Strictly speaking, Puban City was the first fortified city that Li Po needed to attack since he started his army.
In the past, Jinyang and Zhuojun were all strong cities in the world, but Li Po led his troops to attack them. They all came to the city and the city was already in his hands. However, cities like Mayi, Yanmen, Linfen, Jiangjun, etc. were all
Among those who fell upon hearing the news.
Only the previous battle in Jiexiu could be regarded as an attack on the city, but speaking of it, it was not a real strong attack. Tens of thousands of Tang troops gathered in a small area, and there were many contradictions inside. In addition, the Tang army generals’ wrong judgment of the situation all
This made Jiexiu's battle impossible to include in the storming of the city.
Puban was completely different. The Tang army and the Puban garrison were stationed at the top of the city, and most of the generals were focused on defending the city.
Outside, there was a large Tang army stationed on the other side of the Yellow River, so they were not alone.
Therefore, Li Po was very patient at the beginning of his siege.
First, I thought about carefully leveling the moat of Puban. If it were two years ago, this would definitely be a life-threatening job, and it would be very difficult, because the moat of Puban was repaired during the reign of Emperor Wen Yang Jian, and it extends to the Yellow River.
The water channel coming out is connected. In fact, it is part of the channel from Kansai to Jin.
Therefore, Puban's moat is very wide and contains running water. If you want to fill it in, it will take a lot of effort.
Fortunately, there is no shortage of engineering talents under Li Po now.
He Chou's two disciples observed the celestial phenomena and the water conditions, and finally started work with their men. In six days, they first sealed the Yellow River waterway, then dug three ditches around Puban City.
After some big pits and finally a few loud noises, the water from Puban's moat flowed out, forming several canals and ponds around Puban.
Then the soldiers who had been waiting for a long time swarmed forward, holding large wooden shelters and carrying earth bags, and soon filled the dry moat into flat ground.
In the past few days, Li Po watched the entire process on a hill. He was able to interpret what Li Jing quoted from Sun Tzu's Art of War in the Art of War: first attack with troops, then attack with enemies, then attack with troops again, and then attack the city.
The statement has a deeper interpretation.
Siege warfare is the most helpless strategic and tactical choice for the leader. How much manpower and material resources it will consume. He has witnessed it once before Liaodong City, and it was demonstrated to him again under Puban City this time.
Therefore, the fall of the great cities in the Central Plains is a concrete manifestation of internal and external troubles, and there must be people who open the city and surrender for the sake of the people. If everyone works together to defend the city, there is almost no possibility of the fall of those strong cities in the Central Plains.
In other words, no matter how strong the city wall is, it cannot be relied upon. The most important thing is the human heart. If the people are united, they can unite in the wilderness. If the people are separated, no matter how high or thick the city wall is, it will be in vain.
Under the fluttering banner of the sun, moon and stars, Li Po turned to look to the west and felt that the Tang army on the other side was too quiet and had too few troops. Was this trying to tempt him to forcefully cross the river before capturing Puban City?
Li Po shook his head and smiled. If that was true, Li Er would have underestimated him, Li Po.
Of course, he did not forget to criticize Li Yuan, thinking that Li Yuan was too lucky to rush into Chang'an City so easily.
Look at how hard it was to attack the city from the beginning to the end. Look at Li Mi. He walked around the city of Luoyang so many times. You went to attack Chang'an with only a few troops, but you managed to get in without much trouble.
Okay, how useless do you think the people in Chang'an City must be?
When we reach Chang'an City in the future, will we also rush in?
The emperor had always seemed far away from him, but the Yellow River was rushing past in front of his eyes. It only took less than a day to reach Chang'an City after crossing the Yellow River. At such a moment, the word emperor finally became clear in Li Po's heart.
It stood up and exuded endless temptation like a devil's smile.
Looking at the densely packed army tents under the hillock, looking at the war flags of various ministries flying like a forest over the camp... The surging and powerful heartbeat seemed to remind him that the position of the Lord of the World was not out of reach, but was actually already within reach.
It was placed there lightly, maybe if he just put more effort, he could sit on it.
His eyes fell again on the head of Puban City in the distance. The flag of the Tang Army floating above finally brought him back to reality from his imagination. Let's finish this battle first. Being extremely pragmatic, he easily threw away those thoughts.
Temptation, kicking the devil into the corner.
Shi Shiran took the horse's reins and smiled and said to the people around him: "After this battle, the foundation has been established. Everyone still needs to work hard. We still have a long road ahead, don't you think?"
The sounds of banging on the breastplate suddenly became one, and the generals around him all understood that the siege was about to begin. As the last battle that the general manager had mentioned repeatedly, the importance of this battle was already in the hearts of all the generals.
Infinitely raised.
Li Po then ordered: "Instruct all the generals of the Weifu to come to the Central Army to discuss matters tonight."
Indeed, Pu Ban's moat has been filled in, the siege equipment has been prepared, and there is nothing to worry about morale. All that is left is the final step to siege the city.
Li Po is bound to win Puban City. He will not leave such a bridgehead for the Tang army to land together, because there are still some people behind him waiting for him to clean up, and there are still many things to do. He has been fighting and entangled with Li Tang for years, and
It's not a situation he wants to see, although Chang'an has been exuding a good smell and looks very delicious.
But having calmed down on the bank of the Yellow River, he felt that this was not the best time to attack Guanzhong. Even if he was as lucky as Li Yuan to capture the city of Chang'an, what kind of complicated situation would he be in?
There are enemies everywhere outside, and they will definitely attack him while his foothold is not stable. The Tang troops scattered in Guanxi and various places in Shu will definitely form various separatist forces, and the intricate aristocrats in Chang'an City are enough for him.
Have a drink.
Just like now, he and Li Tang are constantly fighting. How many people are watching the excitement? How many people are benefiting from it?
For example, Wang Shichong, Xiao Mian, Liang Shidu, Li Gui, just like Dugu Huaien, fighting so fiercely is like the rhythm of marrying someone else.
So Li Po felt that it was time to stop and think of other ways to change this situation.
Of course, again, we need to capture Puban first and block the way for the Tang army to cross the river. At the same time, we have to give Li Erji a stick, otherwise this guy is jumping around and he might sneak over to him again.
Come on for a while.
……………………
The next day, the entire army marched out and was immediately divided into two groups. One was led by Chen Yuan and Zhang Lun to attack Puban North City, and the other was led by Li Po himself to attack the East City.
Yuchi and his troops were stationed at the beach of the Yellow River to prevent the Tang army from crossing the river to aid Puban.
The weather was very good on this day. The sky was clear and the sun rose from the east. The sunlight shone directly on the earth, making all living creatures feel the breath of spring.
But on the bank of the Yellow River, there were fireworks and the smell of war smoke became stronger and stronger.
Many pillars of smoke rose in Puban City. It was the defenders in the city who were making preparations to defend the city. Above the city, the noisy voices of the defenders could be heard far away. People's figures were running back and forth on the city wall, and soldiers rushed up one after another.
The city wall gradually formed an array on the city wall.
The siege army outside the city lined up in rows, marching forward slowly with neat steps. Orders came and went, and soon the army stopped outside the range of the defenders at the top of the city.
The officers shouted loudly in the queue, doing the final pre-battle mobilization to boost the morale of the soldiers.
General Wei's battle flag kept moving, and finally stopped in front of his troops. The orderly siege army put great pressure on the defenders.
The rumors that Li Ding'an's troops were invincible and invincible had continued to affect the morale of the defenders in these days. In addition, in the past few days, they watched the wide moat being filled to the ground by the enemy in an orderly manner.
This put great pressure on the defenders, so when it came time to actually fight, all the defenders became timid.
But then a burst of cheers erupted from the top of the East City. The Dugu family's battle flag moved up to the top of the city and was placed high on the arrow tower at the top of the city. The young Dugu Yanyun personally guarded the East City, and at the beginning
He showed his intention to join the city in peril, and went to the top of the city to defend the city with everyone.
Dugu Yanyun is different from Jiang Yuyi. He has a reputation for bravery among the Dugu clan, and he also has the determination and courage to go into battle to kill the enemy. Strictly speaking, this is a typical disciple of the Kansai clan.
.
He is brave and good at fighting, and is extremely eager to use the blood of his enemies to prove his worth.
When he came to the enemy in person and raised the sword in his hand, the morale and fighting enthusiasm of Tang's soldiers were instantly aroused. They raised their weapons one after another and beat their chests, not surprisingly showing their ability to defend the city.
Determination.
The city is still being arranged in an orderly manner, and the changes at the top of the city seem to be unheard of.
It is an indisputable fact that most of Jin's elite have been gathered by Li Po. They are used to seeing blood and fighting, and have a strong desire to win.
The tenacious will of the Jin people was perfectly reflected in these infantry. When the Youzhou Jiang people gradually integrated into this group, their strength quickly increased.
The Youzhou infantry have always been known as the elite. They have brought rich combat experience and skills to the Jin infantry. What is even more rare is that the Youzhou infantry not only fought against the Hebei bandits, but many of them also served with the army.
Attacked Liaodong Jiancheng.
It can be said that in today's world, when it comes to attacking cities, there is no more powerful army than the Youzhou infantry. Even the brave and tough Qin people who live on the 800-mile Qin River have to fight in this regard.
I am willing to admit defeat.
I finally remembered the long trumpet sound, which was the first note of the beginning of the war.
Looking down from the sky, groups of soldiers were like ants, holding round shields in one hand and ladders on their shoulders, advancing from the front row of the siege army toward the city.
The siege begins...
This chapter has been completed!