Chapter 1357 Withering


    Normally, when the two sides are fighting, the Chinese military formation is always the focus, and it is also the weakness. In countless battles, once the formation is broken through by the opponent, it means the defeat of the battle, no matter it is No matter how much force there is and how many soldiers are on both sides, the end will be the same.


    There are countless examples of this in history, both in China and abroad. For example, like the Battle of Tongzhajian, the Japanese even praised it for thousands of years. However, did Zhang Liao say anything?


    Especially in the era of recruitment system, soldiers are actually fighting more for the commander. When a commander fails, they lose the reason to fight. It is like the human brain has been damaged. Strong limbs don''t help either.


    ??When Ma Chao broke a huge gap in the line of Ji County soldiers and was about to attack Jiang Ji, Ma Chao felt that victory was in front of him.


    As long as Jiang Ji''s head is taken, the city gate tower will definitely fall into his hands. Once the city gate tower is broken through, it also means that the city gate of Ji County can be opened, and the Qiang people outside the city will be like It''s like a tide, pouring into Ji County!


    Jiang Jiong''s soldiers are inevitably a bit weak after the fierce fighting just now. These soldiers in Ji County are not brave and good at fighting. They can fight against ten strong soldiers in a sudden encounter. Under the attack, they were able to gather around Jiang Ji and persist for such a long time, and faced this cruel situation where both sides were exchanging human lives for human lives. If Jiang Ji''s actions had not boosted morale just now, I am afraid that he would have been there by now. Can''t hold on any longer.


    However, in the face of Ma Chao''s fierce attack, Jiang Ji''s military formation was crumbling. Although some people continued to resist, it was difficult to form an effective front to stop the Qiang''s attack. Everyone could only wave their weapons wildly, trying to survive here Just to save his own life in the cruel fighting, the array will collapse in an instant.


    If it were the Flying Bear Army in General Fei Qian''s army, he might be able to defeat Ma Chao with less against many, but after all, Jiang Ji''s soldiers had been trained with Jiang Ji for some time. , compared with the gathering of hungry soldiers, or the powerful village warriors, they are naturally much stronger, but in the end they have not been able to enter the ranks of sweat beads. Facing the crazy Qiang soldiers, they have been able to persist until now. It all depends on the prestige and kindness Jiang Ji has accumulated in his daily life!


    Ma Chao shouted wildly, held the spear in both hands and pierced the chest of an infantryman in front of him fiercely, then raised it high, and blood rained into the sky, pouring on his head and face. An infantryman next to him waved a half-broken spear. He rushed over, but Ma Chao knocked him down with his corpse. He lost his balance and fell down the city!


    Ma Chao only had Jiang Ji in his eyes, and now it seemed that the only thing standing between him and Jiang Ji was the thin array of infantry in front of him. Ma Chao shook off the blood stained on the spear, pointed at Jiang Ji, and suddenly shouted again: "Shu Zi! Grandpa Ma is here! How dare you fight with a certain person!"


    Of course, Jiang Ji heard Ma Chao''s loud shouting and saw the infantry array collapse in front of his eyes. However, his reaction was just to smile faintly, hold up his spear, waved his hand, and then shouted: "Fire the arrow!"


    Ma Chao''s expression suddenly changed and he shrank subconsciously, only to realize that there were no arrows coming at all. There were only a row of sword and shield men in front of Jiang Ji. There were no archers, and the archers who had just retreated. It is impossible to recover well so quickly!


    “Fire the arrow!” Jiang Ji shouted again in a deep voice.


    "Haha..." Ma Chao was about to laugh at Jiang Ji''s lack of skills, but he never thought that the sword and shield wielders in front of Jiang Ji turned their shields, revealing two rows of crossbowmen. The sharp crossbow arrows were shining in the light of the fire. The biting cold light suddenly turned his laughter into a gasp. Without saying a word, he immediately turned around and headed to a place with a large number of Qiang people!


    “Boom!” The hanging knife was pulled down, and the sound of the crossbow arm rebounding was like the scream of death in hell! At such a distance, even an ordinary infantry shield can hardly withstand the crossbow''s fire!


    ??The elite Qiang warriors who rushed over were fighting vigorously. Unexpectedly, such a row of crossbow arrows was fired, and it was like a punctured cowhide water bag. A hole was opened in the front and back, and blood spurted out!


    Seeing that the situation was not going well, Ma Chao pounced diagonally and hit the corpses of soldiers from both sides. He grunted in the darkness. He didn''t know whether he was hit by the crossbow bolt, or touched the blade, or whether What other situation is it? I groaned...


    "Where is it! Shoot him to death!" Jiang Ji pointed to Ma Chao''s location, and immediately the crossbowmen in the second row began to turn and aimed at Ma Chao''s figure. If it is a bow and arrow, you can also use the corpse to cover your body, but in front of a strong crossbow and at such a close distance, it is simply a joke to try to use the old trick!


    Ma Chao''s guards screamed and rushed forward, trying to cover Ma Chao''s figure with their flesh and blood. They only heard the sound of the hanging knife being pulled down and the whistling of the crossbow bolts. These loyal guards were also like balloons being punctured. Slumped and then fell down.


    ??Jiang Ji frowned and searched for Ma Chao''s figure in the dark shadows. This cunning boy would be a disaster if he was not killed!


    Suddenly, a figure jumped up from the pile of corpses. Jiang Ji pointed his finger and shouted: "Fire the arrow!"


    The last row of crossbow arrows was shot out. The extremely powerful crossbow arrows not only pierced the figure with holes, but also carried the figure flying back in the air for a while, and then hit the city wall heavily. superior!


    …


    Before Jiang Ji could breathe a sigh of relief, another black shadow appeared in the darkness!


    “Damn it!”


    ?This is the real Ma Chao!


    ??However, Ma Chao was obviously injured, and he was no longer as arrogant as before. He dragged his spear backwards with one hand and covered it somewhere with the other, hunched over and ran back!


    "Kill them! Kill them!" Jiang Ji shouted loudly, beckoning his soldiers to fight forward. The power of the crossbow is extremely powerful, but it has a huge drawback. The attack frequency is too low. After three rows of crossbow bolts are fired, Ma Chao will not know where he has gone if he has to wait for the bowstring to be drawn again.


    The group of armored elites that the Qiang people rushed to the city wall were almost killed by the powerful crossbows just now. The momentum of the entire charge was also interrupted. On the other hand, Jiang Jiong stabilized the situation. More and more soldiers gathered to join the battle. The soldiers who came in groups rushed past Jiang Ji with shouts and shouts. They pushed out more than a dozen long spears and pushed the three drums straight away. The declining Qiang people kept driving back.


    Jiang Ji shouted loudly, holding the spear in both hands and quickly knocked it apart, blocking two or three swords from the Qiang people. There was a loud slapping sound. The Qiang people with the empty door wide open were not killed by Jiang. He was stabbed by the knife and shield hand beside Jiang Ji. He screamed and fell down with blood splashing everywhere.


    The fighting patterns of Jiang Ji and Ma Chao are completely different. When they advance and retreat, they are all within the defense range of their own guards. There is never one more step or one less step. Anyway, Ma Chao in front has been defeated, and there will be no more. No one can stop Jiang Jiong.


    ??As Jiang Ji led his soldiers forward step by step, the area of ??the city controlled by the Qiang people became smaller and smaller...


    ……………


    Pound was organizing men below the city. When he saw the battle situation on the city wall taking a turn for the worse, he was jumping up and down and furious. When he was about to go into battle himself, he heard someone whispering in the darkness and subconsciously took two steps forward. After that, he suddenly saw Ma Chao''s hunched body, half kneeling and half crouching among the grass and trees nearby.


    “Major General!” Pang De was shocked.


    Ma Chao looked extremely embarrassed, covered in blood. A crossbow arrow was inserted into his chest and abdomen at some point. It penetrated from the front, and a sharp arrow was exposed at the back. Blood kept pouring out. Spring.


    "Major General! You are injured! Come..." Pang De checked Ma Chao''s injury and his heart sank.


    "No need to shout!" Pang De hurriedly prepared to call the guards on the side, but was grabbed by Ma Chao. "I can hold on for a while... I''ll go find Quinoa later... You take our people... back to Jincheng immediately... and then... then move to the Western Region to find... the Lushui Tribe..." "Young General..." Pang De covered Ma Chao''s wound with his hands, but it had no effect, and the thick blood continued to surge outward.


    "Stop talking nonsense!" Ma Chao pulled Pound, stood up, and leaned close to Pound''s ear, whispering, "After I die... Quinoa will definitely annex our people... I can delay it a little longer Time...but you must hurry...otherwise...Brother Xio is imprisoned by me...Go to him and say..."


    Due to excessive blood loss, Ma Chao''s vision had already seen large pieces of mist, and his human figure was like a double shadow, shaking violently. Although his mind was still clear, it was already buzzing, and he tried his best to move towards the ground. ShenZhao stretched out his hand and pointed at his own spear, "Take...brother Xio...go...go!"


    Ma Chao was actually shot in the stomach, causing a penetrating injury, and because he continued to exercise vigorously after being hit by a crossbow arrow, the wound was torn and bled. If it were left to future generations, after surgical sutures and anti-inflammatory antibiotics, he might still be alive and normal. People are no different. However, in the Han Dynasty, because wounds inside the body could not be sutured, the hands, feet, and limbs had a chance to recover, but wounds that penetrated the chest and abdomen were basically fatal. Therefore, soldiers were not afraid of swords and guns, but were extremely afraid of bows and arrows. That is, This reason.


    ?Ma Chao pushed Pang De away, and then staggered towards Quinoa...


    Pang De chased after two steps, but when he saw Ma Chao''s eyes almost spitting out fire, he gritted his teeth, stopped, then stamped his feet angrily, turned his head and walked in the other direction.


    ……………


    Hearing the noise above the city head gradually subsided, Quinoa Xiangli''s face became more and more like the bottom of a pot, almost dripping with water.


    "Damn it..." Qinmai Qianli shouted in a deep voice, "Where is that boy from the Ma family? Tell him to come see me quickly!"


    “No need!” Ma Chao staggered over from the side, sat down on the ground with a plop, grinning with his teeth bared, “I’m here…”


    Quinoa''s sharp eyes fell on the crossbow bolt on Ma Chao, and the corners of his mouth twitched twice, "Young Commander Ma, what are you..."


    ?Ma Chao pointed to the wounds on his body. He was feeling dizzy. He was too lazy to talk about selling quinoa for profit. He said directly: "I tried my best... There are powerful crossbows hidden in the city..."


    "What?!" Quinoa Changli couldn''t help but cast his gaze on the dark wall of Ji County, and gasped, as if he saw a ferocious beast squatting on the ground, "Strong crossbow? ! Is it still hidden until today? ” After the siege in the past few days, I only saw bows and arrows, but no crossbows were used by the defenders. This seems to indicate that even now, there are still some soldiers in Ji County. Hands, this is such a terrible thing. At this moment, some thoughts of regret arose in my heart.


    Quinoa''s eyes slowly moved from the Ji County city back to Ma Chao. After a moment of silence, he said softly: "Master Ma, do you have anything else to say?"


    Ma Chao shook his body twice, managed to hold on, and then stared at Quinoa and said: "...I can''t capture Ji County...I''m not willing to die...I...I still have another plan...I''m willing to offer it to you, but You have to... promise not to touch... to touch my people..."


    ??Quinmai Xiangli pondered, neither nodding nor shaking his head, but said: "What is the plan? You tell me first and listen."


    "We are pretending to withdraw our troops!" Ma Chao said almost word by word, "We have been besieged for so long...the city is also trapped...as soon as we withdraw our troops, we will either chase...or open the city...by then..."


    Quinoa pinched the beard on his chin and frowned. After thinking for a moment, he finally nodded and said, "You can give it a try..."


    Ma Chao could no longer hold on and fell to the ground, facing the sky, and murmured: "You promised... don''t touch my people..."


    Quinoa went to Li still frowning, looking at Ma Chao, and said: "What did you promise? Oh... for the sake of your efforts, if this strategy works, I will not touch your people..."


    ?Ma Chao said "ha" and did not continue to argue. Perhaps he no longer had the energy to argue. I don''t know if it was because the blood had choked his trachea or something else. Ma Chao coughed a few times and spit out some large and small blood clots.


    “Get back, prepare to withdraw your troops...” Quinoa glanced at Ma Chao indifferently, then turned around and left.


    The Qiang people wandered around in the dark night like homeless ghosts.


    ?The night is about to pass, and a faint line of gray appears on the horizon. The morning wind blew quietly over the wilderness, like a girl''s delicate hands gently caressing her face and body.


    Ma Chao couldn''t feel the pain at all at this time, but his eyes were black and his whole body was weak. He spit out a mouthful of blood, and the remaining blood flowed out from the corners of his mouth and nose. He gasped for a few breaths and moved his lips: "Father... Father..."


    As the morning light gradually rose, Ma Chao seemed to see his father Ma Teng riding a horse in the twilight on the horizon, looking at him quietly.


    Ma Chao tried hard to reach out his hand, but could only move his fingers slightly.


    Ma Teng smiled, smiled, then picked up the two little boys, one big and one small, from the ground, and then put them both on the horse. Both children smiled crisply, and their laughter spread far across the prairie along with the sound of horse hooves...


    However, the two children, one large and one small, in Ma Teng''s arms are not Ma Chao. Ma Chao could only see the black shadow under his feet gradually getting bigger, bigger, and then overwhelming, swallowing him completely, leaving only a vague sigh, "Alas...Father..."


    When the sun completely fell, Ma Chao lay motionless under the city. Several Qiang people who were lagging behind and about to leave discovered Ma Chao. They came up to test it out, then looked at each other and started fighting for it without hesitation. They took off Ma Chao''s armor and robes and started to fight randomly. Just put it on yourself, like a hyena fighting for a carrion in the wilderness...


    (End of this chapter)