Chapter 207 A near miss

Chapter 207 A near miss

Chapter 207 A near miss
Murong Baoshu did not bother to head north to Shandan County, and turned back to the pine forest. He saw corpses everywhere in the pine forest. All of them were his men. Most of them were still wrapped in blankets, which showed that the Sui army came very suddenly and most of the soldiers were killed in their sleep.

Three thousand camels loaded with food and supplies and five hundred war horses of the defenders disappeared without a trace. Everyone was stunned. Murong Baoshu was so angry that he punched the tree hard. His plan was so secretive, but it was still seen through by the Sui army.

At this time, a soldier shouted: "The camel's footprints are heading west!"

"Chase me!"

Murong Baoshu shouted orders, saying that if the other party didn't leave soon, they might still have a chance.

Ten thousand cavalrymen followed the camel's footprints in the snow and chased westward. After chasing for more than ten miles, they suddenly found that the camel's footprints turned north again.

Murong Baoshu was stunned. It was obvious that when they were heading south, the other party was heading north. They were more than ten miles apart and passed each other.

"Chase!" Murong Baoshu gritted his teeth and shouted.

Ten thousand people quickened their speed and continued to chase northward.
But it was too late for the Tuyuhun army. Xiao Xia had already led the cavalry with camels and horses to the county town. The city gates were opened and the army entered the county town.

Xiao Xia didn't have time to rest, he dismounted immediately and went to the top of the city wall. Hundreds of large pots had been set up on the top of the city wall, boiling snow and making water. The snow melted into water and was immediately poured on the city wall, which soon solidified into ice.

The soldiers and thousands of civilians worked together. After several hours of fighting, the first layer of ice had covered the city wall. Next they had to cover the second and third layers, and finally the city gates would be completely frozen.

If the city gate is frozen with three feet of ice, no matter how powerful the battering ram is, it will not be able to break it open.

Xiao Xia asked, "Have the surrounding herdsmen been notified to evacuate?"

Du Tianzhao said quickly: "We sent someone to inform them yesterday that the herdsmen should either withdraw to the west of Zhangye or to Liangzhou. There will be no herdsmen within 200 miles around."

Xiao Xia nodded. This was a good way to fortify the city and clear the fields. Once the herdsmen withdrew, the Tuyuhun army would not be able to find any food in the ice and snow.

He then said to Helou Shanzhu and the county magistrate Zhao Yuan: "Mobilize all young and strong men to participate in the defense of the city. There will probably be a siege tomorrow!"

Helou Shanzhu and County Magistrate Zhao Yuan nodded, and they immediately went to mobilize.

Du Tianzhao was puzzled and asked: "But Tuyuhun didn't have siege ladders, how did they climb the city?"

Xiao Xia said calmly: "We can climb the city wall with ropes, but as long as we withstand one wave of attacks, they will retreat."

Xiao Xia looked at the greenhouse to the west again and immediately ordered, "Pass on my order, burn down the greenhouse!"

There are many wooden pillars in the shed, which will be used by the enemy to build siege ladders.

More than a hundred soldiers rushed to the greenhouses with fire, and soon, hundreds of greenhouses were on fire.

At five o'clock in the morning, ten thousand Tuyuhun troops arrived at the city of Shandan. Under the moonlight, the city walls were shining silver, like an ice city.

There was a raging fire and thick smoke in the west. It must be the stable that was on fire.

Murong Baoshu immediately sent people to check the situation. Not long after, a general came back to report, "General, hundreds of sheds were engulfed in flames. There are no horses, all of them are empty. In addition, we found a large number of corpses in the snow to the west. They are the more than 600 brothers from before."

Murong Baoshu fully understood that the other side had far more than 500 people. It should be that the spies in Zhangye City were captured, and the Sui army had cracked their intentions, so they sent troops in advance to assist in the defense of Shandan County. His own intelligence was behind, so he suffered a great loss.

Murong Baoshu was a little worried about Gamuda. If the other party was prepared, would his 5,000 troops also encounter an accident?

"General, what should we do now?" asked several generals.

Murong Baoshu was silent in deep thought. The number of Sui troops in the city was unknown. If the enemy had more troops, attacking the city would be meaningless. But he was unwilling to retreat now. After thinking for a long time, he said to the two generals, "Each of you lead a thousand cavalrymen to search for the Qiang tribe nearby. If you find one, take all the sheep!"

"Follow the order!"

The two captains led a thousand cavalrymen each and left. Murong Baoshu said to the other generals, "Attack the city at daybreak!"

The Tuyuhun army was good at field battles but not good at sieges, and they basically had no siege weapons. They usually used battering rams to break open the city gates, or used their traditional climbing tools, noose, basically these two things.

The sky gradually brightened. In addition to the 1,500 Sui troops on the city wall, there were 3,000 militia soldiers. There were exactly 3,000 sets of armor in the warehouse in the city. 3,000 young and strong men were recruited, put on leather armor and helmets, and carried bows and arrows and spears. Each person was also equipped with a knife.

There are 4,500 soldiers on the city wall, so it will be much easier.

Three thousand troops were concentrated in the south city, and another fifteen hundred were distributed on the other three city walls. Xu Min, Cao Taiyue and Helou Shanzhu each led five hundred people. Helou Shanzhu was the eldest son of the famous general Helou Zigan. He was trained by his father since childhood, and he also practiced superb martial arts and studied for five years. It was a bit of a waste of his talent to serve as the pastoral supervisor, but there was no other way. He had only entered the officialdom four years ago and his qualifications were not enough.

But Helou Shanzhu had no problem leading the troops to defend the city, as he was responsible for guarding the east city wall.

At this time, the horn sounded in the Tuyuhun army and 10,000 troops began to assemble.

Murong Baoshu squinted his eyes and looked at the south wall. There seemed to be only a few hundred soldiers on the wall, standing sparsely on the wall. He was a little suspicious, but the suspicion only flashed through his mind. Murong Baoshu had no choice but to attack the city or withdraw.

Murong Baoshu immediately gave the order: "General Jia will lead 3,000 men to attack the city with hooks and ropes, and General Hu Kun will lead 2,000 men on horseback to provide cover!"

"attack!"

Murong Baoshu brandished his sword and shouted, and the sound of war drums rumbled.

Two thousand cavalrymen ran parallel to the city wall eighty steps away, shooting sharp arrows at the top of the city. More than a dozen Sui soldiers were caught off guard and were hit by the arrows. They fell to the ground screaming and were immediately carried away by the women who were treating the wounded.

At the same time, three thousand Tuyuhun soldiers rushed up shouting and threw long ropes with empty loops onto the top of the city wall.

Playing with ropes is the Tuyuhun people's strong point. Ropes were accurately tied to the battlements. The soldiers pushed their feet and climbed up quickly. They had to reach the top of the city wall before the Sui soldiers cut the ropes.

The ropes of the Tuyuhun soldiers were all made of cowhide, which was very strong and sturdy. It was not easy to cut them with a knife, but they could be cut. The Sui soldiers changed from cutting to beheading, and one by one, the Tuyuhun soldiers climbed to the middle of the city and fell down the city screaming.

The Sui army was also lucky. The soldiers were only using civilian ropes, and they also carried a batch of military leather ropes on the camels. If the enemy used military ropes to attack the city, which were as strong as steel ropes and could not be cut even with a knife, the city would be in danger.

There were not many Sui army defenders in the southwest corner, but more than a hundred Tuyuhun soldiers still climbed to the top of the city wall.

The situation in the southwest corner was not good. More than one hundred militia soldiers were killed and defeated by Tuyuhun soldiers. Xiao Xia was also inexperienced and he overestimated the militia soldiers.

When a powerful Tuyuhun centurion climbed to the top of the city wall and chopped off the heads of six militia soldiers in a row, the headless corpses spurting blood and the heads rolling on the ground scared the militia soldiers out of their wits, and more than a hundred militia soldiers retreated in horror.

The city defense was breached in an instant, and soon more than 20 Tuyuhun soldiers climbed to the top of the city wall. The militia soldiers shouted in panic.

At this time, Xiao Xia heard the shouting and rushed over with dozens of soldiers. At this time, more than one hundred Tuyuhun soldiers had rushed to the southwest corner. They rushed towards the west gate, but were blocked by the soldiers led by Xu Min. The Tuyuhun soldiers could not break through, so they turned around and attacked the south gate. Under the leadership of the powerful centurion, the Sui army was defeated and the situation was extremely critical.

At this moment, a powerful arrow came whizzing and hit the centurion right between his eyebrows. The arrow pierced his head, and the centurion let out a muffled cry and fell backwards.

After the leader was killed, the offensive momentum of more than one hundred Tuyuhun soldiers came to a halt. At this time, Xiao Xia led dozens of Sui soldiers to attack. Seeing the arrival of the commander, the morale of the Sui soldiers soared, and they killed the remaining more than one hundred Tuyuhun soldiers in one go.

A crisis that was almost fatal was thus averted.

(End of this chapter)