Chapter 72 The First Sing of the Phoenix

The descendants of the State of Yue became the main general of the siege of the city. The news quickly spread all over the allied battalion. Many soldiers were a little surprised and then a little uneasy. Especially after hearing that the king of Yue did not believe that he could conquer Taixifeng, because Sun Feng pleaded for others and forced Sun Feng to be the main general, they all There are varying degrees of concern about the future of this war. Everyone knows Sun Feng's bravery, but after all, Sun Feng is too young. Compared with the resourceful Sun Shao, he seems too immature. Many people doubt whether he has the ability to command 200,000 troops.

After hearing the news, Momia didn't say anything in front of Quintus, but agreed with Quintus's behavior at that time. Quintus said that the reason why he was willing to help Sun Feng was that he did not want Sun Shao to stay in Taixifeng. Sun Shao's mind was too deep, and he was worried that there would be unfavorable actions for Rome in the future. Sun Feng is still young and not as gloomy as Sun Shao. He wants to deal with it better. Sun Shao has decided to put him in the northern border of Rome. At this time, he will definitely be grateful to Rome, which will be beneficial to the relationship between the two sides in the future. He is also helpful in Taixifeng to suppress Goldian and his son. In the future, Philip will grow up and have a help.

"If the siege fails, there is nothing we can do. After all, the actual difficulties are here. It is really not easy to conquer Taixifeng." Quintus said so.

Quentus left, and a smile appeared on the corners of Momia's mouth. She held Philip in her arms, rubbed his nose on Philip's chest, and said softly, "You can't be like him. It's too bad."

Philip giggled, stretched out two small hands, and tried to grab her hair.

In the account of the State of Yue, Sun Shao, Sun Feng and Lu Xun sat opposite each other. The three of them looked calmly and looked at the map spread out on the case and said nothing. The tea was already tasteless. Sun Shaocai gently patted the face: "From tomorrow on, you will be the main general of the siege of the city. Your uncle is nominally your deputy general. In fact, he is the real general, and Cao Zhang and others. They are all famous generals who have been on the battlefield for a long time. You should respect them and listen to their opinions more."

"Oh." Sun Feng nodded: "Father, how about you?"

"Me?" Sun Shao smiled and shook his head: "I can't help you with specific tactics. With a few of them, I don't need to say more. And I have other things. Aldahir is not a person who is slaughtered by others. I don't believe that he will put so many troops in the city."

Lu Xun clicked: "The king is worried exactly, and I am also very worried about this. The Sassanids are strong with cavalry and the size and strength of the city of Taixi. As long as he arranges 30,000 people, it is enough to defend the city. Where will the extra people be? I think it must be waiting somewhere outside the city. Although we sent scouts, after all, the terrain is not familiar to them, and we may not be able to find them. If there are 20,000 to 30,000 elite cavalry behind us when we are attacking the city, it will be fatal. If we leave enough cavalry to defend, the manpower of the siege will be insufficient, and the strength of the siege will inevitably be greatly affected. It will not be delayed, and it will also be in the heart of Aldahir. I think he must have something to rely on if he dares to stick to it under such circumstances.

Sun Feng thought for a while: "What did the father use to defeat those cavalry? If the number of people is too small, isn't it dangerous?

"It's nothing, it's just a bluff." Sun Shao smiled confidently: "You can attack the city at ease. As long as you can break the city as soon as possible, I will not be in danger. Aldahir doesn't believe that we can win Tesiphon in a short time, so we must break his fantasy and convince him that there is no good result in fighting with the gods.

Sun Feng and Lu Xun laughed. They also just learned the secret of the miracle, and Lu Xun has figured out how to use this miracle to fight.

The next day, Sun Shao broke away from the allied battalion and set up a large camp ten miles northeast of the sealed city of Taixi. At the same time, little Gordion also set up a large camp ten miles northwest on the pretext of guard against the Sassanid raid. The two battalions became horns to protect the rear of the allied forces. Sun Fengsheng made war arrangements. He asked Quintus to send a man to set up a large number of brick kilns on the beach. At the same time, he lined up 300 crossbow cannons that had been prepared outside the city of Taixi. All the gunners entered the position and debugged under the eyes of the defenders on the city. The slaves pushed more than 100 siege vehicles to exercise outside the city. The sound of the trumpet can be heard clearly in the city. More than a thousand ladders were also arranged under the city, and the soldiers practiced siege tactics outside the range of the Sassanians. The atmosphere before the war was very good. Seeing all this, almost everyone thought that the war was imminent.

Only Ardahir laughed and smiled. He held the wall and pointed to the crowd who was busy with the kiln on the beach in the distance and said, "Did you see it? That's why I want to tear down all the houses within 30 miles outside the city. All the mud bricks that can be transported are transported back, and what can't be transported is thrown into the river.

The generals slowly came to their senses. Although the enemies under the city were busy, the 300 crossbow cannons looked very majestic, but they did not have enough stones to use. These crossbow cannons would soon become decorations, and without the most powerful crossbow cannon suppression, they had to brave the attack of the city, and the casualties would be It will be very amazing. In other words, as long as they survive for a short time and do not break the city before the other party's gun stones are consumed, they will have an advantage, which is equivalent to defending the city.

"These stupid people, don't you want to burn bricks a little farther away? Let's see it, isn't it timid?" A general with a beard laughed out loud.

"They are probably tired, aren't they?" Another knife-faced general sneered and said, "Besides, this is full of endless beaches. It's not easy for them to let us see it."

Aldahir didn't say anything. He pondered for a moment, and suddenly turned to a close general and said, "Send a message to the people outside the city, let them arrange a few shrewd scouts to dive from the river to those brick kilns to have a look. Don't let these cunning Han people cheat."

The cronies didn't think much about it and immediately turned around.

While arranging the preparation for the siege, Sun Feng wrote another letter to Ardahir in the name of Quintus, asking Ardahir to recognize the situation and surrender as soon as possible, and inadvertently stated that the descendants of the Empress Dowager Yue were the one blessed by Ahura, who was the god standing next to Ahura in the miracle. His life Zhong is destined to become the master of Taixifeng, so that Ardahir should not resist in vain, leave the city early and surrender, and keep a little wealth, so as not to lose.

Aldahir looked at some disdain, but he quickly captured the information in it. Now the main general is not Sun Shao, the king of Yue, but Sun Shao's grandson, a young man under the age of 20. After a little err, he was ecstatic. It is a taboo for soldiers to change generals in battle, and it is even more undesirable for father and son to be suspicious. Why doesn't such a smart person as Sun Shao be the general, but let his son be the general? He must have felt that he was not sure of attacking the city, so his son came forward. Even if he lost, he would have some excuses.

Thinking of this possibility, Aldahir looked up to the sky and sighed, and he finally grasped the real mentality of the enemy.

Ardahir replied to a letter. After expressing his refusal, he made some concessions, hoping to restart the negotiations. He sent messengers to the camp outside the city again. The messenger did not see Sun Shao this time, but saw Sun Feng, which verified Aldahir's conjecture. After insincere negotiations, the messenger sent the message back to the city.

Three days later, Sun Feng lost patience with the negotiations and ordered the siege. On the night before the siege, Sun Feng sacrificed to Ahura, the main god of the Sassanians, in front of many people. He publicly declared that the Han people were the virtue of fire, and the Yue Kingdom belonged to the south among the four vassal states of the Han Dynasty. According to the Five elements of the Han Dynasty, the State of Yue was the fire in the fire, which was very in line with Ahura's god of light. Therefore, he should also get Ahura's blessing. If this truth is true, then Ahura will definitely show miracles again.

Almost everyone, including Quintus and Bo Tho, is very worried about Sun Shao's oath. Although they do not deny the Sassanid gods, they can't believe that Ahura will really respond to Sun Feng's request and show miracles again. After all, it is difficult to say about this god. In case Ahura doesn't plan to What miracle to show, isn't that a big blow to morale?

Just as they were worried, strange things happened again. Shortly after nightfall, Sun Feng prayed on the altar for about an hour, and the dark night sky gradually showed a vague figure. Like that day outside the ancient city of Seleu, this figure floated in mid-air and seemed to be blown away by the wind at any time. Slowly, the figure became clearer and clearer, and it could be clearly distinguished that the figure was the image of Ahura in the miracles displayed that day.

Four or 500,000 people in and outside the city raised their heads to watch. They were stunned by the scene in front of them. Although everyone's opinions were slightly different, everyone agreed with one point of view: Ahura abandoned Aldahir and chose the Han to become the king of the Sassanids, and this Han man is now kneeling on the altar to pray. After the descendants of the State of Yue, Ahura responded to his prayer and gave him protection.

Just when the inside and outside of the city were already half-crazed, something more crazy happened. A voice faintly came from the air, which could vaguely hear the language of the Sassanians. There was some ecstasy in the voice, which added a little sense of mystery. The voice didn't say much. He just read a few verses from the classic Zoroastic doctrine Avisto, and then said, "Be kind to my people, don't push them into the hell of death because of your greed, or I will abandon you."

After getting Sun Feng's oath, the figure slowly faded away and disappeared into the vast night sky. Only Sun Feng on the altar stood up against the fire, raised the sacred flame in his hand high, and accepted the thunderous cheers of all the soldiers.

On the wall, there was a dead silence. Aldahir's face turned pale and tried his best to hold the wall so that he didn't fall down. He knew it was a scam, but he couldn't make a convincing explanation, because he didn't know how to do it. Is it an illusion? What kind of illusion is that? He can't even show a figure in such a high sky, let alone let that figure make a sound. He can't think of anyone who can make such a sound, which can be heard from such a distance.

It seems that I still believe that this is really a miracle.

"King..."

I don't know when the generals gathered around, and they were shocked. Many of them did not see the miracle under the ancient city of Seleu with their own eyes, but what they heard was more magical than what they saw with their own eyes. They all knew that after the miracle appeared, the Han people broke through the ancient city of Seleu in one day, and now that the miracle has come again, will Tai Xifeng follow the footsteps of Seleu ancient times and be defeated by the Han people in one day?

"What are you afraid of? It's just an illusion." Ardahir regained his composure and said disdainfully, "I have pleaded with the high priest to prepare. He will reveal the truth of this illusion to everyone and ask Ahura to show the real miracle." He paused and said, "Do you believe that they can break through Tesefon in one day like Seleucus?"

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads, which seemed unlikely. Even with the help of the gods, it was unlikely, unless Ahula dropped a fire and burned Taixi. However, Ahura just made it clear that he wanted Sun Feng to treat them kindly and not to bring them to hell. Obviously, even if Ahura wanted to punish, he would not punish all the Sassanians. At most, it was only the calm Ardahir in front of him.

"Go back to your own positions and be careful of the enemy stealing the city." Ardahir barely said a few words on the wall and hurried back to the palace. As soon as he entered the palace, he fell softly on the throne. The scene he just saw hit him too hard. The other party's means were really unpredictable and made him unable to prevent it. He was very worried about the next war. What kind of tricks will the other party have?

Ardahir called the high priest Aquila, and asked him to immediately send the priests of the temple out to refute the rumors. At the same time, he would demonstrate a similar illusion as soon as possible, otherwise the city of Taixi would have collapsed without a fight. Although Aquila was very embarrassed, she knew that there was no way out at present, so she had to respond.

Not long after Aquila went out, news came. After receiving his order from Awad outside the city, he sent the most capable scouts to the brick kiln just built by the coalition forces. They found that a large amount of soil had been dug out of the brick kiln, put into straw bags and piled up into hills. I don't know if they were ready. When the cannon stone is used or used to fill the trenches, it is certain that they are definitely not burning bricks, because they obviously have no intention of burning bricks and even the necessary firewood.

Aldahir sneered, and then found several generals to dig a horizontal ditch on the inner side of the wall facing the coalition army, and send people to monitor it day and night to prevent the Han people from dug tunnels and attack the city from the ground in the name of the kiln.

Aldahir's judgment was very accurate. It took only in the middle of the night that someone heard the underground sound. This sound showed that the other party had dug less than ten steps away from the city wall. If the other party began to attack the city from tomorrow, then even if the sound was relatively loud, it was not easy to find it in the city. In two days, the tunnel can be dug directly into the city. Direct attack may be unlikely, but it is very possible to sneak out and open the gate at night. When the Greeks used Trojan horses to break through Troy, didn't they use huge Trojan horses to send dozens of soldiers to the city?

However, now that it has been found, it will not be so easy for the enemy to cover up the traces. When they dig through the tunnel, they will be waiting for them with sharp weapons.

At dawn, the tunnel had been dug outside the gate, and then there was no news. Obviously, the other party would leave the last section of the tunnel until the war began tomorrow. Aldahir left enough manpower, and then ordered to enter the state of battle. He was confident enough to believe that the enemy's attack was about to begin.

As Aldashier estimated, after dawn, the Han, Romans and Guishuang people who had breakfast walked out of their camp one after another and stood out of the range of the Sassanians. A team of soldiers, whether it is the Han people in red robes and black armor, the Romans in plate armor and sandals, or the noble frost people, the Xiongnu, or the Tianzhu people wrapped in headscarves, they are all high morale. The magical scene last night has convinced them that Sun Feng will command them to complete it. The almost impossible task is to break through the lockdown of Taisi, kill Ardahir, then divide up the wealth accumulated by Ardahir, complete this arduous expedition, and return to his hometown with trophy.

Sun Feng stood majestically on the high command platform, holding thousands of eyes to observe the defense of the head of Taixi. Yang Hu and Lu Yu, one holding the long sword given by Sun Shao, and the other holding the flag, standing behind him energetically, with bright eyes and a little desire. Nicholas and the other twelve knights were fully armed, dressed in a fiery red open, guarding them, and more than a thousand knights stood solemnly under the stage to protect the command group. Lu Xun, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi, Li Yan and others stood under the stage, in front of the command platform, waiting for the order. One hundred steps on the left is the position of the Romans. Quintus also stood on the command platform, and more than a dozen legion commanders were waiting in front of the stage. On the right is the position of Guishuang people, and the wave tone also stands on the command platform, looking at Sun Feng from time to time.

Sun Feng saw Aldahir at the head of the city in Qianli's eyes. Although he couldn't see his face clearly, he felt Aldahir's nervousness, especially the particularly dense defense outside the gate. He knew that the tunnel that took a few days to dig must not hide Aldahir's eyes.

The defense of Taixi Fengcheng is far more solid than that of the ancient city of Seleu, and the defense at the gate alone can be seen. The north gate of Taixifeng is the main gate, facing a seven-foot arched gate, with a thick wall on both sides. In front of the gate is an urn city, about ten feet square, and the city wall is also five feet high. According to the news, there is also an urn city in the gate. If you want to enter the city from the gate, you must pass through at least three gates. Although the lockdown of Taixi is built with earth, the walls near the gate are pasted with blue glaze. With various patterns embedded with other colors of glaze, the whole gate looks very mysterious.

"It's a pity to destroy such a beautiful gate." Sun Feng secretly regretted himself and raised his right hand. The generals under the city immediately straightened up and looked at Sun Feng attentively.

(to be continued)