In the days that followed, the Blackarmor launched two attempts to kill the water with hundreds of ships, but were quickly driven back by the morale-boosting coalition forces, causing thousands of casualties to the Blackarmor. Encouraged by several victories, the morale of the coalition forces became more and more high, and some people even believed that the legendary extremely terrible Beifu Army was nothing more than that, and no matter how powerful these black armor troops were, they could not do anything about the dangerous rivers.

In the midst of joy, Hou Luoqi's mood did not relax, he looked at Amphena, who was still depressed and gloomy in the boiling crowd, and his heart unconsciously became heavier and heavier.

More than ten days have passed, and the city of Juzhan Ticheng is still standing on the south bank of the Yaozhi River, and the Black Armor Army is still lingering on the north bank. The city, which marked the conquest of the great Alexander the Great, seemed to be holding back the westward advance of the invincible Beifu army. The beautiful and fertile region of the river was defended victoriously by the wise Susha against the king and the valiant young men of the river.

Not only that, but the good news came one after another. His Royal Highness Brisky, the governor of Khorasan and the king of the Eastern Domain, led an army of 200,000 to the city of Bari in May, and joined up with 100,000 allied troops from the Tocharian states, the Sogdian states, and the Kushan kingdoms.

The Persian Empire's 200,000 elite army consisted of 100,000 spearmen, 30,000 Syrian archers armed with cowhide shields and axes, 30,000 Anatolian slingers and Kurdish javelinmen, and 10,000 ironclad cavalry. In addition to this, the B.C. deliberately recruited 30,000 Scythians (also called Scythians) from the northern border region of Khorasan. Or the Scythithians, which refers to the inhabitants who occupied the Black Sea, the area north of the Caspian Sea in the 7th ~ 3rd centuries AD, and spoke the northern Iranian language, and the Cypriots were in a sense a branch of their cavalry.

In order to mobilize these soldiers and horses, it is said that when Beifu declared war on Kangju last year and intended to march westward, he began to prepare the land, which took him more than half a year, plus he had to mobilize a large amount of materials, which took a lot of effort and energy.

With this army as a backing. The soldiers and civilians in the city felt emboldened. The waist bar is straight. I can speak roughly, and I don't have nightmares at night.

This night, the Beifu army tossed away again on the north bank, and it seemed that they were preparing to take advantage of the night to rush across the medicine and kill the river. These black-armored soldiers are really unwilling not to touch their heads and break the bloodstream. Su Lukai scolded hatefully in his heart, but he quickly ordered 20,000 horses and hurriedly left the city. Went straight to the ferry, ready to teach the Beifu army another lesson according to the old rules. This time, Sulu Kai did not call the "Young Volunteers" as usual, and now there are nearly 20,000 of these "hot-blooded youths" who came from the river and Tochar, and they just need to stay in the city to help defend the city.

Hou Luoqi stood on the tower of the north gate, looking at the ferry in the distance and bustling all night, only to see the fire flashing, the sound of killing shook the sky, and the scene King Sulu Kai led the army to repel the rush of the Beifu army again. Once again, he made a lot of achievements.

Hou Luoqi thought silently in his heart. Although he felt that something was wrong in his heart, he couldn't say what was wrong. However, it is a matter of joy that King Sulu Kai has won again. At least the Beifu Army has not yet set foot in the Hanzhong region.

Hou Luoqi looked up at the sky, it was already beginning to be dark, the night was about to pass, the futile Beifu army should have to retreat, and King Sulukai should soon return to the city victoriously. Hou Luoqi, who breathed a sigh of relief, turned his mind to the other side, why did Bezchi rush to the Hezhong region with such a huge army of 200,000? Was he really just here to help the Transoxiana countries resist the invasion of the Beifu Army? The 200,000 troops, including the Scythian barbarian cavalry on the steppes north of Khorasan, were mobilized in such a short period of time.

For the ruler of the eastern part of the Persian Empire, one of the many princes of Shapur II, Hou Luoqi did not have a good opinion. For in addition to the bravery of his brutal father, this prince also inherited a fanaticism for Zoroastrianism, and more than that. B.C. hated Christianity other than Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism, Buddhism, and Manichaeism. In particular, Manichaeism in the Transoxiana region has always had a bad attitude, and if it were not for the fact that Manichaeism was believed in by many Sogdians and had a clear advantage in the Transoxianan region, it would have been ordered to be eliminated by force.

What exactly is the purpose of BC? Hou Luoqi was deeply worried, and couldn't help but look back in the direction of Xiwanjin City. With Beifu in the east and Persia in the west, Manichaeism was so dangerous, no wonder my father and the great Muja were so worried. I hope that this war with Beifu will bring some turnaround, and I hope that Manichaeism can follow in the footsteps of the defeated army of Beifu and spread eastward to gain more living space.

Just as he was thinking about it, Hou Luoqi suddenly felt a slight vibration coming from his right hand holding on to the wall. What's going on? Hou Luoqi was shocked in his heart, and hurriedly raised his eyes to look east.

I saw a round of red sun rising from the distant Tianshan mountain range, and the red sunlight poured down from the snow-capped mountains, enveloping the land in the river that had just woken up. And a group of black-armored cavalry from the junction of heaven and earth in the east, clothed in golden light, was roaring.

How can an eagle climb over a snowy mountain if it's not an eagle? How can a steppe be conquered without a male lion? If the Beifu Army only had those brushes a few days ago, how could they dare to march west to the Hezhong region, which is thousands of miles away?

Hou Luoqi's face turned pale, and he just looked at the east blankly, unable to speak. The people who rushed to hear the news also looked at the continuous black-armored cavalry in the distance, also standing on the city wall like wood.

These black-armored cavalry were like black avalanches pouring down from distant snow-capped mountains, galloping freely across the river. In their black leather armor, the fluttering white feathers on their helmets were so dazzling. The boundless black-armored cavalry is like the mighty sea, and the white feathers are like the churning waves.

Susha saw this in the distance, and the generals and officers were shouting desperately, directing their subordinates to immediately turn around. Rearrange your formation to deal with the black-armored cavalry charging straight towards their flank.

With the sound of a low horn, the black-armored cavalry running quickly made a small change, and the cavalry in front of them changed direction slightly, and opened their distances, forming a vertical skirmisher formation. As soon as these changes were accomplished, the cavalry in front swept past the flank of Susha's army along the new route, and the closest distance between the two was only a few tens of meters.

Susha took the most conservative and swift approach to that army. The flank troops quickly assembled. Form a dense formation. Spears and shields were hurriedly placed at the front of the formation to protect against the onslaught of the black-armored cavalry. Because they knew that once their formation was broken through a gap, these tens of thousands of black-armored cavalry could sweep away their 20,000 men along this gap in this river plain, just like a flood hitting a river embankment.

Susha saw the front group of black-armored cavalry rushing past him, and many of the sergeants could even see the wolf-like eyes of the black-armored cavalry looking at him. "Boom", with a sound. The front team of black-armored cavalry turned sideways, and with the horn bow in their hands, they hurried towards the right flank Susha

The team poured a rain of arrows. It is impossible to aim accurately at such a high speed, but the dense formation of the army is in the hands of the black-armored cavalry, and there is no need to aim, just try to shoot your own arrows into the crowd.

Since Susha's archers were all in the front army, it was too late to transfer them, and the soldiers on the flanks could only use wooden shields and human shields to block the black armored cavalry's rapid fire one after another.

After the front team of black-armored cavalry swept quickly. Susha was in disarray with the flanks of that army. Thousands of soldiers lay on the ground and wailed, they never thought that the horned bow of the Dibei Province in the hands of the black-armored cavalry was so powerful, and the arrows shot at such a short distance could not only easily penetrate the thin ground armor of Susha against the soldiers. Even pierced the shield, except that Susa's hand on the sergeant was pinned to the shield and continued to pierce their chest.

Sulu watched from a distance as the flank of his army was shot into a huge gap in an instant, and before he could give the order to close the gap between the two sides and the following army, the second team of black-armored cavalry that followed was already brandishing their sabers, galloping past the sergeant Susha who was lying on the ground, and struck at the center of Susha's army like a huge black hammer.

Hou Luoqi and the others stood on the high city tower, and they could see the battle situation in the distance very clearly. When they saw that the black tide had smashed Susha against the army, they all painfully admitted that the 20,000 Susha outside the city were finished against the army, and that in the open river plain, once the infantry was scattered by the cavalry, there was really only one way to die, and the number of the black-armored cavalry seemed to be more than 20,000, which would be a one-sided "massacre".

Hou Luoqi and the others stood on the tower and saw Su Sha and the soldiers running in all directions, many of them had already been thrown somewhere along with their weapons, and what they were thinking about most now was how to escape, how to escape from the cavalry and sabers that were shouting everywhere.

In the screams, the companions were swept down one after another, slashed, shot, lying on the ground and wailing helplessly, and the hands they stretched out before they fell became the same as their desperate cries for help, which became the motivation for the survivors to run faster, maybe they could not outrun the war horses, but as long as they ran faster than their companions.

Under the sworn defense of more than 1,000 cavalrymen, Sulu drove through the chaotic battlefield for more than half an hour, and finally ran to the gate of the city. The people in the city hurriedly opened the city gate, although no one dared to go out of the city to rescue just now, but they still had the courage to open the door to save their king.

Su Lukai and the remaining ten people just entered the city of Juzhanti, the gate was tightly closed, and after a while, thousands of remnants of the army swarmed in, but the city gate did not open again, because they were biting a group of black-armored cavalry behind them, and in an instant, Su Sha, who was crying in front of the city gate, killed the remnants of the army.

However, Hou Luoqi and the others did not see this scene, and they ran behind the city gate to meet Sulu and drove away.

Sulu's face was the color of blood, and his gorgeous armor and clothing were comparable to those worn by poor beggars. His glazed gaze was long since lost the vigor and confidence he had had when he set out last night.

Hearing the news, a large group of nobles from Susha Na came over, and they surrounded their king, and although they had many questions in their eyes, none of them dared to open their mouths first.

"Your Majesty, who is this cavalryman? Wusun people? Huns? A noble general in charge of defending the city spoke. This is a very good question, and you have to fight to the death with others, so you have to find out how to get to the bottom of it. This nobleman asked this question is a question that the big guy wants to know very much, because from the previous hundreds of years of history, the Central Plains Dynasty did not have any powerful cavalry, and always "hired" herdsmen from the Western Regions or other places as minions, and this time tens of thousands of cavalry were dispatched, I really don't know where to "hire" them? That's too big, isn't it?

"Wusun? The Wusun people are nothing now! "It was a close minister next to King Sulukai who spoke. Because we have fought hard together. So the body is also similar to Sulu Kai. The city was also one of the Sogdian cities. There is no shortage of people who do business everywhere, and this close minister in his forties is from a family of merchants. When he was a teenager, he traveled around with his father, the Western Regions, Jinshan, Monan and Mobei, and even went to Goguryeo, which can be said to be well-informed, and can speak many ethnic and local languages, so he became Sulukai's confidant and "foreign minister", and this time he originally wanted to make some credit. I almost won't be able to come back.

"I can hear that they have the Turks, the Qigu people, and the Hude people in the Jinshan area, as well as the Rouran people, the Eile people, and the Huns in Mobei, and even I heard that the Xianbei people in Hexi and Xianbei in Monan are coming."

The words of the minister caused an uproar among the people, and he said that these people were the most ferocious tribes and "species" in the Western Regions and the Hezhong region. For those tribes that crisscrossed the northern steppes, the Sogdians had long known about their "heroic deeds" from various sources, compared with these tribes, the Sai and Wusun people who were rampant in the Western Regions and the rivers could only be regarded as "honest people". Now how all these people are in the river? How much should the people of Beifu spend to hire these tiger and wolf divisions?

"Now the Yaoshui River is out of danger. We have no barriers, so we might as well retreat westward as soon as possible. A nobleman suggested softly.

It seems that these words have been agreed by everyone, and they have been talking about it one after another. The discourse is a seconding to this proposal. Yes, the battle of the city is not dependent on the Yaoshui River to carry the river until now, now the Beifu army has crossed the river, directly under the city, hundreds of thousands of surrounding, the battle of the city is a lonely city, whether it is dead or alive can only depend on the will of God, it is better to run away as soon as possible to be safe.

"Then you can take the lead in retreating westward, open the way for the brigade, and try to let the cavalry of the Beifu Army let us go?" Su Lukai, who had not spoken just now, replied gloomily.

Hearing this, everyone stopped talking, and the scene was silent. In the sudden silence, a few screams suddenly came to mind outside the city, followed by a few cheers blown by the wind. Because of the distance, the sound from afar was a little erratic, as if it was from another world.

But it was this voice that reminded everyone present that there were now tens of thousands of Beifu cavalry outside the city, and if you wanted to run away, you really had to ask their opinions first, and ask them if they would chase and kill them after they left the city?

"The top priority is to consolidate the city defenses, and then immediately ask for help from Siwanjin City!" Hou Luoqi answered in silence.

Most of the Sogdian nobles and many people in Sulukai and the city believe in Manichaeism, so for example, Hou Luoqi, a "Manichaean celebrity", still has a certain reputation in the city of Kuzhanti, and the king of Sulukai once studied under Hou Luoqi's father, which can be regarded as an old friend.

"Siwanjin City, there is now His Royal Highness Beisizhi in charge, and there are 300,000 male soldiers, who should come to save us." A nobleman shouted loudly, his voice excited.

"Will His Highness really come to our rescue?" Another nobleman hesitated to ask, the further east the Transoxiana region became, the lower the identification with the Persian state.

"He's going to come to our rescue." Hou Luoqi replied loudly.

"Why?"

"Let's think about it, we have the Yaozhi River in the north, and the Daxue Mountain (Xing) in the south

mountain), and the city of Juzhan Ti is just stuck in this important place in the river valley. The Beifu Military Region must turn west from Juzhan Ticheng and advance along the valley composed of the Yaozhi River and the Daxue Mountain, so as to reach the Xiwanjin City and other areas in the river. As long as the city is not lost, there will be an additional barrier in the middle of the river, and I think His Highness B.S. should know this, and he will definitely come to our rescue. Hou Luoqi explained loudly.

After hearing this, the nobles began to talk again. They were all familiar with the local terrain and knew that what Hou Luoqi said was the truth, otherwise how could Alexander the Great build a city here in the past, and he was interested in guarding the important location of the river valley.

Sulu Kai has recovered. glanced at Hou Luoqi approvingly, then stood up and said loudly: "We have to fortify the city and wait for reinforcements, this is our only way to live!" ”

Seeing that everyone thought so, he began to assign tasks, began to mobilize the army and civilians, and held on to the city.

Sulu fired, except for a new set of armor. His face also regained a little bit of his old self-confidence. Together with Hulochi, he toured the city. Check the defense. Everywhere the people were mobilized. Began to carry armor and ordnance and fortify the city walls. Some set up barricades on the streets, some prepared water tanks on both sides of the houses, and some were formed into militias to patrol around. And the "young volunteers" have become the main force in the city, and they are integrated with the rest of the defenders of the city, and assigned tasks. Divide the defense zone and be ready for battle.

Su Lukai and Hou Luoqi and their entourage soon turned to the north gate, and it was already dusk. The battlefield outside the city has been calm for a long time, except for some of the cavalry of the Black Armor Beifu who are still escorting prisoners and cleaning up the battlefield, most of the rest have begun to camp in the distance.

Su Lukai looked at the busy Beifu army in the distance and said: "I, Susha, are in the eastern part of the country, except for the cities of Juzhan Ticheng, the rest of the cities are estimated to be unsafe. Arms spread. The people are going to suffer greatly. ”

"yes. At this point, we can only fight to the death to protect the people in the west from being looted by the war. Hou Luoqi replied.

"Hou Luoqi. What do you think of those Beifu troops? Sulu was silent for a moment before asking.

"It's really the same as the legend, riding and ejaculating, brave and good at fighting. But the scariest thing is not this. Hou Luoqi was also silent for a while before replying.

"Oh, tell me." Sulu Kai's tone was very peaceful, there was no despair and decadence, only a little loss hidden in it.

"The most terrifying thing is that they have excellent weapons and have become a very complete army." Hou Luoqi said in a low voice.

Hearing this, not only Su Lukai was shocked, but even Da Fu Yeda, Mi Yucheng and others next to him couldn't help but change color.

"In the past, these people were only the most ferocious wolves on the grassland, but now they have not lost their ferocity, but they are also equipped with tougher and sharper teeth and claws, and they are even rigorously trained. Your Majesty, do we still think that these cavalrymen who advance and retreat in a measured way and are in a strong formation are just hired loose horsemen? Hou Luoqi finally asked rhetorically.

Sulu Kai couldn't help but be stunned, closed his eyes and recalled the scene in the morning, first knocking open the gap, and then tearing the entire Susha into several pieces, and then devouring them separately without hurrying. Moreover, in the engagement, these cavalry were more than ten people in a group, some released arrows, some waved swords, and some raised spears, no matter far or near, all the enemies were taken care of. These cavalry from different tribes are so skillful in cooperating and so efficient in killing enemies, is it really just a group of cavalry that has been improvised for money? And the strong bows and steel knives in their hands, I am afraid that even the equipment of the Persian Janissaries is no more than that.

Su Lukai opened his eyes suddenly, looked at the camp in the distance, and said for a while: "I'm afraid that this time the area in the river will be in trouble. ”

When the people of Juzhan Ticheng looked down at the Beifu camp in the distance, they also saw a group of Beifu cavalry observing them from a distance. More than a thousand black-armored cavalry scattered, tightly guarding the two general-looking people. The two of them and a group of officers beside them pointed to the city and pointed.

If Hou Luoqi had mixed up in the Central Plains, he might have known these two people, the burly man at the beginning was Tuoba Shi Yijian, the chief general of the vanguard army, and the handsome face next to him with a hint of gloom was the deputy general Murong Chui. On Zeng Hua's orders, they led 30,000 Heshuo soldiers to cross the river from the upper reaches of the Yaoshui River, launched this attack, and grabbed a ferry for the western expeditionary army.

While the two men were observing their respective targets, the setting sun was slowly fading behind the Yaozhi River to the west, and its orange disc figure had begun to shake on the surface of the Yaozhi River, and a shout rang out.

This mysterious chant is long and far-reaching, with reverence for the gods, compassion for the world, firmness of faith, perception of heaven and earth, and sadness about the world, sounding leisurely in the heavens and the earth, in the twilight. As this voice sounded, the place outside the city that was still noisy just now suddenly fell silent, and all the Beifu cavalry who were busy just now stopped, and they all turned to the east and stood there solemnly, as if they were doing a very sacred thing.

Hou Luoqi and the others couldn't understand what was being sung in the chanting, but they could hear that it was a group of two sentences, and it was very rhyming. When the ninth group was sung, the chanting suddenly stopped, followed by tens of thousands of black-armored cavalry kneeling on the ground with a "whoosh", still facing east. Although Hou Luoqi and the others couldn't see their expressions and appearances clearly, they could feel the atmosphere, the atmosphere that was extremely fanatical and pious.

The chanting sounded again, but this time it was no longer one person chanting, but tens of thousands of people chanting at the same time. Although the huge sound is not so neat and unified, it adds a grand momentum to the original artistic conception.

The tens of thousands of people chanted in unison, stopped singing one group, folded their hands, pressed them to their foreheads, and then bowed their heads to the east and bowed. After prostrating the prostration, he straightened up, knelt there and continued to chant nine sets of prostrations, and prostrated nine times.

There were also a few people who did not bow and chant along with them, but stood awkwardly and silently. Among them, the most conspicuous and most noticeable thing for Hou Luoqi and others was one of the two generals, that is, Murong Chui who they didn't know.

He stood silently to the side, standing in the middle of the crowd kneeling there singing and saluting, in Hou Luoqi's eyes, Murong Chui was like a small firefly in the dark night wasteland, or maybe a lone swallow on the black ocean, so lonely and helpless.

Looking at the tens of thousands of Beifu soldiers who were reverently doing the evening salute in the sunset, and listening to the low echoing chanting between heaven and earth, Hou Luoqi felt as if he was standing in front of a huge wave and wind, or standing on the top of a cliff.

Hou Luoqi watched quietly, listened quietly, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh in his heart, at that moment, he felt that he was the same as Murong Chui in the distance, although he was standing between heaven and earth, he was extremely lonely and lonely