Chapter 432 Choice

By July, the weather is getting hotter and hotter.

After Pingyuan City was besieged for a month, food and supplies became increasingly scarce.

Xue Bai accidentally took a look at himself in the mirror after many days. What he saw was a man with a slovenly beard, a bloody face, and a fierce look. He looked back and saw no one else before he realized that it was

Own.

He did not have the elegance of Lu Yi who meticulously tidied up before his death. The water source outside the city had been cut off, and he only relied on the wells in the city to drink water. No one knew how to fetch water to wash his face. Xue Bai finally lost that pampering

The body memory begins to get used to surviving in a situation of scarcity.

At dawn, he walked out of his residence and walked along the rammed earth road to the city head. He raised his telescope and looked at Shi Siming's camp. He saw many ragged people scattered around the camp, with their heads lowered, looking for food on the ground.

Or it was the rice and millet that leaked out when transporting the baggage, or the leftover fodder chewed by the horses. The rebels were very willing to spend money on raising horses. The fodder contained a lot of beans, sorghum, and even some salt, and they were trapped in Pingyuan City.

The soldiers could no longer get enough salt.

The refugees outside the city picked up grains of food from the soil one by one and stuffed them into their mouths impatiently. Suddenly, arrows were fired at them with a "whoosh", and a small group of cavalry came out of the camp and fired arrows to drive them away.

The refugees were too tired to run fast and staggered to the woods on both sides. After leaving a few bodies behind, the front of the camp became quiet.

Xue Bai was still looking out. After a while, he saw refugees coming out again. He dragged the bodies on the ground into the woods with difficulty. After that, a line of smoke rose from the woods.

The trumpet sounded, the antlers in front of the rebel camp were removed, and groups of rebels marched towards Pingyuan City, starting a new day of siege warfare.

They did not rush to the city and set up ladders to climb up, but dug under the city with shield chariots.

Shi Siming did not want to enter the city through tunnels, but to dig out the foundation under the city wall. He even thoughtfully asked the soldiers to use wood to support the dug hole until they dug under the city wall, then set fire to the wooden supports, and the city wall would

About to collapse.

The defenders had no choice but to demolish the houses in the city and throw stones and earth at the entrances of the caves at the rebels.

A few nights ago, Wang Rao even secretly led his troops out of the city, filled in the hole halfway, and was attacked by the rebels. After suffering a lot of casualties, he barely managed to retreat back into the city.

The rebels would also use trebuchets to throw stones at the plain city, or find sections of the wall where the defenders were insufficient to fire rockets into the city.

In short, they tried every means to consume the defenders' physical strength and will, and were sure that the city wall or the defenders would collapse one day.

All Xue Bai could do was to boost morale, and then lead the soldiers to repair the city wall. This process was so similar to flood relief that it reminded him more than once of his father chasing pigs swept away by floods.

"Prefect Xue."

Xue Bai turned around and saw that it was a captain in the Jingsai Army named Fan Dongfu. He deliberately memorized the names of many soldiers, although some of them died soon after.

"Captain Fan, what's the matter?"

"Prefect Helan just had a private conversation with the general, and General Li later heard some of it." Fan Dongfu lowered his voice.

The "General Li" here refers to Li Zejiao, the Jingsai Army envoy temporarily appointed by Yan Gaoqing.

Xue Bai's face didn't change, he patted him on the shoulder, pulled him down the stone steps, and when he reached a deserted place, he asked: "What's the specifics?"

"General Li actually knew that the rebels had captured Luoyang City, but he just didn't tell the soldiers. The problem is that Governor Helan said that if the rebels captured Luoyang, they would capture Hanjiacang, so there would be no shortage of food at all. We cut off the rebels' food routes.

It’s meaningless anymore.”

"It's not meaningless. Even with Hanjiacang, their foundation is still in Fan Yang." Xue Bai first comforted Fan Dongfu and told him not to worry, and then asked what else they said.

Fan Dongfu admired his calm and friendly attitude and whispered: "Helan Jinming said that he believed that if Governor Xue held on, there would be only death. He asked General Li to break out with him."

"Where to break out?"

"Chang Shan, he said that Governor Xue, you had known that Hebei could not be defended, so you secretly sent your family and children to Taiyuan."

Xue Bai went to Taiyuan to meet Li Guangbi, and by the way, he arranged for Li Tengkong and Li Jilan to settle down. I don't know how the news reached Helan Jinming's ears, and it became his reason for arranging him.

Fan Dongfu emphasized his tone and said with some annoyance: "Prefect, please be careful. Helan Jinming took advantage of the current unstable morale of the army and took away your power..."

At this time, Fan Dongfu saw Li Ze approaching from a distance, and Fan Dongfu quickly shut up and walked away.

"One! Two!"

The soldiers on the top of the city shouted slogans and threw earth and rocks hard.

Amidst such background sounds, Xue Bai and Li Zejiao climbed to the top of the city tower.

"He Lanjin made it clear that after breaking out of the siege, he would use Governor Yan and Governor Xue to attract Shi Siming's pursuit, while he and I would lead the troops and abandon you."

"Why would General Lee tell me this?"

"Does Prefect Xue know my name?"

"Choose a friend?"

"That's right." Li Zejiao said: "My grandpa always said that choosing friends is the most important thing in life. As the saying goes, 'living with unkind people is like entering an abalone house and not smelling the smell for a long time.'" Helan Jinming seemed elegant,

In fact, he is arrogant, jealous, selfish, and unfriendable."

Xue Bai said: "I have been busy recently and have no time to get to know General Li better. Can you trust me?"

Li Zejiao said: "Why bother to elaborate? The eyes can already tell a lot of things."

He boasts that he lives up to his name and is a person who knows how to choose friends. He can see the sincerity in Xue Bai's eyes that treats others equally.

~~

evening.

A servant girl carried several buckets of water from the well, poured it into the large cauldron in the kitchen, lit firewood to heat it, and carried it to Helan's bright house.

After washing, Helan Jinming tidied his beard, and went to the courtyard with Helan Zhijia to enjoy the cool air. He raised his head and listened to the movement in the distance, and murmured: "The rebels haven't paid tribute today. I really don't know when this city will be invaded."

Breached."

Helan Zhijia said: "I'm afraid that before the city is broken, some soldiers will sacrifice our heads and surrender to Shi Siming."

"I never expected that we could hold out for so long under Shi Siming's offensive."

"That's because he was not in a hurry at all and did not use all his strength to attack the city."

"I talked with Li Ze today." Helan Jinming lowered his voice and talked about business. "He promised me that he would persuade Yan Gaoqing and Xue Bai to break out of the encirclement. When the time comes, he will follow me to Changshan."

"Very good."

Helan Zhijia had no doubts about Li Zejiao's reaction. His brother had always been a very charming person and was best at persuading others to follow him.

This time, the reason why they chose to support Pingyuan County together with Xue Bai was because the situation was good at that time. They thought it was an opportunity to make meritorious deeds, but they did not expect that they ended up being trapped in a tight siege.

But if he could break out of the encirclement, especially if he could get rid of Xue Bai and Yan Gaoqing and return to Changshan County, then looking at the whole of Hebei, Helan Jinming would be the person with the most merit and the most significant prestige.

One thing is very strange. This time Xue Bai has made such a great contribution. He originally thought that the imperial court would reward him with an official position such as the Hebei Recruitment Envoy, but now he has not received the reward from the imperial court. I don’t know why it was delayed. When Helan Jinming arrived Changshan may just be able to fill this gap.

"The question is, can we persuade Xue Bai to break out of the encirclement?" Helan Zhijia pondered: "If he doesn't agree, it will be rare for the king to be here, and I'm afraid I won't be able to make the decision."

"Do you really think Xue Bai can hold on to the current situation? Li Zejiao only needs to tell Xue Bai that the morale of the Jingsai Army is low, complaints are everywhere, and it is almost impossible to suppress it."

At this moment, in the distance, the sound of the rebels finally sounded. Helan Jinming breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have passed the day safely. He did not want to rebel again, and was afraid that Pingyuan City would be destroyed before his measures had any effect. Was breached.

It was night, and it was Wang Nan's turn to lead the Yunzhong Army on duty. Helan Jinming ordered the Beihai Navy to rest early. His soldiers needed to wait until they broke through to kill the enemy, but now they should replenish their physical strength to avoid casualties.

Of course, the camp defense still had to be done well. The soldiers on guard at night heard a commotion on the other side of the city wall at night, which seemed to be a sneak attack by the rebels.

…

Early the next morning, another refugee ran to the rebel camp in search of food. They knew that this might cost them their lives, but if they couldn't find food, they would definitely lose their lives.

Helan Jinming soaked hard cakes in hot water under the bamboo garden and drank the last drop of wine in his wine bag.

He had not heard the sound of silk and bamboo for forty-nine days, and felt that he had become vulgar, so he sighed deeply.

Before the rebels attacked, Yan Gaoqing sent someone to invite him to discuss the war. Helan Jinming guessed that Li Zejiao's persuasion might have worked, but he remained vigilant and ordered a group of close soldiers to go with him. .

Fortunately, there was no tension between them and they killed each other. Yan Gaoqing and Xue Bai agreed to break out of the encirclement, but Xue Bai's reasons surprised Helan Jinming at his thick skin.

"Good news."

Xue Bai and other generals gathered together, walked to the map, and said: "Last night, a messenger from Changshan County risked his life to break through and deliver news to the city."

Helan Jinming glanced around the hall, but did not see the messenger.

Xue Bai seemed to know what he was thinking, and said: "This strong man was hit by three arrows from the rebels. He has fainted and is undergoing treatment, but he successfully delivered the message."

As he spoke, he picked up his sword and clicked on the map, hitting Fan Yang's position.

"We have incited the rebels Fan Yang to stay behind Jia Xun. This man is from Jingzhao Prefecture. He defeated the Tubo army in Jiannan and also camped in Pingyuan County. He was both civil and military, and later became a general under Zhang Shougui. Ten days ago

, he has settled in Youzhou, raised the flag of righteousness, surrendered to the imperial court, and spread the message to all places in Fanyang!"

A message was passed to the generals. It contained Jia Xun's impassioned speech and Fan Yang's seal.

All the generals were surprised.

Xue Bai was able to hold his nerve. Except for Yan Gaoqing, he did not mention this matter to anyone else in advance, so as not to leak the news. Waiting until now that the matter was completed would have greatly improved morale.

"Not only that, we also instigated the rebellion of Pinglu general Liu Kenu. He had already killed Lu Zhijie, the post-resident of Pinglu Festival appointed by An Lushan, and moved to Yuyang to respond to Jia Xun. In addition, there was Anton

General Wang Xuanzhi also raised his flag to assist Liu Kenu from afar!"

"good!"

Some impatient generals in the army clapped their hands and shouted: "Take away An Lushan's lair and let's see what he can do to cause trouble!"
To be continued...