There are not many people on the street.
The Uto people were waiting outside the city, the people in the city could not sleep at night, the street vendors had already closed their doors, and a street walked past, deserted and pitiful.
The rice shop closed a few months ago, and women with children can be seen from time to time digging wild vegetables in the soil to eat. It is a pity that for several months, people from the city have not been able to go out, and people outside the city have not been able to come in. The food that can be eaten has already been eaten, and there is nowhere to see wild vegetables. Occasionally see a mouse, can be very happy as it has a meaty smell.
Although everyone is worried about when the Uto people outside the city will be able to come in, hunger has already spread to every corner of the city. When the last grain of rice is eaten, even if the Uto people don't attack the city, there will be big troubles in the city.
In this desolate street, someone was walking slowly. It is a man and a woman, and their appearance is very good. The man is dressed in indigo robes, warm and handsome, and the woman is beautiful and charming.
Yingxiang took out a piece of dry food from her bag and handed it to Chu Zhao, saying, "Fourth Young Master, the shops here are all closed, so let's eat some dry food to cushion your stomach first."
This dry food was previously eaten by the guards in Liangzhou Weili when they traveled. It has always been in the burden, and it is dry and hard. Now that there are no inns where you can eat here, you can only pay attention to it.
Chu Zhao took it and was about to eat when he caught a glimpse of a little girl standing under the tree. The little girl was about five or six years old, her face was dirty, her clothes were tattered, she had no shoes, and her feet were bare. I don't know whose child, his eyes stared straight at the dry food in his hand, and he didn't speak.
Chu Zhao smiled, stepped forward, squatted down, and handed her the dry food.
The little girl was stunned for a moment, then glanced around, as if afraid that Chu Zhao would go back on it, she snatched the dry food into her arms, turned around and ran, and soon disappeared at the end of the deserted street.
Chu Zhao stood up and said, "Fourth Young Master..."
"Nothing." He shook his head, "Rundu won't last long."
Yingxiang was a little worried. The two of them came out of Liangzhou Wei and hurried back to Shuojing. As soon as they arrived in Rundu, the Utuo people followed. Li Kuang, the chief soldier of the city, ordered to guard the city gate, and they could neither enter nor exit. Anti trapped here.
"We have to leave Rundu as soon as possible," Ying Xiang said softly, "Uto people have been trying to attack the city for days, and they want to attack the city in the next few days. Once the city is broken... we are also in danger."
Those utuo people are cunning and ruthless, even if Chu Zhao has the means to retreat, she is a woman, or a very beautiful woman, and beauty is always particularly tragic in troubled times. Ying Xiang couldn't help shivering.
Chu Zhao seemed to see what she was thinking, and only said, "We will leave tomorrow."
Ying Xiang felt relieved and said gratefully, "Thank you Fourth Young Master."
"Before that, we have to find Li Kuang, the city chief." Chu Zhao smiled, "Without his help, we wouldn't be able to get out of the city."
Ying Xiang nodded, even though the city gate was blocked, she never doubted that they couldn't escape. There are secret passages in every city, family members of senior officials, and important people will be sent out at particularly critical times as a chance to stay.
It is impossible for Li Kuang to ignore Xu Xiang's face.
…
"Sneak attack? Impossible, it's too risky!"
"That is, it's easy to say, it's clear that it is to die, although we Rundu people are not afraid of death, we can't be a target for nothing!"
In the room, people who heard He Yan's words spoke in succession.
Li Kuang looked at He Yan, the young man said what he said, but he didn't know what to do. All the deputy soldiers in the city gate army and several other brothers of He Yan were in the house.
When the voices of everyone's discussion calmed down a little, He Yan said, "I know that you can't believe me now. But I have already asked Mr. Li. In the past ten days, there have been a total of five nights, Utuo people took advantage of the Ye attacked the city gate, although they gave up in the end, like a test, the Uto people have been quiet for the past three days."
"According to the experience I have played against the Uto people, it is not a good thing to be quiet at this time. The Uto people are probably planning a general attack. They have already seen the situation in Rundu City. The Uto people have spent a long time, and their morale and physical strength are not as good as before. The Uto people launch a general attack, and the city gate will definitely be broken."
"Why do you say that? Aren't you cursing us?" An angry-looking deputy said angrily.
"Can it be called a curse to tell the truth? You can only listen to good words, right?" Wang Ba immediately sarcastic, "Then I can now say that your city gates are as stable as stone and iron, and it is impossible for the city to be destroyed. Possibly. Do you believe it? You take that and ask anyone on the street if they believe it or not!"
"Rundu defending the city relies on self-deception, my mother has never seen such a funny thing!"
He originally came to Rundu with He Yan, but he had the heart to sacrifice his life for righteousness. Right now, his warm blood was not cherished by others. He immediately turned his blood into anger, and the person who scolded was speechless.
The atmosphere was a little stagnant.
Huang Xiong looked at Li Kuang and said, "Master Li, my brother He is not simple. He is very proficient in the art of warfare. In Liangzhou Weili, except for Governor Xiao, he is the most powerful." "Since he said that he can sneak attack, he must have his own way. If you veto it so arbitrarily, why not listen to what he has to say first, and it is better for everyone to negotiate with kindness?"
What he said was very kind and mature, but when he spoke, he stroked the sword on his waist from time to time, which made people shudder.
Someone boldly said: "He... Mr. He, it's not that we don't want to attack. It's just that we have few troops. If we enter and then attack, there will be fewer soldiers guarding the city. The Uto people are staring at the city gate very closely, I am afraid that they will be shot into a sieve by their arrows before they leave the city, how can they sneak into their camp at night?"
"Arrows?" He Yan paused and looked at the person who had just spoken, "How many arrows do Uto people have?"
"A lot." The man replied with a bitter face, "Actually, when the Uto people came, we fought against them at the city gate. But later our arrows were few, but their arrows were still many. Very, someone also wanted to ambush and assassinate their main general. Unexpectedly, they just walked out of the city gate, and before they sneaked in, they were pierced by thousands of arrows. Those Uto people cut off his head and hung it on a branch outside the city. Make fun of me." Speaking of this, everyone in the room was stunned.
Such provocation is really unbearable.
"What do you mean, we have few arrows, but they have many?" He Yan asked.
The other side nodded.
He Yan looked at Li Kuang again, "If we lead the Uto people to the gate of the city and prepare for the archers who are ambushing them on the city tower when we sneak attack, how many Uto people can we kill?"
"Thousands to ten thousand." Li Kuang replied, "but we don't have that many arrows."
"We have."
Everyone was stunned.
"Let those Uto people cast arrows for us." The young man smiled, his eyes were surprisingly bright, and for a moment, Li Kuang thought of another person. He didn't see the face under the mask back then, he only remembered the pair of eyes, just like the eyes in front of him, confident and calm, the miracle of being able to break out of the siege no matter how chaotic and bad the situation was.
With him, the military will be stable and never give up.
"What are you going to do?" he asked, regaining his senses.
"I need to call all the craftsmen in the city, women, to make straw men for me."
…
At night, in the wilderness outside the city gate, tens of thousands of tents stand quietly. From a distance, the wilderness seems to have turned into a continuous hill, and the momentum is amazing.
Soldiers on patrol move around.
Huyat, the leader of Uto who led the army to attack Rundu this time, was pouring wine into a bowl with a wine jar. The wine was fragrant, he drank a bowl, patted his stomach, and smacked his lips: "This is the wine made by the people of Rundu? How is it different from sweet water? It's just a woman's preference, everyone in Wei likes to drink this. , No wonder he was so weak and timid, he was chopped to pieces with a single knife!"
The cronies said flatteringly: "Yes, yes, Dawei's wine, how can it compare to Uto's spirits and alcohol!"
Huyat laughed and said again: "Go to the prisoners and pick a few women over!"
The Rundu people are now closing the city gate, but when they are stationed here, there are still many people lingering outside the city. Including the nearby Zhuangzi, Utuo soldiers swept these Zhuangzi, the woman left, and the rest were all killed, not even the children. These wines were also robbed from the Zhuangzi, and those people were helpless, and they were as easy as chopping melons and vegetables, and they wiped out the whole Zhuangzhuang.
The Utuo people both envied the Great Wei people and looked down on the Great Wei people. They envied the great Wei people for their gorgeous silk, fine china, vast land and many people, as well as beautiful tall mansions. And they live in the desert, on the edge of the grassland, there is only the whirring of the wind and nothing.
They look down on the weak and timid people of Dawei, and they don't even have the ability to protect themselves. Guarding the so-called "benevolent governance", waiting for others to invade. A piece of unguarded fat will always attract all kinds of eyes. The Uto people have been silent for many years, and finally can't stand it anymore.
"We've been waiting here for a month," said the confidant on the side, "He Rufei still hasn't come. As the lord said, He Rufei won't come again."
Huyat laughed: "That's really good!"
The Great Wei is heavy on literature and light on martial arts. Over the years, there have been many generals, but the most feared ones are General Feihong and General Fengyun. That idiot, Macha, relied on the fact that he was the cousin of the lord of the country, so he volunteered to take Jiyang, but unexpectedly bumped into Xiao Huaijin. It is also considered unlucky for him, but unfortunately, the 150,000 army was completely wiped out in Uto, which greatly damaged Uto's vitality.
He is not Maka, and since he chose the job of Rundu, it must be because he has absolute certainty.
"There is a saying in Dawei, what is it called 'The red dust on the other side is busy like fire, when Xuanqingzhang is cold as ice.' What we are doing now is 'watching the fire from the other side'. What about General Feihong, if he can't kill him head-on, he will be different Weaknesses. With power, with beauty, that's all."
"Sometimes I really don't understand the people of Great Wei," Hu Yate's face showed real confusion, "Why do they always like to kill each other? If there are people like Xiao Huaijin and He Rufei, in our Uto , the lord of the country will definitely offer the best preferential treatment, they will become the two most advantageous swords of Utuo, with them, the world will be in the bag. We want to step them into the mud. However, this is just right, if Xiao Huaijin and He Rufei are really invulnerable, it will be a disaster for us Utuo."
The cronies also said: "Yes, this is just right, it is also thanks to the lord's planning for many years to let the fire burn more and more early, and now they don't need us, their own people will help Wu Tuo beat their own people. already."
Unbridled laughter could be heard from the tent, and at this time, the Utuo soldiers who had just left brought back a few Dawei women. They were all captives taken from the nearby villages. These women were young and pretty, and when they came in, they shivered.
Ku Yateng was brutal, and there were not a few women who were raped to death by him.
He grinned and grabbed a woman beside him. Before he could move, he suddenly heard the sound of a horn coming from outside. Everyone was stunned.
"what happened?"
"Someone is out of town!"
The tent suddenly became chaotic, and Huyat had no interest in continuing. He pushed the woman away, stood up and walked out, and a Uto soldier hurried forward to report: "General, someone outside the city gate is coming down from the city tower! "
"What?" Huyat was shocked.
Those Rundu people are timid as mice, they only dare to hide in the city and dare not make a sound. I tried to sneak attack once before, but before the man came down, he was shot into a hedgehog by their Uto people. How dare you come back now? This was somewhat unexpected. It stands to reason that those Rundu people should not be like this.
Could it be that he has reached the point where the mountains and rivers are exhausted and decided to fight to the death? Huyat strode towards the wilderness, "Go, go and have a look!"
Outside the pitch-black tower, there were hundreds of ropes hanging down, and it seemed that one person after another was descending from the tower. From a distance, there are still many people.
"Are these people crazy?" a Utopian soldier said, "Isn't this here to die?"
"We have a kind of badger in Uto, which is as timid as a mouse. It is said that when it encounters a hunter, not only will it not run, but it will panic and take the initiative to lean on the hunter's arrow. I think that these people from Rundu are like this, and they have been scared. , I can't even tell the difference between east, west and northwest!"
"How can there be a reason not to hunt the prey that is delivered to the door?" Huyat was also proud in his heart. Before the battle was fought, he made these people from Rundu scared to death, which shows the power of his Uto army. Immediately, he said, "Get the archers to prepare! It's just a matter of practice! I didn't like it last time. I can practice arrows this time. Such a good target will not be many in the future!"
The archers of the Uto people immediately went to prepare.
The arrows rushed towards the people on the ropes of the tower, but in a short while, they saw that those people were shot into hedgehogs, and one person was hit by countless arrows. The people of Rundu also seemed to realize this, and quickly put away the ropes and replaced them with new ones.
Huyat was happy: "I think they are really crazy."
"This is called... what the people of Wei said, the bravery of a single man!" The cronies racked their brains to say a word.
"What kind of bravery, I think it's stupid!" Huyat laughed and ordered loudly, "The next batch of archers, get ready!"
On the tower, ropes are constantly being hoisted, and each rope is helping a lot of "people". These people are full of arrows on their chests and backs. The target of the arrow looks creepy. But if you look closely, you will find that these are straw figurines made of straw, and they are wearing black clothes. Under the shroud of night, they are just like real people.
Wheat said excitedly: "A lot of arrows, a lot of arrows, Brother Ahe, we have made a fortune!"
"Make a fortune," Wang Ba said with little interest, "These are not silver, and they can't be eaten."
Li Kuang, who was on the side, was so excited that he almost burst into tears. They don't have arrows, so they can only be beaten by those Uto people. They don't even dare to show their heads on the towers during the day. Those sentries patrolling the towers will be killed one or two by arrows every day. But there were not enough bows and arrows to fight back.
And now there is.
This group of grass figurines in black brought out countless arrows, and He Yan released another batch. Before the Uto people found out, they could gain a lot. What kind of miracle is this? This is a worthless business!
In the daytime, He Yan asked Li Kuang to gather all the craftsmen and women in the city to make strawmen. As soon as the people heard that it was to deal with the Uto people, even children were involved, but in just one day, they made a lot of them. He Yan also asked Li Kuang to borrow a lot of black clothes worn by ordinary people and dress them neatly for those grass people.
When he first proposed this plan, Li Kuang was still skeptical, were Uto people really so stupid? Will they really send arrows honestly
The current scene has confirmed his doubts, Uto people are really so stupid.
He looked at the young man standing on the tower with admiration in his heart. No matter what Rundu's future will be, at least tonight's straw man borrows arrows, so Rundu can resist for some more time. Li Kuang walked up to He Yan and said, "Brother He has a clever plan, and Li is ashamed of himself."
He Yan glanced at him sideways, the wind blew the broken hair in the boy's ear, and he smiled indifferently: "It's just a fluke. These utuo people think they have a large number of people, they are proud in their hearts, and they are bound to win against Rundu. , When I see the grass man, I don't think of other deep meanings."
"The Uto people think that we have nothing, no foreign aid, no weapons, no men and horses, so we will give him something out of nothing and surprise him."
"What if we fail?"
The young man said: "Then think of another way. There is never only one way in the world."
Li Kuang was speechless, he always felt that this young man felt familiar to him. He shook his head and put aside the absurd thought in his head, only to say why these thoughts appeared, but because the situation today is very similar to that of the past, and even more difficult.
Tonight is just the beginning.
He Yan looked under the city tower, and in the distant field, there was a faint glow of starlight, which was the camp where the Uto people were stationed.
There is nothing and it is false. Lies cannot be long and easy to perceive, so nothing can end. There is something out of nothing, from falsehood to truth, and from falsehood to truth. It is impossible to defeat the enemy, and in life there is a defeated enemy.
When He Yan read this passage in the book of war back then, He Yan himself was very puzzled. Going to Liu Buwang with the military book, Liu Buwang only said: "'No' is false, the purpose is to cover up the 'true'. If you want to succeed 'from nothing', you have to master the other party's psychology, this is the The highest level of wits among generals."
He Yan fought against the Utuo people three times. Every general of the Utuo people was arrogant and arrogant in his heart. Perhaps it is related to their country's advocacy of strong force, thinking that if you have soldiers and horses, you have everything, but forget that arrogant soldiers will lose.
She looked at the steady stream of arrows, and a smile appeared on her lips: "Change to the next batch."
…
The arrow flew in the direction of Rundu City Gate, aggressively.
"What happened to the Rundu people? Aren't they afraid? How many people have been replaced?" asked a Uto soldier.
Hu Yat was also a little suspicious in his heart, these Rundu people... It was like a steady stream of people coming to die. It has been several hours, they are going to fold all the troops and horses of Rundu here
The sky was already bright, and all night, they were shooting arrows here.
A bird flew from the sky and landed on the branch, chirping, breaking the silence around. That is, Huyat suddenly remembered something, he asked: "You have fired arrows all night, have you ever heard those people screaming?"
Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.
Very quiet, really quiet. They shot so many arrows, those Rundu people died miserably, and they didn't even shout? What is this for? Are you afraid that the screams will be heard by the people in the city and panic, or are you afraid that it will affect morale? If that's the case, that's fine, if it's for another reason... A trace of unease flashed through his heart.
"Stop!" Huyat shouted, "Stop shooting arrows immediately!"
The Uto people stopped and waited for Huyat's next order.
The arrow stopped at the same time, and He Yan, who was sitting on the tower, yawned and shook his head regretfully, "Oh, I was discovered."
Li Kuang was very satisfied. That night, they harvested at least 100,000 arrows. This is faster and less laborious than artisan forging. The soldier at the head of the city pulled up the last scarecrow full of ropes, rubbed his sore wrist, and turned to ask He Yan, "Sir, do you still need to let the straw man down?"
"Put it." He Yan said, "Put a clean one and show them clearly."
Li Kuang was startled: "Brother He, doesn't this let the Utuo people know our details, and it will be difficult to deceive arrows in the future."
He Yan smiled and said, "Master Li, I didn't make a straw man for borrowing arrows. After this night, the Utuo people have already discovered that something is wrong, and they can't hide it."
"Having bullied us for so long, now, mad at them!"
The first ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and fell into the wilderness, illuminating the red-colored city towers of Rundu.
Outside the city gate, there was a figure hanging quietly. This figure was hanging in the air, swaying, blurred at first, and then gradually became clear and distinct in the sunlight, falling into the eyes of the Uto people in the distance.
A... a straw man in black.
"Go!" Huyat was furious.