Chapter 1071 Danger to Death

Chapter 1071 Danger to Death

At the foot of Yining City, as the enemy forces attacking the city temporarily retreated, the fierce battle also temporarily came to an end.

Supervising the battles in the past few days has greatly exhausted Han Zunian's energy. Since the enemy launched the attack, he has spent most of his time on the top of the city, dispatching soldiers to defend and counterattack. He often only has two or three hours to rest in the city.

One of the reasons for being so tiring was that the enemy's offensive was too fierce. On the first day of the siege, they rushed directly to the top of the West City, forcing Han Zunian to urgently mobilize more than a thousand soldiers to fly between the two cities. The plank road reinforced the west city from the east city and barely managed to hold on to the city after a fierce battle.

The second reason is that the strength of the defenders in the city has been greatly reduced. From the initial tens of thousands of troops, there are now only less than 5,000. Originally, the two cities were defended across the river and were as solid as a rock. However, due to the shortage of defenders, the two cities were placed side by side, which caused a huge burden on the defenders. With the enemy constantly changing the direction of attack, the two cities were moved back and forth in the past few days. The city is exhausted.

As the battle continued, the defenders in the city continued to suffer new casualties, making their strength increasingly insufficient. Han Zunian had already considered it appropriate to simply abandon the West City and concentrate his forces to retreat to the East City where a lot of supplies were stored, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from the rear.

Taking advantage of the enemy's suspension of offensive, Han Zunian slowly walked down the city wall step by step, and took a break and had some meals in a residence near the city wall.

However, before he had finished eating, the sound of drums and horns sounded again outside the city. After hearing this sound, Han Zunian subconsciously shook the chopsticks in his hand, threw in chopsticks and stopped eating, and then hurriedly climbed up the city wall again. head, ready to continue fighting to block the enemy.

However, this time what came out with the sound of drums and horns was not the heavily armed enemy soldiers, but hundreds of ragged and dejected soldiers, escorted by hundreds of Wei army knights to an open space not far from the city. .

Han Zunian took a quick look and recognized that these people outside the city were his own soldiers who had been captured by the enemy before. The soldiers on the city who were waiting for the enemy with their bows also saw it one after another, so they all gathered around. He raised his bow and arrow and stuck his head out of the city wall to see if there were any relatives or friends among the prisoners.

"Tang Gong is so righteous that he spared your lives and provided food and drink for the past few days. Now I am entering the city to persuade the defenders to surrender. You can reunite with your relatives and friends and become meritorious men!"

After the Wei army officers led these prisoners to the city, they shouted orders to them and asked them to shout to the city to persuade them to surrender.

But these prisoners also knew that once they spoke out to persuade them to surrender, it would be considered a sure sign of rebellion in the eyes of the Chinese people. The outcome of the battle between the two sides was still undecided. If they shouted to persuade them to surrender for the sake of temporary safety, they would inevitably implicate their relatives and friends in the city, so many Everyone just hung their heads and said nothing. And even if some people were frightened and wanted to obey the order, when they saw that most of their companions remained silent, they were too timid to speak out.

The prisoners refused to open their mouths and shouted to the city to persuade them to surrender. Pi Jinghe, who had led the prisoners here, simply took off his robes and exposed his face. Then he raised his face and shouted to the city: "Do you, the guards in the city, recognize me? A certain person. Pi Jinghe, a native of Guangning, was forced to become a thief when he was young and weak. He fought with the Western Dynasty and was captured by my lord Tang Gong.

The Duke of Tang Dynasty did not abandon me for my old sins, but instead selected him to serve as a close friend in the tent. He was granted the title of Shimen Gong in the Western Dynasty and was given the official residence of Hussar Kaifu. You and other thieves in the city are working for the Gao family. How many of them can be better than me in official rank?

We have been attacking for days. You should know that our army is brave and powerful. The Tang Dynasty envoy came to persuade you to surrender, not because we are defeated, but because we pity your lives. If you still persist in evil, when the city is destroyed in the future, it will be the day when the stubborn thieves will be crowned! Whether it's life or death, it's all in your mind, each one has his own plan, make a quick decision! "

"Bang the drum, beat the drum, don't answer this evil sound!"

When Han Zunian heard Pi Jinghe's shouting at the top of the city, his expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly asked people to make noise at the top of the city to suppress the voice of persuading surrender and prevent the defenders from being shaken.

When Pi Jinghe heard the chaotic drumming coming from the top of the city, he did not continue to shout. Instead, he brought a few sheep, slaughtered them directly by the river, skinned them, cleaned them, and put them on the grill. Get on the grill. After the mutton was roasted, he began to dismantle the roasted meat and share it with the prisoners.

Although the noisy drums on the top of the city can suppress the sounds elsewhere, they cannot restrict people's sight. When the garrison at the top of the city saw the scene of prisoners eating mutton, they were naturally deeply moved. They may not immediately want to surrender to the enemy, but they also planted an impression in their hearts that the enemy would treat the prisoners well.

Not to mention the changes in the thoughts of the defenders at the top of the city, after the prisoners below the city were fed mutton, their emotions fluctuated very intensely for a while. Some prisoners of war couldn't help but shed tears while eating the mutton at the top of the city. Calling to relatives and friends, although he did not directly persuade him to surrender, his trembling tone and worried expression conveyed many messages.

Then Pi Jinghe led people to lead these prisoners of war back to the camp for resettlement. In order to let the defenders in the city digest their emotional fluctuations, the Wei army did not continue to attack the city for the rest of the day.

Although the battle did not continue, Han Zunian's mood was quite heavy, and he walked down the city with equally heavy steps.

When he just walked down the city wall, several governors came forward quickly, with expressions on their faces that were hesitant to speak. After looking at each other for a few times, they pushed out a representative and walked to Han Zunian with a low tone. He opened his mouth and said: "Excuse me, Lord, when will the Pingyuan King's reinforcements arrive?"

After asking this question, he quickly added: "The general is not timid and afraid of fighting. It's just that, after fighting for days, the number of combatable soldiers in the city is less than 3,000, and we still have to divide the two cities. There are more and more enemy troops. , and they are all brave warriors. If there is still no reinforcements to rescue them, even if they fight to the death, they may not be able to save the city!"

After hearing this, Han Zunian couldn't help but frown deeply. He knew that the current situation was indeed unfavorable, but it was not as serious as what the general said. The reason why the generals were afraid of difficulties was that It was just affected by the enemy's psychological tricks.

"Yining City guards Qinyuan and takes care of both the east and west. You all know how heavy the terrain is. How could the king of Pingyuan not know about it? Since we know that the bandits are here to invade, reinforcements will definitely arrive quickly. But the enemy's attack has not lasted for ten days. The urgent apostle is still on the way, so you can go forward and ask about the reinforcements. Can the reinforcements fly across the mountain and suddenly arrive at the city?"

He lowered his face and reprimanded the general, and then said: "The only plan now is to wait for reinforcements and don't think of other things! As long as the reinforcements arrive and the rebels are forced back, we will all defend and win." Great reward!”

After saying this, he waved his hand to reject the generals, and then dragged his tired body back to the military mansion in the city.

However, today was destined to be another eventful day. Shortly after Han Zunian returned to the military mansion, another soldier suddenly reported that another incident had occurred outside the city to the north. When Han Zunian hurried to the north city, he saw a dozen defeated soldiers outside the city gate, shouting for permission to enter the city.

After Han Zunian inquired for a while, he found out that these people were the defenders of Guyuan City. Guyuan City was suddenly attacked by a group of enemy troops a few days ago. The defenders were caught off guard and were attacked by thieves. After a battle, they finally defended the city. The army was defeated and retreated from the city, running south to report a rebellion and ask for help.

After learning about this, Han Zunian's vision suddenly went dark and he almost lost his balance. Guyuan City is the seat of Yining County. Although it does not retain heavy troops, it houses many military family members. Moreover, Yining City can only be connected with Wusu Town and other city garrison in the rear through Guyuan City.

The enemy's attacks on the front were already ferocious for days. Unexpectedly, they sent a surprise force to attack Guyuan City from behind. For a moment, Han Zunian was in a state of confusion. It took him a while to react, and he hurriedly looked at the sergeants present. They ordered: "This matter must be kept secret and must not be leaked to the outside world, so as not to cause panic among the soldiers and civilians in the city!"

"But, but, there are several others who were with us, who were escorted into the city by the West City defenders before."

The sergeants here hurriedly nodded in response after hearing this, but soon another sergeant suddenly slapped his forehead and spoke.

After Han Zunian heard this, his expression suddenly froze. He hurriedly summoned dozens of cronies and prepared to go to Xicheng via the plank road connecting the two cities to control the spread of the news.

But before he could reach the west wall of the city, suddenly another soldier came to report: "Your Majesty, something bad has happened! The defenders of the west city cut off the plank road and opened the city to surrender to the enemy..."

When Han Zunian heard this, his expression changed drastically. When he finally arrived at the top of the city, he saw that the connection between the two cities had long been severed. The West City defender had already led nearly a thousand defenders to open the city. He opened the door, threw all the bows, knives and instruments out of the city, and sent people to ask for surrender from the enemy camp opposite.

A series of changes hit Han Zunian hard. In order to avoid unrest in the city, he personally patrolled the city with a knife, and only after some intimidation did he temporarily stabilize the situation. And he didn't dare to relax. He stayed on the top of the city to monitor the movements inside and outside until he fell asleep from physical and mental exhaustion after nightfall.

In his sleep, Han Zunian felt unusually bumpy, and his hands and feet were in great pain, as if they were entangled and bound by poisonous snakes. In a daze, he suddenly opened his eyes, only to see light and shadow floating in front of him, and soon a familiar face appeared in front of him. She smiled at him and said, "General Han is awake?"

"You, you are Zhang Baoluo, Commander Zhang? How, how could I see you? Could it be, could it be that I am also dead...and have gone to hell?"

Han Zunian thought about it for a moment, then remembered that the face in front of him was Zhang Baoluo, who had been captured by the enemy and executed before. He was shocked in his heart and said in a trembling voice.

After Zhang Baoluo heard this, his expression suddenly became a little embarrassed. The smile on his face faded slightly. He looked at Han Zunian and said: "General Han is not dead yet. He was just kidnapped by your generals and asked to surrender. See you later, my lord Tang. Only Grand Prime Minister Li can decide your life or death!"