(Thanks to Dameng, Chubby, Hammer S, Tongle Village)

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The Huns came.

Looking at the past from the enemy platform of Fengsui, there are chariots and horses, herds of cattle and sheep, and smoke and smoke. From time to time, a Hun knight wielding a bow and a sword came out of the billowing smoke and dust, and was soon engulfed again.

"Come on...... Five or six hundred people came, most of them were bow controls, let's ...... surrounded. The out-of-breath guard sentry rode to the beacon, raised his head and loudly reported the enemy's situation.

Five or six hundred people may not sound like much, but with seven or eight hundred horses, thousands of cattle and sheep, and nearly a hundred carts. The kind of atmosphere in which the voices of people are boiling, the neighing of cattle and horses, the dust and smoke are billowing, and it is more lively than the market, forming a huge pressure and rushing to the face.

Zhang put half of his head out of the battlement, his mouth and tongue were dry, his palms were sweaty, and his heart was beating like a drum. Although he had participated in or even commanded two battles before, one time he had the confidence to have an equal number of enemies and enemies, and the other time he was well-planned and powerful, and he was even more sneak attack...... It was a prepared and confident battle.

This time, however, the situation was completely reversed, and in a completely unfamiliar battlefield, we suddenly encountered a strong enemy, and the disparity between the strength of the enemy and our enemies was even more than ten times. This kind of battle, in which there is almost no chance of victory, is something that Zhang Fang tries to avoid - but this time, I am afraid that he will not have a choice.

The Huns did not rush to the beacon in a swarm, but began to camp in the east and west directions. Once these two directions were blocked, Zhang Fang and his party could neither return east nor west, and they were surrounded in a ruin where birds don't. It is clear that the Huns fought with the idea of catching them all.

The Huns unhurriedly took off the felt bags from the carts, horses, and camels, pulled ropes to drive piles, arranged livestock pens, and drank horses and herded sheep. Many people pointed at the beacons as they worked, and there was intermittent laughter in the wind. More Hun knights armed with swords and bows just watched from a distance, not even a hundred paces closer.

Zhang Fang let out a long sigh, psychological warfare, it seems that he is not the only one who can play.

When Zhang Fang observed, the rest of the people were also seizing the time to prepare for the battle, no matter what the odds were, there was no reason to be restrained, and a little more preparation might be able to give them a better chance of life.

When everyone was busy, Zhang Fang stood on the enemy platform, overlooking this beacon.

Preliminary observation shows that although this beacon is dilapidated, the basic facilities are still quite perfect.

First of all, there are two half-human-high sheep and horse walls on the periphery of the beacon, which can be used to block the enemy army in peacetime. Although after decades, the wind and rain have eroded, the wall has been dilapidated, and many places have cracked large gaps, but it is still more or less a bit of a block.

The shape of the beacon is square, the area is equivalent to a basketball court, there are enemy platforms, there are arrow stacks, there are earth stairs on the east and west sides, which can lead to the enemy platform, and the enemy platform is also connected, which is convenient for the soldiers to defend in a ring. There is a gate with a width of a zhang on the east and west sides, and the door panel has long been removed, but there are more than a dozen top door stones of different lengths stacked on both sides of the door, which will Deng Zhanzheng command the Pu soldiers to pick up these top gate stones and stack them into a person-high appearance, which can effectively block the cavalry from rushing in.

The beacon is divided into two floors, the upper floor is the combat area, and the lower floor is the living area. On the north and south sides, there are two large shops, Deng Zhan has seen it, and said that it is not a problem to live more than a dozen people. On the outside, there is also a kitchen and pantry, and even a black hut that appears to be a thatched hut. Later, it was confirmed by Deng Zhan that it was indeed a thatched house.

In the southwest corner, there is an eye-catching square platform, much like the garbage fence of later generations. When I looked at it, it was also black dust and ashes, and it really looked like a place to throw garbage.

Zhang Fang nodded, and shook his head again: "It's quite clean-minded, but it's a little inappropriate to throw garbage upstairs." ”

Because his back injury had not healed and he was unable to move, Cao Xiong, who had observed the terrain like Zhang Fang, glanced at the young marquis strangely and said: "This is the beacon, which is used to ignite the ......fire when there is an enemy situation."

Zhang Fang touched his nose, this time he was embarrassed, and quickly changed the topic: "Then can you light a fire to warn now?" I see there's still a bit of wolf dung in the corner......"

Before Cao Xiong could speak, Alimu, who often walked this road, shook his head: "The wall of the river is still two hundred miles away, and I can't see it so far." In the early years, there were still three or four beacons in the west, which could relay the ignition and warn, but unfortunately they had long been abandoned. Even if it wasn't scrapped, no one would pass it on for us......"

The beacon is discouraging, but there is also a surprise that there is a well on the side of the beacon near the riverbed. It's just that there are no wheels, barrels, ropes, etc.

However, after throwing down a stone on the sixth day of the first month, everyone's surprise was only from the bottom - the stone fell into the well, the sound was dull, and the sound of water was not heard, but like mud and dust.

It's a dry well.

Everyone's hearts sank, there was no water source, and it was going to be a doomed battle.

"The Huns are coming!"

The sentence of the sixth day of the first month, who rode on the battlement wall to watch the movement, was like a drop of water splashed into the hot oil, and everyone coaxed the ground, threw down the work at hand, and poured into the enemy platform one after another.

The sound of hooves was crisp, and more than ten horsemen galloped briskly, stopping seventy or eighty paces away, and then there were knights on the left and right holding wooden shields to cover the three people.

The Huns usually have two bows, and the effective range of riding the bow is thirty or forty paces, and the foot bow is farther, and there can be fifty or sixty steps, so generally speaking, seventy or eighty steps away is considered a safe distance. However, this distance was still quite lethal for some marksmen or crossbows, so the Huns had to defend against it.

"Hou Moton, the bone capital of the Ba Khan department, Shalulu, the head of the Mo Xi department, and Bu Guxu, the head of the East and the Ministry from the Han realm, greet Zhang Gongzi."

The voice came from afar, intermittently in the wind, speaking in Xiongnu language, probably the Huns also knew that there was a large group of people around Zhang Fang who could easily translate.

Zhang Fang also leaned out half of his body behind the battlement: "There are three people who are sent thousands of miles to each other, and two hundred miles ahead is the Jiaohe wall where the captain of Wu has been stationed, which can be regarded as being sent home. ”

The voice laughed: "Don't work Zhang Gongzi reminds that the Xiongnu are the masters of the Western Regions, and we know the situation here better than Gongzi." With us to send, two hundred miles can only be reached in two or three days, if we do not send each other, I am afraid that I will not be able to go for a lifetime. Hahaha! ”

Zhang Fang reminded the other party that the Han army is two hundred miles away, and you should weigh it. And the other party also implied a threat, even if the reinforcements are close at hand and there are Huns blocking it, you can't go anywhere. The two sides invisibly exchanged each other for a round, and the fearless Huns clearly had the upper hand.

"But what does the Bone Marquis want?" Zhang Fang confirmed that most of the people who spoke were Morton, the leader of the Hun army, and he didn't entangle with the other party too much, and went straight to the point.

Morton was not ambiguous, and said briskly: "The identity of the son is noble, we will never be embarrassed, as long as I come out of the beacon, I Morton will treat him as a guest." Oh, and the brothers who are fragmented from Udan, and we will treat them accordingly. ”

So easy to talk to? Zhang Fang was a little incredulous, and turned his head to look at Deng Zhan, Cao Xiong, Lin Tianci and others. Everyone also looked at each other, full of disbelief.

Zhang Fang thought for a while and said tentatively: "It's just a rich and noble family in Chang'an, how can you talk about ...... honorable?"

Morton laughed endlessly: "Childe is too modest, let's put it this way, we defeated Kuimu of the Pu Department three days ago. So, Childe understands, right? ”

Zhang Fang understood, and the only people who knew his true identity were the people from the Monkey Country. Morton should have learned his identity from them, so he pursued with all his might, divided his troops to seize the Toulon River Valley with the advantage of troops, and blocked their way back to the east. Thinking about it, with his identity, he is indeed a strange commodity to live in, not to mention the political significance, the ransom alone is enough for a tribe to rise. Morton did not let him go.

Money is something outside of the body, as long as it can save one's life.

Zhang Fang straightened up and said in a loud voice: "Since this is the case, I want Guduhou to make a poisonous oath, and I will never embarrass us." ”

Morton's voice came, word by word: "I swear to the god of Qilian that I will never embarrass the brothers of the prince and the Wudan division and the Pu department...... But the others must sacrifice for the Moxi people with blood! ”

In the Xiongnu language, "Qilian" means heaven. The Huns occupied Hexi for a hundred years, regarded the towering Qilian as the abode of the gods, and set up altars to worship. Swearing by Qilian God is a heavy oath, and no one dares to disobey it.

There was a commotion on the beacon platform, and then it fell silent, and a wordless air of despair spread.

Zhang Fang didn't look back, but he knew that there were more than a dozen pairs of eyes behind him looking at him. He took a deep breath, leaned out, and said in a loud voice: "If the Bone Duhou promises not to bleed, I will release it and come out......"

Morton, who was in the distance, seemed to shake his head, and his tone was resolute: "Someone must pay for my people's lives, this is my responsibility as the Marquis of the Bone Capital." Zhang Gongzi, you must understand, I have made the biggest concession. ”

"Not negotiable?"

"Not negotiable!"

"That's good......" Zhang Fang straightened his body and paused word by word, "Then let's fight!" ”