The Tang Army's horse team rushed into the enemy group, like a river entering the sea, drowning in the sea of people. A general in the infantry camp in the rear said worriedly: "The general is so risky with his blood, if our army is ineffective in battle and is dragged by the enemy, this place is nearly a thousand steps away from the city gate, how can he get out?" ”

Another lieutenant also chimed in: "If our ten regiments are lost outside the city and the main force is destroyed, how can Shancheng be defended?" ”

Chen Tuanlian snorted coldly: "Wulang is the lord's person, he told you to die, you have to die immediately!" ”

All the generals knew that Chen Tuanlian had twice picked up his life from the hands of the assassin, so he naturally understood the joints, and he stopped saying anything after listening to it. At this time, Chen Tuanlian said with hatred: "As long as you kill the barbarians, what is the pity of dying?" ”

Chen Tuanlian raised his saber and shouted: "The whole army obeys the order, advance!" ”

Hearing this, the army slowly moved forward, and at this moment, suddenly the enemy army in front of them began to retreat, almost in a state of collapse, and the shape became more and more intense, and they began to run westward like a flood...... Such a scene can't help but be puzzling, as if a monster like a mountain suddenly appeared in Shancheng and scared them away.

The soldiers of the infantry camp of the Tang Army also looked at the scene in front of them in amazement, looking at each other.

At this time, the crowd was shining, the Tang army lancers returned, they rushed east from the enemy camp in the west, the heart guards on the armor just reflected the rising sun, and the shining light was like a divine soldier descending from the sky.

I saw Zhang Wulang in front of him, holding a human head in his left hand and a flagpole in his right hand, and the flag on the flagpole was not written in Chinese characters but some twisted and winding graphics, obviously Tuyuhun's military flag. Seeing this, Tang Jun immediately cheered.

The horse team rushed to the front of the formation, and Zhang Wulang looked back at the retreating crowd and said, "Don't pursue, just go back to the city." ”

"General, is the head of the enemy's commander?"

Zhang Wulang smiled: "Exactly, this guy wanted to run, but was shot by me with an arrow." I don't know what the name is, what the origin is, send the head back to Shanzhou, and Shangfeng will definitely be able to find it. "Zhang Wulang's archery skills are not in vain, and this is the first time that the soldiers of Shanzhou have seen it.

The pigtailed man's head was stained with blood, a pair of lantern eyes stared at the boss, and he looked like he was dead, and even his mouth was open, and his yellow teeth made people look evil. Zhang Wulang suddenly put his hand into the bloody mouth and pulled it out, and actually pulled out a gold tooth, and threw it behind him, and a sergeant hurriedly caught it, and heard Zhang Wulang say, "I've rewarded you." ”

When the army returned to the city from the West Gate, Zhang Wulang immediately asked someone to find some ice cubes to put in a wooden box, then put the heads inside, and wrapped the wooden box in layers of quilts, and then sent people and horses to deliver it to the Shanzhou Prefecture Government together with the Tuyuhun military flag.

…… Xue Chongxun took the wooden box in the lobby of the state government, couldn't help but open it curiously, and stared at the dead eyes for a long time. The sergeant who reported the message below was describing the battle process in detail, and Xue Chongxun waited for him to finish speaking, and then sent an official list to the yamen and the city gates to inform the subjects, and on the other hand, he sent someone to inform Li Yi, the general of the Shanzhou garrison.

The Shanzhou army won the battle, and originally thought that Li Yi would come to the state government to congratulate, but unexpectedly, the person who came was a strange old man, with a face with extremely deep wrinkles, black and yellow. The old man didn't look happy, and he clenched his fists and said, "Please order that the Shanzhou army can't fight in waves, and it's a good thing to defend the city." ”

Xue Chongxun was unhappy when he saw this, so he asked, "Who are you?" ”

The old man said: "The last general, Huang Zhonghou, is the deputy general of the Jiannan Army...... Wei Guogong listened to my advice, Shancheng has few soldiers, and it is by no means something to be encouraged to go out of the city to fight. ”

Xue Chongxun said quietly: "The ancients said that once you are in a hurry, you will decline and then exhaust yourself, what is wrong with Wulang seizing the fighter plane to destroy the enemy's spirit first?" ”

Deputy General Huang Zhonghou frowned and said: "The Tuyuhun forward army is nearly 10,000 people, what kind of fighter is this, if it weren't for the incompetence of the people in the wooden box, and surrounded the Shanzhou army, how would Zhang Shou get out?" The Shanzhou army lost ten regiments, how could Shancheng hold it? ”

Xue Chongxun was silent and noncommittal.

Huang Zhonghou hugged his fists and said "farewell", turned around and left.

After the people left, Zhang Jusi next to Xue Chongxun whispered: "This deputy general, the shelf is even bigger than the main general, and I don't want to think about who I am talking to." ”

Xue Chongxun was also quite puzzled, he always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't think of anything wrong. He looked down and thought for a long time, but finally had no clue, and then looked up at the head in front of him. Although his eyes were looking in front of him, it was as if he had seen nothing, and his mind was already thinking about something else.

But his unintentional appearance made the surrounding officials shudder, and Thorn Shi actually looked at a dead man's head for a long time! Could it be that he can talk to ghosts? This scene is very weird.

Suddenly, Xue Chongxun spoke in the quiet lobby, and many people were startled. Xue Chongxun stood up "Teng": "Come on, please ask Li Yi to see me in the signing room, and tell him to come immediately, immediately!" ”

The words were "immediately" and "immediately", and the subordinates hurriedly responded to arrange for the servants to report the news.

Xue Chongxun got up and exited the lobby, came to the signing room and sat quietly for a long time, thinking about things in his heart, he felt that time passed quickly, as if after a while, someone reported that Li Yi had arrived.

The stocky junior in his early twenties bowed very humbly: "The last general will meet the Duke of Weiguo." ”

Sure enough, the judge was right, the momentum of this main general was not as strong as the deputy general of Fang Cai. Xue Chongxun stared at Li Yi coldly. Li Yi was stared at and looked down at himself, as if he was looking for something wrong.

At this time, Xue Chongxun shouted categorically: "You are not in charge of the Jiannan Army, it is the deputy general Huang Zhonghou!" ”

Li Yi's shoulders trembled when he was shocked by this blow, and he was stunned for a long time before he gradually came back to his senses, he lowered his eyes and didn't say a word.

Xue Chongxun's eyes widened, and the figure of Cheng Qianli, the envoy of the festival, appeared in his mind...... Cheng Qianli, who was like a down-and-out literati, stood in front of the sunset in the west, his eyes looking into the distance, and his deep gaze seemed to contain countless things that no one else knew......

"Tell the truth!" Xue Chongxun said coldly, "Chief Cheng asked you to be the commander, why?" ”

Li Yi was silent for a long time, and then he hugged his fists and said: "Actually, there is no need to hide it from Wei Guogong, since you ask, I will tell you the truth." As Wei Guogong said, although I am named the chief general of the Jiannan Army, I actually have no military power in my hands, and all the military power is in the hands of Deputy General Huang...... Vice General Huang is a veteran of the battlefield who has followed Jiedu to make him in the Western Regions for half his life, and he is qualified to control the Jiannan Army. ”

"And what do you eat?" Xue Chongxun said angrily.

Li Yi said: "I have only one duty, wait for the city of Shancheng to be broken." ”

"Wait for the city to break...... What do you mean? Tuyuhun claims to have invaded Shanzhou with 200,000 people, why don't you send a soldier to the important town of Shancheng for reinforcements and wait for the city to be broken? ”

Li Yi continued to say calmly: "To ensure the long-term peace and stability of Longyou, a big patient, Tubo!" The arrangement of the Jiedu envoy was all aimed at severely damaging the vitality of the main force of Tibet. Attracting the Tuyu Hun army of Tubo servants in Shanzhou, the southern front can greatly reduce the pressure and win the chance of defeating the main force of Tubo for the 100,000 athletes of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, it is a moment for Shancheng to be able to hold on for a moment, and it is a matter of time before the city is broken...... As soon as Shancheng is broken, the Tuyuhun army will definitely take advantage of the false army to come to the city of Shanzhou, so my task is to escort the Duke of Weiguo to Langzhou before Shanzhou is besieged, so as to prevent mistakes. ”

Xue Chongxun looked at Li Yi with an angry look on his face and froze for a moment. He immediately shouted, "Someone! ”

A scribe hurried in. Xue Chongxun hurriedly said: "Immediately send a fast horse of eight hundred miles to rush to Shancheng, pass on my order, and get Zhang Wulang back for me!" ”

"Yes, my lord."

"Wait!" Xue Chongxun lifted the brush on the case, but saw that there was no ink in the inkstone, so he put the pen into his mouth and licked it twice, picked up the pen and wrote, licking while writing, and his lips were full of black ink. After writing the scribbled letter, he didn't care about sealing it, and slapped it directly on the case: "Send it quickly." ”

It's a pity it's too late.

Early the next morning, the messenger came back to report that the main force of Tuyuhun had arrived at the foot of Shancheng City, and the water was impassable on all sides, let alone getting people out, and even the letter could not be delivered.

Xue Chongxun sat on the chair in a gloomy manner, and said nothing with a gloomy face all morning.

……

The Tang army in Shancheng was still defending the city with hope, although the enemy soldiers were besieged and attacked day and night, but the Shanzhou army rotated to defend the city impenetrable. Although there were many people in Tuyuhun, they could not enter the city, and everyone believed that the reinforcements of the Tang Dynasty would soon be able to drive westward...... I didn't watch the city being beaten and killed.

The Han people in the city and the officers and soldiers have the same hatred for the enemy, and willingly provide all kinds of help such as strong men, materials, etc., and the people are helping the government and themselves, because those barbarians may slaughter the city after breaking the city, at least burn and rob it, rather than leaving it to the foreign race to rob, it is better to give their own people.

The army and the people are united, and the fortified fortress is like an iron fight.

But ten days passed, half a month passed, and a month passed...... Not even a single shadow of reinforcements was to be seen. No matter how strong an army is, it will be finished without food.

Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the city ate and drank, and there were no supplies entering the city for several months. The military rations were exhausted, the war horses were killed, and the people's homes were almost confiscated, and the shape became more and more critical.

In the Shanzhou army, Zhang Wulang sat in a room hung with silk mantles, the window was finely carved hollow patterns, and the table in front of him was a rice bowl made of red gold, but the bowl was filled with tree bark boiled paste.

What is the use of silk at this moment? What is gold, silver and jade used for? What are pearl gemstones used for?

At this time, Chen Tuanlian walked in, saw the black paste in front of Zhang Wulang, turned around and scolded the sergeant next to him: "Bastard! You just gave this to the general, and didn't leave any rice? ”

The sergeant said with an innocent face: "Originally, it was reserved for the general, but the general inspects the city tower every day, and what the soldiers eat, he tells me to do......

Zhang Wulang waved his hand dejectedly: "It's my order, Chen Tuanlian don't be embarrassed for him, in a few days, I'm afraid there won't even be bark...... What's the matter with you? ”

"Two things." Chen Tuan practiced, "The barbarians have learned wisely, and they no longer release arrows to the city, we can't find arrows, there are not enough craftsmen, and the materials for arrow feathers are also difficult to get, and the new construction is very slow; And they sent envoys into the city to persuade them to surrender, do you want to behead them and show them to the public? ”

Zhang Wulang pondered for a moment: "Don't kill!" Bring messengers to me...... Or go to the Xicheng Tower to meet in front of all the soldiers. He stood up.

Chen Tuanlian was stunned and said, "Could it be that Wulang wants to bow his head to the barbarians?" ”

Zhang Wulang smiled sadly: "Anyone can descend, but I can't." I am the Marquis of Datang County and General Jin Wuwei, and surrendering to the enemy is detrimental to the national prestige. However, there are tens of thousands of people in Shancheng! We must do our best to fight for the survival of the people. ”

Chen Tuanlian was silent.

The group walked out of the street and had to walk on foot, because the horses had already been eaten. The white expanse on the ground and the roof was covered with snow, and the sky and the earth seemed to be dead and silent, and in the snow you could often see a mass of black stuff, which was a starving corpse.

Zhang Wulang pointed to the corpse and said: "Arrange some people to deal with the corpse, or bury or burn, although the weather is getting colder, but also to prevent the plague." ”

"Yes, General."

After walking for a while, I saw a row of open houses burning red, the sound of "clanging clanging ......" was constantly sounding, and the craftsmen were rushing to make supplementary weapons and arrows. Zhang Wulang stopped in front, and a hungry and bloodless official came out to greet him, and Zhang Wulang encouraged: "Good job, although the situation is difficult, everyone is still doing their jobs." ”

The group continued to walk forward, Zhang Wulang went up to the tower, summoned the captain and the generals to gather, and then asked someone to bring the Tuyuhun envoy up.

The slave owners of Tuyuhun did not wear animal skins, but silk and cloth, and the material of the clothes was similar to that of the Tang people, but the style of cutting was different, and they generally wore trousers instead of skirts. The two of them are a fat man and a descendant, and the latter may be a follower. They swaggered up, and the fat man put his hand on his left breast, and bowed in style.

Zhang Wulang sat on the chair without saying a word, nor did he return the salute. The generals also glared angrily.

The fat man took out a paper bag in the package for a while, took out a paper bag, and said: "A roast leg of mutton, the prime minister knows that there is no food in the city, and he is afraid that General Zhang will be hungry. ”

It was clearly just mocking the Tang Army for not having food and grass supplies, so as to increase the bargaining chips in the negotiations. The generals were furious, and some shouted, "Throw these two dogs and their leg of lamb downstairs!" ”

Zhang Wulang calmed down and said: "Since it is a gift, take it and take it out to let the most bitter soldiers of the Western Wall eat...... Cut off a piece first and let these two Tuguhun people eat, poison them first! ”

A general stepped forward and pulled out his horizontal knife with a "swish", startling the fat man. The general glared at him viciously, cut off a piece of meat from the leg of mutton, picked it up in front of the Tuyuhun people with a knife, and shouted: "Eat, or the old man will eat your meat!" ”

The fat man blushed, stared at the bright horizontal knife, and had to carefully pinch the mutton with his fingers and put it in his mouth. When the general put away the knife, he straightened his neck again: "The prime minister orders you to surrender your weapons and open the city to surrender!" ”

Zhang Wulang said coldly: "Order? I, a Tang Dynasty soldier, only listen to the orders of the emperor and the officials appointed by the emperor, when will I listen to the orders of the Tuyuhun people? ”

The fat man sneered, "Do you still have a choice?" As long as we surround and don't fight, you will die sooner or later! ”

"Yes." Zhang Wulang said categorically, "Kaesong will fight to the death with you, I don't say big things to win more with less, but I dare to guarantee that the casualties of the Tuyuhun people are definitely several times that of ours!" ”

The fat man said angrily: "If you wait for no benefit and stubborn resistance, the day the Tuyuhun army breaks the city, it will definitely wash the city in blood, and slaughter the city!" ”

Zhang Wulang was silent. After a while, the fat man took a breath and said, "Let's talk about the conditions." ”

"Don't be impatient." Zhang Wulang said lightly, he was noncommittal and only ordered, "Take it down and watch." ”

At this time, the generals were furious and shouted: "Starve to death and suffer, please order the general to open the city and fight to the death against the barbarians!" Happy! ”

"What about the tens of thousands of people in Shancheng?" Zhang Wulang said coldly, "The city is in our hands, and if we fail to defend it, we can atone for it if we die?" What is wrong and what is the sin of innocent people! ”

"The general is going to surrender?" One of them asked angrily.

Zhang Wulang said: "I will take a few dead soldiers out of the city to fight to the death to deter the enemy." You leave the aftermath behind, negotiate terms with the Tuyuhun people, and exchange the city for the lives of the people. ”

"Why didn't the general talk to them himself?"

"Because I have the title of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty!" Zhang Wulang looked back at the generals and said, "For the sake of tens of thousands of people in the Tang Dynasty, we will not be ashamed." That's an order! ”

Everyone was silent for a while, and Zhang Wulang turned his gaze to Chen Shitang: "This matter will be handed over to you, I hope Chen Tuan Lian will be in Xue Lang's love for you twice, don't let me die under the spring!" ”

Chen Shitang lowered his head, quite moved.

Zhang Wulang said: "You promise me in front of everyone." ”

Chen Shitang nodded: "I won't lose our face in front of the barbarians." ”

"Good." Zhang Wulang also ordered, "Go and select a team of dead soldiers to standby, those who are only children in the family, those who are on the same line as fathers and sons, and those who are brothers on the same line cannot be selected." ”

One of the generals went out of the tower to select soldiers, while the others stayed where they were.

After a long time, someone came to report: "General, the team has been assembled. ”

Zhang Wulang picked up his knife and strode out of the tower, and the generals followed silently. The snowflakes outside the building are fluttering slowly, which is extremely beautiful.

Zhang Wulang couldn't help but glance back at the direction of Shanzhou in the east, sighed in his heart, as if he remembered something, and muttered: "When I was lying in Nanzhai, I vomited at the beginning of the month. Bright freshwater wood, rippling in the window. It is clear and ancient. The beauty on the bank of the Qingjiang River is the night more bitter. How is it, the breeze blows Landu ......"

The martial artists basically didn't understand it, but it was Goro's last poem before leaving. No one knew what was in his mind.

There were hundreds of soldiers waiting in the urn city, but only one group of people went out of the city with Zhang Wulang, and the others were just preparing to be here, in case the enemy army rushed in when the door was opened.

Zhang Wulang took out his horizontal knife, threw the gold-inlaid scabbard in his hand, and then raised his head and shouted: "You will have a period in the future, open the city gate!" ”G