The megalithic fort is the old seat of the Hengsai army during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, and it is built on a stone mountain near the river, the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. After decades of painstaking management, the Boulder Fort has become the choke point of Yinshan. Thirty years ago, the declining Tang Dynasty gave up a large area of land in the western part of the Yinshan Mountains, and the Uighurs became the masters of the land. The megalithic fort also fell into the hands of the Uighurs.

The Uighurs hired Persian technicians to make sweeping improvements to the megalithic fort. The Persians replaced the original earthen and brick walls with stone walls, and added a number of hidden forts and watchtowers. Twenty years ago, the Tibetans extended their sphere of influence to the west of the Yin Mountains and clashed fiercely with the Uighur Khanate. The two sides fought fiercely around the fort for several months, and eventually the Tibetans conquered the fort at the cost of 30,000 casualties and expelled the Uighur forces from Yinshan. A month later, the Uighurs formed an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang army cut off the food routes of the Tibetans, and the Uighurs gathered an army of 200,000 to capture Yinshan. The Tibetans had no choice but to retreat in a hurry.

It was at that time that the Dala or clan occupied the megalithic fort. The patriarch at the time, Sinuka, lost his father when he was a child, grew up with his mother, and his upheaval in his childhood left an indelible shadow in his heart, making Sinuka extremely lonely and insecure when he grew up.

After he got the Boulder Fort, he began to do his best to rebuild the Boulder Fort. Sinuka wants to make Boulder Castle a thousand-year-old city that is impregnable. He hired a Nestorian from Byzantium as a supervisor, so the architecture of the megalithic fort was not only Central Plains and Persian, but also Eastern Roman style. Thick stone walls, towering watchtowers, impregnable fortresses, and secret passages throughout the castle...... All of this drained Sinuka's financial resources and made his people unbearable for endless labor.

Halfway through the renovation of the Boulder Fort, Sinuka suddenly fell ill and died, and the world speculated that he had died in a conspiracy of the disgruntled. Sinuka left with regret. The Boulder Fort returned to the hands of the Hui Imperial Court, and the newly enthroned Zhangxin Khan hoped to turn the Boulder Fort into a fortress choke point in the southern part of the Khanate. Under his facilitation, the improvement of the megalithic fort was finally completed.

Perhaps it was Sinuka's arrangement in the Heavenly Spirit, and a year later, his widowed wife became the favorite princess of Zhangxin Khan. And Zhangxin Khan actually followed the advice of his favorite concubine and moved the tooth tent to the bank of the Xian'e River. The northward movement of the royal court made the megalithic fortress from the southern gate of the hot khanate to a dispensable chicken rib. Another year passed, Sinuka's younger brother was elected patriarch, and the Boulder Fortress returned to the Dala or people as a reward from the Khan.

Park Eun-joon, who was in his prime, defeated the Dala or the cavalry three times in a row, forcing the Dala or the people to be trapped in the last stronghold - the Megalith Fort. Park Eun-joon then led his army to besiege the Boulder Fort. In addition to his own Flying Tiger Battalion, there were also Chen Mingyi's Xiaofeng Battalion and Zhang Ren's Xiaoqi Battalion. In addition, Park Eun-joon also incorporated 3,000 soldiers from the Iron Mask Jile and 2,000 soldiers from the Slave Army, plus 2,500 soldiers from Lin Luohu and Lin Hanlie's father and son, and the total strength of the siege reached nearly 10,000.

Park Eun-joon's strategy was to besiege but not attack, cut off water and food, and wear down the fighting spirit of the dalas or people, forcing them to surrender the city. The 10,000-strong army dug three trenches outside the city of Boulder Fort, built countless camps, and pulled out a posture of protracted battle.

Park Eun-joon did not ask for instructions when formulating the siege strategy, and he did not submit the battle plan to the General Staff afterwards. This aroused the vigilance of the top brass of the Xining Army, and Yang Hao convened the highest military meeting overnight. At the meeting, Zhuang Yunqing proposed to immediately dismiss Park Eun-joon from his post as the former enemy commander and recall him back to Fengan.

In terms of the replacement candidates, Ling Tong and Li Tong proposed that Jiang Tao, the commander of the Leopard Battalion, take over, while Zhuang Yunqing advocated that Zhang Yannian take over the battalions of the former enemy. After consulting Zhang Yannian's opinion, Yang Hao decided to appoint Zhang Yannian as the former enemy's chief general and coordinate all armies to break through the Boulder Fort.

In order to prevent possible accidents during the handover process, Yang Hao, in the name of the General Staff, informed Park Eun-joon of a piece of information: a minister of the Uighur court suggested to Changshin Khan that he should send troops south to aid the Dala tribe, and that Park Eun-joon should be prepared to deal with it. In the name of the General Staff Division, he suggested that Park Eun-joon transfer the Xiaofeng battalion to the south bank of the Chou River, sixty miles north of Boulder Fort. Park Eun-joon replied that he agreed to transfer the Xiaofeng camp north to the defense of the Choehe River.

Subsequently, the Military Command Department and the General Staff Department jointly moved the former army to Park Eun-joon and the commanders of each battalion to hold a military meeting in Dongsai Town, 60 miles northwest of Yongfeng. Just as Park Eun-joon left the military tent and rushed to Dongsai Town, Jang Yeon-nian took over the front-line battalions as the former enemy overseer.

The Dong Se town meeting became a meeting to criticize Park Eun-joon's mistakes, and Park Eun-joon finally admitted that after his winning streak, his heart swelled and he took great credit, and began to despise military discipline and military discipline. Park Eun-joon made a profound review and asked himself to resign from his position as the former enemy commander, and was willing to accept any punishment.

Yang Hao accepted Park Eun-joon's request to resign as the former enemy's commander-in-chief, but still affirmed his credit for the northern expedition to the central part of the forest. Later, Zhuang Yunqing proposed that he replace Guan Suo as the staff lieutenant of the General Staff Department, and Yang Hao approved his request. At the same time, Zhang Yannian was reappointed as the main general of the former enemy, Chen Mingyi and Zhang Ren as deputy generals, commanding each battalion to break through the boulder fort and complete the last battle in the middle of the Northern Expedition.

After Zhang Yannian became the commander-in-chief, he changed the tactics of Park Eun-jun to besiege but not attack, and changed to a strong attack, dispatching more than 3,000 troops every day for three consecutive days, and attacking in turn for 12 hours. Nearly 1,000 casualties were suffered on the first day, 15 on the second day, and 2,044 on the third day. The corpses under the boulder fort are like mountains, and the blood is flowing like a river. The battalions were exhausted. Zhang Yannian became depressed and bedridden.

The battalions temporarily halted their attacks and rested for reinforcements.

Zhang Ren, the commander of the cavalry battalion, came to the Chinese army to visit Zhang Yannian, but was stopped by the guards. Zhang Ren stood outside the tent and shouted: "Don't you let your subordinates come to visit, and you won't let your son come to see Lao Tzu?" Zhang Yannian was afraid that he would say something out of the ordinary again, so he had to let him in.

When Zhang Ren entered the tent, he saw Zhang Yannian lying on a soft couch with a hot towel on his forehead, and when he came in, his father didn't even raise his eyes. Zhang Ren had long been accustomed to his father's indifference, so he found a stool to sit down, looking at his father's thin face, Zhang Ren stammered: "Why are you suffering? The drudgery that others can't hide, you have to take it on yourself. ”

When Zhang Yannian heard this, he sat up, his old face flushed, and he scolded: "Why should I come? Am I not for you? ”

Zhang Ren whistled lightly and said disapprehantly, "What about now?" It's hard to ride a tiger, right? ”

Zhang Yannian glared at him and snorted, "What do you know?" ”

Zhang Ren sneered: "I don't understand...... Some people use the boulder castle as a whetstone and want to sharpen the rust off the knife, but if your old man sharpens the knife and grinds it out, it depends on how you explain it to others. ”

"You-" Zhang Yannian was speechless for a while, and Zhang Ren's words were talking about his sore spot. Fengzhou people are short of food, and raising military rations has always been a headache, and the military reclamation plan has been delayed and shelved because of Zeng Chongyang's chaotic government, and it cannot be counted on in a year or two. Park Eun-joon could not see this, and his greed for more caused the number of the former army to swell severely. There are no more than 5,000 people in the Dala or clan, and there are only more than 1,000 people who can ride horses and shoot arrows, and only a few hundred people who have retreated to the megalithic fort after a few field battles.

To deal with such a small number of people, the three battalions of the Xining Army plus the Xinlin clan are enough. There was no need to recruit 3,000 iron-faced machines and more than 1,000 slave bonders. Yang Hao had seen the combat power of the iron-faced machine, and he had thought about absorbing some of it for his own use beforehand. But at this time, the iron mask machine was compared with the iron army in the Battle of Feng'an in August. The elite of the iron-faced machine has gone north with the barbarians, and the rest are some remnants of the defeated army who are overwhelmed.

The soldiers in the middle of the forest did not understand Chinese, they were loose and rude by nature, and there was no word "loyalty" in people's hearts at all. If the strong is attached, the weak will rebel. Before taking office, Zhang Yannian asked Yang Hao for instructions on how to deal with the 4,000 Uighurs recruited by Park Eun-joon. Yang Hao told him that Fengzhou was narrow and sparsely populated, and the people's livelihood was withering, and the number of troops could not be increased. He intended to keep only two battalions of these Uighur soldiers that Park Eun-joon had recruited. As for who can and can't stay, it depends on their performance in the Battle of Boulder.

Yang Hao did not elaborate on what to do with the rest of the people. Zhang Yannian's understanding is that instead of letting them return to their hometown to make waves and become a hidden danger in Fengzhou in the future, it is better to let them sleep under the boulder fort. The reason why he stormed the megalith fort for three days in a row was also his intention. Within three days, only half of the 4,000 Uighurs had been killed, and the Xinlin people had been severely damaged. The three battalions of Xiaocai, Xiaofeng, and Feihu basically had no casualties.

Zhang Ren's words are reasonable, Yang Hao used the megalithic fort as a whetstone, not only to sharpen away the redundant Uighurs, but also to sharpen the Xining army into a sharp blade. Now the first purpose has been achieved, but what about the second purpose?

With three days of strong attack and thousands of casualties, Zhang Yannian saw very clearly that the Boulder Fort was far stronger than he imagined. You don't feel distressed if you die thousands of soldiers, but what about your own people? Do you want to watch your old subordinates who have followed you for many years jump into the fire pit? However, if you don't do this, how can you take the Boulder Fort? If you can't capture the Boulder Fort, how will you explain to it?

Under the reflection of the winter sunset, the towering boulder castle is like a giant beast lying on the grassland, its huge body, and its huge friendless beast mouth will devour how many fresh lives?

"What sharpens knives and doesn't sharpen knives, it's nonsense!" Zhang Yannian tried his best to hide his frustration.

"Is it nonsense, you should always listen to me."

"Hmph, what do you have to say? Can you still take the Boulder Castle? ”

"Alas, don't always look down on people, I really have a way." Zhang Ren's lips were upturned, and he said seriously. Zhang Yannian felt a burst of joy in his heart, but said: "That's really the sun coming out of the west." ”

The father and son have always spoken like this, and Zhang Ren didn't care at all.

"Do you dare to make a bet with me? If I win......" Zhang Ren's words were interrupted by Zhang Yannian: "What if you lose?" ”

"I, if I lose, I, I will change my ways, I listen to you, I don't gamble, I don't prostitute, I don't spend money indiscriminately, I do a good job as an official, I do things and behave, I fight for our old Zhang family. Then if I win, you ......" Zhang Ren stumbled before he finished speaking. Zhang Yannian said impatiently:

"If you win, I won't ask you anything in the future, and everything will be up to you."

"Okay, then we'll make up our minds."

"Say it."

"There is a man in my camp named Brother Hao, who is the nephew of the Dara or Patriarch of the Boulder Fort, and we are good buddies. He was doing business in Yongfeng before the war, and I advised him not to go back, but he didn't worry about his mother, so he came back. Later, he was taken to Boulder Castle by his uncle. Last night he slipped out of the city and begged me to let him and his mother live when the city was broken. I said that the military order is like a mountain, can you release people, I don't dare to guarantee the ticket, but if you cooperate with me to win the boulder fort, then I will have to speak in front of the old man. He agreed, and made an appointment with me to open a secret door in the west of the city and let me into the fort on the third watch tonight, and led me to catch his uncle. With his help, I have to be the first to break the city this time. ”

Zhang Ren stammered. Zhang Yannian actually sneered and mocked: "You still dare to bet with me about these things? ”

Zhang Ren's eyes widened, and he was unconvinced: "Why don't you dare to bet?" Are you afraid that Brother Hao is tricking me? I'll tell you one thing, and you won't think so. Brother Hao's father turned out to be the patriarch of the Dala or clan, and his mother was one of the best beauties in the middle of the forest. His uncle coveted his mother's beauty, so he took advantage of his father's serious illness to poison him, killed his father, and took possession of his mother. This is a deep hatred, and anyone will revenge it. Do you say Brother Hao, will he still lie to me? ”

Zhang Yannian lowered his head and thought for a moment, and asked, "He told you about this matter?" ”

Zhang Ren pursed his lips and said, "You must be too careful, I knew about this seven or eight years ago." You just ask someone in the middle of the forest who doesn't know? If your son doesn't make it any longer, he's not a fool. ”

Zhang Yannian asked again: "The castle is guarded so tightly, how did he come out?" ”

Zhang Ren shouted: "My father, you have a bad memory, didn't I say it, there are several secret passages leading to the outside of the city, and there are too many people to enter, and it is not a problem for one or two people to enter and exit." If you don't believe me, you can follow along. ”

Zhang Yannian sighed and said, "Since you are completely sure, what else can I say?" ”

Zhang Renxi said: "I won't embarrass you, after the city is broken, the Xiaocai battalion will neither occupy the silver treasury nor move the grain and grass." All I have to do is help Brother Hao kill his uncle to avenge it. ”

Zhang Yannian snorted softly and did not speak. He picked up the cold towel and put it on his forehead, and closed his eyes leisurely.

At the third watch of the same day, someone in the boulder fort really opened a stone gate on the west side, the door was only three feet wide, and it was too crowded for two people to enter and exit side by side. Zhang Ren, who had already been ambushed in the trench outside the castle, led two hundred elite soldiers of the Xiao cavalry battalion to quickly enter through the small gate. After that, there was no movement in the Boulder Castle until dawn.

Zhang Yannian had been watching all this secretly, and after the stone door closed, he closed his lips tightly and said nothing. Like a stone statue, he gazed at the gray-white, crouching monolithic fortress like a wild beast.

At the beginning of the hour, there was still no movement in the boulder fort. Zhang Yannian's face was gloomy, and he ordered the Xinlin clan and the Flying Tiger Army to prepare for a strong attack. Two thousands of soldiers had just finished marching.

A white flag suddenly stretched out from a watchtower in front of the megalithic fort, and then the sound of drums was loud, and Zhang Ren was seen holding a glass and wine in his left hand, and a beautiful Uighur girl in his right hand, screaming at the city. At the same time, the large iron gate in front of the megalithic fort slowly rose, and a group of soldiers of the cavalry battalion escorted the prisoners of war of the Dala or clan out of the fort triumphantly.

Zhang Yannian's tense heart finally let go, and a rare smile appeared on his weather-beaten face.