Chapter 440: Broken Leaf Fengyun (5)

The Dashi Army, which came to attack Ashiblai City, was the fourth and fifth legion of the Turkic slave army. They were stationed in Samarkand and Bukhara. This army was composed of slaves captured by Dashi during the attack on the East. Its combat effectiveness was strong, second only to Dashi's most elite Caliphs, directly under the Guards and Khorasan Benzong Army. It was also well-equipped, with half of the infantry and cavalry each occupying half, of which half of the cavalry were heavy armored cavalry, spear sharp shield, and equipped with Gao Jun Arabian horses. The rest of the infantry were all wearing leather armor, holding round shields and short spears, and murderous aura.

‘Dong!Dong!Dong!’ The huge drum sound echoed on the plains. The Dashi Army was divided into four square formations, like four dark clouds floating on the grassland, rising and falling, mixed with nearly a hundred huge catapults and siege rams. Although the Dashi Army's catapults were not as accurate as the Tang army, it was huge in size and could shoot huge rocks weighing hundreds of pounds a thousand steps away. It was famous for its huge power and was a powerful weapon for the great cannibals to siege the city.

Amid the dense drum sounds, the Dashi Army began to move closer to the city wall, with infantry in front and cavalry behind. They shouted slogans and walked vigorously, rushing towards Ashibulai City like surging waves. The murderous aura spreads on the entire grassland, and the dark Dashi Army is out of sight at a glance.

Tang army stood on the city wall in rows. They were not panicked when facing ten times their enemy, but were each in their place. Some blew the bow and arrow, some installed crossbows, and dozens of stone cannons on the city had been creakingly opened. This kind of stone cannon was newly developed by the Tang army supervisor. It is a medium-sized stone cannon. The long end of the lever arm is ten times the short end, and a long pole cannon. The cable was replaced with standard counterweight, making the stone cannon more manpower.

Thirty soldiers can drive it, and by adjusting the counterweight and pole length, the range can be accurately adjusted within six gears. Each gear is 50 steps apart. The precision parts are made of iron, which is very complicated to operate. In addition to the soldiers who drive the stone cannon, there are four special cannon operators, one loads, one ignites, one looks at, and one adjusts the distance. This stone cannon fully reflects the meticulous and technical characteristics of the Oriental people.

It was the first time in his life that Shi Yang faced tens of thousands of enemies. He was also the commander. He not only shouldered the life and death of 2,600 Tang soldiers, but also the survival of Ashi's do not come to the city. Once Ashi does not come to the city, he will not only throw away Shuye's only attack point, but also the great cannibal will hit the north of Shuye and take away all the land that the Tang army had finally occupied.

"General Shi, why don't you see the big cannibal ladder?" Lai Jinlin discovered the strange place of the enemy. The big cannibal did not have a cloud ladder, how should he attack the city?

"So you don't have to be afraid. Although the Great Cannibal is ten times more powerful than me, you can find that as long as you observe carefully, many of their troops are useless, for example, look over there." Shi Yang pointed his hand and gathered five thousand heavy cavalrymen from the Great Cannibal gathered there. He said coldly: "Did you see, what effect do those five thousand Xuan armored cavalry have on attacking the city? And those cavalry, joke! Do they think we will go out for a decisive battle?"

"But their trenchers look very ferocious. Could it be that they want to use the trenchers to smash Ashi and not come to the city?" Lai Jinlin looked at the trenchers several feet tall with some concern and said with some concern.

"It should be so. Their siege rams cannot be used to Gao Gang, so they can only rely on the catapult." As soon as Shi Yang finished speaking, there was a shouting on the top of the city, and dozens of huge rocks in the air hit each other and arrived in an instant.

"General, be careful!" Lai Jinlin jumped over Shi Yang, and a huge rock flew over their heads, shaving a sharp and strange roar in the air. With a loud "boom!", half of a battlement behind him was smashed, and gravel splashed everywhere, rolling down the city.

The remaining huge rocks either hit the city wall dullly or into the city. More than a dozen soldiers transporting the stones were hit by a rolling rock and screamed.

After the first round of stone launcher shot, Shi Yang immediately leaned out of the city to observe the situation after the city wall was smashed. He saw that the large area of ​​soil in the city wall was peeled off, revealing the gray-white rocks inside. The castle was built quite strongly and was not afraid of the attack of the big cannibal trencher. Shi Yang felt relieved. He immediately turned around and ordered: "Tell me my order, everyone should pay attention to protecting themselves and protecting the stone cannons, and no one should act rashly."

Under the command of the chief general, the Tang army covered the stone cannon with huge cowhide armor. This armor was stretched onto the wooden frame, semicircular, covered with grease, which was extremely smooth and difficult to hit even if it was hit by a stone. The force of the stone was unloaded aside.

Soon, another round of attacks from the Dashi Army began, and huge rocks roared over, and the Tang army in the city hugged the stone wall to avoid it. This time, the handling was done properly, and no one was injured or killed.

The black-clothed giants inherited the advantages and weaknesses of the white-clothed giant. They were good at fighting and fighting, especially in desert areas. The Arab light cavalry and the big-food scimitar were intimidating, but the black-clothed giants were not good at attacking battles and lacked equipment for siege. Huge siege cars and stone-treating tools were almost all their siege weapons. The deserts in the Arab region were more than stones, and the cities they built were difficult to last in the face of huge siege hammers. When attacking Damascus, Abbas's army made siege hammers as high as the city, which were manipulated by thousands of people and defeated the Damascus walls in a few strokes.

The power of the siege rams and stone-treating machines made the great cannibals more obsessed with it. The Arabs' roughness made them continue to develop in a high and large way. In addition, the great cannibals are not good at bows and arrows. They do not have the skills of the Tang people to make compound bows, nor do they have the patience to spend two or three years to make a bow. The secret to their attack is their courageous and fearless fighting spirit and the Arab horses given to them by God.

But their courage and flexibility were unable to exert their strength in front of the towering and sturdy Ashi. The castle was built on a three-meter-high cliff, and through a narrow stone steps, the unique geographical location made the attacking ram useless. The Tang army dug a deep ditch about two meters wide on the cliff half a month ago. They had to rely on suspension bridges to enter and exit the city. It was precisely this suspension bridge with iron sheet that had become the natural shield of the city gate, and the huge rocks of the catapult were difficult to hit the city gate.

Seeing that the Tang army did not counterattack, the army continued to advance under the cover of heavy rain-like stone throwing. Gradually, the Dashi Army had already attacked three hundred steps away, and thousands of soldiers were busy like ants: they took soil to fill the road, trying to build a slope under the cliff so that the attacking ram could be pushed up the cliff.

Suddenly, the Tang army's counterattack began. More than a hundred black powder porcelain bullets rose into the air, like broken beads scattered, falling among the Dashi soldiers' crowd two hundred steps away. A series of violent explosions suddenly sounded in the crowd. The red flames soared into the air and black smoke filled the sky. The Dashi soldiers suddenly wailed everywhere, their limbs were broken, their flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the casualties were extremely heavy. The Dashi soldiers were stunned at first, and then shouted wildly. The deep fear of the Dashi soldiers suddenly broke out in their hearts. Thousands of people turned around and ran desperately, running three miles away in one breath.

Seeing that the morale of the army was unstable, the commander of the Dashi Army ordered camping. It was already late at this moment, dark clouds were covered in the sky, and night fog covered the battlefield. The battlefield was silent. In the city, the Tang army was busy clearing the rocks. In just one hour, three thousand stones were smashed into the city, smashing many wooden roofs. The Tang army also killed and injured nearly a hundred people. On the city wall, the Tang army's sentries were closely watching the movement of the enemy. Shi Yang stood in front of the looking out tower and looked at the army silently. He was full of doubts. Ashibulai City was occupied by the Dashibulai Army for decades. They should know that this castle is easy to defend and difficult to attack. According to their ability to siege the city, even a hundred thousand people could not capture this fort. Are they really here to attack Ashibulai City?

The night gradually became deeper, and the thick fog on the grassland quietly fell. A few dozen steps away, no one could see

The next day, the fog dissipated, but the Tang army suddenly discovered an incredible situation. Nearly a hundred siege rams and stone catapults stood alone on the field, like abandoned children, while the 20,000 Great Food Army was gone.

The preparations for Suye City have been going on for a whole month. According to the unified deployment of the court, 150,000 elderly, weak, women and children in Suye City have been transferred to Shule and Beiting. In addition, more than 100,000 Geluo people captured from the banks of the Yili River were also escorted to Shule. There were only 140,000 people left in Suye City, 50,000 Tang troops and 80,000 young militias, and nearly 10,000 young women were also left to take on logistical support tasks.

Starting from July, the Tang army continued to transport supplies to Saiye, and it was not until late August that it came to an end. At this moment, two million stones of grain and countless military supplies had been accumulated in Saiye City. Wang Siyu ordered the reinforcement of the city and widening the moat.

In late August, scouts of the cannibalism began to appear near Saiye City, with several or dozens of people in a team. In the Daqingchi River Basin, on both sides of the Golden Dragon Road, they explored the Tang army's intelligence in almost all corners. This is a sign before the war comes. Saiye City is like a student about to take the big exam, waiting nervously and expectantly for the arrival of the war.

Early in the morning, in Chongrenfang, Shuye City, Guo Mu bid farewell to his wife and rushed to the office of the state office. Except for the brother-in-law who joined the militia, the rest of Guo Mu's father-in-law and his family stayed temporarily to Shule, and the grocery store was closed. However, Guo Mu's wife voluntarily stayed and participated in the Mulan Camp. The Mulan Camp consists of 5,000 military families, all of which are young women, mostly Han people. They will serve as logistics chores for the wounded during the war, cooking for the army, washing clothes, and other logistics support.

Guo Mu has been promoted to the military officer of the Suiyezhou, assisting the Chief Shi in charge of the government affairs of the state. He can be regarded as a senior civil servant. His government affairs are extremely heavy every day. He goes out early and returns late. He is exhausted when he returns home. But like all officials, before the war comes, no one has any complaints, and he tries to seize every time to prepare for the war.

"Guo joins the army!"

As soon as Guo Mu walked out of the gate, he seemed to hear someone calling him. He quickly turned around and saw a young official running towards him. He ran in before recognizing it. It turned out that it was his subordinate Cangcai and the military Cui Yao. Cui Yao originally followed Meng Jiao to Bahanna, but because the war was about to come, he stayed in Saiye with the delegation. He was a new Jinshi and Yu Yin from his grandfather, and was temporarily appointed as the military governor of Saiye to participate in the management of Saiye's huge material.

These days, Cui Yao was too busy to put his feet on the ground. He sent a large amount of supplies. He had to build an account book, count the physical items, and organize manpower to stack them in an orderly manner. Because of the wartime situation, the military and civilians were not distinguished, he became the assistant of Sima Guo Shiqi of the march. Today he encountered a difficult task and came to ask Guo Mu for help.

Guo Mu stopped and smiled and said, "What's the matter to come to me?"

Cui Yao ran forward panting. Seeing that there was no one around, he quickly led Guo Mu's horse aside. Seeing that he was mysterious, Guo Mu turned over and dismounted and asked him again: "What happened?"

"Guo Jun, do you remember that we were ambushed by the Geluo people in Jinlong Road last year?"

Guo Mu nodded, "Of course I remember."

"The leader of the two caravans at that time, I mean the caravans from Kangguo. Do you still have the impression?" Cui Yao continued to ask.

Guo Mu thought about it, and he vaguely remembered that the leader of the caravan was an old man, but he forgot what his name was. When he saw Cui Yao mentioning this distant thing, he couldn't help but ask strangely: "What happened?"

"That's what happened." Cui Yao smiled disgustedly: "When I went back, I went back to Chang'an with the caravan. The leader of the caravan was Muta, and he took good care of me along the way. He returned from Chang'an a few days ago. When we were resting in the city, we happened to be out of the city to control the control. They couldn't leave. I don't know how he found out about me, so he came to ask me for help last night."

Speaking of this, Cui Yao said with difficulty: "Can Guo Ganjun help me this time? Is it a order to leave the city?"

The power to issue the order to leave the city is in Guo Mu's hands. If it were normal, he would agree very happily, but when the war was about to come, his order to leave the city is not allowed to be issued casually. Cui Yao is also the grandson of the Cui family, his grandfather is the former prime minister, his second grandfather is the prime minister of the current dynasty, and there is also a concubine of the Yuan Dynasty. He doesn't want to offend this backstage. If he was a Han Chinese who went to Shule, he would agree without hesitation, but the other party was a Hu merchant again. What if he was a spy?

After pondering for a long time, Guo Mu said in embarrassment: "Let's do this! I'll ask the general for instructions on this matter. If he agrees, I will let him out of the city."

Cui Yao nodded silently. He also knew that this matter was extremely difficult. He wanted to ask Guo Mu to make peace, but in the end he still asked the Grandmaster to approve it. He had no choice but to say helplessly: "Okay! I'll go with you to ask the Grandmaster for instructions."

The two of them soon arrived at the headquarters of the Protectorate Mansion. They all had tokens and entered the door without reporting. At this moment, Wang Siyu was pondering in front of the sand table. He had just received news that Ashi Bulai City, and the 20,000 Great Food Army that attacked Ashi Bulai City suddenly disappeared. Afterwards, he sent scouts to search and found a trace of them in the desert to the north.

It is obvious that this army knew that it could not defeat Ashi and did not come to the city, so they bypassed Qianquan Mountain from the north. Where is their target? Wang Siyu stared at the sand table, and from the northern desert to the east was the Yili River Basin. Wang Siyu took a breath of air conditioning. Could it be that they wanted to go to Luntai? Or blocked the reinforcements and supplies from Beiting. The Tang army of Yaolong City, Yili City and Gongyue City must be notified immediately to make defense preparations, especially Yaolong City, which has no city wall guards and must be temporarily evacuated.

Thinking of this, he immediately wrote a warrant and ordered his personal soldiers to say, "Immediately send this order to the Tang army of Yaolong City, Yili City and Gongyue City."
Chapter completed!