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Sun Feng, the prince of Yue, became the chief general of the siege, and the news soon spread throughout the coalition camp, and many soldiers were a little surprised when they heard it, and then they were a little uneasy, especially when they heard that the king of Yue did not believe that he could conquer Tai Xifeng, because Sun Feng interceded for others, and forced Sun Feng to be the main general, they all had varying degrees of concern about the prospects of this war. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Sun Feng's bravery Everyone knows, but Sun Feng is too young after all, compared to the resourceful Sun Shao, he seems too immature, whether he has the ability to command an army of 200,000, many people doubt.

When Momia heard the news, she didn't say anything in front of Quintus, but only agreed with Quintus's actions at that time. Quintus said that he was willing to help Sun Feng because he did not want Sun Shao to stay in Ctesiphon, Sun Shao's scheming was too deep, and he was worried that it would be unfavorable to Rome in the future. And Sun Feng is still young, not as gloomy as Sun Shao, so he thinks it will be easier to deal with. Sun Shao has decided to put him in the northern frontier of Rome, help him at this time, he will definitely be grateful to Rome, and it will be beneficial to the relationship between the two sides in the future.

"If the siege fails, there is no way to do it, after all, the difficulty of the facts is here, and it is indeed not an easy task to conquer Ctesiphon." Quintus said.

Quintus left, a smile appeared on the corner of Momia's mouth, she hugged Philip, rubbed her nose on Philip's chest, and laughed softly: "You, you can't be like him, it's too bad." ”

Philip giggled, stretched out two small hands, and tried to grab her hair.

In the big tent of Yue Guo, Sun Shao, Sun Feng and Lu Xun sat opposite each other, and the three of them looked at the map spread out on the case without speaking. The tea had already been drunk and tasteless, so Sun Shaocai patted the case gently: "From tomorrow onwards, you will be the main general of the siege, your uncle is your deputy general in name, but in fact the real main general, and Cao Zhang, they are all famous generals who have been on the battlefield for a long time, you have to respect them and listen to their opinions." ”

"Whoa." Sun Feng nodded: "Father, what about you?" ”

"Me?" Sun Shao smiled and shook his head: "I can't help you with the specific tactics, there are a few of them, and I don't need to say more, and I have other things, Ardashir is not a person to be slaughtered, I don't believe that he will put so many armies in the city." ”

Lu Xun nodded: "What the king is worried about is exactly that, and I am also very worried about this." The Sassanids were dominated by cavalry, and with the size and fortification of the city of Ctesiphon, he only needed to arrange 30,000 men to defend the city, and where would the extra men be? I think I'm waiting somewhere outside of town. Although we sent out scouts, after all, the terrain is not familiar to them, and it may not be possible to find them. If, while we were attacking the city, twenty or thirty thousand elite cavalry appeared behind them, it would be fatal. If we have enough cavalry to defend the city, and the siege is undermanned, the siege will inevitably be greatly affected, and the delay will also play into Ardashir's hands. I think he must have relied on him if he dared to stick to it in this situation. ”

Sun Feng thought for a moment: "Then what did the father use to defeat those cavalry?" Wouldn't it be dangerous if the number of people was too small? ”

"It's nothing, it's just a bluff." Sun Shao smiled confidently: "You can rest assured that you can attack the city, as long as you can break the city as soon as possible, I will not be in danger." Ardashir doesn't believe that we can take Ctesiphon in a short time, so we must break his illusions and convince him that fighting with the gods will not end well. ”

Sun Feng and Lu Xun laughed, they had just learned the secret of that miracle, and Lu Xun had already figured out how to use this miracle to fight.

The next day, Sun Shao broke away from the coalition camp and set up a large camp ten miles northeast of the city of Ctesifeng, and at the same time, the little Gordian also set up a large camp ten miles northwest under the pretext of guarding against the surprise attack of the Sassanids, and the two large battalions formed horns to protect the back of the coalition army. Sun Feng raised the account and made arrangements for the war. He asked Quintus to send men to erect a large number of brick kilns on the river beach, and at the same time lined up the three hundred ballistas that had been prepared outside the city of Ctesiphon, all the artillery players entered their positions and adjusted them right under the noses of the defenders of the city, and the slaves pushed more than a hundred siege engines to practice back and forth outside the city, and the earth-shattering sound of the horn made the city hear clearly. More than 1,000 ladders were also arranged under the city, and the foot soldiers were outside the range of the Sassanids to practice siege tactics, and the atmosphere before the battle was very well created, and almost everyone thought that the war was about to break out.

Only Ardashir smiled, and he leaned against the city wall, pointed to the crowd of people who were busy erecting kilns on the river beach in the distance, and said, "Do you see that? That's why I demolished all the houses within 30 miles of the city, brought back everything that could be transported with mud bricks, and threw everything that could not be transported into the river. ”

The generals slowly came back to their senses, don't look at the enemies under the city are busy, three hundred ballistae look majestic, but they don't have enough artillery stones to use, these ballistae will not take long to become ornaments, and without the most powerful ballista cannons to suppress, they must brave the blows of the city to advance, and the casualties will be very staggering. In other words, as long as they survive a short period of time and do not break the city before the opponent's artillery is exhausted, they will have an advantage, which is equivalent to holding the city.

"These stupid people, wouldn't it be far away to burn bricks? Let us see, but not cowardice? A bearded general laughed loudly.

"They're probably tired, aren't they?" Another sword-faced general sneered, "Besides, this place is full of endless river beaches, and it's really not easy for them to keep us from seeing it." ”

Ardashir was silent, he pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned to a close general and said, "Send a message to the people outside the city, and ask them to arrange a few shrewd scouts to sneak from the river to those brick kilns to have a look, don't let these cunning Han people deceive." ”

The cronie didn't think much of it, and immediately turned away.

While arranging the preparations for the siege, Sun Feng wrote a letter to Ardashir again in the name of Quintus, asking Ardashir to recognize the situation and surrender as soon as possible, and inadvertently stated that Sun Feng, the prince of Yueguo, was the person blessed by Ahura, the god who stood beside Ahura in the miracle, and he was destined to become the master of Ctesiphon, so that Ardashir would not resist in vain, go out of the city and surrender as soon as possible, and still retain a little wealth, so as not to lose a lot.

Ardashir was dismissive, but he quickly caught the message, and the current lord was not Sun Shao, the king of Yue, but Sun Shao's crown prince Sun Feng, a young man who was not more than twenty years old. After a little speculation, he was ecstatic. Changing generals in battle is a taboo for soldiers, and father and son are suspicious, which is even more undesirable. Why is Sun Shao such a smart person not the main general, but wants to let his son be the main general? He must have felt that the siege was not very sure, so his son stepped forward, even if he lost, he had some excuses.

At the thought of this possibility, Ardashir looked up to the sky and sighed, he finally grasped the true mentality of the enemy.

Ardashir replied with a letter that, after refusing, made some concessions in the hope of restarting negotiations. He sent messengers to the camp outside the city again. The envoy did not see Sun Shao this time, but he did meet Sun Feng, verified Ardashir's conjecture, and after negotiations in no good faith, the envoy sent the news back to the city.

Three days later, Sun Bong lost patience with the negotiations and ordered the siege of the city. The night before the siege, Sun Feng worshipped Ahura, the main god of the Sassanid people, in front of many people, and publicly declared that the Han people were Huode, and that the Yue Kingdom belonged to the south among the four subject countries of the Han Dynasty, and that according to the Five Elements Doctrine of the Han Dynasty, the Yue Kingdom was the fire in the fire, which was very compatible with the god of light of the Ahura, so he should also be blessed by Ahura. If this is true, then Ahura will surely perform miracles again.

Almost everyone, including Quintus and Bo Tiao, was very worried about Sun Shao's oath, although they did not deny the Sassanid gods, but they couldn't believe that Ahura would really respond to Sun Feng's request to show miracles again, after all, it was difficult to say anything about this god, and if Ahura didn't plan to show any miracles, wouldn't it be a big blow to morale?

Just when they were worried, something strange happened again. Shortly after nightfall, when Sun Bong had been praying on the altar for about an hour, the dark night sky gradually revealed a vague figure, as it had been outside the Seleucid on that day, floating in mid-air, as if it would be blown away by the wind at any moment. Slowly, the figure became clearer and clearer, and it was clear that it was the image of Ahura from the miracle shown that day.

Four or five hundred thousand people outside the city raised their heads to watch, stunned by the scene in front of them, although everyone had a slight difference of opinion, but everyone agreed on one point of view: Ahura abandoned Ardashir and chose the Han to become the king of the Sassanids, and this Han man was Sun Feng, the prince of Yue who was now kneeling on the altar and praying, and Ahura answered his prayer and gave him protection.

Just when the city and the city were already in a semi-madness, something even more crazy happened, and there was a faint voice in the air, which could be vaguely heard as the language of the Sassanids, with some ethereal in the voice, which added a bit of mystery. The voice didn't say much, but read a few verses from the Zoroastrian teaching, Avesta, and then said, "Be kind to my people, and don't push them into the hell of death because of your greed, or I will surely abandon you." ”

After receiving Sun Feng's oath, the figure slowly faded away and disappeared into the vast night sky, leaving only Sun Feng on the altar standing up against the firelight, raising the holy fire in his hand high, and receiving the thunderous cheers of all the soldiers.

On the city wall, there was a dead silence, and Ardashir's face turned pale, and he tried his best to hold on to the city wall so that he did not fall. He knew it was a hoax, but he couldn't come up with a convincing explanation because he had no idea how it was done. Is it an illusion? What kind of illusion is that? He couldn't even show a figure in the sky so high, let alone make that figure make a sound, and he couldn't think of anyone who could make such a sound and still be heard from such a distance.

It seems that it is easier to believe that this is a miracle.

"The King's ......"

The generals didn't know when they gathered around, and they all had shock on their faces. Many of them did not see the miracle under Seleucid with their own eyes, but what they heard was more magical than what they saw with their own eyes, and they all knew that after that miracle appeared, the Han people broke through the Seleucid city in one day, and now that the miracle has come again, will Ctesiphon follow in the footsteps of Seleucid and be attacked by the Han people in one day?

"What are you afraid of, it's just an illusion." Ardashir regained his composure and said dismissively, "I have begged the High Priest to prepare, and he will reveal the truth of this illusion to everyone, and at the same time ask Ahura to show the true miracle. He paused and said, "Do you believe that they can conquer Ctesiphon in one day, as they did Seleucus?" ”

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads, which seemed unlikely, even with the help of the gods, unless Ahura sent down a fire and burned Tessiseal to the ground. However, Ahura just made it clear that he wanted Sun Feng to treat them well and not lead them to hell, so it was obvious that even if Ahura wanted to punish, he would not punish all the Sassanids, at most it was only the forced calm Ardashir in front of him.

"Go back to your positions and beware of the enemy stealing the city." Ardashir barely spoke a few words on the wall, and hurried back to the palace. As soon as he entered the palace, he fell softly on the throne, the scene he just saw hit him too hard, the other party's methods are really unpredictable, so he can't prevent it, he is very worried about the next battle, what kind of tricks will the other party have?

Ardashir summoned the High Priest Aquila and told him to immediately send the priests of the temple out to refute the rumors, and at the same time demonstrate a similar illusion as quickly as possible, otherwise the city of Tessy would really collapse without a fight. Although Aquila was very embarrassed, he also knew that there was no way back at the moment, so he had to respond.

Soon after Aquila went out, news arrived, Awad outside the city, after receiving his order, sent his best scouts to the brick kiln that had just been built by the coalition army, and they found that a large amount of earth had been dug out of the brick kiln, packed in straw bales, and piled up into hills, I don't know if it was intended to be used as artillery or used to fill the moat, but it was certain that they were definitely not burning bricks, because they obviously had no intention of burning bricks, and they did not even prepare the necessary firewood.

Ardashir sneered, and then found a few generals and asked them to dig a horizontal ditch on the inside of the wall facing the coalition army, and send people to listen in it day and night, so as to prevent the Han people from digging tunnels and attacking the city from underground in the name of standing kilns.

Ardashir's judgment was very accurate, it only took the middle of the night to hear, someone heard the sound of the underground, this sound indicated that the other party had dug less than ten steps from the city wall, if from tomorrow, the other party began to attack the city, then even if the sound was relatively loud, the city was not easy to find, and in a day or two, the tunnel could be dug directly into the city. A direct attack may be unlikely, but it is very possible to sneak out at night and open the gates. Didn't the Greeks use Trojan horses to defeat Troy by using huge Trojan horses to send dozens of soldiers to the city?

However, now that they have been discovered, it will not be so easy for the enemy to cover up their tracks, and when they have dug through the tunnels, they will be greeted with sharp weapons.

At dawn, the tunnels had been dug outside the city gates, and then there was no news, apparently the other side had to save the last section of the tunnels until tomorrow when the battle began during the day. Ardashir left enough men to give the order to the battle, confident enough that the enemy attack was about to begin.

As Ardashir had reckoned, after daybreak, the Han, Roman, and Kushan, who had breakfast, came out of their camp and took up their positions beyond range of the Sassanids. The morale of the soldiers, whether they were Han Chinese in red robes and armor, Romans in plate armor and sandals, Kushan and Huns, or Tianzhu people in turbans, were all in high spirits, and they were convinced by the magical scene of last night, that Sun Feng would command them to complete the almost impossible task of breaking the city of Ctessi, killing Ardashir, and then dividing up Ardashir's accumulated wealth, completing this arduous expedition, and returning to their homeland with the spoils of war.

Sun Feng stood majestically on the high command platform, holding a thousand eyes to observe the defense of Taixi's sealing head, Yanghu and Lu Yu one held the long sword given by Sun Shao, and the other held the order flag, standing behind him energetically, with blazing eyes and a little longing. Nikolai and the other twelve knights were fully armed, all dressed in fiery red Dachang, guarding behind them, and more than a thousand Teutonic warriors stood solemnly under the stage, protecting the command platform. Lu Xun, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi, Li Yan and others stood under the stage, commanding the platform in front of them, waiting for orders. A hundred paces to the left, the position of the Romans, Quintus also stood on the podium, and a dozen legionary commanders stood in front of the podium. On the right is the position of the Kushan people, and Bo Diao is also standing on the command platform, glancing at Sun Feng from time to time.

Sun Feng saw Ardashir at the head of the city in clairvoyance, although he couldn't see his face clearly, but he felt Ardashir's nervousness, especially the particularly dense defense outside the city gate, he knew that the tunnel that had taken several days of hard work to dig must not have been hidden from Ardashir's eyes.

The defense of the city of Ctesi was far more solid than that of the Seleucid, as can be seen in the defense of the city gates alone. The north gate of Tessiphon is the main gate, facing an arched gate up to seven zhang, on both sides is a heavy city wall, in front of the city gate is an urn city, about ten zhang square, the city wall is also five zhang high, according to the news that there is an urn city in the city gate, if you want to attack the city from the city gate, you must pass through at least three gates. Although the castle was built with mud, the walls near the gate were pasted with blue-based glaze, and various patterns made of glass of other colors were pasted, and the entire gate looked very mysterious.

"It's a shame to destroy such a beautiful city gate." Sun Feng secretly regretted himself and raised his right hand. The generals under the city immediately straightened up and looked at Sun Feng intently.

(To be continued)