Chapter 536 Ask Him to Die (ask for monthly ticket)
Outside the city of Bianzhou, the Fanyang army had already arrived at the city, with their troops lined up in square formations, and their chariots and horses all giving people a feeling of high oppression.
There is no clear sky today. The neatly-lined Fanyang army stretches as far as the eye can see, as if it were connected to the gray sky.
The leader of the army was Duan Shiang.
In the edict that King Fan Yang had previously sent to Henan Province, he had promised to give each place half a month to consider. Now the half-month period has not yet arrived, but only ten days have passed, and the Fan Yang army, which had just rested for a while, has already approached the city of Bianzhou.
However, this does not make sense.
At this time, the army had arrived and Bianzhou had no choice but to fight back.
Hu Lin wore a scarlet cloak and personally climbed up to the city wall of Bianzhou to command the battle.
Before giving the order to attack the city, Duan Shiang sent out a man and a horse to try to persuade Hu Lin to give up unnecessary resistance.
The man drove his horse close to the city of Bianzhou. Hu Lin looked down and quickly recognized him. This man was a general under his former soldier who died in battle, named Gong Guobi.
Prior to this, the Fanyang army attacked Luoyang, and Hu Lin was ordered to dispatch more than 10,000 troops from the Bianzhou garrison and order his trusted soldiers to rush to support Luoyang.
In that battle, the former Bianzhou military officer was killed by Duan Shiang, and more than 10,000 Bianzhou defenders were mostly killed or wounded, and the rest were all taken prisoner, including Gong Guobi.
But now it seems that he has obviously chosen to defect and join King Fan Yang.
At this time, the man bowed to Hu Lin on his horse, with a complicated expression, but his voice was loud enough to say: "My lord, General Duan has led 50,000 elite troops to come, and he will not stop until Bianzhou is conquered today! Please put your own safety and the safety of Bianzhou first, order the city gates to be opened, and welcome the Fanyang army into the city!"
"Gong Guobi, your father and mother are still in the city, and you bastard..." A general beside Hu Lin was furious. When he was about to continue greeting, Hu Lin raised his hand to interrupt him.
Hu Lin's voice was cold and profound: "You and 50,000 rebels are standing outside the city of Bianzhou, but you want me to put the safety of Bianzhou first. How absurd."
“Sir…” Gong Guobi’s expression was embarrassed for a moment, but he still bowed again and said loudly: “The general trend has been seen, I hope you can follow the general trend! So as to avoid unnecessary casualties!”
"Can you breathe!" The general suddenly drew his bow and shot an arrow. "I am coming to your doorstep to rob your food and property and abuse your children, wife and mother. Yet I tell you to follow the trend. Do you really have to kneel down and open the door for me, you wimp?"
While the general was speaking, the arrow in his hand had already left the bow.
Gong Guobi quickly swung his sword to block the attack and hurriedly reined in his horse to retreat. Seeing that the opponent was about to shoot an arrow again and Hu Lin did not stop him, he had no choice but to turn his horse around and return to the front of the Fan Yang army in embarrassment.
"General Duan..." Gong Guobi came to Duan Shiang's side, lowered his head in shame, raised his hand and said, "I am incompetent and failed to persuade Hu Lin and others."
Duan Shiang looked at the scarlet cape on the tower from afar and said, "Even with the army besieging the city, Hu Lin still did not change his stance. This guy is quite a character."
The meaning of praise or criticism in these words was unclear. Seeing the war drums being beaten again above the Bianzhou city wall, the enemy's morale began to boil with the drumbeats, and Duan Shiang raised his hand and gave the order.
Following Duan Shiang's order, the troops behind him began to move out quickly and orderly.
The infantrymen held shields in front, and when the shields fell to the ground, they were followed by archers. They hid behind the shields, knelt down, stabilized their bodies, and shot arrows from the gaps in the shields.
After that, horses came pulling chariots, carrying catapults and fully equipped crossbows.
After estimating the distance, each type of troops quickly lined up, arranged their battle formations at their respective positions, and immediately began a fierce siege.
Under the protection of shield soldiers, archers fired crossbows towards the city wall.
Huge rocks were thrown at the Bianzhou Tower. Some of them hit the top of the tower, hitting the buildings on the tower and the Bianzhou defenders. Some of them hit the Bianzhou city wall. After the collision, with a deafening roar, the huge rocks broke into pieces, and clear pits were also smashed on the top of the city wall.
"Aim at their slingers and crossbowmen! Shoot! Quickly!" the general of the Bianzhou garrison shouted in command.
The Bianzhou archers in the arrow tower shot arrows at the Fanyang soldiers who were operating the slingshots and giant crossbows.
The archers stationed in the arrow tower were all carefully selected from among hundreds. They shot arrows accurately, and soon some of the Fanyang soldiers fell one after another, but they were replaced almost instantly.
Under Hu Lin's command, the two catapults on the city wall had been equipped and aimed at the chariots of the Fanyang army.
When fighting on a city wall, the space is limited and installing two catapults is the limit.
During the fierce battle between the two sides, the defenders of Bianzhou kept falling down after being shot by arrows or falling off the city walls with screams. But the survivors did not retreat an inch, and in the rain of blood and corpses of their companions, they used catapults to destroy five chariots, two crossbows, and three catapults of the Fanyang army.
Looking at the Bianzhou defenders fighting almost without regard for their lives and their morale never being crushed, Duan Shiang frowned slightly.
Seeing Duan Shiang looking at the pits on the Bianzhou city wall, Gong Guobi explained: "... Previously, Bianzhou suffered a flood and the bottom of the city wall was damaged. Hu Lin ordered people to rebuild and reinforce the city wall. At that time, he got a blueprint from Chang Suining. This city wall seems to be more solid than usual..."
Duan Shiang said "No wonder".
No wonder even though stones continued to be thrown into the same pit, there was no sign of the city wall being destroyed.
However, this place is a plain and there are no stone mountains, so he did not prepare many stones for this trip. In addition, many catapults were destroyed. It seems impossible to use stones to break into the city today.
Duan Shiang quickly ordered an adjustment of tactics.
More chariots were galloping from behind, but the difference this time was that these chariots were equipped with ladders for climbing.
The Fanyang soldiers holding shields began to rush forward quickly.
Under the attack of arrow rain from above, half of them fell on the way, but the rest still continued to advance, following the chariots and rushing forward with roars.
This method of attacking the city was bound to pave the way for human lives. The Fanyang soldiers were not without fear, but they dared not retreat and had no choice but to charge forward with gritted teeth.
Some of them began to climb up the ladders, while others used climbing ropes to quickly climb to the top of the city wall. The Bianzhou defenders kept swinging their swords and killing, or stabbing with their spears, repeating the killing action over and over again.
Some Fanyang soldiers would even use their last bit of strength to drag down the Bianzhou defenders above before falling down due to injuries, with the ruthlessness of dying together with them.
The battle was bloody and brutal, but neither side dared to stop.
A soldier from Fanyang successfully climbed onto the city wall. Hu Lin swung his sword to kill him. He looked down at the city wall and saw that the number of soldiers from Fanyang pouring in was increasing instead of decreasing, like a huge and dense colony of ants.
There was almost no open space under the city wall, which was filled with the corpses of soldiers from both sides.
Due to the advantage of defending the city, most of the corpses at this moment were from the Fanyang Army.
This type of climbing and siege tactics is often called "ant attachment".
As the name suggests, they are like ants attached to the city walls, climbing and gnawing continuously.
In the end, this tactic meant that the attackers no longer used ladders to climb up the city walls, but instead used the corpses of their companions.
When the gap in the Bianzhou city wall was about to be opened, Hu Lin ordered the soldiers to throw the two trucks of kerosene and oil tankers that had been transported over from the city wall.
As oil tanks shattered and kerosene flowed, the generals on the city wall ordered their troops to shoot out flying fire.
When kerosene came into contact with fire, it burst into flames with a loud bang. The fire quickly spread, using the corpses of the soldiers below as fuel, and quickly turned into a sea of fire.
Many Fanyang soldiers whose bodies were on fire rolled on the ground screaming or ran to their comrades for help. Being burned to death was far more terrifying than being hacked to death.
Hu Lin, whose eyes were already bloodshot, looked at this purgatory-like situation, listened to the groans of the wounded soldiers beside him, and heard the report from the recruit that more than a thousand soldiers had been killed. His eyes could not help but tremble.
The fire was scorching, but Hu Lin was cold all over.
Although he was good at martial arts, he was not a general used to fighting, and the situation before him had a great impact on him.
At this moment, Hu Lin even had a little uncertainty in his heart. A voice in his heart asked him - is this really worth it? After all, they are not foreign invaders, they are all Dasheng people. Is it really worth it to fight like this? Seeing the fire getting bigger and bigger, and billowing thick smoke, the Fanyang army could hardly continue the attack for a while.
Duan Shiang ordered a temporary suspension of the offensive and a temporary retreat of the army, and sent someone to convey the message that he wanted to talk to Hu Lin.
Soon, Duan Shiang, escorted by a team of elite soldiers, slowly rode his horse to the bottom of the city wall.
"General Hu." Duan Shiang raised his head slightly, looking at Hu Lin above him through the firelight, raised his hand and saluted, saying: "I am fortunate to have witnessed the capabilities of the Bianzhou army today--"
"However, Governor Hu must also be well aware of the fact that we are outnumbered. I can temporarily retreat today, but when I attack again tomorrow, will Bianzhou still have the strength to resist?"
Although defending a city has advantages, these advantages will eventually be exhausted, whether it is city walls, weapons, kerosene, or soldiers, they will all be consumed.
"I believe that Hu Shi has the courage to fight to the last man, but has Hu Shi ever thought that if Bianzhou resists like this, the Fanyang army behind me will be aroused with anger and hatred. When they enter Bianzhou city..." Duan Shiang paused for a moment, looked at Hu Lin across the firelight, and said, "I'm afraid the people of Bianzhou will be held responsible for this."
Hu Lin, who had been silent all this time, finally showed a change of expression. He clenched the knife in his hand and said word by word, "General Duan, are you using the people of Bianzhou to threaten us?"
How could this coercion not finally show its fangs? Facing Duan Shiang's half-smiley eyes, Hu Lin's heart erupted with grief and anger, instantly dispelling the hesitation just now.
Just now he asked himself, is it worth it? And now he has the answer, it is worth it.
Some things seem meaningless, but the reason we still have to defend them at all costs is that once some bottom lines are broken, the world and people's hearts will fall into a greater abyss.
"Don't worry, Governor Hu. I'm not trying to force you to open the city gates. I'm just reminding you." Duan Shiang said, "Although I'm a rough man, I'm not unreasonable..."
As Duan Shiang spoke, he turned around and looked behind him, saying, "Duan just wants to make a deal with Governor Hu."
Hu Lin followed his gaze and saw hundreds of people being escorted forward. They all looked disheveled and in a mess, but Hu Lin and others still recognized at a glance that they were the defenders of Bianzhou!
These people were none other than the captives from Bianzhou who had fallen into the hands of King Fan Yang before.
A general on the tower asked, "Duan Shiang, what do you mean?"
"Since Hu Shishi is such a great man, I would like to learn from him in person." Duan Shiang said, "These captives are my sincere invitation to Hu Shishi to teach me."
"In addition, I can promise Hu Shi in public that if Hu Shi wins the fight between you and me today, I will immediately order the troops to withdraw and guarantee that I will never invade Bianzhou again within ten days—"
"Your word is useless!" The general beside Hu Lin said, "What your King Fanyang said is no different from farting!"
"No." Duan Shiang did not seem angry, he just said: "My words are always trustworthy."
While Duan Shiang was speaking, his eyes were only fixed on Hu Lin.
Even though everyone around Hu Lin objected, Duan Shiang was certain that Hu Lin would agree.
After fighting for half a day, he has seen through Hu Lin's character. This kind of person has righteousness in his heart and is willing to die for it.
If Hu Lin did not agree, the fate of these prisoners of war would be self-evident.
These prisoners of war alone were not enough to shake Hu Lin, but after fighting for so long, Hu Lin must have been thinking about whether he could defend Bianzhou City, so Duan Shiang chose to push the prisoners out at this time in order to give Hu Lin a push.
Duan Shiang's consideration was to capture Bianzhou City as soon as possible at a lower cost.
If Bianzhou were defending the city in this way, he would probably have to attack it three times before he could take it, and each attack would involve casualties.
Moreover, the Jiangdu Army and Chang Suining had already mobilized their troops. According to his rough estimate, the Jiangdu Army was expected to arrive within ten days... Before that, he had to take over Bianzhou so that he could control Henan Road and expand the scope of strategic deterrence as much as possible, and avoid the possibility of being besieged in Luoyang when fighting with Chang Suining.
Therefore, Duan Shiang did not want to delay here any longer, and the best strategy was to take over Bianzhou as soon as possible.
"Sir... are you a match for Duan Shiang?" A general on the tower whispered, "This must be a trap set by Duan Shiang!"
Even though Hu Lin's martial arts were not bad, the gap between him and Duan Shiang, who had reached his current status through military exploits, was self-evident.
How could Hu Lin not know this?
Duan Shiang wanted to use this to take his life, and this was not even a hidden trap.
This so-called deal was nothing more than asking him to exchange the captives under the city, and using the situation that countless people in Bianzhou and his Hu family members would face as a "reminder" to make him think carefully.
Seeing Hu Lin didn't say anything, a general knelt down on one knee with red eyes and clasped his fists heavily: "Sir! I am willing to follow you and defend Bianzhou to the last moment!"
Soon, several more people knelt down and said, "We are willing to follow you until the last moment!"
However, a sound similar to a sigh escaped from between Hu Lin's tightly closed lips and teeth.
He thought that he was destined not to live up to the wait for Envoy Chang Jie.
Thank you all for your monthly tickets!!
I recommend a book to you, a fairy heroine, an upgrade book "Junior Sister is Not a Scumbag" by Sheng Tang Wu Ye If you are interested in this subject, you can go and have a look~ (If you like it, subscribe to get a monthly ticket, remember to steal it back to support Ningning)
Good night!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
