Arrows rained down again, and the lieutenant, in order to protect Guo Xiaoti, was hit in the left arm by another arrow, which was then severed.
He groaned and fell from his horse: "General...I..."
"Dashan!" Guo Xiaoti hurriedly dismounted and helped him up. "Hold on, we'll definitely get out of here!"
The lieutenant's eyes reddened: "General, you go first! I'll cover your retreat!"
"No, you must rush out and report to the Grand Commander immediately!"
After saying this, he spurred his horse and charged towards Li Hu's army, with his personal guards following closely behind.
"General!" the lieutenant shouted, but Guo Xiaoti had already rushed out.
Seeing Guo Xiaoti charging towards him, Li Hu sneered, "You're courting death!"
He ordered, "Surround him and kill him!"
The soldiers of the Xijing army swarmed forward, and Guo Xiaoti's scimitar felled one after another, but the rain of arrows continued to fall.
His warhorse was shot, fell to the ground, and was hit in the left leg by another bullet.
Li Hu rushed forward, his spear pointed at Guo Xiaoti's chest: "Guo Xiaoti, it's not too late to surrender now."
Guo Xiaoti coughed up blood, but smiled and raised his curved sword: "I, Guo Xiaoti, was born a man of the Great Yin, and I will die a ghost of the Great Yin! You want me to surrender? Dream on!"
He charged at Li Hu, his curved blade aimed at the man's head.
Li Hu dodged to the side, and his spear pierced Guo Xiaoti's chest.
Guo Xiaoti froze, and his scimitar fell to the ground.
He looked up towards the outside of the canyon, his voice weak but firm: "Grand Commander... I'm sorry..."
After saying that, he collapsed to the ground and never made a sound again.
Seeing this, the lieutenant's eyes turned bloodshot. He turned and led his men, brandishing their swords, to slash at the Xijing army at the canyon entrance: "Brothers, charge out!"
Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from the western ridge.
Shi Yong led three thousand cavalrymen to meet them, shouting, "General Guo! I'm here to help you!"
However, instead of Guo Xiaoti, Shi Yong was greeted by his wounded deputy general, Dashan, who had fought his way out of the encirclement: "General Shi, General Guo... he's gone!"
Hearing the screams from the canyon, Shi Yong could only lead his deputy away from the canyon in grief and anger.
Of Guo Xiaoti's three thousand vanguard troops, only a few hundred returned.
In this battle, the Hedong army suffered heavy losses.
Outside the Red Ridge Canyon.
When Zhao Muyun heard that Guo Xiaoti had died in battle and that almost all three thousand vanguard troops had been wiped out, his face turned ashen.
Although he had reminded Guo Xiaoti, he had been too negligent. He was in such a hurry to get to Liangzhou that he did not realize that Yang Yan would also besiege the city and attack the reinforcements.
Now is not the time for grief. There are ambushes ahead, and the Chiling road is impassable.
"Old Tang, send out the scouts to explore the way. We'll take another route!" Zhao Muyun calmly ordered.
"Grand Commander, we can only cross the swamp east of Chiling, which is the territory of the Tanguts," Shen Qian hurriedly replied.
"The Tanguts?" Zhao Muyun pondered for a moment. "Let's go this way!"
Immediately afterwards, the 4,000-strong army left Chiling and headed east.
"Alas, we acted too soon!" Li Hu lamented as he watched the troops depart in the distance.
"General, there's no need to worry. If they don't go this way, they'll go through the swamp. How about we send a part of our troops to catch up?" the lieutenant suggested.
"Alright! You lead a thousand men to continue guarding this place, the rest of you follow me!" Li Hu shouted the order.
......
Three days later.
After receiving the results of the ambush at Chiling, Yang Yan cursed Li Hu for being too impatient and also regretted that Zhao Muyun had not fallen into the ambush.
When Yang Yan learned that Zhao Muyun had headed towards the swamp and that Li Hu had given chase, he knew that no more reinforcements would come from Ganzhou.
This ambush resulted in the killing of 3,000 enemies, which is already a very good achievement.
The blow to Zhao Muyun was also heavy.
After making some initial arrangements, Yang Yan organized his troops to launch a full-scale attack on Liangzhou City.
At the four gates of Liangzhou, the sound of horns pierced the sky.
Yang Yan's 20,000 Xijing troops were climbing the city walls using ladders, with 5,000 soldiers assigned to each gate to attack the city.
The intensity is off the charts right from the start!
Zhang Zan, Wu Shangzhi, Liu Yi, Guo Luo, Namtso, Urgan and others guarded the four gates.
The defending soldiers fought back fiercely, but the enemy outnumbered them so much that a breach was quickly torn in the city wall.
Zhang Zan directed the battle from the south gate tower.
His left arm had been slashed during the previous siege, and now the wound had reopened, with blood flowing down his sleeve.
He drew his sword and shouted, "Brothers! Hold the city gate! Liangzhou cannot be lost!"
Xijing army general Wang Hu climbed the city wall and swung his sword at the defending soldiers:
"Zhang Zan! Your reinforcements are trapped at Chiling by Prime Minister Yang and will soon be annihilated! If you know what's good for you, surrender the city, or we will massacre the entire city when we break in!"
"Massacre of the city?"
Zhang Zan roared, his sword clashing with Wang Hu's scimitar, "How dare you slaughter my people! Wang Hu, one day you will all be torn to pieces!"
The two engaged in fierce combat, and Zhang Zan's injury to his left arm worsened, gradually putting him at a disadvantage.
Wang Hu kicked him in the chest, and Zhang Zan fell to the ground, his right leg also being slashed.
He stood up, leaning on his sword, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth: "If you want to take Liangzhou, you'll have to step over my dead body first!"
Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from outside the city.
Zhang Zan looked up and saw a cavalry force rushing towards the north gate, with Zhao Muyun's banner at the forefront!
He shouted excitedly, "Brothers, hold on! The Grand Commander is here!"
Hearing the shouts, the defending soldiers were greatly encouraged and rushed towards the breach, engaging in fierce fighting with the Xijing army.
"What happened?"
Yang Yan received the urgent report from the scout and stood there stunned.
How did Zhao Muyun cross the swamp and appear in Liangzhou?
You must understand, that's Tangut territory, and Li Hu's pursuers are behind us!
And those Tanguts, have they already been bribed by Yang Yan?
Yang Yan was completely baffled.
But now is not the time to think about these things, because the appearance of Zhao Muyun's banner has greatly boosted the morale of Liangzhou City.
Then, two thousand cavalrymen each charged out from the north and west gates.
Their fighting power was explosive, like a black whirlwind, blasting a bloody path with thunderous thunderbolts, terrifying the Xijing army surrounding the west and north gates.
Immediately, the four thousand cavalrymen joined forces with Zhao Muyun outside the city, sweeping past like an iron torrent.
Yang Yan hurriedly transferred 5,000 troops from the main camp to reinforce the north gate.
However, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.
Zhao Muyun took the lead, Shi Yong was full of murderous intent, and Tang Yanhai's scout battalion was like a sharp blade, aiming directly at the commanding officer of the five thousand Xijing soldiers at the North Gate.
Soon, Tang Yanhai set his sights on Wang Hu, the Xijing army general who was aggressively pressing Zhang Zan from the north gate!
Amidst the whistling sound of arrows piercing the air, Tang Yanhai narrowed his left eye, slowly tightening the bowstring of the composite bow between his fingers.
He lay prone behind the roof ridge opposite the North Gate tower, like a lurking cheetah, his eyes fixed on the figure that was fiercely attacking Zhang Zan.
Wang Hu, a general of the Xijing Army!
Wang Hu's scimitar had just cleaved open the throat of a guard when he stepped forward with a sinister grin, intending to deliver a fatal blow to the staggering Zhang Zan.
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