At the beginning of the afternoon, the siege troops began to regroup. More than 200 siege engines were pushed under the city, and a cartload of stones was piled up next to the siege engine. The army of 57,000 men also formed up under the scorching sun, and the siege was ready.

At the head of the city, more than 20,000 defenders were also waiting for them. Although the old general Li Mi was tired, he still stood under the scorching sun at the head of the city, commanding and dispatching troops and horses to prepare for battle. Although according to Wang Yuan's previous explanation, Li Mi does not need to fight hard with the other party here, and can retreat to the rear city to delay time. But after giving up Gyeongju, Li Mi did not plan to give up Ningju again. Ningzhou is lost, in fact, it is convenient to drive straight into Chengdu. Although there are still cities such as Longzhou, Qizhou, Xingzhou, Lizhou, and Zizhou in the rear, the city defense of these cities in Shu is weak, and Wang Yuan ordered to strengthen the cities on the eastern border of Gyeongzhou, Ningzhou, Bazhou, Tongzhou, and Fangzhou. Due to the limited manpower and material resources, Wang Yuan did not have more ability to strengthen all the city defenses. Therefore, once Ningzhou is lost, the speed of the opponent's advance will be very fast.

And there is another reason why Li Mi is reluctant to abandon Ningzhou, that is, after An Lushan raised troops, displaced people from all over the country gathered in Shu, and once reached millions of people. After the rebellion was put down, although most of the people chose to return to their hometowns. But there are still 8.9 million people who choose to stay in Shu and settle down. At that time, under the leadership of Wang Yuan, these people were also properly settled, and they were settled in various state capitals, and fields were given for them to cultivate. Therefore, there are really a lot of people in the inland state capital of Shudi. If Ningzhou is allowed to lose and he retreats to Chengdu, his previous efforts will be ruined, and the people will flee again. This is something Li Mi never wants to see.

Therefore, Li Mi decided to stay in Ningzhou, stick to the fortified defense of Ningzhou, and wait for the arrival of Wang Yuan's army.

"Brothers, don't be afraid. A few days ago, the army of the marshal broke the Hui cavalry in Fengzhou, and only 30% of the 100,000 Hui cavalry were beaten by the marshal. They had to roll back to their grasslands. The commander's soldiers and horses are also rushing back, and they will arrive in a few days. General Liu's cavalry may have now arrived at the city of Chang'an and threatened Chang'an. The army attacked in two directions, and Li Guangbi soon couldn't withstand it. Brothers, we must hold on, let the big commander take a look, although we didn't follow the big commander to fight back the people, but we can still resist the strong enemy. ”

Li Mi's white beard fluttered, standing at the head of the city and cheering up the soldiers loudly. Part of his words was true, and that was the news of Wang Yuan's victory. But the rest is his speculation. Last night, he received a message from Wang Yuan, and learned that Wang Yuan's soldiers and horses had defeated the Hui people, and at this moment the soldiers were rushing back in two ways. Liu Jun's cavalry rushed to Chang'an City from the east road, cut off Li Guangbi's grain route, and threatened him from the flank. Wang Yuan's infantry rushed back to Shu along the western road. After learning the news, Li Mi knew that the reason why Wang Yuan did not let the cavalry directly rescue Shu was because the consumption of the Shence army was too large, and the Shence army probably did not want to fight hard with Li Guangbi. The more than 30,000 infantry led by Wang Yuan attacked far away, and the consumption was too large, and it was not suitable for battle. But Li Mi couldn't say anything to the soldiers, he could only make up lies to enhance the soldiers' confidence in victory.

Li Mi actually has bitterness that he can't say. Although they withstood the frenzied attack of the other side in the morning, the losses of the soldiers were also extremely heavy. There were only more than 30,000 people, but there were more than 8,000 casualties at once, and the number of troops was reduced by 30%. Moreover, the soldiers and horses gathered by Li Mi's men were not elite. More than 10,000 are elite soldiers and horses, but the rest are regimental training soldiers and horses, and it is thanks to the militia reserve system implemented by Wang Yuan in the past that so many soldiers can be quickly assembled. But these people are actually no different from recruits. So many people died, and morale was low. Li Mi had to command the battle with all his might, and he had to take into account the morale of the soldiers, and he was really tired enough.

"General, you go to a shady place to rest for a while, here is the lowly overseer. You are the backbone of the whole army, and if you fall, it will be over. A person beside him persuaded that person was Sun Weisheng, the Taishou of Ningzhou. This Sun Weisheng is actually the nephew of Mrs. Li Mi, who has followed Li Mi since Li Mi was in Yaozhou, and later went out to Ningzhou as a guard, but he is also a capable person.

"Yes, yes, the old general is going to rest, here we are watching." The two deputy generals Chen Chao and Zhang Xuan also agreed.

"What's the matter, aren't the soldiers tired and sunburning? I'm not going. I'm standing right here. Listen to you, even if you die here today, you can't take half a step back. Wasion Chen Chao Zhang Xuan, the three of you listen to me, let me tell you, today's battle must be held to the death in Ningzhou. I fell, and Wasion took command of my troops. Wasion fell, Chen Chao came, Chen Chao fell Zhang Xuan. In short, even if you die, you must not lose Ningzhou. If anyone dares to lose Ningzhou, I can't spare you as a ghost. Do you hear that? ”

"Okay, good man, don't be so angry, don't stop, won't you? Drink water to quench your thirst. I promise you, you will definitely lose Ningzhou, even if you die with the city, will you not hesitate to do it? Sun Weisheng smiled bitterly. This old man's temper is old and strong, and he is extremely hot, and he knows it best.

"This old man, why is his temper so fierce." Chen Chao said with a wry smile.

"You ......" Li Mi raised his hand to speak, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a horn suddenly sounding from under the city. Several people hurriedly looked down the city, but saw that the drums and trumpets under the city were whining, and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses let out a deafening shout and moved slowly, and a new round of siege began.

This siege was more ferocious than the previous sieges. After the catapult bombardment, more than 50,000 siege soldiers and horses were all dispatched, and they rushed to the city like a tidal wave. Jiang Zuguang's killing before shocked the whole army, and no one dared to ignore the military order anymore. In addition, Li Guangbi personally led 3,000 soldiers and horses to supervise the battle in the rear, and they lined up in the rear with snowy long knives to serve, but there were soldiers who dared to flee back, and they could not help but cut and kill directly. In this case, the ferocity of the siege can be imagined.

Thanks to the cover of catapults, the siege soldiers did not suffer too many losses during the attack on the city. When they rushed dozens of paces below the city, the defenders of the city, who had been suppressed by catapults, came out. But at this time, they only had time to shoot a sniper arrow or two, and after that, the opponents swarmed under the walls. Although the defenders of the city were still able to shoot at the dense soldiers below, they could not ignore the opponents who were climbing towards the city, and some of them were forced to turn their attention to the soldiers who were besieging the city, and the fire of the blocking force became more and more weakened.

More and more siege soldiers gathered under the city walls, six or seven hundred ladders were erected at the head of the city, and the siege soldiers were hit by the rain of arrows, stones, and rolling wood, and cats bent their waists and shields, and climbed towards the head of the city. On the other side of the moat, more than 6,000 archers were also in place, shooting frantically above the city. Although most of their arrows flew over the city wall in order to avoid accidentally injuring their own troops, it caused great pressure on the psychology of the defenders at the head of the city, and the arrows that flew behind the city wall caused a lot of damage to some of the soldiers and civilians who were carrying supplies up the city.

The situation on the battlefield hardly warmed up, and in a short time it became boiling. The arrows and stones on the head of the city rolled down with hot oil and boiling water, and almost all the means of defending the city that could be used were used by the defenders at the head of the city. With the combined efforts of more than a dozen people, the huge girl-shaped long pole crossed the top of the ladder and pushed it away from the city wall. Strings of siege soldiers like sugar gourds fell to the city, erupting in bursts of screams. But more ladders re-built the walls, and countless sugar gourds began to climb towards the city.

In just half an hour, sixty paces south of the city gate, the siege soldiers on two ladders successfully climbed the city wall. Although they were quickly killed by the sweeping team led by Zhang Hao and Chen Chao, this showed that the defense of the city head was almost unable to support it.

Sure enough, after the tea, the city wall on the north side of the city gate was continuously breached. A large section of the city wall was lost in an instant, and about 200 soldiers climbed the city wall. The surrounding defenders rushed up and fought them, unable to kill them for a while, which caused more siege soldiers to climb up the ladders below. For a while, it was unstoppable.

Seeing this, Li Mi, who was in command of the battle in the tower above the city gate, drew the long sword at his waist and ordered the guards around him to follow him to kill the enemy. Sun Weisheng, who followed beside him, hurriedly stopped: "Old man, you can't go, I'll bring someone to help, you can sit here." ”

Li Mi pushed him away and scolded, "Why can't the old man go? Are you really too old to move as an old man? Get out of the way, the northern wall will be breached, and you must immediately recapture the lost wall and kill all the enemy troops who have attacked. ”

After Li Mi finished speaking, he rushed out of the city tower in a hurry, braving the arrows flying overhead, holding his long sword and rushing towards the entangled enemy soldiers in front of him. Hundreds of pro-soldiers also followed closely behind him, shouting and rushing towards the battlefield. Sun Weisheng stomped his foot, stretched out his hand and drew his saber, and rushed out.

Li Mi rushed to the place where the battle was stalemate, and the two enemy soldiers in front of him were entangled together. The defenders of the city had a knife stuck in their chests, but the other also had a knife in their stomachs, and neither of them died, and I hugged each other and bit each other.

Li Mi stepped forward and kicked the opposing soldier on the head, raised his hand and stabbed him to death with a sword. Just as he was about to rush forward, the soldier who was dying with a knife in his chest suddenly shouted: "Old general, give the villain a good time." The villain can't survive. I don't want to be sinned. ”

Li Mi turned his head to look at him and said, "What's your name." People there. ”

"Villain...... Yaozhou people, called ...... Zhou Da Road. The villain's father, Chow Tai Fook, is in ...... Selling tea ...... in Sheephorn Lane in the east of the city"

"Okay, I remember, I will tell your parents that you are good and that your parents will be well taken care of." Li Mi said in a deep voice.

"Thank you...... Old general. ”

"Brother, let's get on the road." Li Mi did not hesitate, raised his sword and stabbed the soldier's heart, and the soldier immediately hung his head and died.

Everyone around him looked at all this in amazement, and they were all stunned. Li Mi's face did not change, and he shouted in a deep voice: "I was stunned, and I didn't slaughter these dogs for Lao Tzu." Otherwise, how can you be worthy of these brothers who died? ”

All the relatives and soldiers woke up, shouted in unison, rushed forward, and slaughtered in a ball. Li Mi sighed lightly, raised his sword and rushed forward. The old general's silver hair was fluttering, coupled with his tall stature, angry eyes like a tiger, and shouting like thunder, everyone was frightened. In the past few decades, Li Mi can be said to have experienced a hundred battles and gone through ups and downs, from the beginning of the battle with the Nanzhao State, and the Tubo people, in the case of ineffective commanders and poor planning, he was nailed like a rock in the area of Wangzhou, preventing the other party from going north to encroach on Shu. It can be described as the Dinghai Divine Needle of Jiannan Road. Later, Wang Yuan came to Jiannan, Li Mi rejuvenated for the second time, and Wang Yuan entrusted him with a heavy responsibility, first appointing him as the governor of Yuewang to stabilize the south. Later, he handed over the logistics task to him. Later, he was entrusted to sit in the rear of Chengdu, which is a great trust. The gratitude in Li Mi's heart is indescribable.

Wang Yuan sent troops to Fengzhou, he stayed in Shudi, and he couldn't let Wang Yuan down with such a big responsibility. He couldn't be defeated, and after Wang Yuan came back, he saw a Shu land that had been devastated by soldiers. The death of a confidant is his will at this moment.

Li Mi waved the long sword in his hand, and scolded like thunder in his mouth.

"Little bunny, die."

"Wang Balamb, dare to resist."

"Dare to do something with Lao Tzu, you were still smoking when Lao Tzu killed someone."

Hundreds of pro-soldiers crushed over like a meat mill with Li Mi's scolding. Under the encouragement of Li Mi and others, the morale of the defenders on the city wall was also greatly boosted. Soon, hundreds of besieging soldiers stormed the walls were slaughtered, and the lost walls were recaptured.

Li Mi was so tired that she was panting, her heart was pounding, her heart was flustered, and she was short of breath and crumbling. Sun Weisheng hurriedly stepped forward to help him and said, "Go and rest for a while, you are almost seventy years old, and you are still so stubborn." ”

"What's wrong with Seventy? Do you think it's time for me to go into the coffin? Li Mi scolded.

Sun Weisheng hurriedly smiled and said, "If anything, I care about you." Now that we've recaptured the walls, you have to go and rest, and we don't know how long this battle will last. You can't get tired. ”

Li Mi looked at the city walls that had been cleaned up around him, watched the soldiers defending the city pushing the corpses of the opposing soldiers down the city wall as stones, looked at the screams of the enemy army groups below the city wall, and saw that the opponent's offensive had weakened, and his heart was not very happy. He raised his hand to stroke his beard and laughed.

However, his laughter suddenly stopped, and he staggered backwards. Sun Weisheng quickly hugged his body and asked in surprise, "Old man, what's wrong?" What's wrong with you? ”

Li Mi's face was like gold paper, his eyes were closed, and his teeth were clenched. I can't speak. Sun Weisheng was shocked, stretched out his hand to probe his snort, only to feel that his breath was weak, and the exhaled breath was as hot as fire. So he immediately carried Li Mi to the shade of the city tower with several personal soldiers, and poured water into the middle of the people and worked for a long time. Li Mi suddenly woke up and said vaguely: "Defend the city." After that, he fell into a coma again.

Sun Weisheng was at a loss, so he had to order someone to carry Li Mi down to the city and order Lang Zhong in the army to be treated well. As soon as Li Mi fell, the burden of defending the city fell on his shoulders, and he didn't have time to think about it, so he cheered up and continued to defend the city.

The siege continued, and the repulsion of one or two sieges was not the end, and everyone on the defending side was surprised that the other side was not only fierce but also durable. They launched a wave of onslaught like a tidal wave, giving themselves no respite. Everyone was in a cyclical nightmare and couldn't wake up. It's just a constant mechanical killing, throwing, and firing arrows. Watching the bloodied brothers around him fall and die, watching the other soldier's tragic death in front of his eyes, it seems that all this will never end.

An hour passed, and both the attackers and defenders were exhausted. But apparently, the defenders at the head of the city were even more miserable, because they had few men and horses and could not rest. And the soldiers and horses under the city can take turns to attack the city, and even take time to replenish water. And the defenders at the head of the city, in the face of the uninterrupted high-intensity siege, they didn't even have time to drink saliva.

With the passage of time, the head of the city was broken through several times, and the number of defenders at the head of the city was sharply reduced to more than 12,000. Although the casualties of the attacking soldiers under the city were close to 20,000, their offensive was still unabated, and the city could not support it.

At three moments, the besieging party did not know how many sieges were launched again. This time, more than 30,000 soldiers and horses launched a fierce attack at the same time without rounds. The defenders of the city had finally reached their limit, their bows and arrows had run out, and the stones and sassalwoods at the head of the city had long since run out. Even the corpses of their own soldiers were thrown off the city and stoned, and they could only watch as they attacked the walls and then engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

At this moment, Ningzhou City is in turmoil, and it can be expected that it will be conquered in a short time.

Sun Weisheng, Chen Chao and Zhang Qian were all covered in blood, and led people to fight fires everywhere in the city, fighting the soldiers who attacked the city wall. But the flame of hope in their hearts was getting closer and closer to extinguishing, and they realized that Ningzhou was afraid that they would not be able to hold it.

"Two brothers, you take the old man and withdraw quickly, gather the soldiers and horses along the way, pass the news, and let Chengdu prepare early." Sun Weisheng gasped.

"Sun Taishou, what are you going to do?" Zhang Yan asked.

"I promised the old man to live and die with this city, I can't leave, I want to fight until the last moment." Sun Weisheng gritted his teeth and said.

Chen Chao said in a deep voice: "If we want to die together, we have all agreed to the old man." The old man definitely doesn't want us to evacuate at this moment, we don't leave. ”

"Yes, not leaving." Zhang Yan said.

Sun Weisheng sighed, stretched out his hand and patted the shoulders of the two of them and said, "Okay, two brothers, let's fight and die here together, we can't live up to the old man's expectations, and we won't break our oath." Let's go back and forth, there are a lot of them on the south wall, let's go and bomb them all. ”

Three people