Under the stone castle city, Wang Zhongji once again led the army here. But just over two months apart, Wang Zhonghe's situation is already very different. The last time he came here, he was full of strength and confidence, and Wang Zhongsi didn't even think about whether he could take Shibao City. And this time when he arrived here, Wang Zhongsi only had more than 50,000 soldiers and horses in his hands. Moreover, because of the suffering of these soldiers and horses in the cold land of the Gobi for months, their fighting spirit has been completely wiped out and their morale is low.

What made Wang Zhongsi feel even more like a lifetime away was that a few months ago he was still a marshal with high prestige in the army, and this time the holy decree of the imperial court was issued, and he rarely became a commander who led the army but lost the absolute control of the army, which has to be said to be a kind of sadness.

Three miles away from the Stone Fort City, Wang Zhongsi rode his horse and looked at the Shibao City towering on the high slope of the Gobi Desert in front of him. The stone castle city in front of him was shrouded in the snow and mist swept by the strong wind, white and gray, and only the outline could be seen. Wang Zhongji tried to squint his eyes carefully, but the snow and mist in front of him still lost his sight, and he couldn't see any information about the enemy army. Wang Zhongsi's heart was gloomy, not only could he not see the enemy's movements clearly, but he also couldn't see the outcome of the battle and his own future.

Goshu Hance stepped forward, his scarlet cloak whirling in the wind, but his back was still straight.

"Great. It's getting late, so set up camp quickly, and you can attack the city early tomorrow morning. It's just that I don't know the news of Dong Yanguang, and his soldiers and horses don't know if they have arrived at the rear of Shibao City, and the news is completely cut off. Ge Shuhan said in a deep voice.

Wang Zhongsi retracted his gaze into the distance, nodded and said, "Dong Yanguang has been sending troops for seven days, and according to the normal speed, he has already arrived at the south of Shibao City. But whether he arrives or not, we must attack the city tomorrow, because we are running out of food and grass in our army. Tomorrow morning, all the food will be boiled, so that the brothers will have enough to eat, so that they will have the strength to attack. ”

Ge Shuhan arched his hand and said, "I understand my humble position. ”

Geshuhan rode away and ordered the army to camp in the snow and ice. Li Guangbi stood beside Wang Zhonghei and said in a low voice: "Marshal, the situation in this battle is dangerous, and he has never experienced this kind of predicament after following the marshal for many years. I dare not imagine what kind of ending we will have if Dong Yanguang's soldiers and horses do not appear tomorrow. The army was starved of food, hungry and cold, and this situation made the lowly people very frightened. ”

Wang Zhongsi sighed lightly and said: "Guangbi, you have followed Ben Shuai through many bloody battles, I thought you were a fearless person, but I didn't expect you to be terrified. But you're not wrong, Ben Shuai is very scared in his heart, let alone you. We'll do our best, and we'll leave the rest to God. It's a big deal that the horse leather shroud, dying here in battle, has also done our duty. Don't think too much, go back to the camp to cheer up the soldiers, you and I are like this, let alone the soldiers. ”

Li Guangbi nodded and promised, and said in a deep voice: "Dashuai also go back, after a day's journey, Dashuai has not entered a drip, so take care of yourself." ”

Wang Zhongsi nodded, turned the horse's head and slowly returned.

……

Forty miles west of Shibao City, 50,000 soldiers and horses led by Dong Yanguang were camping in the depths of the Gobi. In the last two days, they have barely moved forward. Since four days ago, after Shibao City turned west with the intention of bypassing the south of Shibao City, Dong Yanguang's army had ushered in great trouble. Losing Zhaling Lake as a reference for the march, when entering the depths of the Gobi Desert in the west of Daoshibao City, Dong Yanguang led 50,000 soldiers and horses into the way.

The Gobi terrain was already difficult to identify, not to mention that they had entered a vast snowy field. The north wind never stops, the sky is always gray, and the stars are not even discernible at night. The ground was always undulating with snow, and the footprints were soon covered with snow and mist, and the army of 50,000 scurried across the snow like headless flies.

Originally, the method of determining the direction of the ancient march relied on the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers and roads. Although there are no roads on the Gobi Desert, it is very easy to discern the direction by relying on the reference objects such as the sun, moon and stars, Zhaling Lake and the Kunlun Mountains on the west side. It's a pity that Dong Yanguang didn't expect that the strong wind after the heavy snow on the Gobi Desert would make the world vast and gray. When rushing to Stone Castle City, it was not a problem to march along the tortuous shore of Zhaling Lake. Once entering the depths of the Gobi, without the guidance of Zhaling Lake, and without the direction of the Kunlun Mountains, let alone the guidance of the sun, moon and stars, the army soon lost its direction.

After struggling to move forward on the snowfield for two days, Dong Yanguang suddenly found that they had lost their way and didn't know where they were going, which scared Dong Yanguang into a cold sweat. Dong Yanguang knew what the result of missing the time was. If Wang Zhongsi launched the siege at the appointed time as originally planned, and he did not arrive in time to launch a fierce attack on the belly, Wang Zhonghe's army would be destroyed. That's not all, once Wang Zhonghe's army is defeated, his 50,000 soldiers and horses will be the next target of the Tubo people, which is the most deadly.

More than half of the food in the army has been consumed for 10 days, nearly 2,000 soldiers have died in the army before the war has begun, and now they are lost in the Gobi Desert. Dong Yanguang had to abandon the dream of winning Shibao City and being rewarded and promoted a few days ago, and consider the practical problems in front of him. The real problem is that if you can't see the direction, you get lost. After the food was cut off, the army collapsed without a fight, and it was a question whether he could go back alive.

Dong Yanguang decisively gave the order to camp on the spot, and this order was also the most correct decision. If you lose your way, if you still insist on marching, you may lead the army further astray. Dong Yanguang sent more than a dozen teams of scout soldiers to explore the way in all directions, hoping to find the direction of the march. But all but two of the dozen or so scouts disappeared without a trace, except for the two teams who returned with nothing. Dong Yanguang had no choice but to continue to wait in place, and at this time he could not advance or retreat, and he could not even withdraw his troops, so he could only wait in place. What exactly is waiting for, Dong Yanguang can't figure it out.

……

The strong wind did not stop all night, but when it was dawn, the wind on the Gobi miraculously stopped, and the morning sun, which had not been seen for a long time, rose on the surface of the lake in the east, plating the snowfield on the shore of Zhaling Lake with a layer of gold. The black clouds in the sky drifted away, revealing the blue sky, and the scenery on the entire Gobi Desert was magnificent.

Wang Zhongsi put on a neat cloth out of the big tent, the sky was sunny and his mood was much better, and he was going to attack the city today, which may be a good sign, indicating that today's siege battle will be victorious.

In the midst of the noise and the neighing of war horses, the 50,000 ** soldiers had eaten breakfast, picked up their weapons and began to reorganize the formation. Li Guangbi and Ge Shuhan rode their horses from formation to formation, their horses' iron hooves crackling against the hard shells of the snow.

"Report to the marshal, the army has been reorganized, please give the marshal an order." Goshuhan galloped in, and the horse's hooves splashed a mist of snow.

Wang Zhongji sat on his horse, looked at the stone castle city in front of him, and shouted in a deep voice: "Advance to the next mile of the city, prepare to attack." ”

"Yes." Geshuhan threw his hand away, a reckless horn sounded, and the 50,000-strong army slowly advanced in hundreds of phalanxes. Like a black moving carpet on the snow, the footsteps of the army were uniform, breaking the ice and snow on the Gobi Desert, making a neat rumbling sound.

After advancing to the promised place under the city, the formation stopped at the sound of the order. The Tibetan defenders at the head of the city seem to have known that ** is about to attack the city, and the Tubo soldiers on the city wall above the city tower are waiting for them, and tens of thousands of bows and arrows are aimed at the city, waiting for the attack of **.

According to the usual practice, before the siege battle, it is necessary to provoke the enemy to go out of the city to fight head-on, but as soon as the scolding soldiers of the ** arrived within 300 steps of the city, there was a strong crossbow shot out of the city, which reached 300 steps away, and shot more than a dozen scolding soldiers into hedgehogs. Wang Zhongsi no longer made any more superfluous movements, drew his sword out of its sheath, and swung it violently in the sun. The drums of war rumbled, and the siege of ** officially began.

……

In the Gobi Desert, forty miles west of Shibao City, Dong Yanguang was overjoyed by the sudden sunny weather and the stopped north wind. Looking at the rising sun in the east, Dong Yanguang laughed happily: "God bless, there is indeed no endless road to the sky." The stone castle city was in the east, and immediately marched to the east. Hopefully, it's still too late. ”

Dong Yanguang's army immediately pulled out the camp and marched eastward, they didn't know how far they were from Shibao City, but as long as they were in the right direction, they would definitely feel Shibao City. On this day, the army marched for thirty miles, until the red sun slanted westward, and still did not see the shadow of Shibao City, Dong Yanguang had to order to camp in place.

Just as the army was busy camping, the scouts sent to the front galloped back to report, and found the location of the stone castle ten miles ahead, and did not dare to get too close for fear of exposing the traces of the army. Dong Yanguang was overjoyed, and immediately ordered the scouts to take advantage of the night to reconnoiter to the north of the city, find the military camp of Wang Zhonghe's army, and deliver the news that he was not far from Shibao City, and set an appointment to launch an attack on the city.

That night, Dong Yanguang happily drank some spirits, sat in the big tent drunk, squinted his eyes, roasted the fire, and hummed a little song. But his good mood didn't last long, and at the third watch, the scout soldiers and horses of the night scout returned to the camp with frost all over their bodies, and woke up Dong Yanguang, who was sleeping heavily, from his sleep. Then, Dong Yanguang heard the news that made him tremble, his heart chilled, and he felt chills all over his body.