Chapter 50: If a family has a quarrel, his son will not defeat his family, his country will not destroy his country.

In Fengzhou City, Zhang Changxun stood on the top of the city and looked into the north.

For several days, his eyelids have been twitching. Youdao said that his left eye twitches and his right eye twitches. The key is that Zhang Changxun's left and right eyes twitches together.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew.

Zhang Changxun smelled the smell of horse manure in the air.

A tide suddenly broke out on the grassland, and countless Turkic cavalry emerged from behind the hills from the meadows, waving their bows in their hands, forming a terrible torrent, making wild beast-like shouts from their mouths, or blowing swan whistles, sweeping towards Fengzhou all over the mountains!

Their troops were so huge that the entire desert grassland was filled with their figures, and the sand and dust raised from horse hooves covered the sky, and Zhang Changxun's worries suddenly became reality!

The sound of hooves rolling like thunder, and the earth shakes violently, making people untenable.

The horns were continuous, and smoke soared into the sky, and tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry roared.

The Tang soldiers on the walls of Fengzhou City all looked at each other in horror and their faces turned pale. They also expected that the Turks would attack Fengzhou City, but they never dreamed that in order to deal with their mere 1,200 people, the enemy actually gathered tens of thousands of troops!

Tens of thousands of people are a scary number on the grassland. The Turkic cavalry who once surrounded Yang Guang at Yanmen Pass actually only had tens of thousands of cavalry.

Now, these 1,200 people actually enjoy Yang Guang's treatment. I really don't know whether to cry or laugh!

The Turkic cavalry did not use any tricks of persuading surrender. Fengzhou was hanging alone in the north of the Yellow River and south of the desert. If he wanted to surrender, he would probably surrender, and it would not be the turn now.

The Turkic cavalry rushed to Fengzhou City, galloping wildly while raising bows and shooting arrows.

"Swish swish swish swish..."

The dense rain of arrows was connected into a circle. The elite Turkic cavalry had accurate archery skills and could ride on the back of a speeding war horse and shoot a hare in the distance with one arrow. The best among them could even shoot down the eagle hovering in the sky with one arrow, allowing them to shoot the Tang army soldiers on the city wall and a fixed target, which was no problem at all. It was in the blink of an eye.

However, the Tang army soldiers immediately shrank their bodies behind the battlements of the city wall, and the arrows swept towards Fengzhou City, and Fengzhou City immediately had a huge hedgehog.

However, the city wall is not a hare or a big eagle. After being cooked with loess, the city wall is as hard as iron. Arrows are inserted into the city wall, but only inch more than an inch. When the strong wind blows, arrows fall off a floor.

Seeing that tens of thousands of arrows were shot, a Tang army soldier in Fengzhou City was not shot to death.

The leading Turkic general yelled wildly: "Attack...attack...attack the city and kill them without leaving anybody!"

The Turkic soldiers shouted together and jumped off their war horses, with archers in front and swords and shields behind, slowly pressing towards the city wall.

Zhang Changxun looked at the ladder carried by the Turks and nodded slightly, "These idiots have finally grown a little."

The Turks had neither fire support nor multiple attacks. They all rushed up to attack the city in a swarm. After being defeated, they retreated again and again. Now they are smart and know that they have to use archers to shoot the archers to cover the siege and cover the troops to attack the city...

When thousands of Turkic people walked along to 50 steps away from the city wall, a series of powerful crossbows popped up behind the battlements, and the unique sour sound of the twisting strings, and then...

Thumb thumb thumb... The metal tremolo sounds were connected together, and crossbow arrows that were only one and a half feet long broke through the air and were nailed to the shield and made a thumb sound.

In order to prevent the powerful crossbows in the hands of the Tang army soldiers, the Turks specially made a heavy shield that was one meter and two long and forty centimeters wide. The surface was covered with a layer of cowhide and weighed twenty kilograms. It was very laborious to hold it in their hands, so those shield soldiers generally tried not to raise their shields if they could.

However, the Tang army's powerful crossbow was too terrible. Even the crossbow arrows shot from fifty steps could penetrate the cowhide, nail the shield deeply into the shield, and even shot the shield through, nailing the shield soldiers' hands with their hands raised. A round of crossbow arrows came over, and screams came from the middle of the shield soldiers, either the arm was stabbed by the arrows shot through the shield, or the legs or heads were shot by the crossbow arrows, and some gaps appeared in the shield wall.

The Turkic soldiers gritted their teeth and continued to push forward with their teeth.

The crossbow arrows of Tang army soldiers on the city wall were pouring out for a moment. No one knew how many crossbow arrows these damn Tang army soldiers had reserved...

In fact, there were not many crossbow arrows prepared. The entire Fengzhou City could barely have enough 300,000, and the average number of people was less than 100. This was a terrible nightmare for the Turkic soldiers who were sieging the city.

The sharp arrows shot by the Turkic cavalry made the earth dim and the sun was blocked! The Tang soldiers were not showing any weakness. The crossbow machine shot the sharp arrowheads over, and the rafted arrows fell, and the people were on their backs and horses were overturned.

In terms of exchange ratio, the Tang army soldiers took a great advantage. They had a daughter wall on the city wall to cover it. Even the eight-ox crossbow needed to count arrows and hit a little at the same time to shoot through it. For the Turks, who generally only had seven buckets of strength to ride a bow, it was like an ant gnawing an elephant.

Of course, even when the Tang army soldiers were shooting, their steel helmets and breastplates withstood the test of Turkic arrowheads. When they shot at each other at a distance of 50 meters, none of the sharp arrows shot by the Turkic soldiers could shoot through the helmets and breastplate that could cause fatal damage to them. However, the steel arrowheads they shot could easily and happily penetrate the helmets and leather armor of the Turkic soldiers.

Crossbow is a good thing and very easy to get started. It uses a straight line aiming method. After playing with Tang soldiers for so long, they have played with them. When every wave of crossbow arrows is poured down, many Turkic soldiers must have arrows in their faces or throats, rolling to the ground, and then being trampled by countless big feet, and immediately turned into a ball of meat sauce.

The soldiers of the Tang army made three consecutive shots so well. The crossbow arrows shot down one after another, splashing blood in the surging crowd, and screaming shook the earth. Only then did they know how many people were shot to death and how many were shot to be injured!

Of course, the three-stage continuous shooting of this crossbow machine is different from the three-stage continuous shooting of the musket. Instead, a crossbowman shoots in front, two soldiers, or multiple civilians avoid the back, specifically loading crossbow arrows for the crossbow machine and winding the strings with force.

Tang army shooters holding crossbow machines only need to aim at the enemy, and pull the machine to complete the shooting.

The crossbow machine, which was originally slow to fire, was actually shot by Tang army soldiers with bows and arrows.

After nearly an hour of attack, all three attacks launched by the Turks were defeated.

Turkic vanguard general Asan Sheer secretly felt something was wrong. From the time he started his army, he had lost nearly 5,000 troops, and he had been injured for a long time. Fengzhou City showed no sign of being shaken. Even if he could finally take Fengzhou City, the price would be so painful that it would make him cry!

But can he not fight to the death now? He has lost so many warriors, and if he stops attacking, how heavy will his reputation be hit? Whether he can still lead this army in the future is a problem!

At this moment, Ashinoser waved his hand and said, "Call those Byzantines here!"

It is well known to the Turks that the siege are not good at siege. But similarly, in this world, it is not the only Chinese who are good at attacking and defending. Similarly, in the Byzantine Empire, it is an empire with brilliant civilization. It can be said that this is the last afterglow of the Roman Empire.

In order to resist the threat of the Sassanian Empire, the Byzantine Empire united with the Western Turkic Empire ("Way Westward Journey", written by Tang Du). At that time, the Western Turkic Empire stopped in the Khorasan region of the Sassanian Empire because it was not good at siegeing cities. The Byzantine Empire sent excellent commanders to command the Western Turkic people.

Jie Li's alliance was actually complementary in all directions. Jie Li sent a special service leader, with more than a thousand outstanding Turkic soldiers, responsible for improving the combat effectiveness of the cavalry of the Byzantine Empire. Casili Balsey, the consul sent by Byzantine.

The Barcy family was also one of the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty. The later Macedonian Empire was established by the Barcy family.

As Casili Balsey took over Asina Sheer's command, the Turkic army's offensive method became orderly, with dozens or hundreds of modified high-cars slowly approaching Fengzhou City like tanks.

The shield wrapped in cowhide with a five-inch thick in front of him, the Tang army's crossbow could not cause any damage to the Turks behind the Gaoche, but the Gaoche slowly approached the city walls of Fengzhou City.

Zhang Changxun's face became very ugly. This kind of carriage as high as six feet high, close to the city wall, the Turkic carriage behind it stuffed earth and stones into the bottom of the carriage and the carriage, and many of them formed a six-foot-high earth platform.

As more and more high cars slowly approach Fengzhou City, a slow path that is more than ten feet wide is gradually forming.

"Mr. Zhang, what should I do now?" Someone was yelling at Zhang Changxun.

Zhang Changxun smiled bitterly and said, "What else can I do? Fight to the end!"

The soldiers around him did not say anything at the mouth.

Zhang Changxun's smile became even bitter, and he said slowly: "Don't think about surrender. Your Majesty treats us well. We can't be so heartless... Besides, do you think the Turks will let us go? No, they will kill us all!"

More and more high cars are piled up under Fengzhou city, and gentle slopes are formed quickly.

Once the gentle slope is formed, the Turkic cavalry can ride war horses and rush directly to Fengzhou City.

Zhang Changxun said: "Light the wolf smoke and fight to the end!"

...

At the gate of Chang'an City, a lieutenant hurriedly knocked on the door knocker.

A Shulingshi, who was on duty, opened the door with his sleepy eyes.

The captain of the Chuanxin raised the urgent letter in his hand and said anxiously: "The border is urgently reported, which husband is on duty tonight?

Shuling Shi said: "It is Xuanling's prime minister"

The Shuling Shi was busy and invited the captain of the letter to come in, and then ran quickly to the back hall.

After a while, Fang Xuanling walked into the lobby in a hurry.

The captain sent a letter to Wei Zheng.

Fang Xuanling opened the urgent case and asked the captain of the letter, "What is the climate at the border when you set off?"

The captain of the school sent a letter said: "Your Majesty, it was said that it should have turned cold at this time in the past year, but now it is very hot. It has been a month since it has not rained."

Fang Xuanling nodded and said, "Go and come and copy your Majesty and all the prime ministers."

Shu Lingshi quickly left with a hurry.

In Xiande Hall, Li Jing reported to Li Jiancheng: "The Ministry of War has listed the estimates that the national war needs to be invested by the end of next year.

Li Jiancheng quickly pricked up his ears and listened seriously.

Li Jing said: "The Tang Dynasty must mobilize at least 300,000 or 500,000 troops, of which the cavalry must reach about 100,000 people. However, with the national strength of the Tang Dynasty, by the end of the second year of Kaiyuan, at most 100,000 troops could be gathered to fight, of which the cavalry must not exceed 30,000 people..."

Li Jiancheng's eyebrows were deeply locked.

Wei Zheng said, "Although Your Majesty has issued an edict to raise horses in various places in Guanzhong, the famine has not yet completely passed, and the effect of horse politics will not be seen for a while..."

At this moment, Fang Xuanling suddenly came in and interrupted everyone's speech and said, "No, the algorithm of the Ministry of War is wrong...

Li Jiancheng and others turned their heads in unison and looked at Fang Xuanling.

Fang Xuanling said: "If you choose to fight this war in summer or autumn, it will indeed require an army of 300,000 to 500,000; but if the time to start the war is chosen in winter or spring..."

The light lit up in Li Jiancheng's eyes.

Fang Xuanling thought and said, "Then 100,000 troops are enough; if the heavens are good and the Mobei will bring another heavy snow, then the Tang Dynasty only needs 50,000 troops to wipe out the Turks. Among them, 5,000 cavalry forces are enough."

Li Jiancheng slapped the table and said, "Yes, a heavy snowfall is enough to win a 100,000 army."

Yang Gongren said: "Compared with cattle, the sheep in Mobei breeds faster. Good breeds can produce two children a year, and generally three children in two years. If there is enough forage, it can double the number in one and a half years."

Fang Xuanling said: "Jie Li's sheep population is quite sufficient now. As long as he is willing to recuperate for two years, at least the Turks will not lack goat milk."

Yang Gongren said: "Their food has been completely harvested this year."

Li Jiancheng nodded and said, "Jie Li drove the Han people who were captured by him to the north of the Mo to farm for him. There were about one million and a half million people."

Li Jing handed a thick stack of documents to Wei Zheng and said, "This is the statistics of Turkic cattle, sheep, livestock and horses collected from the Mobei Ministry of War, Zheng Yuanshou and others. The top is the total statistics."

Wei Zheng picked up the top statistics table, quickly scanned it, and said in surprise: "The horses of the Turks are so exhausted? I remember that in the seventh year of Wude, the number of horses in Tuli's tribe under his command was more than this."

Li Jing nodded and said, "Three consecutive years of war, coupled with the heavy snow disaster in the past two years, the Turks could not withstand such troubles even if their family was rich. Jie Li is now desperately extorting Xue Yantuo, Xi, Wu, Khitan and other tribes, which has triggered rebellion among these tribes.

Wei Zheng weighed the thick document with emotion and said, "Thank you for your hard work in the Ministry of War and the Honglu Temple. If you can defeat the Turks, they will also remember their merits."
To be continued...