The news from the southeast was even simpler than Chahan's surrender letter, with only four words: "Wendeng City is broken." ”

Guo Conglong braved the snow to attack Wendeng and succeeded in the first battle. Although there are only 2,000 cavalry in his department, there are 1,000 people of Liu Yang's sailor division, and 3,000 cavalry to defend a Wendeng city, especially when there are sailor warships that can support it at any time, it is more than enough. The sailors also had a lot of artillery, and all of them were moved into the city. The walls were watered with water, and the ice froze. While preparing for defense, reinforcements from Haidong began to sail across the sea.

Most of the reinforcements from Haidong came from Goryeo, and the farther ones, such as the camps of Guanbei Zhang'er and Southern Goryeo, had not yet been assembled because of the problems involved in the change of defense, the long distance, and the heavy snow blocking the road. But most of the more recent ones have already arrived in Pyongyang. It snowed heavily, and goose feathers flew. Thousands of sails, one after another. The news also quickly spread to Yidu.

It's just that the ways in which the two parties inside and outside Yidu City learned the news were a little different. Chahan learned about it through scouts, while Deng She learned about it through a code pre-agreed with Guo Conglong.

The cipher they agreed upon was not complicated. After Guo Conglong broke through the city, he immediately sent two teams of ten people to rush to the outside of Yidu City. On the night of arrival, several fires were lit outside the Yuan army camp. The ignition means that the southeast road has been opened. The number of fires indicates how many days are expected to be left for reinforcements to arrive. The watchmen at the head of the city saw clearly, there were eight fires in all.

"In eight days, reinforcements will arrive."

It stands to reason that when reinforcements will arrive, it should be for military aircraft. But under Dunshe's deliberate indulgence, the good news soon spread throughout the city. From the night when the fire was lit, the words "reinforcements are coming" spread far and wide, and before dawn, they had already spread throughout the three armies, and even into the ears of almost every resident. The sky is still overcast, and the snow is still unstoppable. However, the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city suddenly got out of the depression and gradually increased. The city is full of festive atmosphere.

In the palace of King Yan.

Deng She, Hong Jixun and others were worried, and there was no joy at all about the arrival of reinforcements, on the contrary, most of them were in a heavy mood. Because, they know the inside story. What Deng She actually met with Guo Conglong was not a fire that represented one day, but a fire that represented two days. In other words, reinforcements do not arrive in eight days, but in sixteen days.

"Half a month. There is still half a month before reinforcements may arrive. Counting the journey from Wendeng to Yidu, half a month may not be enough. The siege of Chahan is urgent, from the day before yesterday to the present, the attack has been non-stop for three days and three nights. General Li reported one after another that the southern city wall had collapsed in many places. And the soldiers were tired and suffered heavy casualties. I'm afraid it's going to be hard for half a month. The person who spoke was Ji Zongzhou, with a worried face.

Dunshe's cold became more and more severe, and her cough became more and more severe. The sound of a rapid cough sounded like it was about to cough out the heart and lungs. The maid gently slapped him on the back, and he took a soft towel to cover his mouth.

After a heart-rending cough, he bred up his spirit and said, "Although the siege of Chahan has become more and more urgent in the past two days, the manpower is exhausted. If our army is tired, aren't they tired? The old thief is only tens of thousands of horses, the weather is cold, even if he uses it in turns, but as long as Zhao Guo can firmly block Wang Baobao and not give him the opportunity to reinforce the new army, then I Yidu will inevitably be in danger. I can get through it in the first few days, and I can stick to it in the next half month. ”

Hong Jixun said: "The Lord expects the enemy to be like a god. The department of the old horseman of Chahan is indeed approaching the end of the crossbow. I wonder if you have noticed? His siege is not as tight as it was some time ago. What does it mean? It shows that its army will be tired! Moreover, now that our reinforcements are coming, the morale of the city is boosted, but at the same time, it will inevitably deal a blow to the Chahan army. It's for me to rise and fall. He said to Deng She, "Chen dare to assert that as long as my reinforcements arrive, Chahan will definitely retreat." ”

Dunshe nodded in agreement, but in his heart he didn't think so.

He not only has the experience of this life, but also the memory of his past life. He came at a time when there had just been a civil war on a massive scale. Regarding the specific situation of the civil war, he heard the most about it, but there were four words: "besiege the city and send reinforcements." "Chahan is an old soldier, and he is ruthless with soldiers, since he dares to come to besiege the city, he must have already deduced how to deal with it if Haidong reinforcements come. Come to think of it, it is the best policy to "besiege the city and send reinforcements".

Even, Deng She couldn't help but have a thought in his heart: "The old thief has besieged the city so far, although the siege is urgent, it has always been used by tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in turn, and they have never gone into battle together. His purpose in retaining the fresh army may be to guard the road in case he can't defend the pass, so that he can wait for his work, and when our reinforcements arrive, he will be able to meet them. "There are many people in the hall, but this level of worry cannot be expressed in public.

He echoed Hong Jixun and continued to say with confidence: "It has been snowing heavily for many days. Not to mention the outside of the city, only the deep snow in the city, if you step on it, you can not stop your calves. No matter how hardy and warlike Chahan's soldiers are, such weather will definitely not last long. What Mr. Hung said is very true. Ladies and gentlemen, the victory of our army is in sight. Before the beginning of spring, the war will be over! Before he could finish speaking, another violent cough erupted.

Wu Yulin was also in the hall, and he was busy checking the pulse with Deng She.

Ji Zongzhou asked, "How?" ”

Wu Yulin frowned, persuaded Deng She, and said, "Lord, your illness is not serious. However, your daily rest time is too short, you can't get the maintenance you deserve, and you go to the city every day to supervise the battle, and you are even more forced by the wind and cold, so your condition is getting worse day by day. Now that the victory of our army is in sight, you may wish to add an hour or two to your daily rest. Otherwise, even if you wait for victory, your body will not be able to bear it. ”

The maid handed over warm water, Deng She took it, took a few sips, moistened his throat slightly, and said with a smile: "The body is the capital of the revolution." I understand that. But I've been in the army since I was a child, and I'm used to sleeping in the open, so what's a little cold! Seeing that it was twilight outside the hall, he asked Hong Jixun and said, "Who should be on duty tonight?" ”

"It's General Li again."

Monk Li worked very hard, and he was on duty almost every time. However, he has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he still has a lot of experience in defending the city, and he also has the decision to respond to the situation. With him guarded, Dunshe could be a little relieved. He bowed his head and said, "General Li guards the city, then I will follow Mr. Wu's instructions tonight and rest for two more hours." Everyone laughed.

Snowflakes are swept into the room. The cold wind blew the candles that had just been lit, elongating the shadows of everyone. The robes of the Wenchen interlaced the armor of the generals, their high crowns and heavy swords looming in the shadows. All this adds a bit of solemnity and solemnity to the snowy evening.

The laughter of the people dispelled the heaviness a little. However, before the laughter could land, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the hall, and they all turned their heads to look at each other. It was still the same guard who had sent the news that reinforcements had arrived, but this time he brought not good news, but bad news.

"The Tartars have collapsed the walls."

Far away in the city, the fighting has not stopped for three consecutive days. Walking in the heavy snow and twilight, Deng She and the others went out of the house and galloped to the front line. The sound of killing in the city shook the sky, but the city was silent. The wide streets were deserted, and the bleak north wind swept through the bare roadside willows, whisking the snow on the branches into the air, mixed with the goose-feather snowfall, and falling in droves.

They had not been far from the house before they were dyed white by the falling snow. Deng She shivered, held back the cold, wrapped his cloak quietly, and asked the guards about the battle at the head of the city: "The section of the city wall where the Tartars collapsed?" ”

"Please also rest assured that it is not the place where it collapsed two days ago, but the section that is far from the west. There were not too many Tartars who broke into the city from the collapse, about a hundred or dozens of people. Before the villain came to report the news, General Li had already come to the front line in person and began to organize his manpower, preparing to fight a counterattack and drive them out again. ”

The collapse of the walls sounded terrible. In fact, as long as you are well prepared in advance, and the collapsed area is not too wide, as far as the defenders are concerned, they can still cope with it freely. As for the preparation, it is also very simple, two are enough: enough green bricks, stones, and other things; and enough manpower for the dead, the people, and the manpower.

Deng She inquired in detail about the situation of the collapse and was slightly relieved. And he hurried to the edge of the city, and watched from afar, and sure enough, it was just as the guard had spoken.

The extent of the collapse of the city wall was not very wide, about a dozen or so steps. Both sides and the ground were full of broken bricks. The smoke has not completely dissipated. In the dust and smoke, there are many figures fighting fiercely. Monk Li did not wear a hood, and the back of his bare head was reflected in the twilight snow, which was very conspicuous. After he supervised the battle, he stood about twenty or thirty feet away from the gap, and four or five other groups of soldiers had already been assembled, and were waiting behind him, ready to go into battle at any time.

Dunshe did not pass, and stopped in the distance. He rode a high-headed horse, surrounded by civil and military forces on the left and right, and his dress was also different from that of ordinary soldiers and generals, and at first glance he was the identity of the main general, in the case of the collapse of the city wall, if he still took the initiative to go to the front line, it was not called bravery, it could only be said to add chaos.

He watched the battle and noticed that the wooden wall had not yet been pulled up.

The so-called "female wall" is another low wall set up on the city wall. For they are small, not as tall as the wall, and are better than the city, than a woman to her husband. Therefore, it is called the female wall. And the "wooden female wall", as the name suggests, is a wall made of wood, some of which have pulleys under them that can be pushed. For example, when defending a city, if the wall collapses, it can be pushed and temporarily blocked.

Hong Jixun said: "Lord, please look over there." ”

Deng She turned his head to look, and saw dozens of people pushing a wooden female wall, slowly moving towards the gap. The wooden female wall is very tall, and this one is specially made, and it is on par with the city. Dozens of people dragged it and pushed it to the defect of the collapse. The 100 Yuan soldiers who had broken into the city earlier were already dead and wounded under the encirclement and annihilation of the superior defenders. Monk Li also sent another thirty or forty dead soldiers, but instead stood out from the city wall, lined up a line of defense, and gave space for the wooden female wall.

The trebuchets and artillery of the Yuan army were concentrated in a lot, and they were cast in turn against the gaps. A guard raised his shield to cover the man who pushed and pulled the wooden wall, slowly but surely filling the gap. On the ground of the gap, there were many corpses of enemy soldiers, but at this time, there was no time to cover them, and the wooden female wall was crushed up, and a piece of flesh and blood was blurred. As soon as the wooden girl wall is blocked, the dead soldiers who stay outside the wall have no way to retreat, and the end can be imagined.

The one who supervised the Yuan army to attack the gap was also a general under the command of Chahan, named Guo Yun. It's easy to open the gap, how can the defenders of Haidong easily plug it? Sex, take off the armor, and go into battle.

Guo Yun is eight feet tall, with a burly posture, extraordinary strength, good at using a hammer, extremely heavy, and almost no one in Haidong outside the wall can block his blow. The hammer fell, and everywhere the skulls were broken. Blood, brains, burst all over his face. Ignoring it, he called for a fierce fight.

Seeing this, his subordinates were biased, pro-soldiers, brave, etc., and when they saw this, they all marched forward bravely, or wore heavy armor, or simply looked like Guo Yun, naked and shirtless, shouting and fighting. It was almost like a wind and clouds, and in the blink of an eye, the dead soldiers of Haidong who remained outside the female wall were killed. Seeing that the wooden female wall had filled the gap, Guo Yun looked back and shouted: "Come on the stone!" "The trebuchet threw boulders and hit the women's wall.

The wooden wall is not only heavy, but also very thick. Three or two stones hit it, but it didn't do anything. Guo Yun was anxious, snatched the shield of a pro-soldier, propped it on his head, blocked the arrows shot down from the city heads on both sides, strode forward, picked up the hammer, and slammed it hard. His strength was not small, and every time he hit, even the wooden female wall several feet high and several feet thick could shake with it.

However, the trebuchet can't be broken, and with his strength, it obviously can't be knocked open.

Arrows rained down on the city's head, puffing down on the shield, and in a matter of moments, the shield was shot like a hedgehog. Guo Yun was stunned. Because there are broken bricks on the ground of the gap, the bottom of the wooden female wall is high in some places and low in others. He threw away the hammer, crouched down, and shouted to more than a dozen powerful generals and personal soldiers to come forward. Some of the soldiers propped up half of the boat and covered them with arrows. Guo Yun shouted: "Listen to my orders!" Count to three and work together. ”

He actually wanted to use manpower to lift the wooden girl wall over! It's too unbelievable. More than a dozen people, all of them were suffocating their faces red, and the wooden girl did not move at all. The snow was falling, and although Guo Yun was half naked, the top of his head was steaming. A stray arrow pierced through the gap in the half-ship and struck him in the shoulder. Guo Yun took out the short knife of the general next to him, cut himself, bleeding half of his body, and refused to retreat.

"Our army has been attacking for many days, and the headquarters is often the vanguard, and so far it has not achieved an inch! Although the walls of Yidu have collapsed many times, they were all covered up by red thieves! How can a dignified king be inferior to a thief? Ladies and gentlemen! Shameful. Dare to give up your life to move forward! "Guo Yun is both civil and military, not only brave, but also literary. Reaching back, he said, "See?" The handsome banner is giving us orders! Thousands of military horses above and below the city, all eyes are focused here at this time! If you succeed, you will be a hero, and if you don't, you will not be as good as a thief. Dare to give up your life to move forward! A few words inspired everyone's blood boiling.

Seeing that he couldn't lift the wooden female wall, Guo Yun transferred a few spare crash cars from the city gate.

The twilight is deep, and the wind and snow are charming. risking arrows and stones, the pawns fought desperately, and crashed one after another. The wooden female wall could not withstand the continuous heavy blows, and cracks appeared. The defending general Zuo who commanded the battle at the head of the city discovered this situation, and while dealing with the ants of the Yuan army to enter the city, he urgently transferred the dead soldiers, intending to go down the wall and destroy the crashed car. However, it was a step too late.

There was a loud bang, and the female wall shattered.

What appeared in front of Guo Yun was not an unobstructed view of the city, but a pile of bricks and stones that were more than half a person high. He picked up the hammer and called out to his subordinates, and hundreds of people rushed one after another, jumping over the crashing cars that they couldn't take away, and rushing towards the reopened gap.

The notch is not wide. The one who rushed to the front, because there were too many people running at the same time, it was as if they were tied together, and the swords and guns could not be lifted together.

Guo Yun saw behind the half-cut brick wall, dozens of steps away in the city, a bald general waved his hand. I don't know when, Monk Li ordered people to pile up large stacks of firewood, grass, and grease behind the wall, which were immediately set on fire. The wind is blowing from north to south. Smoke billows and fills the wind. The pawn was caught off guard and couldn't open his eyes. A large number of Haidong archers and firecrackers were hidden behind the fire, and arrows and bullets were fired at once. I only heard the screams endlessly, and the Yuan soldiers at the forefront of the charge did not wait to jump over the brick wall, and all of them were wounded and died.

Fortunately, this time Guo Yun did not rush ahead. When the smoke rose, he couldn't see anything. had to lead the army to retreat slightly.

He looked up and saw that the snow was falling. On the left and right sides, ladders rise and fall. There are many types of ladders, not only a ladder, but also a ladder, which is erected to the side of the city wall, and the soldiers climb up along it. Others, like moving platforms. Big, very tall.

This kind of ladder can accommodate hundreds of people on the platform, and the few are enough to stand dozens or nearly hundreds. Pushed by the soldiers to the edge of the city, it is equivalent to omitting the process of climbing, and the soldiers on the top can jump directly on the top of the city. Deng She's men concentrated artillery and trebuchets at these ladders and bombarded them violently. and he burned it with rockets and oil. The soldiers on the ladder did not pay attention, and often burned to death.

There are tall buildings built at the head of the city, which are condescending. Many of those who shot Guo Yun at the right time came from the building. A large part of the people who burned the ladder also came from this. The countermeasure of the Yuan army was to use a long-handled hook and sickle, interspersed between the ladders, and specially hooked and dragged them. Three or four hooks and sickles are used at the same time, and most of the high-rise buildings will collapse as a result.

Haidong's soldiers used their own ways, and they also used hooks and sickles. Hook the hook of the Yuan army, and then cut off. Sometimes the ladder will be cut down, and once the ladder breaks, the fallen soldier can be connected into a line. Guo Yun took a few steps back, and a general ran in front of him and asked something.

He couldn't hear it clearly.

The sound of shouting and killing around was too loud, and the loud sound of trebuchets and artillery firing seemed to be in the ears, and the scalp of the people who shook was numb. Guo Yun stood under the snow, facing the smoke, his broken arms and stumps all over the ground, the snow could not hide the arrows that fell, far and near, deep and shallow depressions everywhere, that was the credit of the trebuchet. He felt as if time had come to a sudden standstill, but it quickly returned to normal.

He asked the general, "What?" ”

"There's too much smoke in the gap! You can't see anything at all. Rushing into the city like this is no different from sending him to death. In just a few moments, the brothers have been killed and wounded! What to do? Do you want to transfer the Ironclad Army? ”

At the beginning of the siege of Gaoyou, there was an ironclad army under his command, all of which were heavily armored foot soldiers, invincible in battle, and had a great reputation. Chahan followed suit and established a similar force in the army. Judging from the current situation, it is just right for them to go out. But how could Guo Yun easily transfer the credit?

"The walls collapsed by us! Bring in the ironclad army, do you want to make jokes in the army? Guo Yun froze his mind and looked into the smoke, a little red, swaggering. He swung his hammer forward and ordered: "Pass my life, capture the flag!" ”