"Send this out of the city and tell the Great Khan that the city of Shule is as solid as a rock. His loyal servant Ittihad is confident that he will hold on until July. Please ask the Great Khan to have enough food for his horses and good weapons before heading south!"
After sending someone to deliver the letter presented to Saktu Buglahan, Ittihad smiled coldly.
This time, the siege equipment of the Jin people in Khotan was almost destroyed, and they relied solely on manpower. Haha! The Jin country only had an army of 30,000 people, and they did not have that many lives to consume.
Moreover, Ittihad knew that the heretics in the Kingdom of Jin were in big trouble this time!
Because they gave up half of their spring plowing and chose to send their troops north when planting spring wheat. It was a complete gamble!
If I could drag them under Shule City and let them continue to miss the autumn harvest, a large-scale famine would probably occur in the Khotan Kingdom at the end of the year.
Then, next spring, it will be his turn to lead his army south, but this is just harassment, the purpose is to prevent the Jin people from organizing spring plowing.
The decisive battle will begin during next autumn harvest, leaving them no time to harvest the already scant food.
If these pagans miss two spring plowing and autumn harvests in a row, collapse is inevitable.
Perhaps, by the time of spring plowing in the third year, they would have starved to death. At that time, it would be time to conquer them.
Thinking of this, Ittihad stood up with heat all over his body and looked towards the south of Shule City.
There was the land of ten states occupied by the Khotan Kingdom, a wealthy oasis capable of hosting 700,000 people.
They are the last remnants of the Peach Blossom Stone Tang Empire, which was once so powerful that even the Persian Empire looked up to them, and they are also the most ferocious pagans. By conquering them, you have completed the first step in conquering Peach Blossom Stone.
Then it was the turn of the Gaochang Uighur Khanate. Ittihad turned and looked east again. Those people of the same clan as Saktu Bugla Khan were also stubborn pagans, and they were also the objects that must be conquered.
Finally, Ittihad felt that his soul was trembling.
Peach Blossom Stone!
We must spread the voice of Allah to all peach blossom stones!
We must make Saktu Bugla Khan the Great Peach Blossom Stone Khan!
I also want to become the Peach Blossom Stone Governor canonized by the Caliph!
Brilliant golden light sounded in the sky, it was so shining that it illuminated this dark morning like daylight. Ittihad was stunned for a moment. What is this? What happened?
‘Boom!’ After the white light flashed, the dazed Ittihad finally heard an explosion like thunder from the sky, louder than any sound he had ever heard.
The huge, invisible wave of sound made the papers on his desk fly everywhere, and the earth seemed to tremble.
....
The Governor's Mansion in Shule seemed to be trembling, but here at Zhang Zhao, it was really trembling.
Amidst the loud explosions, the rubble on the rocky slopes in the west of the city crashed down, and the originally solid west side of Shule City was completely submerged in the dust that filled the sky.
With his mouth wide open, Ma Yaozi spat out the dust in his mouth. With a shake of his head, two pieces of rags fell out of his ears.
Beside him, the miners from Fenjindu were hurriedly putting on two layers of heavy armor for the soldiers from Shanshandu.
Behind the soldiers from Shandu were five hundred palace guards led by Liu Zaisheng. Each of them also had two layers of heavy armor.
However, when Liu Zaisheng was a little eager to try and wanted to take the credit for being the first to rush into Shule City, the human spirit horse kite stuck out his butt and pushed Liu Zaisheng directly behind him.
The first one to enter Shule City must be Erlangjun!
Behind the Khotan palace guards, monk Zhitong and several hundred people from Shenjidu were also ready.
However, they will not enter the city to fight. Instead, after Hanshandu and the Khotan palace guards occupy the gap, they will continue to demolish the city wall at the gap opened by the blast together with the people from Fenjindu, opening a wider passage for the following troops.
The crashing sound of collapse continued, and Cao Yanming flew over from a distance.
"Erlangjun! It collapsed! It collapsed! Hahahaha! There is a gap of at least four people wide. We really blew up Shule City! Divine Fire Thunder! That's it!"
"Well done, Shiro Shiro! My cousin will give you a thumbs up!"
Cao Yanming, who was looking crazy, opened his hands, and seemed to want to come over and hug Zhang Zhao to celebrate, but Zhang Zhao stretched out his hand and pushed Cao Yanming to the ground, and then waved his hand.
"Barbarian Bear! Dondup! Give it to me! Liu Zaisheng, leave a hundred men to guard the gap. The rest of you will go directly to Beicheng with me to fight. I want to catch this bastard Ittihad!"
Wu Yuan'er, Li Qilang, you are familiar with the road, take the people from Jindu to find Fanshun and the others, try to open the south gate and let the army enter the city!"
"Here!" Barbarian Bear was the first to respond. He held a huge iron shield and rushed towards the gap where the dust was still flying.
Dundup is in second place, and after these two monsters rush in, the others will follow.
"Quick! Quick! Go to the west of the city! Block the gap. All the God Warriors will go. If we can't block the gap, we will be dead!"
In the pale moonlight, Ittihad was dressed in coarse linen clothes, holding a Persian scimitar and running wildly while shouting.
Ittihad Nasr, who just dreamed of becoming the governor of Maohuashi, was completely panicked. He could only defend Shule by relying on the strong city of Shule. If the gap in the city wall was blown, then they would Ruined!
In a field battle, he couldn't even defeat the ferocious Jin army of several hundred people, but could he defeat tens of thousands of Jin soldiers with his head?
After hearing the call of the Governor, the warriors and soldiers who were not on guard duty in the city, who were awakened by the loud noise in their sleep, hurriedly put on their armor, picked up their weapons and followed the crowd towards the west of the city.
Zhang Zhao saw the long dragon of torches coming from the north city from a distance. Not a single Karakhan soldier appeared in the gap. Zhang Zhao estimated that the hundreds of defenders in the west city were not killed by the shock, but were stunned, so as long as they defeated This team from Beicheng captured Shule City.
"All the members have divine arm bows! The archers change their stance, the ones with triple armor are in front, and the officers are at the front. When they reach the enemy with three arrows, they rush forward and chop them down!"
Following Zhang Zhao's roar, the archers who were still holding bows and arrows picked up their bows one after another, and a large number of divine arm archers rushed to the front.
This is a narrow street, with low earthen houses on both sides. The residents have long since disappeared, but the Khotan palace guards behind them are still under the command of Liu Zaisheng, working in groups to search for those hiding and eliminate hidden dangers around them.
"One shot!" In the darkness, there was no way to use the command flag, so we had to shout. As the enemy got closer and closer, the god-arm archers in the first row stood up and shouted.
‘Buzz!’ Driven by the terrifying thrust of the two stones and one bucket of the Divine Arm Bow, the arrows shot from the Divine Arm Bow swooped out like locusts.
This time there were thirty crossbow arrows, and the number of torches rushing from the opposite side suddenly increased to three or four, and even more divine warriors fell.
Miserable groans sounded one after another. On this narrow street, even if you have ten thousand people, there are only a few dozen people in front of you.
"Buzz!" Another round of crossbow arrows was fired, and the screams became louder!
General Abdul rushed to the front in person this time. This was an order given by the Governor himself.
He also knew that his front team must have suffered heavy casualties, because those running in the front must not be wearing armor, and those with armor would definitely not be able to run as fast. As for his armored soldiers, they would still be busy putting on their armor at the back.
Here's the armor!
Three consecutive arrows shot down a large number of people, and the unarmored warriors fell to the ground. They were weaker than Zhang Zhao imagined, and they did not have the courage to charge directly with crossbows.
The sound of chirping sounded, and the God Warriors who crowded together hurriedly removed a large number of door panels or other furniture from the rooms on both sides to block them in front of them, and then they lifted these heavy objects carefully.
Step forward slowly.
Seeing this situation, Zhang Zhao decisively threw the torch in his hand towards the god warrior who was slowly approaching, and then took off the long-tip bow from behind. This was a signal. Throwing the torch meant throwing heavy arrows with a hard bow.
.
Wow! The Shandu'erlangs, who had already had a tacit understanding with Zhang Zhao, put away the divine arm bows in their hands, then took off the long-tip bows from the other side, and took out the heavy arrows from the bows.
The arrowhead of this kind of arrow is an iron nugget with a sharp edge. Perhaps it is better to call it an iron block. It does not shoot far, but if it hits it, it is quite fatal.
Bows are not like crossbows like the Divine Arm Bow, which need to be fired in turns. They can just be thrown collectively.
Hundreds of heavy arrows were thrown mercilessly at the divine warriors on the opposite side like iron rain falling from the sky. The door panel they stood in front of suddenly lost its effect.
A divine warrior had just lost his left ear. Before he could scream, he was hit directly on the head. The heavy arrow that fell rapidly immediately hit his head with blood. He shook twice and fell directly to the ground.
On the ground.
A heavy arrow shot at such a close range would not be able to be carried by a person wearing armor, let alone one without armor.
It is more powerful than someone hitting you with a pebble seven or eight floors up. If it hits you, it will at least cause a concussion. If it hits your chest and abdomen, your belly will be broken open.
After the two rounds of volleys were fired, the soldiers of Shandu began to retreat slowly even under Zhang Zhao's loud orders.
This is the performance of the best among the best. The army of this era retreats in the dark, haha! I am afraid that by the time you gather together, half of your people may have escaped, but not even Xiangshan!
Two more rounds of projectiles and four rounds of heavy arrows came down, and the momentum of the entire God Warrior was almost completely suppressed.
If you count the people in front who were shot by the three-wheeled divine arm bow, they would have lost at least a hundred people.
The strong smell of blood and shrill screams came one after another, but no one on the other side saw it. The most important thing was that the battle more than ten days ago had really beaten them badly.
More than 3,000 god warriors faced off against more than 100 soldiers from Hanshan City, but they refused to act impulsively. After these guys returned to the city, in order to cover up their incompetence, they also made a fuss about it and beat them up when they encountered this group of soldiers.
Blow hard.
Woohoo! It’s not that our army doesn’t work hard, it’s because the enemy has Gundam!
Originally, these divine warriors from the Black Era and even the Fatimid Dynasty were somewhat talkative. Such nonsense made all the divine warriors feel in a trance. Many people thought that they were following the legend.
The devil in the battle.
So in fact, when they were shot by the Divine Arm Bow just now, many people were extremely nervous because they recognized that these short arrows were the unique arrows of that army that day.
After hesitating, two more rounds of heavy arrows were launched.
Now that six rounds of heavy arrows had been fired, the timid warrior did not dare to step forward for the time being, and Zhang Zhao also flexibly adjusted his battle strategy.
He asked the soldiers of Xianshandu to take a brief rest. The archers needed to regain their strength, and the bow strings probably needed to be replaced.
More importantly, drawing a bow is much more tiring than slashing people. There are few of them now, so it is better to rush forward and slash with three layers of armor instead of shooting from a long distance.
Ma Yaozi shook his arm, which was starting to get sore, and threw the bow and Hulu on his back to the side of the road.
He took a kettle from his waist and took a sip, then took out a japonica rice ball smeared with honey from the cloth bag and swallowed it in one gulp to replenish his strength. Then he got a small palm-sized copper hammer, an iron throwing ax and other throwing weapons.
in hand.
Most of the soldiers in Hanshandu also made the same choice as Ma Yaozi. They were about to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Carrying bows and arrows was also cumbersome. Only a small number of sharpshooters still carried bows and arrows.
"Front Arrow Formation! Defeat them all at once! All officers come forward!"
Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Zhang Zhao shouted loudly, and the officers on the left and right came to him with a tacit understanding.
It's still the old way of fighting, with Barbarian Bear holding a giant ax on Zhang Zhao's left side, Dunzhu holding two fine steel short swords on Zhang Zhao's right side, and Zhang Zhao holding a tool steel horizontal knife in the middle.
Behind the three of them, Yan Jin, Bai Congxin, Qiongre Duojin, Wang Tongtong, Fan Quan, and Ma Yaozi stood side by side, while Yin Yaozi, who was slightly less skilled, held the battle at the end.
This can be said to be Zhang Zhao's most luxurious configuration. The three-layered heavy armor masters are in the front, and they are responsible for breaking through the opponent's formation, while the armored soldiers behind are responsible for massacring the enemy troops that are disrupted.
"Arak! Anhuba!"
"Kill all the Kafirs!"
"Keshgar belongs to Allah! The peach blossom stone will also belong to Allah!"
"Bugra Khan will become the Great Khan of All Peach Blossom Stones!"
Fanatic shouts came from the camp of the God Warriors. A large number of Askar warriors wearing Persian chain armor and Persian four-flap helmets took over from the armorless God Warriors and came to the front.
They surrounded the city with a man who was also wearing golden armor, cheering enthusiastically. Their morale, which had just hit the bottom, was restored in the fanatical atmosphere.
Zhang Zhao took a sip of water, and then looked at the soldier Xianshandu behind him.
"Young men! Did you hear that? A person like Saktu, who lives in a shabby household, actually wants to dream of becoming our Khan!
His ancestor Pang Teqin was just a rat with his tail between his legs. What kind of pig is this Saktu? How dare he talk so shamelessly!"
"Bah!" Yan Jin suddenly spat at the divine warrior who was yelling across from him.
"Brothers! Brothers! Let's follow Erlangjun and defeat them all at once! Damn it, what pig or dog wants to be my sweater?
The Xiongnu's Maodun Chanyu is not good enough!
Neither can the Turkic Jieli Khan!
Can this fucking pig-like Saktu do it?"
"Yes! Kill them! They took his mother's life! If we don't kill them all, the elders in the Central Plains will hear about it in the future, and they will think that we Hexi people are useless!"
Fan Quan, who had always been steady, also cursed loudly. On the other side, Ittihad boosted the morale of the God Warriors and Askar, but it also completely pissed off Zhang Zhao's Han Shandu warriors.
Got it!
Damn it! The Tang Dynasty is gone, the Uighurs are using their achievements to show off their power, and the Tubo people are unstoppable. This is already very unpleasant.
Now the descendants of Pang Teqin who have settled down in the Tang Dynasty, the Geluolu people who used to be dogs of the Tang Dynasty, are trying to climb on top of themselves. Who can bear this?
"Fuck them! Fuck them!" A group of people roared, imitating what Zhang Zhao heard from Zhang Zhao, and yelled this extremely rough and catchy word.
"Okay! Everyone, come up with me and rush to a certain place. When you are fifteen steps away, throw a wave of copper hammers and iron axes. Don't worry about both sides. Cover your head and follow a certain person. We rush to the golden armored man together and do it directly.
Kill him.
As soon as he dies, the opponent will be defeated! If you win this battle, Miss Hu Ji, I will give you as much gold, silver, silk and satin as you want!"
As soon as Zhang Zhao saw that his morale was strong, he loudly began to assign tasks!
"Here!" Hundreds of people, including the Khotan palace guards behind Zhang Zhao, shouted.
"I heard that Saktu's queen is a famous Persian beauty. Let's take an unopened one back to the Great Sage and Emperor this time!"
Zhang Zhao said, laughed again, and blinked narrowly.
Last time, the queen of Sanpoba was given to Yan Jin by him, but the Great Sage and the Emperor didn't get it. I heard that I have been going to Samaroo Temple much more frequently recently than before, eh! I understand everything!
"Hahahaha!" A hearty laugh rang out, instantly diluting the tense atmosphere of the upcoming bloody fight!
"Put out the torch! Do it!"
At this moment, Zhang Zhao waved his hand, and the Khotan palace guards behind him were still moving slowly with torches, while the soldiers of Hanshandu put out the torches.
Relying on the dim moonlight, hundreds of people began to move directly towards the Karakhan army on the opposite side who was still cheering and praying fervently.
Boom! Boom! Boom! There were hundreds of people, even if they could lower their steps, there was still a lot of noise.
The Karakhan army in the middle was still chanting and praying collectively, and the soldiers on guard in front noticed something was wrong.
A young officer looked solemn, but he looked up and saw that the torch in the distance was still moving slowly. Could it be a distant voice?
Suddenly, a small ray of moonlight shone through the dark clouds, and the young officer suddenly discovered that just a dozen steps in front of him, an army wearing black armor had already approached.
Zhang Zhao threw away the black robe covering his body and pulled out a fist-sized copper hammer from his waist.
"Throw it!" he shouted, then ran forward two steps and threw the copper hammer in his hand.
After Zhang Zhao moved, all the soldiers in Shandu threw out their throwing weapons, especially Dunzhu. Within a few breaths, he threw four spears!
The young officer just opened his mouth to shout, but before he could open his mouth, Zhang Zhao's copper hammer hit his mouth. It was more than three kilograms of solid copper-iron alloy, with a sharp tip and a long handle suitable for throwing.
Under Zhang Zhao's huge strength, the copper hammer exploded with terrifying destructive power. It directly broke the bridge of the young officer's nose, and then his mouth. Finally, all the rotten teeth in his mouth were smashed in as he opened his mouth.
deep in the young officer's throat.
'Boom!' An Askar warrior raised his shield to defend himself. As a result, the steel spear thrown by Dundup directly pierced his cowhide shield and also killed the warrior wearing chain armor.
Plugged directly into the ground.
Hundreds of throwing weapons were thrown together, and the Askar soldier at the front suffered heavy casualties.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Zhao, Barbarian Bear and Dunzhu's monster combination collided with each other.
As soon as Dunzhu's huge body collided, the two Askar soldiers flew out directly. The stainless steel spears danced wildly, and the other three Askar soldiers who were stabbed screamed in agony.
"Fuck you to death! Fuck you to death!" The wild bear did not choose to hit, but directly chopped with the giant ax in his hand, like whack-a-mole. The Askar soldiers who were holding shields were standing there one by one.
He used a giant ax to chop them into bloody and broken bodies.
Zhang Zhao was much more flexible. The two guys collided with each other on the edge. There was room there to avoid the spears coming from them, but Zhang Zhao couldn't do this.
Four spears emerged from the gaps in the four shields facing him. If they were to hit them head-on, even with the steel armor they were wearing, they probably wouldn't be able to withstand them.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zhao suddenly threw the horizontal knife in his hand as a throwing weapon.
Behind the shield, a standing Askar screamed, and was miraculously stabbed in the shoulder by Zhang Zhao. He was carrying a long horizontal knife crookedly, shaking in the team and screaming.
At the same time as throwing the horizontal sword, Zhang Zhao directly pulled out the barrier sword from his waist. Before the spear from the opposite side could stab him, he rolled under the shield.
Askar, who was opposite, had no idea that Zhang Zhao, wearing dozens of kilograms of armor, could actually roll over on the spot. He was caught off guard and was actually rolled in by Zhang Zhao.
When Zhang Zhao rolled in, his first action was not to kill someone, but to get up quickly. This was a game of pig-like jumping. If he didn't get up quickly, he would probably be trampled to death by his own people rushing behind him.
‘Puff! Puff!’ Zhang Zhao got up and held two barrier knives. He had just stabbed Askar to death, who was holding a spear and had no time to switch to a melee weapon. The soldiers from Shandu arrived behind him.
Countless people roared and crowded together, and the surging force pushed Zhang Zhao forward.
The two legs seemed not to be his own. The flying legs and the stabbing hands seemed to have never belonged to the same person. Both hands and feet were doing their own thing. Zhang Zhao plunged in immediately.
Among the countless enemies.
After stabbing another person, Zhang Zhao suddenly noticed a figure trying to escape appearing in front of him.
What a coincidence! Isn't this the unlucky guy who was stabbed by his knife? This unlucky guy didn't even have time to pull out the knife that was stuck in his shoulder.
This is great! Zhang Zhao kicked this guy down and pulled out his own sword. As soon as the unlucky guy thought about it, he was stepped on by countless pairs of cowhide boots inlaid with iron plates. After a few times, he was gone.
There was movement.
Ittihad looked at Zhang Zhao in fear. It was this man in golden armor who defeated him many times before Shule City.
And now it was them again who, somehow, suddenly defeated the more than a hundred soldiers he had carefully selected and placed in front.
"Warriors of Allah! The time to fight has come!" Ittihad roared, and with a wave of the scimitar encrusted with gems in his hand, the warriors who had just been boosted up in morale surged towards Zhang Zhao like a tide.
Although almost all of them only had leather armor and some tattered chain mail, they still howled and rushed towards Zhang Zhao and the others.
"Seeking death!" Zhang Zhao yelled angrily, took a step forward with his left foot, and slashed diagonally with his sword like lightning.
Blood mist rose into the sky, and the black head of the fastest God Warrior flew into the sky.
He stepped forward with his right foot, turned his body halfway, and struck out with the knife faster. The blade cut along the spear of the divine warrior on the opposite side.
There was a strange sound, and the horizontal knife slashed against the spear shaft of the divine warrior. In an instant, four fingers fell to the ground. Zhang Zhao took advantage of the situation and bumped into it, and the screaming divine warrior was hit.
He flew out and was trampled by countless pairs of feet.
The pale moon that was still there just now was frightened by the bloody killing and hid in the dark clouds. The soldiers from Shandu surrounded Zhang Zhao tightly and rushed towards Ittihad, who was wearing golden armor.
In the south of Shule City, a huge explosion woke up all the surrounding residents, but instead of going to see what happened in the west of the city, they all ran to the same place in unison.
Li Qilang's restaurant.
A large crowd had gathered outside the food shop, and a skinny man who looked like an ascetic stood on a stone stool outside the food shop.
He is one of the twelve apostles of Manichaeism, one of the twelve highest priests of Manichaeism.
"The only one in the three realms, the compassionate parent of all living beings, the great guide of the three realms, the great spiritual healer, the heaven that encompasses everything, the one who can bear fruit on the ground, the one who has eternal life in death, and the
The clear and neutral nature of all living beings is also the enlightened door to liberation from the fixed hells in the three realms.
Loving Father, the Great Ming Zun! He has sent down the light, and he will enable everyone to obtain nuth. He has sent out Jesus, the lighter, and he has come to free us from the sea of suffering!
Hearers of pure faith! Arasu! Moxi Siddhis! Take your weapons, today is the day when we embrace the light again!"
Fanatic shouts rang out. The basic base of Manichaeism was the Uighurs and the Gelulu people. The appearance of Saktu caused them serious damage.
However, the foundation of Manichaeism in Shule for hundreds of years cannot be eradicated so easily. The most numerous people here are Manichaeans.
"Go and take revenge! Go and eradicate those converts! This is the power given to you by the Lord!"
The Manichaean apostles were inciting the believers, and the Nestorian bishops were no exception, but they were more direct and started the vendetta mode directly.
"Namo Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva! The Buddha is also angry! First lead people to open the south gate, let the army enter the city, and then... Then let's retaliate in kind!"
Master Jorge Siti, whom Fanshun had always thought was smiling and like a benevolent eminent monk, now had a cruel face on his face.
Huitong next to him had already taken out two swords, and the scars on his bald head looked particularly terrifying!
"Okay! The Sa family has long wanted to avenge the hundreds of senior brothers and sisters of my Dayun Temple!"