Chastity Layman

After spending half a month under the Five-Star Fort and losing almost 2,000 troops, Tuoba Chici finally decided to retreat. This bone was too difficult to crack.

It was the first time he encountered such a small but extremely strong castle. He thought that although the city had many fortresses, he had gathered more than 20,000 soldiers and horses.

Unexpectedly, after several attacks before and after, they didn't even break through the first embankment.

No matter what method they use, they can't match the ferocity of Tang Jun's sharp crossbow and stone cannon. The most terrible thing is that Tang Jun is not satisfied with hiding in the city for defense. They will send Qingqi out to attack and harass almost every night, and they will toss for half the night every day.

Chi Ci wanted to take advantage of this and encircle Tang Qi outside the city, but it was always in vain. The Tang cavalry had strong armor, strong bows and crossbows, and they were always circling around the castle, harassing and shooting arrows around the camp like flies. Once the Qiang cavalry surrounded them, they would flee back to the castle.

If you accidentally catch up, you will be attacked by the crossbowmen on the castle, and they will mess around, but they will suffer heavy losses.

In the beginning, during the night raids, I had more than a hundred casualties in one night, and I was able to kill twenty or thirty Tang Qi. But in the back, sometimes there were more than 200 casualties in one night, but Tang Qi only injured a few of them, which made people irritated.

All the Qiang people have reached a consensus that there is only one way to take down this fortress, which is to smash it with cannons, at least more than a hundred catapults, to be effective. But the problem is that they don't have these craftsmen who can make catapults. They try to build them, but they are always unsuccessful.

The simplest cable catapult requires hundreds of people to catapult stones weighing several kilograms. It broke a few times.

"It seems that we have to use the last trick, and try one last time." Chi Ci's eyes were red, and he didn't sleep well at night for half a month.

The time spent here is getting longer and longer, more and more soldiers and horses have been killed and wounded, and more and more cattle and sheep are consumed. The tribal warriors have gone from being excited at the beginning to being tired and depressed now.

In everyone's hearts, the five-star fortress will never fall, and no one can break it.

"My lord, the captives will be brought right away." A Tuoba knight reported to Tuoba Chici under Falcon's flag.

"Very well, let's use these damned captives to lead the battle for us. Use the spear of the other to attack the shield of the other. I want to see whether the spear is stronger or the shield is stronger!"

A group of Qiang people who became angry shouted and cheered one after another. These days are really too depressing. They finally won a big victory and wiped out 20,000 Tang troops in one fell swoop, but who knew that they were so severely hit by a wall under this small fortress.

With the rising sun.

The Gesang flowers on the grassland are also more colorful, and the dew on the leaves is so crystal clear.

Qin Lang inspected the castle as usual.

"It's getting cold, remember to wear more clothes when you are on duty at night." Qin Lang patted a young archer with a flushed face, and the archer smiled, "It's quite cool at night, and there are no mosquito bites. Red, not frozen."

In fact, many soldiers in the castle now have red cheeks on their faces, even Qin Lang has one. This red is actually plateau red, and the faces and hands of many soldiers were even split open by the wind.

Autumn has arrived and the weather is getting cooler.

It's just that Qin Lang was a little surprised that this year's autumn seemed to be a little warmer than last year, and he didn't see any serious frost. He didn't know what the situation in the Central Plains was like now, but normally, like here, according to what the Qiang soldiers said Last year, frost and snow fell early, but this year, there was no snow, and it was still very warm.

Perhaps those cold snaps have passed, which is also good news. The cold has had a great impact on the north. There have been early frosts and heavy snowfalls in the north for three consecutive years, resulting in greatly reduced or even no harvests in autumn and spring. The food crisis in the past two years has been severe. .

The later the frost and snow, the grass will not freeze to death so early, the cattle and sheep can eat more grass, and can store more fat for the winter.

If there were no Qiang raiders, maybe Diezhou would be a good year this year.

"Wei Gong, when will the Qiang bandits retreat?"

The young archer asked Qin Lang.

He is a frontier soldier of the Zhenxi Army. His hometown is Qizhou in Guanzhong. These Guanzhong government soldiers transferred by rotation usually spend a year on guard in the frontier, and return to their hometown after one year.

"Soon."

Qin Lang told him that the Qiang people should be reaching their limit soon, and they couldn't hold on to such a battle. The Qiang people gathered more than 20,000 soldiers and horses under the city, but the more people there were, the greater the consumption.

Although they came with cattle and horses, a large number of people and horses gathered together, and the nearby grass was eaten up long ago. Now the women and children of the Qiang people herding cattle and sheep have driven the cattle and sheep farther and farther, but winter is coming soon, and the grass will also grow. withered.

Although Tuoba Chici not long ago, seven or eight thousand people crossed the Five Star Fort, went down the Qiang River, and went deep into Diezhou, but Diezhou had already prepared for it, and burned the grass again, fortified the walls and cleared the fields, and the soldiers and civilians were stationed separately. Among the castles, in Diezhou, which is hundreds of miles away, the Qiang people will not have any harvest or supplies.

Everything they want is in the castle. The castles in Kedizhou are very dangerous and strong, and it is not easy to attack. The Qiang invaded in the past, relying on their swiftness and impermanence, taking advantage of the opportunity and going deep into the frontier when the Tang people were not prepared.

There are many soldiers in Kedie Prefecture and the city is strong. The people have been prepared for a long time, and they have no chance.

They didn't have the guts to go deeper into Dangzhou, Wuzhou, etc.

With the existence of Five Star Fort and Zhenxi Military City, Tuoba Chici dared not go deep with the whole army. The last time he led 50,000 people deep, he suffered a big loss and was almost blocked and couldn't get out. This time he dared not do it again wrong.

It is not the Qiang people's skill to attack the city and pull out the village, so Qin Lang felt that the Qiang people could not retreat far.

The whirring horn sounded again.

After Anhua Tucheng was captured by the Qiang people, Tuoba Chici moved the camp into the city, and now the horns sounded again in Tucheng, and the Qiang people came out of the camp to line up.

"Are the Qiang people still coming to attack the city? Are they really not afraid of death?"

The soldiers of the Tang army on the fort didn't have much worry. These days of confrontation made them despise the Qiang people even more.

Everyone just drew out the bow skillfully, hung up the string, and then drew out the arrows and placed them in front of them. The movements were skillful and relaxed, without any panic.

Qin Lang also turned his head to look, the entire Qiang army had left the camp, as if they were going to play big games.

"Wei Gong, there is a large group of people in the west."

A group of people appeared facing the rising sun, turning from some small black spots into a black line, and finally forming a black tide.

"Could it be that our reinforcements have arrived? It seems to be the Tang army!" Someone said excitedly.

But Qin Lang looked at it carefully, but the more he looked, the more surprised he became.

It was indeed the Tang army who came, but the flag was not raised, the armor was not in order, and they were even very embarrassed. Looking closer, there were Qiang cavalry beside them.

"It's captives, many captives." Liang Jianfang came to report to Qin Lang, "The sentinels came to report, and the Qiang people escorted more than ten thousand captives. They should all be defeated in Minzhou last time."

At the top of the city, everyone couldn't help but fell silent.

The victories these days made them almost forget that the Minzhou Army was defeated. There are more than 20,000 people, and there are more than 1,200 defeated soldiers in the Five Star Fort.

Many soldiers who were reorganized from the defeated Minzhou army could not help but turn their eyes red when they looked at the comrades who had been whipped and driven by the Qiang people.

This made them involuntarily think of the fiasco of the last time, and the embarrassment at that time.

They were lucky enough to escape into the Five Star Fortress, and they were able to avenge their shame and redeem their crimes, but those comrades were very unlucky, they became captives of the Qiang people.

"What is that old thief Tuoba going to do?" the soldiers shouted angrily.

Soon they understood what Tuoba Chici wanted to do.

The Qiang people rode horses and drove away groups of Tang army prisoners with swords, packed soil with cloth bags, and then carried them to the castle.

They wanted to drive the captives to fill up the slopes and trenches, filling in a road for the Qiang people.

Liang Jianfang gritted his teeth, his eyes were red, he held the handle of the knife firmly, and shouted, "Mr. Wei, let me lead my brothers out of the city to rescue them!"

Qin Lang shook his head.

"Didn't you see that all the Qiang people were dispatched today, did they come prepared? They just waited for us to go out of the city to rob people, leaving the cover of the castle. We have no advantage at all. If we go, we will be tricked."

This is different from night raids, which are just harassment and do not involve fighting. But it's different if you want to save people, you have to fight the Qiang people hard.

"But, let's just sit back and watch?"

Qin Lang gritted his teeth and remained silent.

In fact, many generals will encounter this kind of situation. One side will drive the prisoners to lead the battle, or use the enemy's civilians to lead the battle.

It's a brutal situation, but it happens all the time.

There are also more cruel ones, such as capturing enemy soldiers or civilians to fill up the army rations.

This can be said to be a heart attack.

The unarmed captives were driven by the Qiang people with bows and arrows, and those who refused to obey were shot with one arrow.

The sun rises into the sky.

The first batch of Tang army prisoners, about 2,000 people were driven by Qiang cavalry with bows, arrows and spears, and walked towards the castle with earth bags on their backs.

Along the way, captives continued to resist, but they were all shot and killed by the Qiang people mercilessly.

On the castle, many generals asked to leave the city.

Qin Lang could only issue a military order with a cold face, "Anyone who leaves the city without authorization, beheaded!"

He knew very well that he was able to fight against the Qiang people for half a month without defeat, relying on the strong protection of this bastion. Without the protection of the castle, he only had about 1,700 people.

This amount of soldiers and horses is simply not enough to fight against nearly 20,000 Qiang people in the open valley.

"Wei Gong, let me take the brothers to fight, we can do it."

Qin Lang shook his head.

"One fight three, we can win, one fight five, we can win miserably, but one fight ten, we may be wiped out, this kind of battle cannot be fought."

"But those people are our comrades."

"I know, but if we can't even protect ourselves, what's the point of going out of the city? To accompany them as prisoners? If the Five Star Fort falls, the consequences will be very serious!"

"Then watch?"

"Keep your eyes open. This is the ruthlessness of war, and this is the cruelty of Tuoba Qiang. You can see clearly with your eyes wide open. This is a blood feud, and it must be washed away with blood in the future."

Liang Jianfang was silent, and the generals were silent.

The generals and soldiers of the Tang army are not lacking in blood, but Qin Lang can only suppress them. This is what a general must do, kindness does not control soldiers.

The captives outside the city are soldiers, and the soldiers in the city are soldiers, with fleshy palms and backs. Everyone is a soldier and citizen of the Tang Dynasty, but now they can only make a choice, they can only choose one of the two.

Liang Jianfang raised his sword high and shouted to the soldiers, "Raise your bows, and kill anyone who approaches the castle."

"Remember, today's blood debt will be paid ten times and a hundred times in blood every day!"

Above the city, there are faces with gnashing teeth and fire-breathing eyes, while below the city, there are numb and confused walking dead.

A tall prisoner was whipped to pieces on his back. He came to the city with soil on his back, suddenly dropped the soil bag in his hand, and shouted to the city, "I am the brigade commander of the Momen Army in Taozhou, the capital of Minzhou. Qi, brother in the city, tell my son for me, live well, learn martial arts diligently, and avenge me in the future!"

After finishing speaking, he resolutely turned around without caring about his own safety, and rushed towards the Qiang cavalry beside him.

A few arrows hit Cui Qi, but he still rushed forward desperately.

With an arrow, he fell on the Qiang rider on the horse, pulled him off the horse, choked his neck with one hand, and pulled out the short Qiang knife with the other, stabbed the Qiang man in the ribs with one knife, and killed him.

A Qiang cavalry galloped towards him, stabbing fiercely into Cui Qi's back with his spear.

Cui Qi vomited blood.

Turn around and shout towards the top of the city, "Chang'an, Cui Qi, my son, Fu... Qiu..."

Cui Qi died, a centurion of the Longyou Army, died.

"Cui Shuai!"

Seeing this, several captives threw down their earth bags one after another, and rushed towards the Qiang people next to them.

More and more captives began to rush towards the Qiang cavalry desperately, but they were killed one by one unarmed.

on the city.

Liang Jianfang punched the battlements with a fist, bleeding profusely.

Qin Lang let out a long sigh.

Turn around and walk away.

"Open the city gate, follow me out of the city, and kill his mother."

In the end, Qin Lang violated his military order and left the city anyway.

There were voices one after another in the city, "Revenge for Cui Qi!"

The sound was like thunder, straight to Yunxiao.

Every soldier of the Tang Dynasty had his eyes tearing apart, his eyes were red, and his chest was filled with anger.

Front, back, left, and right, the five doors open together.

The seven cavalry regiments in the city, with 1,400 men, all rushed out, leaving only two infantry regiments to defend the city.

"kill!"

"Kill kill kill!"

Qin Lang took the lead, and Liang Jianfang and other generals urged their horses to run wildly. Although there were more than 20,000 Qiang people in front of them, no one was afraid, no one thought about whether they would be surrounded or die.

They only know that as soldiers, they cannot tolerate such humiliation, and as fellow soldiers, they must lend a helping hand to them.

Under Falcon's flag, Tuoba Chici's face was flushed with excitement.

"Unexpectedly, Qin Lang, who is known as the Great Tang Huo Qubing, is nothing more than that. He was easily provoked and lured away. Hahaha, quickly, surround them and don't let them run away. At any cost, take Qin Lang for me, life or death , whoever wins will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold, a thousand oxen, and ten thousand sheep!"

"Hurry up!"

The prisoners of the Tang army outside the city rioted when they saw their comrades in the city rushing out to rescue them. They were unarmed, but they rushed towards the nearest Qiang people regardless of their own safety, grabbing them with their hands and biting them with their mouths...