The stone has been on that ridge from many, many years ago. △↗ It is an unnamed low ridge, inconspicuous, and there are no scenic spots to praise. That stone is just one of many stones. It has witnessed the rise and sunset of the sun, experienced the vicissitudes of life, and endured the changes of the four seasons. The water of the Yellow River drowned over it several times, and when the crowd came and went, the children of the cattle occasionally rested on it. In the long, long time, it has not moved its position.
Snow was just falling from the sky when the armor-piercers dragged it from there, as it had been for many years before. It was dragged to some level ground with many stones one by one, and when the snow would cover it with a layer, the people who dragged it began to knock on it with things, and it was knocked more round. some, and then piled up among countless other stones.
In front of it was a rough, wooden camp, and farther ahead, huge high walls stretched toward both sides of the sky and the earth.
The snow is falling, the sun rises and sets, and the surrounding of the stone is sometimes lively, sometimes deserted, people run back and forth, sometimes remove its companions, and sometimes put more stones around it. Light and darkness alternated, and the surroundings suddenly became more lively. The footsteps of people and horses shook the ground, and more instruments with wheels were pushed from all around. A restless breath mixed with falling snow.
When the sky darkened and brightened again, a huge humming vibration had enveloped everything, human voices were running, all kinds of rough and weird noises, and around it, a large number of stones were quickly moved away, those The stone streaked across the sky and disappeared. Finally, the footsteps came and moved it. on a wooden board. They sprinted through the difficult snow, the bumpy road, high and low, leaping over the stone when someone rushed, and then there was a great number of galloping horse steps all around. The plank hit the low-lying ground, and with a bang, the stone rolled down, and people fell beside it, but after a while, he got up and pushed it onto the plank again.
The little journey ended beside the huge wooden apparatus, and when the plank stopped, the two men lifted the stone. Put it in a sunken container. The stone sank, the sound of the winch sounded, and the shouting of people sounded.
After a short while, it flew into the sky. The snowflakes filled the sky and stretched into the endless distance. It collided with the snowflakes and rushed through the cold wind. The horse-riding team ran under its body, and below it, there were also fallen people, blood and flames. hysterical shouting. The huge wall in front of him quickly enlarged, and arrows with sharp arrows rushed past him in the opposite direction. In a split-second journey, an arrow came flying from the front, collided with it, and bounced off without a trace.
The huge city tower, the words "New Suanzaomen" flashed by, and the stone hit the huge wall. Stone chips splashed, and then there was a huge drop. It fell from the top of the high city wall with a bang, and there were ice chips and water splashes all over the place. The stone fell on the edge where the original moat met the city wall. Half of it smashed into the ice. Half is still outside.
On its left and right sides, more stones hit the wall and then fell, as did snowflakes, arrows, and other things. When it stayed there quietly, strange things always rained down on it, the arrows bounced off, and the water that fell from the top of the high wall gradually froze on its body , and then it was smashed open by another falling stone, the snow fell, and then the huge log came down with a bang.
The restless and violent scene paused as the sky turned dark, the snow was still falling, there was light on the city wall, and there was also a continuous light behind, and water washed down from the city wall. At a certain moment, when the sky was still dark and the surroundings were still silent, a turbulent voice suddenly sounded again. Stones flew, arrows flew, fire was approaching, huge wooden buildings and ladders were also approaching, and there was a ladder. He was placed on the top of the stone, and then the human body also fell down and fell next to the stone, strangely shaped flesh and blood, and then a black viscous liquid.
The whistling sound swept over with the light, the fire spread down, the stone was submerged in the raging fire, and then the burning person screamed and fell, and soon after, the ladder also fell...
The light of the sun rose in the east and swept across the huge high wall. It changed its position and fell again, and countless lights and shadows were in conflict around it. In the journey of the stone, everything around is both ephemeral and eternal. It is on the other side of the vicissitudes of life, and it is one with everything around it, whether it is experiencing a huge explosion, division, or deformation, whether it is surrounded by air, water, hard gems or shining pearls, whether A part of it becomes a lush tree, or it becomes a flesh-and-blood life, whether it can fly or merge into the soil, everything is like the change of the wind blowing sand and dust, and this change is part of eternity.
It was silently embedded in the ice that had melted and started to freeze, and the things that had fallen were shaped over and over again around it. The cavalry ran, the arrows fluttered, the swords and spears intersected, the flesh and blood splattered, the snow danced wildly, the flames burned... The corpse fell with a screaming sound, smashing the hard bones on its body, and the sticky flesh and blood. It slowly slipped from the stone, and then continued to congeal...
All of these are part of eternity, but perhaps in a short period of time, they have different meanings for these transiently deformed objects called living beings...
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"Ahhh-"
A huge hysterical sound filled everything, blood was in the eye socket, it was a pain in the head, the wooden frame was being pushed frantically in the flurry of knife light, the Jurchen was pushed back, and then hit the battlement, he did not want to be pushed down , stretched out his hand and climbed on the battlement, the knife light that had cut it cut the hand with force, and Xue Changgong kicked the man out of the city with a forceful kick!
"Where are the others! Where are the others!"
At the school lieutenant next to him whose face was covered in blood, Xue Changgong shouted vigorously. He rushed to the parapet wall, stuck his head out and glanced outside. The city wall stretched for several miles, and the Jurchen was facing him. Come here. The wooden towers and ladders for the siege were all on the shelf, the moat at the city gate was filled up, and the chariot was guarded by soldiers with shields to move forward. The long fire dragon is coming, and the arrow is shooting down fatally. Another attack.
"There are only so many! The other brothers are dead! The Jurchen rushed up just now—"
"Yaksha didn't beat enough. It was cut by someone, so get someone to bring it up! There is still kerosene, don't give up on kerosene—don't patronize the main entrance! Look at the third section, come with me! The Jurchen is going to attack that side—"
Outside the city wall, the Jurchen offensive was like a tidal wave, while inside the city wall, soldiers and volunteers guarding the city went up and down like an ant colony. Even if the greatest strength has been mobilized, the defenses on the city walls are sometimes not thick enough. The Jurchen launched a violent attack on the entire northern city wall. Its madness is enough to make the defenders of every section of the city wall feel terrified. However, the Jurchen generals also used this raging offensive to test the weak points of the city wall—more properly speaking, they actively created weak points, trying to break the defense of the entire city wall with the soldiers' amazing fighting consciousness.
During the fierce attack, the Jurchen cavalry also galloped under the city, rushing to suppress the city wall with high-density arrows. Once the defense of a certain section of the city wall is slightly exhausted, the power of the siege will come frantically towards this side, and once the Jurchen soldiers rush to the city head. The torn openings would immediately bring staggering casualties, in three days of siege. Jurchen has achieved such a record four times.
At noon on November 23rd, more than 50 Jurchen soldiers successfully climbed to the top of the wall. They slaughtered the surrounding defenders, together with the people who helped defend the city. die. In the short period of time when the city wall was recaptured, more than 500 soldiers and civilians were sacrificed. A large part of them were directly killed by the Jurchen soldiers and fell from the inner side of the city wall to their death.
And on the afternoon of the twenty-second day, when Jurchen climbed the wall for the first time. With strong combat power, the soldiers of the Wu Dynasty tried to retake the wall three times. At that time, they held the wall, and a large number of Jurchens rushed up. Later, Master Zhong led the Shengong Battalion, covered the city with arrows, and then used more than 3,000 elites to pile up on both ends of the city wall with their lives, and finally pushed the Jurchen back temporarily. In this wave of casualties, 1,500 people were killed and wounded. At that time, neither the Jurchen nor the defenders of the Wu Dynasty had yet adapted to such a high-intensity rhythm. However, the acuity of the Jurchen's fighting consciousness was astonishing. Of course, in the ensuing battle, The mid-level generals of the Wu Dynasty, such as Xue Changgong, were finally able to adapt to this kind of battle.
The flying stones and arrows occasionally crossed the city wall and smashed into the crowd on the inner side of the city wall. Among the Jurchen siege equipment, not many can throw stones at them. Even if they could, they often ventured into the bow and arrow. within range. But almost every time there is a potential for casualties. Compared with the Jurchens who were attacking the city and could set up ladders anywhere outside the city, the people of the Wu Dynasty were the defenders of the city, and the corridors up and down the city wall were often fixed. When the fighting intensity above the city wall is too high, the defense equipment needs to be replenished at any time, which leads to a large crowd on the corridor, and they often become victims of flowing arrows or stones.
But apart from subconsciously evading on the spot or finding a plank to hold it against, there is no other way to evacuate, because once their work stops, the defense on the city wall will be in jeopardy.
In fact, Jurchen's frantic attack and amazing combat power have already taken away some of the defenders' will to fight. This kind of deprivation of fighting spirit is not an order for people to flee, it just makes people truly realize the strength of this army. The amazing fighting spirit makes the Jurchens break through the city and press them back, it will take a lot of money The soldiers of the Wu Dynasty did not avoid subconsciously, but subconsciously felt when they approached them: they could not beat them.
At this time, the army of the Wu Dynasty defending the city was the most elite forbidden army of the Wu Dynasty. The training, food and salaries on weekdays were sufficient, and they would not escape—it would be useless to escape—but that was it. In the face of the opening team, the gap in subjective initiative is almost irreparable. For the past three days, in this city defense line that stretches for several miles, the string of defense has always been stretched to death, and people have rushed And dazed to deal with everything, the city defense seems to be likely to collapse at any time.
But it hasn't collapsed yet.
The rolling wood and stone were thrown from the city wall like raindrops. The kerosene, hot water, and arrows were mixed. The stretched city wall was covered with yaksha knives inlaid with sharp knives or barbs, waving long and long fork poles. The soldiers were occasionally shot by stray arrows and fell in a pool of blood, while the people who came up to deliver things occasionally picked up the fork and shouted and waved it. Trying to stop the Jurchen coming up from the cloud ladder, the fiery and turbulent shouts and battles were mixed with the snow and wind, spreading over the entire city wall.
A large number of the wounded were carried down and sent to the wounded barracks. The weather was too cold, and the injured two days earlier quickly contracted the cold due to the decline of their body resistance. The infirm are dying anytime, anywhere, and all the doctors in the city have been mobilized. Li Shishi is helping. She has not rested all day and night. Her clothes are messy, her hair is messed up, her forehead and face are stained with other people's blood, and she is stained with the ashes of the plants and trees when she boiled the medicine. In the wounded barracks surrounded by the wounded, they just help out mechanically.
This sudden and tragic scene. She was already a little stunned, and in addition to the almost unstoppable busyness in the past few days, accompanied by blood, it made it difficult for her to think about the things in front of her, so she could only deal with it by doing things endlessly - Hou Jing once told her The casualty situation during the Jurchen attack, but under such a situation, perhaps Hou Jing was a little stunned.
In just three days, under the strong attack of Jurchen. Perhaps the entire Bianliang City has been stunned.
Fear of war. swept in.
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Twenty miles northwest of Moutuogang, more than 40,000 Changsheng troops led by Guo Yaoshi, Zhang Linghui, and Liu Shunren have left the Jurchen camp.
Zongwang wanted to attack Bianliang by force, and at the same time further exercise the Jurchen siege power that was constantly improving when the Liao Kingdom was destroyed. He never thought about the possibility of failure. in this big battle. He did not let Guo Yaoshi's army participate in it, of course, there are reasons for arrogance and self-confidence. On the other hand, since this journey, the Jurchen East Route Army. It has never really launched a joint battle with the grudge army.
In the process of going south, there is no enemy that needs the combination of their two armies to defeat. On the other hand, the most important thing is that once you are side by side with Guo Yaoshi on the battlefield, a large part of the cause of the battle will be handed over. Pharmacist Guo has it in his hands.
Although Zongwang has already recruited the Changsheng Army, there is no "domestication" process for this army. Assuming that the two sides attacked Bianliang together and Guo Yaoshi contributed, the city would undoubtedly fall, but if at the most critical moment, he turned his back on the battlefield, even the strongest Jurchen army under his command would probably have to die.
The Confucian scholars of the Wu Dynasty liked all kinds of conspiracies and tricks. Who knew if Guo Yaoshi was playing tricks, waiting to give himself a knife at the most critical moment.
If the people of the Wu Dynasty really had such a ruthless idea, let their army march straight ahead until the city of Bianliang, and then turn back and strike, but it is as written in that letter, and no one can suppress Nianhan.
For this reason, Zongwang would not let the Changsheng Army enter the battlefield of the siege. Pharmacist Guo also understood this. After Zongwang assigned him a task, he quickly launched an investigation to find out which Wu Dynasty team was trying to determine the Yellow River. Later, it was found that the most likely one was the Western Army troops currently led by the kind division.
Of course, such a conclusion is a bit reckless, but it doesn't matter. Zong Wang has already started to attack Bianliang, and he doesn't want to wait until everything is fully implemented before shooting. Maybe Bianliang will fall by then. On the other hand, he has taken refuge in Jurchen, but he can't get more credit now. Before Zongwang fell to Bianliang, he felt that he must have a victory. Considering this Next, the Western Army has the best record - the other guys are all soft persimmons. If he was still in the Wu Dynasty and defeated such an army, he could take credit for it, but now in the Jin Kingdom, he would take credit for a casual fight like that. It's just hilarious.
Because of this consideration, when a message came from the outside world that it was the Western Army who wanted to go, he immediately believed it, and pulled out the camp and set out to go to the current station of the Western Army.
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Outside Bianliang City, farther from the Jurchen army camp, Ning Yi rode on a horse, holding a telescope, watching the amazing siege scene, Hongti followed behind him, Qin Shaoqian was on the other side, and there were others. Han Jing and others.
After putting down the telescope, Ning Yi swallowed: "How long can Bianliang last?"
No one answered, and after a while, Qin Shaoqian said, "...I don't know." His voice was so low that he had no confidence.
Seeing that no one was speaking, Han Jing pointed at Bianliang: "In any siege battle, if you can't be surrounded by ten, there is also a strong attack, and the strategy of attacking the east and attacking the west. The Jurchen offensive is so fierce and concentrated on one side, if it cannot be attacked for a long time, I will Guess Zongwang will definitely divide his troops to attack the rest of the city gates by surprise, and if he can predict the enemy's opportunities, he may be able to catch them by surprise and eat them."
Ning Yi frowned, Yue Fei, who was not far away, didn't have a high status among these people, but he was already familiar with them these days, and said at this time: "General Han is right, but the Jurchens here are all under Zong Wang's command. The elites, even if they attack one-on-one, I am afraid that we will not be able to take too much advantage, not to mention the quick response on the battlefield. Run away. Not to be missed."
Han Jing said, "Brother Yue reminded me."
"However, there are at least 12,000 people in the Moutuogang camp. Although most of them are infantry, there are also craftsmen, but with my number, it is still difficult to start." Someone said by the side.
"No matter what, it can't be dragged on." Ning Yi, Qin Shaoqian, Hong Ti and the others looked at each other, "Go back first, we have to make a decision tonight... Get ready!"
The group of people turned back, but the direction they went was not Xia Village, but an abandoned village and town on the Bianliang Snowfield at this time. There are a total of 4,300 people, who have come out of Xia Village at this time and are stationed here.
There were nearly 2,000 troops in the team that Hongti brought over from Luliang Mountain. Among them, there were 164 heavy cavalry cavalry, and the rest were light cavalry. In Wu Rui Battalion, Qin Shaoqian and Ning Yi had trained more than 1,000 soldiers in Dulonggang, but after the defeat at the end of September, there are only less than 500 soldiers left. , Qin Shaoqian now has less than five hundred cavalry left, plus the rest of the available veterans, it is the number here today. Two thousand and five cavalry, one thousand eight infantry.
As for those left by Xia Cun, there are still more than 15,000 people in the total number of zero and zero at this time. Of course, some of them are elites, Zhuji managers or martial arts masters who are used to fight the formation, but the popularity of this group is not high. After being incited for more than a month, they could only be left in Xia Village to deal with future defensive battles. Pulling them out and confronting Jurchen is basically courting death.
The wind and snow kept falling in the icy village and town. Ning Yi and others discussed the situation, calculated the situation of the battle, and argued for a while. The Jurchen is too strong, and no one has a clue as to how far this power can be used. However, there was no time, and this night, they had to make a decision.
Bianliang, the white-hot battle continues...
Wanyan Zongwang wants to decide all of this within a few days... (Please search Piao astronomy, better and faster!
ps: Well, the prelude to the war really started.