Chapter 151: Poison Smoke War and Anti-Drug Smoke War

After Uncle Xiao came out of the imperial envoy's mansion, someone arranged a house for him to live in. The house was not big, with a yard and a bedroom, close to the alley, quiet and peaceful, and happened to be next to his former neighbor, Sister-in-law Wang. Although he had just returned from outside the city, an old minister like him was treated quite well.

Some old acquaintances heard that he came back safely and rushed to see him. Uncle Xiao’s former neighbor Xi Sheng was stationed in Gaogang Camp in the northeast and could not come back. They also sent someone to ask the family to send gifts to Uncle Xiao to shock him.

Uncle Xiao looked at Ilena and said, "Xi Sheng is also married." Then look at the house that Tang Jun arranged for him, which was much better than the soil nest he built in the new scattered Ye City before. He was older. Now Tang Jun has enough troops. It seems that he doesn't need to go to the battlefield. The days ahead will be smoother, but Uncle Xiao forced himself to smile in front of others, but behind him can't help crying, crying once or twice, but no one else saw it, crying seven times or eight times, so that Sister-in-law Wang, who comes to visit every day, saw the clues.

"Uncle Xiao, what are you doing?" When there was no one else on that day, Wang Er's sister-in-law asked.

At first, Uncle Xiao refused to answer, always saying it was okay, and Sister-in-law Wang said, "Do you miss your son? Don't worry, your eldest son is in Shache, and your second son is in Xiashule. When you beat Hu Ma away from the outside, you will meet."

"Well, it's... Special Envoy Zhang is invincible and will definitely win." Uncle Xiao said. After being in the enemy camp for several months, not only did he not weaken his confidence in Zhang Mai, but he strengthened it because they could see the Uighurs who were both hated and afraid of the Tang army every day. Every time the Uighurs defeated a war, they would come to look for the bad luck of these Tang people's prisoners, so how many battles the Tang army won, Xiao and others knew in their hearts.

"That's all."

"But...what should I do after I win!" The old man lost his mouth and said it.

"What should I do after I win? What does it mean?"

Uncle Xiao was stuttering and finally said it: "Second sister-in-law, there is something that I feel uncomfortable in my heart, but I have to say it, but I can't say it."

"Uncle Xiao, don't worry too much. Just say anything. What else do you have to worry about me?"

"This... Second Sister-in-law, I shouldn't have said this! Alas, listen to me, when I returned to the army, I graze with some shepherds from Gaochang and Kucha. Second Sister-in-law, you know that in fact, these tribes in the Western Regions, those Khan generals, etc., those who bully us in wars, are actually pitiful, they are all forced to suffer. So when we get together, we will also talk."

"I know this too." Wang Er's sister-in-law said: "Like Xi Sheng's wife and those two tycoons, they were also Hu people before, and now they can speak, and they are not at all. I don't know how to say anything about us. I have to work hard to win these oppressed people. Just like Ilena and the others, be a relative, treat them well, and then fight for it. Now Ilena is so close to us, especially those two boys, who are always clamoring to learn martial arts, kill the enemy, and serve the Tang Dynasty. Haha, haha."

"Self-serving the Tang Dynasty... but what if the Tang Dynasty is gone? If the Tang Dynasty is gone... Then what should we do for bloody battles here and so many people die?"

Sister-in-law Wang Er was stunned: "Uncle Xiao, what did you say?"

"This, I... nothing, nothing! I can't say this!"

But Wang Er's sister-in-law was reluctant to let him go: "Uncle Xiao, what did you say? You can't say half of it!"

Uncle Xiao hesitated for a long time before saying, "Okay, let me tell you, I heard from the people in Kucha that our Tang Dynasty... is gone! is gone!" He cried loudly at this point, but he didn't dare to speak loudly. He endured it and endured it, so he was so sad.

Sister-in-law Wang was stunned on the spot and suddenly fell on Hu's bed. After a while, she came to her senses and grabbed Uncle Xiao: "Uncle Xiao, you can't say this nonsense!"

"This is not what I said, nor is it what the Uighurs said." Uncle Xiao's old eyes were filled with tears: "I was heard by those Kucha shepherds and Gaochang shepherds. I thought about the words of the shepherds carefully, and they were all very real, not like fake. I also went to several shepherds to inquire about it, some knew, and some didn't know. Anyone who knew it was almost the same. I was still very careful about the expressions they said when they said this. They didn't lie! No one of them lies! My old bones are not good. But after living for so many years, I can still tell whether they have lies. Even if one or two powerful people hide it from me, it is impossible for a dozen people to deceive us! Second sister-in-law, I am really worried that our Tang Dynasty will really be gone this time."

Sister-in-law Wang seemed to remember something, and sat there in a daze. After a long time, Uncle Xiao said, "Second sister-in-law, I can't hold back these words when I'm old. Close the door and I spit on you. If you look back, you can't spread it. It will affect the morale of the army." Sister-in-law Wang nodded repeatedly: "I know this, of course I know."

The two military families were speechless. When Wang Er's sister-in-law was about to leave, she suddenly turned around and said, "Uncle Xiao, I will tell you something too. In fact, this is not the first time I have heard such news, but I have never dared to say it before."

"Ah, what did you say?"

Sister-in-law Wang thought for a while and said, "It's nothing." Uncle Xiao refused to let her go, and she must say it. Sister-in-law Wang said, "When our Tang army was still in Shule before, I took care of some Ming sects from the east. These people were friends and not enemies with us. Later, I thought they came from the east. Maybe they knew some news about our Tang Dynasty, so I asked them how the Tang Dynasty is now. Who knew they actually said, "The Tang Dynasty is gone. I heard that the most powerful person in the east has long changed to a great country, and the great khans of Gaochang have gone to pay tribute."

"What!" Uncle Xiao was shocked: "My friends from the Ming Cult say the same?"

"Yes. I was a little panicked at that time. The next day I wanted to ask clearly, but I didn't know why. The boss suddenly stopped me from taking care of them, but moved them to a place and gave them a piece of land to them, so I didn't let these people live with us. I felt uncomfortable when I heard it, but at this moment, I didn't dare to say such words or ask them, so I kept hiding in my heart."

Uncle Xiao thought about it carefully and said, "The friend of the Ming Cult said, what is the name of that new great country in the East?"

"It seems to be called Khitan."

Uncle Xiao’s thighs and tears suddenly rolled out: “That’s right, that’s right! The right thing is right! This news is probably true. Think about it, the special envoy did not come directly from Chang'an, but from several generations he came to our new leaf. In other words, after the special envoy’s ancestors left Chang'an, there were changes that the special envoys did not know about, and it was a bad change.”

"Uncle Xiao, do you mean that our Tang Dynasty is really gone? Then, what should we do? The Central Plains can't go back to the sky, the Uighurs, Saman to the west, and Kucha and Gaochang to the east, all sent troops to us! And the south, I heard that Yutian was just because he thought the Tang Dynasty was still there, so he got along with us. What if they knew that the Tang Dynasty was gone... Then... what should we do! We will become homeless people and people who have no country to rely on?"

"Shh! Sigh down!" Uncle Xiao said: "You can't talk nonsense anyway. Even if this matter is true, you have to wait until the war is over."

"But, without the Tang Dynasty, can we really win? There is a country behind the Uighurs and Saman, but we are just a city like Shule. Even with the wisdom and courage of Special Envoy Zhang, how many times can we win?"

An old man and a woman were all frowning, but the two of them finally knew the general idea and warned each other that they must not make a random statement of this matter. They must not speak nonsense and say nothing to anyone, so as not to disturb the morale of the army.

After Wang Er's sister-in-law returned home, she remembered the conversation with the Ming scholars that day. The more she thought about it, the more she became, the more she felt depressed. Ilena asked him what was going on, but she didn't dare to say it. Shanya asked her what was going on, but she didn't dare to say it. On this day, Shanya was learning from Tang Yan, reciting Li Bai's "Flying Flowing Three Thousands of Far" and Du Fu's "Fragrant Rice Pecking Parrot Grains", and then reciting "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", and wanted to speak Tang Yan purer, with four tones of Chinese "Ping, Up, Go, Enter". The Hu people were fine for the three tones of "Ping, Up, Go" but it was difficult to enter the sound. The closing rhyme was particularly painful. This was also the reason why the Mongolians and Jurchens came into power one after another and failed to learn to enter the sound, and even the entering sound was lost in Mandarin.

Seeing that she was practicing constantly, Wang Er's sister-in-law said casually: "Girl, why are you so concerned about practicing Tang Yan? In fact, as long as you speak, you can understand each other's meaning, even if the pronunciation is not correct, it's nothing."

Shanya smiled and said, "That's not OK. Here, if you have the opportunity to go to Chang'an in the future, your accent is not right, and you must not be looked down upon by the people of the imperial capital of the Celestial Empire?"

Sister-in-law Wang Er was worried and blurted out: "The imperial capital of the Celestial Dynasty...if Chang'an is actually gone, will you still be so concerned about it?"

Shanya was stunned: "Sister, what did you say?"

"This... is nothing, nothing... I'm just talking nonsense for a while." Wang Er's sister-in-law quickly covered up.

But Shanya was worried.

The Shule River flows from the south of Shule City. After passing Shule City, it turns slightly and turns northeast. Therefore, if you want to enter Shule, you have to cross the Shule River if you want to enter the Shache area in the southeast of Shule.

Although Zhang Mai had already made an appointment with Yang Dingguo's An Shoujing and said, "I will do it for Shule!" He also said that he did not have to ask for reinforcements from Yutian until he had no choice but to ask for reinforcements. But when will it be considered a last resort?

The military connection between the two regions must be kept open so that Yang Dingguo can rest assured. Every five to ten days, Shule City will send cavalry to sweep the troops in the southeast of Shule City. Satuk wants to divide the troops several times, and the construction fortifications attempt to cut off Shule and Sha workshops, but they were destroyed by Guo Luo before the completion was completed. Then they sent soldiers to Shache to report the battle situation.

Until late March, the water became increasingly strong and it became difficult to cross the river. I could not find a place to wader through. If you want to cross the river, unless you use a boat, although there are rafts in the city, it will be bulky and heavy to bring them out of the city, which will affect the speed of the marching impact. Satuk would not allow the Tang army to do such calm actions.

Therefore, after mid-March, Shache didn't know about Shule's battle. Zhang Mai ordered the release of lonely smoke to report safety. Satuk saw it outside the city and ordered people to set off a few more wolf smokes near the city. Wolf smokes were lit in the four gates in the east, south, west and north. It seemed that there were as many as seven or eight. It was difficult to tell whether the wolf smoke was inside or outside the city from dozens of miles away. Seeing that the wolf smoke was everywhere in the Shule area, An Shoujing in the Shache area and Yang Yi in the Xia Shule area could not tell whether Shule was dangerous or safe for a while.

Murong Chunhua said to Yang Yi: "At this time, we cannot panic. We must trust Special Envoy Zhang. The smoke of wolf is coming everywhere, which must be Satuk's trick. As long as we respond to all changes, the Hu army will be defeated in the long run!"

The Shache side was far apart and the worry was deeper. Yang Dingguo sent people to Shule several times after late March, but was blocked by the flood. Zhang Mai could not receive news about Shache, and was also worried that An Shoujing and others would make incorrect judgments and decisions.

At the same time, Faxin was constantly putting pressure on the Tang army, or in other words, it was not Faxin, but the farming season. It was already late March. Although the Tang army won one after another, the Hu coalition forces showed no signs of relief. At this time, 15,000 peasant families moved to the Shache area had already started sowing there, but the farmland in Shule was still deserted because the battle had not been completed!

The fertility of Shache is not inferior to Shule, but in the past decade, it was captured by Khotan and occupied by Uighurs. It belongs to the front line of the war and is deserted. Although it has become the rear, the Tang people have to replant it, which is equivalent to clearing the land and making great efforts. The expected harvest in the first year cannot be as good as Shule. When the Tang army moved most of the farmers to the Shache area, it was also considered that Shule might have missed the farming season because of the war, but that was only a last resort. If the newly opened wasteland in the Shache area was only relying on the Tang army's harvest in the next year, the Tang army's harvest may not be sufficient.

"If it is delayed until May, things will be very difficult!"

Just like the last lap of the 10,000-meter race, although it achieved good results in the front, it was extremely painful at this time. The younger generation of soldiers inevitably seemed impetuous at this time, and people shouted to go out of the city to fight to the final battle every day. Even some stable people could not sit still.

It is more difficult to keep these arrogant soldiers and generals in the city and not go out than to let them take the risk of death.

Even Zhang Mai was actually a little moved.

"Maybe... can you win even if you leave the city now?" The unbeaten record since the Xinxue Ye City started the army made him feel confident for no reason!

Young generals such as Shiba also shouted: "Not bad! Under the leadership of the special envoy, we will definitely win!"

Fortunately, a voice made a firm objection!

"It's not time to counterattack now! Hold on! Hold on." Guo Shiyong was still arrogant and refused to give in at all: "Everyone will hold on for a few more days! Although the enemy is tired, he has not yet shown his defeat. Now when he goes out, it is difficult to decide the outcome, and if he wins, he will win miserably!"

"How many days?" Shi Ba did not dare to be rude to Guo Shiyong, but raised his lips and said, "Is that two days or nine days?"

Guo Shiyong glared at him and said to Zhang Mai: "Enterprise, since I ordered me to arrange the city guarding work, please listen to me in this matter! Now we are for the Nine Blades of the Mountain, and we cannot fail!"

At this time, Guo Luo also said, "Encourt, I think it's better to wait a little longer. It's hard to bear now, but the Hu people outside the city must be more uncomfortable than us. We won't wait for anything else now, just wait for an opportunity!"

Zhang Mai nodded: "Then wait a few more days."

At this time, Li Bin and Hassan had already reached an indirect connection.

A businessman from Saman walked into Hassan's camp gate, but was driven out soon after. At this moment, Hassan still didn't think Tang Jun was qualified to negotiate with him. And Hassan also felt that there was no need for this. Of course, the Saman businessman who was an intermediary was not qualified and had enough strength, which is one of the reasons.

April is getting closer and closer. On the 25th, it was a light rain. It was a cold spring. Unfortunately, it was not as cold as snow. On the third day after the light rain, the weather turned hot again, and it was a kind of dry heat. The moisture in the air seemed to be evaporated by the rising temperature.

On this day, the lookouts discovered that Satuk had made strange moves in the northwest corner and hurriedly reported that the technical officer Murong Qiuhua came to see it, but he didn't see anything. Zhang Mai also saw it strange. It turned out that the Uighur army was building haystacks in the northwest. From the Satuk army to the Toulon army to the Hassan army, the three fronts all dispatched 10,000 people to do this. At the same time, the Hu tribes and jihadists had a share, totaling 60,000 people, each of which found a bundle of grass, each bundle of about two and a half feet in diameter. Only strong soldiers could carry it. Sixty thousand bundles of grass were piled up to the northwest, and it piled into a mountain of grass!

The wet grass was placed inside, the wet grass was placed outside, and the dry grass was placed inside. Some of the grass looked special in shape. Ma Humeng, an expert in forage, was called. He looked at it with a telescope and shouted: "The red grass in the blood is poisonous!"

Guo Shiyong also recognized this grass: "No, it's a poisonous weed!" Although it is not called Xue Lihong in his concept.

The Hu army ordered each of the sixty thousand soldiers to take a bunch of grass. Ten days ago, Satuk had already issued an order. This time, Hassan and Toulon were very involved. The Tang army's tenacious counterattack had already caused both of them to suffer. He knew that they could not conquer Shule City with their own strength alone, so he showed Satuk's unexpected unity. Whenever Su Lai mentioned this, he could not help but say: "The Han people say that good fortune and misfortune depend on each other. This is really good. Hassan and Toulon suffered a great loss, their tempers have improved. It seems that the current situation is turning in a favorable direction for us." Congratulations to Bogra Khan, and the generals were also excited.

Sixty thousand people followed the order to mow the grass, which did not hinder the main task of besieging the city. It was not until this day that Satuk ordered Biji. Shiba was a little surprised: "What are they going to do? Are they going to burn the city? Then it is placed so far!"

At this time, Guo Shiyong had already frowned and said, "This is not to burn the city, this is a method of siegeing the city with poisonous smoke! The hay is inside for burning and wet grass is the surface, which can produce thick smoke. If poisonous weed is mixed in, it will be even more powerful. The red grass horse in the blood will cause diarrhea after eating it, but if it is fumigated and burned, it will cause people to bleed from their mouths and noses. This move is a bit difficult to break."

"Poisonous smoke?" Shi Ba said in a panic: "Does the Uighurs want to kill all of us in the city?"

"It is impossible to have such a powerful poisonous smoke." Guo Shiyong said: "But if the wind direction is well controlled, it will make our west wall or the north wall unable to stand when the smoke is strongest."

This is the ancient "smoke" tactic and the first to "poisonous gas war" in later generations. However, due to the limitation of technological level, the poison gas produced cannot be as powerful as the poison gas in later generations. For example, as Shiba said, it will smoke all the people in the city to death. Its role is mainly to "smoke", that is, to smoke people in a certain area within a certain period of time, and then attack the city and take the opportunity to climb the wall to capture the city. It plays a cooperative role. Even so, considering the technical level of the times, it is already a very powerful trick. If ladders, climbing troops and catapults can keep up, it may cause a great crisis to the defender.

Guo Shiyong said: "This 'Xunzhu' tactic will not be used alone. When it is launched, there must be other powerful strategies behind it. In the past few days, the wind has blown from the direction of the Geluoling Pass in the northwest, but the wind is not strong enough. When the wind is strong enough, it is time for them to launch the Xuunzhu tactic. To break this move, the most appropriate way is to take the initiative and send troops out of the city, and burn the haystack while the wind is not strong. Otherwise, when the other party launches an attack, we will be very passive."

In the "Xunzhu" tactic, Caoshan cannot be piled too far away from the city, so after Guo Shiyong issued the order, Guo Luo immediately organized people and prepared to go out of the city overnight to burn Caoshan. Zhang Mai used a telescope to observe and found that there were a large number of people lying around Caoshan, saying: "You can't go out of the city tonight! Satuk's move can be a smoky tactic, but if we send troops out of the city, he can turn it into a bait to ambush. If Guo Luo goes tonight, he will definitely suffer heavy losses."

"It's not right to leave the city, it's not right to leave the city, so what should I do?" Tang Renxiao asked embarrassedly.

Zhang Mai thought for a while and said, "We should take three steps: First, Guo Luo is still ready to attack; second, let Qiuhua see if he can get angry in the city and burn Caoshan directly; third, I will think of other ideas." After that, he handed over the matter here to Guo Shiyong and Guo Luo, but he didn't know where he went.

Murong Qiuhua received the order and immediately moved fifteen catapults over, moving to the northwest corner before dusk. However, Shu Yibar was also a rare general in the Western Regions and had great achievements in siege. He was familiar with Shule's situation. The location of the Choshu Mountain he chose was exactly the dead end of the Tang army's counterattack. If Guo Luo wanted to go out of the city to burn Caoshan, whether it was from the north gate or from the west gate, he had to go around for a long distance. After Murong Qiuhua moved the catapults over, he found that this section of the city was narrow, and only one place was found to be placed on the catapults, and only two could be placed.

"Let's use the rocket first!" Murong Yang said, but there were not many people in this section of the city wall. Only a team of archers stood up and ignited the rocket and shot in the air.

Shushushu-

Fifty rockets fell into Caoshan, but unfortunately the grass was originally the surface of wet grass, and it was not easy to catch fire. Most of the rockets fell on Caoshan, but most of them did not burn. The Uighurs sent people to go up and poured water to extinguish the unextinguished flames one by one.

"It seems that you still have to use a cannon!" Murong Qiuhua said.

While the sun was not set, the hand that took the right distance and ordered: "Start the fire!"

The flag was waving, and two huge fire balls flew out - they were wrapped with layers of paper and rags, wrapped with gunpowder, oil paste, wood chips, etc., and another layer of oil paste was applied outside. They lit it before the cannon was fired, and when the fire was almost done, they would hook the cannon.

Huh——A huge fire ball came into the air, with a stunning power, and it hit the grass mountain with a heavy blow, exploded with a thud, and burned on the grass surface that was more than meter in radius.

The Tang army shouted in unison on the city wall, but saw that the Uighur army had organized hundreds of people to hand over the buckets one by one, and then poured them into the burning place, and stabilized the fire in a short while.

After all, there are too few catapults. They launch one side and put out the fire there. If they continue to do this, they can only burn off a layer of the skin of Caoshan, which will not help the overall situation.
To be continued...