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After midsummer, the autumn breeze is bleak.

Dunhuang County, under the city of Dunhuang.

"Whew!"

"Whoosh--"

One by one, the flaming oil clay pots burst into the air, and went straight to the head of the city, and the defenders roared and attacked, blowing up the soldiers who defended the city, holding their heads and screaming in panic, lest they would not be able to dodge and burn themselves.

Arrows from strong bows and crossbows soared into the air, and after flying to the highest point, the rain of arrows slanted down from the sky, rushing straight to the defenders of the city.

"Hey, it looks like the siege failed again today! Ling Ming, herald the army to collect troops and return to the camp in half an hour! ”

Under the east gate, two hundred steps away from the city, in front of the horse formation, Guo Yan looked at the defenders of the city from a distance busy dodging oil cans and arrows, and couldn't help but sigh softly, and then turned his head to Pang De beside him and ordered.

Dunhuang City has been repeatedly attacked, not only is the main general Guo Yan at a loss, but Pang De, as the deputy general of the army, is also deeply anxious.

Seeing Guo Yan's gloomy face, Pang De whispered comfortingly: "The general doesn't have to worry. Our army had previously captured more than ten cities in Jiuquan County in a row, recovered the entire territory of Jiuquan, and gained a lot. Now the army has entered the territory of Dunhuang, has recovered the three county towns in the southeast of the six cities of Dunhuang County, and now only needs to capture Dunhuang City, you can level the six counties of Dunhuang, and complete the important task of the western expedition delivered by the lord. At present, our army has been attacking the city for several days, but because our Qinglong battalion is full of war horses and has no infantry troops, it has been unable to capture this city for a long time. Moreover, our army had attacked the city one after another, all of which were surprise attacks and broke the city, prompting these barbarian soldiers to defend the city and not dare to go out of the city to fight us head-on. In this way, it will certainly be difficult for our army to win a quick victory. We can only hold on to them for a while, and when they run out of food and grass, it will be the day our army captures this city! ”

"I hope so!" Guo Yan's face slowly bowed slightly, and he looked coldly at Dunhuang City, where the city gate was closed, and said in a deep voice: "The lord ordered me to recover Jiuquan and Dunhuang before winter, and end the war in the west as soon as possible." Now it is autumn, and Dunhuang County is close to the Western Regions, autumn is very short, maybe one day suddenly heavy snowfall, winter will come early. Until then. The weather is cold and freezing, which is not conducive to the combat of our cavalry, and the siege will become more and more difficult. There is not much time left for us at the moment, and if we can't recover Dunhuang County before the winter snow arrives, then we will have to bear the charge of going out unfavorably. I can only ask the lord for guilt and sit back and wait for punishment. Time is running out!

Not to mention. This is the first time I have led an army since Guo Yan surrendered to the lord. If I can't complete the lord's order as scheduled, what shame will I have to go back to see the lord! ”

This 、、、 General Guo relieved for the time being. It must be known that if you want to hurry, you can't reach it, and we can only plan it slowly, not in a hurry. Pound knew that Guo Yan was eager to make meritorious contributions, and he urgently needed to show his leading talent to the lord in order to gain a firm foothold in the army. Establish authority. However, the Qinglong Battalion is a cavalry battalion, and it is absolutely impossible to let the soldiers dismount as infantry troops to forcibly attack the city, if this is the case, the casualties of the soldiers of the Qinglong Battalion will definitely be very heavy. Even if Dunhuang City was finally captured. To recover the entire territory of Dunhuang, I am afraid that I will also be reprimanded by the lord Li Li, not only without merit, but guilty.

In addition, after more than a month of continuous battles, the Qinglong Battalion originally had 30,000 cavalry, 2,000 soldiers and 1,000 scouts, and now there were only more than 20,000 men and horses left in the battalion. If you don't count the casualties and bloody battles, I am afraid that by the time the two counties of the Western Regions are completely recovered, the Qinglong battalion has been crippled, and there are few soldiers and horses left.

It's worth the loss!

"Ding, ding, ding!"

In the evening, with the sound of gold, the soldiers of the Qinglong Battalion, who had been attacking Dunhuang City for a day, slowly withdrew their troops and returned to the camp twenty miles away to rest.

The defenders at the head of the city watched Guo Yan's army calmly collect their troops, but they did not dare to relax at all. It wasn't until the figure of Xiliangjun gradually blurred that they breathed a deep sigh of relief, and even sat on the city tower with their butts in fear, worrying all day, they could rest at ease at this moment.

Qinglong camp camp.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, Guo Yan hastily ate two mouthfuls of food to fill his stomach, and then asked his own soldiers: "Has General Chenggong come back?" ”

"General Yu, General Cheng Gong has just come back, and when he learned that the general was having dinner, he waited outside the tent." The soldiers replied respectfully.

"Huh? What are you still doing in a daze, please invite General Chenggong in! Guo Yan was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then stared at the captain of the pro-soldier with a frosty face, and shouted angrily.

While reprimanding his own soldiers, Guo Yan got up and walked down the handsome case and strode up to meet him.

"The last general will see the general!" Cheng Gongying, who got a message from his own soldiers outside the tent, walked quickly in front of Guo Yan and bowed.

"Hehehe!" Without waiting for Cheng Gongying to salute, Guo Yan pulled his arm with a smile and said with a smile: "Guo Yan made a mistake, I don't know the severity, please ask General Cheng Gong to be more considerate, and he will definitely be punished heavily later!" General Chenggong, please sit down, drink a bottle of wine first, and then we will discuss military affairs. ”

"Thank you, General!" Cheng Gongying nodded and thanked him when he heard this, and immediately did not shirk it, and after sitting down, he took the wine bottle handed over by Guo Yan, the captain of the personal army, and glanced at him meaningfully, and then drank the bottle as soon as he lifted it.

Cheng Gongying glared at Guo Yan, the captain of the pro-soldiers, but he did it for Guo Yan. said that he agreed with what Guo Yan said, and was convinced that the person who blocked him from coming in to report the military situation was Guo Yan, the captain of the Chinese army's big tent.

In fact, Cheng Gongying knew in his heart that this was not the case. At present, the generals of the Qinglong Battalion know that the main general Guo Yan has a habit, that is, he doesn't like to be disturbed when he eats, even if it is a big thing, he has to wait until he finishes eating. But Cheng Gongying knew that this was just a superficial phenomenon, in fact, Guo Yan was very greedy and had extremely high requirements for food. Among his own soldiers was more than a dozen cooks, who prepared meals for him every day, even when he went out to fight.

The reason why Cheng Gongying knew about Guo Yan's hobby was because the three commanders of the Qinglong Battalion now had their own division of labor during the campaign, Guo Yan was in charge of the whole battalion's war, Pang De was in charge of military discipline and recording military exploits, and he was in charge of grain, grass and ordnance. This division of labor was clearly stipulated by the lord Li Li before the expedition. It was Cheng Gongying who knew Guo Yan's daily diet very well, and Guo Yan also specially disclosed this matter to him for this reason, for fear that he would not give various ingredients and make Guo Yan unhappy.

However, Guo Yan's hobby of gluttony is harmless, and Cheng Gongying also tries to provide him with the food he needs in full. After all, gluttony is not a violation of military discipline, not to mention that Guo Yan is still the chief general of the whole battalion, and it is understandable to be picky about food. Moreover, in addition to preferring appetite, Guo Yan has no other bad habits, is not greedy for money and lustful, is rigorous in governing the army, has a tough style, and is resolute.

"Did General Chenggong's trip go well, did he bring reinforcements?" After seeing Cheng Gongying put down the wine bottle, Guo Yan asked with a smile.

Cheng Gongying reported solemnly when he heard this: "General Yu, General Li Dian, the commander of Zhangye County, is worthy of being a general on the battlefield, and he knows that we need foot soldiers to attack the city, so he has already prepared. Twenty days ago, when he sent General Huan Wolf to take over the defense of Jiuquan County, he asked Huan Wolf to bring 5,000 soldiers from the county government to our army for deployment, just in case of emergency. When the last general was ordered to rush back to Jiuquan County to gather the foot soldiers, General Huan Wolf had reorganized the 20,000 county soldiers in Jiuquan, and then handed over the 10,000 county soldiers to the last general to support our army in attacking the city. In addition to these 10,000 soldiers, the last general has also recruited more than 3,000 young men in the past few days, most of whom are extremely fierce Qiang and grass robbers, and their individual combat effectiveness is not weak. ”

"Haha!" Guo Yan was overjoyed when he heard this, and said happily: "Good, good, good!" General Cheng Gong really lived up to expectations, if you win this battle, you should be the first to take the lead! With these more than 13,000 foot soldiers attacking the city, coupled with the powerful long-range attack of our Qinglong Battalion, with the cooperation of the two, we will definitely be able to capture Dunhuang City in one fell swoop. The recovery of the two counties of the Western Regions is just around the corner! ”

After being overjoyed, Guo Yan frowned slightly, and said suspiciously: "Most of the county soldiers in Zhangye and Jiuquan counties are Qiang, can they be used?" You must know that those who are not of my race will have different hearts. In the event that they rebelled and turned against each other, the losses of our army would be great. The city that was finally captured may be lost, and the previous achievements will also be lost one after another, and the achievements of the months will be ruined in one fell swoop! ”

"Huh?" Cheng Gongying was shocked when he heard this, and then he frowned and pondered. After a while, the look on his face gradually relaxed, and he shook his head and said: "What the general said is not unreasonable, but after thinking about it, the last general still thinks that the Qiang people are available and very credible, especially the Qiang people around Zhangye and Jiuquan can be trusted." Presumably, the general had heard that there was a strong Hutu Iron Cavalry under the command of the lord, and there were quite a few of them, as many as tens of thousands. Now this iron cavalry has been incorporated into the main camps of our army, enjoying the same treatment as Han soldiers, and its families have also been placed in various counties and counties of Liangzhou. This is all relying on the lord's past efforts to pacify the Xiutu tribe, and the lord married the famous warrior god Dian Wufang in the Qiang tribe as his wife, this move has already spread throughout the various Qiang tribes around Liangzhou, prompting them to have great trust in the lord, convinced that as long as they are not enemies of our Xiliang army, they can get the same preferential treatment as the Hutu iron cavalry if they join our army.

In addition, the reason why our army was able to sweep Jiuquan County within a month and met with almost no stubborn resistance may have a lot to do with this. Therefore, the last general thinks that as long as we do not reject the Qiang soldiers, and install a group of Han generals to command them to fight, these Qiang people can be used by me. I don't know what the general wants? ”

After listening to Gongying's words, Guo Yan thought about it again and again, and finally said with a suspicious bow: "Since this is the case, then it will be according to what you say." Tomorrow let them eat and drink enough, rest for a day, the day after tomorrow, the whole army will be mobilized, we must capture Dunhuang City in one fell swoop, and end the war of the Western Expedition as soon as possible! ”

"No, the last general will take the order!" Cheng Gongying got up and answered, then bowed down and withdrew from the military tent and strode away.

Guo Yan looked at the back of Cheng Gongying leaving, and muttered: "If it is feasible to use the Qiang people to attack the city garrisoned by the Qiang people, doesn't it mean that the hundreds of thousands of Qiang people who have been in trouble for many years can be used by me?" The Hutu Iron Cavalry is actually a cavalry battalion composed of young and strong Qiang people, I didn't even know about it before, it seems that the wisdom of the lord is really unfathomable. It can be seen that it is not a fluke that he can be in charge of the Xiliang Army now, and my Guo Yan is indeed unjustly defeated, far inferior to the lord! ”

At this point, Guo Yan can be regarded as truly surrendering to Li Li, and walked out of the defeat in the southern suburbs, reproducing the mind and ability that the former General Xiliang should have, and reproducing the demeanor of the general.

―――――― (To be continued)(To be continued......