A thin mist shrouded the castle.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! The huge drums of attack resounded in the sky at dawn, and the 40,000 Tuyuhun, Qiang, Dangxiang and Han slaves gathered together marched towards Huixibao wave after wave like a black ocean.

This is the 40,000 army commanded by the Tubo veteran Ma Chongying, they are not the main force of the Tubo people, but the Tubo people's temptation of the new army in Hexi, or it can be said that the Tubo people did not take Zhang Huan to heart, their goal this time is to occupy this strong fortress, making it a bridgehead for the Tubo to attack Longyou.

If you look down from the high Wusheling Ridge, through the fog that disappears from time to time, the four huge phalanxes are like four gray-black brocades, tiled on the tidal flats of the Yellow River as wide as ten miles, and the phalanx rises and falls, as if it is swaying by the breeze.

Ma Chongying, the main general of Tubo, is already an old opponent of the Tang Army, and he has fought against Ge Shuhan, Feng Changqing and other generals many times during the Tianbao years, and now he is nearly seventy years old, but his waist is still straight, and his eyes are as sharp as an eagle, which looks like an old Jiang Mi.

At the beginning of Zhang Huan's construction of Huixi Fort, he repeatedly wrote to Zanpu Trisong Dezan to ask for troops to stop the construction of Huixi Fort, but at that time, the strategic focus of Tubo was in Anxi, and the prime minister was still opposed to the use of troops to the east, fearing that it would trigger an alliance between the Tang army and the Hui.

Ma Chongying also gave up the idea of attacking Huixi Fort because he wanted to concentrate food supply to Anxi, until the war in Anxi gradually subsided, his eyes once again turned to Huixi Fort, gathered 40,000 Tubo affiliated troops, and attacked Huixi Fort in a big way.

Ma Chongying has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he knows that he must know himself and his opponent. In order to win a hundred battles, he did not immediately put all his troops into it, but first sent 10,000 troops to test the strength of the Tang army and find the weakness of the city defense.

The 10,000 Hehuang coalition troops shouted short slogans rhythmically. Groups of soldiers marched vigorously towards the castle three miles away, and in the midst of them, dozens of ladders with huge wooden wheels slowly advanced, and the drums beat one after another, dull and moving.

On the castle, Li Hengqiu's face was gloomy like water, he never ordered to light the beacon fire, 40,000 people, only 10,000 more than he expected, he was not afraid. Although he had only a garrison of 3,000 men, he had the sharpest defensive weapons and the strongest walls. He was convinced that he would make the enemy hate him under the castle of Huixi.

In addition to the 3,000 defenders who were scattered over the mile-long walls, the 2,000 military households and nearly 5,000 adults in the city were mobilized, and they were busy carrying arrows and boulders like ant colonies, and hundreds of stones were ready and creaking and creaking.

Next to the county government in the city, there was a group of special people, about 100 people, all of whom looked nervous. They are all unsuccessful scholars from Shuzhong, looking for development opportunities in Hexi, and just crossed the Yellow River to Xibao to rest, but they happened to encounter this battle.

But in the far corner stood a family, three women and two men. One of the young women was also holding a child who was about a year old.

The middle-aged woman dragged a young woman in a red pomegranate skirt and prevented her from going to the city to help in the war, "Pingping, how can you go to the city to fight, if something happens to you." How can I explain this to your father? ”

These people are the Lin Delong family who defected to Hexi from Shu County. One of the two men is Lin Deqi, an idler who has nothing to do all day, and the other is Lin Zhiyu, a nerd who has fallen off the list again. The young woman holding the child is his wife, and the middle-aged woman is Lin Delong's wife Yang Yuniang, and the young woman she pulled is naturally our Pingping, an old girl who has not been married yet.

Lin Pingping since he recognized Chu Xingshui as his father-in-law, lived in Guangling for half a year, and returned to Shu County because he was not used to the eunuch lady did not have a free life, but her mother forced her to marry, she simply took the third uncle to Nanzhao to travel, where she knew a young and handsome Nanzhao man, almost moved the idea of marrying, but suddenly found that this young man was actually the prince of Nanzhao, she was unwilling to marry into the palace, so she left Nanzhao and returned to Shu County, at this time her father had sent a letter to let them move to Wuwei, Lin Pingping followed his mother and brother to Hexi.

Of course she knows about Zhang Huan, but she has also slowly become sensible and knows that some things do not belong to her.

But her reckless nature has not changed, this time coincided with the Tuyuhun army attacking Huixi Fort, she was unyielding to go to the city to help the war, listening to her mother's dissuasion, she was so anxious that she said loudly: "Mother, this is the Tubo people fighting Zhang Eighteen!" How can I not go to war? ”

Lin Deqi next to him also persuaded again and again: "Yes! Sister-in-law, Pingping has practiced martial arts since she was a child, and her pan is invincible, so let her try it! I'll be there to protect her. ”

I don't know if I can't hold Lin Pingping or have the protection of the third uncle, Yang Yuniang's hand finally let go, Lin Pingping is like a pony breaking free from the reins, she rushed to the city with her sword, just ran a few steps, and suddenly saw a group of soldiers with hesitation on their faces.

"You guys!" Lin Pingping pointed his sword at them and shouted, "Didn't you say anything about collecting Guanshan Fifty Prefectures along the way?" Is it just a lip service, it's a man's, and he will go to the city with me to kill the enemy? ”

Everyone looked at each other, a few people's faces were swollen red, a few people just wanted to step forward but didn't want to be excited by the woman, at this moment, a burning rocket swished! The ground swept over their heads, and a sharp whistling sound, which was the signal for the start of the battlefield, and then the drums on the city wall roared, and the shouts of killing shook the sky, and the huge stones took turns to let out a thrilling strange roar, and one after another projected the huge stones the size of the millstone.

Lin Pingping stomped his feet, and no longer paid attention to these scholars, and rushed to the city tower first, the scholars hesitated, and finally a few followed Lin Pingping to the city, and the people behind followed one after another.

The fierce battle had begun, the first team of 10,000 people had already traveled a mile away, they suddenly increased their speed, shouted and rushed towards Huixi Fort, at this time, the sky suddenly heard the sound of breaking the sky, hundreds of black dots rose into the sky, like a flock of eagles, quickly flew above their heads, and grew bigger and bigger, emitting a sharp roar, before the Tuyuhun army could react, the boulder smashed on top of their heads. Suddenly, a piece of flesh and blood flew sideways, and a terrible wail sounded into a piece, and some places were smashed into meat patties, and some places were smashed into several pieces. Stumps and internal organs are thrown everywhere.

There are also two cloud ladders have been hit by boulders, Lu Peng scattered, the boulder directly hit the main ladder, instantly shattered bones, broken wood scattered all over the ground, a round of stone shooting, the Tuyuhun army died hundreds of people, three rounds of stone shooting, the Tuyuhun army has lost more than 2,000 people, but for a large number of 10,000 people attacked. This still did not form a fatal blow, and when they were still three hundred paces from the wall, the enemy began to fill the trench two feet wide. Prepare to let the ladder come forward.

The trench was filled in a section, paved with wooden planks, dozens of cloud ladders wrapped in thick cowhide rumbled and pushed, Tubo in the war with the Tang Dynasty for nearly a hundred years, especially after the Anshi Rebellion, it captured a large number of people, among which there are many skilled craftsmen, so that the scientific and technological level of Tubo has been greatly improved, especially in the large siege machine has been no worse than the Tang army, from these dozens of cloud ladders can be seen. The bottom of the ladder is made of large wood, and six wheels are placed below, and its main ladder is fixed on the chassis at a certain angle, and in addition to the main ladder, a movable ladder is added to the city. That is, the auxiliary ladder, its top is equipped with a pair of rollers, and when you climb the city, you can slide up and down along the city wall, which is called the flying cloud ladder.

Because the main ladder adopts a fixed device, the ladder procedure is simplified, the ladder erection time is shortened, and the design of the movable ladder to the city greatly reduces the height of the ladder before receiving the enemy, and the main ladder only needs to be parked under the city when attacking the city. Then a ladder to the city was erected on the main staircase. You can go up the city, and the main ladder is covered with canopies. Like a large moving house, the front of the main and secondary ladders is covered with cowhide, which is very tough to prevent the crossbows and arrows of the Tang army.

When they arrived at the bottom of the city, the folded side ladder was pulled up, getting longer and longer, stretching out more than 20 zhang, and the front end hooked up to the city wall, and hundreds of soldiers hiding in the ladder shouted and began to ascend the city.

The stone on the city is still being fired in turns, killing the enemy from a distance, and the arrows are raining down in the near place, although there are not many soldiers defending the city, but the crossbow of the Tang army has played a great power, ten thousand arrows are fired together, dense as a torrential rain, and thousands of soldiers who have attacked the city and have not entered the ladder to protect most of them to death, but the bow and crossbow have little effect on the ladder with strict protection, and the dense arrows are shot on the ladder wrapped in cowhide, making a crackling sound, and the enemy army hiding in the ladder holds a shield in one hand, resists the shots on both sides, and crawls desperately to climb the ladder.

At this time, it was the primitive logs and boulders that came into play, and the logs and boulders rolled down the ladder and smashed the soldiers on the ladder down, at this time, the enemy drums were beating, and although the stones and crossbows destroyed dozens of ladders, there were still twenty ladders under the city.

Thousands of Tuyuhun soldiers rushed to the head of the city, fighting with the soldiers defending the city, swords and spears, arrows rained, blood stained the battlements red, the corpses of the soldiers killed in battle were everywhere, and the wounded soldiers fell down the city wall with a long scream, but immediately a new person took over.

Ma Chongying watched the battle on a high slope in the distance with an expressionless face, a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, this Tang army general was too inexperienced, and he went all out in the first wave of tentative attacks, how many stocks of his arrows were there? How many times can his trebuchet withstand? Let's see what he will do tomorrow to defend the city.

And there are not many defenders of the Tang army, but they refuse to light a beacon fire for help, this is a commander who is too bloody, Ma Chongying suddenly smiled, he immediately ordered: "Bring the trebuchet and give me a concentrated target to attack the ignition tower in the city." ”

The siege battle continued, the enemy was very cunning, they had found the weakness of the Tang army's insufficient strength, so they scattered the ladders, so that the weakness of the Tang army's insufficient troops was more and more exposed, at this time, there were nearly 2,000 men in the city rushed to the city to help the battle, in a corner of the city, Lin Pingping led more than 100 soldiers to cooperate with dozens of Tang troops to fight with the enemy of two ladders.

Lin Pingping was dressed in a red dress, particularly conspicuous among the soldiers in black helmets and black armor and the soldiers in white clothes, like a flower blooming in the battlefield, her body was slender, and she could not rush into the group of men to fight, so she held a bow and arrow in her hand, standing two feet away by a battlement to release cold arrows, her archery was mediocre, but her strength was very strong, and the enemy soldiers were constantly shot, screaming and falling down the ladder.

At this moment, her arrow was aimed at a tall and fierce centurion, and suddenly, a crossbow screamed. There was a sound on the ground, and on the battlements beside her, rubble flew, and a stone slashed across her forehead, and blood flowed like a torrent of blood. Pingping bit her lip tightly, she tore a piece of cloth from her red dress and tied her forehead tightly.

"Pingping, go down!" On the side, Third Uncle Lin had just cut down an enemy soldier who rushed up. Seeing that Pingping's face was covered with blood, he was so frightened that he hurriedly pulled Pingping's arm to go down to the city.

Ping Ping stubbornly shook off the third uncle's hand, she opened her bow and set up her arrows, and the cold arrows continued to aim at the target, whoosh! As soon as an arrow was fired, the centurion heard the sound of the bowstring, turned his head sharply, and stared at the big eyes of the brass bell, and the arrow shot into his left eye in an instant. Blood splattered, arrows peeked through the back of his head, and the centurion howled like a beast. Grabbed the shaft of the arrow and fell down the city.

Ping Ping breathed a sigh of relief, and she immediately drew her bow and arrows, and aimed at another fierce-looking enemy.

On the command tower, Li Hengqiu's face was pale, but his eyes were red with anxiety, he didn't expect that the Tubo people had such advanced siege weapons, in the distance, huge siege rams and nest cars also appeared, and dozens of stone throwers mixed with the siege soldiers also took turns to smash the boulder on the city wall, and the two sides were evenly matched in momentum.

Li Hengqiu had already realized that he had underestimated the enemy. He stood up humbly and had rich experience in actual combat, but he still lacked experience in commanding large-scale battles. It is necessary to judge the situation and start from the overall situation, and neither be afraid nor arrogant.

Li Hengqiu was a qualified vanguard, but he was so confident that he wanted to defend the city with 3,000 men and repel the attack of 40,000 men, and defend the battle in Taiyuan. Li Guangbi repelled more than 100,000 people with thousands of men. His reliance on the ground was an endless stream of tricks and the enemy's lack of skill in attacking the city, but today is very different. The enemy was clearly coming, and this first wave of 10,000 people was just a temptation.

"Why don't you light a beacon for help?"

Ping Ping has also seen the seriousness of the problem, the enemy has learned to behave, several people side by side pushed the giant shield up, so that the effect of killing the enemy is greatly weakened, she saw that the enemy's trebuchet was ready to launch, but the commander of the Tang army was still hesitating, she was furious, rushed forward and pointed at Li Hengqiu and scolded: "You bastard!" Do you want everyone to die with you? Don't ask for help yet! ”

"Who are you to dare to roar at General Ben." Li Hengqiu's face sank, and he waved his hand and said, "Drag me down and cut it!" ”

A young general next to him hurriedly whispered to Li Hengqiu: "She shot and killed more than a dozen enemy soldiers, killing her will affect morale." ”

Li Hengqiu held back his anger and said: "For the sake of you to kill the enemy, General Ben will spare you once." ”

"Then hurry up and call for help, or it will be too late." Lin Pingping was so anxious that he stomped his feet, and the stones under the city were already whistling overhead.

Li Hengqiu was taken aback, he suddenly understood the reason why Lin Pingping was in a hurry, and ordered repeatedly: "Light the beacon!" ”

But it was too late, a soldier ran into the corridor with a torch, but at this moment, a flying stone roared, hitting the five-zhang high ignition tower, smashing half of the ground, leaving less than half of the tower crumbling, and the ignition soldier was killed on the spot.

Li Hengqiu's heart suddenly cooled most of the time, the soldiers on the Wusheling Ridge only recognized the signal on the ignition tower, if the ignition tower was destroyed, the beacon fire would not be able to ignite.

Several soldiers rushed up, but reluctantly retreated, the corridor had been destroyed, it was impossible to go up, another soldier lit a rocket and shot at the top of the tower, but it had no effect, the oil used for ignition was covered with wooden planks, and people had to go up.

"Send someone to Wusheling Ridge." Li Hengqiu was so anxious that he was about to sweat.

"Wait!" Lin Pingping slowly approached the ignition platform, she stared at the five-zhang highland stone tower, her eyes looked unusually bright in the morning light, she turned back to Lin Deqi and said, "Third uncle, you help me shoot a zipline up." ”

Lin Deqi nodded, he asked for a zipline, flicked it twice, and with a whoosh, the six-zhang long zipline flew out of his hand, throwing an arc, and clinging to the edge of the stone tower.

"Third uncle, let me come." Lin Pingping snatched the rope from the third uncle's hand and said with a smile: "Just to test whether my martial arts have improved." ”

Third Uncle Lin nodded, "You have to be careful, don't force it if you can't do it." ”

Ping Ping tried the rope, she used her arms hard, and climbed up lightly, the speed was getting faster and faster, and her red dress flew in the mist, like a rising red lotus.

Soon her figure disappeared on the top of the tower, everyone under the tower held their breath, their hearts were in their throats, suddenly, another boulder hit, grazing the edge of the ignition tower and flying, the tower shook a few times, and the tower was exclaimed.

At this moment, black smoke finally rose from the top of the tower, and then the raging fire ignited, and after a while, the beacon fire on the ground on the Wusheling Ridge burned again, and the signal for help had been issued, and in a cheer, the morale of the city was greatly boosted, and more than 200 enemy troops who rushed to the city were annihilated in one go.