Zhao Wensheng didn't expect Wang Jun to be so frank, and he explained the purpose of his trip in one sentence, and he pondered for a moment and said: "Since Mr. Wang is so happy, then I will say it directly, we hope that Mr. Wang can persuade Li Shenfu to retreat north as soon as possible." Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo”

Wang Jun lowered his head and smiled, but he didn't say anything, Zhao Wensheng observed his words, and continued: "Of course, we will not treat Mr. Wang badly. ”

Wang Jun said slowly: "I know very well in my heart what the Tang army will encounter when it retreats north, but what? I can indeed persuade him to leave, and I can even help you deal with Chai Shao, but I need to get a guarantee from General Xu, and I mean the real guarantee, not the kind of guarantee you gave to Li Shenfu. ”

"What guarantee does the gentleman need?"

"My guarantee is very simple, after the war in Bashu is over, I will take my family home, I hope you don't stop it, it's as simple as that."

Zhao Wensheng was stunned, "It's that simple? ”

Wang Jun's eyes became deeper, and a trace of warmth emerged, "Everything has a result, there must be a cause, Yu Wenhua and Xuzhou, my wife, children and mother also fled from Pengcheng County to Dongping County, thanks to the help of the Qingzhou government, a family of old and weak women and children was able to live, this kindness I have always kept in mind, this time even if it is my return to the great Zhou Tianzi for saving his life!" ”

This result really made Zhao Wensheng unexpected, he was silent for a moment and said: "Maybe my general is willing to arrange a position for Mr. in the army." ”

"That's not necessary, I want to go back to my hometown to take care of my mother for a few years, and I'm only thirty years old, maybe in a few years I will go to Beijing to participate in the imperial examination, I might as well tell the truth to Zhao Senjun, my name is not Wang Jun at all, even Li Shenfu doesn't know what my real name is, if Zhao Senjun sees me in Zhongzhong one day, I just hope not to expose my old bottom."

Zhao Wensheng said with a smile: "If I see Mr. in Zhongdu, I will definitely invite Mr. to have a glass of wine." ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Wensheng took out a silver medal from his arms and put it in front of Wang Jun, "This is a personal pass token, with this silver medal, Mr. Wang can return to his hometown all the way unimpeded, and if he encounters difficulties, he can use it to ask the local government for help, but I suggest that Mr. Wang should return to Jiangdu with the navy, and then take a boat from Jiangdu to return to his hometown, so it is safer, Mr. Wang with his family, or consider safety first." ”

Wang Jun also felt that it was safer to follow the navy, so he mainly took his two concubines and domestic servants, and he pondered for a moment and said, "That's it!" I'll get things done first, and then I'll think about how to get back home. ”

Zhao Wensheng was overjoyed, "So how is Mr. going to deal with Chai Shao?" ”

Wang Jun smiled faintly, "If you really want to deal with him, it's really a piece of cake, the key is Li Shenfu, you need to cooperate with me to do something." ”

Wang Jun whispered a few words to Zhao Wensheng, and Zhao Wensheng nodded again and again, "I know, I will definitely talk to the general when I go back." ”

That night, Wang Jun pretended to be Zhao Wensheng as his messenger family and used his connections to release him out of the city.

Zhao Wensheng returned to the camp of the Zhou army and reported in detail to Xu Shiji and others how he met Wang Jun.

Xu Shiji took a few steps with his hands in his hands, turned around and asked Ling Jingdao, "Does the prison army think this person is cheating?" ”

Ling Jing pondered for a moment and said: "Maybe there is, maybe not, this is really not certain, but I am more inclined that he is looking for a way back for himself, now the overall situation is very clear, this Wang Jun does not need to accompany the Li family to the funeral, but no matter what, as long as we don't give Li Shenfu any chance, even if Wang Jun is cheating, Li Shenfu has nothing to do with us." ”

"The prison is right, work in the last direction, and at the same time prepare for the worst."

Xu Shiji immediately ordered: "Pass my order, the trebuchet is ready to launch!" ”

.........

The Minjiang River is dozens of miles away from the west of Chengdu, but a Cao River connects the Minjiang River and the Chengdu moat as a whole, the Cao River is very wide, the water depth is two zhang, and the big ship of 3,000 stones can be exercised, at this time, more than 20 big ships of 3,000 stones are moored at the Cao River one mile away from Xicheng, and 20 giant trebuchets are unloaded from the boat, and they can throw the boulder weighing 100 catties to 350 steps away.

The giant trebuchet has been installed, as if twenty giant spirit gods are lined up in the wilderness three hundred steps away, and there are eighty soldiers under each trebuchet who are responsible for manipulating it, the trebuchet is as high as three zhang, and the throwing rod is six zhang long, pulled with iron chains, dozens of soldiers slowly push the long winch rod, the iron chain creaks and tightens, and several soldiers put the hundred-pound boulder into the throwing pocket.

In front of the trebuchet was erected a large thick wooden frame, which was to defend against the attack of the city's head bed crossbow, the bed crossbow had a range of five hundred paces, enough to cause great damage to the trebuchet, and this protective plate did play a huge role, and there were constantly three feet long arrows whistling and nailing heavily to the plank, making a dull sound.

The general who commanded the night attack on Xicheng was called Chen Zhiyuan, a tiger general, he led 5,000 soldiers to be responsible for this night attack on Xicheng, in addition to 2,000 operation soldiers, there were 3,000 soldiers responsible for defending to prevent the Tang army from going out of the city to attack the speculative stone.

Although he was ready, Chen Zhiyuan did not give the order to shoot, he was still waiting for the order of the commander, at this moment, hundreds of cavalry surrounded Xu Shiji and more than a dozen generals rushed over, Chen Zhiyuan hurriedly urged the horse to bow forward and salute, "Join the army commander!" ”

"Ready?"

"Returning to the general, the preparations have been completed, just wait for the general's order."

Xu Shiji nodded, he turned his head to stare at the city for a moment, and said to Chen Zhiyuan: "The first round of launching boulders, and then all of them launching fireballs, let's start!" ”

"Obey!"

Chen Zhiyuan turned his horse and galloped back, shouting, "Beat the drum, launch!" ”

'Boom! Boom! Boom! ’

The earth-shattering siege drum sounded, twenty giant trebuchets were launched at the same time, twenty boulders cut through the heavy night, and smashed towards the city, the soldiers on the city head had already been a hundred times vigilant, the city drums sounded loudly, many clever soldiers have hugged their heads and lay down, and when the twenty boulders roared, thousands of soldiers on the city head shouted and avoided in panic.

'Boom! ’

The boulder weighing 100 catties smashed the city wall or the city head successively, making a dull loud noise, two boulders hit the battlements, smashed the two battlements to smash, the stones burst out, more than a dozen soldiers could not dodge, were hit by the stones, and suddenly the head broke and bled out.

The main role of attacking the city with trebuchets is to smash down the city wall, and the effect of killing the enemy is not great, the soldiers will find cover to hide, but the deterrent power is very strong, so that the soldiers are frightened, when the first round of boulder siege, from the second round, the Zhou army began to attack the city with fireballs, the diameter of the fireball is higher than a person, weighing eighty or ninety catties, woven into a cage with dried vines, which are extremely flammable and ignited things, such as cloth strips stained with sulfur powder, dry straw and so on.

One by one, huge fireballs were ignited, and then they rose into the sky, turning into bright and dazzling fireballs in the sky, flying towards the city, because the fireballs were slightly lighter and had a longer range, all the fireballs flew over the city walls and smashed into the city.

At this time, Li Shenfu was leading towards the West City, and he had just arrived at the West City Gate, only to hear the soldiers on the city shouting, "Flying!" ”

As soon as Li Shenfu looked up, he saw more than a dozen bright fireballs flying over his head, one of the big fireballs was smashing towards him, Li Shenfu was so frightened that he turned his horse and fled, only to hear a loud bang on the ground, the fireball smashed on the ground, and suddenly smoke and dust sparkled everywhere, the rattan cage was shattered, and a large number of lit strips of cloth and straw flew around, and many soldiers were on fire on their bodies, and they shouted in fright, and the tail of Li Shenrune's war horse was also ignited by a strip of cloth, and the war horse neighed miserably, almost turning Li Shenfu off his horse.

At this time, many houses near the city walls were set on fire, and although the inhabitants had long since evacuated, the fire caused chaos in the city, and there were shouts of terror everywhere.

At this time, Li Shenrune's front and back were lit by fire, and Li Shenrune's face was so pale and panicked that he was frightened, "Lord Wang, go this way!" Several soldiers helped him off his horse and protected him as he ran northeast and out of the ring of fire.

Suddenly, there was another shout of horror overhead, and a fireball hit the tower, forming countless fire points in the tower, and the tower began to burn.

Li Shenfu escaped hundreds of steps in one go, only then did he stop and look back to check the fire, he was stunned by the raging fire above the city, the smoke billowing from the city, and the soldiers were fighting the fire everywhere.

Chai Shao also arrived at this time, and the fire in the city made him angry, and he scolded: "Zhou Jun still has to be shameless, he only said yesterday that he should not hurt civilians, and he will set fire to the city today, is there any credibility at all?" ”

Li Shenfu glanced at him coldly, didn't say a word, turned around and left, just arrived at the gate of the military office, Wang Jun greeted him, "Lord Wang, has the Zhou army begun to attack the city?" ”

Li Shenfu shook his head, "It's just a demonstration and intimidation, not a real siege." ”

After speaking, he sighed and walked towards the military office, a complicated look flashed in Wang Jun's eyes, and he followed, "Does the prince really plan to defend the city?" ”

Li Shenfu shook his head, he returned to the lobby and sat down, looking out in a daze with a heavy heart, Wang Jun stepped forward and gave the pro-soldiers on both sides a look, the pro-soldiers retreated, and only the two of them were left in the lobby.

Wang Jun said in a low voice: "Today should be just a warning from the Zhou army, it is estimated that in two or three days, they will officially attack the city, Lord Wang, if they burn the city into a sea of fire, we will not be able to defend the city at all, and the city will be broken." ”

Li Shenfu's expression was gloomy, and he said for a while: "What should I do?" ”

"The prince knows better than me that we have no way out except to retreat north."