"Wait!"
Xun Er stopped the restless bandits and said to Gao Qingshan, "The White River Stronghold doesn't have a chief. I will now officially appoint you as the chief of the White River Stronghold. Immediately bring some men to the stronghold. If there are enemies, you must repel them!"
Gao Qingshan said excitedly, "Yes! As long as Gao Qingshan is alive, don't even think about letting an enemy step into our stronghold. Don't worry, Miss! "After Gao Qingshan finished speaking, he picked up his steel saber and rushed to the stronghold.
Xun Er turned to Yang Fan and said in a low voice, "What's going on?"
Yang Fan said, "How would I know? You should understand that this has nothing to do with me. As an imperial envoy, I have no reason to be a spy. Moreover... "
Yang Fan coldly swept his eyes over the aggressive soldiers and said, "What's there to spy on in this stronghold? If you hadn't arrived just in time, I would have been killed by these reckless fellows. What could I have found out? "
Xun Er snorted, "That's fine. Whatever you want to discuss with my father, we can talk about it later. Right now, your soldiers have already attacked the base of my stronghold. Make them retreat first! "
Yang Fan said, "Those are not my soldiers, they are Huang Jingrong's soldiers! I want to see your esteemed father for something important. Now that you have pushed me to the stronghold wall, the soldiers outside may not believe me. If news of me being here is exposed, it won't be a good thing for you! "
Xun Er said coldly, "I don't know what tricks you court officials are playing, but since you say you are the imperial envoy supervising Huang Jingrong, why can't you retreat? He, the imperial envoy, has sent his soldiers, but you, the imperial envoy, can't retreat? If that's the case, what's there to discuss with you? This is a war, do you think it's a joke? Every moment you delay will mean more casualties in our stronghold. Are you going to retreat or not? "
Yang Fan said, "Miss Xun Er, it's not that I don't want to retreat, but..."
Xun Er interrupted him and ordered the soldiers with a cold face, "Drag him to the stronghold wall. If the officials don't retreat, behead this imperial envoy!"
"Miss Xun Er..."
Before Yang Fan could finish his words, he was rudely pushed out by the villagers.
At the foot of the mountain was Wen Hao's army. After Wu Man and Bai Man joined forces to trap his Yao Prefecture City, Wen Hao didn't dare to continue fighting and immediately escaped. When the army of the imperial court arrived, he returned to Yao Prefecture City.
In this battle, there were casualties on all sides. Now that White Man and Black Man had retreated, Wen Hao's morale was greatly boosted. His subordinates' cries for revenge grew louder. Wen Hao had no choice but to put on a show to appease his subordinates. He could not command the troops and horses of the imperial court, but he was confident that with the imperial court's Three Guards in Yaozhou, he did not have to worry about the rear, so he ordered his subordinates to attack the White River Stockade Village to vent his anger.
When Yang Fan arrived at the stronghold, the two sides were fighting fiercely. Although the mountain was dangerous, the walls of the stronghold were not high. Furthermore, the walls were built against the mountain, so they could be built however they wanted. Thus, they were not suitable for defending the city. Thus, the two sides did not have any necessary siege weapons or defensive weapons.
For long-range attacks, they used bows and arrows and bamboo spears, while for close combat, they used sabers, spears, swords, and halberds. Both sides were basically like this. The attacking side had the advantage in numbers, while the defending side had a certain geographical advantage. Thus, the two sides reached a temporary equilibrium.
Yang Fan was brought to the top of the stronghold. One of the stronghold guards covered his mouth and shouted a few words to the people below. In the end, the soldiers did not stop attacking the stronghold. Instead, they attracted a volley of arrows. The few stronghold guards panicked and hurriedly dodged. Yang Fan's hands were tied behind his back, and no one helped him block the arrows. Fortunately, Yang Fan was nimble. With a flip, he dodged behind a huge rock.
A few of the villagers also squeezed over, and one of them said suspiciously, "It seems like they don't give you any face as an imperial envoy?"
Yang Fan said, "My identity is a secret, so how could ordinary soldiers know? If you want a temporary truce here, how would you do it? "
The village leader said, "You're an imperial envoy, yet you don't even know this. Raise a white flag."
Yang Fan was overjoyed and said, "So the flag for a temporary truce here is also a white flag. Then quickly find a piece of white cloth and ask them to temporarily stop fighting. Only then can I call their generals to come forward and talk to them."
The village leader curled his lips and said, "You think we can stop fighting just because you say so? Unless the chief gives the order. "
Yang Fan said angrily, "Then go find your chief and give the order. How can I talk to them when you guys are killing each other like this?"
The village leader hesitated for a moment, then said to the others, "You guys keep a close eye on him, I'll go find the chief!" After saying this, he bent down and went to find Gao Qingshan.
Yang Fan turned around and looked down from the big rock. The attacking soldiers were wearing the Tang army's uniform, but their weapons and equipment were the weapons used by the local armed forces. Narrow and short sabers, and light rattan shields. The standard weapons of the Tang dynasty were indeed not necessarily suitable for the terrain here.
While they were blocking the arrows that were shot at them, they used the ravines and strange rocks as cover and slowly made their way towards the walls of the village. The walls were not high, not even twenty feet high. A few bamboo ladders were placed on the walls and were about a meter away from the top of the wall. They did not stick their heads out to avoid being pushed down, but as long as they could climb up the ladders, they only needed to flip over a meter high and they would be able to cross over.
While Yang Fan was watching, some fresh troops suddenly ran out from the village and joined the defense. The defense of the village was immediately tightened. Yang Fan turned his head and saw a soldier running towards him.
This was really a soldier, a soldier in full military uniform. The people guarding the stronghold were all wearing ordinary knock-off clothing. Occasionally, a few of them would wear a set of two-piece rattan armor that covered their chest and back. However, the person running to his side was wearing a very rare sleeve armor.
It was said to be rare because this kind of standard armor was very old. Yang Fan had never seen such armor in the Tang dynasty army. If he remembered correctly, he seemed to have seen soldiers wearing this kind of armor in some ancient murals when he was in the Western Region. Was that the Qin dynasty or the Han dynasty?
The person's armor was made of small pieces of tortoiseshell pattern armor on the chest and back. The shoulders were equipped with iron sleeve armor and a leather belt was tied around the waist. On the head was a 'hood' and on the top of the helmet was a red mink tassel. Although the style of the armor was simple and unadorned, it was polished and maintained very well. Under the sunlight, it flashed with a metallic luster and was very textured.
The person wearing the armor and helmet was very beautiful. She had a jade face and red lips, bright eyes and white teeth. When a woman was wearing a military uniform, she was indeed very beautiful. Even if she wore the hard armor, with a wide belt around her waist, it could still show off the soft and beautiful curves of her waist.
Xun Er ran to Yang Fan's side and glared at him. "What are you looking at?"
Yang Fan laughed dryly and said, "Miss Xun Er … Wearing this armor, you look valiant and formidable, truly very awe-inspiring!"
Xun Er proudly said, "Of course!"
Yang Fan said, "It's just that … your armor looks a little old. These pieces of armor, this helmet … although they are well maintained, looking at the marks on them, I'm afraid they are quite old. And the style of this armor, I've been in the army before, but why haven't I seen it before? Could it be that this is the armor of the Qin Dynasty?"
"Nonsense!"
Xun Er could roughly tell that Yang Fan was not praising her but ridiculing her. A faint blush appeared on her flawless white face. She straightened her battle skirt and proudly said, "This is the 'Marquis Wu Armor'. Have you heard of it? This is the armor improved by Zhuge Marquis Wu. Back then, my Xun clan's ancestor helped Prime Minister Zhuge capture Meng Huo seven times and made a great contribution. The Shu Han Emperor personally conferred me the title of Chieftain and bestowed me with a hundred sets of armor improved by Zhuge Marquis Wu. Every generation of Chieftain of my Xun clan has to bring a set with them when they pass away. Nowadays, there are not many left in this world. It took me a long time before my father finally gave me a set. "
Yang Fan coughed twice and said, "If you can persuade your father to cooperate with me, I will gift you a set of Radiant Armor in the future."
Xun Er wrinkled her nose and said, "You want to bribe me? This is a gift from Zhuge Marquis Wu to my clan. Can you compare to Zhuge Marquis Wu? "
Yang Fan said, "In terms of fame and ability, of course I can't compare to Zhuge Liang. But my Radiant Armor is better than his sleeve armor."
Xun Er snorted disdainfully and said, "I don't care!"
She raised her head to look down the mountain. Just as she raised her head, an arrow flew over and hit her helmet with a 'dang' sound. Xun Er cried out and quickly pulled her head back. Only then did she realize that the imperial envoy she was using to force the soldiers to retreat was chatting with her as if nothing had happened.
Xun Er angrily placed her sharp scabbard on Yang Fan's neck and asked, "Why are they still fighting?"
Yang Fan said, "This side is fighting hovering between life and death. Who has the leisure to listen to what the people above are shouting? I've already sent someone to inform your chief, asking him to stop fighting for now and wait for them to stop before we discuss anything else. However, if I appear now, I'm afraid it won't be of much use. Huang Jingrong and I don't get along well and he is unscrupulous … "
Xun Er withdrew her sword and turned her face away. She said, "If you don't appear, after this battle, there will be many more deaths in the stronghold. There will be many more orphans and widows. No matter what, we have to try!"
Yang Fan sighed softly.
After a while, Gao Qingshan rushed over. After getting Xun Er's approval, he raised a white flag.
The white flag represented a temporary ceasefire on the ancient battlefield. The person supervising the battle at the foot of the mountain was the head steward of Wenhao tribe, Ling Potian. Wenhao was the chieftain of his tribe and also the military governor of Yaozhou. As the head steward, he had two identities. He was both Wenhao's head steward and Wenhao's military major.
Ling Potian sat on a big rock and was supervising the battle with his saber. Suddenly, he saw a white flag waving left and right. He couldn't help but stand up and asked in bewilderment, "Could it be that they want to surrender?"
Ling Potian shouted, "Truce! Truce! Let's see what they have to say. "
Dang, dang, dang. The Yun clansmen who were attacking the mountain immediately retreated when they heard the gong. Steward Ling took a few steps forward and caught up with two soldiers on his left and right. They used vine shields that were as tall as a person to protect him.
Ling Potian covered his mouth with his hand and shouted towards the stronghold, "Are you guys going to surrender?"
Gao Qingshan shouted, "Bullsh * t! I have one standing and one lying down. I won't do such a spineless thing! "
Ling Potian said angrily, "Then what are you waving the white flag for? Are you trying to make fun of me?"
Gao Qingshan said, "I'll let you know that your imperial envoy has already been captured by us. You guys quickly withdraw your troops. Otherwise, I will chop off his head!"
Chief Steward Ling was secretly shocked. He thought, "How did Huang Jingrong get captured by them? Could it be that their people have sneaked into Yaozhou City? "
On the stronghold, after Gao Qingshan finished shouting, he pulled Yang Fan out and pushed him in front of him.
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