At night, gray mist fills the vast land. This is west of the Ate Sea. The primitive black pine forests are densely distributed along the lakeside. The Ate Sea is named after its water temperature higher than ordinary lakes and rivers. It is already early winter, and the snow covers the earth, but there is no trace of snow near the Ate Sea. The climate is warm and moist, and a thick and thick fog floats in the black forest on a winter night.
In the forest, in the lingering fog, countless black shadows stood quietly, just like the elves traveling in the black forest at night. They were naturally the four thousand Tang troops who were rushing to Shattered Leaf for thousands of miles. After nearly half a month of hard marching, the Tang army arrived at their destination under the cover of the first snow, Shattered Leaf.
At this moment, they were about 150 miles away from Suiye City. Two scouts who were proficient in Turk had already gone to Suiye City with their guide Turk three days ago. The time had passed for a full three days, and there was still no news. It was already the most critical moment. Guan Ying was extremely nervous, and there was no laughter and scolding all the way on his face. He looked heavy and stared at the distance anxiously.
"General Guan, have a nap!
"Deputy General Yan Yun came over and patted his shoulder gently, and comforted him with a smile: "It's no big deal. If it really doesn't work, it's just a fierce battle. I don't believe that the small Thunder Ye City can still station an army of 10,000 people?"
"I know there is nothing to do if I'm anxious, but it's important, how can I not be nervous?" Guan Ying sighed and said, "The governor didn't consider my low qualifications, but asked me to do this overall situation. I was afraid that if I was wrong, it would ruin a big deal!"
Yan Yun didn't say anything. Although he also felt that the governor used Guan Ying to do this, the governor's decision was not something he could do, a small commander could disobey. He was silent for a moment and smiled: "General Guan should not belittle himself. The governor asked you to complete this matter. He must have his consideration. General Guan just let go and do it. We will do our best to help the general make such a wonderful contribution."
"The credit belongs to everyone, not me." Guan Ying glanced at him coldly, stood up and ran out of the forest quickly. He had already seen a black shadow riding a horse running towards this side.
"Report to the general, the situation may not be good." Only one scout and guide Turk came, while another scout disappeared.
Seeing his heavy face, Guan Ying couldn't help but feel cold in her heart, and asked in a deep voice: "What happened? Where is Yang Guzheng?"
"The Cannibal is forcibly recruiting troops everywhere. Turk's leg injury was spared and Team Yang was unfortunately arrested."
"Forced recruitment?" Guan Ying was stunned. He pondered for a moment, guessing that the recruitment of the Great Cannibal was probably related to the situation in Shule. If the Great Cannibal went to support Shule, would they take the retreat of the Tang army to attack Yunshankou? But it would be impossible to build a castle in just ten days. Guan Ying suddenly realized that his mission was no longer as simple as capturing the Thunder City.
"Then can you find the troops of Sailye?" This is what Guan Ying is most concerned about.
The scout bowed and bowed and said, "The subordinates are incompetent. The city of Suoye is now in chaos, and it is difficult to find out their specific forces. However, the subordinates heard that two troops came from the west, with an estimated 2,000 people. Together with the original defenders, the subordinates speculated that there are about four or five thousand people in the city at present."
Guan Ying paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, frowning tightly, what should he do? Should he really attack Saiye City? Saiye is not as good as the ordinary earthen city in the Western Regions? It is a military town built by the Tang army. The city walls are tall and strong. They do not have siege equipment and cannot take down the city if they are close to thousands of cavalry. Moreover, the opponent's troops are not less than them. Not to mention siege, they may even have a problem in the grassland field.
Or wait a few more days before the cannibal left? But they had been delayed for five days and could not wait any longer. Guan Ying couldn't figure out the method, so he called Yan Yun and several other intermediate officers to discuss countermeasures.
Some people suggested that some people should be sent to snatch the city gate when they enter the city, and then the army would come to pick them up, but some people opposed that if the number of people went to, they would be arrested immediately, and if the number of people went to, there would be no chance to get close to the city gate. Moreover, the Dashi Army also had roaming posts, and the army would be discovered too close to the city gate.
Someone also suggested that since the Dashi was recruiting troops, they would simply pretend to be a young man and be captured by them, and wait for an opportunity to act. However, Yan Yun immediately opposed it. He pointed out that generally young man and young man who were arrested would not have any freedom, and would only be strictly guarded to prevent escape, and would eventually be put into the battlefield as a meat shield when the army was fighting.
There are many different opinions, and everyone can never come up with a unified opinion. Guan Ying has been silent. It should be said that the starting point of all the methods of everyone is the same, which is to use the great cannibal to ignorance of the arrival of his own army and to use surprise troops to seize the city. However, the problem is that the feasibility is not great enough. The great cannibal is not an idiot, and an army with more than a thousand people cannot capture the city gate.
‘How can there be a way to get a thousand-man army to the city without being suspected by the enemy?’
At this time, the guide Turke came over to say goodbye to Guan Ying, "General Guan, thank you for your life-saving kindness, but I am worried about my family and I am going back to Heliu City. I wish you all the best to take down the Broken Leaf."
"Wait!" Guan Ying's mind was like lightning, and a thought flashed through him, and he immediately asked him: "What other cities are there nearby?"
Turk replied respectfully: "Actually, there are many small towns near Rehai. We are afraid that you will be discovered, so we will choose remote roads and deliberately avoid these cities, such as Heli City, Frozen City, and Yezhi City to the south. There is also General Peiluo City 130 miles away to the west. The closest one to us should be Yezhi City, which is less than twenty miles south of us."
"Then are there big cannibal garrisons in these small towns? If there are garrisons, how many are there?"
"There are garrisons, but how many are there are, it's hard to say." Turk scratched his head, "In the past, there were usually one or two hundred people, but at most, it reached a thousand. Now, since the Great Food Army gathered the Broken Leaf, I think there should be no less."
Guan Ying had a bold plan in his heart. He looked up at the night scene and immediately smiled at everyone, "Is it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar? I think the big cannibal of Saiye should welcome his army!"
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Half an hour later, the four thousand Tang troops set out quietly. They galloped towards Yezhicheng along the edge of the forest under the cover of night fog. The land around Rehai was fertile and the climate was warm and humid. At that time, the Tang army brought many advanced agricultural technologies when farming near Suiye, which made the area relatively developed agriculture and relatively dense population, and many small cities were distributed. Yezhicheng was the smaller one. It was located at the entrance of Suiye River flowing into Rehai. There were more than 1,000 residents, most of whom made a living by farming.
At this moment, there were about 500 Dashi garrison troops in Yezhi City. They were stationed in the city. They said they were just a sieve of earth, rammed with earth, two meters high, and more than 500 steps in length and width. Its function was mainly to defend against the invasion of wild beasts in the forest, so there were neither city tower nor soldiers patrolling the city wall. They just built a high platform at each corner of the city wall to serve as a patrol.
On the edge of the forest, Guan Ying looked at Yezhi City three hundred steps away. They had already explored around. All the Great Food Army were in the city, and there was only one city gate in this city. Dozens of butter torches were lit at the city gate, which illuminated the city gate.
In the deep night, more than a dozen soldiers dressed as civilians rushed towards the city with hundreds of horses. On each horse, there was a Tang army hanging on the side. When they were less than a hundred steps away from the city, they were discovered by the patrol on the platform. Someone shouted loudly in the dark: "Stop, who are you?"
He spoke proficient Turkic language. It seemed that the soldiers were locals. A Tang army also replied loudly in Turkic language: "We are Ma Shang, and we came from Bahan. It is not safe in the forest and want to go to the city to spend the night."
“Can you have a pass?”
"Yes! Yes!"
For a moment, a basket was hung from the platform, "Put the pass inside!"
A ingot of yellow gold was put into the basket. The basket quickly pulled upwards and soon disappeared into the night. The soldiers on it suddenly became silent.
"Mr. Jun, let's have a convenience! We will leave at dawn, and we will thank you very much."
After a while, the big iron door creaked open, and someone inside complained: "You can't open the door at night, hurry up and don't implicate me."
"Okay! OK! OK! Let's hurry up." Tang Jun was perfunctory, and the cold horizontal knife had quietly pulled out. The door opened, and two excited and greedy faces appeared under the flames. "One ingot of gold is not enough, give another ingot."
However, what they saw was no longer yellow gold, but dozens of long and bright swords. The blade flashed by and two heads fell to the ground. Tang army rushed into the city gate quickly. The torches at the city gate suddenly disappeared. In the darkness, teams of figures quietly rushed into the city gate.
Two days later, the same thing happened in General Peiluo City, 130 miles away. On October 12, the Tang army annihilated more than 500 Great Food Army of General Peiluo City, and was less than twenty miles away from Suiye City.
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Suye City is the farthest border city in the western region of China's dynasties. In the first year of the Diaolu of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, after the rebellion of the Tang Dynasty's ambassador Pei Xingjian pacified the rebellion of the governor of Fuyan, Ashina, Duzhi and others, the deputy ambassador and the escort of Anxi, Fangyi, established Suye Town next to the Suye River to replace Yanqi. Therefore, from this time, the four towns in Anxi were Suye, Kucha, Khotan and Shule.
It was not until the seventh year of Kaiyuan that the Khan of the Western Turks had been invited to live in Suye City. Tang Jiahui, the governor of the four towns, suggested that Yanqi Town be replaced by Suye Town. Suye Town gradually lost its glorious status. Finally, after the Battle of Talas in the eighth year of Tianbao, Suye Town was finally destroyed under the rolling iron hooves of the Dashi Cavalry.
From the west of the Ate Sea, there are several huge mountains that go east and west. The mountains have sufficient water sources, flat terrain and very pleasant climate. Since ancient times, they have been the place where Hu people from all countries live.
The Ruiye City is located in the Ruiye River Valley. The valley is about 400 miles long and the width is 160 miles wide. The Ruiye River, which has sufficient water, crosses the area.
Among the countless small cities in the Rehai River Basin, Saiye City is undoubtedly a flock of cranes. It was built by the Tang army in the past after the imitation of Chang'an City. The city was circumference of fifty miles at its longest time. However, as time goes by, the area of ​​Saiye City is constantly shrinking. The current Saiye City was rebuilt during the Tianbao period. The circumference of the city is still more than twenty miles. In this huge city, there are more than 100,000 residents, most of whom are Western Turks and Geluo people, and there are also some descendants of the Han people.
Since Suoye City is the central city of the Rehai River Basin, its garrisons generally remain at more than 8,000. However, due to the fierce battle between the Dashi Army and the Tubo army in Tocharo, most of the troops have been transferred to the south, and now it is about 3,000. But just a few days ago, the garrisons of various countries along the Yaosha River received an order from Prince Agush of Dashi, ordering them to urgently support Shule. In this way, Ashibulai City and 1,000 garrisons from Julan City rushed to Suoye City to concentrate and prepared to go south to support Shule.
At dusk that day, a Dashi Army of more than a thousand people came from the east. The general led by Tang general Guan Ying. After annihilated the Dashi Army of Yezhicheng and General Peiluo City, they obtained more than a thousand Dashi Army outfits, and captured a general as a cover to open to Suiye City.
Although Guan Ying already knew that Saiye City was not as small as he thought, when he actually saw this city, he was still shocked by its extremely spectacular momentum and was extremely excited. Under the setting sun, Saiye City was bathed in golden light, just like the legendary Temple City. On this land full of exotic style, Saiye City is an alien. It completely maintains the style of the Tang Dynasty. The tower with flying eaves and carved corners, the towering city walls made of hundreds of thousands of bluestones, a sudden horse face, a wide moat, and a high suspension bridge. This is a heroic city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. In the Western Regions or Dashi, which are dominated by cavalry, it is tantamount to capturing this city.
Guan Ying knew that his decision was right. If he didn't have to make a plan, his northern expedition would have to end in failure. At this time, he was about three miles away from Suoye City, and the sky was already dark.
At this time, rolling yellow dust suddenly rose from afar. A group of big cannibals came to watch the situation. When they got closer, the officer who was in charge shouted disdainfully: "Why are you here to Thunder Ye City?"
There are four types of Dashi army. The first type is the Caliph's Guards, which are the elite of the Dashi army, with 100,000 people stationed in Baghdad; the second type is called the Benzong Army, which is also an army composed of the Grand Cannibals, with a combat power slightly inferior to the Guards, with about 200,000 people. It is headed by the major direct governors and is the main force of the Dashi war. Among the 50,000 Dashi army in Shule, 30,000 people are the Zong army; the third type is called the local army, which is not the Grand Cannibals,
But people from all over Islam, such as the five thousand people stationed in Saiye City, are local troops; the fourth type is called the slave army, which is composed of people from all over the country conquered by the Great Food and do not believe in Islam. This type of soldiers has the lowest status and is generally stationed in small cities. When fighting, they are rushing to the forefront and the first to die. The slave army stationed in all small cities of Rehai are the worst equipment and treatment.
Therefore, it is extremely normal for Youshou, who came to observe the situation, to look contemptuous of them.
When Guan Ying saw the other party ask, his heart immediately became nervous. He used a dagger to hold back the midfielder of the general who was caught in the Great Food Army and whispered: "Don't forget that your wife and children are still in my hands. If you dare to have any unfair intentions, I will not only kill you, but also kill your whole family."
The arrested general was the garrison commander of Yezhi City. He was a local Turkic man and could only be a low-level officer. He did not dare to disobey and immediately said to the big food general who was patrolling the post: "We got thousands of war horses and sent them specially, and were willing to obey the order."
As he said that, he pointed behind him. The general of the Great Food saw that there were indeed thousands of war horses following far behind. He was overjoyed. He did not carefully observe the situation of these slave soldiers. He only said: "Come the horses into the city quickly." Then he turned his horse's head and led the patrol cavalry to speed back towards the city.
Guan Ying's heart was slightly relieved, and he immediately ordered the soldiers to speed up and speed towards Thunder Ye City.
A few miles passed in a short while. At this time, the Tang army was less than 300 steps away from the East City Gate. The suspension bridge was slowly lowered and the city gate was rumbling open. Hundreds of soldiers guarding the city gate were either standing on the city wall or crowding at the city gate, rushing to look at the horses behind.
Just as several Tang soldiers were about to urge them to come forward, Guan Ying immediately whispered to them, "Don't worry, let some war horses go in first."
The soldiers immediately dodged a path and let more than a thousand war horses walk in front. In this way, a thousand cavalry mixed with two groups of war horses slowly walked towards the city gate.
The war horses entered the city cave, and the big food soldiers came forward to choose one after another, but many people shouted. Guan Ying was stunned and immediately asked the officers beside him, "What are they shouting?"
"They are asking, why are these horses all rude? They are obviously military horses."
The sweat on Guan Ying's back suddenly came down. It was his negligence. He actually forgot the difference between ordinary horses and military horses. His mind changed rapidly and immediately said to the officer: "Tell them that this is the war horse of the Gelu people."
"Okay! I say." The officer suddenly stepped forward, pointed behind him and shouted wildly: "They are Tang army! They are Tang army!"
The situation suddenly changed drastically. Seeing that the matter had been exposed, Guan Ying yelled, drew his sword and rushed to the suspension bridge, and chopped the officer's head more than ten feet away with one knife. The Tang army behind him roared, drew his sword and rushed to the suspension bridge, and rushed to the Dashi Army guarding the city gate like a storm. In a moment, he cut the dozen people outside into meat paste.
The Great Food Army had already reacted. Many people tried their best to push the city gates and tried to close them, but the city caves were filled with war horses and they could not close them at all.
The Tang army's arrows were like rain, and instantly shot dozens of Dashimen to death. At this time, a lagging Tang army lit a cigarette cartridge and threw it out. Suddenly, thick smoke rose. This was a type of Tang army gunpowder bullet, which was specially used to report messages to the distance.
"Kill!" The Tang army drove the war horses and rushed into the city, fighting with hundreds of Dashi Army who rushed down from the city. At this moment, the sudden change at the east gate had spread throughout the city. The Dashi Army came from all directions, and there were teams of Dashi Army wearing black armor running on the streets everywhere.
The enemy troops at the east gate soon increased to more than a thousand. They held short spears and javelins and launched fierce attacks on the Tang army again and again. The javelins were thrown densely, and war horses and soldiers were stabbed by flying guns, either neighing or screaming, falling to the ground and dying, and blood flowed into a river. However, the Tang army's counterattack was even more sharp. They used the Tang Dynasty's bows and arrows to shoot dense rain of arrows towards the enemy group one by one. The wailing sounded constantly among the enemy group, and the enemy fell one by one.
But as time went by, more and more Dashi Army arrived at the East Gate, and more than 2,000 people had gathered. They had given up the Tang army's long-distance combat and used their strength to swarm towards the Tang army. The two armies met in close combat and began extremely cruel hand-to-hand combat. More than 3,000 people squeezed into a narrow city cave. The sword light flashed and the flesh and blood flew everywhere. A Tang army was chopped to the ground. He was not dead yet. He screamed and wriggled on the ground, and was then dismembered by random knives into dozens of pieces.
A large-scale soldier's head was split in half, his brain splashed everywhere, making Tang Jun's face and body covered. This was a suffocating battle for the city gate. The corpses on the ground were piled up into meat mountains. Many people were not killed, but trampled to death and suffocated to death. Both armies went crazy. They rushed to death regardless of everything and left their lives behind their heads.
At this time, the reinforcements of the Tang army had appeared several miles away, and the black cavalry came here overwhelmingly. The sound of horse hooves shook the earth, but the Tang army at the city gate was already at a disadvantage, with most of the casualties and injuries. The Dashi Army had already arrived more than 4,000 people. They were like huge waves of overwhelming waves, pushing the Tang army out of the city, and the city gate had begun to close, and the most deadly thing was that the suspension bridge began to creak.
Guan Ying was seriously injured and covered in blood, but he seemed to be crazy and shouted and led more than a dozen soldiers to desperately cut the locks on the suspension bridge. With a loud bang, the locks on the suspension bridge broke the wood, and the wood chips flew around. The huge iron chains were like giant snakes flying up, smashing the two Tang troops down the moat.
"General! City Gate." A Tang army shouted in despair. When Guan Ying turned around, his heart seemed to fall from a deep abyss. The city gate was less than three feet apart. Hundreds of Tang soldiers tried their best to hold on, but the city gate was still closing inch by inch.
Guan Ying suddenly thought of something. He was frantically searching for the dead horse on the ground. He found it. It was a twenty-pound iron box filled with gunpowder. He was originally ready to bomb the city gate.
The iron gate made an extremely harsh sliding sound. A Tang army fell down screaming. One of his legs was blocked into two sections by the iron gate, and the other section was swept into the city. The gap between the gate was only more than one foot. Although the Tang army's cavalry also killed three hundred steps away, it was too late no matter what.
Guan Ying finally ignited the fuse with his trembling hands, but he no longer had the strength to throw the gunpowder box in with his arms. He hugged the gunpowder box tightly in his arms and smiled bitterly, "Damn, I haven't married yet!"
Suddenly, he roared wildly, stimulating his last potential, jumped onto the mountain of flesh made of dead bodies, and jumped into the city gate from a gap of only one foot wide.
With a earth-shaking loud noise, the city gate suddenly hit, but rebounded violently. The city gate opened wide, and a thick smoke and fire in the city gate hole was so silent.
"Kill!" More than 3,000 Tang cavalry swept over like a strong wind. They rushed up the suspension bridge and entered the Thunder Ye City.
Chapter completed!