Fang Xianhe took advantage of the break in the siege of Xifan, made a cane with a tree branch, his leg was also injured, came to the Shuijing platform, and said bitterly to the soldiers and the people, the reinforcements are not coming yet, Huating can't hold on, in order to save everyone's lives, I want to open the city and surrender.

Suddenly there was a cry on all sides of the well.

Several archers stood up and angrily pointed at Fang Xianhe and said: "After the city is opened, everyone must be killed, otherwise they will have to be enslaved in the Tibetan land. ”

"Yes, most of your families and the people of Huating are here, I can't bear to see them suffer humiliation after the opening of the city, I would rather die in battle, after the city is broken, I will have a small family, and then commit suicide."

At this time, the crowd was furious, and they all swore to die and refused to surrender.

Fang Xianhe was hesitating, and a white-haired old man wearing a satin shirt walked out crying, kneeling tremblingly in front of Fang Xianhe. Fang Xianhe and the other Tang soldiers were frightened, and hurriedly helped the old man up, "Why is the old man like this?" ”

In the wind, the old man's white hair was messy, he looked around at the soldiers and people present, pointed to the brocade clothes on his body, and said hoarsely with his shriveled mouth: "Where did you get this shirt?" We went to Chang'an Shangdu, in front of the Qinzheng Building of Xingqing Palace, and the sage Son of Heaven personally gave it to me! I was originally a remnant of the Hehuang side, did you ever know that our Han people suffered how much humiliation there were thieves, and they wanted to fight and kill, and they wanted to kill, and my whole family of four was tortured and died in Hehuang, thanks to Duan Taiwei's attack on Qinzhou, we were rescued back, and the sage Son of Heaven gave the field and clothes, and I was able to be a Tang man again, this time in Huating, thank you for the bloody battle to defend the city, but if you surrender, please forgive Lao Er I can't accompany - now Lao Er is seventy and two, has gained longevity, and can wear the brocade clothes given by the Son of Heaven, Death in the city of the Tang family is enough, it is enough......"

After speaking, the old man closed his eyes, wore the brocade clothes, and lay on the well platform that was killed by the troubled times, with his hands clasped on his chest, very calm and serene, motionless, "After the old man dies, you can cut off the blood on the old man's body and drink." ”

At this time, the soldiers and civilians of the whole city were in tears, all of them raised their arms and shouted, we are all Tang people, we would rather fight to the death than surrender, general, you don't see the tragic situation under the city? Don't see the lesson of the Yanzhou massacre? If the general is about to surrender, please go down to the city yourself.

"Since the whole city refuses to surrender and goes to the underworld together, our crane is not alone, and we will not surrender to the death." This will guard Fang Xianhe could not surrender, so he ordered all the livestock in the city, from mules and horses to chickens and dogs, to be killed and taken blood to drink.

On the other hand, the soldiers and civilians of Huating, under the leadership of an archer named Ding Chen, began to build a verandah with wood on the city wall, and then hung bottles with ropes to draw water from the stream outside the city.

Fang Xianhe organized the people again, dismantled the wooden beams in the city's houses, made them into crowbars, and began to remove the large and small rocks piled up on the wells one by one.

Not long after, the siege of Western Tibet began again.

Many Western archers climbed the well railing, forced against the city wall, and then poured arrows into the city like rain from a high position.

From a distance, Huating City was crumbling, and no one knew how long it could hold out.

At this moment, the Western Fan army was in the siege camp in the west of the city, under the whip of the leather whip, Hao Jue, who was forcibly recruited in Shanzhou, holding his head, and other Han people, was forced to gather and line up.

Several Cao chiefs of Western Tibet, the pheasant feathers on their iron helmets swayed in the wind, and they pointed at themselves with horsewhips in their hands, shouting in the Tibetan language:

"This time it is your turn to attack the Han army attached to the city, remember that the Gui of Dafan is behind you to supervise the battle with blades and strong bows, whether it is a city wall or a trench in front, you are not allowed to retreat, otherwise not only will the Gui execute you, but your wives and children detained in the palace and fort of Shanzhou will not be able to live!"

In the noise and crying, Hao Jue gritted his teeth, and the rest of his companions carried a heavy flying ladder, they did not have any armor on their bodies, so they pounced under Huating City, not to be shot to death by the Tang army defending the city, they would be killed by the soldiers behind them, and they could not flee, otherwise the wives and children who stayed in Shanzhou as hostages would also be brutally killed.

"Enter!" With a few heavy whips, Hao Yu and the other "Han soldiers" carried the flying ladder and began to move towards the head of Huating City under the whip of the supervising soldiers.

On Xu Li, on the other hand, rode a horse and stood high in the camp to supervise the battle.

When the Han army was carrying flying ladders and carrying firewood and grass, and the team approached Huating City less than 200 paces, several Fan horsemen came with whips and reported to Xu Li:

"A large number of Tang troops have been killed in Daxichuan, and the rangers we intercepted have all been routed."

"What!" Xu Li was very surprised, the Tang army on the side of Fengxiang Longzhou came to help so quickly, "How many people are there?" ”

"Tens of thousands."

"It seems to be the main force of the Tang Army in Fengxiang Longzhou." On Xu Li, he immediately judged.

Several Xifan generals who were covered with tiger skin and leopard skins asked the commander what to do.

"If you give up the siege of Huating and withdraw, the flank of the Da Lun in Pingliang will be exposed to this Tang army, and if they take advantage of the victory to attack the Da Theory, the Da Tan will be in danger. However, if I continue to besiege Huating, I will have to disperse part of the military strength in my hands to intercept the Tang army that comes to help, and it will be difficult to capture Huating now......"

"If the second argument can't be decided, why don't you send a bird envoy to inquire about it?"

In the end, Xu Li made a compromise plan, and let Ma Xiang, the enemy defense envoy under his command, lead twelve thousand battalions (each battalion is actually six Cao 300 soldiers, and 12 battalions have a total of 3,600 soldiers), go out to Heishui, trying to block Gao Yue's Yining army by virtue of its geographical advantage, and he himself will lead the main force, no longer attacking for the time being, but continuing to besiege Huating City and wait and see.

So Hao Wei and the other Han troops received another order, stopped their pace, and did not attack the city for the time being, so as not to waste the flying ladder carefully made by Dafan.

On the several bird envoys sent by Xu Li, they crossed the steep Diaoyao Gorge south of Danzheng Gorge and came to the camp where Shang Jiezan confronted Pingliang New Town.

And this fashionable day is not easy.

Zan Pu gave him more than 10,000 of the most elite Janissaries Dongdai soldiers, and after the Xiji robbery alliance, Shang Jiezan rushed straight through the Liupan Pass, full of plans to break the newly built city of the Tang army in one fell swoop, and force the Tang army's defense line back to Jingzhou in its original place.

But who wants Hun Yang to be here, he was stationed at the mouth of Jingchuan (Jingyuan) before, and after seeing Shang Jiezan coming, he immediately rushed to Danzheng Gorge and met with the Jingyuan camp stationed here, and Shang Jiezan's troops competed.

"Why didn't Hun Ying come to the Alliance, but appeared here? What kind of deployment is this of the Tang family? Could it be my strategy, it was already under the control of the Tang family......" Frankly speaking, Shang Jiezan was a little stunned when he saw Hun Xuan himself and his battle flag.

After all, Hun Xuan used to be a feared general in Xifan.

After several days of fierce fighting, both sides suffered heavy losses, and the equipment and combat skills of the Xifan Janissaries Dongdai were superior to those of the Tang army, but Hun Xuan and Ma Di relied on Zhangxin Fort and Pingliang New Town without retreating-Shang Jiezan slowly felt that this attack would not be the same as the last time, and it would be fruitless and lost!