The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 363

Fire, fire everywhere.

The north gate of Taisifeng soon became a sea of ​​flames, and the oil tank bombs that fell from the sky spread the fire further into the city. The ballistas hidden under the city wall were the first to suffer. The mobile artillery carts lined up in square formations were lit.The main parts of these ballistas are made of wood, which are coated with oil for waterproofing, and burn quickly as soon as they are ignited.

The Sassanids howled ghostly and howled, pushing each other and fleeing. Some people fell down and rolled on the ground subconsciously, but regretted it as soon as they fell down. There was flowing oil everywhere on the ground, and it burned even more violently, but they never The opportunity to correct the mistake, the companions behind flocked to the ground, they were trampled to the ground by countless feet, they struggled, and tripped more people, screaming and wailing in the fire, with a strong burnt smell Mixed in the choking oily smell, it makes people want to vomit.

The gate of the city became a veritable purgatory, and countless Sasanian warriors were suffering in the purgatory.

Ardasil ran fast, was held by the imperial guards, and escaped from the range of fire along the city wall leading to the palace. He looked at the wildly dancing flames in front of him, and at the thick smoke covering the sky, My heart sank to the bottom.He could estimate that not only were the crossbows deployed at the gate of the city unable to move in time, but the soldiers in the two urns had no way to escape. The goalkeeper burned to the ground.

The only thing that reassures Ardashir is that there is such a big fire blocking it. Even though the city is in chaos and there is no possibility of any resistance, the Han people can only watch from the outside. Even if the fire is extinguished, There is no place to stand on the scorching hot ground, at least for a day, the Han people cannot enter Ctesiphon from here.

The Sasanians are not ignorant of fire attack, they are very familiar with the viscous oil produced in these deserts, they call it the sweat of the devil, they not only use this oil as medicine and pavement, but also divide this oil into two parts Large category, white ones are used for lighting, this kind of lampblack is less, and black ones are usually not used at home because of too much black smoke, but they are often used when defending the city.Ardashir prepared a large amount of this grease, ready to pour it down when the opponent attacked the city with a ladder, and burn those enemies who climbed the city to death.This kind of grease is very adhesive, and once it is stained, it is difficult to remove, and its lethality is very strong.

However, Ardashir did not expect that the opponent also used this kind of grease as an offensive weapon, and more creatively packed this kind of grease in a clay pot, fired it as a ballista ballista, and then ignited it remotely with a rocket.Ardashir has always been proud of his strong walls and clearing the field, making the opponent not have enough cannon stones to use, but he did not expect that the other party would come up with such a vicious idea, causing more lethality than the cannon stones.

A cannon stone can kill three or four people at most, but a can of oil is enough to burn ten people to death. As long as it is touched by a little fire, the skin will peel off if you don't die, as evidenced by the screams of countless soldiers in front of you.

Did Ahura really abandon me?The other party not only solved the problem of insufficient cannon stones, but also invented such a vicious weapon with the devil's sweat?How did they know the usefulness of these oils?The Romans, the Romans must have told them.

Aldashir was so angry that he yelled, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fainted to the ground.

The Romans and Guishan people were also dumbfounded.Sun Fengwei gave them most of the few cannon stones, enough for them to fire at full strength for two days. He left forty ballistas himself, but only a few cannon stones. If all the cannons were dispatched, his cannon stones would only be enough for two hours at most.Both Quintus and Botiao initially thought that Sun Shao was just a feint, and that after a short bombardment, he would launch a strong attack soon, so their task was mainly to contain the opponent, not to ascend the city.Out of this guess, they tried their best at the beginning, letting the gunners fire as fast as possible to attract the attention of the city.

They never expected that Sun Feng would hide such a trick. The fire burned very suddenly and violently. Not only Ardashir was unprepared, but Quintus and Bodiao were also unprepared. Black smoke, almost everyone is thinking, the Han people are fire virtues, the Yue country is the fire of the fire, and they are indeed the favored sons of the God of Light.It turns out that fire can be used not only to burn the people who climbed the city when defending the city, but also to burn the city gates when attacking the city. .

Quintus hesitated for a while, and immediately sent people to Sun Feng's general platform, asking for oil bombs, which they would also use to attack the city wall.Unexpectedly, Sun Feng refused.He said that the fire attack was just to warn Ardasil, to prove to him that I, Sun Feng, was the one protected by Ahura, not to burn down the entire city of Taixi.As an ancient city with a long history, Taixifeng City has served as the capital of Parthia and Sasanian successively. It has a history of more than 400 years. How can I have the heart to burn this famous city?What's more, there are more than [-] people in the city. These people are all Ahura's people. I promised Ahura to treat them well. How can I go back on my word and push them all into the purgatory of death.

Quintus was speechless. He also thought of the voice from the sky when the miracle happened last night. Ahura really wanted Sun Feng to treat his people well, otherwise he would abandon Sun Feng just like abandoning Ardashir. .Although he felt that Sun Feng was suspected of hiding something private, he had seen these with his own eyes, so it was not easy to force Sun Feng to share them.

Besides, if he had such a sharp weapon himself, he would probably find some excuses and keep it for himself.

After burning the north gate into a sea of ​​flames, Sun Feng ordered to stop the attack, and sent someone to stand on the top of the siege vehicle to shout to the city, hoping that Ardashir would see the situation clearly, not to resist stubbornly, and to give peace to the people and soldiers in the city. make unnecessary sacrifices.

The person who shouted stood on the siege engine in a grand manner, and he no longer needed to be as embarrassed as Cao Zhi just now. The city walls within the attack range of the ballista were already blazing, and there was no need to worry about someone shooting arrows or firing ballistas in the fire.

Cao Zhi and Li Yan boarded the siege engine with their personal guards, admiring their battle results up close.Because Cao Zhi discovered the large-scale gathering of the enemy in time, he replaced the artillery stone, dealt a head-on blow to the defenders, and brought the battle into a situation that was beneficial to his own side in advance.Although he has not ascended the city yet, Cao Zhi has already made his first contribution.He is in a very good mood now, even if he smells the stench, he feels very happy.The only regret is that this kind of black oil burns too much smoke, falling from the sky, and soon dyed his snow-white cloak into flowers, and even the bright light armor bestowed by his father Cao Cao was stained with a lot of black oil. It is very inconsistent with his image of a romantic scholar and a Confucian general.

"Zijian, in this situation, don't you want to recite poems?" Li Yan shouted across three siege vehicles.Encouraged by the great victory, seeing Taixi closing the city at his fingertips, he, who has always been rigid, couldn't help himself, and made a joke with Cao Zhi.

"Hahaha..." Cao Zhi looked up to the sky and laughed loudly: "Brother Zhengfang, I only have a murderous look and no poetic sentiment. I will wait for Crown Prince Sun to order me to go first. Brother Zhengfang, don't fight with me then."

"For poetry, I won't compete with you. For climbing the city, I will do my part." Li Yan stroked his beard and laughed, "Zijian, you have already made one contribution, so don't fight for the second one. ?”

"That won't work." Cao Zhi waved his hand, "If you don't commit suicide to the top of the city, how can you enjoy yourself?"

"Since this is the case, let's not be polite, let's do it according to our own ability." Li Yan laughed loudly: "I'm afraid that Ardashir will be persuaded by this fire, and he will open the door to surrender. At that time, we will have nothing to do." We have to fight."

"No." Cao Zhi said confidently: "That old dog is a character, and he won't surrender so easily. I think Prince Sun is a bit whimsical."

Li Yan smiled and didn't answer his words.This Cao Zijian was indeed a madman, to criticize Sun Feng in front of so many soldiers.Although these soldiers are either from Wei State or Shu State, and none of them are from Yue State, Sun Feng is the chief general after all, and he just burned Ardashir to death with a fire. He won the impenetrable Taixi Fengcheng within a few days. This alone is enough to make all the soldiers worship him, and make countless young heroes yearn for him. How can he be criticized for his whimsy at this time.

The city was dead silent.The Sassanids on the walls on both sides of the city gate looked at the burnt towers and remained silent. The attack under the city stopped, and they also stopped counterattacking. But looking at the changed towers, most of them remembered yesterday. Miracles seen at night.

Ahura has appeared, and the Han people are really a fire in the fire.He stopped attacking now, not because he was incapable of continuing to attack, but because he fulfilled his promise to Ahura, and he wanted to treat Ahura's people well.

Taixi closed the city into a strange silence, and everyone was waiting for Ardashir's reply.

The palace was in chaos.

Ardashir was lying on the brocade couch with his teeth clenched tightly, and he didn't respond to the commotion around him. Apart from his chest still rising and falling, he was no different from a dead person.The first day of a war that had been in preparation for several months ended like this, which surprised everyone and messed things up.The sudden fall of Ardashir pushed this chaos to the brink of collapse.

The high priest Aquila and a dozen priests knelt in front of the altar in the palace, chanting prayers over and over again, and there was an indescribable anxiety in the rapid chanting.

Several sons of Ardashir and a dozen trusted generals surrounded the brocade couch with different expressions. A dozen women looked at the motionless Ardashir from a distance, weeping secretly.Ardashir has always been the undefeated God of War in their minds. They never thought that Ardashir would become like this one day. A fierce battle had just begun. When the two sides were still warming up, they actually ate After suffering such a big loss, just as the two sides had just put on a duel posture, and the side hadn't moved their bodies yet, they were beaten dizzily by the opponent's sap, and their morale plummeted. These people's confidence in Ardashir also fell shaken.

Did Ahura really abandon the Sasanian family?
Many generals were thinking about this question. Although they didn't dare to say it in front of the Ardashir family, the dissociation in their eyes revealed their thoughts, and they exchanged glances with each other from time to time.

After praying, Aguila saw these eyes in his eyes, and was anxious in his heart. Those who could come to the palace were Ardashir's trusted generals. Although they had doubts, they would not betray Ardashir immediately. Because everything they have is given by Ardashir, even if they invest in Sun Feng, they may not get more benefits.In the face of interests, even if the faith is shaken, it will not collapse immediately.But what about everyone else?Driven by their faith, will they capitulate and surrender, and welcome Ahura's favored new king into Ctesiphon?

As a high priest, Aquila's truth about religious beliefs is far clearer than that of ordinary people. What is a miracle?As the high priest, he talked with the gods in a trance countless times, but the miracles displayed in front of the people were all directed by him without exception.Of course, he didn't believe that the miracle last night was really Ahura's will, but he couldn't tell it, and no one would believe it if he said it. If people think that they have been talking before, the result will be even worse.

The only way now is to insist that it is not Ahura, but Ahura's enemy Ahriman. Anyway, no one knows the difference between Ahura and Ahriman.

"Gentlemen, Ahura is very angry with Ahura, who has burnt our cities and our people with evil fire by the hands of our enemies. He has decreed and will perform miracles to punish Ahura and those who The devil from the east. Go back and prepare first. I will use the elixir Ahura just gave to revive his favorite Sasanian king, and he will lead you to defeat Ahriman and his slaves."

Everyone looked at each other, took a step back, but did not leave.The general of the Imperial Guard bowed and saluted: "Great High Priest, we dare not disobey Ahura's will, but we also care about the body of King Sassanid. Please allow us to see him wake up, so that we can save him." Good news to the restless soldiers."

Aguilar thought for a moment, nodded, and without saying much, walked up to Ardasil, pinned his left hand, raised his right hand in front of his chest, pinched his handprints like flames, and recited a few words softly Then he stroked Ardashir's chest with his left hand and chanted loudly: "O King Ahura's favorite, wake up quickly, obey Ahura's teachings, and defeat Ahura and His shameful slave. Arise, save your people, save Ctesiphon, save Sasanian—”

Following the last long sound, Ardashir on the brocade couch suddenly moved, opened his eyes suddenly, and roared: "Great Ahura, I will definitely obey your call without any hesitation— —”

Everyone was stunned, and then they looked at each other with joy, the frustration on their faces was swept away, and the sunshine returned to their hearts.They rushed over and looked at Ardashir who had just woken up.Ardashir's face miraculously returned to its usual rosy face, and his eyes were piercing. He sat up, parted from the crowd around him, knelt down in front of Aguilar, and kissed his shoes: "I will definitely Follow your teachings, defeat Ahriman and the hateful eastern devils, defend Ctesiphon, defend my people, defend Sassanid, even if it means sacrificing my life."

"My king, follow the teachings of Ahura and you will be victorious. Follow the teachings of Ahura and you will have eternal life. Fight with your courage and loyalty, you will be invincible, no one can stand against your blade and horseshoes..."

All the generals knelt down one after another and chanted sutras praising Ahura aloud. Masculine chanting sounded in the palace, and the haze just now was swept away.The concubines hiding in the distance wept with joy, closed their eyes and began to chant.After the generals finished reciting the scriptures, they kissed Ardashir's hand one by one, and then retreated respectfully.They immediately announced the miraculous awakening of Ardashir to the whole city, and told all the soldiers and people that Ahura had not given up on Ardashir. win.

The gloomy Taixi Fengcheng finally regained a little confidence.

Ardashir breathed a sigh of relief, and sat weakly on the wide throne, his brows were tightly furrowed, and he looked at Aguilar opposite him: "Is there any other way?"

"I have sent people to arrange in the city, and some miracles will appear soon, but..." Aquila smiled wryly: "I still can't think of any kind of illusion that can show miracles so high in the sky." , I am afraid the effect will not be too ideal.”

"Do as much as you can." Ardasil waved his hand: "The Han people are too cunning. They not only surpass us in making miracles, but also surpass us in siege technology. Although I have prepared a lot Sweat from the devil, and prepared a way to defend against fire attacks, but..." He sighed dejectedly: "I didn't think of such a simple method, let them take the lead for nothing, and so many people were killed and injured. Soldiers, they even burned down the city gate."

"The enemy is cunning, we must be more cunning than them in order to win this victory." Aquila comforted: "Next, what are you going to do?"

"I still have a lot of ballistas. If he can do it, we can do it too." Aldashir rested his forehead on one hand and looked at the void in front of his seat with a frown: "I'm just thinking about how to make this The victory came a little bigger, more like Ahura's will than just imitating our enemies."

Aguila frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly said: "Why don't we use the ambushes outside the city to burn their camps? As long as we burn their storage, our chances of winning will be even greater. If we can destroy Those tanks of theirs, that would be great."

Ardasil rolled his eyes, thought for a while, and nodded slowly: "Yes, this is indeed a good way, and we can do better."

(End of this chapter)