Li Guangbi suddenly scolded: "Damn, I've fallen into their trap, these cunning dog thieves." Order, withdraw troops, withdraw troops quickly. ”

"What's going on? Li Shuai, what's going on? "The rest of the generals haven't come back yet.

"They...... They deliberately misled us, they had already mobilized a large number of troops in the city, but they deliberately got some dummies to impersonate them. We were fooled in Gyeongju, so when we saw these scarecrows, we took it for granted......"

There was no need for Li Guangbi to go on, and everyone else understood the reason for the whole thing. Soldiers are not tired of deceit, soldiers are not tired of deceit, a scarecrow's trick can be used over and over again, true and false, false and real, such as entering the realm. And they have fallen for their evil twice in a row.

"Damn, they're going to die laughing, luring us into an unsuspecting siege, and then giving us a blow to the head. In their eyes, we are afraid that we are all fools, teased and applauded. Zheng Qiushan's words were both self-deprecating and complaining.

Li Guangbi's face was feverish, and he scolded angrily: "What's the use of talking about this now? Don't give the order to withdraw troops immediately? If they don't withdraw, the 30,000 infantry will be all gone. ”

In fact, there was no need to give an order, the infantry under the city had already collapsed. More than 20,000 of the 30,000 infantry were recruits. After Gyeongju, they were full of confidence, thinking that the war was nothing more than that. When they were attacking the city just now, they shouted the most fiercely and raised the loudest voices. But after suffering from the intensive crossbow arrow blows and the people around them suffered heavy casualties, they were so frightened that they cried their fathers and mothers, and ghosts cried wolves one by one.

The crossbow arrows at the head of the city almost covered the city like a dense rain curtain, and countless soldiers and horses crowded under the city because of the light enemy. The arrows of the opponent who had been sparsely pulled before also created the illusion that the enemy defenders were not able to counterattack effectively. Originally, many of them had wooden shields on top of them, and they were shrunk behind the shields. But after the siege began, the shield became a burden, and the opponent's bow and arrows were scarce, and the shield became a burden. Many people threw their shields away so that they could climb the ladder more flexibly and make it easier to move. But now it's too late for them to regret it.

The rain of arrows fell in a puff, and although the melee combat could not reach far, the strength and accuracy were absolutely amazing. The winding is also very fast, and when you pull the handle back and forth, the bowstring is pulled apart, and the arrow is attached. That's why it's called melee crossbow arrows. The dense rain of arrows frantically harvested lives, and the soldiers and horses under the city fell one by one, and the nests were emptied. In this case, the recruits will not have a ghost until they are defeated.

"Wow!" Tens of thousands of soldiers began to flee back without their lives, how they pretended to be forced when they attacked, and how embarrassed they were when they fled. The siege lasted less than half an hour, and the besieging troops returned defeated.

The soldiers retreated in defeat, and the soldiers were in shock. Li Guangbi ordered people to count the losses of soldiers and horses with a gloomy face, and the results made him furious. In the siege of the city in just half an hour, more than 8,000 soldiers and horses were killed and wounded, which was really a big loss.

The generals also scolded angrily, and the feeling of being hit by the opponent's tricks was really unpleasant, and someone immediately proposed that the whole army storm to find the field.

Zheng Qiushan was also unhappy in his heart, after all, the soldiers who died were all recruits under his command. As soon as he heard that someone was going to attack forcibly, he was not happy.

"Still going to attack? Sent to death? The number of defenders on the other side is not 30,000 but more than 25,000, and our 80,000 people have already lost 10%, how many people will die in the attack? DID YOU KNOW? These are all soldiers and horses I recruited from Jiangnan, and I promised their parents, wives and children to let them go back alive, but you said it lightly, anyway, it is not your soldiers and horses, you naturally don't care whether they live or die. ”

The generals were speechless. Li Guangbi frowned and said, "Vice Marshal Zheng, what you said doesn't make sense. What do you call your terracotta horses. Aren't your soldiers and horses the horses of the court? Fighting for the imperial court, do you still divide the soldiers and horses between you and me? You think this is your Zheng Qiushan's personal soldier. ”

Zheng Qiushan said: "I didn't say that. Since Li Shuai said that the soldiers and horses are not divided between you and me, they are all soldiers of the imperial court, so I asked Li Shuai to mobilize the elite soldiers under your account to attack the city. You have also seen that the enemy army has a large number of troops, and if the city is forcibly attacked, the new recruits will definitely not succeed, and it will only be successful if the elite of Li Shuai's subordinates will fight. ”

Li Guangbi's face was cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Vice Marshal Zheng, are you complaining that Ben Shuai didn't do his best?" ”

Zheng Qiushan said lightly: "How dare you be in a humble position, Li Shuai is a god with soldiers, how dare you dare to accuse Li Shuai in a humble position?" Li Shuai has experienced a hundred battles and used soldiers to enter the gods, how can he dare to point fingers at his humble position, and his humble position is just a matter of facts. ”

When the generals saw the two marshals arguing, they all spoke of consolation. It is said that after the defeat of the siege, everyone is not in a good mood, and there is no need to argue about these things, and they should find a way to discuss how to deal with it.

The two also felt out of shape, but they didn't want to talk to each other for a while, and they sat down and didn't speak. There was silence in the tent. The generals didn't dare to say much, and everyone sat with big eyes and small eyes.

I don't know how long it took, Li Guangbi finally said in a deep voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that there are more than 25,000 defenders in Ningzhou City. And well-equipped and scheming. It now seems that the other party deliberately abandoned the city and defended it, so that it was able to buy a few days to mobilize troops and horses to resist Ningzhou. Vice Marshal Zheng's words just now...... It makes sense. Our 80,000 soldiers and horses have been depleted, and now we only have more than 70,000 troops, and even if we take the city by force, it will be a heavy loss, so we will not be able to advance to Chengdu. The follow-up soldiers and horses are still being recruited, although the Cui brothers are recruiting troops in Jiangnan, but the soldiers and horses they recruit can only arrive once a month, and there are only tens of thousands of recruits each time, which is not a top matter. Therefore, we can't fight hard, we must preserve our strength. Now it seems that we still have to stop, and build siege equipment before we can attack the city step by step. ”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and at the same time they were very depressed. Under the city of Gyeongju, more than 200 simple siege equipment had been built, but when the troops sent to Ningzhou, those simple siege equipment had to be abandoned. Because those are shoddy siege equipment, they are not worth carrying. I didn't expect to start from scratch again when I arrived at the city of Ningzhou.

"Vice Marshal Zheng, what do you think?" Li Guangbi asked.

Zheng Qiushan nodded and said: "What Li Shuai said, he raised his hands in agreement. In this case, the siege must be assisted by siege equipment. But what the old man is worried about is that if we delay for a long time, if Wang Yuan's soldiers and horses in the north are killed, what should we do? ”

When the generals heard this, their hearts were all in awe. This is indeed a hidden danger. Although the outcome of the battle in the north is unknown now, if Wang Yuan wins, leads the army to turn back to the rescue, and cuts off the back road of his army, it will be really annoying.

"Vice Marshal Zheng, everyone. Don't worry. Are you really Wang Yuan's Divine Command Army, which anyone can defeat? You must know that they are facing the 100,000 cavalry of Guli Peiluo, and it is on the Gobi Desert under the unobstructed Fengzhou City, and the combat power of the Hui cavalry has increased by several percent. Wang Yuan also had only 100,000 cavalry on hand, and as far as I know, his cavalry number was only 50,000. How could he win this battle? Li Guangbi said with a smile.

"That's right. Infantry and cavalry combat are almost useless unless there is suitable terrain to ambush. But there is nothing to ambush on the Gobi Desert. The main force is still the cavalry of the 50,000 Shence Army. 50,000 against 100,000, it's not easy to win. ”

"That is, although Wang Yuan is powerful, the so-called clever woman is difficult to cook without rice, and the cavalry is half apart, so he may not be able to bargain."

"That's not necessarily, Wang Yuan has won a hundred battles over the years, it's not that a blind cat meets a dead mouse, he really has a set. Not to mention the distance, in the battles with An Lushan's rebels, 60,000 broke 180,000, which is not made up. There was also the battle of Yangzhou, the rebels made a desperate attempt to storm Yangzhou, Wang Yuan did not bring a single soldier, and only relied on the power of strategizing to let the rebels return, isn't this a skill? ”

"What do you know? It was a battle to defend the city, and with the advantage of fortifying the city, he could ......"

"You said lightly, give you 60,000 soldiers and horses, can you hold the siege of 180,000 soldiers and horses? We participated in the battle against Chang'an. Our army and the Hui coalition army were only about 100,000, and Shi Siming's rebel garrison in the city was nearly 100,000 at that time, so what? Isn't it a broken city? If you talk about city defense, Chang'an is worth ten Tongzhou...... And what about the battle in Yangzhou? Yangzhou City is also a strong city? The walls to the north are not even missing, and you are not afraid to talk nonsense and flash your tongue. ”

"This ...... That's right. I admit that he does have the ability, in fact, I admire that Wang Yuan very much......"

……

……

When it comes to the much-anticipated battle between the Shence Army and the Hui people, the generals obviously have a lot to say, and they are actually secretly concerned about the outcome of this battle in their hearts. To be honest, many people's state of mind is very complicated and difficult to say. On the one hand, Wang Yuan's reputation for winning a hundred battles is all over the world, and this battle with the equally invincible Hui cavalry is an opportunity to measure who is truly invincible in the world. From the perspective of national righteousness, of course, everyone hopes that Wang Yuan's Shence army, who is also a Tang person, can defeat the barbarian soldiers and horses. But from the perspective of the relationship between the enemy and me, I hope that the Hui people can defeat Wang Yuan. Therefore, it feels very complicated and tangled.

Li Guangbi listened to the generals' discussions, and his brows furrowed tightly. He didn't expect that many of the generals under him admired Wang Yuan, which made him feel very unhappy.

"Everyone, be quiet. What is now discussing is the possibility of Wang Yuan's return to the army to rescue, not Wang Yuan's past achievements. What's more, don't forget, you are now the soldiers and horses of the imperial court, that Wang Yuan...... Hum...... But the second An Lushan, who has self-respecting troops, do you know what you are doing? ”

Li Guangbi's words made the big tent instantly quiet. Although the imperial court did not issue a holy decree and did not issue a crusade document, everyone understood that Wang Yuan was the mortal enemy of the imperial court. If you are not in a proper manner on the issue of right and wrong, you will be unlucky.

Li Guangbi continued with a cold face: "Even if he retreats 10,000 steps, Wang Yuan is lucky enough to defeat the 100,000 cavalry of Guli Peiluo, and his 100,000 Shence army will also suffer heavy losses. Now that they turn back, it is the best time for us to eat him. Do we need to worry about a tired soldier? I'm afraid that he won't come, Ben Shuai is still waiting for him. In terms of time, the battle in the north should have been decided, and news will come in the next few days, and the movements of Wang Yuan's army will also be transmitted to the army in time. Even if Wang Yuan's soldiers and horses came back to help, they wouldn't be able to arrive in about twenty days from Fengzhou to here. In 20 days, we are afraid that we have already taken Chengdu. What do you have to worry about? ”

The generals nodded their heads in recognition of Lee's words. Li Guangbi's words still make sense, no matter what the victory or defeat is, even if Wang Yuan's soldiers and horses turn around to help, it will take more than ten or twenty days to arrive. So for the time being, there is no need to worry about this.

At the moment, everyone made a plan, or the old way, first take out two or three days to cut down trees and build siege weapons, and then Ningzhou, this is the safest way at present.

……

In the early morning of 18 July, the mist had just dispersed on the head of Fangzhou City, 360 miles north of Chang'an. The defenders on night were sleeping soundly on the straw mats laid out at the head of the city. As a small state city in the north inland of Chang'an, the location here is not very important, and there are not many defenders. The defenders of the whole city with regiments trained less than 3,000 soldiers and horses.

It has been more than a year since the rebellion was put down, or rather driven out of the rebels, and it has been in a state of peace and quiet. The biggest thing was eight or nine months ago. At that time, the new emperor Li Mao led his army to pass through here and rested here for one night. That night, an army of more than 100,000 people harmed this place a lot. But since then, it's been quiet and peaceful, as if forgotten.

The soldiers stationed here were very comfortable, although according to the requirements of the chief, the first three squads of soldiers and horses were stationed for twelve hours without interruption. But all this has become a situation. For example, the soldiers stationed at the head of the city at night should have made close patrols and paid attention to every move inside and outside the city. But in fact, all they did was brag about cowhide at the head of the city, and then spread out straw mats and fell asleep. The night wind in the city is strong, and there are few mosquitoes, which is very suitable for sleeping at night in summer. This night shift, which was supposed to be a chore, became the shift that all soldiers longed for, because the sun was scorching hot during the day, and the city was literally a stove, and the daytime shift was simply suffering.

The feng shui treasure at the ventilated area of the battlement on the east side of the city tower is the place where the team is sleeping at night, but in the early morning, it is the first place to be exposed to the morning sun, so Zhang Lao Liu was sunburned by a ray of sunshine on his face, and he had to get up.

Rubbing the dirt in the corners of his eyes, Zhang Lao Liu stood up with a yawn, stretched out his feet and kicked the snoring brothers beside him, and scolded in his mouth: "The sun is drying your buttocks, fucking Lao Tzu gets up and prepares to change shifts." ”

Amid a curse and muttering, a group of soldiers began to slowly get to their feet. Zhang Laoliu opened his mouth wide, and his eyes unconsciously looked at the ravines outside the city, yellow and green, and he looked at the monotonous loess mountains and wilderness that he had seen countless times. Suddenly, he froze.

"That's ...... What is that? Zhang Lao Liu exclaimed in surprise.

"Boss, what's the fuss? Pay today, do you want to go to Chunxiang Building? I heard that a few girls came, and Wang Dazhu of the second team said, "It's tender dripping." A soldier next to him had just gotten up, staggering and opening his mouth.

"Dog, what is that on the dirt slope over there? Lao Tzu was dazzled or what? Zhang Lao Liu actually ignored this topic, which made the soldier named Dog next to him very surprised. He rubbed his eyes and looked in the direction of Zhang Laoliu's finger, and he was also startled.

In the distance, between the mountain beams of the loess high slope and ravine, more than a dozen black dots are shaking. The sun shines brightly on the loess slope. The figures of those people were also far away, and they were even inconspicuous in the shadows of the mountain beams. But the dog still saw what it was.

"Boss, it seems to be ...... Soldier on horseback. Look, the helmet is reflective. The dog barked.

"Cavalry? Where did the cavalry come from? Zhang Laoliu exclaimed suspiciously.

The soldiers had already heard the sound and looked at the mountain beams in the distance, discussing what was going on. Then, in the blink of an eye, they all screamed. Because there were originally only a dozen cavalry active between the mountain beams, but it seemed that at the snap of a finger, suddenly countless black dots appeared above the mountain beams. Under the sun, the blades shimmered, the flags were waving in the wind, and the smoke and dust were like morning mist rising into the air like a mountain beam.

"Oh my God, that's ...... A whole cavalry. I'm afraid there are five thousand ...... Not eight thousand...... No...... Ten thousand...... 20,000 ......" Zhang Laoliu trembled his lips, his eyes straightened.

"Hurry up and report to General Qin and Li Taishou, it seems that they are coming to our Fangzhou." The dog sucked in the cold air and barked.

"Yes, yes, yes, bang the gong quickly, report quickly. Close the gates. Zhang Laoliu shouted loudly.

The sound of gongs sounded above the city, and hundreds of soldiers had already seen the overwhelming cavalry rushing from the mountains and ravines to the north, and they panicked and ran around, shouting endlessly.

The soldiers under the city gate hurriedly closed the gate and bolted it. No sooner had the gates closed than the thunderous sound of horses' hooves was miles away. As the ground shook and the mountains shook, tens of thousands of cavalry rolled in like a wave, and soon covered the wilderness outside the northern city.

The defenders in the city panicked from the barracks to the city, and the defender general Qin Sanshan rushed to the city in untidy armor, and when he received the news, he was sleeping with the little widow Ma Shi in the east of the city in his arms. Hearing that his own soldiers were coming, he hurriedly dressed himself and hurried over.

When the military and political officials of Fangzhou rushed to the head of the city, the cavalry under the city had already set up their positions. Qin Sanshan and Fangzhou Taishou Zhao Yuan were shocked to find that the soldiers and horses under the city were neither 5,000 nor 8,000, let alone 10,000, but 30,000. 30,000 cavalry, black pressure spread under the city, that battle almost made people faint.

"What kind of soldiers and horses are these, Hui people?" Zhao Yuan asked, rolling his Adam's apple.

"It's better if it's a Hui people. The Hui people are big with us