Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 371 As long as you hold on, there is hope

I vaguely heard the officials' remarks of forcing people to do things against their will, which caused many people on the city wall to curse in their hearts.

If the Qingzhou army had not been about to attack the city, leaving the soldiers with no time to take care of other things, someone would have definitely started cursing.

Damn it, why don't you guys just come up and risk the stones and arrows to kill three or five people, then bring their heads back to get the reward and be recognized as meritorious service!

If the Qingzhou army was really so easy to kill, why did they sweep across the Guandong princes? Could it be that the soldiers under the command of those princes were a motley crowd that collapsed at the first sign of defeat?

After several officials finished shouting loudly, they noticed that the faces of the soldiers next to them looked a little strange. They realized that they had said something wrong and immediately ran away in shame.

But at this time, the Liangzhou soldiers could no longer care about so many things. Even if they shot arrows to kill the enemy and brought rolling logs and rocks to smash down the city walls, they could not stop more and more Qingzhou soldiers from setting up ladders and attacking the city from all directions.

What made them even more terrified was that even if someone was hit by an arrow, they did not retreat, but instead accelerated and climbed forward, fighting in a completely reckless manner.

These Qingzhou soldiers who were ready to die and not shy away from danger did not seem to be here to fight, but rather to fight them to the death.

A soldier from Liangzhou saw an enemy soldier wearing leather armor in a gap. He was hit by several arrows and took a few steps forward before dying. He fell down with a bang, which made his scalp tingle.

We realized that once the enemy troops climbed onto the city walls, we would not be able to drive them away based on their fighting morale.

"kill……"

The two armies did not make any unnecessary attempts and began a fierce attack near the city wall. Arrows flew all over the city and people were killed continuously.

The attacking side is fighting desperately, and the defending side is also fighting desperately.

The difference is that the Han army used auxiliary soldiers to attack the city first, while the combat soldiers were still watching and waiting for the opportunity to join the battlefield.

The soldiers guarding the city of Liangzhou Army were replaced in turns by the elite soldiers in the army. Otherwise, the city would have been at risk of being lost long ago.

In particular, the Han soldiers on the watchtower were in a dominant position and used powerful crossbows to shoot down the city walls, making it difficult for the Liangzhou bandits guarding the city to gain much advantage.

Zhang Ji in the city received the news that a section of the city wall was almost collapsed. He became extremely anxious and immediately led his personal guards to block the gap under the hail of arrows.

Before he led his troops to Anyi, he had carefully calculated in his mind that Yang Feng's Baibo Army had 20,000 soldiers, plus the more than 10,000 troops he had recruited. Although there were many men under 50 or over 15 years old, and there were fewer elite veterans in the army, they had the advantage of numbers and strong military strength.

It is enough to defend a city of tens of thousands of households like Anyi County in Hedong. As long as he cooperates well with the Baibo Army and each of them guards two sides of the city wall, Liu Xuande will be unable to break through for dozens of days. While waiting for the Grand Marshal and the General of the Cavalry in Chang'an to lead their troops to rescue, the Qingzhou Army will surely return empty-handed.

But he never expected that the enemy's bows and crossbows had extremely strong penetrating power. This was definitely not an ordinary Han crossbow.

I had heard that Liu Xuande was good at making tools and improving iron tools, but I didn't expect him to be so unstoppable.

He was still full of confidence when he came, but he didn't expect that he would be hit by thunderbolt just after the fight, and it only took less than a few hours!

The Liangzhou troops under his command had a vague feeling of collapse. This was a battle to defend the city, and he had the advantage of the terrain. If he encountered the enemy in the wild, wouldn't he be defeated immediately?
When Zhang Ji thought of this possibility, he was shocked and made up his mind that no matter what, he must not let the enemy break into the city, otherwise he would not even have the chance to lead his troops to escape.

When Zhang Ji arrived at the west city wall, what he saw was a scene where the Liangzhou army was already fighting with the Qingzhou army that had climbed up to the top of the city wall. Fortunately, he led his troops to arrive in time, so he personally drew his sword and charged into the battle, barely repelling the enemy.

When he lowered his head, he found that most of the soldiers attacking the city wall were wearing leather armor, and very few were wearing iron armor. This made him a little stunned on the spot. In order to verify his guess, he subconsciously walked forward a few more steps, wanting to see more clearly.

At the same time, from the watchtower outside the city, the sound of dense crossbow arrows breaking through the air was heard.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

"General, be careful!" The sudden piercing pain made Zhang Ji fall to the ground instantly. When his personal guards reacted and protected him with a large shield, Zhang Ji touched his left knee with trembling hands, which was in pain to the bone. It was already covered in blood and flesh, as the arrowhead had pierced through the bone.

The arrow had penetrated almost two-thirds of the way into the wound, with only a feather less than four fingers wide left sticking out. Blood was flowing from the wound.

"Stop shouting and yelling, lest you shake the morale of the troops!"

Zhang Ji gritted his teeth and gasped, clenching his fingers into a fist until they crackled, trying hard to hold back the pain and not cry out.

He had never thought that being shot in the patella would be so painful. He almost couldn't bear it and cried out.

"Help me break this arrow quickly, and don't let the soldiers find out, so I can stand here and supervise the battle!"

Zhang Ji held the arrow shaft in his hand and wanted to break it himself, but the pain was unbearable as soon as he held it, so he had to ask his personal guard to do it for him.

Then he picked up a stray arrow on the ground, broke off the arrowhead and bit it with his teeth, then nodded to signal his guards that they could take action.

The personal guards were also extremely nervous, but they also knew that they could not hesitate any longer, otherwise the soldiers would discover that their commander was injured, and their morale would probably collapse.

So he held the arrow shaft with both hands, but Zhang Ji felt his left leg twitching. The guard did not choose to stop, but directly broke the two ends with force.

Zhang Ji could not help but grab the other person's shoulders tightly, and a layer of sweat beads appeared on his forehead.

It hurts so much, it hurts so much. Even if it's cutting flesh, it can't compare to the pain of grinding bones.

The pain was a sharp, stabbing pain that was indescribable.

Even Zhang Ji, who had fought on the battlefield for a long time and was used to being injured, couldn't help but groan in pain.

Fortunately, it only lasted for a few breaths before it eased a little, allowing him to breathe deeply and relieve the pain.

"Today I understand the pain of Sun Bin's bone removal!"

Zhang Ji, who was slowly recovering, looked down and saw that the wound had been wrapped with silk cloth, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"We will withdraw after the elite troops are rotated in. Remember, this matter must not be spread out, otherwise the morale of the army will be unstable."

"By then, let alone trying to defend this city, even if you want to escape back to Hongnong, I'm afraid you won't have the slightest chance."

"The Qingzhou army has not yet used all its strength, and our army is unable to resist. The only way now is to wait for reinforcements to arrive, so there is a way to survive."

Zhang Ji gradually felt some regret in his heart. If he had retreated directly to Guanzhong and joined forces with Li and Guo, it would have been better than defending Anyi with Yang Feng of the Baibo Army.

Even the Liangzhou Army under his command could not hold on, let alone Yang Feng's Baibo Army. If the east and south walls were breached, it would be useless for him to hold on here.

Coincidentally, it was not only Zhang Ji who regretted at this moment, but Yang Feng also regretted it to his heart's content.

The Baibo troops under his command were all born bandits. It would be fine to let them take advantage, but expecting them to fight a hard and fierce battle was just dreaming.

The defenders of the city walls were killed and forced to retreat. The Han army continued to pour up along the stairs inside the battering ram. It was still unclear whether they could hold out until tomorrow.

Given the current situation, there's no point in waiting for reinforcements from Li Jue and Guo Si. They won't even be able to bury the corpses!

(End of this chapter)