Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 1221 It's Always Darkest Before Dawn

Although Zheng Gan's ambush personnel in Linjin City did not work, nor did they play a cooperative role, but only Ma Yan was stationed in Tongguan, and no one else was on the sidelines. There was a period of refugees, and they lived a relatively poor life for a while. Therefore, when some refugees in Guanzhong flocked to Tongguan in disorder, Ma Yan was not like Xu Shu. Therefore, tragedy is inevitable.

Of course, there is another part of the reason, which is because of the rumors released by Xu Shu and the other three. Under the processing of interested people, the defeat of General Fei Qian who conquered the west became a death in battle. I even believed that General Zhengxi was dead, let alone Tongguan, which deviated from the political center and lagged behind in information.

A dilapidated city isn’t scary, even if it’s Linjin City, it’s nothing if a door has been opened. In history, it’s not uncommon for a dilapidated military fort to resist several times or even dozens of times the army’s attack. What is terrible is the disorder and chaos of the army.

In an era where communication basically relies on shouting, the range that a general can directly control is always limited. It is not like in later games, when a calm shock wave skill is used, half of the screen is chaotic and your own troops can return immediately. Order, in many cases, is under the dual effects of control and delivery timeliness. Once chaos begins to arise and spread, even the most capable generals can only look up to the sky and sigh.

   It's like Cao Cao's men in the Battle of Chibi, there are many generals, but once the whole army starts to be in chaos, it will be a hopeless defeat.

Ma Yan can't be like Xu Shu, blatantly declaring that all the previous news about the general who conquered the west is a lie before the soldiers defending the city, because even Ma Yan himself, in the face of the rumors with nose and eyes, although he said he didn't believe it, he didn't know the truth like most of the rumors. Like the pawns of love, there are some doubts in my heart.

So when Yang Jun commanded troops to attack Tongguan again, the internal response of the sudden chaos at night dealt a heavy blow to Ma Yan. In the face of Yang Jun's high-intensity attack all day long, Ma Yan's troops were not at a disadvantage. defeated by the rebellious refugees by night. Of course, strictly speaking, he was still defeated by himself. In the face of the uncontrollable chaos, Ma Yan could only lead a small number of personal guards, fight a **** path, and escape from the pass without knowing where he ended up.

  After the first battle, Yang Jun naturally expressed his previous depression under Tongguan, and Xinxin ran his army straight to Linjin, and finally joined forces with Huchuquan.

  The battle in Linjin finally came to the most difficult moment at this moment.

Previously, Xu Shu made a profit from Huchuquan, but after Yang Jun's reinforcements arrived, it was all wiped out, and even the strength was a little out of balance, not to mention the fall of Tongguan, which means that Hongnong's reinforcements will continue to come forward Come. At present, Xu Shu's army has no way to retreat. Even if they abandon the city and flee, they will not be able to escape the pursuit of the Southern Huns.

For the joint army of Hu Chuquan and Yang Jun, Linjin City is a symbol. Although Tongguan has been captured, it is not wrong to bypass Linjin and attack other places, but Hu Chuquan died under the city before. Many soldiers, of course, are red-eyed at the moment, and they have to win Linjin before they can live or die. Therefore, after Yang Jun thought about it for a while, he agreed that the coalition troops should attack Linjin first, at least to let the troops from the other counties understand that resisting would lead to no good results.

  So, when the battle under Linjin City resumed, it became even more tragic. From the beginning of the siege, Hu Chuquan drove away his subordinate Erlang, and more Han people, attacked the Linjin city wall again and again, and did not hesitate to spread the ointment everywhere! His eyes were just red, and he wanted to take down Linjin City to relieve the hatred in his heart!

Facing such a situation, Xu Shu didn't dare to make a big deal, leaving the city gate empty for the coalition forces of Hu Chuquan and Yang Jun to attack wantonly. When the number of troops has undergone a major change, it is undoubtedly his own choice to choose such a move. Therefore, Xu Shu ordered people to fill up the entire doorway with sand and earth bricks, but there was a hole left after all. Yang Jun sent many soldiers and people to dig and fill the sand and soil at the East City Gate day and night. Bricks, trying to clear the way.

With the assistance of Han soldiers, the overall order of the siege has improved a lot, and even the casualties are no longer as many as before. The most influential thing is that Yang Jun sent soldiers to connect a piece of land under the city with manpower. The scull shields formed a phalanx and firmly pressed against the city wall as a temporary shelter. Immediately, more auxiliary soldiers and civilians joined in, and built a slanted wooden plank smeared with yellow mud under the city wall. The wooden structure became the front station for soldiers to attack and the breakthrough point for digging the city wall.

   On the other hand, in Linjin City, the original reserves of rolling logs and stones have almost been used up, and all the houses around the city that can be demolished have been demolished, and the city wall is almost pushed down. Feather arrows are even rarer. Although the craftsmen in the city are constantly rushing to work, as the molten iron runs out, they can only recycle the arrowheads shot into the city by recycling them.

  The only weapon for defending the city is the boiling water left in the vats...

But boiling water still requires materials. Although there are water sources in the city, there is no shortage of water, but the firewood used to boil water is less than a moment, not to mention the demolished wooden piles and sticks, even The doors and panels on the street were almost removed and used as fuel.

Several large buckets of boiling water poured down from the top of the city, and splashed down along the gaps between the planks and shields, scalding the soldiers and civilian husbands who were nesting in the shelter under the city until their skins were torn apart. The exposed skin was like cooking. Shrimp-like, suddenly turned red, one by one screamed and fled outside, some covered their faces, howled and stumbled into the ditch, and then did not know whether it was a wooden stake or a soldier from before. After the remaining sword and gun screamed again, they gradually lost their breath.

But most of the soldiers only had burns on their arms and torsos. Although these soldiers who crawled and rolled in the mud may not be able to survive the ensuing skin ulcers and large-scale wound infections, at least before they have a fever, These soldiers can still fight, and the reduction of combat power is not as direct and effective as fire oil.

  As for the corpses of the civilian husbands in torn clothes, there are more of them, and they are everywhere, almost filling the ditch under Linjin City. Of course, among the corpses of the civilians in these trenches, a considerable part was shot by the Huns, but any civilians who tried to retreat and evacuate from the trenches would be mercilessly shot by the Huns who supervised the battle. They forced them back to the city.

Inside the trench, the dead bodies that died earlier had already begun to rot, and their abdomens were distended like drums. Some of them burst open for unknown reasons, and all of them rotted into yellow-green large and small intestines, like a rubber ball filled with water bursting open. , splattered everywhere, sections of intestines either hung on stakes, or fell on the soil stained ocher red.

  The East City Gate, which was blocked by sand and soil, was being excavated day and night. Although there were soldiers from the west who continued to fill the gate opening with stones and sand, they were quickly dug away and moved away. Everyone in the city cave is like a mud monkey. They don't have the shape of a person at all. They just keep digging, and then throw a frame of soil out, and two small soil bags are piled up on both sides of the city gate...

  Proceeding to Jincheng, Xu Shu's face also lost the relaxed expression, leaving only dust and blood stains on his face. The halberd originally used by Tai Shici was also cut off during the heavy battle, and the crescent moon was cut off, turning into a mutilated spear.

Needless to say, Chen Hao and Chen Gong, when they ran on the city wall, put out fires everywhere, and were too tired to even lift their knives, they just leaned against the wall for a while, because they knew that if they sat down, they might die. There is no perseverance to stand up again...

Linjin City has entered the final countdown under the continuous attack for several days. Although the defenders at the top of the city suffered a lot of casualties, even the people in the city who assisted in the transportation also suffered great losses, and the city walls were covered with blood. , penetrated from the green bricks until it was silently absorbed by the rammed earth layer.

Xu Shu was still on top of the city, not retreating half a step. After days of exhaustion, even his originally strong body seemed to be a little thinner. During the interval between battles, he still did not forget to boost morale, but his voice was extremely dry and hoarse. It was as if sand and gravel were sharpening each other: "The Xiongnu dogs and the Yang soldiers are our defeated generals! They have arrived in a few days! General Zhengxi has already passed Longshan, and he will arrive soon! Back then, Huchu Quan, if it weren’t for our General Zhengxi’s patronage, where would such a wise king come from! Another two days, another two days! General Zhengxi will definitely arrive! At that time, every brother will be able to share rewards based on military exploits, Divide the fields! Even if you die, the reward will still be given to your relatives! This is all registered!"

Xu Shu roared, although he spoke forcefully, but he didn't have much confidence in his heart, especially after the fall of Tongguan, this feeling of losing control became more and more obvious, which made Xu Shu feel powerless for the first time, but he couldn't Shown in front of ordinary soldiers, the double torment of heart and body is extremely painful almost every moment.

Fortunately, in addition to Xu Shu's personal role, the soldier's meritorious service system implemented by General Fei Qian of Zhengxi when he merged with the North has already penetrated into the hearts of soldiers. Even though the battle situation is chaotic now, many soldiers still choose to believe in Xu Shu in the end. According to the words, military exploits can be exchanged for the wealth of the family and rent-free land. For these soldiers who have never had private property, it is still a goal that can risk their lives to fight. Therefore, Linjin City, although morale is indeed Not very high, but the morale of the army is still not very chaotic.

  Suddenly there were some strange sounds from under the city, and then there was a burst of cheers, but Xu Shu, who was encouraging the soldiers, couldn't help but feel his heart sink.

There is nothing wrong with this sentence. The trap that was used to burn the soldiers of the Southern Huns two days ago at the East City Gate has now become a flaw. The threat is not very great, but with the addition of Yang Jun's soldiers and horses, with sufficient manpower, if the city's beach in the south is not soft and inconvenient, maybe they will be surrounded and attacked from all sides, the open east gate will not be able to withstand the manpower A lot of it was consumed.

  Furthermore, under the continuous attack, the physical strength of the soldiers is also exhausted...

  Tai Shici walked over and put on a heavy armor.

   During the few days of defending the city, few people wore heavy armor, because most of the people spent several days running back and forth in the city, who could insist on wearing a full set of heavy armor?

But now, Tai Shici led more than 20 soldiers, that is, the last bodyguard who followed Xu Shu, but everyone was wearing heavy armor, and they were holding shields in their hands. I brought two extra swords.

  They just retreated to rest not long ago, maybe they just ate something and took a breath of relief, but now they had to go back to the battlefield.

Xu Shu looked at Tai Shici one by one, and then slowly straightened his clothes. Although the robes were already torn and dirty, Xu Shu still tidied them carefully as if he was wearing the most gorgeous and neat clothes. He brushed his sleeves and the blood-stained crown, and finally bowed solemnly to the twenty soldiers headed by Tai Shici.

  Black is a smoky sky.

  The red ones are the city walls dripping with blood.

  Between the red and black, there are Xu Shu who bowed his head and bowed his head, and Tai Shici and his party who are fully armed.

Tai Shici's tall body, even though he was wearing a double-layer battle armor, was still straight. Seeing Xu Shu's salutation, because the armor was inconvenient, he returned the half-respect with a broken halberd, then turned and walked down the city wall . The barrier at the east gate of Linjin was about to be dug through by Yang Jun's soldiers, and Tai Shici and others were the last barrier.

   Soldiers in heavy armor walked past Xu Shu one by one, and silently walked towards them, perhaps the last battlefield...

The news that the east gate of the city was about to be dug through also reached the ears of Yang Jun, who was standing outside the city. After Yang Jun was silent for a moment, he waved his hand fiercely, and dozens of war drums on his back were beating loudly. Even the Southern Huns More than a dozen trumpeters also blew their horns with all their strength, and the siege soldiers in three directions seemed to be crazy, bursting out with loud noises, and then the accompanying and shouting sounds of these soldiers were like It's like a huge wave, it seems to overturn and engulf Linjin City, a small town on the side of Luoshui River!

Inside and outside the city, at this moment, everyone seems to realize that at this time, Linjin City, which has supported for a long time, is finally coming to an end. Under the current extremely bad situation, it is absolutely impossible to continue to sustain it. It's time for destruction!

  (end of this chapter)