Chapter 393 Peace Talk
Chapter 393 Peace Talk
Cao Taiyue saw that the situation was not good, and immediately ordered: "Brothers on the first and second floors, retreat, set fire to defend!"
The Sui army soldiers put up wooden boards and began to retreat. At the same time, more than 20 small catapults began to be prepared, and they threw bundles of burning straw at the enemy crowd.
This trebuchet is very small, less than one person tall, with a throwing pole ten feet long and a total weight of less than 100 pounds. A camel can easily carry two, and two people can operate it. It can throw 30-pound stones fifty steps away, making it a powerful weapon for short-range combat.
The Tuyuhun army succeeded in throwing spears, and as the Sui army retreated, the Tuyuhun soldiers quickly occupied the first layer of the stone wall. They stood on the stone wall and began to attack the second layer of the stone wall.
At this moment, burning straw flew over their heads and fell into the dense crowd below, causing chaos among the soldiers.
At the same time, the Tuyuhun soldiers also found themselves in an awkward situation. The first stone wall and the second stone wall were ten feet apart, with a height difference of seven feet, and were connected by wooden boards. When the Sui soldiers retreated, the soldiers above pulled out the wooden boards, and the Tuyuhun soldiers could not get through. They could only stand on the stone walls and be shot to death by crossbow arrows.
Of course, there is a way, which is to use corpses to fill the gap between the two stone walls. The soldiers on the first stone wall can step on the corpses to climb up the second stone wall.
It is theoretically possible, but whether it can be realized is another matter.
After the Sui army changed its strategy, the Tuyuhun soldiers were in a devastating disaster. There was thick smoke and raging fire in front of them. The Tuyuhun soldiers were forced to retreat step by step. They retreated to fifty steps away, which was just out of the range of the catapults.
The two sides randomly engaged in a bow and arrow battle, but the bows and arrows of the Tuyuhun soldiers were no match for the bows and arrows of the Sui army. The casualties were increasing. Murong Shun could see clearly that there was no way they could capture the stone wall.
He could only sigh and order: "Withdraw!"
"Dang! Dang! Dang!" The bells rang, and the last 1,500 or so soldiers quickly retreated. This assault ended in a tragic defeat for the Tuyuhun army.
All 1,300 Qiang soldiers were wiped out, and nearly 1,000 of the 2,500 Tuyuhun and Xianbei soldiers were killed, leaving only more than 1,500 who escaped.
The deployment of the Sui army actually had loopholes, but when the situation was chaotic, the commander Murong Shun failed to exploit this loophole. If he ordered a counterattack with rockets, using the straw thrown by the Sui army to make rockets and reflect them back, then the Sui army's position would have been a sea of fire, and the consequences of thousands of loads of straw being ignited by rockets would have been disastrous.
Of course, even if the Sui army retreated, the final outcome would be the complete annihilation of the Tuyuhun army. They only had 1,500 people left, while the Sui army had 8,000 troops. The outcome is self-evident.
Unable to capture the valley entrance, Murong Shun led his troops to retreat overnight.
The next morning, Murong Shun met his father and reported to him the disastrous defeat. The more Fu Yun listened, the more frightened he became. The other side had clearly made careful arrangements. So, what would happen to the south?
He was extremely worried and immediately ordered his army to turn around and retreat south.
At this time, Tuyuhun had only 8,000 troops. Even if they forced their way out, they would be annihilated by the Sui army.
Three days later, the army gradually approached the southern exit. The vanguard spies dealt a heavy blow to the Tuyuhun army. Countless Sui soldiers blocked the southern entrance, and they could not get out.
Fu Yun's heart seemed to sink into an endless abyss. He didn't utter a word for a whole hour.
At this time, Zhang Xiaotong, the deputy prime minister and the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came to see Fu Yun and said, "I am willing to negotiate with the Sui army to see what conditions they have and find out their details."
Zhang Xiaotong was a Han Chinese from Hehuang. He was quite talented and learned. Feeling that his talent was not appreciated in the Sui Dynasty, he went to Tuyuhun and was highly valued by Tuyuhun. In just ten years, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Prime Minister.
The official positions of Tuyuhun were also modeled after those of the Sui Dynasty, with positions such as prime minister, secretary, and vice minister. The prime minister Murong Qiumin was ordered to guard Fushi City, but died in the melee when the city fell. The other Xianbei ministers were all killed by Xiao Xia.
Fu Yun nodded and said, "Ask the other party, what will happen to me if I surrender?"
"Wei Chen understands!"
Fu Yun also arranged two guards to accompany Zhang Xiaotong, nominally to accompany him but actually to monitor him.
Half an hour later, Zhang Xiaotong arrived at the valley entrance and was immediately intercepted by Sui scouts. They raised their hands high, and Zhang Xiaotong shouted, "I am the Khan's representative, and I am here to see your commander!"
A dozen cavalrymen came up and pointed crossbows at the three men. Several soldiers searched them and took away their daggers. They then dismounted from their horses, tied their hands behind their backs, put a black bag on their heads, and were led away by soldiers with ropes.
They wanted to see the strength of the Sui army, but there was no chance. Soon they were led into a large tent, and the soldiers untied Zhang Xiaotong's rope and hood. His two companions sat aside, only untied the hood, but did not untie the tied backs.
In front of him was a young scribe, but behind him sat a young general wearing a golden helmet, tall and majestic, with a mighty appearance and a stern look.
The young scholar smiled and said, "Tell me your name!"
Zhang Xiaotong bowed and said, "I am the Deputy Prime Minister of Tuyuhun and the Minister of Revenue. My name is Zhang Xiaotong. I am here to negotiate on the order of the Khan!"
"Negotiation?"
The general sitting behind was Xiao Xia. He sneered, "You are very lucky that I am willing to meet you. Do you still have the qualifications to make conditions?"
"No! No! No!"
Zhang Xiaotong waved his hand quickly and said, "Our Khan wants to know, what are you going to do with us?"
Xiao Xia said coldly: "Kill all the men, and spare the lives of women and children!"
"That's if we don't surrender. What if we surrender?"
"If you surrender, you will be sent to Hexi as a slave and raise horses for the Sui army. If you have any disloyalty, you will be killed!"
"Is our Khan going to raise horses too?"
"You Khan can go to Chang'an. The Emperor of Sui will decide how to deal with you!"
Zhang Xiaotong looked at Xiao Xia and asked after a while, "Are you His Royal Highness the King of Chu?"
Xiao Xia ignored him and said coldly: "Don't worry about who I am. I have said everything I need to say. You can go back now!"
The soldiers put a hood on him, tied his hands behind his back, and escorted him out again. They took him back to the place where he came from, and then released the three of them. Their horses were still there, so the three of them had to ride back on horseback. They were all in a bad mood because they had not seen anything.
However, Zhang Xiaotong guessed that it was King Xiao Xia of Chu, so the enemy's army would definitely not be small.
After listening to the report from Zhang Xiaotong and the two guards, Fu Yun asked after a while, "Are you sure that man is King Xiao Xia of Chu?"
Zhang Xiaotong nodded and said, "I have two reasons to judge the other party's identity."
"you say!"
"The first reason is his golden helmet. I am a Han Chinese, and I know that even the chief steward Xue Shixiong is not qualified to wear a golden helmet. Apart from the emperor, the only people who can wear a golden helmet are the crown prince and the princes. So who else can it be except the king of Chu? If you want to impersonate Xiao Xia, where can you find a golden helmet?
The second reason is that because of what he said, no general dared to arrange the fate of the King of Tuyuhun except the King of Chu, so it is obvious that he is the King of Chu.
Khan, it can only be Xiao Xia's arrangement that makes such a big move possible. We marched westward from Dunhuang, captured Shanshan City, and blocked the northern exit of the Grand Canyon. Xiao Xia followed us all the way and blocked the southern exit. His goal was to track down Khan, so of course he had to do it himself. "
Fu Yun nodded. Zhang Xiaotong's explanation convinced him. He sighed and said, "It's a pity that I don't know how many troops he has."
"Khan, he didn't build a stone wall like the one at the northern exit. That means he has enough troops and is not afraid of us breaking out!"
"Are you sure they didn't build the stone wall?" Fu Yun turned around and asked the two guards.
The two guards nodded and said, "Although we are masked, the road is very flat, so we also think they didn't build a stone wall!"
(End of this chapter)