Frozen City is located on the southern shore of the Atami Sea, north of the Tianshan Mountains, less than 700 miles from Gumo Prefecture. With Broken Leaf City, separated by He Hunt, Ye Zhi two fortresses and a large lake.

Strictly speaking, Frozen City is not a city, but a huge prison.

After Suo Ge took Broken Leaf City, in order to vent his dissatisfaction, and at the same time, in order to seize food and property for his own accelerated expansion, he took the policy of paying money and grain to redeem himself to the people in the city. Anyone who could not pay two pennies or a stone of rice to redeem himself, men, women, and children, was killed on the spot.

As for those who can pay two hangings of money and one stone of rice and wheat, they are treated differently. The pure-blooded Hu people were returned to the Tuqi Shi clan, and the Hu-Han mixed blood and pure Han people all rushed to the frozen city and became the shepherd slaves of the Tuqi Shi elders.

The work of the so-called herding slaves was not limited to herding horses and raising sheep. They also undertook the heavy work of striking iron, making mud, digging land, cutting wood, and fishing. As for the number of tasks each day, it all depends on the mood of the owners sent down by the elders.

The property of the shepherd slaves, the harvest of their labor, including their future children, belonged to the Trochish elders. The elder has a noble status, and he has no time or mood to deal with lowly shepherd slaves, so he will send the owner of the village to take care of it. According to Suoge's permission, the owners carved out large tracts of land, woods, and pastures around the frozen castle with Atami to create benefits for the elders. The specific laborers were the shepherd slaves who were imprisoned in the frozen city.

During the day, under the leadership of the owner and the farmer, the herdsmen left the frozen city en masse and went out to work. After sunset, they were taken back to the city by the clansmen of the owner and the elders to be guarded. If you don't work hard, or you can't satisfy the owner, the owner can just cut and kill. If a slave dared to flee, not only would he be punished if he was caught, but all his relatives, including his neighbors, would be put to death.

Although the walls of the frozen city were only about two feet high, during the day, the gates were wide open, and there were not many guards in the fields. However, for more than half a year, few herdsmen dared to sneak away. Even if one or two brave alternatives occasionally appear, it is difficult to go far in the vast wilderness with an empty stomach.

And Zai Burk, who guarded the frozen city, and his turkey warriors, as soon as they heard the owner report that a herdsman had escaped, they would immediately ride their horses and chase after them. With falcons and hounds in their hands, they can easily catch up with the fugitives and drag them back with ropes to cut them in public! (Note: Burke, a middle-level official, is in charge of both political and military affairs, and his rank is equivalent to that of a county magistrate.) ）

After witnessing seven or eight people fleeing for their lives in a row, all of them were captured by the Turk guards and cut into skeletons, and also affected neighbors who knew him well. The herdsmen in the frozen city all accepted their fate. In this huge prison, where people die of hunger and exhaustion almost every day, it is becoming harder and harder to hear the cry. Everyone is desperate and gradually becomes a walking tool. There is not much difference between dying and continuing to live. Sometimes, dying is actually a relief.

A person's despair doesn't have much impact on the atmosphere around them. However, when the more than 6,000 shepherd slaves in the entire "prison" have all become walking dead, the atmosphere in the frozen city can be imagined! Not only was the head of the farm, who was responsible for assigning tasks to the herdsmen, but the clansmen who guarded the herdsmen were depressed every day, and even Berkzai and his Turgish warriors were not happy most of the time. Every time the sun sets, the city gate is quickly closed. Then he went into the room with a brazier and slept with his head covered.

The winter in Frozen City is very cold, and the dogs are so cold that they don't want to come out of the nest during the long nights. Occasionally, I heard movement outside, but I just tried to raise my head and deal with an errand with a few "hoops".

"Wang, Wang, Wang......" A string of dog barks sounded in the dark night, which made people feel upset.

"What's the dog barking, go out and take a look!" The little arrow on duty, Maigai, poked his head out of the bed irritably, and commanded to the outhouse in a dumb voice.

"Yes, this is going, this is going. I guess I saw a mouse or a night owl! The samurai, huddled on the floor of the outhouse, agreed weakly. Then he picked up the lantern and cowered and pushed open the wooden door of the enemy tower.

"Whew-" A cold wind immediately hit the face, blowing everyone staggered back, and the hot air all over the body disappeared in an instant. Everyone shuddered, scolded and leaned out half of their bodies, and looked around through the starlight above their heads and the lantern in their hands, but there was no figure in sight except themselves.

The barking of the dogs stopped abruptly, and the three sheepdogs, who usually dared to rush up to fight when they saw a wolf, suddenly ran along the castle to the lantern, and put their bodies against the thighs of the samurai, and let out a series of aggrieved screams from their mouths.

"Damn, you even know you're afraid of the cold!" The samurai suddenly realized, raised their legs and gently kicked each of the sheepdogs, and turned back to the enemy tower. The shepherd dogs, on the other hand, rushed into the enemy building before their owners closed the door, refusing to stay outside in the cold wind to freeze.

"Lie down honestly, who dares to in the house, Lao Tzu will stew him tomorrow!"

"Get down, don't jump around, which one is not honest, which one is in the soup pot."

"Get down, Lao Tzu is missing a dog skin here!"

The Turgish people are known for their love of dogs, including dog meat and dog skin mattresses. When the warriors saw the pitiful appearance of the sheepdog, they smiled and cursed a few words, and then let it go. Outside the enemy building, tranquility was quickly restored. Except for the howling of the cold wind, nothing could be heard!

"Save it! It took a lot of effort for Lao Tzu to collect this bit of tiger feces and urine. Don't run out all at once! "Sticking to the root of the wall of the frozen city, Luo Huaizu complained in a hoarse voice. But the sound was very low, muffled by the whistling of the cold wind, and it could not be transmitted far at all.

"Hey, hey, hey......" the brothers around grinned, their eyes and teeth shining in the starlight. After getting along for a long time, everyone has already figured out the temper of this Uncle Luo, and they don't take his complaints seriously at all.

Luo Huaizu himself just habitually complained casually. Deep down, there is actually more pride than annoyance. He quickly took back the bag containing tiger feces and urine, and he didn't even bother to wipe his hands, so he took out a bag of thin wooden strips from his cuirass and distributed them to the brothers around him one by one, "In this way, you learn from me." It's a bit bitter, but refreshing! ”

"Ugh!" Everyone covered their mouths in disgust, but they didn't dare to disobey Luo Huaizu's order, and forcibly endured the feeling of gagging, and bit the wooden strip between their upper and lower teeth one after another.

A strong bitter smell instantly rushed to the top door of everyone. Immediately, the saliva overflowed, and the tip of the tongue began to tingle. It turned out to be to avoid making a noise and alarming the defenders of the city! 'The organic spirit person immediately understood Luo Huaizu's intentions. Resist the urge to spit out the sticks and continue to clench your teeth. However, Luo Huaizu himself did not give any explanation to everyone, and quickly took the glass lantern wrapped in thick cloth from Ren Wu's hand, and gently opened a gap on the side facing the distance, and then quickly closed it back.

The light flickered, but from a distance, it was exceptionally clear. Hundreds of steps away, the sound of a crow immediately sounded, "Wow, wow, wow...... in the cold night, making the scalp shudder.

Luo Huaizu sent out three flashes of light in succession, and not far from the opposite side, he also quickly responded three times with the sound of crows. Immediately after, Ren Qi and Guo Jing each led more than a hundred brothers to quietly touch from the darkness and aim the already fully wound Qingzhang crossbow at the head of the city. Immediately, Zhang Qian also appeared with more than a thousand brothers, and slowly lined up at the city gate.

Luo Huaizu didn't have time to wait for Zhang Qian to set up the attack formation, and after putting down the lantern for communication, he waved behind him again. The two brothers quickly pushed up a wheelbarrow and quickly lifted the quilt from it, revealing a neat row of bamboo poles, wooden buckles, and hemp rope.

Luo Huaizu quickly grabbed four short, thick bamboo poles and put them on the ground, and then put wooden locks on the bamboo poles. Immediately afterwards, two arm-thick bamboo poles were stuffed into the holes in the lock.

Several clever brothers took the initiative to help, picked up more bamboo poles and wooden buckles of different lengths from the car, and handed them to Luo Huaizu. The latter methodically combined bamboo poles and wooden buckles, and in the blink of an eye, a slender and sturdy bamboo ladder appeared under the city wall.

More bamboo poles and wooden buckles were installed on the bamboo ladder, and after just 20 breaths, the bamboo ladder extended to three and a half zhang long. Luo Huaizu grabbed the rope, put one end of the rope on the top beam of the bamboo ladder, and wrapped the other end of the rope around the bottom of the bamboo ladder. A brother bent down and shook the handle quickly with one hand. With a thin "creaking" sound, the bamboo ladder was pulled up by a rope, and the top quickly rose above the wall.

The four brothers worked together to push and rotate the base of the bamboo ladder. The hook at the top of the bamboo ladder is tied to the city wall. Luo Huaizu nodded at everyone, then pulled out a horizontal knife and stepped on the bamboo ladder to go straight to the city.

Ren Yong carried the weapon and repeated the same movements as Luo Huaizu. This was followed by more than 50 carefully selected brothers. One by one, the body is agile and the movements are fast, and in the blink of an eye, they have reached the top of the city wall one after another

The cold wind blew the smell of tiger feces and urine into the city. No dog dared to bark, and in the silence, Luo Huaizu led his brothers to line up at the head of the city, and at the same time waved gently below.

The more than 50 brothers in the city were automatically divided into two teams. One team to the left and one to the right, each occupying a section of the wall to make room for the rest of the brothers. Immediately, Wang Han also led more than 50 brothers to climb silently to the top of the wall on the bamboo ladder.

The starlight suddenly became extremely bright, and every fast-moving figure could be seen clearly. And the cold wind suddenly became even more bitter, freezing people's faces, and it hurt like a knife.

Ren Qi and Guo Jing and other soldiers who were standing under the city wall were so nervous that they could barely breathe. Without blinking, he watched Luo Huaizu, Ren Yong and Wang Han take their brothers and meet on the city wall. Then he watched as the brothers leaned down and quietly touched the enemy tower. Watch as the brethren get closer and closer to the enemy tower, getting closer and closer. The scarf above his head reflects the starlight. The horizontal knife in his hand is dazzling and cold!

Guo Jing and the others were holding the arm of the crossbow, which was already sour and numb. The fingers that everyone clasped on the mechanism had already lost their senses from the cold. However, no one wants to pull the crossbow machine!

Hurry, hurry, the crossbow machine should never be pulled. It is better to kill the defenders in the enemy tower in their sleep. When the Turks in the city are unconscious, it is good to open the city gates. God, you must open your eyes, don't let the Turks in the enemy tower suddenly regain their alertness, and don't let the dogs in the city bark.

Maybe the Turks in the city are full of evil, or maybe God really opened his eyes and heard the call of everyone's hearts. Tonight, from beginning to end, luck shrouded the heads of Luo Huaizu, Wang Han and others. Until they touched the front of the enemy building and sealed the door with knives, the Turgish warriors inside were still unaware!

Wang Han did not hesitate and led his brothers down the horse road. Luo Huaizu grabbed a grenade, lit the fuse with a fire breaker, and stuffed it directly into the window of the enemy building. "Boom!" There was a loud bang, and the silence was gone. Inside the enemy building, the firelight flickered, and dozens of figures stumbled inside.

The second, third, fourth grenades were lit and quickly stuffed from different windows. "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" The explosions were in a series of sounds, and the enemy tower was shaken to the ground. The wooden door was pushed open from the inside, and several Turk warriors stumbled out of the door with their faces bloodied.

Ren Yong, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, led the brothers to quickly swing their swords and cut down the rushing Thirshi warriors to the ground. The rest of the Tirchishi warriors, who were lucky enough not to be killed by the grenade, did not dare to rush through the door again, and changed to a window where no grenade had been thrown in, and scrambled to climb out.

Guo Chu led his brothers to block it head-on, and slashed at the Tuqi warrior with his sword. Although the latter was frightened and panicked, he refused to give up his resistance, and raised his sword to meet the battle. There is a huge difference in the training degree between the two sides, and the armor protection on their bodies is not at the same level at all. In the blink of an eye, the Turgish warriors who jumped out of the window fell to the ground. The iron vests on Guo Chu and others were only cut out of a few dents.

"Woohoo, Woohoo......" A shepherd dog with its tail blown off roared and rushed out of the door. Ren Yong slashed over with a knife and cut the dog's body into two pieces. The Turgish warrior who followed the dog cried and tried to step forward desperately, but was slashed by the brethren and dismantled in a blink of an eye. More brethren rushed into the towers with the blood of the enemy, looking for the Turgish warriors from room to room, and slew them one by one. Several clever Tusher warriors ran up to the second floor, blocking the staircase with scimitars and bows. Ren Yong found a torch and threw it at the top of the stairs, then casually tore off the bedding and wheat straw under the mattress of the Turgish, and quickly piled it on the stairs.

The flames lit the straw and the bedding, and quickly rose to the height, and the smoke rolled up the staircase, and the heat baked the wooden beams and pillars with a rich rosin fragrance. The Turgish warriors on the second floor screamed loudly and pushed open the windows, trying to jump out of them to survive. Guo Jing and the others, who were standing outside the city, saw it clearly, a row of crossbow arrows shot past, and there was no longer a figure at the window.

The pine-framed enemy tower soon turned into a huge torch, illuminating the city gate as bright as day. The gate of the city was opened from the inside by Wang Han and his brothers, and Zhang Qian led the army commander to enter. All the Thirshi warriors in the city were alarmed, and under the command of Berkzai, they launched a frenzied counterattack. They are not brave, but they are stupid. The Tang army, which fought in formation, first used strong bows and crossbows and overturned them by a third. Then rush forward, surround them, divide, like cutting melons and chopping vegetables,

In total, within half a moment, the Turkic warriors' counterattack was declared a failure. Most of the samurai were killed, and a small number of samurai protected Xei Burke, and retreated in panic to the center of the city. Several owners were awakened in their sleep, thinking that the herdsmen had rebelled en masse, and rushed to the street with the clansmen, and accidentally collided with the Tang Army.

In the blink of an eye, several villagers under his command were engulfed by the sword light. The Tang army, which had already made a lot of effort, under the leadership of Wang Han, Wang Zhilian, Guo Jing, Ren Qi and others, quickly advanced along the streets into the city. Like a galloping carriage, crushing any resistance along the way.

Several owners were still unwilling to fail, and took the clansmen to hide in the shadows and cast cold arrows. However, the cold arrows were either shot crooked, or they were blocked by the iron armor on the Tang army, and they made no achievements. The angry Tang army surrounded the attackers with torches and dismantled the attackers into pieces.

It is very easy to distinguish between friend and foe, and all the slightly decent houses in the city are all owned by the head of the village and the clansmen. Datang Jian'er smashed open the courtyard door and directly grabbed the prisoners. Some clever village leaders and clansmen, seeing that the situation was not good, tried to flee into the slaves' houses to hide. But their clothing, dress, and temperament were too different from those of the slaves, and they were soon identified by the Tang Army and tied up and detained.

When the Tang army advanced under the city wall on the north side of the frozen city, the actual controller of the frozen city, Berkzai, pouted his fat ass and was trying to climb to the city wall. In order to prevent the escape of the herdsmen in the city, only a south gate was left in the frozen city. After this gate was captured by the Tang army, Zay Burke became a turtle in an urn. He scurried around like a fly without a head, but he couldn't find a place to hide, so he had to try to survive by jumping over the wall from the farthest position from the Tang army. However, his body was too fat and his movements were too slow, and when Wang Han caught up, his fingers had not yet touched the upper edge of the city wall.

Finding himself cornered, Berkzai decisively jumped off the shoulders of his cronies, raised his scimitar in his hand, and rushed towards Wang Han. The long lance in Wang Han's hand unceremoniously pierced his throat. Zay Burke dropped the knife and stared at him to see clearly, what is the difference between Wang Han and his slaves, who are also Tang people. His vision quickly blurred, and he couldn't breathe. A stream of blood came out of his mouth, and he died on his back.

The battle ended at that moment, more than half an hour earlier than Zhang Qian expected. More than 300 Turkish warriors, more than 20 village leaders and more than 200 clansmen in the city were beheaded by seventy percent, and the remaining thirty percent were captured alive and tied up in the open space in front of the county government to wait for their fate.

Zhang Qian transferred the recruits who had only joined the army in Gumo City into the city, and they accompanied Wang Zhilian to clear the remnants of the enemy in the city, so as not to slip through the net. At the same time, they were ordered to gather the Tang people in the city to the gate of the county government to participate in the trial and disposal of the prisoners.

The recruits have been through this themselves, and everything is familiar with it. Having been slaves, they also knew how to communicate with slaves in the city.

However, when they were on a mission, it was very difficult. Unlike the craftsmen in Gumo City, the people of the Tang Dynasty in the frozen city have been imprisoned for too long, and many people are desperate for the king to come, and they are already desperate in their hearts. Even when they saw Zhuang Tou and the clansmen tied up by ropes, they couldn't believe that the young eunuch Zhang in the mouth of the recruits would really make decisions for everyone.

Some of them are so old that they don't even want to go out of the house. It was determined that if Suo Ge led a large group of men and horses to come back, the Tang army would definitely not be an opponent. At that time, they will definitely be abandoned by the Tang army, and then chased and killed by the Turgish. It is better to die in the frozen city, so as to save the suffering of suffering from the destruction of hope again.

"I said earlier, it's not difficult to break the city, but the difficult thing is to take these people out safely!" As if he had long expected that there would be problems in the implementation of Zhang Qian's rescue plan, Luo Huaizu rubbed his frostbitten ears while sneering, "The surroundings are so empty and bloody, as early as a few months ago, I found a way to escape." Even if it doesn't work, the result is just death. And those who stay to survive are bloodless! They won't save themselves, and you can't carry them away. ”

"Give them a little more patience and time, I don't believe it, some people naturally like to be slaves!" Zhang Qian's thoughts were never as extreme as Luo Huaizu's, so he smiled and shook his head slightly. "It won't take long! They all have eyes and brains, they can see, they can ponder. ”

"Then we'll have to have time. The grain in the frozen city has long been transported to the broken leaves. The heads of the village were worried that everyone would have the strength to resist when they were full, and each family only distributed two taels of corn every day! Luo Huaizu frowned and continued to add in a low voice. Besides, it is impossible for Suo Ge to never think that we will kill his lair. In case he returns to his teacher in spite of everything......"

He was telling the truth, and when he left Gumo, in order to ensure the speed of the march, the brothers brought only twenty days of their own dry rations. If the dry food had been distributed to the more than 6,000 people in the city, the people themselves would have to go hungry. And Suo Ge couldn't find any trace of everyone along the Sihun River, and sooner or later he would lead his troops back to the lair. In case Suo Ge comes back, and everyone has not had time to evacuate, the two armies will have to collide head-on!

"I know where to get food!" Zhang Qian looked around, and suddenly lowered his voice extremely low, "There is also a way to make these people in the city cheer up as soon as possible and follow us to advance and retreat together." Uncle, can you do me another favor......

"I owe you?!" Before Zhang Qian finished speaking, Luo Huaizu jumped up as if he had been stepped on his tail and protested loudly. However, there was not much anger on his face, "Isn't it enough to help you take the frozen city?" You still want to break the idea of the leaf. It's not a frozen city, and the walls are twice as tall as here! Although the number of defenders is small, it is definitely not less than our brothers! Between the frozen city and the broken leaves, there are also two fortresses of He Lie and Ye Zhi. By the time you gnaw through them one by one, the Turks in Broken Leaf City have already taken precautions, not to mention that Suo Ge should also be killed behind you! ”

"I have a way, bypass Ye Zhi and He Hunt, and go directly to the city of Broken Leaves within three days." Zhang Qian glanced at him with a smile, and his voice was full of temptation, "We still have a lot of black powder and fierce fire oil in our hands, which are enough to break the enemy." After taking Broken Leaf City, if the materials are complete, I will teach you how to configure black powder, this time, I will never hide my secrets! ”