On the night of June 19, the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the king of Qiuzi sent three thousand cavalry led by Sha Feiluo to attack the Tang army's grain transport team, besieged all night, captured the Tang army's logistics baggage transport officer Sha Kui, and burned countless baggage, but because the Tang army general He Chengye led his troops to resist desperately, and the Tang army's Puchang defenders came to aid in time, they failed to do their best, Rao is so, after this battle, the Tang army's grain road on the front line of Hotan was cut off, and the small city of Shaya, which was a transit station for grain and baggage, was also surrounded by Bai Suyahe's troops, Li Zhen's department, which was on the front line of Hotan, fell into the dilemma of cutting off the source of grain and straw, and as soon as the news spread, the entire Western Regions was shaken. The 10,000-strong army of the Taganda Department began to march towards Hotan, preparing to attack the Anxi Tang Army with the troops of the Khotanese King Fu Jaxiong, and although the Tubo Zanpu Songtsen Gampo did not send reinforcements, it also frequently mobilized troops and horses in the border areas, pinning down the Guannei Tang Army troops in the Xicheng area, so that it could not reinforce Li Zhen's department, and the war situation in the entire Western Regions was turbulent for a while, the situation was unpredictable, and the Anxi Tang Army fell into the biggest crisis since the dispatch of troops.

Shule country, located at the intersection of the north and south of the Silk Road, is the Silk Road trunk line to the west over the green ridge, its country in the Western Han Dynasty, only 1,500 households, 2,000 soldiers, a city, is one of the 36 small countries in the Western Regions, after the loyal service to the Han, the support of the Han Dynasty, gradually developed and grew, has annexed Zhenzhong, Shache, Shishi, Qusha, Xiye, Yinai, Manli, Jiruo, Yuling, donation, Xiuxiu, Qin and other twelve countries, in the period of the Three Kingdoms, the power reached the state of extreme prosperity, The total population reached more than 37,000 households, with more than 40,000 soldiers, and was defeated by the rising Turks, becoming one of the subject states of the Western Turks, the population and military strength gradually declined, and had to establish contact with the Tang Dynasty again, hoping to get rid of the enslavement of the Western Turks by virtue of the strength of the Tang Dynasty. Taganda took advantage of the situation, drove out the prison sent by the Western Turks, regained its independence, and gradually improved its national strength, but the total number of troops was only about 15,000.

Namua? Taganda, the current king of Shule, is in his early forties, brave, good at riding and shooting, and diligent in government, and has won the hearts of his people. When Li Zhen defeated the Western Turk Ashina Sero's department, Namua? Taganda also sent envoys to Jiaohe to congratulate him, and put forward a request for annexation, however, did not agree to the Tang Dynasty's requirements for stationing troops in its territory and promoting Han culture, and the two sides failed to reach an agreement on the matter of annexation, so the matter was dismissed, worried about the Tang Dynasty's invasion of Namua? As soon as Taganda received the news of the large-scale dispatch of the Tang army in Anxi, he immediately agreed to the request of the king of Khotan, Fu Jiaxiong, and sent his eldest son Hesa to lead 5,000 elite cavalry to Hotan to help in the battle, but he did not expect that the alliance of the Three Kingdoms would be defeated so quickly and so miserably, so although he had gathered more than 10,000 soldiers and horses left in the country, he never dared to march to Hotan, but Chen soldiers waited and watched from Zhenzhong and Shache, and after receiving the flying eagle transmission sent by the king of Qiuzi, he learned that Li Zhen's department was already in the predicament of cutting off grain and grass and being enemies in front and behind. Only then did he gain courage and ordered the whole army to march towards Hotan, but the troops were not fast, and they only traveled about fifty miles a day, and they were extremely cautious step by step.

On June 23, the 17th year of Zhenguan, the army of Shule passed through Yecheng and Pishan, and arrived at Kavak, which was about a hundred miles away from the ancient city of Hotan, and set up camp on the side of the Hotan River, which was gradually shallow.

Paper can't contain the fire, although Li Zhen did not openly discuss the treachery of King Qiuzi, but this news still spread in the army, although the grain and straw in this army is still sufficient, enough to meet the needs of the war for more than a month, however, the fact that there is no grain to supplement the logistics baggage, but the heart of the Tang army in Anxi has fluctuated, if it is not for the strict military discipline, and the desert everywhere, I am afraid that the Tang army of Anxi has collapsed without a fight.

Danger, absolute danger, at this time the Anxi Tang Army was already in a dangerous situation where there were no reinforcements outside, and the grain and grass inside were about to run out. The big guy didn't have a heart of betrayal, and he didn't even dare to buy too much to complain, but a big hat with a "red face and trouble" was quietly placed on the innocent Princess Mingyue's head.

Li Zhen knows all the changes in the psychology of the generals and even the morale of the army, but Li Zhen doesn't care at all, Chen Bing has been under Hotan City for nearly half a month, but he has never issued a siege order, even if all kinds of siege equipment are ready, he is just busy training soldiers every day, or he is meditating on the large sand table in the big tent of the Chinese army, and he doesn't mind the current predicament. No one can figure out what Li Zhen is thinking in his heart, of course, not all generals are at a loss, Lin Chenghe guessed a little, so he was not as anxious as other generals, but silently trained his officers and soldiers, but when he saw that Li Zhen did not make the slightest movement for several days, Lin Chenghe was also a little breathless, and had to ask to see Li Zhen overnight, but the sign was handed over for a long time, but he never heard the order to call in, which made Lin Chenghe a little upset, Pacing back and forth outside the big tent of the Chinese army.

"General Lin, Your Highness is invited." Just when Lin Chenghe was waiting anxiously, Yingda strode out of the tent, said hello in a low voice.

"I'm tired." Lin Chenghe arched his hand to the eagle, and did not say much greetings, and walked into the big tent, and saw Li Zhen sitting on a horse in front of the sand table at a glance, pondering, hurriedly stepped forward, nodded to the ground on one knee, and said in a loud voice: "The last general, Lin Chenghe, will see His Royal Highness." ”

"Oh, it's Zifeng, get up." Li Zhen raised her head from the sand table, glanced at Lin Chenghe, and nodded expressionlessly.

"Your Highness." Lin Chenghe got up, lowered his head and said, "Your Highness is worried about King Shule's affairs?" ”

"Uh-huh." Li Zhen had long known that Lin Chenghe was a general, and he was not surprised that he could see what he was thinking, so he smiled and said, "What is Zifeng's opinion?" ”

The matter was urgent, so Lin Chenghe was not polite, nodded and said, "Your Highness, what you are doing is a strategy to put death and live later?" ”

"Yes, this king knows that he can't hide it from Zifeng, hehe, tell me your opinion." Li Zhen smiled and looked at Lin Chenghe with interest.

"Your Highness, please forgive the last general for being presumptuous." Lin Chenghe was not complacent because of Li Zhen's praise, but frowned and said: "Your Highness, this plan is too dangerous, there are only two ways for our army to go in the dilemma, one is to go all out to take Hetian, open up the contact with Xicheng, but although Hotan City is small, its troops are many, and it is difficult to get down, even if our three armies take Hotan in one go, the damage will be great, not to mention the war, the king of Shule hundreds of miles away is bound to come to the aid of the whole army, our army is under the enemy's back, I am afraid that the situation is not good, this road is not easy to go, The second is that the whole army rushed to attack the Shule camp, the Shule reinforcements were all wiped out, and their supplies were used for their own use, but also when there were no more troops available in the country, they could take Shule with a partial division, so as to completely isolate Hotan and force the enemy to surrender out of the city, however, a certain Guanshule king and his people were cautious in their use of troops, and always refused to march in the direction of Hotan, if our army moved, it would definitely turn around and flee, once so, it was a trivial matter that our army could not catch up, once the enemy in Hotan City took advantage of the weakness to take our camp, then our army will completely lose the last chance to win. ”

"Hmm." Li Zhen nodded noncommittally, but he was quite annoyed in his heart, without him, according to Li Zhen's original battle plan, it was originally to lure the king of Shule to come to help, and then break it first, completely isolate the enemy army in Hotan City, at that time, whether it is a siege or a siege, you can do it calmly, but you can't think of Namua? Taganda was so slippery and didn't spare his hands, and actually set up the camp a hundred miles away, this fatal distance really gave Li Zhen a headache - a hundred miles of land, said not far away, said close is not close, even if it is a cavalry attack, it takes more than a night to run for hundreds of miles, and what is even more a headache is that this place is an endless desert, if you want to surprise the enemy camp with surprise troops, the difficulty is too high, not waiting for the Tang army to kill the enemy camp, just afraid of Namua? Taganda has already slipped away, but if Li Zhen ignores Namua? Taganda's department, if you launch a siege war with all your might, this old guy can take advantage of the Tang army's strong attack and damage to catch cicadas, which is really a big trouble, and what makes Li Zhen even more headache is that the connection between Hotan City and the Shule camp is maintained by the Flying Eagle Messenger, and it cannot be cut off at all, and it is difficult for the Tang Army's every move to be kept secret from the enemy forces on both sides.

"Your Royal Highness, now our army is in danger, only to put it to death and then live, if our army is attacking the city with all its might, King Shule will definitely wait and see for a while to determine the reality of the truth, and then wave the army to help, there is a time lag in this, when our army can use the place!" Lin Chenghe saw that Li Zhen was silent, and after a pause, he continued.

Lin Chenghe's strategy, Li Zhen has long thought of it, but the problem is that if you want to play the play realistically, then the siege battle must be really fought, in this way, the casualties are definitely not small, although Ci is not in charge of the army, but it is not Li Zhen's willingness to take countless subordinates to fill the city, unless it is to the point where it has to be done, otherwise, Li Zhen will not use such a desperate plan, which is why Li Zhen has been thinking hard about other countermeasures in the past few days.

"What Zifeng said this king knows, it's just ......" Li Zhen stopped when he said this, looked at Lin Chenghe with a frown, and slowly shook his head.

Lin Chenghe saw that Li Zhen was hesitant, and immediately knelt on the ground, and shouted an order: "Your Highness, the last general asks for orders to lead his troops to attack the city, only if the old thief of Fu Yanxiong is beaten, the army of King Shule will move forward, and once his troops cross the Hotan River, then he will not be able to come and go." ”

Li Zhen's officers and soldiers are generally masters of field warfare, but they have never had experience in siege warfare, even Li Zhen himself, although there have been a lot of siege warfare drills on weekdays, and Li Zhen himself knows a lot of theoretical knowledge of siege warfare, but after all, he has not really played the real game, can he beat Fu Yanxiong without paying too much price, Li Zhen really doesn't have too much certainty, at this time, facing Lin Chenghe's invitation to fight, Li Zhen really didn't know whether to agree for a while, Just frowning and thinking quietly.

"Your Highness, if you keep interrupting, you will suffer from it, Your Highness!" Lin Chenghe saw that Li Zhenliang didn't say a word for a long time, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed heavily.

Anyway, raising troops for a thousand days, using troops for a while, there will be more time to attack the city in the future, and it is a good thing to familiarize the generals with siege warfare earlier, even if the price is greater, it can only be so! Thinking of this, Li Zhen got up, glanced at Lin Chenghe, who was kneeling on the ground, and said: "Zifeng, tomorrow will attack the city, and you will lead the main attack!" ”

"The last general obeys!" Seeing that Li Zhen had finally made up his mind, Lin Chenghe did not dare to slack off, replied respectfully, and hurriedly withdrew from the big tent of the Chinese army, and returned to the camp to transfer troops and dispatch generals.

Hotan City is not big, only more than 1,000 households, the history is very long, it is a small village only, after the production of beautiful jade here, gathered a lot of miners who came to mine, since the pre-Qin period, the city has begun to set up here, has been full of hundreds of years of history, after the rise of Khotan, this city was included in the Khotanese country, several times relocated and rebuilt, the latest one was in the Northern Wei Dynasty, this city is a new city, not on the Silk Road, most of the residents in the city are miners, and most of the cities in the Western Regions are general, There are only two city gates in Hetian City, but the two gates of Hetian City are the north and south city gates, not the east and west city gates of the city in the Western Regions, the city wall is not tall, only about ten zhang, it is built of rocks, it is very thick, there is a moat outside the city, it is about five zhang wide, it is drawn from the water of the Hetian River, but because of the disrepair, the silt is piled up, the water is not deep, people and horses can wade through, although there are only two city gates, but the four cities have the city gate tower and the city disc and other related facilities, and even equipped with more than a dozen newly placed city guarding crossbows, The remnants of the Three Kingdoms Alliance in the city totaled 21,000 men and horses, and the food and straw were sufficient, enough to meet the needs of the whole city for four months, so although they had been defeated by the Tang army several times, the morale of the army was still stable, and the Tang army did not launch a siege battle for more than half a month, which made the troops in the city full of confidence in holding the city.

On June 27, the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the day had just dawned, the rooster Fang who reported the dawn in the city of Hotan sang non-stop, and the Tang army camp in the distance outside the city suddenly sounded a tight and terrible horn sound, not long after, a group of neatly arranged Tang officers and soldiers stepped on the light of the rising sun from the camp to line up, the queue of ladders, rushing cars, ballistas, giant trebuchets and other things are everything, the posture is to start a siege war, panicked at the head of the city of the Three Kingdoms on duty for a while, the horn sounded violently, The soldiers and horses of the various units in the city rushed to the city in all directions, and Fu Jiaxiong, Hersa and others, who had been informed, did not dare to slack off, and all of them rushed to the north of the city, nervously watching the Tang officers and soldiers who were unhurriedly arrayed and ready to attack the city a mile and a half outside the city.

The Don army is finally going to attack the city! Fu Jiaxiong looked at the Tang officers and soldiers who were busy all the time, and his heart was mixed, and he didn't know whether to be happy or sad for a while - the current situation of the Tang Army Fu Jiaxiong knew it, and he also understood that the Tang Army was in an absolute predicament at this time, once the siege war was launched, it meant that the Tang Army was cornered and was going to launch a decisive battle, which was undoubtedly the initiative of the war for Fu Yanxiong, as long as he could resist the onslaught of the Tang Army, then victory would be a matter of time. This is undoubtedly something worth celebrating, but the problem is that the combat effectiveness of the Tang army is not comparable to that of the Three Kingdoms Alliance, although its own strength is nearly twice that of the Tang army, but for whether it can be defended, Fu Jia Xiong is not too sure, once the city is broken, he Fu Jia Xiong will have nowhere to escape, which is not too worried.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, can you urge Lord Lingzun, the Tang army has now launched an attack on the city, and it is time for Lingzun to send troops." Fu Yanxiong glanced at Hersa, who was gearing up for a big fight, and said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Speaking of his father, who was too cautious, Hersa had no choice, he had already sent several messengers, but he had never been able to move Taganda forward even a small step, at this time, he heard Fu Jiaxiong mention this matter again, and he felt a little ashamed, nodded with a wry smile and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will write again, and my father will definitely come to help." ”

Hersa's words were beautiful, but Fu Jiaxiong didn't believe it at all, but there was nothing to do, after all, the soldiers were Taganda's soldiers, and the decision was in the hands of Taganda, he refused to move, Fu Jiaxiong had no way at all, just wanted to say more urging words, but heard a drum in the Tang army formation outside the city, and the Tang army that had lined up in formation had begun to slowly press forward, and he was busy talking, and looked at the Tang army outside the city with bated breath, his face was full of caution.

The drum sounded for a while, and soon stopped, at the same time, the Tang army brigade that was slowly pressing forward also stopped its advance at a distance of less than a mile from the city, Li Zhen led the generals to slowly come out of the array, rode slowly along the array, and went straight to the position in the middle of the array, twisted the horse's head, and shouted loudly in front of the whole army: "The warriors of the Tang Dynasty, the king of Qiuzi has treacherously cut off my grain road, our army is already in the dead ground, only by taking Hotan with all his strength, can there be a glimmer of life, warriors, Do you dare to take this city for this king? ”

Although the news of the Tang Army's grain road being cut off has not been announced, most of the officers and soldiers of the whole army already know it, and at this time, when Li Zhen announced it in public, he still couldn't help but be shocked, but it was soon replaced by the arrogance of putting him to death and being born later, and there was no need for the generals to start, and the armies broke out at the same time with a high roar: "Tang Dynasty might, Tang Dynasty might"

The roars of more than 10,000 soldiers rang out and soared into the sky, and the morale of the officers and men of the Tang Dynasty immediately reached a peak......

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