Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 113 The storm is coming
"Pfft!"

"Um..."

At dawn, the scenery outside Changsong City was like a sad painting, spread out under the sky.

The corpses and scorched earth on the ground were particularly eye-catching, and broken spears and blades could be seen everywhere.

The corpses of horses were intertwined with the remains of humans, and their eyes still vaguely retained the fear and unwillingness before death.

The Umu Camp, which stretched for several miles last night, was now burned down to only charred frames, as if silently telling of the former warmth and tranquility, which formed a sharp contrast with the dead silence of the present place.

A gust of wind blew by, bringing with it a mixed smell of dust and blood. Only crows were circling at low altitude, making sad calls.

The foreign soldiers who were cleaning up the battlefield stabbed to death those Umu people who were not yet dead. The feeling of the weapons piercing into the human body drove people crazy, and the desperate eyes of the opponents stimulated everyone who was cleaning up the battlefield all the time.

In such an environment, even a normal person will gradually become abnormal...

In Changsong City, Shang Moling sat in the main seat after a night of fighting, his eyes full of bloodshot.

In front of them, Zheduosibie, a young man, and three other officials including Cuoben were sitting on chairs on the left and right.

Shang Moling looked at Zhe Duosibie with red eyes, then at the young man.

Obviously, Zheduosibie is now in charge of the city, but Cuoben and the other three leaders still support the young man.

There was no other reason. The young man was Xiduoyu's eldest son. Although he was only sixteen years old, Xiduoyu was usually good to the soldiers. In addition, this time Xiduoyu negotiated with Liu Jilian to release Cuoben and more than 700 other people, so there were more people supporting the young man.

"Zheduoxibie, since your father has been kidnapped by Liu Jilong, you will be in charge of Changsong for the time being."

"Xilunqin, I will find a way to deal with your father's problem, but Liu Jilong has fled far away to the grasslands. I'm afraid he has abducted your father and brought him back to Shandan."

With just a few words, Shang Moling calmed the two of them, but he also caused discord between them.

Xilunqin was still young, and when he heard that his brother-in-law was going to become the lord of Changsong, he immediately felt dissatisfied.

Zheduoxibie was quite experienced. He bowed quickly and said, "Changsong will always belong to my father. Even if my father is gone, there is still Xilunqin."

"Although Xilunqin is young, he is my brother. I will leave the affairs of the city to him."

"..."Hearing this, Shang Moling secretly sighed in his heart that Zhe Duoxibie was not easy to deal with.

He originally wanted to sow discord between the two so as to prepare for his own control over Changsong in the future, but now it seems impossible.

A year ago, he would never covet Changsong and would only think about defending Guzang City.

But now, seeing that the Han slaves in the west are constantly advancing eastward, if he cannot control the other three cities in Liangzhou, he will definitely not have the power to stop the Han slaves in the west.

Thinking of this, Shang Moling said, "The Han slaves in the west are always thinking about driving us back. Liu Jilong's invasion twice a year is proof of this."

"After we drive him away, I think we should unite and attack the west together!"

"This..." Zheduoxibie wanted to refuse politely, but Xilunqin stood up and said, "Of course!"

"Good!" Shang Moling's eyes lit up and he immediately praised: "Han Nu said that heroes emerge from youth, and that's exactly what Xi Lunqin Dongben is talking about!"

"Since we have already agreed, I will go down and rest first. Before the beginning of next spring, please send two thousand soldiers from Changsong to help me attack the Han people!"

After he finished speaking, he immediately stood up and without giving Xilunqin a chance to react, he signaled Zheduosi to send someone to arrange for him to rest.

Zhe Duoxi had no choice but to let Cuoben lead the way for Shang Moling.

After Shang Moling left, Zhe Duo Xibie looked at the complacent Xi Lunqin and said, "Brother, you shouldn't have agreed to him. He wants to use us as pawns!"

"Humph!" Xi Lunqin snorted coldly: "I only know that my father was kidnapped in your hands, and I want to save him!"

"If you don't agree with me sending troops, then go back and let my sister convince me!"

After Xilunqin finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the inner hall. The two officials hesitated for a moment, lowered their heads and walked with Xilunqin.

Seeing this scene, Zheduosibie felt lost.

When Xiduoyu was still alive, he told him that Xilunqin was too young and had great ambitions but little talent, and if he was gone, he hoped that he would help Xilunqin well.

But now it seems that Xilunqin has a lot of opinions about me, and he totally refuses to listen to what I say.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but hate Liu Jilong.

If Liu Jilong had not kidnapped his father, there would not have been a rift between him and Xilunqin.

He clenched his fists, slammed them on the table next to him, and walked out angrily.

As he walked out, the grassland more than 30 miles away from Changsong was filled with wailing.

Standing on the vast grassland, the surroundings are as bleak as the wind and clouds.

On the grassland, the broken horsewhips, the wailing soldiers and the mottled bloodstains all told the story of last night's tragic escape.

I could hear the neighing of war horses, the wailing of soldiers, and the cries of those who had lost their brothers.

From time to time, groups of light cavalry would appear on the distant horizon. They arrived at the temporary camp one after another, exhausted and frightened.

"Yeah, hold it in!"

"Uh-huh!!"

Du Lun Xiga whispered to comfort Du Gazhi, and used his hand to pick out the arrow that was stuck in the flesh of Du Gazhi's arm.

Even Dugazhi, who had been active in Liangzhou for more than ten years, couldn't help but let out a low howl at this moment.

Fortunately, after the arrow was picked out, his low howl gradually subsided, and his eyes fell on the illuminated skyline in the south.

Last night’s harvest was still vivid in my mind, but with the sudden attack led by Shang Moling and his cavalry, everything turned to ashes.

Only less than 700 of the 1,000 armored soldiers were left, and most of the light cavalry were lost or killed. Only more than 5,000 people followed him to break through successfully.

For a moment, Dugazhi didn't know how to go back and face Bai Tinghai's people.

He brought more than 13,000 people out with him, but now he can't even bring back half of them.

"Siga..."

Dugazhi murmured and raised his hand. Dulun Xiga beside him quickly held his hand: "Yeah yeah."

"How am I supposed to go back and face your mother and the others?"

As Dugazhi spoke, his eyes gradually became blurred and tears continued to flow out.

This scene was seen by the people around, and everyone started to sob quietly.

Although they plundered a lot of food, more of it was burned to ashes by Shang Moling's elite cavalry.

More than 6,000 people were killed or injured just for those 2,000 bags of food. Is it really worth it?
Dugazhi cried for a long time until the wind on the grassland grew stronger and stronger, blowing up sand and dust onto everyone's faces. Only then did Dugazhi have to cheer up.

He knew they couldn't stay here for long, they had to regroup and recover.

Thinking of this, his eyes once again swept over the light cavalry that were scattered back.

Their return gave Dugazhi a glimmer of hope.

Although the situation is dangerous, he will never give up!

"Let's go...let's go home!"

Dugazhi forced himself to give orders, and soon more than 6,000 Umu people followed him on their journey back to Baiting Sea.

The war in Changsong finally came to an end, but Fanhe, 200 miles away from Changsong, encountered an unprecedented crisis.

When Fanhe's Tangqi brought the military situation to Guzang in the early morning, Zhe Bu Luo of Guzang couldn't believe it at all.

"You said that the Han people came out of Yanzhi Mountain and attacked Fanhe?!"

"Yes! They have over 10,000 people and a large number of catapults. Please ask the Protector General to send troops to rescue Fanhe City!"

The head of the ten households spoke nervously, but Zhe Bu Luo, who was sitting upright, felt his scalp tingling.

It turned out that Liu Jilong's target was indeed Fanhe City, and the means used in the previous three days were just to attract Shang Moling to Changsong.

Now Shang Moling led two thousand elite cavalry to Changsong to confront the Emu people. If the battle ended in a victory or defeat, it would be fine. But if not, he would have to lead his troops to Fanhe for rescue.

Remembering Shang Moling's instructions before rushing to help Changsong, Zhe Buluo clenched his fist and ordered several Jie'er: "Gather 2,000 armored soldiers in the city to assemble at the west gate, and recruit 3,000 light cavalry to go with the army!"

"Send someone to Jialin to tell Mang Longhua to lead the elite cavalry in the city and a sufficient number of armored soldiers and light cavalry to wait for our army, and then follow the army to the battle."

"Send the Tangqi to Changsong to tell Qiliben about the Hannu's attack on Fanhe."

"Before noon, conscript 6,000 slaves to serve as laborers, and prepare enough food for 10,000 troops for half a month before the expedition!"

"Yes!" Several officials bowed and responded.

Soon, the entire Guzang City began to make intensive preparations. Two thousand armored soldiers gathered outside the west gate, along with three thousand light cavalry and six thousand slaves from various ethnic groups who were forcibly conscripted.

More than 8,000 horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts were used by the soldiers to rest during their journeys and to transport food and fodder, while slaves from various ethnic groups were responsible for driving the carts or helping the soldiers put on their armor.

As noon arrived, Zhe Bu Luo, wearing armor, led his troops and rushed towards Fanhe City to provide assistance.

The journey of more than 120 miles would take them at least two and a half days, which means they would arrive before dusk three days later.

Zhe Bu Luo still had some confidence that Fanhe City could be defended.

There are seven Fan and three Han in Fanhe City. The Han slaves cannot cause chaos. Moli has more than 1,200 elite soldiers in armor, tens of thousands of slaves and 4,000 to 5,000 Fan soldiers who can be mobilized. It is impossible for him to fail to hold out for three days.

Although the ten heads of households who came to ask for help praised the Han slaves' trebuchets as miraculous, to Zhe Bu Luo, the trebuchet would remain the same no matter how it changed and could not change much.

Didn't their Great Tubo also mobilize dozens of catapults in the past, but it still took them more than half a month to capture Fanhe?

What's more, the Tubo at that time had mobilized tens of thousands of troops, while the Han slaves at the moment were only over ten thousand.

Thinking of this, Zhe Bu Luo advanced calmly and sent his light cavalry more than thirty miles north.

On the way to rescue Fanhe, his only worry was the surprise attack by the elite cavalry led by Liu Jilian.

Other than that, he had nothing else to worry about.

However, the city of Fanhe, which he was least worried about, was in danger at this moment...

"put!"

"Bam—"

"Uh-huh!"

"Fill the gap! Push the jammer!"

Fanhe City, as the first city to defend Ganzhou, Moli began to continuously build city walls since it was defeated by Liu Jilong last time.

The rammed earth city wall, which is 26 feet wide and 19 feet high, looks very solid no matter how you look at it.

But this solid city wall seems fragile at this moment.

Huge stones weighing dozens of pounds were thrown by Shandan catapults from two hundred steps away. Some flew into the city, some hit the wall foundation, and some fell into the moat.

From yesterday evening till now, twenty catapults have been throwing huge stones day and night, smashing down a group of houses in the west of the city and collapsing one city wall after another.

Under such high workload, some key parts of each catapult were replaced.

If Liu Jilian had not been properly prepared, the Ganzhou army would probably have already begun to attack Fanhe City.

But with Liu Jilian's preparation, the Ganzhou army only needed to search for enough boulders.

The Fanhe city wall in front of them had collapsed in many places, and at a glance, there were at least seven or eight gaps.

If the thickest wall foundation had not completely collapsed, the Ganzhou soldiers who were ready to move would have probably started the attack long ago.

"This Shandan catapult is so powerful. I wonder how Liu Jilong came up with it."

Suo Xun reached out and stroked a catapult, and couldn't help but sigh.

Zhang Huaishen, who was standing beside him, calmly glanced at Fanhe City and observed the number of his own cloud vehicles.

Five cloud chariots can be placed at five gaps to provide a way for the armored soldiers to enter the city.

But the problem now is that the seven or eight gaps in Fanhe City are too narrow, and it is easy for the foreign soldiers to throw asphalt and boiling water from the horse paths on both sides of the gaps.

Therefore, Zhang Huaishen planned to wait a little longer. When the gap widened to the point where the foreign soldiers could no longer rely on the high ground to pour down tallow and boiling water, that would be the time for them to attack!
"Bam—"

The dull sound of falling rocks rang out again, and the gap that the slaves had repaired with stones and soil with great difficulty was hit by falling rocks again.

The falling rocks hit the city wall, shattering and splashing, the gap collapsed, and a pile of falling rocks buried and killed the slaves who could not escape in time.

In response, Moli and the foreign soldiers in the city did not show any sympathy, but cold-bloodedly ordered the slaves to continue repairing the gap.

The gap collapsed, filled, and collapsed again repeatedly between the attacks and the repairs.

From noon to dusk, no matter how hard the slaves repaired it, the gap continued to get wider.

Seeing that Fanhe City was in danger, Moli had no choice but to prepare for street fighting.

He required the foreign people in the city to supervise the Han local tyrants and Han people in the city according to their households. The extra foreign people were asked to knock down houses and block the streets so that the foreign soldiers could rely on the streets for defense.

While he was defending, Zhang Huaishen was also making sufficient preparations.

A large number of herds were slaughtered outside the city. Sheep heads were stewed, lamb chops were roasted, lamb was stewed with spices, and lamb bones were used to make soup...

In short, in front of the cooks Zhang Huaishen brought from Shandan, every part of every sheep was made into corresponding delicacies.

Thousands of sheep were slaughtered and tens of thousands of pounds of meat were placed in front of the Ganzhou army.

Whether they were soldiers, civilians, or rescued people, they all ate the delicious meat.

Zhang Huaishen used the simplest way of eating meat to rally the morale of the army.

Not only that, he also let the thousands of slaves take the meat and eat it outside the city.

Since the foreign soldiers were afraid of falling rocks and did not dare to climb the city walls, all the work on the walls was done by slaves.

When they saw their former friends and relatives, who were also slaves, eating meat outside the city, many slaves felt resentment towards the foreign soldiers.

They have been treated as slaves since birth and are now about to be rescued, but because of the threat from these foreign soldiers they have to fight against the people who come to rescue them.

Last night, many slaves climbed out of the gap despite the threat of falling rocks, and reached the Ganzhou military camp outside the city under the cover of darkness.

Many people outside the city saw many of their relatives and friends who had escaped last night, and they all had plans in their minds.

Mo Li didn't pay any attention to this. He was only concerned about whether he could wait for reinforcements from Gu Zang.

While he was waiting, the Tangqi who were heading from Guzang to Changsong finally arrived at Changsong City before dusk.

He was taken to the Changsong Yamen, where he met Shang Moling, Xilunqin, Zheduosibie and others who were having a meal in the main hall.

"Qiliben, the Han people came out of Yanzhi Mountain to attack Fanhe. Fanhe has been surrounded for a day and a night!"

The head of ten households who came to deliver the message knelt down to report, and his report caused the originally lively banquet to fall into dead silence immediately.

"How many Hannu are there?"

Shang Moling clenched the wine glass in his hand, and the head of the ten households also responded: "The Tangqi of Fanhe reported to the Protector General Zhebu that there are more than 10,000 Han slaves. Protector General Zhebu has already led his army to help Fanhe!"

"Damn Liu Jilong!" Shang Moling couldn't sit still anymore and stood up. He drank the wine in the glass and then threw it down.

"I knew his goal was to fight Fanhe. He made such a fuss in Changsong just to attract me over so that he could fight Fanhe!"

Shang Moling looked at Xilunqin and said, "Dongben, how many elite cavalry are there in Changsong City?"

"Less than two hundred..." Xilunqin said subconsciously without waiting for Zheduoxibie to stop him.

Hearing this, Zheduoxibie closed his eyes in despair.

"Okay!" Shang Moling nodded and said, "Last night, more than 300 elite cavalrymen under my command were killed or injured. The wounded will stay in Changsong to rest first. How about asking Dong Ben to lend me the remaining elite cavalrymen in Changsong?"

"Of course!" Xilunqin nodded, then looked at Cuobenjieer.

Cuo Ben had no choice but to stand up and salute: "I am willing to lead the elite cavalry to follow Qi Li Ben to help Fan He!"

"Good, good, good!" Shang Moling said three good words in a row, showing that he was very happy.

"In that case, our army will have a good rest tonight and rush to help Fanhe at dawn tomorrow."

"With the speed of our army, we should be able to catch up with Zhe Bu Luo and his men by noon the day after tomorrow."

"When the troops are united, Liu Jilong still wants to spy on Fanhe. It's just wishful thinking!"

Shang Moling had just won a great victory, which was the heaviest loss to the Umu in all these years, and he did not take Liu Jilong seriously at all.

In his opinion, if Liu Jilong really had the strength to fight him head-on, he wouldn't have to be so timid and use tricks for four days.

Now that he had recovered, and Umu had been crippled by him, the remaining Liu Jilong was nothing to worry about.

Only Shang Moling thought so, but Zhe Duosibie did not.

Seeing Shang Moling was about to rush to help Fanhe, Zhe Duoxibie quickly stood up and reminded him, "Qiliben should be careful. Liu Jilong is as cunning as a fox. He might be spying on our army's movements somewhere."

"Humph!" Shang Moling couldn't listen any more, he snorted coldly:
"If he knew that I led the army to rescue Fanhe, he should have withdrawn his troops honestly!"

"Otherwise, this Fanhe City will be his burial place!!"

(End of this chapter)