The western Xinjiang sky in late autumn is blue, vast and lofty.

In the early morning, a golden sun rises, and a soft golden light spreads all over the land. The big silk on the city tower flutters in the morning breeze, the black flag and the huge and simple "Han" character are bathed in the golden morning sun, sending out a solemn and vicissitudes of life.

Fu Xie felt the powerful power brought to him by Da Xu, he raised his head to the sky, raised his hands high, opened his mouth and let out a wild roar, as if he wanted to roar out the anger and endless fighting spirit in his heart.

Yesterday, Huang Yan came. Fu Xie and he haven't seen each other for a few years, and the last time the two saw each other was when their teacher Liu Kuan died. Fu Xie was very happy and pulled Huang Yan to talk. While drinking wine, the two recalled the scene when they studied with the teacher, and talked happily. They talked about many of their fellow disciples, some of whom had died because of the scourge of the party, some of whom were obsessed with the study of scriptures, and some of whom had gone into hiding, and there were not many people like them who were still officials in various places and devoted themselves to serving the Han Dynasty.

Fu Xie didn't ask Huang Yan why he came, and Huang Yan never mentioned what he was doing here. The two parted ways.

Looking at Huang Yan's figure disappearing outside the city, Fu Gan asked his father: "This lord has come all the way to talk to you and drink a bowl of wine?" ”

Fu Xie shook his head and didn't speak for a long time. He silently shook his head and said sadly: "The Great Han Kingdom is declining day by day......

"Knock ......"

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of war drums in the distance.

Fu Xie and the soldiers defending the city were suddenly shocked. Fu Xie rushed to the edge of the city wall in a few steps and listened intently.

The drums of "Dong Dong ......" became more and more dense and louder, and gradually became a roaring sound.

The hearts of the soldiers of Yicheng beat violently to the sound of war drums in the distance.

Fu Xie glanced around at his subordinates, and when he saw their nervous and excited faces, he suddenly burst out laughing.

"Haha, it's finally here......" he pointed out of the city and shouted, "Here they are, here they are......"

"Drumming ......"

"Prepare for ......"

The fierce and furious drums of war burst into the sky.

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Hua Xiong jumped up and rushed out of the house.

The sound of war drums, shouts, the neighing of mules and horses, the clashing of weapons resounded through the sky, and the tension of the coming war suddenly enveloped the entire Wing City.

The defending non-commissioned officers, under the leadership of their respective commanders, are in position according to the different types of troops. The people of the city have long been organized to take on different logistical tasks. Now, under the leadership of the government officials, they are carrying arrows, stones, logs, and other weapons to the city walls.

"My lord, the enemy is beginning to attack the city." The military marquis Zhao Yi greeted Huaxiong and said loudly, "The horn of the Qiang people has been sounding for a long time. ”

Hua Xiong nodded, his two thick eyebrows jumped rhythmically a few times, and he said excitedly: "Good time." Although we can't defeat the Iron Cavalry of June Thunder in the field, we can use this tall city wall to kill the cavalry of June Thunder under the city of Yicheng. ”

He punched him in the air and shouted, "Brothers, it's ...... war"

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Huangfu Zheng stood on the tower of the West City of Yicheng, staring intently at the army that gradually appeared on the distant horizon, with a solemn expression.

He is the son of the Huangfu family, and was the first to follow Huangfu Song to conquer the world. After Huangfu Song was dismissed, he stayed on the battlefield in Xiliang with the eldest prince Huangfuhong. After Huang Fuhong's army was ambushed by the June thunderstorm, he suffered heavy losses and remained in Yicheng. Not long ago, Huang Fuhong transferred Taiwei Zhang Wen to lead the Northern Army, and this army of more than 3,000 people was commanded by Fu Xie. Fu Xie was busy with government affairs, so he let the military Sima Huangfu Zheng lead the army. This time the rebels attacked the city, and Fu Xie ordered him to lead his troops to hold the west gate. The army of June Thunder was stationed at the east gate of Yicheng, and Huangfu Zheng wanted to take revenge, and asked Fu Xie several times to transfer his army with Huaxiong's army, and he wanted to guard the east gate, but Fu Xie refused. He said to Huangfu Zheng: "You have a hot temper, and when you see that your enemies' eyes are red, you are easy to lose your mind. I'm just going to have such a few people now, if you let you fight it all at once, who will I find to defend the east. You're defending at the West Gate. ”

"Bian Zhang and Han Sui are here." Junhou Wucheng walked to Huangfu Zheng's side and said softly.

Huangfu Zheng nodded and sighed: "The battle in Xiliang makes people more and more chilling. ”

Junhou Huang Fei looked at him strangely and asked, "What do you mean by this, my lord?" ”

"A few years ago, I often accompanied the eldest and the two sons to Jincheng to visit Mr. Bian and Mr. Han, but what about today?" He pointed to the rebels flying flags in the distance and said sadly, "But we have to fight face to face." ”

He looked back at the two subordinates and said helplessly: "The eldest prince is in a hurry to leave Xiliang, and it seems that he can't bear the pain of fratricide." ”

There was silence. The towers of the castle towers stood tall and called out in the wind. Huang Fu Zheng looked up, and the huge "Han" character on the big silk was tumbling violently like a wave, like a dragon about to jump away in the air.

Suddenly, his blood was in full swing.

"All ready?" Huangfu Zheng asked.

Wu Cheng and Huang Fei nodded.

"Drum ......" Huangfu Zheng raised his arms and roared, "It's a war......"

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Because the Yicheng is backed by Weishui and the terrain is convenient, there is a moat along the city.

In the western Xinjiang, there are only a few cities with moats built on the city defense, and Yicheng is the largest of them. Without a water source, there is no way to build a moat. Attacking such a city with a moat would be much more difficult, and the casualties would be multiplied.

Beigong Boyu certainly hopes that Yicheng can easily get his hands on it. Last time, the army, under the leadership of Bian Zhang, poured down, and the people of the Hanyang Mansion abandoned the city and fled, and as a result, Yicheng went down without a fight. But not this time. This time, Yicheng was garrisoned by Fu Xie, Fu Xie is a well-known hard bone in Western Xinjiang, he is not afraid of heaven and earth, and it is difficult to deal with. Fu Xie's two subordinates, Hua Xiong and Huangfu Zheng, are also fierce generals in Western Xinjiang, and with their assistance, this Yicheng is even more difficult to fight.

Beigong Boyu had great expectations for the storm and sand to send Fu Xie back to his hometown. Storm Sand and his subordinates knelt outside Yicheng City for a day, and their voices were hoarse, so they exchanged Fu Xie's slash in two. Later, the kingdom asked Huang Yan to talk about it again with the friendship of the same family. It would be a better thing if Fu Xie could be persuaded to join the rebellion. Huang Yan didn't want to go. What kind of person is Fu Xie, when he was still a small Zuojun Sima, he dared to play the impeachment of the traitorous eunuch, and he was not afraid of killing his head at all. Later, he became a councilor, and he scolded Situ Cui Lie above the court and wanted to behead Cui Lie. What can you say to this madman? But he didn't bother to explain, and went alone on horseback. After a day of reunion with Fu Xie, Huang Yan was happy and ran back drunk. And he said unto the kingdom, To-morrow, and went to bed. Beigong Boyu got the news and immediately ordered the next day to attack the city.

That night, the leaders of the various tribes discussed attacking Yicheng in the camp of Beigong Boyu.

Han then put forward the most secure plan. He believes that since Beigong Boyu has decided to take Yicheng, the Xiliang army will only occupy and consolidate the entire territory of Xiliang, and will no longer leave the country to attack Sanfu, so the matter of attacking Yicheng can be done slowly. Fight as slowly as possible, fight a little steady, and reduce the army's siege losses.

"Under the leadership of Fu Xie, the morale of the soldiers and people in the city is high, and the combat effectiveness must be very strong. In this case, if we blindly attack wildly, the losses will be greater. Han Sui pointed to Yicheng on the map and said, "According to the information we have received, Yicheng only has 5,000 troops, and there is a shortage of food and grass. If we take the encirclement as a stop, and the attack as a supplement, and strive to consume a large number of the enemy's troops and food, then when the enemy runs out of food, even if they do not surrender, we can easily take the Wing City. ”

Everyone agrees with Han Sui's statement. Beigong Boyu immediately decided to make a feint attack by the June Thunder at the East Gate and Han Sui at the West Gate, and he and the kingdom's army carried out a strong attack at the South Gate. Because the north gate was close to Weishui and the terrain was narrow, it was not suitable for the siege army to deploy, so it was abandoned by Beigong Boyu.

Early in the morning, the army began to be launched.

Han Sui's 30,000 horses attacked the west gate of Yicheng, the thunderous 30,000 horses attacked the east gate of Yicheng, the 40,000 horses of Beigong Boyu plus the 20,000 horses of the kingdom, and the 15,000 men of Wudu attacked the south gate for a total of 75,000 people. An army of 135,000 rushed to the Wing City like a tidal wave.

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Beigong Boyu looked at the big silk fluttering high on the city tower, and a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Let's get started." He said lightly.

The war drums were beating, and the majestic war drums suddenly resounded across the battlefield.

In front of the army, Li Wenhou rode on a horse, waved his hand at the banner commanders, and said: "Order the strong bow battalion, salvo, continuous salvo." ”

Ten thousand archers were divided into five squares and lined up neatly under the city.

The two thousand warriors of the strongbow battalion, with an order, shot the first wave of long arrows. The long arrow flew off the string and flew into the air and flew towards the castle tower. Two thousand long arrows converged in the air into a huge black cloud, like two thousand black dragons flying through the clouds, they opened their mouths and let out a piercing roar, and the terrible roar made people feel terrified.

Fu Xie's eyes widened angrily, and he looked back and shouted: "Lift ...... Shield ......"

The shield-bearers held their long shields diagonally, the archers hid behind their shields, and the spearmen and axemen all crouched behind the walls.

The "...... of long arrows" tearing through the air was instantaneous, followed by the "boom ......" of long arrows hitting the city wall, and then all the sounds gathered together to form a huge roar. More arrows flew into the air in batches as fast as they could.

The phalanx of four archers lined up in front, under the cover of the long shield men in the front row and the strong archers in the rear, quickly entered within a hundred paces of the city walls. Under the command of the banners in front and behind the phalanx, in the roar of the commanders of the phalanx, countless long arrows flew away from the longbow, they let out a rapid roar, and rushed into the air, and in an instant, the whole air was covered with long arrows, they were like locusts in the sky, suddenly obscuring the sun.

The wooden pavilions on the towers of the Wing City groaned in pain under the ravages of the long arrows, and they trembled all over, pierced beyond recognition by countless sharp arrows. The colorful flags were either shot off and fell, or pierced and broken. The warriors tried their best to shrink their bodies and hide behind shields and wall battlements, looking nervous and frightened, not that some warriors had been wounded by the ejected arrows.

Fu Xie sat under the battlements of the city wall, listening attentively to the movement outside the city.

Li Wenhou pointed his finger at a herald and said loudly: "Inform the camel and order him to build a bridge over the moat immediately." ”

"Inform Nie Xiao and Chop Horse, take the siege army, immediately approach the bow and crossbow battalion, and prepare to attack the city."

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The camel was a tall, sturdy man with a loyal face and a thick beard. He is the commander of the Qiang people.

When he saw that the strongbow battalion was still shooting, he was so anxious that he scolded. The bows and arrows of the strongbow battalion had a long range, but they were poorly accurate. The moat was about ten paces wide, and the moat was only ten steps from the city walls, all within the range of the strongbow.

Baili Yang, the commander of the bow and arrow battalion, was standing next to him, and when he saw the camel cursing, he said very unhappily: "What do you mean? You think we're the Leopard Army, we've only been training for a few days, so it's good to have this. ”

Baili Yang is a tall and thin man, with a pair of small slitted eyes and long hair that is scattered. He was most disgusted by the Qiang people learning from the Han people to tie their hair. He believes that the Qiang people's hair is a rule passed down from their ancestors and must not be changed. But now many Qiang people have been influenced by the Han people, and many Qiang people's rules have been changed to nondescript.

The camel glared at him and cried out: "The general has given the order for me to rush to the moat at once to build a bridge." ”

Baili Yang glanced at him dissatisfiedly and said, "You can see clearly, my bow and crossbow camp hasn't gone up yet, what are you running to do?" It's a long life, huh? ”

"Hurry up, then." The camel shouted.

"What's the hurry?" Baili Yang said slowly, "Do I want to listen to your command?" ”

The camel cursed hatefully, turned back and commanded his men to line up and follow closely behind the bow and crossbow battalion.

Baili Yang commanded the four bow and arrow phalanxes in front of him to shoot while advancing another fifty steps in order to cover the bridge-building army at close range.

Baili Yang waved at the banner commander and said, "Order the strong bow battalion to stop shooting......

"Order the bow battalion to make way for the follow-up army."

With the sound of dense war drums, the dense array of archers suddenly distanced themselves in a row, making way for hundreds of roads to the city walls.

"Ready to attack...... camel roared with a shield in one hand and a knife in the other. His army was a column of fifty men. On the front and rear sides are shield soldiers, and in the middle are soldiers holding a six-zhang long ladder. The so-called bridge building is actually just a long ladder erected on the moat for the subsequent siege army to pass.

Baili Yang turned his head and shouted at the camel, "Camel, it's your turn." ”

The camel grinned, "Shoot me harder, harder." ”

"Brothers, go up to ......" the camel sword was raised high and rushed out first.

The roar suddenly rose into the sky, and thousands of warriors rushed out of the archers phalanx and rushed to the front of the empty battlefield.

Baili Yang raised his knife and shouted: "Shoot...... Intensive salvo ......"

The array of arrows flying into the sky above Yicheng became thicker and thicker, and the piercing howling sound became more and more poignant.

At this time, Nie Xiao and Chopping Horse rushed to the rear of the bow and crossbow camp with the siege army.

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Lao Ding is a veteran and has been in the army for thirteen years. He has always been glad that he is an archer, which he believes is the main reason why he is alive until now. Archers were always a little farther away from the enemy, following behind the army when they were pursuing and ahead of the large army when fleeing. He had many comrades-in-arms, all of whom are no longer alive, they were all spearmen or axe soldiers, but this time, Lao Ding felt that his life had come to an end. Through the small square shooting hole in front of him, he saw the dense enemy formation in the distance with no end in sight, and saw the enemy siege army surging like a tide in the distance, and he smiled helplessly. There are too many enemies. He had been in the army for thirteen years, had experienced dozens of battles, and it was the first time he had seen so many troops attacking a wall at the same time. Lao Ding looked up at the long arrows flying in the sky, a huge piece of black pressure, and he was terrified. He swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva with difficulty, and muttered a few curses in his mouth. On the wall of this southern city, Master Fu Xie, the Taishou Fu, only arranged two thousand soldiers. Two thousand people dealt with the tens of thousands of troops in front of him, Lao Ding felt very ridiculous. How many days can this last?

"Lao Ding, why haven't you given the order yet, the enemy is about to reach the moat." A young archer not far from him asked in a whisper.

"It's still early." Lao Ding smiled lightly, "These bridge-building enemies are currently covered by shield soldiers, and even if we shoot, we won't be able to shoot a few." Wait a minute, they will cross the river along the ladder and go to the opposite bank to fix the long ladder. At this point we can shoot, shoot one and die another. ”

"Lao Ding, how do you know everything?"

"I've defended the city of Didao, so I know when is the best time to shoot these bridge-builders." Lao Ding said triumphantly, "Didao City is the county of Longxi County, it is backed by the Taoshui River, and there is also such a moat. ”

"With a moat, it will definitely be much more difficult for the enemy to attack the city. Do you think we can hold it? "There are too many enemies, as many as ants," said the soldier, hopefully. ”

"No problem." Lao Ding smiled, "I fought with Master Fu. He fought very well, and it was not ten out of ten to defend such a small city. ”

Hearing this, the young soldier looked up at Fu Xie in the distance, with a look of admiration.

"What are you doing?" Lao Ding asked.

The Lord raised his right arm as if to give an order.

"It's a little early." Lao Ding looked at the busy enemies by the moat, shook his head and said, "It would be better to be later." ”

Fu Xie leaned in front of the shooting hole, waved his right arm violently, and shouted, "Shoot...... Arbitrary launch ......"

Lao Ding shot the first arrow very skillfully, and then his right hand was like a flying butterfly, holding the arrow, loading the arrow, pulling the bow, aiming, shooting, a series of actions were completed in an instant, dazzling, and the speed was incredible. He was engrossed, cursing incessantly, immersed in the thrill of rapid shooting.

With angry roars, long arrows were aimed at the enemy running towards the moat, rushing out of hundreds of shooting holes at once. The archers were like Lao Ding, shooting arrows at the fastest speed, and the long arrows seemed to be connected together, endlessly, frantically shooting at the enemy.

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The army of camels managed to build more than a hundred ladder bridges along the moat, at a distance of three hundred paces. Many dead soldiers lay on both sides of the moat, and red blood began to float on the surface of the river.

Baili Yang patted Nie Xiao's shoulder vigorously and said loudly: "Old Nie, if you cross the river, I will stop shooting arrows." Life and death are fate. ”

Nie Xiao smiled: "Life and death are fate." ”

Chop the horse and tuck the long hair that is scattered, then tie a white cloth belt on his forehead, and say with a smile: "Old Nie, it's started." I attack the left, you attack the right. ”

Nie Xiao nodded, he slowly pulled out the snowy battle knife from his back, carried the round shield, and strode to the front of the team.

The drums of war rang out.

Nie Xiao raised his knife and looked back, and roared wildly: "Brothers, kill ......"

"Kill the ......" The soldiers echoed in unison, the roar was like thunder, the momentum was like a rainbow, and the flow of people was like a tide for a while, and the siege army was like a sea of mountains and seas to kill the most fierce battlefield.

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With the roar of Baili Yang, the long arrows in the sky suddenly disappeared without a trace. Thousands of archers hung their hands feebly, gasping violently.

The first batch of more than 100 ladders crossed the river at a rapid speed under the frantic rush of the siege soldiers, and was quickly erected. The first siege soldiers began to climb the ladder.

A part of the archers, under the cover of shield men, quickly approached the moat and began to shoot at the walls at close range to cover the crossing of the army.

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Fu Xie's eyes were fixed on the last long arrow in the sky, watching it draw a beautiful arc in the air, and then fiercely nailed to the blue brick at the top of the city wall, the long arrow bounced high, and then fell straight to the ground covered with a thick layer of arrows.

Fu Xie jumped up, raised his sword and shouted: "Archer, shoot...... Arbitrary launch ......"

"Brothers, kill ...... Ah......h

Don't Fu Xie say, these soldiers who have followed Huangfu Song, Huangfu Hong's father and son who have been fighting in Western Xinjiang for many years and have very rich combat experience have rushed out of the bunker at a rapid pace, and they each ran to their own battle area, picked up the stones, lifted the wood and smashed it down. The archers rushed to the edge of the battlements as fast as they could, and opened heavy fire on the enemy soldiers gathered on both sides of the moat.

The sound of war drums, shouts, fights, and screams resounded up and down the city walls, long black arrows flew in the air, bloody war knives whistled in the wind, huge stones raged on the ladders, and heavy timbers carried the sound of wind and thunder falling from the sky with the force of thunder.

Due to the narrow terrain of the siege, the rebel soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and the banks of the moat were soon filled with dead soldiers, and the corpses of enemy soldiers also floated on the surface of the river, and the river was quickly stained red with blood.

Fu Xie commanded the archers to block the moat with a dense array of arrows, and the other defenders took the opportunity to massacre the remaining enemies under the city.

Seeing that the first round of attacks had failed, Li Wenhou did not wait for the troops by the moat to withdraw, and immediately ordered the archers to launch a new round of fierce fire at the city wall. The defenders of Yicheng were caught off guard and suddenly fell in large numbers. Nie Xiao and Chopping Horse immediately led the second group of siege soldiers to brave the long arrows in the sky and began the second round of strong attack. This time, some soldiers managed to climb the walls and break through several defenses. Fu Xie personally led his personal guards to support all around, and slashed all the enemies who broke through the defense on the city wall.

There were more and more ladder bridges over the moat, and one after another the siege ladders leaned against the high walls, and the siege soldiers began to attack at the same time on the attack surface at a distance of three hundred paces.

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