Chapter 68 Flaws

The unexpected arrow rain caught the Sassanids off guard. The head of the city was better. The soldiers under the city were immediately shot down. The Sassanids panicked. The soldiers who hit the arrows screamed and messed up the orderly team. Looking at the arrows pouring down across the city wall, the Sasang people fled everywhere and competed. For the nearby shields, more people scrambled to hide where they could be covered, leaving only the seriously injured soldiers lying on the ground and howling, but their screams were immediately cut off by the long arrows that followed.

The Sassanids on the head of the city heard the screams under the city, and also saw a much dense rain of arrows under the city than before. They did not dare to neglect. They quickly raised their shields. The archers who boldly approached the city wall did not dare to hold up again and looked for shelters to protect themselves. Their movements stalled the block at the head of the city, and the momentum was suddenly suppressed. The noble frost people under the city seized this opportunity, and 20 siege vehicles started at the same time and approached the city wall at the fastest speed.

After more than ten days of training, these slaves have made great progress in action coordination. In addition, with thick wooden board guards, they are no longer afraid of the resistance of the Sassanians. They are full of energy, shouting neat trumpets, and pushing the huge siege car to quickly approach the city wall. The archers in the siege car also pulled their bows and continued to suppress the Sassanians at the top of the city. The step warriors with knives and shields climbed to the highest level, holding wooden shields, ready to jump into the city to fight.

Ibrahim looked at the fast approaching siege vehicle. He was shocked, but it was not messy. He loudly ordered the soldiers at the head of the city to calm down, and the archers immediately launched a counterattack. The crossbow gunners attacked the archers under the city to reduce the threat to the head of the city.

In the rapid horn, the two sides entered the white heat from the beginning. The Sassanids were well trained. Although they began to be stunned by the noble frost people, under the command of Ibrahim, they quickly reacted that a large number of shields formed a wooden wall on the edge of the wall to cover the archers. The crossbow gunners skillfully pulled the ropes and smashed the mud bricks into the archer's position under the city and the siege vehicles that were approaching quickly.

The mud bricks tied with straw rope flew in the air, making waves of roars, hitting the giant shield and siege vehicles. The giant shield made bursts of roars, and the supporting wooden sticks shook. Many of them were broken. The giant shield fell to the ground, revealing the soldiers hidden behind. The archers at the head of the city followed and shot a sharp arrow. Come on, many archers were shot before they could transfer and sacrificed in front of the battle.

The siege car is huge, and it is also the object of crossbow cannons. The roaring mud brick balls hit the siege car one by one, causing the siege car to cumble. The scattered mud blocks flew around and fell on the soldiers hidden inside, but the soldiers did not even blink their eyes and stared at the head of the city. A mud brick ball hit a soldier with a shield. The powerful impact force knocked him back a few steps and knocked down the soldier with the ladder behind him. The two fell off the siege car at the same time and fell to the ground. The soldiers next to him didn't have time to check their situation and immediately came to fill the position.

The arrow rain converged in the air, the mud bricks flew in the air, and the screams came one after another.

Although they encountered a strong counterattack of the Sassanids, Guishuang people were as angry as a rainbow. Twenty siege vehicles kept approaching the city at an unprecedented speed, pulling the distance shorter and shorter. However, with a cup of tea, the first siege vehicle successfully put the bridge ladder on the wall, warrior They waved their swords and ran to the top of the city on the bridge ladder.

Bo was in a good mood. He stroked his beard and said to Li Yan beside him, "General Li, the siege is very smooth this time. It should be able to break the city today, right?"

Li Yan bowed slightly: "Your Majesty is wise, and the noble frost warriors are good at fighting. Today, they will definitely break through the ancient city of Seliu."

There was no sound, and a pair of sharp eyes stared at the city.

The Sassanids placed a lot of movable wooden frames at the head of the city. There were huge logs on the wooden frames. They pulled these logs high places with levers, and then put them down. They broke the bridge ladders of the siege vehicles, cut off the back road of the attackers, cut off their reinforcements at the same time, and then attacked the enemies at the top of the city with superior forces. Kill and kill. In this way, they buried a group of attackers at the top of the city. Generally speaking, they will not use this method as soon as the bridge ladder reaches the top of the city, but wait for a period of time until a certain number of enemies attacking the top of the city reach a certain number. In response to this method, according to Sun Shao's arrangement, Li Yan asked people to transform the siege vehicle. In addition to strengthening the protection of slaves who promote the siege vehicle, the most important point is the transformation of the bridge ladder.

The original bridge ladder was an unobstructed ladder. The soldiers who attacked the city must rush across the bridge ladder as fast as possible and jump to the head of the city to fight with the enemy, otherwise they are likely to be shot by the enemy on the bridge ladder. The bridge ladder is level with the head of the city, about three feet away from the ground. Looking down from above makes people a little panic. What's more, they have to guard against the bows and arrows on both sides, so the short step road from the siege car to the head of the city is no different from the life and death barrier. Sun Shao asked people to transform the bridge ladder into a corridor style, with protective wooden boards on both sides and a triangular top on it, which can not only protect the attacks of bows and arrows on both sides, but also block the view looking down, making people feel that they are walking at a height of two or three feet from the ground, which is of great benefit to stable psychology.

Now, the most important test is whether the renovated ladder can block the heavy blow of the Sassanians?

The Sassanians roared in unison, loosened the rope, and smashed the thick logs into the air, hitting the top of the bridge ladder with a "boom". The bridge ladder let out a groan and suddenly sank down. The soldiers on the bridge ladder also sank down with their hearts, involuntarily holding the handrails on both sides. With a sound of friction, the log was rebounded and landed on the bridge ladder again. It slid aside along the bridge ladder, squeezed the bridge ladder in some direction, making a creaking sound, and even the siege car shook.

The slaves shouted in unison. Several slaves quickly put a few thick pieces of wood into the wheels of the siege car, stopping the turning of the siege car. After a shake, the siege regained its calm, the logs were deflected, and the bridge ladder straightened again. The soldiers on the bridge ladder were still in shock. They looked at each other for a few times, and then burst into excited shouts:

"Long live the King of Yue--"

"Kill--" The soldiers who escaped from death were ecstatic, and their fighting spirit burst out. They held their swords across the bridge ladders and rushed straight to the head of the city. They raised their knives and fell, destroyed the front straight forward, killing the Sasans step by step. Ibrahim saw it in his eyes and complained incessantly. As soon as he saw the changed siege car, he had a little ominous foreboding, so he paid special attention to this attack. As soon as he saw that the attack was invalid, he did not hesitate. He immediately ordered the soldiers at the head of the city to intercept it. At the same time, he asked the soldiers who used the wooden frame to pull up the logs and launch the attack again.

The wave breathed, with a satisfied smile on his face, pointing to the siege lane that had with a horse whip: "General Li, after your transformation, this siege car is really much easier to use."

"This is just a little intention of His Royal Highness King Yue to help the king." Li Yan said politely, "The real meritorious service is the command of the brave Guishuang warrior and the king."

The tone laughed, laughed for a while, and then pointed to the north and said, "Is General Lu there to help the Romans?"

Li Yan shook his head: "No. His Royal Highness the King of Yue said that it was only a matter of time for you to attack the city here and take Seleucus. He would defend the rear for the two of them, so as not to be exploited by the Sassanians. The Sassanids are mainly cavalry. In case they arrange a cavalry in the back and rush out when the siege is fierce, it is not a good thing. Therefore, he arranged General Cao to guard the rear of the noble frost people and General Lu to guard the rear of the Romans to ensure that you have no worries.

The tone breathed a sigh of relief and sighed: "His Royal Highness is really careful. No wonder the gods bless him. With your protection behind us, what else do we have to worry about? The wave pointed to the ancient city of Seleu, with high spirits and pride: "Let's take down the ancient city of Seleu and show the old dog of Aldahir a little color." Then he lowered his voice and said, "It's better to enter the city in front of Quintus, then I will have face. General Li, do you think I have a chance?

Li Yan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, everything is possible on the battlefield. However, I advise the king not to think too much. It's not a good thing to be angry on the battlefield.

"I understand, I understand." The wave's eyes turned, and then he nodded repeatedly. Sun Shao sent Li Yan to help him, but he arranged Lu Xun to defend the back of the Romans. It seemed almost the same, but in fact, there was still a gap. It's just that such a thing can't be explained. Anyway, are Rome and Yue still brothers? If it's too obvious, wouldn't it be embarrassing for Quintus? The wave tone is also the king, and he can more or less experience the twists and turns in it.

"Come on, blow the horn, cheer up the soldiers, and enter the city as soon as possible. It's a great reward." The tone shouted loudly.

"Woo...woo...woo..." The cheeks bulged by more than a dozen strong soldiers blew a long horn, and the melodious horn sounded, echoing over the battlefield, encouraging the noble frost soldiers to charge forward like a tide. Most of the twenty siege vehicles were in place and firmly climbed to the head of the city. A team of soldiers rushed up the head of the city along the siege ladder and fought a life-and-death battle with the Sassanians.

While the Frost people launched a fierce attack, the Romans also launched a wave of attacks. The Romans were many, and the offensive was more fierce than that of the nobleshuang people. Quintus sent four cronies in one breath. Twenty thousand people attacked under the two-mile-long city wall. Fifty siege vehicles were almost next to each other, forcing the Sassanians out of breath and tired of coping. Although Ibrahim ran on the wall and put almost all the mobilized manpower into the battle, he barely supported it. However, due to the enhancement of the transformed siege and attack ability, it used to break a bridge ladder at a time, but now it takes at least three or four times, and the efficiency is greatly reduced.

The Romans are as angry as a rainbow. The ancient city of Seleu is crumbling under their attack, and it is possible to break the city at any time.

Ibrahim complained incessantly. He didn't know how long he could support it. This attack was more fierce than any previous attack, which made him feel great pressure. He felt that it was possible to break the city at any time. He had vowed to keep the ancient city of Seleu for at least a month in front of Aldahir. Now it seems that this promise must be difficult to achieve, and there is only another promise he can achieve.

People are in the city, and the dead in the city are dead.

Ibrahim sent the last messenger. He reported to Aldahir that after more than ten days of adjustment, the enemy's siege ability has made a leap forward. Their attack is steady and sharp, as if they were reborn, which is much different from what they originally understood. Please ask Aldahir to prepare, if possible. If so, please send reinforcements immediately.

The messenger jumped into the boat, rowed across the Tigris River, and sent the news to Aldahir.

Aldahir looked at Ibrahim's news, frowned, clenched his big hand, pinched the note into a ball, and looked at the other side of the river with a slightly melancholy look.

He has sent reinforcements and 20,000 light cavalry. He hopes to catch the Romans off guard when the nobles are attacking the city. He doesn't need much to kill. Just teach the Romans and the nobles a lesson, so that they should not be too arrogant, and also give an order to the guards in the city to prove Ahura. It's enough not to abandon him.

Generally speaking, this is a relatively certain thing, but for some reason, Ardahir's heart is full of ups and downs. When he thought of Sun Shao's smiling face, he felt a little uncomfortable and lacked self-confidence. He often asked himself if he had lost self-confidence because of the battle of Aksum, so that he lacked confidence in the face of Sun Shao.

No, not at all. At this time, Aldahir immediately interrupted his thoughts. This time, I retreated thousands of miles and let them ** all the way to the outside of Taixi, which was to lure the enemy to go deep, and then give tit for tat. If Sun Shao was a smart man, he would not see the danger, but he still came, which showed that he was still too young and immature, and lost his judgment in the face of victory.

This is an opportunity given to me by God. I want to seize this opportunity to turn defeat into victory and re-establish the strong position of Sassan.

And now, it depends on whether this raid can be successful.

Thirty years west of the ancient city of Seleu, a sassanic light cavalry of 20,000 people was stationed on a shallow slope. The leading general was Aldahir's brother Kawad. Since Aldahir led the army, Awad has followed him to fight, but for some reason, Awad has not made great contributions. Later, the limelight was gradually robbed by Alpha and Shapur brothers, but Awad has not been defeated, and his status has been relatively stable. Alpha and Shapur were killed in Aksum one after another, and Awad, who was not visible, suddenly became a pivotal figure.

This raid mission, which is very important to Ardahir, fell on Awad's shoulders.

Awad feels a little unbearable. Although he didn't know what the success of the raid would mean to Ardahir, he knew that the risk of the raid was extremely high. It is said that the other party has enough superior forces, and it will definitely protect the rear when attacking the city. Aldahir is a long-term man of battle. Even if he is sent out to disturb the enemy's rear and share some pressure on the ancient city of Seleu, he will not force him to succeed.

But that's what Aldahir said. He asked him to make a successful sneak attack within the specified time. It doesn't matter how many people he kill. He must make a successful sneak attack and retreat. This requirement does not seem to be high. For light cavalry who are good at speed, it is too simple to come like the wind and go like the wind. But Awad has never figured out Aldahir's purpose. Why is he so determined? Instead of giving Shapur a general task like they did before? Awad thought about it, and finally felt that Aldahir still didn't trust him, didn't believe in his ability, and felt that if he didn't specify it, he didn't know how to complete the task. This conclusion made Awad very disappointed and even a little annoyed.

The news that the war ahead was tight had been in Awad's hands for a long time, but Awad hesitated for a long time. He faintly felt that this matter was a little strange, and he always felt that there was an indescribable danger in it. After thinking about it for a long time, he was still afraid of the power of Aldahir and did not dare to retreat without doing anything. This thought humiliated him, but he didn't have the courage to resist.

20,000 light cavalry got on the horse and drove down to the ancient city of Seleu with a cautious attitude. After just walking for more than ten miles, the vanguard sent back the news, and the enemy in front of them stopped the invitation to fight. When Awad heard this, he was shocked and rushed to the front with the guard camp and looked into the distance.

There is a military array in front of it, close to the Tigris River flowing eastward. It is about 200 steps wide horizontally. The number of people can't be seen clearly, but it can be seen that these should be all peds, and there is no trace of cavalry.

"Who is ahead?" Awad breathed a sigh of relief. Since the other party is full of peds, the initiative of fighting and not fighting is still in his hands. If you can fight, you can fight, and you can retreat completely.

"I don't know." The scout's answer made Awad furious.

"I don't know what you're doing back?" Awad raised his hand with a whip, and his eyes stared, "Why don't you go to explore?"

"No...no." The scouts were whipped, but did not dare to resist. He quickly explained, "Those people are not nobles or Romans. They are Han people. We don't know their war flag, and we can see that there is only one fiery red flag. The scout looked at Awad timidly, and then said, "They are about 10,000 people, all Han soldiers. The leader is a Han general. He has been drinking all the time."

"Have you been drinking all the time?" Awad couldn't help laughing. After laughing, he was a little annoyed. Ten thousand soldiers want to block my 20,000 cavalry. You may not know that I have so many people, but you are still drinking before the battle. It seems a little too much, right? Awad was about to order an attack. After killing 10,000 people, he suddenly remembered something: "Have you seen the shadow of the Han cavalry?"

Awad heard Aldahir say that when he first walked out of the desert, he was almost ambushed by the Han people and the Guishuang people. King Guishuang rushed forward and was ambushed by him. If the Han cavalry hadn't arrived, he might have killed King Guishuang. Awad didn't ask at that time, but he could hear that Ardahir was afraid of the Han cavalry. In that case, where are the Han cavalry? It is impossible for cavalry to attack the city and should appear in the rear, especially when they know that the Sassanids are dominated by cavalry.

Awad suddenly felt a little cold in his neck. He straightened up and looked back. He happened to see several scouts rushing from his back and right side, and the running horses stirred up smoke and dust. The knight on the horse felt that it was not fast enough and beat the war horse desperately.

Awad was shocked and opened his mouth to shout, but no sound came out. Just as he swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva, a scout had rushed to him and shouted, "General, the enemy was found in the rear. The number is unknown, and further detectives are being made."

Awad said "ah" at this time, and his face suddenly turned pale.

Then he rushed to the front and reported to Awad that he had found traces of the enemy on the right.

Awad took a breath and didn't want to attack again. It was clear that the 10,000 people in front of him were a bait. When he rushed up and killed them, the two cavalry would rush out from the back and right sides and attack from three sides. At that time, he jumped into the Tigris River. There is no other way to go. Even if he has enough military advantage to save the war situation, if the loss is too great, he will still be indecisive after going back, and he may be punished.

Awad didn't even think about it, so he immediately ordered 20,000 cavalry to turn back and quickly withdraw from the enemy's encirclement. As soon as the Sassan knight heard this order, although it was a little inexplicable, looking at the speeding scouts, they also knew that the situation was serious. They did not dare to stay more, turned their heads and ran away.

Looking at the Sassans who left the dust, Cao Zhi cursed. First, he scolded the Sassans for not having a seed and running if they didn't fight, and then scolded Cao Zhang for being too impulsive and did not hide their deeds, which was discovered by the Sassanids in advance. He rushed all the way to Sasan. He was full of confidence to fight a few battles. As a result, he was run away by Aldahir for the first time. This time, he finally asked Sun Shao for a chance to fight. Unexpectedly, it was the same. The other party ran away as soon as he met. He set up a battle for half a day. As a result, he didn't shoot an arrow, and he didn't even have time to beat the drum. One sound.

"No, I have to order some cavalry. How the mother goes back? Watching the enemy run away, I don't even have a chance to chase him." Cao Zhi threw the wine pot on the ground angrily. I can't let me run so far without a fight, and I can't make a contribution. Instead of this, I might as well stay at ease in Guanzhong.

(to be continued)