The Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 426: [Hard to chew bones]

Views:

Ask for some red tickets, ask for some favorites, huh, huh!

-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------

Yizhou is an important prefecture and county in the northwest of Chu State. Although Yizhou is not included in the northwest jurisdiction, it is undeniable that a large area of Yizhou is already located in the northwest boundary. The gurgling Yi River is far from Yizhou City is only a few dozen miles away.

Although Yizhou City is not very majestic, it is definitely considered solid, with vicissitudes of life.

Although Yizhou City has just fallen into the hands of the Northwest Army, because the battle went on too fast and the most intense battles were fought outside the city, Yizhou City itself was not damaged in any way. The huge stone boiling oil that the army had prepared for a long time, and those things that defended the city, hardly suffered any loss.

Naturally, Yizhou did not slack off the defense of all sections of the city because it fell into the hands of the Northwest Army. The Yizhou Army, which had pointed guns at the Northwest Army, had now become a part of the Northwest Army, strengthening the city defenses, and preparing to meet them. The soldiers and horses of the imperial court.

At dusk, it was already a little chilly in Yizhou in autumn. Although the soldiers at the top of the city were on alert, there was no trace of invincibility in the field, and the soldiers who belonged to the Yizhou Army were usually relaxed.

Holding their spears, the two defenders curled up beside the tower, their eyes filled with bewilderment.

"Brother, when do you think the imperial army will come?" A soldier had a trace of anxiety on his scorched face, but more anxiety filled his eyes.

The soldier next to him was much older, looked a little tired, and his voice was emotionless: "Who knows, it's like... just like the Northwest Army, we only found out when we got to the city that the soldiers and horses of the imperial court might have arrived at the city sometime. .”

"Then... shall we die then?"

"It depends on your luck, kid. If there is going to be a fight, no one knows when we will go to see the King of Hades." The veteran said indifferently: "The imperial court has hundreds of thousands of troops, and even if you kill them , there are still troops behind to keep up... Our Yizhou is the gateway to the northwest, and this battle will be fought sooner or later, and we will never escape."

The little soldier blinked, half understanding, looked around, and then lowered his voice and asked: "Brother, the Northwest Army killed thousands of our brothers by the Yi River, why did we surrender? We still have to listen to them now." The order... we hold on for a while, won't the imperial court's reinforcements come to rescue us?"

The veteran gave a "shh", looked around carefully, and then said in a low voice: "Stinky boy, are you looking for death? You can say this, if the lion general's subordinates hear it, we will all be finished. You want I know... this is the army of King Mingyue...!"

At this moment, a loud and thick voice said: "Cheer up, you are weak, is this still a soldier?"

Amidst the words, a group of people came out from the promenade at the top of the city. Except for the brown armor at the head, those behind them were all black armor and helmets, all of them were majestic.

The iron ore resources in the northwest are abundant, which also makes their equipment extremely sophisticated. From a certain point of view, these armors and protective equipment are obviously superior to the imperial court's protective equipment.

The equipment of the Yizhou Army was uniformly distributed by the imperial court. Ordinary soldiers wore coarse cloth battle clothes, and only those generals could be equipped with battle armor. After Yizhou fell into the hands of the Northwest Army, the equipment of the Yizhou Army naturally changed in a short time. Possibly updated, just with a yellow band on the forehead for identification.

The Northwest Army is very recognizable. Even ordinary soldiers are equipped with battle armor, which protects the body well, but the scales of the armor are different from those of generals at all levels.

Among this group of people, the brown-armored general who walked at the front was the chief general of the Northwest Army of Yizhou. He was recorded under the command of Dou Andao, one of the Northwest Commanders. , with a loud voice, known as the "Lion General", a well-known general in Northwest China.

The lion general Hong Wei walked firmly and powerfully. He looked extremely energetic, and seemed to contain infinite power in his body. His eyes were full of firm confidence and terrifying murderousness.

The Yizhou sergeant at the head of the city hurriedly got up when he saw the lion general patrolling.

"Have the four gates been controlled?" the lion general asked the general next to him in a low voice.

"Don't worry, general, the four gates are all in our hands."

"Very good." The Lion General nodded, "How long can the food and grass in the city last?"

"General, this Yizhou has been preparing the army for war before, and Hou Zhang has been careful and has prepared enough food and grass. The last general just went to the warehouse to have a look. There is no problem in supporting it for a month."

The lion will immediately shake his head: "You don't care about the horses? From now on, the horses will eat fine grains, and they cannot be allowed to lose weight. When killing the enemy, you have to rely on them." After thinking for a while, he said: "Go and tell Hou Zhang, The rations of the people in the city will be reduced by half starting today, and the soldiers will have to eat enough. Damn it, we must guard this Yizhou city to the death, and we will not be able to cut off the food. When there is no food, they will besiege the city, and we will not be able to attack it. gone."

"General, how long are we going to stay here?" One of the generals asked: "According to the report from the spies, the Chu army has been divided into two groups. One is Song Fei leading 100,000 horses to rescue Qingzhou, and the other is Commander Xue Poye's 100,000 soldiers." Tens of thousands of horses are moving here... by tomorrow at the latest, they will be approaching the city."

"When will it last?" Hong Wei laughed and said, "Don't worry, it won't be long, don't look at the Chu soldiers' numbers and menace, they are actually a bunch of useless trash, my Yongzhou man, one of them is worth ten. Now only Yizhou has been taken, Qingzhou has not yet been taken, and it is not considered a barrier, so our Yongzhou army will naturally stay to defend Yongzhou itself."

"That's right, the Chu army is full of idiots, and it's hard to say about the Hu people. If we don't stay in Yongzhou, I'm afraid those shameless northern Hu people will attack our rear from Yangguan." A general said.

"When King Mingyue becomes the emperor, let's implore King Mingyue to send troops to Beihu to wipe out the barbarians!"

Hong Wei stood at the top of the city, looking at the vast and dim Yizhou Plain, and said slowly: "What we are thinking about now is not the Beihu people, but that Xue Poye. Although the Chu army is weak, after all, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers. The army... We must defend Yizhou City to the death. Only in this way can we hold back the strength of the Chu army and relieve the pressure on Dou Shuai to attack Qingzhou. Entering the territory of Yongzhou in the northwest, Wei Shuai can lead the army out of Yongzhou and come to rescue, and then the Chu army will know how powerful our Northwest Army is."

"The general's words are true!"

All the generals nodded in unison.

"General." A person beside Lion General suddenly said, "Look, is that...?"

Everyone was startled, and looked towards where they were pointing, only to see a rapidly moving shadow on the horizon in the vast and dark sky.

These shadows changed from one or two at the beginning to ten or eight, hundreds and thousands, and they gathered more and more, and they were rushing towards Yizhou City at a fast speed.

The loud horn sounded from the horizon, far and long, as if it came from another world.

"Be alert!" Hong Wei shouted.

The Northwest generals did not mess up, but returned to their respective posts in a well-trained manner, urging their subordinates to start fighting.

There is no doubt that the Chu army, which was expected to arrive tomorrow, arrived at dusk today. This caught the Yizhou garrison a little by surprise. The soldiers in the northwest were still quick to move, but the soldiers of the Yizhou army were a little panicked, and even fell into chaos. group.

Hong Wei drew his sword and hacked several panicked Yizhou Army soldiers, only then did the chaotic situation return to normal order.

The soldiers at the top of the city began to take out their bows and arrows, put them under the oil pan at the top of the city, and started to light a fire.

The image of the Chu army was finally clear. It was an extremely huge army with long spears pointing high into the sky. The forest-like spear heads were shining with a cold light. In the front row were a group of archers and behind them were sword soldiers. Spearmen, with siege troops and ladders in the middle, and behind them are the three thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry brought by Xue Poye from Kyoto to guard the "Shuai" flag. As for the Southern Cavalry Battalion, they followed at the end.

Siege warfare does not require cavalry to charge, and no general will be so foolish as to use precious cavalry to attack the city.

The horse neighed, the golden dagger struck, and the world was instantly filled with a breathless awe-inspiring murderous aura.

This huge army is moving quickly.

The huge momentum of the Chu army and the earth-shaking movement made when they advanced not only panicked the defenders at the top of the city, but even the people in the city seemed to have a premonition of the coming disaster and prayed to heaven.

The entire Yizhou city was still full of life before, and in an instant, there was no sense of breath, and everyone held their breath, waiting for the coming of the big battle.

It's like a dead city!

The sky was already dark, but the arrival of the Chu army made the whole world look even darker. Although the soldiers in the northwest of Yizhou City remained absolutely calm, the local Yizhou army, seeing the powerful Chu army coming, Already cold.

Xue Poye was riding on a horse, wearing armor and fluttering cloak, looking at the magnificent army, filled with emotion.

Before crossing over, these scenes seemed to have been seen on TV. It was never thought that there would be a day like this, when he could drive a hundred thousand troops with a wave of his arm.

"Marshal, it's only twenty miles away from Yizhou City!" Yang Yijun rode behind Xue Poye sideways.

Xue Poye said calmly: "Follow the plan!"

Yang Yijun said respectfully: "Yes!" Urging the horse to catch up with the vanguard, he shouted: "The rebels are right in front, the whole army obeys orders, and storms the main gate of Yizhou. Brothers, go!"

The whole army of Chu army roared in unison, and the morale of the Chu army was greatly boosted by the large number of people, and they accelerated their speed and approached Yizhou City.

Xue Poye stopped his horse and waited and watched, watching the Chu army rush forward quickly, and murmured: "Although I know that it is impossible to capture Yizhou City in the first battle, but... I hope you can show your bloody spirit and let you know... war It's cruel!"

The first confrontation between the two armies was naturally the archers.

The archers of the Chu army lined up one after another, bent their bows, set up their arrows, drew their strings, and let go. The feathered arrows shot towards the top of the city like a rain of arrows, and although there were not many enemy archers on the top of the city, , but self-sustaining height, but also shooting feather arrows to resist.

In the rain of arrows coming and going, there were creepy screams.

The war started suddenly like this, and suddenly many soldiers on both sides had an illusion, is this really a war

But the blood and death quickly made both sides understand that the war under the shroud of death started like a splashing wave!

In the archers of the Chu army, people fell down from time to time, and from the top of the city of Yizhou, accompanied by screams, people fell from the high top of the city from time to time, and fell to pieces under the city wall.

The fire of hell is burning.

The rain of arrows lasted for a long time, and the defenders of Yizhou City, led by the Northwest Army, had obviously expected such a situation long ago, and did not flinch from the Chu army's arrow attack.

After only two rounds of arrow rain passed, Yang Yijun, who was riding on a steed, waved his long knife majestically and shouted: "Brothers, the rebels are right in front of us, show our blood and kill them! "It was the first one to rush up.

The swordsmen behind followed Yang Yijun like a tide and rushed towards Yizhou City.

Xue Poye watched his army rush towards Yizhou City like a black cloud from the rear, he was slightly relieved, this is a soldier after all, although the discipline was loose before, but on the battlefield, he was still bloody, at least he dared to face the defenders Arrows rush to kill.

The sound of the drums was rumbling, and the sound of dozens of big drums of the Chu army being beaten was as loud as thunder.

Catapults were already set up above and below the city, and the catapults put huge boulders into the catapult frame, attacking each other amid loud shouts.

A rain of arrows, like locusts, shot down from the top of the city, mixed with the whistling wind, and roared into the crowd, smashing the soldiers on both sides to pieces.

The soldiers of the Chu army held their shields high, but if there was a slight gap in the dense arrow rain boulders, they might be shot through by sharp arrows. If they were unlucky, the boulders could hit you and kill you. rotten.

Stepping on the corpses of their companions, the soldiers of the Chu army were not cowardly at this moment. They rushed towards Yizhou City frantically, but the soldiers who rushed to the city first quickly became victims of rolling stones, trees and even fuel oil.

Howling again and again, the defenders ruthlessly tried all means to stop the attack of the Chu army.

The city was already full of corpses, including those from the Chu Army, Yizhou Army, and Northwest Army.

The battle continues, but the sky is already dark, which puts the soldiers on both sides in a more dangerous situation. In the darkness, you don't know when the arrows shot by the opponent will appear. Maybe you are still hoarse at this second Shouting to kill, but in the next second, there may be an unexpected feather arrow piercing your neck.

Yizhou City is still as strong as a mountain. Although the Chu army attacked Yizhou City with all its strength, the tenacity of the defenders shocked people.

The Northwest Army naturally resisted with all their strength. Their will was extremely tenacious. Although the local Yizhou Army was inferior to the Northwest Army in terms of combat effectiveness, everyone knew that since they had voted under the banner of the Northwest Army, for the court, the Yizhou Army Naturally, they became rebels. Once Yizhou City was captured by the Chu army, the rebels' fate must be extremely miserable, so everyone can only do their best to resist the attack of the Chu army. After all, there are still their own parents in the city. loved ones.

Torches have been lit on the top of the city, and the blood under the firelight is even more terrifying, and the air is already filled with the bloody smell that makes people's stomachs twitch and want to vomit.

Just when the soldiers on both sides were exhausted, the Chu army retreated from the rear.

Yang Yijun's armor was covered with blood, his eyes gleamed with a cannibalistic light, and the blood on both sides made him look very hideous: "Marshal, why did you withdraw troops? We have lost so many people, and Yizhou City is almost about to attack down."

Xue Poye said coldly: "Almost attacked? We set out from Taizhou and came here to launch a lightning attack. The purpose is to give Yizhou a sudden attack while the morale of the soldiers is high. It has been a few hours now In the past, the brothers were exhausted, and if the fight continues, more people will only die, and Yizhou City will not be captured for a while."

Yang Yijun looked at Yizhou City in the distance, filled with gunpowder smoke, and the retreating soldiers, apart from anger and hatred, had unconcealable tiredness and...fear on their faces.

During the battle, the breath is in the chest, and the fear and fear are forgotten, but when the battle stops, looking at the corpse of the companion, the companion who was still alive before the battle, has already spilled blood on the battlefield, and the corpses are everywhere. fear.

No one can tell whether he will be one of them in the next charge.

Xue Poye rode on a horse, surrounded by dozens of Habayashi guards including Ximen Leizang, slowly galloped into the army formation, pointed at Yizhou City with his whip, and said loudly: "Brothers, you have seen , war... either you die or I die, there is no hesitation. Look at many of our brothers, they have shed blood on the battlefield, devoted themselves to serving the country... We admire them, they are real soldiers, and men worthy of Da Chu's memory , They deserved to die, soldiers, shouldn’t they return their corpses shrouded in horse leather?”

The soldiers all stood up and looked at their commander.

"Only after the baptism of iron and blood can you become real fighters." Xue Poye's eyes were like lightning: "Yizhou City is only our first goal. For us, it is just a place for military training. Our real The goal is Northwest Yongzhou, where there is a stronger Northwest Army. If we don’t develop our iron blood, if we are blocked by a mere Yizhou City, then capturing Yongzhou and serving the court is just a slogan. Our brothers will not die in vain , as your commander-in-chief, I will not let you sacrifice in vain... I just want to tell everyone that we will definitely win Yizhou City, and Yongzhou will definitely be in our pocket, otherwise, we will die of regret brethren!"

"The Great Chu will win! The Great Chu will win! The Great Chu will win!"

Hundreds of thousands of people shouted in unison, and the earth-shaking roar made the defenders of Yizhou City terrified.

Although the Chu army did not continue to attack Yizhou City, they soon divided up and besieged the city. The Chu army set up camp within less than 20 miles of Yizhou City, and surrounded Yizhou City tightly.

Of course, both sides sent corpse collection teams to collect the corpses of soldiers from both sides.

According to the rules on the battlefield, after the battle, both sides can send a team of no more than 200 people to collect the corpses of their companions, and the two sides will never attack in the middle.

After all, any soldier on the battlefield is likely to die in battle, and no one wants to be left alone after death.

The corpse wagons pulling the corpses returned to their respective camps one by one. Seeing the corpses piled up on the wagons, Xue Poye shook his head and sighed. All his henchmen were wiped out.