Ping City, where the Han army was stationed.
Rather than calling it a city, it was more like a simple pass made of mud.
Whether it was in terms of size or the sturdiness of the city walls, Ping City was far inferior to Dingxiang City, which was built entirely of stone and had walls that were ten feet tall.
The northern city wall of Ping City was now in ruins.
A section of the wall near the west had even collapsed under the continuous charge of the Xiongnu cavalry.
Right now, what was blocking the way was a dismantled tank frame.
"Kill them!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill!
Near the city wall, the sounds of battle were endless.
The Han army and the Xianbei army fought each other.
After days of fighting, Ping Cheng was like a meat grinder.
Countless dead bodies and wounded were strewn all over the battlefield.
If they died in battle, it would be fine, but if they were injured, they would die under the trampling of the Xianbei cavalry or the arrows of the Han soldiers before they could even be rescued.
On the city wall, Zhang He's armor had been destroyed in the previous battles.
The current him was only wearing a layer of leather armor worn by ordinary military officers.
But even so, his leather armor was already covered in scars.
Looking at the Xianbei cavalry charging at him like a tide, Zhang He couldn't rest.
He tightened his grip on the sword in his hand and led his personal guards to charge towards the weakest point of the defense.
"Kill them!"
Zhang He's body could not be considered tall, but his voice was like thunder.
He charged into the Xianbei soldiers and stabbed out with his sword. The Xianbei soldiers were no match for him.
It was also because of his leadership that the Han soldiers were able to hold off the Xianbei army's charge when faced with a cavalry that outnumbered them by several times.
Six hours later.
As the sun set, the Xianbei soldiers who had been fighting for half a day finally retreated.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
“……”
The sound of armor clashing could be heard as the Han soldiers guarding the city sat down on the ground, disregarding their image.
His face was filled with the joy of surviving the battle.
Zhang He did not choose to rest.
Instead, he held a longsword in his hand and looked north of the Great Wall in the dark.
Looking at the bonfire of the non-humankind in the distance, he said without turning his head,""Zhang Zheng, count the remaining soldiers after today's battle!”
Zhang Zheng was Zhang He's clan brother and also his deputy general.
Upon hearing Zhang He's order, the deputy general, Zhang Zheng, who was slightly younger than Zhang He, did not dare to hesitate. He immediately led a few lightly injured Han officers down to count.
An hour later, Zhang Zheng appeared behind Zhang He with a bitter look on his face.
"General, after half a month of killing!”
"Currently, there are only 14,000 soldiers left in Ping City. Among them, there are about 13,000 soldiers who can fight.”
Such a casualty ratio was not normal!
But Zhang Zhengming knew that there was no problem with the number he reported.
It was impossible for anyone who was injured to survive the second day in this endless battlefield.
Most of the time, before they could die from their injuries, they would have already died on the battlefield against the Xianbei.
And the vast majority of the 1,000 or so Han soldiers who had lost their combat power were killed in the battle today.
Zhang He nodded slightly when he heard the number.
"30,000 people, to be able to kill 13,000 people after half a month of Xianbei's 200,000 strong army, that's not bad!”
"Our casualties are high, but the Xianbei army also lost many soldiers.”
As one of the Five Generals, Zhang He was not stupid enough to gather all 50,000 Han soldiers in Ping City, which was less than a few miles in radius.
Behind Ping City, in the southeast and southwest directions, there were two Han army camps with 10,000 soldiers each.
The three of them supported each other.
It was also through this method that Zhang He forced the leader of the Xianbei tribe in the north, Bu Du, to not dare to bypass Ping City and head south to the Central Plains.
Otherwise, if Bu Dugen dared to do that…
Of course, he could plunder freely in the Han territory.
However, after the looting, he would have to face the triangular defense line of Ping City that Zhang He had constructed with his 50,000-strong army.
At that time, it would be easier to attack and defend!
Even if Bu Dugen wanted to bring the Han people back to the desert, he had to see if Zhang He, who had cut off their retreat, would agree.
If the Central Plains army came to support them from the north, it was not impossible for the two hundred thousand Xianbei soldiers to die in the Han territory under Zhang He's pincer attack.
"General, there seems to be someone coming from the other side!”
Zhang Zheng, the deputy general who noticed the torch in the distance, reminded his elder brother Zhang He.
Zhang He looked down the city wall as the people approached.
With the help of the light, Zhang He finally saw the face of the person.
"Zhang He, do you still recognize me?”
The man looked at Zhang He, who was staring at him from the top of the city wall, and shouted.
There was a hint of arrogance in his tone.
It was as if Zhang He was only his subordinate or servant.
At this moment, there was an uproar among the soldiers of Ping City.
A soldier even let out a low cry," It's the Third Young Master!”
"Why is Third Young Master here?”
“……”
Zhang He did not panic at all when he heard the low voice.
The soldiers under his command were mostly from the Jizhou Army that had been reorganized after Yuan Shao's defeat. If he did not recognize Yuan Shao's favorite son, Zhang He would be surprised.
Below, the person heard the exclamations from the top of the city wall, and his voice was filled with faint complacency.
"Do the soldiers of my Yuan Clan still recognize me, Yuan Shang?”
Yuan Shang no longer concealed his name and directly said it.
The moment he said that, the commotion among the Han soldiers in Ping City intensified.
"Buzz!"
The sound of something breaking through the air rang out.
In the next moment.
An arrow narrowly brushed past his cheek.
Touching the wound on his cheek, Yuan Shang was shocked and looked at the archer in disbelief.
On the city wall, Zhang He put away his bow and stood.
"Third Young Master, Zhang He won't kill you with this arrow!”
"But if you open your mouth and want to persuade me to open the door and surrender, you Yuan brothers will become the Xianbei's minions, traitors and lackeys, then…"
"Zhang He will kill you!"
After saying that, Zhang He drew his sword and cut his palm. He swore to the Heavenly Alliance,""The heavens above, the thick earth is the witness!"
"Soldiers, take a look!"
"If I, Zhang He, betray the Great Han Dynasty and become a traitor, I will die an unnatural death on the battlefield.”
"Boom!"
As soon as Zhang He finished speaking, it was as if heaven and earth had sensed it. A muffled thunder suddenly sounded in the distant sky.
"The gods have appeared!"
"Did the heavens hear the general's oath?”
“……”
The tens of thousands of Han soldiers in Ping City were in an uproar.
In this era where ghosts and gods were worshipped, everyone looked at Zhang He as if he was a god.
However, it was undeniable that their hearts were no longer shaken by this sudden attack.
Zhuge Mu was not here.
If he had seen this scene, he would have patted Zhang He's shoulder and said,"
"General Zhang He, you can't make an oath carelessly. What if it comes true one day?”
PS: The term traitor began in the early Han Dynasty to resist the Hu people, and it was used in the Song Dynasty to resist the Jin Dynasty.
Revived in the late Qing Dynasty when the foreign powers invaded China, flourished in the puppet Manchuria and the Anti-Japanese War!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。