Three Kingdoms Eschatology

In the end, Segouliu was forced to retreat to the high ground again.Fortunately for Seguliu, Liang Jun did not take the opportunity to occupy Crescent Heights.

The mercenaries who had been tossing around in the middle of the night were tired and hot, and they all collapsed into the fortifications.Seguliu was worried that the Liang army would take the opportunity to attack at night, so he still kept some soldiers on guard all night.But at dawn the next day, Liang Jun did not come to attack Crescent Heights, and they still only besieged but did not attack.

Another whole day passed. Although there was no war on this day, it was the hardest and most desperate day for the Segulu mercenaries.Although they still have some food left, their water has long since run out.Without food, people can bear it, but without water, it is worse than death.

In the early morning, there were also mercenaries with large specially-made wooden shields, who ventured to the shore to fetch water.Then, with the sound of whooping, more than a dozen stone bullets hit, smashing the wooden shield and barrel, and several soldiers were killed on the spot.Then came arrows again, and they had no choice but to run back to the high ground scrambling.

After that, in order to prevent more casualties, Seguliu forbade the soldiers to venture to fetch water without permission, and he planned to send people to dive to the river to fetch water at night.In fact, without his military order, many mercenary soldiers would risk going to the river to drink water even if they knew they were close to death.Thirst is intolerable torture.

When the sun was setting, the soldiers of many mercenary regiments were dying, sitting or lying in the fortifications.Segouliu licked his chapped lips, poked his head out and looked around vigilantly.

Suddenly he saw a few soldiers of the Liang army marching towards the high ground, surrounded by a bald monk, and they were flying a white flag.Soon, the group was disarmed by the mercenaries on the high ground and brought before Seguliu.

This monk is naturally Zhu Shixing.As we all know, Buddhism was created by Sakyamuni, but it did not flourish for quite a long time.It was not until the time of Ashoka, the hero of the Maurya Dynasty, that Buddhism flourished under the vigorous promotion of the government.

Ashoka himself has a quarter of Greek blood, and one of the current official languages ​​of the sixteen kingdoms where Buddhism first spread is Gandhara.Greek sculpture art is also the basis of Buddhist sculpture art. Before Alexander's Eastern Expedition, there were no sculptures of Buddha statues.It can be seen from this that Greek culture has a close relationship with Buddhism.

It is not surprising that Zhu Shixing and other monks from Baima Temple mastered Greek.Naturally, Seguli's attitude towards Zhu Shixing was more respectful than ordinary people.

"This bhikkhu, Samana, if I'm not mistaken, you are here to persuade him to surrender." Seguliu slowed down his speech because he was afraid that the other party would not understand.

Although Zhu Shixing could understand Greek, he was not able to answer the questions fluently.It took him a second or two to comprehend what Segouliu said.

Just as Zhu Shixing was about to answer, Seguliu continued, "You don't need to waste any more time. The first creed of our Bactria mercenary regiment is to maintain our reputation with blood and life."

Zhu Shixing smiled and said: "Amituofo, the poor monk came here to prevent more souls from being caught in the flames of war and die innocently. I know your creed, as far as I know. You are the Lord of Hongshawadi. The deadline for Lava's service is approaching..."

Seguliu interrupted him and said: "Master is right. After today, the contract will end. But so what? Our mercenary group has a second creed, which is never to surrender. So, even if We will no longer serve Galava, and we will not surrender our weapons to you! We would rather die in battle than be captured as slaves."

Zhu Shixing continued Shi Shiran and said: "The general misunderstood, I am not here to persuade you to surrender."

Segouliu asked suspiciously: "Then what could it be for?"

"The king of Liang asked the poor monk to tell the general that he also hopes to reach an employment contract with you..."

When Seguliu heard this, he immediately made a gesture to silence Zhu Shixing, and said: "It is not appropriate for us to discuss business with you during the period when our employer is against you, and this is also damaging the reputation of our mercenary group." What's the matter. Let's talk about it after today."

Zhu Shixing thought for a while, and said goodbye to Seguliu: "That's fine, that poor monk will leave first."

"Wait!" When Zhu Shixing was about to turn around and take the people away, he was stopped by Seguliu, and Zhu Shixing stopped immediately, waiting for him to speak.Unexpectedly, Seguliu was stunned for a moment, hesitant to speak, and finally he waved his hand and said, "It's okay, let's go."

In fact, Seguli wanted Zhu Shixing to tell Feng Yu that when his men fetched water at night, he asked Liang Jungao to support his men.But he thought about it again, this move was essentially hooking up with Liang Jun, so the words came to his lips but he didn't say them.

The sun finally went down, and under Seguliu's order, the mercenaries sneaked to the edge of the river again, preparing to fetch water.Suddenly, more than a dozen groups of flames flashed across the river like meteors, reflecting their figures.

These mercenaries thought that Liang Jun was setting off incendiary bombs again, so they dodged around in fright.But some of these fire balls fell into the river, and some fell on the shore.It fell to the ground and continued to burn.A mercenary bravely took a closer look, and it turned out to be a rocket.Moreover, the arrow cluster of this arrow has been removed.

After Liang Jun released the rocket, there was no movement. The mercenaries quickly fetched water and retreated to the high ground.The soldiers who had been thirsty for a day drank more than a dozen buckets of water, and many people hadn't drunk it yet.

After they knew that Liang Jun would no longer kill those who fetched water, they rushed to the river with wooden buckets and water bags.Liang Jun still only cast rocket lighting, and did not attack.

The night passed quickly and peacefully.In the early morning of the second day, Seleucus saw a large group of soldiers from the Liang army coming to the front of the formation, surrounded by several people, one of whom was Zhu Shixing who came to "visit" him yesterday.

At this time, Zhu Shixing began to shout, and the fortress Guli came to the front of the battle to talk with Liang Junjun.Seguliu pondered for a while, and ordered to the left and right: "Pick a hundred elite soldiers to go with me to the talks, and the rest are ready to attack and break through the siege, and follow my orders!"

Chapter 274

When Seguliu came to the front of the battle, Liang Jun had already set up desks, stools and chairs in the open space.There are already several leading figures of Liang Jun sitting on the stools and chairs.

He swept his gaze over the people in front of him one by one, and finally settled on the one in the middle.This person is a young man about 26 to [-] years old. Judging by his attire and the position he is sitting in, he is the number one person in the opponent's camp.

The man stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture, motioning Segouliu to sit down.Seguli also took off his helmet politely, and asked the man, "Your Excellency is...?"

The man didn't need to wait for Zhu Shixing who was next to him to translate, he already guessed what the other person was asking, Shi Shiran replied: "Gu is Feng Yu, King of Liang."

After Zhu Shixing finished interpreting these words, Seguliu was taken aback. He never expected that the king of Liang Kingdom would come to Hongshawadi in person.

Seguliu was only surprised for a second or two, and he immediately returned to normal and said: "His Majesty the King of Liang, Zhu Shixing told you yesterday that he wanted to sign an employment contract with us. But the contract between us and Galawa yesterday It’s not over yet. So we can’t talk about it yet.”

After listening to Zhu Shixing's translation, Feng Yu nodded slightly and asked, "Can we talk today?"

"Today is fine, but our Bactrian mercenary group... only accepts agreements signed voluntarily and fairly by both parties."

Feng Yu became puzzled and asked, "Of course the agreement was signed voluntarily by both parties. What do you mean?"

"But now we are still under siege and coercion by your army. The contract negotiated under such circumstances is suspected of being forced to agree."

Feng Yu was stunned for a while, then laughed again, and ordered to the left and right: "The king's order of Chuangu, let our army's defense line in the south withdraw from the encirclement. If Seguliu's army passes through the southern passage, it must not be blocked. Zhu Shixing, general Gu's words are translated to Segouliu."

Just after Feng Yu finished speaking, Liang Jun generals on the left and right seemed to be blown up, and they all tried to persuade him.

"Your Majesty, you can't do it, this is clearly a trick!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we cannot let the tiger go back to the mountain."

"Your Majesty, I have something I wanted to say a long time ago. For these thousands of mercenaries, why bother you so much? Someone said that they should have been killed two days ago. The main force that can catch up with Galava."

Only Zhuge Liang was still waving his goose feather fan, thinking thoughtfully.

Feng Yu was not moved by the generals, his face sank and he said to the hesitant commander next to him: "What are you still doing in a daze, hurry up and deliver the order!"

Not long after, with the sound of drums and trumpets, there was a burst of noise from the south, and the soldiers of the Liang army blocking the southern end stepped aside from the road.Segouliu whispered a few words to a commanding soldier beside him.The latter took out a small flag and waved it towards the distance. The mercenaries on the Crescent Heights immediately lined up and retreated to the south.

At this moment, Segou Lifang said to Feng Yu: "Our Bactria mercenary regiment has a full strength of 2268 people. In addition to the soldiers you saw, we also have nearly a thousand cavalry, just because they are not suitable The climate in the south is hot and humid, so I didn’t bring it. Our employment quotation is 2000 Roman gold coins per week. This price is all-inclusive, and the employer does not need to worry about the transportation and supplies. Of course, long-distance transfers still need to be borne by the employer or extra allowance."

Feng Yu asked again: "Any additional conditions?"

"During the period of employment, the tasks given to us must not be suicidal tasks that are obviously impossible to complete. Otherwise, we have the right to refuse the employer's request. The specific details will be written in the contract."

"Of course, what is the longest period for your contract?"

Seguliu was taken aback when he heard this, and replied, "Our mercenary group does not have this restriction, but as far as I know, the longest time our ancestors were employed was five years."

Feng Yu smiled slightly and said, "Then let's make a five-year contract, but I don't have Roman gold coins to give you, so I can only pay you gold of the same weight and fineness, once a year, I wonder if it will work?"

Seguliu was taken aback when he heard Feng Yu's words. He didn't expect Feng Yu to hire his legion for such a long time.In fact, if it was a long-term contract, the price should be much cheaper. Feng Yu didn't want to even pay back the price, so he agreed to the price.

Segouliu was full of joy, but said calmly: "Your Majesty, of course there is no problem, all gold is the same in the world. It's just that there is..." Seguliu swallowed half of his words.

Feng Yu glanced at Seguliu, and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."

Seguliu said with a little embarrassment: "I hope His Majesty the King will not let us attack Galava immediately after hiring our army. Although this does not violate the creed and rules of our mercenary group, it does not conform to our traditional practices." .”

Feng Yu said with a chuckle: "No, I have no intention of asking you to fight Galava. Your first task now is to return to your territory and wait for my task there."

Seguliu was even more surprised now. It really happened to him that he just took money and did nothing.

However, according to the rules of their mercenary industry, they cannot inquire about the motives of their employers.So Segouliu didn't ask any more questions, and immediately asked someone to present a pen, ink and paper, and signed a bilingual employment contract with Feng Yu in Chinese and Greek.

Feng Yu waved his hand, and dozens of soldiers of the Liang Army came over carrying two large wooden boxes. When they opened it, they were filled with two boxes of golden cakes.Segouliu knew at a glance that the two boxes of gold were more or less than the more than 11 gold coins.

After the handover, Feng Yu said again: "Your legion can temporarily garrison outside Mande City. After the battle in Hongshawadi is over, there will be ships to take you home. In addition, you said that you are the Lions , Does this mean that you are not just your family of mercenaries?"

Seguliu replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, we have three mercenary regiments, the Goshawk regiment and the Tiger regiment. But we are all descendants of Bactria."

Feng Yu nodded and said, "After you go back, please tell the leaders of the other two legions that I am willing to sign the same employment contract with them."

After Seguliu left, the generals around Feng Yu were still muttering in low voices. They didn't understand Feng Yu's intention, why he spent a lot of money to "support" this mercenary group thousands of miles away from the Han territory.Feng Yu glanced at Zhuge Liang beside him, and asked with a smile, "Does Kong Ming know Gu's intention?"

Zhuge Liang bowed his body and said: "The king has lofty aspirations, and the cost of maintaining such an elite army and stronghold in Guishuang is only to spend two boxes of gold every year. It is really a bargain."

The old Yan Yan next to him curled his lips and said: "But they are not the king's own people after all, they are different from us stationing troops in person!"

Chapter 275

After listening to Yan Yan's words, Feng Yu laughed and said: "The credit guarantee of the Seleucid Legion - as long as you pay them on time, you can use them as your own. Just now Seguliu asked us to withdraw from the siege, and Gu agreed. Orphan is not taking a gamble, but testing their credit again!"

Zhuge Liang praised: "The king is wise. What is the king's plan now?"

Feng Yu lowered his expression solemnly, and said loudly to the people around him: "Soldiers, I order you to send troops to Sawady City immediately, drive the Zhuluo people out of Hongshawadi completely, and merge the whole territory of Hongshawadi into the city. In the territory of our country of Liang, open up the frontiers for our Han land. This is the time for you to make contributions." The soldiers of the surrounding Liang army immediately agreed.

……

On the north side of Shawadi City, Liang Jun came to the city again, the difference is that this time the troops are much more powerful than last time.For the attack on Sawady this time, Feng Yu gathered five thousand infantry and one thousand war elephants. The airships that were originally only used for transporting luggage were also pulled by more than a dozen war elephants.

There are hundreds of Viking warships distributed in the Dulong River waterway and various rivers and lakes.Some warships also entered the ocean, and even sneaked into the port of Shawady to harass.

Around Shawadi City, Liang Jun scouts riding southern war horses and war elephants can also be seen from time to time.Even in some dense forests around, Liang Jun's mountain scouts were still active.

Although Sawady has not yet been besieged, it has already been cut off from internal and external connections.In the once prosperous and busy Shawady Port, it is almost difficult to see the shadow of merchant ships.

Out of ten scouts sent out by Galava, only one returned safely.Galawa knew that he was at the end of his rope, and he could only sigh and sigh every day, but he was helpless.

The day of Liang Jun's general attack finally came.On this day, the leaves of the coconut trees on the beach were motionless, and the sea was as calm as a small pond.

The defenders of Sawady City were stretching out their heads and looking at Liang Jun, who was gathering troops in the distance, but heard strange chi-chi noises coming from the air.

They looked up.I saw more than a dozen huge mountain-like monsters suspended in the air. Some of them had seen this thing before and knew it was a Liang Jun airship.But unlike usual, this airship is not pulled by elephants or horses, but moves slowly by itself.From time to time, puffs of "smoke" are emitted from the back of their tails.

The Zhuluo crossbowmen at the top of the city opened their bows and fired arrows, and the arrows shot towards the airships, but the arrows were still far away from the airships and fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a group of arrows from the airship shot towards the city.This is a heavy arrow shot by a longbowman, and the target is mainly the crossbowmen who set up and manipulate the ballista at the top of the city.

These crossbowmen themselves did not wear armor, and under the precise and heavy arrows, they were shot into hedgehogs one by one by random arrows.The survivors hurriedly searched for a place to hide.

Taking advantage of the screams and wailing at the top of the city, the Liang Army crossbowmen under the city pushed the cannon carts, and under the cover of the gun shield soldiers, they approached the city wall within [-] battles and began to throw various projectiles at the top of the city.

Some ballista players braved the rain of arrows, adjusted the ballista, and tried to bombard the approaching Liang army ballista.One of the ballistas had just picked up a stone bullet and wanted to put it in the bullet pocket, when a heavy arrow shot into his chest in an instant, and the stone ball fell to the ground and hit the other ballista's foot.

Before the latter could howl, a "fireball" was unbiased and landed on the ground of the city wall near them.A raging flame soared into the sky, turning the nearby Zhuluo soldiers into firemen, and engulfing the ballista in the raging flames.

Most of the ballistas were killed by the longbowmen on the airship before they had time to fight back.The ballistas under the city became more and more accurate. In the end, a large part of the city was covered in flames, and most of the ballistas were destroyed.At this time, the defenders at the top of Shawadi city had no choice but to be beaten, and they had no power to fight back.

"Boom" With a loud noise, the city wall of Sawady began to shake slightly.It turned out that Liang Jun's counterweight trebuchets began to bombard the city wall, and the huge boulders bombarded the city wall one after another.

The ballista under the city moved forward another ten distances, and began to throw projectiles into the city.The airship also slowly "floated" over the city of Sawady, and the longbowman in the airship shot at any target in the city at will.

Zhu Luo's army on the north wall had run away, and the defenders on the other walls and in the city were also in chaos.They all looked for places where they could cover themselves, trying their best to avoid arrows and ballista projectiles.Some places in the city started to catch fire.

Under the continuous bombardment of giant catapults, cracks began to appear in the northern city wall.An hour later, a section of the city wall that lasted more than twenty battles finally collapsed with a series of loud noises.Dust rose into the air and mixed with the smoke from the fire, covering most of the city.

Outside the city, Liang Jun's spear and shield soldiers, who had already formed an offensive formation, began to advance towards the gap.The crossbowmen of the Liang Army, the longbowmen on the ground, and the longbowmen in the airship all concentrated their arrows on the back of the gap in the city wall.Do cover projections to clear the way for the gun and shield soldiers.

When the spear and shield soldiers crossed the ruins in formation, the dust settled and dispersed, and they realized that the Zhu Luo soldiers did not gather behind the ruins for defense.

On the ground behind the ruins of the gap, there were only dozens of scattered corpses of Zhu Luo soldiers.In fact, the Zhu Luo army in the city was in chaos at this time, and it was impossible to carry out a large-scale organized counterattack.

Only when the spear and shield soldiers entered the city and divided into several groups to advance along the street, a few groups of Zhu Luo soldiers led by low and middle-ranking generals made weak resistance.These resistances can often be smashed by spear shield soldiers with a round of javelin projection.

At the same time when the soldiers of the Liang army entered the city of Sawady, hundreds of Viking warships also entered the port of Sawady in the south of the city. in the city.

All of a sudden, there were killing sounds in the city and the sound of weapons clashing everywhere.Half an hour later, there was no more organized resistance in Shawadi City. Zhu Luo's soldiers sneaked into the houses to hide.

The sound of fighting in the city gradually subsided, and groups of Zhu Luo prisoners were escorted and walked through the streets of the city.More Liang troops marched into the city.

After Zhang Ren and Yan Yan, who commanded the battle ahead, confirmed that the city was basically under control, Feng Yu, surrounded by a large group of soldiers, entered the city of Sawady on a war elephant.He entered the "royal palace" of Galava, only to know that Galava had taken poison and died when the city was broken.

Feng Yu looked at Jialawa's body and his group of weeping and poisonous concubines, sighed and said, "Give him an honorable burial as a king, and put these concubines in the Liang Palace in Yibin for the time being."

Then, surrounded by all the generals, Feng Yu climbed onto the tower.He looked at the ocean to the west, and a wider world unfolded before his eyes.

Chapter 276 Treaty Port Tenglong City

In Sawady Port, the western-style bell for telling the time rang.One after another, people came out of various dwellings, trembling towards the "royal palace" in Galawa in the city.

The day before, Liang Jun had sent notices to various commercial firms in Sawady City, ordering them to gather at the "Royal Palace" within the specified time to listen to Feng Yu's edict.

These merchants came from various countries, some from Anxi and Guishuang, some from the Southeast Islands, Funan Kingdom, some from Rome, and even several caravan representatives from Abyssinia, Marin and other countries on both sides of the Red Sea. .Of course, among them, most of them are local businesses in Zhuluo.

They thought that Feng Yu summoned them to hold hostages and extort money.Everyone's heart was up and down, especially those Zhuluo businessmen, they were even more panicked.

Unexpectedly, when they entered the "royal palace" to take a look, they found that there had been a banquet prepared long ago. Although it was not very rich, it was enough to show that the King Liang of the Han Kingdom from the north had no malicious intentions.

After the merchants were seated, a person surrounded by his followers stepped out from the back hall. He was dressed in a Han-style dress, a brocade robe and a jade belt, and his face was majestic.Needless to say, this person must be Liang Wang Feng Yu, and all the merchants stood up and saluted Feng Yu with their own different customs.

Feng Yu was not impolite, he sat on the throne of Galava and said: "Everyone, I summoned you here today just to explain one thing to you. In Shawady Port, unless you are in the local To open a store and set up a station, you have to pay a certain management tax, and all other taxes are exempted.”

After listening to the translation by the translator, everyone in the hall was overjoyed and thanked Feng Yu again.

But then Feng Yu waved his hand and said: "But there is one thing, your caravan and goods can only go as far as Sawady, and you are not allowed to go further inland!"

After everyone heard this, the joy that had just climbed up their faces disappeared without a trace.A blond and blue-eyed Roman merchant boldly asked: "Your Majesty, thank you for your generosity and exempting us from taxes. But we came here because the original Rahal and Galava ..."

He paused at this point, observing Feng Yu's expression.Feng Yu waved his hand casually and said, "If you have something to say, just say it, I will never punish you for offending you with your words."

With Feng Yu's words, the Roman businessman felt relieved, rearranged his language, and continued:

"As we all know, this Hongshawadi is a barren land. There is no population and market. The trade route leading to Funan Kingdom and the rest of the southeastern islands is directly connected by sea, and there is no need to transit there. At the beginning, Rahal claimed that... the territory would be divided Open up to the territory of Han. Along the way, it will become a city with a large population. It is for this reason that we expand our business here, and we hope to open up a business route that is faster than the northern Silk Road."

"Although the Zhuluo people failed to achieve this in the end, they were defeated by your majesty's army instead. But for us merchants, the result is the same. We don't care who controls the ruling trade routes, as long as we can ensure the stability of the trade routes. Yes. But now His Majesty says that we are not allowed to go further inland for business, so we have no reason to come to Sawady Port again."

A dark-skinned, gray-bearded businessman from Abyssinia also said: "Yes, although the trade route was not fully opened before, there are still hundreds of thousands of Chola immigrants in Hongsavady. Small businesses like ours We can still do it. But now that the King of Liang has issued an edict to deport all these Zhuluo immigrants back to the mainland, we can’t continue this small business, so we can only go back home.”