will be waiting for them.

At dawn, the tunnel had already been dug outside the city gate, and then there was no news. Apparently, the other side reserved the last section of the tunnel for digging when the battle started tomorrow.Ardashir left enough manpower, and then ordered to enter the fighting state. He had enough confidence to believe that the enemy's attack was about to start.

Everything was as Ardashir had estimated. After dawn, the Han Chinese, Romans, and Guishan people who had had breakfast stepped out of their camps one after another and stood outside the range of the Sassanians.Teams of soldiers, whether they are Han Chinese wearing red war robes and black armor, Romans wearing plate armor and sandals, or Kushan people with shaved heads, Huns, or Tianzhu people wrapped in turbans, Their morale is high, and the miraculous scene last night has convinced them that Sun Feng will command them to complete an almost impossible task - to break through the city of Taixi, kill Ardashir, and then carve up Ardashir Accumulated wealth, completed this arduous expedition, and returned to his hometown with the spoils.

Sun Feng stood majesticly on the high podium, holding his thousand eyes to observe the defense of Taixi Fengcheng. Yang Hu and Lu Yu held the long sword bestowed by Sun Shao, and the other held the command flag, full of energy. Standing behind him, his eyes were piercing, and there was a bit of longing.Nicholas and the other twelve knights were fully armed, all wearing fiery red hoods, guarding behind them. More than a thousand Teutonic warriors stood solemnly under the stage, protecting the podium.Lu Xun, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi, Li Yan and others stood under the stage, with the podium in front of them, waiting for orders.A hundred steps to the left is the position of the Romans. Quintus is also standing on the podium, and more than a dozen legion commanders are waiting for orders in front of the podium.On the right is the position of the Guishuang people, and Bodiao is also standing on the podium, looking at Sun Feng from time to time.

Sun Feng saw Ardashir at the head of the city with clairvoyance. Although he couldn't see his face clearly, he felt Ardashir's tension, especially the dense defense outside the city gate. He knew that The tunnel that took several days to dig must not have been hidden from Ardashir's eyes.

The defense of Taixi Fengcheng is far stronger than that of the ancient city of Seleu, which can be seen only in the defense at the gate of the city.The north gate of Taixifeng is the main gate, facing a seven-foot-high arched gate, with thick walls on both sides. In front of the city gate is an urn, about ten feet square, and the city wall is five feet high. According to reports, inside the city gate There is also an urn city. If you want to enter the city from the gate, you must pass through at least three gates.Although the Taixi Fengcheng was built with mud, the walls near the city gates are pasted with mainly blue colored glaze, with various patterns inlaid with colored glazes of other colors. The entire city gate looks very mysterious. .

"It's a pity to destroy such a beautiful city gate." Sun Feng secretly regretted and raised his right hand.The generals under the city immediately straightened up and looked at Sun Feng with all their attention.

(End of this chapter)