"Kill! Kill! ”

Obviously screaming weakly, Yuan Tanjun's charging team tried to move forward, carrying heavy bags of earth and boulders, dripping knee-deep water with difficulty, trying to rush towards the trench four hundred paces away—to be precise, trying to charge towards the damn man-made river, wanting to throw the stones and dirt bags in their hands into the river, completely or temporarily fill in this damn man-made river, and open up a breakout and escape team for themselves and their own army.

"Life and death! Success or failure, honor and disgrace! It's already a fight here! Soldiers, rush! For the sake of the lord, for us, for yourselves, rush! Rush desperately! ”

The senior generals of Yuan Tanjun were shouting hysterically, and the Dubotun generals at the grassroots level had already personally put on the battle, carrying sandbags to join the charge, but Yuan Tanjun's charge speed was nothing fast, and the loose and soft land soaked by the river water was like a long mouth, and he could bite his foot and neck when he stepped down, and even his shoes could be swallowed when he pulled it out. It also takes several times more effort than walking. The soil around Yecheng is thick, and it is the main granary of Jizhou, but after being soaked by the river, Yecheng, which has thick soil, has become a swamp-like Yecheng.

With all the effort, this team of Yuan Tan troops finally rushed to the vicinity of the man-made river and saw the culprit of Shui Wai Yecheng, but correspondingly, behind the soil enclosure on the other side of the artificial river, there were also countless Xuzhou soldiers with evil smiles on their faces, lined up behind the earthen enclosure, and people raised their bows and arrows side by side. The Xuzhou general who led the team suddenly waved the order flag with a cruel smile, and the dense rain of arrows roared into the air, drawing countless wonderful arcs in the sky, and falling on the head of Yuan Tanjun's team with the sound of breaking the sky.

The screams of despair sounded one after another in the ranks of Yuan Tanjun, and the soldiers who were hit by the arrows fell down one after another, falling into the cold and biting muddy water, the muddy water rippled endlessly, and Yuan Tanjun, who was carrying dozens of pounds of sandbags, could not avoid it, and was completely the live target of the Xuzhou army in the soft and sticky swamp mud, and was killed on the spot by the critical hit. The screams of being shot in the hands and feet were incessant. The blood stained the mud into patches of pink, and countless people fled backwards by throwing sandbags and stones.

Many of the tenacious soldiers of the Yuan Tan army were still struggling to advance, holding the sandbags above their foreheads to block the feather arrows thrown by the Xuzhou army. Efforts to speed up. With an obsession, he said that he had to throw the sandbag in his hand into the man-made river a hundred steps ahead. However, they rushed forward less than thirty paces, and the direct crossbow arrows of the Xuzhou army also began to exert their might, and the powerful crossbow arrows continued to shoot straight forward. The soldiers of the Yuan Tan army could not block the upper and lower levels, blocked the bow and arrows and could not block the crossbow arrows, and the crossbow arrows could not block the bow and arrows, and suffered heavy casualties in the face of the three-dimensional attack of the Xuzhou army.

The crossbowmen of the Yuan army who followed with difficulty also began to fight back, hiding behind the river filling team and throwing arrows in front of them, but they were greeted by a more violent counterattack by the Xuzhou army, and the Xuzhou archers all threw back fire, and the Yuan army archers shot back, and the crossbowmen continued to be responsible for blocking the enemy in front, the front and rear rows shot alternately, aiming at the opposite enemy through Wangsheng, shooting a thick and short crossbow arrow to the enemy, uninterrupted firing, loading and firing, the arrow rain was like a note, and the soldiers of the Yuan Tan army were still falling, The distance of dozens of paces also became incomparably long, and countless soldiers did not get close to the damn man-made river within fifty paces until the last moment of their lives.

"Those who retreat are immediately killed! Give it to me! Relying on the persecution and urging of the officer, finally a Yuan soldier took the lead into the fifty steps of the man-made river, but the closer the distance, the more dense and powerful the crossbow arrows of the Xuzhou army became, and the crossbow arrows that flew through the air could not only easily penetrate the thin leather armor of the Yuan soldiers, but also could penetrate the chest of the Yuan Tan soldiers and the bones of the Yuan soldiers.

Finally, the first Yuan soldier couldn't bear the threat of death, threw down the sandbag in his hand and ran back, but was immediately cut to pieces by the supervision team behind him, but more Yuan soldiers joined the fleeing team, and the supervision team brandished knives and axes to intercept desperately, forcing these Yuan soldiers to turn around, pick up sandbags and move forward again, countless Yuan soldiers were caught between the arrow rain of the Xuzhou army and the sword and axe of the supervision team, and they couldn't advance or retreat, crying and shaking the sky.

Seeing such a scene, Ma Yan, the general of Jizhou who commanded the breakout battle, burst into tears, and wanted to mingjin several times, but he couldn't open his mouth for anything, and was besieged by the Xuzhou army for five days, Yuan Tanjun had launched a similar forced breakthrough twice, and also launched two overnight attacks, but the guards of the Xuzhou army were too thorough, and each time they were repelled by the well-prepared Xuzhou army relying on the siege fortifications, and the casualties were heavy but to no avail.

The attack casualties during the day were heavy, and the casualties of the sneak attack at night were even heavier, the Yuan Tan army team that attacked overnight had just left the city, and the Xuzhou scouts lurking outside the city immediately sent out a fireworks signal, and the Xuzhou army team that took turns on duty was immediately on guard behind the fortifications, and attacked the Yuan Tan army's team out of the city, with bows and crossbows, with spears, killing and wounding countless Yuan soldiers who tried to fill in the river or cross the river, and the Xuzhou elite army crossed the river from other river sections, and surrounded the Yuan Tan army before and after the roundabout, and killed the Yuan army corpses and blood, After being forced to retreat at a heavy price, the sandbags, stones and corpses that were finally thrown into the man-made river were quickly fished out by the Xuzhou army.

Yuan Tanjun has not much time and opportunity, there is still some food in Yecheng City, but these grains will only be eaten up sooner or later, the morale of the defenders of Yecheng has also fallen to the extreme, the siege of Zhangshui has only been five days, when the deserters surrendered to the Xuzhou Army, the soldiers have exceeded 500 people, if you don't quickly highlight the encirclement of the Xuzhou Army, let the morale and fighting spirit continue to be so low, or I am afraid that there will be no breakthrough force for a long time. So Ma Yan had no choice but to continue to urge the soldiers forward. Advancing against the rain of arrows of the Xuzhou army, the lives of the soldiers were exchanged for the extremely slim hope of breaking through.

Yuan Tan Gongzi's face was blue on the city wall, and after being trapped to death by the Xuzhou army overnight, Yuan Tan Gongzi also sent a messenger to beg for peace with his rival brother-in-law Deputy Director Tao, but the damned brother-in-law asked Yuan Tan Gongzi to lay down his arms with the whole army, hand over all the troops and power, and go to Xuchang to be an idle official to eat and drink and wait for death, the arrogant Yuan Tan Gongzi naturally couldn't accept such humiliating conditions, so Yuan Tan Gongzi made up his mind to break through, no matter how much it cost to highlight the siege of his damn brother-in-law!

Of course, it is best to be able to stand out from the surrounding. Even if you can't highlight the encirclement. Yuan Tan Gongzi did not work in vain - Yuan Tan Gongzi still had a faint idea in his heart, even if he could not break through the encirclement, as long as he let the soldiers die more, his food and grass would be able to hold on for a little longer. There is also more hope that it will hold on until there is a new turnaround.

The Xuzhou army did not disappoint Yuan Tan Gongzi. With the rapid arrival of reinforcements from a large battalion on the battlefield. The number of bows and crossbows of the Xuzhou army soon reached an astonishing number, and the rain of arrows was so dense that it was like a continuous drizzle on a spring day, and dense locusts continued to drive on the heads of the Yuan army's river-filling team. The soldiers of the Yuan Tan army had no foothold on the other side of the man-made river at all, and the remaining river-filling infantry was swept away almost instantly, and the Yuan army archers and the supervising team who shot at the Xuzhou army archers were also heavily wounded and were forced to flee to a distant place in embarrassment, and none of the 1,500 Yuan army river-filling infantry sent in the first batch could return to the main formation alive.

"Who dares to go up below?" Ma Yan turned to the generals behind him and asked, and added: "Repeat, whoever can lead the team to fill in a section of pottery thief trench and open the way for our army to advance will be promoted to the third rank, rewarded with 500 catties of gold and silver, and ten beauties!" ”

No one said anything, no one dared to say anything, the battlefield in front of them was already full of corpses, the blood was so red that the mud was stained red, no one dared to go to death in vain, Ma Yan was furious and asked again, or no one dared to take this mortal order, Ma Yan roared angrily: "Do you want me to go by name?" Then I'll say the ugly things in front, whoever is named if he doesn't go, he will be beheaded immediately! ”

"General, it's not that we don't dare to go." Several generals of the Yuan army knelt down and cried: "We can't rush through, it is impossible not to rush through!" Don't let the soldiers die in vain, we have no chance to break through! ”

Seeing the generals crying, Ma Yan also burst into tears, and only after a long time did he twist his face away and commanded in a low voice: "Mingjin, if there is any crime, I will bear it alone." ”

The golden gong sounded, the Yuan Tan army in the array was like an amnesty, and quickly fled back to the Yecheng city with the same depth of water, the Xuzhou soldiers on the other side of the artificial river were like a tide, but Yuan Tan Gongzi on the city wall was like thunder, and before the team all entered the city, he immediately let the guards pass Ma Yan to his face, and asked: "Why Mingjin?" Who gave you the power to mingle? How did I explain before I left the city, even if I used corpses to fill in, I had to fill in the river, why did you only attack once and then Mingjin withdrew his troops? ”

"Lord, I can't rush over." Ma Yan hung his head and said dejectedly: "The lord is on the city wall, he must have seen it, the pottery thief's precautions are too thorough, and our soldiers don't even have a chance to rush to the side of the trench, and if they rush down, they will only let the soldiers die in vain!" ”

"I don't care about this!" Yuan Tan Gongzi yelled, "I just need to fill in that river and open the way for our army to break through!" If you withdraw from the army without permission, you should be beheaded! Someone, push Ma Yan down the city for me, and behead him in public! ”

"The Lord is gracious." The generals of the Yuan Tan army led by Gao Gan knelt down together, scrambled to intercede with Yuan Tan, and Gao Gan also said: "Lord, General Ma is an old minister of Jizhou, if he is beheaded, I am afraid that the military will be unfavorable, and please ask the lord to be merciful outside the law and spare General Ma's life." ”

"The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped, push it down and punish eighty times with a rod in public!" Yuan Tan Gongzi yelled, Gao Gan and other generals pleaded again, but Yuan Tan Gongzi categorically refused, Ma Yan, who decided to withdraw on his own for the sake of his subordinates, was also immediately pushed down to the city, in front of Ma Yan to save those Yuan army soldiers, the stick saw the blood and blamed the eighty military sticks, until Ma Yan was skinned and fleshy, the blood flowed like an infusion, and he fainted in pain several times.

Yuan Tan Gongzi's behavior is naturally unpopular with the army, that night, several Yuan army intermediate generals who were rescued by Ma Yan launched a retaliatory action, leading hundreds of soldiers to rescue Ma Yan, who was seriously injured, and then rushed through the south gate of Yecheng out of the city to surrender to the Xuzhou army, and when he left, he also lit a fire in the city, causing many chaotic casualties to Yuan Tan's army, and Yuan Tan Gongzi was furious when he heard the report. Urgently sent Peng An to send troops to chase and kill, as a result, Peng An led 3,000 troops out of the city, before the soldiers and horses arrived, a small half of the soldiers had already taken the opportunity to slip away, fled to the side of the trench and surrendered to the Xuzhou army, Peng An saw that the situation was not good, so he had to retreat sharply, and fled back to the city to defend behind closed doors.

The army's morale was so dissipated, Yuan Tanjun's decision-making level was of course worried, and the next morning, the senior cadres made another suggestion to Yuan Tan. It is suggested that Yuan Tan take advantage of the strength of the battle now. With all the soldiers and horses in the city, he broke through the siege at night, crossed the Xuzhou military trench to the east at all costs, and asked Yuan Tan Gongzi to personally lead the troops to break through. Boost morale before the battle. Don't hide in the rear and let the soldiers fight in front of you, as you did the previous times. Expect the soldiers to open the road and then break through and flee for their lives, let alone dream of sending only one army to break through and leaving another army to defend the city. Yuan Tan Gongzi thought twice. Finally, I accepted this all-or-nothing suggestion.

On the same day, Yuan Tan Gongzi ordered the whole army to prepare for a night battle, loaded all the grain and grass that could be taken away, and ordered every soldier to prepare three days of dry food, which was tantamount to telling everyone that he was ready to break through tonight, causing the army to panic, and the soldiers rushed to pack their luggage and prepare to retreat, and the garrison in the city was in chaos, and the Xuzhou Xizuo who lurked in Yuan Tan's army - that is, the Xuzhou army that sent a letter to Gao Gan but never found a chance, took the opportunity to slip down the city wall in the evening and swam across to the other side of the moat. ran to report the news in front of the Xuzhou military defense line, and also won a double reward from Deputy Director Tao for himself.

Although Xuzhou Xizuo could not know the direction of Yuan Tanjun's breakthrough, Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao Poison and others analyzed it with their toes, and they could also guess that Yuan Tanjun must be breaking through to the east - because the north of Yecheng is the impassable Zhangshui, the south is the main camp of the Xuzhou army, and the west is leading to Bingzhou, but unfortunately the road is narrow Chen Zhi has already taken Maocheng and cut off the way of Yuan Tanjun's way, only the east is the most suitable for Yuan Tanjun's whole army to break through. Therefore, Deputy Director Tao did not hesitate, and immediately sent heavy troops to the east to set up defenses, and the southwest two gates also sent troops to garrison, explaining that it was necessary to block the road for Yuan's army to break through.

In fact, this resistance battle was easier than Deputy Director Tao expected, although Yuan Tan Gongzi explained that he went out of the city in the third watch, assembled outside the east gate and then broke through, but the second watch was just over halfway, and Feng Li, the timid guard of the west gate of the Yuan army, had already opened the city gate, and took the lead in escaping from Yecheng, which was too deep in the water, and the Yuan army team that was ready to go out of the city from the west gate was greatly panicked, and said that the time for the breakthrough had come, and without waiting to confirm the sound of Bangzi, he rushed out of the city first, bypassing Yecheng and assembling outside the east gate.

As a result, the morale of the army has long been extremely low The Yecheng defenders were of course in chaos, Peng An also hurriedly opened the south gate, and led the army out of the city from the south gate to the east to assemble, for fear that there would be no chance to escape after running a step. Hearing the news, Yuan Tan Gongzi, who was still organizing his family members to get into the car in his own house, was shocked, and had no choice but to let his wife and children get into the car in a hurry, and led the main force to open the east gate to break through in advance, and the entire breakthrough plan was completely disrupted.

More unfortunate is still to come, at this time, from the Taihang Mountains Zhangshui because of the spring rain flooding, flash floods, the flood peak happened to arrive in the Yecheng area tonight, resulting in the Zhanghe River water surface suddenly swamped, the river water poured into the low-lying Yecheng, the flat water depth of several feet, Yuan Tan army can only break through to the east in the leg deep water, the Xuzhou army with a higher position and digging trenches to build an earthen enclosure is almost unaffected, condescendingly slammed the Yuan Tan army team trying to break through, Yuan Tan army was defeated, No matter how desperate he was, he couldn't cross the artificial river dug by the Xuzhou army, and the corpses of the Xuzhou army were all over the ground, and there were countless dead.

On the contrary, the water on the ground is getting bigger and bigger, and it is waist-deep, and at the same time, there are fewer and fewer soldiers participating in the battle, and there are more and more soldiers who surrender to the Xuzhou army.

But this is enough, when he returned to the city to count the soldiers and horses, Yuan Tan Gongzi was stunned to find that the 30,000 defenders in Yecheng were already less than 10,000 people, and the grain and grass brought out of the city were lost not to mention, the hungry and cold people in Yecheng also took the opportunity to rob a lot of Yecheng grain, so that the original storage of grain and grass plummeted to less than 30%, Yuan Tan Gongzi was furious, and immediately ordered the army to investigate and arrest the people who robbed the grain, and vowed to recapture every grain they lost!

It was not until dawn that Yuan Tan Gongzi knew that Zhang Nan and Peng An, the generals of the self-army who did not return to the city, did not die in the chaos, but surrendered to the Xuzhou army with a team of cronies.

To Yuan Tan's surprise, Zhang Nan and Peng An, these generals, took the opportunity to surrender, but Feng Li, the first West Gate guard to open the city gate and escape, fled back to the city, and ran to his own front to show his flattery, but Yuan Tan said this time that he would not reward this loyal minister, and immediately yelled: "Push him out, divide the corpse with a knife, and feed the corpse to the dogs!" ”

"Spare your life! Lord's life! The last will be loyal, the last will be loyal! ”

In fact, General Feng Li, who wanted to find an opportunity to make meritorious contributions to the city after returning to the city, was pushed out, and was dismembered with a knife with remorse that he should not be greedy and insufficient, and Yuan Tan Gongzi also sat on the floor with a slump, looking at the stagnant water on the ground downstairs in a daze, and muttered, "What should I do?" What to do? ”

"Don't worry, the lord has a plan, he will definitely turn defeat into victory and turn things around." Gao Gan suddenly came to Yuan Tan Gongzi's ear, and said in a low voice: "The previous lord asked to surrender, the pottery thief promised that the lord would not die, now our army has been defeated in successive battles, and it has reached the end of the road, and when the weather is clear and rainy, the lord will send someone to ask for surrender, and the pottery thief must believe that our army will surrender, and then said that the pottery thief deceived our army in Guandu last time, and our army is afraid that he will repent, and the pottery thief must come to the city to prove the sincerity of the surrender, and our army can believe that the pottery thief is greedy for the north quickly, and must agree." And then............. ”

After listening to Gao Gan's strategy, Yuan Tan Gongzi, who was at the end of his rope, pondered for a moment, and soon gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!" Take a gamble! If you can kill the pottery thief, no matter how many pottery thieves there are outside the city, there is no need to be afraid! (To be continued......)