Chapter 1071: Dangerous Death

Under the city of Yining, as the enemy troops temporarily retreated, the fierce battle also came to a temporary end.

The days of supervising the battles over the past few days have greatly overdrawn Han Zunian's energy. Since the enemy launched the attack, he has spent most of his time on the top of the city to dispatch soldiers to defend and counterattack, and the time to rest in the city is often only two or three hours.

The reason for such exhaustion is that the enemy's offensive was too fierce. On the first day of the siege, they directly rushed to the top of the west city, forcing Han Zunian to urgently dispatch more than a thousand soldiers to reinforce the west city from the east city through the plank road between the two cities. After a fierce battle, he barely defended the city.

The second reason is that the garrison troops in the city have been greatly reduced, from the initial tens of thousands of troops to less than 5,000 people now. Originally, the two cities were defended by the river and were as solid as a rock, but with the lack of garrison troops, the two cities have instead caused a huge burden to the garrison. Under the enemy's constant change of attack direction, they have been running around between the two cities for days.

As the battle continued, the defenders in the city continued to suffer new casualties, making the soldiers increasingly insufficient. Han Zunian was already considering abandoning the West City at an appropriate time, and concentrating his soldiers to retreat to the East City where many supplies were stored, waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from the rear.

Taking advantage of the enemy's pause in the offensive, Han Zunian also slowly walked down the city wall step by step, and took a short rest in the houses near the city wall and had some meals.

However, before he finished eating here, the sound of drums and horns sounded outside the city again. After hearing this sound, Han Zunian subconsciously shook the chopsticks in his hand, and he stopped eating directly. Then he hurriedly climbed up the city wall again, ready to continue to stop the enemy.

However, this time, it was not the fully armed enemy soldiers who came out with the sound of drums and horns, but hundreds of ragged and dejected foot soldiers, who were escorted by hundreds of Wei army knights to an open space not far from the city.

Han Zunian took a quick look and recognized that the people outside the city were the soldiers of his own army who had been captured by the enemy before. The soldiers on the top of the city who were drawing their bows to wait for the enemy also saw it one after another, so they all put away their bows and arrows and stuck their heads out of the city wall to see clearly whether there were any relatives or friends among the captives.

"Mr. Tang is so righteous that he spared your lives and provided you with food and drink for several days. Now we will go to the city to persuade the defenders to surrender. You can reunite with your relatives and friends and be meritorious men!"

After the Wei army soldiers led these captives to the city, they shouted at them and asked them to shout to the city to persuade them to surrender.

But these captives also knew that once they opened their mouths to persuade them to surrender, they would be considered traitors in the eyes of the Chinese people. At present, the battle between the two sides has not yet been decided. If they shouted to persuade them to surrender for the sake of temporary safety, they would inevitably implicate their relatives and friends in the city. Therefore, many people just bowed their heads and said nothing. Even if some people were terrified and wanted to obey the order, when they saw that most of their companions remained silent, they were too timid to speak.

The captives refused to speak to the city to persuade them to surrender. Pi Jinghe, who led the captives here, simply took off his helmet to show his head and face, then raised his face and shouted to the top of the city: "Do you guards in the city know me? My name is Pi Jinghe, I am from Guangning. When I was young and weak, I was forced to follow the bandits. I fought with the Western Dynasty and was captured by my lord Tang Gong.

Tang Gong did not abandon me because of my old crime, but selected me to be close to him. I am now conferred the title of Shimen Gong in the Western Dynasty and hold the official position of the Cavalry General. You bandits in the city serve the Gao family rebellion. How many of you have a higher official title than me?

I have been forced to surrender for days. Attack, you should also know that my royal army is brave and powerful. The Tang envoys came to persuade you to surrender, not because they were defeated by you, but because they pity your lives. If you still insist on evil, when the city is broken in the future, it will be the day when the stubborn thieves surrender! Life or death depends on your thoughts. Make a decision quickly! "

"Beat the drums, beat the drums, and don't respond to this evil voice!"

Han Zunian heard Pi Jinghe's shouting on the top of the city, and his face changed slightly for a while. He hurriedly asked people to make noise on the top of the city to suppress the voice of persuading surrender, so as to prevent the defenders from being shaken.

Pi Jinghe heard the chaotic drum sound coming from the top of the city, so he did not continue to shout, but asked his staff to bring a few raw sheep, slaughtered and skinned them directly by the river, and then put them on the grill for roasting after washing. After the mutton was roasted, he asked his staff to dismantle the roasted meat and share it with the captives.

Although the noisy drums on the top of the city can suppress the noise from other places, they cannot limit people's sight. When the defenders on the top of the city saw the scene of the captives sharing mutton, they were naturally touched. They might not immediately want to surrender to the enemy, but they also planted an impression in their hearts that the enemy would treat the captives well.

Not to mention the changes in the minds of the defenders on the top of the city, the captives under the city were fed mutton, and their emotions fluctuated violently for a while. Some prisoners of war could not help crying and shouting to their relatives and friends on the top of the city while eating mutton. Although they did not directly persuade them to surrender, their trembling tone and miserable expression also conveyed many messages.

Next, Pi Jinghe led people to lead these prisoners back to the camp for placement, and in order to let the defenders in the city digest the emotional fluctuations, the Wei army did not continue to attack the city for the rest of the day.

Although there was no further fighting, Han Zunian was in a very heavy mood, and his steps were also heavy as he walked down the top of the city.

When he just walked down the city wall, several generals came up to him quickly, with a look on their faces that seemed to want to say something but hesitated. After looking at each other for a few times, they pushed a representative to Han Zunian and said in a low voice: "Excuse me, sir, when will the reinforcements of King Pingyuan arrive?"

After asking this, he quickly added: "I am not afraid of fighting, but, after fighting for several days, there are less than 3,000 soldiers in the city who can fight, and they have to occupy two cities. The enemy army is getting more and more, and they are all brave and brave warriors. If there is still no reinforcement, even if I fight to the death, I am afraid that I will not be able to save the city!"

Hearing this, Han Zunian frowned deeply. He knew that the current situation was indeed a bit unfavorable, but it was definitely not as serious as the general said. The reason why the generals were afraid of difficulties was just because they were influenced by the enemy's psychological strategy.

"Yining City controls Qinyuan and takes into account both the east and the west. You all know how important the terrain is. How could King Pingyuan and others not know? Since we know that the enemy army has come here to harass, reinforcements will surely arrive quickly. But now the enemy army has not attacked for less than ten days, and the emergency apostle is still on the way. You go forward to ask about the reinforcements. Can the reinforcements fly across the mountains and suddenly arrive at the city?"

He frowned and reprimanded the general, and then said: "The only plan now is to hold on and wait for reinforcements, don't think about it! As long as the reinforcements arrive and force the enemy army to retreat, we will all be rewarded for our meritorious service in defense!"

After saying this, he waved his hand to dismiss the generals, and then dragged his tired body back to the military mansion in the city.

However, today is destined to be another eventful day. Not long after Han Zunian returned to the military mansion, another soldier suddenly reported that another incident had occurred outside the north city. When Han Zunian hurried to the north city, he saw more than a dozen defeated soldiers shouting outside the city gate and asking to enter the city.

After Han Zunian asked the staff for a while, he found out that these people were the defenders of Guyuan City. Guyuan City was suddenly attacked by a team of enemy troops a few days ago. The defenders were caught off guard and were attacked by the enemy. After a battle, the defenders were defeated and retreated from the city, fleeing south to ask for help.

After learning about this, Han Zunian's eyes suddenly went dark and he almost lost his balance. Guyuan City, as the seat of Yining County, did not have heavy troops, but it housed many military families. In addition, Yining City could only connect with the city garrisons such as Wusu Town in the rear through Guyuan City.

The enemy's attacks on the front have been fierce and fierce for days. Unexpectedly, they even sent a surprise force to attack Guyuan City from behind. Han Zunian was confused for a while. After a while, he reacted and hurriedly looked at the soldiers present and ordered: "This matter must be kept secret and must not be leaked to the outside, so as not to cause panic among the soldiers and civilians in the city!"

"But, but, there are several people who have been escorted into the city by the West City garrison."

The soldiers here hurriedly nodded in response, but soon another soldier suddenly slapped his forehead and spoke.

After hearing this, Han Zunian's expression suddenly stagnated. He hurriedly gathered dozens of confidants and prepared to go to the West City through the plank road connecting the two cities to control the spread of the news.

But before he could reach the city wall in the west, another soldier suddenly came to report: "My Lord, something bad has happened! The defenders of the west city cut off the plank road and opened the city to surrender to the enemy..."

Hearing this, Han Zunian's face changed drastically. When he finally arrived at the top of the city, he saw that the connection between the two cities had been cut off. The commander of the west city had already led nearly a thousand defenders to open the city gate, threw all the bows and swords out of the city, and sent people to surrender to the enemy camp opposite.

A series of changes hit Han Zunian hard. In order to prevent the people in the city from being turbulent, he personally patrolled the city with a knife. Only under his intimidation did he temporarily stabilize the situation. And he did not dare to relax, and stayed on the top of the city to monitor the movements inside and outside until he fell asleep exhausted after nightfall.

In his dream, Han Zunian felt extremely bumpy, and his hands and feet were in great pain, as if they were tied up by poisonous snakes. He suddenly opened his eyes in a daze, and saw light and shadows floating in front of him. Then a familiar face appeared in front of him and said to him with a smile: "General Han is awake?"

"You, you are Zhang Baoluo, the envoy? How, how can I see you? Could it be, could it be that I am also dead... and my soul has gone to the underworld?"

Han Zunian thought for a moment in his mind, and then he remembered that the face in front of him was Zhang Baoluo, who had been captured and executed by the enemy before. He was shocked and said in a trembling voice.

After hearing this, Zhang Baoluo's expression suddenly became a little embarrassed, and the smile on his face was slightly restrained. He looked at Han Zunian and said: "General Han is not dead yet, but he was tied up and surrendered by your generals. I will see my lord, Tang Gong Li, the great prime minister later, to decide your life or death!"