"Immortal Heaven, please accept your slave's appeal. The Golden Wolf God, the Silver Wolf God, the gods of the southeast, northwest, and the four directions, please open your eyes. On the rammed-earth walls of the Jitur Pavilion, the Thang Shaman Ba Si Guluto knelt on his knees, raised his hands high to the sky, and prayed with sorrow on his face.

"Immortal Heaven, please accept your slave's appeal. The Golden Wolf God, the Silver Wolf God, the gods of the southeast, northwest, and the four directions, please open your eyes. "Ejin Ba Tie De, Xiao Jian Xi Yue Ban, Ba Si Dan Luo, Ba Xi Wu Layu and others, also knelt on their knees, closed their eyes and repeated loudly, everyone's face was extremely reverent. (Note: Ejin, the head of the small tribe.) ）

"The devil comes from the east and comes from the west. Kill my brother, take my fortress, plunder my people......" The Turgi Thi Shaman Guruto complained loudly with tears in his eyes, as if he had suffered a great grievance.

"The devil comes from the east and comes from the west. Kill my brother, take my fortress, plunder my people......" Ai Jin pulled out the virtue, Xiao Jian Yueban, Danluo, Ula and others repeated in unison, all of them were sad and inexplicable.

Gushi Mountain, Qishan Mountain, the Pavilion of the Confessor, the Pavilion of Jiturbidity, and the large grasslands between these four cities were all rewarded by the Great Khan of Tuqi Shi Ge to the Zuoxiang Baxi tribe for the winter three months ago. And now, winter has just begun, but a devil led the Tang army to rob Gushi Mountain, Qishan, and the Confessor Pavilion one after another, and killed all the way to the Jiturity Pavilion. If the Jixun Pavilion is lost again, the Ba Xi Department will have to move north of the Pearl River as a whole, not to mention, and will have to face the wrath of Suo Ge at any time.

If Suo Ge is angry, it is not as simple as handing over hundreds of cattle and sheep. If you don't get it right, all the men who are taller than the wheels in the whole Basib will be slaughtered, and all the women and children will be merged into other tribes and become the lowest kind of herdsmen!

It is not that the Bassi Ministry has not resisted, in fact, the Bassibu has done its best. However, the devil's mana was too strong for anyone to stop

Sakun Yexun, who was stationed in the lonely stone mountain fortress on the north bank of the Chihe River, led 300 warriors out of the city to meet the battle, but more than 100 people were killed on the spot.

Another Sakun Hulun, stationed at the Qishan fort on the south bank of the Chihe River, learned his lesson and held out. But the gate of the fortress was directly burned down by the devil. Immediately, 3,000 Tang army commanders from Shule drove in and killed Hulun and his 200 warriors. (Note: Qishan Mountain and Gushi Mountain are the real place names of the Western Regions.) ）

Immediately, the devil took 3,000 Tang troops and killed the Confessor Pavilion again. Along the way, a Turkic cavalry received a request from the Baxi Department to launch a sneak attack on the Tang army, but was defeated head-on by the Tang army, and then followed and chased for more than 20 miles, slaughtered completely. Subsequently, Sakun Saiga, who was stationed in the Hall of the Confessors, led 2,000 warriors of the Basibu to meet him, but was directly knocked down by the devil's retinue under his mount. Thirty percent of the two thousand Baxi warriors were killed on the spot, half of them were captured, and less than four hundred of them successfully escaped from the battlefield and returned to the Jitur Pavilion!

Can't beat it! When the news of the defeat and death of Sakun Saiga's soldiers arrived at the Jitur Pavilion along with the rout, Ba Xi's subordinates immediately realized a cold reality. However, they were unwilling to give up the anointing land they had just arrived. So, they can only ask the gods to administer justice.

As for who this anointed land originally belonged to, they did not want to mention it, nor did they want the gods of heaven to ask.

It's just that there is a price to please God. So, the Turgi Shaman Bashi Guluto suddenly opened his eyes and waved his arms forward from behind him, "I offer horses, I offer cattle and sheep, I offer the best naan and the whitest salt ......"

"I offer horses, I offer cattle and sheep, I offer the best naan and the most white salt......" Dozens of tribal warriors, repeating in unison, pulled a peach-colored war horse, two strong bulls and three fat sheep from the trail to the city.

More than a dozen Tuqi Shi beauties walked up to the city with baskets full of naan on their heads, and sprinkled the naan with green salt that no one was willing to eat. The Thiri Shisaba Simangulu stood up, walked over with a few disciples, and danced and sang around the horses, oxen, and sheep, as if he were drunk. Suddenly, he opened his eyes again, pulled out a short knife from his waist, and stabbed the horse in the neck.

The war horse, which had been fed the anesthetic in advance, fell down with a mournful cry, without any struggle from beginning to end. Immediately afterward, the cattle and sheep were treated in the same way, and the blood rolled down the earthen wall with steam, staining the surface of the three-meter-wide earthen wall a red color.

"The soul of the fiery horse. The blood of bulls, the entrails of sheep, and the gods of all directions, please enjoy them. The Basil is willing to give everything he has and asks you to come down and cast out the devil......."

“…… I beg you to come down and drive out the devil ......." On the earthen wall, all the men and women of the Bashibu department knelt down and chanted the prayer over and over again.

In the empty field outside the city, there was a black torrent, which had already rolled in, and the smoke and dust brought up by the horses' hooves covered the sky and the sun!

"See what they're doing?" Zhang Qian handed the telescope to Guo Hong beside him, and at the same time slowly pulled the reins of Sa Luzi. Behind him, more than 3,200 brothers also slowly pulled their mounts. Farther away, more than 500 Sogdian herdsmen were temporarily recruited to take care of more than 4,000 horses and more than 500 wagons for them.

Of the more than 4,000 horses that accompanied him, most of them were captured. The other part is the "salute" of the tribes along the way. If he didn't go to the Western Regions, Zhang Qian absolutely couldn't believe that there were so many tribes here! Loulan, Yueshi, Tiele, Sogdian, Huifu, Wusun, ......, so many that he couldn't even remember the names! Even his current great enemy, Turgish, has to be subdivided into several ethnic groups, and the descendants of Suo Ge are only the largest branch among them!

When Suo Ge forced Guo Yuanzhen to hide in Shule City with 5,000 suspicious soldiers and did not dare to come out, these small tribes naturally fell to Suo Ge. However, when Zhang Qian, with his soldiers and horses, successively took the Gushi Mountain and Qishan Mountain, which were garrisoned by the "heavy troops", these tribes decisively decided to move closer to the Tang Dynasty again. Or rather, pedal two boats again!

According to the rules of the Western Regions, to give in to the strong, you need to show sincerity. And the best way to show sincerity is to send the warriors of your clan to follow the strong. Secondly, it is to provide food, grass, supplies, and military expenses for the strong, as well as various intimate services, such as herding horses and chariots.

Zhang Qian's current strength can uproot these small tribes, but compared to Suo Ge, it is still far behind. Therefore, except for a few chiefs who are extremely heavy on gambling or have an extremely long-term vision, the chiefs of most of the other tribes have chosen to "retreat to the second".

So, Zhang Qian went all the way to the east to kill, and the more and more war horses fought, more and more baggage, and more and more money. However, the logistical pressure is decreasing. And every time he captures a prisoner in battle, Zhang Qian doesn't have to worry about how to deal with it at all. Sogdian merchants, known for their greed for money, would be the first to come and buy the captives and the looms from him. The price cannot be considered high in Chang'an, but it is placed in the Western Regions, and it is absolutely full of sincerity.

"These people are all weeds with the wind, bowing to the strong, is their way of survival. If you lose, they'll immediately turn into a pack of wild dogs and help them hunt you! "For the performance of these small tribes in the Western Regions, Guo Hong has long been surprised. Worried that Zhang Qian would lose his vigilance, he couldn't help but find an opportunity and whispered advice.

"I know, so I'm not going to give them my back anyway." After listening to Guo Hong's words, Zhang Qian nodded seriously.

He had no experience dealing with the tribes of the Western Regions, but he remembered the famous Battle of Talas in the history of another time and space. If it weren't for the Qarluq Division, when the Anxi Army was fighting a bloody battle with the Great Cannibals, it suddenly turned against the Anxi Army in the back. The Anxi army will not be wiped out.

Although just over ten months later, Feng Changqing saved face for the Anxi Army in Xiaobolu, but soon the Tang Dynasty was hit by the "Anshi Rebellion", and since then, the Western Regions have all fallen, and the old Anxi Army has held on for more than 160 years, until Zhou Chai Rong took power, and he is still looking forward to the support of the Central Plains soldiers and horses.

"Suo Ge can't take care of me now, and before his strength grows to a certain extent, I will try to avoid fighting with Suo Ge's main force!" lest it dampen Guo Hong's enthusiasm, after thinking about it, Zhang Qian continued to add. The expression on his face is still as serious as he is.

And after Guo Hong reminded him once, he immediately stopped being verbose. His current position is very embarrassing, although Zhang Qian and Zhang Qian's cronies around him did not take him hostage and gave him enough courtesy. However, the biggest role he had in staying in this team was to prevent his father Guo Yuanzhen from repenting and leading his troops to chase and kill.

In addition, Xun Yingda, the secretary of the Jinshan Army, planted eyeliner under Zhang Qian's command and instigated the brothers' plot to mutiny on the way, which was completely exposed after Zhang Qian conquered Gushi Mountain with 140 men. Although he didn't know it from beginning to end, he couldn't clear his name. Therefore, if you talk too much, you will be suspected of not having a good heart.

However, Zhang Qian himself obviously did not compare Guo Hong and Xun Yingda. Along the way, as long as it involves the issues of the Western Regions, whether it is customs or astronomy and geography, he will take the initiative to ask Guo Hong for advice. Never because he is Guo Yuanzhen's son, he suspects that he will deliberately lead himself astray. On two occasions, when formulating a battle plan, he took the initiative to ask him for advice and asked him to help check and fill in the gaps.

This made Guo Hong feel more and more ashamed in his heart while being moved. At the same time, he became more and more cautious in speaking out, lest his experience and ideas interfere with Zhang Qian's decision.

In his opinion, after Zhang Qian arrived in the Western Regions, every step he took could not be measured by previous experience. In particular, Zhang Zhiqian took more than 140 people to coax the defenders of Lonely Rock Mountain to attack, if you use previous combat experience, it is purely looking for death. But the fact is that Zhang Qian not only won a big victory, but also won the support of all the soldiers in one battle.

Since then, the morale of the 3,000 soldiers and horses behind him has begun to rise steadily. Every time they fought with the enemy, the regiments scrambled to be the first. Guo Hong even suspected that even if Zhang Qian did not give a military salary of 100 wen a day, the brothers were still willing to sleep in the sand and snow with him without complaining.

Therefore, Guo Hong thinks that his past experience. Most of the time, it may not be able to help Zhang Qian, but it is easy to mislead him. Rather than that, it's better to keep your mouth shut.

However, the question that Zhang Qian asked today is not within the scope of being easily misleading. Therefore, Guo Hong took the telescope and glanced at the earthen wall of the Jixun Pavilion a few times, and gave an accurate answer, "The Ba Xi Department was scared by you, and he was killing three animals to sacrifice to the sky, asking Changshengtian and the ghosts and gods to help drive you away." I reckon they are ready to close the gates and wait for help. After all, it is only one hundred and seventy miles away from Gumo Prefecture, and it is only one hundred and fifty miles away from Big Rock City. The defenders of those two places may rush over to support at any time! ”

As if to confirm his judgment, as soon as the words fell, a gentle horn sounded on the earthen wall of the Jiturity Pavilion, "Woo woo, woo woo, woo woo ......", which was completely different from the horn sound of begging for battle, and was more similar to the milk dog's begging for mercy. Immediately after, more than a dozen fire oxen and hundreds of live sheep were roped down from the city wall by the defenders, and a snow-white banner was also erected high on the enemy tower, shaking back and forth.

"The Baxi Department is weak and willing to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. I specially offered two cows and one hundred sheep, and asked the general to let them go! There were more than a dozen loud tribal warriors, standing under the white flag and shouting in unison. Although the Chinese language is extremely blunt and does not mean war, it is clearly expressed.

"Huh?" Unexpectedly, the chiefs, nobles and shamans of the Baxi Department jumped on the head of the city to invite immortals, making blood dripping, but the final choice was to take the initiative to show weakness, Zhang Qian couldn't believe his ears for a while, and his mouth instinctively opened the boss.

"This is a temptation to see what kind of hero you are!" Guo Hong couldn't bear to watch Zhang Qian being deceived by the Ba Xi Ministry, and took the initiative to remind in a low voice, "If you accept these cattle and sheep and leave, they will treat you as a horse thief." In the future, as long as I find an opportunity, I will definitely bite you hard. ”

"Then what can I do to get them to open the door and surrender?" Zhang Qian took over the conversation without hesitation and solemnly asked for advice.

The brothers had come from afar and needed time to regain their strength, so it was impossible for him to attack the Jiturity Pavilion right now. Instead of waiting in boredom, let's try to see if we can take this city without blood.

"If they open the door and surrender, they will not be able to explain to Suo Ge in the future. If Suo Ge frees his hands, the whole family of the Ba Xi tribe will definitely die, and the people will also be divided by the other tribes of the Tuqi Shi at that time! Guo Hong is very expert, and he dispelled Zhang Qian's dream with one sentence. Immediately, he frowned again and quickly added, "But you can lower his fighting spirit, so that when our army attacks the city, the resistance it encounters will not be too fierce." ”

"How?" Zhang Qian thought about it and whispered again for advice.

"Ask for a lot of money, and then give him a chance to bargain. When the two sides cannot reach an agreement, they will attack the city again. At that time, as long as our army shows enough strength, they will have a reason to surrender! Guo Hong frowned again and didn't think about it for a few breaths, and then responded in a low voice.

"I'll go, be careful of the other party's fraud!" Wang Han listened to it very well next to him, and decisively asked for help. Immediately, the horse held the lance, rushed to within an arrow of the enemy tower, pointed at the most brightly dressed turk in the enemy tower with the lance, and shouted: "With two oxen, I want to bribe my family's marching commander Shi to strike the army, daydreaming!" The head of my family's march has an order, and the Ba Sid Department participated in the rebellion, and the crime is unforgivable. Remembering that he had a last resort, he allowed Xu Er and the others to hand over all their belongings and leave with all the Turks in the city. Otherwise, once the city is broken, the whole clan will be punished for treason! ”

He is tall and handsome, and he has practiced riding and martial arts since he was a child, so the movement of swinging the horse is graceful and full of taste. When he landed, he gave birth to a little admiration in the hearts of Ba Side and others at the head of the city. They arched their hands one after another, and explained pitifully: "Superior tolerance, superior tolerance!" Lonely Stone Mountain, Qi Mountain, Confessor Pavilion and Ji Turbidity Pavilion are the winter places given to me by the King of Huaide County. If the cold land is freezing today, the other three places have all been taken by Zhang Xingjun Changshi, if our department hands over the Jiturbidity Pavilion again, it will only be the way to move the clan to freeze to death! ”

"Shangcha, Suo Ge is the emperor of the Tang Dynasty who enshrined the king of Huaide County, and we are all under his control. He took us to fight the enemy, and I didn't dare to disobey! ”

"Shangcha, we did not betray the Tang Dynasty, but listened to the dispatch of the King of Huaide. The soldiers are strong and strong, and they should go to separate from the king of Huaide County. Attacking our department is really insulting to the bad reputation! ”

"On the errand, our department is willing to hand over four more oxen, two hundred sheep, and ten horses. I just want to let my department live a way! ”

……

Saying a thousand, saying ten thousand, in the final analysis, is actually a sentence. Cattle, sheep and horses can be given, and Ji Turbidity Pavilion will resolutely not hand it over until Zhang Qian and Suo Ge have won or lost.

Where is Wang Han willing to follow, first turned his back to Zhang Qian and gestured. Immediately, he continued to raise his lance and pointed at the Turquoise cavalry in the enemy tower, and the great shaman and the elders cursed, forcing the other party to open the city gate to welcome the king into the city, and took out more cattle and sheep supplies to work the army.

And taking advantage of the bargaining between the two sides, Luo Huaizu also took the scouts to find out the defense situation of the Jiturity Pavilion one by one. It turned out that in order to prevent the city gate from being burned down like the Qishan fortress again, the Tuqi Shi Baxi tribe preemptively used stones and soil to block the east and west gates before the Tang army arrived. And since Suo Ge relied on a sneak attack to take this place a few months ago, all the defensive facilities of the Jiyun Pavilion, such as bed crossbows, nail rackets, rolling logs, oil pots, etc., are also well preserved and ready to be put into use at any time.

"Uncle Shi, you go and quietly inform Wang Han that this side is ready, and he doesn't have to talk to Ba Xide anymore!" Zhang Qian listened to it and immediately pinched a cold sweat for Wang Han. Hurriedly ordered Luo Huaizu, who was the strongest in his skills, to step forward and take Wang Han back to his main formation.

However, when he learned that there was a powerful bed crossbow on the city, Wang Han was undaunted. He calmly negotiated three more rounds of prices with Ba Xide and others, doubling the labor and military supplies that the other party needed to hand over, and only because the other party really couldn't pay more, he resolutely announced the breakdown of the negotiations.

Even if the negotiations broke down, the turphoric cavalry of the Jiturity Pavilion did not have too strong a fighting spirit. Seeing Wang Han and Luo Huaizu riding their horses out of the range of the feather arrows, they did not send a single arrow to sneak attack.

The war drum of "Knock Knock...... was quickly beaten, and the Tang Army, which had already finished resting, launched a strong attack on the Jiturity Pavilion from the front. This time, it was no longer Zhang Qian with his own soldiers, but more than 900 brothers borrowed from Guo Yuanzhen, under the leadership of Guo Jing, Ren 5 and Ren 6, who served as the vanguard of the army.

Of course, the people at the head of the city refused to sit still, and immediately ordered the archers of the tribe to intercept them. However, the feather arrows shot out were weak and weak, most of them were blown crooked by the cold wind, and only a small number of them reached the designated area, but they were blocked by the Tang army's shield, and they made no achievements.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—" On both sides of the enemy tower, the bed crossbows also began to wield. However, both the rate of fire and the accuracy were lackluster. The Touti warriors, who were accustomed to riding on horseback to kill, operated the crossbow and moved extremely clumsily. After only two rounds were fired, they were forced within twenty steps of the city wall by the Tang army.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh-" The Qingzhang crossbow in Tang Jun's hand, which had been silent before, suddenly launched a salvo. In an instant, there will be no longer a standing figure on the city wall. And the archers in the ranks of the Tang army also decisively raised their upper bodies and sprinkled their feather arrows behind the battlements of the city wall, round after round, like a raging storm.

The warriors of the Basibu on the city wall shouted and raised their shields. While shielding the feathered arrows falling from the sky, he tried to return the color with his bow and arrows. The various wooden bows and riding bows in their hands were far less sophisticated than the horn bows in the hands of the Tang army, but they took advantage of the condescending position, and for a while, the momentum did not fall.

It's just that the armor on the Tang Army archers who stood under the city and shot at them was extremely good, and it was difficult to be fatally injured even if they were hit by arrows. On the side of the Baxi samurai, as long as they accidentally take an arrow, they will completely lose their combat effectiveness, and even die directly.

"Damn, what the hell is Bathid trying to do?" Xiao Jian pulled out Xi Yueban and scolded, scolding and scolding the ballista, trying to organize men to snipe the Tang army generals outside the city with crossbow arrows. However, when he and his subordinates reloaded the ballista with great effort, they were stunned to find that the Tang army outside the city was either hiding outside the range of the ballista, or because of the angle, they could no longer be targeted by the crossbow arrows, and all his efforts were in vain.

"Fortunately, the Tang army came from afar and did not carry siege vehicles and ladders!" In addition to being angry, Xiao Arrow pulled out a little luck in his heart, grabbed a wooden bow from the pool of blood, and continued to shoot feather arrows at the city.

A string of iron bumps with red stars suddenly flew up to the city. There were about seven or eight of them, and they were very powerful, and they didn't achieve any results other than smashing the head of a hapless samurai out of blood. However, in the next instant, the iron bumps exploded one after another, and the qi wave carried the cast iron shards across the city, and within three steps of each iron bump, there was no longer a standing figure to be seen.

The warriors of the Bashi Division, who were lucky enough not to fall within the range of the explosion, were frightened. Throw away the wooden bows, shields, and rush to the enemy towers and trails. However, the enemy tower was soon no longer safe, and several clay jars that were bubbling with flames were thrown into by the Tang army's improvised trebuchet, fell to the ground, and shattered, and alcohol with vegetable oil, flour, sulfur and other substances flowed with the flames, quickly turning the wooden enemy tower into a huge furnace.

The Tang army's brigade approached, using shovels, crowbars, and wheelbarrows, and began to dismantle the stones and dirt in the city gate hole. There are no living creatures in the enemy tower for a long time, and the two sides of the enemy tower are too hot to stand. Whenever the warriors of the Bathibu tried to move closer to the walls on either side of the gate, they immediately saw fiery clay jars and iron lumps fall on their heads. After two rounds, they completely lost the courage to die, and watched as the mud and stones in the city gate cave were taken away by the Tang army one after another.

"Surrender! Hand over half of your belongings and horses, and everyone can leave safely! Otherwise, once the city is broken, there will be no sprouts left! Wang Han rode a horse and reappeared, arrogantly reporting the latest conditions of the Tang Army.

"Surrender, surrender!" Without waiting for the decision of the Tsidekin and the Great Shaman, the little arrows of the Pullout Department opened their throats in response.

The white flag changed its position and was pulled up again, and it was particularly dazzling in the thick smoke and cold wind!