In the open space in front of Deir Ezzor Castle lay the corpses of men and horses, full of arrows, tattered flags fell to the ground at will, some horses still neighed in front of their master's corpse, several flags planted diagonally on the ground were shot through by rockets and burned several large holes, and the burning flags rose and curled with green smoke.

Xuan 13 put the knife into the sheath and beckoned back, and a lieutenant stepped forward and hugged his fist and said, "General? ”

"Send someone to report to the king about the battle just now, leave half of the men and horses to surround this place, and the others scatter to recover those slaves!"

"Yes, General!"

The escaped slaves were driven back by the Western Qin cavalry in less than an hour, all of them were concentrated in the open space two miles in front of the castle, and some of the old, weak, sick and disabled people in the surrounding nearby villages were also driven over, driven by the Western Qin cavalry, about 1,200 strong slaves were gathered together, the old people were driven to the other side, and the masked women wrapped in white or black robes were alone on this side with their children, facing the fierce Western Qin cavalry, these slaves were squatting on the ground and shivering, did not dare to move.

Not long after, Zhao Ziliang led the main force of the army to arrive, and the generals of all departments began to set up camps and set up tents under the arrangement of Sima Chen Qing on the march.

Xuan 13 came to report to Zhao Ziliang: "Great King, a group of 200 Eastern Roman cavalry came out of the castle to fight us and was annihilated by our army!" ”

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand: "In general, this king has heard the battle report, let's talk about the casualties!" ”

"Yes!" Xuan 13 agreed, and said: "Our army has lost twenty-eight people and thirty-seven wounded!" The casualty ratio is about 1 to 3, and if you leave the wounded aside, the casualty ratio is 1 to 6! ”

"Do you know why?"

Xuan 13 replied: "The minister also tested this question just now, the light cavalry of Eastern Rome does not seem to have undergone much training, they are not skilled in horsemanship, they do not know how to ride and shoot, they have no tactics, and they do not cooperate in battle, and the war is completely dependent on individual martial arts, a plate of scattered sand, before the battle, each of us shot an average of three arrows, and they have been killed and wounded almost half!" ”

Zhao Ziliang touched his chin and said: "Excluding the people who were shot, that is to say, they only have about a hundred people who fight with you in close combat, and you have two thousand, this casualty ratio cannot be counted as one to six, it seems that their personal combat effectiveness is still good!" Are there any other cases? ”

"Yes, we have captured all the people from the surrounding villages, as far as we know, this generation is almost all inhabited by most of the big cannibals and a small number of Persians, all of them are slaves of the Byzantines, men, women and children, the Byzantines do not regard the aliens here, as long as they are caught, all of them become slaves. According to the confessions of the slaves, there were originally more than 550 people in Deir Ezzor Castle, of which 200 cavalry, the rest were infantry, 200 cavalry have been annihilated by us, and there are about 250 people left in the castle! ”

Zhao Ziliang nodded and asked, "How many sturdy slaves are there among the slaves?" ”

"About 1,200 people, I don't count them, but it shouldn't be far behind!"

Zhao Ziliang instructed: "Gather these 1,200 elite slaves, and this king will go and have a look!" ”

"Yes!"

Zhao Ziliang then ordered the army to rest for two days, and the siege camp immediately built a siege ladder, and built as much as it could!

Accompanied by Xuan 13, Zhao Ziliang and the generals of the army came to the slaves, all of whom were strong slaves between the ages of sixteen and forty-five, and were the main labor force here.

Although the slaves didn't know what the rank of the Western Qin army was, when they saw Zhao Ziliang and his party coming surrounded by many soldiers, they all knew that Zhao Ziliang and these people were only afraid that they were all big men in the Western Qin army.

Zhao Ziliang rode up to the slaves and said loudly: "The arrival of the Byzantines has robbed you of everything, including land and freedom, and even your family members have become their slaves, and they have all been controlled by life and death, don't you hate them?" Don't you want revenge? I've heard that you cannibals and Persians are born businessmen, and I want to make a deal with you. I'm giving you a chance to live and become free and regain the land, and it's fair that you take the castle for me? Later I will send you weapons and siege equipment, and from tomorrow morning you men will carry out the siege, and if you can break through the castle in front of you in two days, I will keep you alive and give you all the land outside the castle, and everyone will have a share, and the families of the war dead will be rewarded with both land and money, but you must be my subjects, and you must pay taxes to me! If you don't breach this castle in two days, then you will all be put to death, along with your families! It's going to be a scorched earth! ”

If it was any other business, these big cannibals and Persians would have been happy to do it, but this was a business that could lose their heads, and they were not very willing, but it was an overlord's business, there was no room for bargaining, and they could not refuse, and they had to do this business if they didn't do it, otherwise they would all be executed.

The slaves were silent one by one, and no one answered within three minutes, and Zhao Ziliang was not in a hurry, waiting patiently.

It wasn't until three minutes later that a bearded middle-aged man among the slaves asked, "Why do we believe that you will keep your promise after taking the castle?" ”

Zhao Ziliang followed the voice to find the person who spoke, this person's appearance and temperament were different from other slaves, this person was obviously a nobleman before, and he had a fierce courage, and from this person's eyes it could be seen that he was unwilling to become a slave.

"Because I'm the highest person here, because you don't have a choice!"

The man was silent for a moment, and then said in a loud voice: "Okay, let's attack the city!" ”

Zhao Ziliang instructed Xuan Shisan: "Tomorrow at the end of the day, make a fire to make food, let them eat and drink enough, give them weapons and siege ladders, and let them start the siege on time without supervision, this is a matter of life and death, freedom, land and wealth for them and their families, they will work hard." All you have to do is keep an eye out, and if anyone tries to escape or has other plans, kill them immediately! ”

Xuan 13 clenched his fists and bowed in agreement: "Obey!" ”

After Zhao Ziliang and the others left, there were only some Western Qin soldiers around, and the slaves began to talk and quarrel.

A few sturdy slaves came to the slave who had just talked to Zhao Ziliang, and one of them shouted, "Master Amut, do you still think you are the master?" You are just a slave now, why do you rule for us? ”

"yes, why do you call the shots for us?" The other able-bodied slaves shouted, "We won't listen to you anymore, you can no longer command and order us!" ”

Amut said indifferently: "I didn't let you listen to me, and I didn't make the decision for you, do you remember what the last sentence of the Western Qin general said just now?" We don't have a choice! Whether we like it or not, we must take the weapons they have given us and attack this castle, or in two days we will all be executed, including mine and all of your families! You can not listen to me, when the time comes, everyone will go to attack the castle in a scattered manner, and without effective command and unified coordination of the attack, will you be able to capture this castle in two days? If we can't take the castle in two days, even if we die more, the rest will be executed, and if we have a unified and effective command, and if we can take the castle at the least cost, why should we kill more? If any of you think you can lead the pack to take the castle in two days, stand up! ”

A few of the sturdy slaves who had just questioned Amut were a little dumbfounded, but someone else asked: "Amut, no one wants to die, no one wants to die, and they don't want to die first, if we attack the castle, who will take the lead?" There is no doubt that those who lead the battle are very likely to die first, and those who are further back will live longer, and after taking the castle, those who are behind are still alive, and those who are in front are dead, so no one wants to take the lead! ”

Amut looked at these people and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, no wonder these people will always be poor ghosts, always the lowest pariahs, just this kind of brain deserves to be a pariah for the rest of their lives, and they will be poor for a lifetime!

He said: "We should have done some internal integration for this problem, but the general of Western Qin obviously didn't want us to waste time, they had already thought of a solution for us, and he had just promised that the families of the war dead would be able to get both land and money!" Why are we arguing on this issue? If none of us are willing to take the lead, then we will all be executed in two days' time, and then you will still be able to figure out who will lead and who will be behind? ”

Everyone was silent, and after a while, someone came over and said to Amut: "Master Amut, I listen to you, I will fight you as much as you say!" ”

Someone else said: "Master Amut, I also believe you, you can fight as much as you say!" ”

Under the leadership of these two men, the other slaves said: "Yes, we also listen to Master Amut!" ”

Some of the slaves who had been against Amut had to express their willingness to obey Amut's orders.

In the early morning of December 12, more than 1,200 elite food and Persian slaves who had eaten and drunk enough took the weapons, sickles, kitchen knives, and hoes issued to them by the Western Qin army, and carried a siege ladder to Deir ez-Zor Castle, these people were divided into several echelons under the command of Amut, and attacked the castle in waves.