Lou Ti Zhibi's subordinates were unwilling to give the new cotton clothes to the Qianren, found ten sets of broken ones, sent people to the city in hanging baskets, and sent them to Diao Shi.

When Diao's subordinates saw this, they were all furious.

A military general with a strong beard said angrily: "Xianbei'er is so bold that he dares to insult Changshi!" Please give the order to attack the city, and the last will be the first to be Changshi! When the city is conquered, let the children taste the wrath of our lord Ahuramazda. ”

This general's name is He Huncong. Although he has a thick beard, slightly white skin, and a tall figure, his nose is not high, his eye sockets are not deep, and his eyes are also dark and brown, but he is an out-and-out Tang man.

He Hun Cong was fierce and daring to fight, and in the battle against the Eastern Tang Dynasty, he often took the lead and moved forward bravely, and was regarded by He Hun as an eagle dog minions, so He Hun not only did not care about his fake surname, but also regarded this as a manifestation of his loyalty.

The cotton clothes were already yellowed and black, dirty, and smelly, Diao Zhi waved his hand and ordered the soldiers outside the tent to take it away, and then, he first picked up the silver bowl and drank a large sip of hot buttermilk unhurriedly, and then replied to He Hun Cong and said, "What are you anxious about." ”

"Changshi, what do you mean by urgency?"

Catching Diao Shi's words, he asked rhetorically, it was not He Huncong, it was another general in the tent.

The appearance of this military general is different from that of He Hun Cong and Diao Ha, he has a fair complexion, a high nose and deep eyes, turquoise eyes, and a lush beard, which is the backbone of He Hun's evil military and political clique, and in the words of later generations, the appearance of the standard "Caucasian race".

Within the Hehun evil military and political clique, there are many ethnic groups, and these ethnic groups, if they are divided according to their status, from high to low, can be roughly divided into five classes. The first class is the Caucasian race headed by the Qian, the second class is the department led by the Huyi strong and powerful people under the jurisdiction of Diao, the third class is the rest of the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rong and other tribes, the fourth class is the yellow race of mixed Hu, and the fifth class is the Tang people.

Of course, the Tang people are not all at the bottom, at the bottom are ordinary soldiers and people, the surname of the scholar clan in the Tang people, in the He Hun evil military and political group, the status is usually relatively high, such as the right long Shi Zhang Shi, who is not only from the right surname Shi clan, but also has a good plan, and has no last resort, because he has a very high status under the account of He Hun, and is even called "Right Marquis" by He Hun.

Speaking of the "Caucasian race", the reason why He Hun did not only take the Caucasus people as the backbone, but expanded the scope of the backbone to the Caucasian race, is because the number of the Caucasus people who moved into the Central Plains is not very large, whether it is compared with the Tang people, or compared with the Xianbei and other Hu people, their numbers are at an absolute disadvantage, so in order to expand their strength, starting from He Hun Xie's father, their father and son two generations have continued to vigorously recruit the same or similar race as the Qian, scattered throughout the Central Plains, various ethnic groups in the Western Regions, such as the Sogdians and the Yueshi people, Tocharian people, etc., developed to the present, plus the Qiang people of their own tribe, there are hundreds of thousands of such people under the tent of He Hun evil, and there is an elite army of He Hun evil, named "Gao Li", called "Attack and fight like a god", which is composed of such people.

It is precisely because the backbone of the military and political clique of He Hun evil is of the Western Regions and West Asian races, so Zoroastrianism is very popular under the rule of He Hun evil, and He Hun Cong also believes in this religion, so it is appropriate to have the sentence "Let the children taste the wrath of my lord Ahuramazda".

Rhetorically asked the Caucasian general under Diao's jurisdiction, named Tao Zhen, who was He Hunxie's "friend of cloth" when he was young, and the soldiers led by him were a part of "Gao Li", with more than 2,000 people, and they were the main elite among the 10,000 people led by Diao to attack Gaoping this time.

Treating He Huncong, a fake man, Diao Zhi can be careless, and when he treats Tao Zhen, Diao Zhi is a lot more respectful.

Diao Shi didn't get angry with his tone, and said with a smile: "Although Hulu County is not big, it is better than Chengjian, one of them; Lou Tizhibi is not a mediocre general, why did he send me ten collars of torn cotton clothes, it was definitely me who insulted me, he was telling me that he had already taken precautions, and this is the second; I looked at the city in the morning, and saw the guards pushing the waterwheel, pouring water on the city wall, these two days suddenly changed the sky, the clouds were dense and the wind was urgent, probably it was going to snow, it didn't take one night, the water must be frozen, and the water became ice, the city wall would not be easy to climb, and third.

"Therefore, the three are that I am not in a hurry to attack the city."

Tao Zhen said: "It seems reasonable to say this two or three of the long history, but when I look at the long history, it is not thoughtful. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Changshi also said that it will probably snow in the next few days. Yes, the current Hulu City is not easy to attack, but when the snow falls, won't it be even more difficult to attack? Instead of waiting for the snow to fall, it's better to storm the city early! Knock down the city early, and when the snow falls, you and I can take shelter from the wind and cold in the city! After Tao Zhen finished speaking, he looked at the generals in the tent and asked them, "You say, don't you?" ”

He Hun Cong said loudly: "Yes, isn't it! ”

The rest of the generals also said yes.

Diao He smiled: "It's just snow!" ”

Tao Zhen was puzzled, her green eyes fell on Diao Xi's face, and she asked, "What do you mean?" ”

"My army suddenly arrived, and there were few soldiers in Hulu City, and with me, Lou Ti Zhibi would definitely send people to Changyi for help; There are 20,000 Wei soldiers in Changyitun, and after receiving the request for help, they will definitely come to the aid of Hulu with their own soldiers. ”

When Tao Zhen heard this, he already understood what he meant, and asked, "You want to besiege the city and send reinforcements?" ”

"Not bad."

"But Xianbei'er's armored cavalry is brave and sharp, and our troops have few cavalry, so I am afraid that we will not be able to annihilate them quickly, and once the guards of Hulu attack our formation, our army will face the danger of being attacked by the enemy on the belly and back!"

"That's why I said it's snowing. After the snow, the ground was slippery, and the Xianbei armor rode fiercely, and ten percent of the combat power had been lost in this environment. At that time, the captain led the high force to fight, why not win? Why worry about not getting a lot of money? ”

The races of the Western Regions, such as the Qiang people and the Sogdians, were not mostly nomadic peoples, especially the Qiang people who entered the Central Plains, and in the early days they basically relied on farming for the Tang people and being slaves and maids for the Tang people, and they were not good at riding and fighting; In addition, Xuzhou is not a horse-producing land, although it occupies farmland and sets aside some pastures, but how many horses can be raised with such a little pasture? Therefore, the troops under He Hun's evil tent were not mainly cavalry, but mainly infantry.

"Gaoli" is infantry, and some "Gaoli" troops also have horses, but their horses are mainly used to improve their mobility, and the battle is still won by foot combat. The soldiers selected for Gaoli are all good at shooting, using bows and crossbows at a distance, and fighting with spears at close range. Speaking of which, this fighting style is close to that of the West Asian army. It's not surprising, after all, the ancestors of He Hun and Tao Zhen are all from the Western Regions and West Asia.

Tao Zhen was overjoyed when he heard this, and said in his heart: "In peacetime, if you encounter a Xianbei armor ride, you must fight hard; However, if it is after the snow, it is indeed as Diao Shi said, it is not difficult to win! Since he would not let go of the opportunity to make great achievements, he no longer insisted on attacking the city, and followed the strategy of Diao, saying, "Long history is clever!" ”

Tao Zhen has changed his mind, how could He Huncong still ask for a siege without a smile? And he said no more.

After everyone discussed the army, they decided to besiege the city and send reinforcements, and Tao Zhen and others said goodbye and left.

Diao sent scouts to the west to find out the enemy situation in Changyi.

After the military affairs were completed, Diao Zhi sat in the tent for a while, and after nothing happened, he got up and went out of the tent and took dozens of personal soldiers to check the progress of the camp.

There were about four or five thousand people who came with the army, half of them were Tang people, and a few were Zahu.

At the selected location of the gate, the gate has been erected, and the people are digging a ravine outside the gate, and at the same time, the excavated soil is used to build earth walls on both sides of the gate.

In the season of deep winter, when the sky is about to snow, the north wind is really biting cold, like a knife, Diao Shi is wrapped in a thick coat, and he still feels cold, and the Tang and Hu Minfu who are on the wall are all yellow and thin, skinny, but they are all unclothed.

Many of the people didn't even have shoes, and stepped barefoot on the hard and cold ground, their feet were not red and swollen from the cold, they were already rotten, and when they took a step, they drew a blood stain.

The men who oversaw the work and the other soldiers, armed with swords and spears, stood around with fierce eyes, and when they saw a slow man, they rushed up and kicked them. The people have become accustomed to this kind of treatment, and they only curled up their legs and hugged their heads when they were beaten, and they did not dare to cry out in pain, and when they were beaten, they struggled to get up, even if they were bleeding all over their faces, they only wiped it, and then continued to work; Those who have not been beaten do not even look at the beaten people, and even if a bulldozer passes by them, they just staggered numbly forward and did their work.

Diao Shi watched for a long time and heard a small commotion.

He raised his eyes and saw that twenty or thirty paces away, a soldier of the Qiang people was squatting down, reaching out to touch the snort of a Tang man who was lying curled up.

Diao Shi paced over and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

The soldier hurriedly stood up and replied, "This Tang Er died without beating." ”

Diao Shi changed color and said angrily: "What is my military order? ”

The soldier replied in fear, "You are not allowed to kill people without a reason." ”

"You know the consequences of violating my military orders, right?"

"The villain knows."

"Da Shan Yu's battle with Xianbei'er is imminent, and the military order must be suppressed! If you have transgressed my orders, you should be punished. Wait to return to Pengcheng and hand over a sheep to the army! ”

The soldier replied, "Yes." ”

Two or three Hu soldiers dragged the Tang people's husband who had been killed away and threw him into a deep pit outside the gate. The pit was littered with corpses. It has only been less than a day since the camp was built, and nearly 100 Tang and Hu Minfu have been killed.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger, the clouds in the sky were getting thicker and thicker, and the whole camping area was dark and gloomy.

The fallen leaves were swept up by the wind and struck on the soldiers and people.

Diao Ha craned his neck, put his hands in his sleeves, looked at the situation of building the camp for a while, and silently calculated how long it would take to build the camp wall, and felt that the progress was too slow, so he gave an order, saying: "It is about to snow, tell the people to speed up the progress, and within two days, the camp must be built; If there is a postponement, draw five to kill one! ”

The soldiers received the order and immediately rushed to the construction sections everywhere to convey it.

After Diao's military order, he overlooked Hulu City to the west, and went back to his account to keep warm.

……

The time was short, the task was heavy, and after nightfall, the people did not get any rest, and braved the bitter cold of the night, but still continued to build the camp tiredly under the watchful eye of the torch-carrying soldiers who had changed shifts.

It was night, and even though there were torches illuminating it, it was still unclear.

Several Tang people took the opportunity to quietly get together, pretending to dig and talking in a low voice.

One person said: "When we were in Pengcheng, we were strictly guarded by the dogs, and there was no chance to escape, so God finally opened our eyes and told us to leave Pengcheng!" Two brothers, our chance has come! ”

Although this person's clothes are ragged, his eyes are sparse, and his instruments are extraordinary. He called Zhao Shuo, and said, Yu Yue also, because of the word Ziyue, a native of the Kanto region, in order to avoid war, he went to Xu, a few years ago, he was arrested by He Hun evil's soldiers, and thought that he had become the man of He Hun evil department so far.

The other hesitated and said, "Although we are out of Pengcheng, the slaves are still very strict with us. Look around here, there are slave soldiers all over it. We're unarmed, we can't fight them, I'm afraid it's still hard to escape, right? ”

Zhao said: "If it is during the day, it is difficult to get out, but at night it is different. ”

"How?"

"It's been cloudy these days, and it's even darker after nightfall." Zhao Shuo snorted and motioned to a few people around him to look outside the camp, "Look, ten steps away, there are no five fingers left!" Although we don't have weapons in hand, with the courage of my brother and me, it is not easy to sneak attack and kill a few slaves? Then take advantage of the darkness of the night and escape into the inlet in the south, can't we escape? ”

Another person said: "Brother, Ziyue is right! This is a great opportunity! ”

The person who agreed with Zhao Shuo's proposal was called Feng Yu, and the person who hesitated was two brothers of the same birth, and the person who hesitated was called Mrs. Feng. The Feng brothers are also originally from Kanto, they are from Luoyang, and they also fled to Xuzhou, and were arrested as people's husbands by He Hun's evil department.

Mrs. Feng thought for a while, asked Zhao Shuo, and said, "Then you say, when should we escape?" ”

"Tonight!"

"Tonight?"

"Didn't the general give us an order to build the camp in two days? Within two days, the battalion was built, and there were barriers and ravines outside, and it was difficult for us to fly; If the camp fails, the slaves will draw five to kill one, and if they draw us, won't their lives be in vain? So, the best chance is tonight! Take advantage of the opportunity to build a camp on the edge of the camp to escape into the wilderness! ”

Mrs. Feng asked, "When is it tonight?" ”

Zhao said that he had thought about this matter in the afternoon, he was in his chest, and said: "The slaves are also people, and when they wait until around the third watch, the slaves who take care of us will inevitably be cold and sleepy, and at that time, it is the time for us to do it!" ”

Mrs. Feng's temperament was not decisive enough, he was still a little worried, and said: "The matter started in a hurry, we didn't plan carefully, what if it didn't work out?" ”

Zhao said angrily: "How can a husband die as a slave? It's not successful, as long as you can kill one or two slaves, you are also proud of your eyebrows, worthy of the body of a man of my generation, better than building a camp, you and I are like lambs, let people pick and slaughter! ”

There was firmness in his eyes, and he said, "I'd rather fight and die, and die unyieldingly!" ”

When Feng Yu heard this, his blood boiled, and he said, "Just do it!" ”

The other three or four Tang people on the side were also inspired by Zhao Shuo, and they all said, "Just do it!" ”

Mrs. Feng no longer hesitated.

The crowd dispersed, each looking for good fellow villagers and friends, and contacted about thirty or fifty people, all of whom were brave men, and they were all willing to obey.

On the third watch, as Zhao said, as Zhao expected, the nearby Qihu soldiers were sleepy and cold, and some of them couldn't stand it, so they simply ran to the camp wall that had been built to take shelter.

Zhao said that the Tang warriors who had been in contact with each other slowly gathered together.

Feng Yu rolled to the ground, holding his stomach and screaming.

Seven or eight of the soldiers came over scolding.

When a man lifts up his spear, he is to poke him with the hilt of the spear.

At this moment, Zhao Shuo rubbed his body up, waved the stone in his hand, and slammed it on the head of the spear-raising pawn, snatched his spear with his hand, first hit him in the chest with the handle of the spear, knocked him staggered back, and then adjusted the spearhead and stabbed at the pawns next to him. Those guards were caught off guard and didn't have time to make a block, and Zhao Shuo injured two in succession.

Feng Yu rolled over and jumped up, grabbed the leg of a pawn, knocked him to the ground, pulled out the saber at his waist, and killed the slave.

Zhao Shuo and Feng Yu each held weapons and fought with the rest of the pawns who reacted.

Feng Tai and the other Tang warriors rushed forward.

Although the soldiers had weapons, they were outnumbered, and after a while, the remaining ones were overturned by Zhao Shuo and others.

Mrs. Feng and the others picked up the weapons of the pawns, shouted, and everyone turned around and ran towards the night outside the camp.

There were also pawns outside, and they were shocked to find that some Tang people dared to make trouble, and they all rushed to this side; The soldiers in the camp also rushed to this side. Enemies inside and outside. There were fewer pawns from outside, about 10 or 20 people, and there were more chasers from behind, about 100 people.

At the critical moment, Zhao said in his heart: "I came up with the strategy of escaping tonight, I should hinder the pursuit of thieves for everyone, and I can't let my Tang family warriors die here!" Fensheng said, "Brother, wait for the first time, I'll break the back!" ”

Before the words fell, the bows of the front and back pawns struck.

Half of the dozens of Tang warriors were hit by arrows, and many fell to the ground.

Zhao said that he felt pain under his crotch, and when he looked down, he saw that he was hit by an arrow under his lower abdomen and between his legs.

Blood gushed and the pain was unbearable, but Zhao said that his fighting spirit was getting higher.

He knew that he would not be able to escape from this injury, and his determination became more and more resolute, and he shouted, "Brother, go quickly!" ”

Carrying spears and rushing towards the soldiers who came from the camp.

Although it is one person, it faces hundreds of people, and there is no fear at all.

He was also really brave, crashing into the group of pawns, ignoring the severe pain in the wounds, and rushing forward with unprecedented momentum. After all, there were many soldiers, and he soon fell into a heavy siege, and in an instant, he suffered seven or eight wounds, but he still fought hard, and finally due to excessive bleeding, he gradually lost his strength.

Seeing that two pawns tried to come up and capture him, Zhao Shuo looked behind him and saw that the brothers Feng Tai and Feng Yu had killed the surrounding of the pawns outside, leading the remaining four or five Tang people, and the figure disappeared into the night, so he smiled, reversed the spearhead, and committed suicide.

Feng Tai, Feng Yu brothers and others escaped for several miles, hid in the inlet in the south of the city, listened carefully, did not hear the sound, the pawn did not chase here, everyone relieved. Thinking of Zhao Shuo, who volunteered to intercept the soldiers in the camp for them, although they did not see the scene of Zhao Shuo's suicide, they could also guess that Zhao Shuo would not survive, and everyone was sad.

Feng Yu burst into tears, clenched his fists, and said, "If you don't avenge Ziyue and the brothers who died tragically, you swear not to be a man!" ”

Mrs. Feng said: "We have escaped, but the east is the slave, and the west is Wei Yu, where do we go next?" ”

Someone said: "Why don't you go south to join Tang?" ”

Feng Yu wiped away his tears and said, "The Tang family is cowardly, and it has been nearly a hundred years since the atomic people abandoned me!" Why should we vote for it? Even if you go to vote, you can only be attached to the wealthy family, and you are also a slave, which is different from being in Xuzhou! And how can you avenge Ziyue? ”

Mrs. Feng asked, "Then where do you say you're going?" ”

"Ziyue said, 'How can a husband die as a slave'? Now that I've escaped, I'm going to fight my way out! I heard that in the territory of Wei, there are several begging jobs, let's go begging! ”

Everyone dared to kill the pawns and escape, they were all bold, and after discussing for a while, they all agreed with Feng Yu's suggestion.

The next day, he went west to Wei and went to beg for work.