The date of Shi Siming's psychological boundary set for himself was one day, and he thought that one day would be enough to take Tongzhou, but as time went by, the siege was blocked one after another, and he also felt great pressure. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

However, although he lost more than 20,000 soldiers and horses in two consecutive siege battles, he still had more than 120,000 troops on hand, but it was not to the point of exhaustion. Facing the frustration of the soldiers around him, Shi Siming realized that if he retreated now, he would naturally not lose much; However, it will be a major blow to morale. And after this defeat, I am afraid that An Lushan will never let himself have the opportunity to lead a large army to fight again. An Lushan has always been like this, if you can win the battle, he will use you, call your brother your brother, and call you Lao Tzu Ducheng. But if you can't bring him victory, he'll kick you away without mercy. Even an old subordinate like Shi Siming, he is also ruthless.

In view of this, Shi Siming decided to regroup and fight to the death. To take Tongzhou before midnight anyway, regardless of the price. Only in this way can we give an account. After taking Tongzhou, he immediately sent cavalry back to Chang'an City, so that there would be no delay.

So Shi Siming gathered the generals and gave the order for a general attack. In the stunned eyes of the generals, Shi Siming gritted his teeth and said: "Everyone, I have decided to storm this city with the whole army, regardless of the cost. Ben Shuai personally led the team to supervise the battle. This time, whoever dared to retreat, I cut off his head with my own hands. None of you should have any other ideas and be bent on taking this city for me. It's good to say that I will give you credit for it, I can't take it down, hehe, I won't let you go. ”

Everyone thought Shi Siming was crazy. At the end of the day, he didn't take it down, so many soldiers and horses were consumed, and his morale was low to a trough, Shi Siming still had to attack the city, and gave a death order, which was simply crazy. But looking at Shi Siming's distorted face, the generals didn't dare to refute. At this time, Shi Siming can do anything, and if he says a word, he is afraid that he will be beheaded, so it is better to provoke him less.

Gao Xiuyan wanted to mumble a few words, but he had only been defeated for a while just now, and he didn't dare to face Shi Siming, for fear that he would take this opportunity to find trouble for himself, and he didn't dare to say more at this moment. Although he knew that this was Shi Siming's desperate gamble and an extremely irrational performance, he didn't dare to say it.

But even though he kept a low profile, when the generals dispersed, Shi Siming still called his name.

"General Gao." Shi Siming said.

When Gao Xiuyan heard his name, his body trembled obviously. What Gao Xiuyan thought was: It seems that he still can't escape, this old dog is going to use himself to deter the generals in the army.

"Humble duty." Gao Xiuyan's voice trembled a little.

"General Gao, I think this siege is still under your command."

"What?" Gao Xiuyan suspected that he had misheard.

"Ben Shuai wants to ask you to command this last siege battle, Ben Shuai will give you 100,000 soldiers and horses, you must take this city for me." Shi Siming said in a deep voice.

"But ......"

"Don't say it, you're saying you've already failed once, right? Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, what is this? Besides, you were almost on the verge of success just now, your method was effective and novel, if it weren't for Wang Yuan's cunning, we would have already attacked the city. So, I'm giving you a chance to atone for your sins, and this time I hope you don't let me down. Take this city for yourself and for my sake. You need revenge to prove yourself, and I also need to take Tongzhou as soon as possible, so that I can free up my hands to go back to the capital. The situation is already dangerous, and you should know this better than I do. ”

"Marshal Shi, thank you for your trust, I will live up to your trust, this time I won't break Tongzhou to come to see you." Gao Xiuyan raised his chest excitedly and said loudly.

"Okay, that's what you want, it's like a sentence. In addition to the soldiers and horses of the rear army, the 100,000 soldiers and horses of the front and middle battalions are all dispatched by you, and you can rest assured that you will attack boldly. The general did not listen to the command, and you told me, and I went and cut him down for you. Shi Siming said coldly.

Shi Siming can also be regarded as a person who can bend and stretch, and now, Shi Siming knows that he can only rely on Gao Xiuyan, and the rest of the generals can't help him take the city. Although he didn't want to see Gao Xiuyan, he also had to rely on his ability. Of course, he can lead the army to attack the city, but then there is no way out. An old fox like Shi Siming, he has to consider a few steps when he does anything, what if the siege fails? Who's going to take the blame? That can only be Gao Xiuyan. Of course, it is better if he can take the city, then he will be happy to see everyone happy.

"Please ask the marshal to teach me the opportunity, how to attack this city?" Gao Xiuyan also became interested, and actually took the initiative to ask this sentence.

Shi Siming thought for a while and said: "I didn't want to point fingers, let you lead the army to attack the city, I will give you absolute power to command the soldiers and horses." Since you asked, I will only say my personal advice. Dealing with people like Wang Yuan, who are full of tricks, often too many fancy are useless. Teach me that an army of 100,000 is the most effective to storm with its head down, simple and rude. Whatever tricks he uses, we will use the superiority of our forces to kill him. His arrows are powerful, but I don't believe he can stop my 100,000 men and horses from rushing to the city. It's just a matter of more soldiers. ”

Gao Xiuyan took a breath of cold air, but he quickly agreed. It's not that I think this method is clever, but the methods that can be used at present have all been used, and it is not that there are no results, so it is better to storm for a while.

"In that case, I suggest that the craftsmen in the rear army and the people who accompany the army should be brought in as vanguards. Didn't Tang Jun love archery? Send these useless people to kill them, attract their firepower, and consume their supplies. Anyway, these craftsmen and folk men are useless now, so it might as well come in handy. "Gao Xiuyan Road.

"Hehe, I didn't expect Brother Gao, your heart is so vicious." Shi Siming laughed.

"I wouldn't have thought of each other if it weren't for the marshal's words not to spare casualties. Hehe. Gao Xiuyan smiled awkwardly.

"Well, as you say, bring the six thousand men and craftsmen to take the lead. Brother Gao, it's all up to you, but don't teach me to see you running back, I'm waiting behind with a big knife with a team, if I see you running back, don't blame me for cutting your head with a knife.

"If you see that you are defeated and retreated, the marshal can just cut me down. Marshal, without further ado, the lowly duties must be properly arranged before dark, and the lowly duties must be prepared. Gao Xiuyan arched his hand and rode away.

The sun sets, and the twilight covers the land. However, the city of Tongzhou is still brightly lit. Torches lit up the sky at the top of the city, and bonfires were everywhere below the city, illuminating the battlefield as if it were day. More than 100,000 rebels began a large build-up in preparation for the last ferocious siege. And this battle will also determine the final victory or defeat of the Battle of Tongzhou.

There was tension at the head of the city, and the 40,000 defenders of the Shence Army were densely lined up at the head of the city, bows and arrows and ballistas were lined up, and rolling logs and stones were piled up into a hill. In order to defend the city, almost all the active manpower in Tongzhou City came in handy, and a steady stream of materials was transported from the city to the city. And outside the city not far from them, the dense rebel soldiers and horses like ants have been assembled, and more than 10,000 people and craftsmen have been forced by the rebels to stand at the forefront of the ranks, they will be the first echelon of the charge, to absorb the first wave of the most fierce attack of the Shence army.

Finally, the horn of the attack sounded in the night sky, and the siege began.

Driven by the rebels, a team of more than 10,000 people and craftsmen walked at the forefront, all of whom were forcibly pulled into the army by Shi Siming from all over Jinzhou to pave roads and build bridges for the army when they crossed the plank road. After coming all the way to the city of Tongzhou, now he is about to be driven to the battlefield again. Except for a small number of young people, most of these people are old men and women, and during the war, young people were either forcibly conscripted into the army or fled for refuge, and only the old, weak, sick and disabled would stay at home. However, even the old and weak have not escaped the trampling of this war, nor have they escaped the fate of this suffering.

The attacking team slowly advanced, and the Shence army at the head of the city was in full array. No one spoke, only the creaking of the bowstring as it was pulled and the screeching of the shaft of the bed crossbow machine turning. They waited for the rebels' soldiers and horses to come within range, and at the slightest order, a rain of arrows would be fired from the city, killing them mercilessly.

Illuminated by bonfires, the first rebels came into range. Song Jiangong raised the command flag in his hand, swayed slightly, and was about to wave the order to shoot arrows. Suddenly, his hand stopped, and he cried out, "These seem to be the people." Not a rebel? ”

Everyone was busy looking closely, and sure enough, they found that the dense crowd that entered the shooting range turned out to be some ragged and defenseless people, who moved slowly and slowly and supported each other to walk towards the city step by step. Their eyes looked at the city head in despair, although they couldn't see the situation at the city head clearly, but they knew that the head of the city was the Tang army's soldiers and horses, and they were afraid that they would have to shoot themselves with arrows.

Wang Yuan's brows furrowed tightly, the rebels were really a group of crazy people, and they actually drove the people to take the lead, it was simply a thousand cuts.

"Damn the rebels, they hide behind the civilian population. What to do? To release the arrow or not to release the arrow? Song Jiangong said anxiously.

"Shoot the arrows, if you don't release the arrows, the rebels will blend in and soon rush to the city. Since the people are on the battlefield, they are the enemy. Liu Dehai shouted.

Song Jiangong didn't speak, looking at Wang Yuan with both eyes. Wang Yuan frowned and looked at the city, and said in a deep voice: "No one is allowed to release arrows." ”

"But the commander, in that case, tens of thousands of enemy troops will also be mixed into the city. This can be detrimental to defending the city. Liu Dehai shouted.

"Yes, Marshal, you can't let the rebels get mixed in and attack the city, I'm afraid it will be very dangerous." Several generals around him also said in harmony. They couldn't understand that Wang Yuan would watch the rebels attack the city at this time because he was afraid of shooting the people, which was unimaginable on the battlefield.

"No one is allowed to shoot arrows." Wang Yuan repeated in a low voice: "We are waiting to put down the rebellion in order to save the people from fire and water. Shooting civilians can be good for the battle, but it will be a move that we will regret for the rest of our lives. No arrows, no more talking. ”

Liu Dehai stomped his foot heavily and turned his head to the side. Everyone watched as the people got closer and closer, and the rebels behind them cautiously followed, closing in on the city.

A person beside Wang Yuan knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Wang Yuan. Wang Yuan hurriedly helped him up and said, "Brother Du, what are you doing?" ”

It was Du Fu who kowtowed, he was impressed by Wang Yuan's decision, and he was worried that Wang Yuan would order the arrow to be released regardless of it, but Wang Yuan's actions made him admire. He was blessed by the people, and when he was in Jinzhou Shihao Village, he personally experienced the scene of the rebel Latin, and he knew the suffering of the people. Now it is rare for a person to give up the attack for the sake of the people and be willing to take a huge risk, which makes Du Fu not admire and move.

"Marshal Wang, you are the most benevolent and righteous person I have ever met. Du is kowtowing to you on behalf of the people, and ask Marshal Wang to bow to me. Du Fu said in a deep voice.

Wang Yuan smiled: "No need to do this, I only follow the decision of my heart, not for anyone's gratitude." In fact, this is very bad for the tide of the war, you see, the rebels seem to know that we will not shoot arrows at the people, and they have all blended into their ranks. It seems that they will be able to storm the city without much effort. Brother Du, kill the enemy, the people can't be killed, and the rebels can't be spared. For the sake of these people, we have to take more risks. ”