Chapter 417: At least fifty thousand people

After Wang Ping'an and the others entered the small village, the Turks who followed one after another, and more and more people came, only half an hour, four or five hundred people came.

The Turks still had no men in their prime and no horses, but they kept up. The tenacious character of the grassland herdsmen was brought into full play at this time. Just because there is hope to live, even if this hope is as small as only one cake, they do not give up, and desperately keep up with the horse team on foot!

When the Turks entered the village, they gathered around the army, stretching out their hands to beg, and some of them got bread, but most of them came when they heard the news, and did not really get food, so they all looked at the soldiers with anticipation, hoping to receive alms.

Wang Ping'an frowned and said, "There are more and more people, is our dry food still enough?" ”

Su Dingfang said: "Enough is enough, we have enough bags, if we just help these people in front of us, it's nothing, but we can't get benefits from these people, they are all old and weak!" ”

He is a general, and the first thing that comes to mind is that the cake is out, can he replenish the troops from these Turks, even if he can't pull strong men, but he has to bring in a few grooms or the like, as subordinates. But these Turks are all old and weak, and they look at women poorly, and they can't get any benefits from them, so he is a little reluctant to pretend to be a good person!

Although Su Dingfang's words were cold, the reality was that the soldiers did not squeak and looked at Wang Ping'an together.

Wang Ping'an waved his hand and said: "Forget it, it's just a few cakes, but they can save people's lives, why be stingy, just give them to them!" ”

When the soldiers were given the order, they divided the dry rations they had brought with them. The Turks knelt down for Wang Ping'an, wept and thanked him, and those who got the bread ate it immediately, and when they choked, they grabbed a few handfuls of snow and ate the bread with the snow.

Di Renjie said with a smile: "Good people have good rewards, although the eldest brother is a famous indiscriminate good person in Chang'an, but every time he does something good, he can get a good reward, but it is also a wonder in Chang'an!" ”

Ouyang Yi said: "Even if these people want to repay their masters, I don't think they can afford to repay them, they have nothing!" ”

After waiting for a while, the sound of horses' hooves sounded outside the village, and Hou Ling returned!

As soon as Hou Ling entered the village, he ran directly to Wang Ping'an and shouted: "Master, the big thing is not good, outside the city of Liangzhou, there are Turkic soldiers, there are few people in the south, but there are thousands, and his subordinates go around to the east, and there are tens of thousands of people, all of them are Turkic soldiers!" ”

Wang Ping'an was taken aback, stood up and said, "What about the state city, can it be lost?" ”

Hou Ling shook his head and said: "No, the head of the city is still my Tang banner, but the city gate is closed, and the Liangzhou soldiers did not go out of the city to drive away the Turkic soldiers, I don't know why!" ”

Su Dingfang shouted: "Brother Yelujun, go outside and find a Turk to ask, how many people are here!" ”

Brother Yelu Jun hurriedly ran out, just in time to see the old Turkic man he met before, he also followed, this cold day, followed the horse team for twenty or thirty miles, but it was really difficult for him!

After pulling this old Turkic man in, Brother Yelu Jun asked, "My master asks you, how many Turkic soldiers are there in Liangzhou City, and which tribe are they from?" ”

The old Turkic man replied: "There are all tribes, and everyone is here for a bite to eat, but the Western Hacha Department in the north has come......"

His words were very long, and Brother Yelujun translated them sentence by sentence, and the matter was clear. Of course, it wasn't a difficult thing to understand, this kind of thing happens every year on the steppe, and this Turkic old man has seen a lot of it a long time ago!

It turned out that in the process of the Turks fleeing from east to west, the war continued, and the large and small tribes attacked each other, and when they reached Liangzhou, they were exhausted, and the tribes could not fight. The leaders of several of the larger tribes plan to negotiate peace and then surrender to the Tang Dynasty in order to survive this winter.

But at this time, there was a tribe on the northern grasslands, that is, the Xihacha Department, this tribe is a small tribe, to put it in the past, no one took them seriously, they were not even qualified to go to Goguryeo to plunder, but because of this, their tribe did not suffer losses!

After the Xihacha Department arrived at the city of Liangzhou, in the name of supporting some grain from the ministry, the leaders of the various departments were called to hold a meeting. At this time, the Turkic tribes, their livelihood was difficult, and they had reached the point of exhaustion, since there were brothers from the steppe who rushed to help, the leaders all ran to the meeting, afraid that they would go late and the grain would be divided by others!

But when the leaders arrived, they were all killed!

When the ministries were strong, the Xihacha Department was the younger brother, but when the ministries were weak, the Xihacha Department immediately did not want to be the younger brother and changed to the eldest brother. The leader of the Western Hacha tribe will kill all the leaders of the tribes, and then annex the herdsmen of the tribes!

At this time, the tribes were powerless to resist, the leader was killed, and the herdsmen had to obey the Western Hacha tribe. The strong annex the weak, this kind of thing often happens, the herdsmen just change the leader, and even some herdsmen have to change seven or eight leaders in their lifetime, which has long been accustomed to it, but it has not caused much resistance!

However, the Western Hacha Department must have been a small department, and they did not bring much food, and because it was expanded from a small department to a large department overnight, the thinking of its leaders was not changed, and they did not have the means to govern by the leaders of large tribes.

At this time, the leader of Xihacha should immediately surrender to the assassin in Liangzhou, and ask for assistance from the assassin as a servant, and the assassin will definitely agree, this is a great merit, the army that surrenders without a fight, the court will have a heavy reward, and it is impossible for the assassin to push out! With the assistance of the Western Hacha Division, the situation can be stabilized, and the tribe can truly prosper and become the majority of the steppe.

But the leader of Xihacha had a melon seed in his head, and his self-confidence swelled, thinking that with his current strength, he could capture Liangzhou, and after a big robbery, he would return to the grassland, so as to establish his prestige and become famous all over the world!

So, the head of the Western Hacha tribe ordered that the old and weak be expelled and let them raise their own food and feed themselves. And the food he brought could only feed the men in the prime of life, so that they could fight for him and attack Liangzhou.

In this way, there will be a large number of Turkic old and weak around Liangzhou, and Wang Ping'an happened to touch some!

After listening to the translation, Wang Ping'an said: "In this way, the real Turkic soldiers are all gathered under the city. How many people are there? ”

The old Turkic man said the number, and Brother Yelu Jun translated it and said: "At least 50,000 people, and these 50,000 people are all men in the prime of life, all soldiers!" ”

Everyone looked at each other, how could there be so many, this is all in time for the national war, even if the Turkic Khan leads his troops south, and the people who control the strings may not be much more than now!

Wang Ping'an asked, "How many soldiers are there in Liangzhou City?" ”

Su Dingfang didn't think about it, and said: "There are 2,000 elite government soldiers, all of whom are ironclad cavalry, and at least 3,000 county soldiers. Well, the ironclad cavalry must be a full number, but the county soldiers are not necessarily, there must be vacancies, but it will not be less than two thousand! ”

Di Renjie said on the side: "The county soldiers can defend the city, and the ironclad soldiers can go out of the city to fight, although it is difficult for two thousand ironclad soldiers to defeat fifty thousand Turkic soldiers, but give the Turkic soldiers some color and drive them away, this can be done, why don't you send troops to drive them away?" ”

Everyone thought to themselves: "Yes, most of the Turkic soldiers are hungry and cold, they cannot withstand the cruelty of battle, and it only takes one or two violent blows to break them." The Liangzhou soldiers have always been known for their bravery, why don't they go out of the city to attack the enemy, this is unreasonable! ”

Wang Ping'an asked the Turkic old man, "The army in the city, can they go out of the city to fight with you?" Brother Yelujun immediately translated.

The old Turkic man shook his head, the defenders never opened the city to fight, not only that, but also fortified the wilderness, and all the people outside the city were included in the city.

This is obviously a sign of weakness, is there no soldier in the city, and the Liangzhou Assassin Shi eats empty salary, it is too ruthless, and all the soldiers are eaten empty salary?

Wang Ping'an called Hou Ling and asked him to investigate again, it is best to touch into the city, see the Liangzhou Assassin History, and ask what is going on, Hou Ling has to order him to leave.

The group stayed in the middle of the village and sent scouts to patrol the village for miles.

Liangzhou City, the head of the city.

Piercing Shi Mutang, he stood behind the battlements and looked out of the city. The moat outside the city was already frozen and could not stop the Turkic attack.

A stone's throw outside the city, under the Great Sword, on horseback was the leader of the Western Hacha Department, Gudor, who was in his thirties, his face was full of arrogance, and he waved his horsewhip.

A group of Turkic soldiers drove an ox cart to the city gate, and on top of the ox cart, there was a stone tablet, on which there were two big characters "Wuwei"!

Driving the ox cart to the city gate, Gu Duoer shouted loudly: "Shi Mutang, you Turkic scum, even changed your surname, what kind of Tang people are pretending to be, today I will let you see the might of my Sihacha warriors!" He jerked his whip down.

The Turkic soldiers immediately threw the stele from under the car, took out a sledgehammer, and began to smash it with a thud. This stele is the symbol of Liangzhou, Liangzhou is known as the silver Wuwei, this stele with Wuwei is written by Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, and has been left until now.

Shi Mutang was over sixty years old, his forehead was full of vicissitudes, and he watched expressionlessly as the Turkic soldiers below smashed the stone tablet, without saying a word.

Shi Mutang is a Turkic royal family, the original surname is Ashina, the former Turkic Khan Jieli was defeated, and when he was captured by the Tang army, he also surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and then changed his surname, entered the household registration in Chang'an, became a citizen of the Tang Dynasty, and served as the assassin of Liangzhou a few years ago.

Some time ago, the imperial court issued a document asking him to transfer troops to the west to annihilate the Turkic herdsmen who were flowing from east to west, and he immediately transferred the 2,000 ironclad soldiers in the city to the direction of Ganzhou and Suzhou, and assembled the Tang army from other states.

At that time, he didn't expect that a Western Hacha department would suddenly pop up, and he would annex the other ministries and gather the Turkic soldiers under the city. Due to the slow transmission of information, his urgent document was just sent to Chang'an at this time, and Chang'an made an approval and then sent it to Liangzhou, it would take a while, and during this time, he had to protect the people of Yizhou!

Shi Mutang is a Turkic and an official in the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty does not discriminate against his origin, and entrusts him with important tasks, but from his own point of view, he is extremely disgusted with others mentioning this matter, if anyone mentions his origin, even if he does not turn his face on the spot, he will hold a grudge in his heart, and he will definitely retaliate if he finds an opportunity!

Listening to Gudor call him a Turkic scum in public, although Shi Mutang didn't have any expression on his face, his eyes were full of anger. If he hadn't transferred the ironclad soldiers away, he would have to rush out of the city at this time and teach Gudor a hard lesson!

Turning around, he said to his subordinate Tang Bing: "Don't be in a hurry, aim first, when the official asks you to shoot, release the arrow immediately!" ”

The Tang soldiers hid behind the battlements, raised their bows and arrows, and aimed at the Turkic soldiers who smashed the stone monument below, and one of the giant crossbows, which required four people to pull apart, was aimed at Gudor!

The Turkic soldiers smashed the stone stele, and beat their chests and howled at the head of the city, in order to demonstrate fiercely, they were within the range of the Tang soldiers' bows and arrows, but they were not afraid, in the past few days, Shi Mutang has continued to show weakness, they all think that this Turkic scum, what is not capable, is a piece of lamb meat, good to bite!

These Turkic soldiers howled, and the Tang soldiers in the city did not react, and many Turkic soldiers behind relaxed their vigilance and slowly leaned forward, even Gudor himself couldn't help but knock off the stirrups and walked in the direction of the moat.

As soon as Gu Duoer moved, Da Xu behind him also followed his war horse and slowly moved forward, and dozens of personal guards behind him also followed him and approached the city gate!

How far can it be a stone's throw away?

In just a few moments, at least two hundred Turkic soldiers, including Gudor, entered the range of the Tang army. For the approach of the Turkic soldiers, the Tang army on the city wall did not react much, only a few Tang soldiers sporadically scolded downward, but they did not release arrows, nor did they make other actions to stop the Turkic soldiers from approaching!

Gudor shouted loudly: "Shi Mutang, you used to be a famous warrior on the grassland, why did you only hide behind the city wall and shiver when you got old?" Dare to come out and fight me! ”

Shi Mutang took a shield from Tang Bing's hand, blocked it in front of him, and shouted down: "Lord Gudor, if you want to talk about seniority, this official is also your uncle, why do you force me like this?" There are places with a lot of food, why do you have to raise it in my Liangzhou? ”

"Because we are acquaintances, I don't look for you, who am I looking for?" Gudor laughed, indescribably proud.

Once upon a time, in his eyes, the Liangzhou Thorn History was simply a god-like existence! But now, he has a heavy army, and the once god-like Liangzhou assassin is begging for mercy!

Shi Mutang said: "Lord Gudor, if you can withdraw the troops, this official is willing to offer five ...... of food", he said vaguely, and his voice weakened.

Gudor sighed, couldn't help but clamp the war horse again, and when he approached the city gate, he raised his head and shouted, "How much, what is five?" ”

Shi Mutang said: "As long as you retreat the soldiers and horses for thirty miles, this official will give you five ...... of high-grade polished rice" is still vague, but it seems that behind the five characters, it is 10,000 words!

Could it be 50,000 stone polished rice? Gu Duoer was overjoyed, and he exclaimed, "Is it 50,000 stone polished rice?" Are you talking about 50,000 stones? The horse moved closer to the gates, and the guards behind him followed. Not only was he anxious, but the guards were also anxious, and they all wanted to know how much food Shi Mutang was willing to give!

Shi Mutang took a step back and shouted, "Let's go!" ”

When the bowstring sounded, countless feathered arrows shot towards Gudor!