In October, frost and snow cover the fields in the north, and the biting cold wind pours into the pocket, cutting the face like a knife.
This is the second cold winter that Tongbai Mountain soldiers have experienced in the North, and it is difficult for them to adapt to the harsh arrival of the cold season so early. In Tongbai Mountain, even if there is more than half a month, there may be the first snowfall, but it will be far worse than
The banks of the Huihe River are much warmer and moister.
Wuzhou Mountain runs diagonally from northeast to southwest. Xu Huaile stopped his horse on a hillock at the southern foot of Wuzhou Mountain and could have a panoramic view of the majestic Datong City.
According to the agreement between the two sides to join forces to attack Datong, the Chihu people were responsible for attacking Beicheng. The 20,000 troops were mainly concentrated in the northeastern section of Wuzhou Mountain, located in the north and northeast of Datong City.
The Chinese army camp of the Chihu people is located in the northeast corner of Datong City and is very simple.
The commander's tent is a large felt tent comparable to a palace. It is surrounded by hardwood spears tied together and inserted into the ground to form a gun fence. A shallow trench is dug to separate it from the outside world. There are no fences or trenches around the commander's tent.
There were small felt tents built one after another for about five to ten soldiers, and the horses spent the night in the cold ice and snow.
The nomadic tribes live on the grassland chasing water. They do not settle in one place for breeding and reproduction. It is impossible to spend a lot of effort to build strong cities. In the face of menacing and powerful enemies, the tribes do not have any farm or house assets that cannot be carried away.
To guard, usually to avoid it by running far away.
This tradition reflects the tribal cavalry setting up camps during battles, and the style is quite rough and crude.
At the same time, because the cavalry is highly mobile, no matter how crude the Red Husband's camp is, it is difficult for soldiers and horses, mainly infantry, to sneak attack on their camp.
However, in addition to maintaining the traditional rough and simple style of the central army camp, the Chihu people's left and right army camps are standard barracks.
The Zuojun camp of the Chihu people is the closest, and the view is clearest when standing on the hillock at the southeastern foot of Wuzhou Mountain. You can clearly see the tall watchtowers and other buildings of the gate camp.
Xu Huai frowned.
The Linhuang Mansion built by the Khitan on the banks of the Huangshui River, the Dading Mansion in Zhongjing, and the Liaoyang Mansion in Tokyo were all quite majestic and magnificent cities. The Chihu people were able to capture these large cities one after another in a very short period of time, completely annexing the northern part of the Khitan
As for the eastern region, except for the fact that the Khitan has completely declined, it is of course impossible for the Chihu troops to lack certain siege capabilities.
However, according to the intelligence collected in the past, the main force of the soldiers and horses assembled by the Red Husband must be cavalry.
When the front is sweeping, the red cavalry will also bypass the strong fortifications.
Because their logistics mainly relied on carrying excess horses and plundering, they had no fear of their retreat being blocked.
Only when they encounter a very valuable city, the Red Husbands will first clear out the surrounding enemy soldiers and then organize an siege. However, all siege preparations are basically temporary preparations, and the attack on the attached city also mainly relies on the generals' strength.
He is brave and good at fighting, and he is almost ready to use large siege equipment.
However, the Chihu people were directly responsible for attacking the Zuojun camp in the north city of Datong this time. It was obvious that they had already made preparations for the siege before entering the scheduled battlefield. The Zuojun camp was also equipped with a large number of craftsmen to use local materials to build the siege.
instrument.
The size of the Chihu people's left army camp was not very large. It was probably that this army was formed before the attack on the Khitan Linhuang Mansion. However, it did not relieve the attack after the war and was directly moved to the east foot of Yinshan Mountain to stand by. This is enough to show that the Chihu people were on standby.
People have ulterior motives.
However, Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou and others fell into the blind corner of their inherent thinking. They all thought that even if the Chihu people gathered about 10,000 siege troops this time, it would not be able to explain anything.
From their point of view, with Wuzhou Mountain and Jingong Mountain as the boundary, the Khitan Xijing is in Wuzhou Mountain, and there are many small military villages to the north of Jingong Mountain. It is impossible to predict in advance that they will fall without attacking; this time the Chihu people The gathering of siege troops and horses can be said to be preparation for the capture of these cities.
After Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou led the main force of the Yan army to cross the Hui River north and approach Datong, they were not unprepared, so they approached the red cavalry.
In addition to building camps on the north bank of the Hui River for transporting grain and fodder and stationing rear army soldiers and horses, the Yan army also set up four camps in the south of Datong City.
The two sides also agreed that the east and west wings of Datong City would be left vacant as buffer zones. Except for a small number of scouts and horses to watch the defenders coming out of the east and west city gates, both sides would still maintain an area of more than ten kilometers in the two wings before they invaded Datong City. No contact.
Although Liu Yan, Chen Yuan, Dian Jing and other generals were not vigilant enough against the Chihu people, they felt somewhat ashamed of borrowing troops. After setting up the camp, they started organizing the siege two days earlier than the time agreed by both parties. However, despite the wind and snow, they continued to attack for eight days, but failed to storm the South City Gate.
The weather was extremely cold, and Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou could no longer bear their temper, so they sent envoys to the Chihu Central Army Camp, urging them to comply with the agreement as soon as possible and launch an attack from the North City to defeat the defenders' last will to resist.
To the west of Datong City is the reconnaissance and warning area for the Yan army. Guo Zhongxiong always detours from here when he goes to the Chihu military camp as an envoy. This time, Zhu Zhi and Shi Zhen went with Guo Zhongxiong to the Chihu commander's camp to lobby.
Xu Huai was responsible for leading the troops to supervise the Huairen garrison on the west side. At this time, he rushed to the east foot of Wuzhou Mountain and was waiting to meet Zhu Zhi and Shi Zhen to learn about what they saw and heard when they went to Chihu Commander's tent.
After waiting for a stick of incense, I saw Guo Zhongxiong and others returning south, escorted by two teams of cavalry.
A group of cavalrymen was Guo Zhongxiong who went to Chihu Commander's tent to urge the guards to attack the city. The group of cavalrymen were all wearing gray fur robes to keep out the cold, with bows on their waists, and iron spears, throwing spears, etc. attached to their saddles. Weapon, obviously in the name of escort, was actually monitoring the Red Hussars as Guo Zhongxiong and others passed through their camp.
Xu Huai led his men down the hill to meet him.
The group of red cavalrymen who escorted Guo Zhongxiong back south, at the signal of the leader, all halted their horses in the distance.
Zhu Zhi walked to Chihu Commandery's tent. His little heart was beating wildly and he couldn't stop feeling flustered. When he saw Xu Huai waiting here, he couldn't wait to ride over and said:
"The Red Husbands promised to formally attack the North City of Datong tonight, for a day and night. During this period, our troops and horses are required to rest and standby; if they fail to capture Datong by the scheduled time, they will take turns to attack with our troops and horses..."
Xu Huai nodded, indicating that he was not surprised by such a result and had no other expectations at all. Instead, he frowned and looked at the general who was sending Guo Zhong and Xiong Nan away, and asked Zhu Zhi: "Who is that person?"
"That man is Mo Lihu, a descendant of King Chihu. At this time, he is serving as a general under Mu Chi, the deputy capital Yuanshi of Zhennan. He insists on sending us back to camp as gifts and taking the opportunity to get to know more generals of our dynasty. But I don't know why. Suddenly stopped there..." Zhu Zhi turned around and looked over in confusion.
"The Xishan tribes attacked Shuozhou and gathered thousands of soldiers and horses to fight with us at Hou'erwu in the southwest corner of the city. This Mo Lihu met me among the Xishan troops at that time." Xu Huai said. said.
"Ah?" Zhu Zhi looked back in shock.
Xu Huai had no other expression. When Guo Zhongxiong, Shi Zhen and others came over, he cupped his hands towards Guo Zhongxiong and said:
"Xu Huai has something personal to say to Shi Langjun, and I would like to ask Guo Langjun to go first."
Guo Zhongxiong grabbed the reins, sat on the saddle, frowned, and continued to drive the horse south without saying anything.
Xu Huai pondered for a while and then shouted to Guo Zhongxiong: "Guo Langjun, please stay."
Guo Zhongxiong reined in his horse, turned around, and asked coldly: "What's the matter with Ambassador Xu?"
"Guo Langjun has really never thought about the worry of attracting wolves into the house?" Xu Huai stared at Guo Zhongxiong's face and asked.
Guo Zhongxiong's face jumped, and his eyes suddenly narrowed.
"Xu Huai, you repeatedly uttered arrogant words and angered your allies. I really think Liu Linggong and the young prime minister can't punish you!" Tian Zhizhen scolded angrily.
"I'm talking to Guo Langjun, do you have the qualifications for a bitch like you to interrupt?" Xu Huai held the knife on his waist, stared at Tian Zhizhen, and said sternly, "If you don't understand the rules, do you really think that I dare not deal with you?
"
"You..." Tian Zhizhen blushed and almost breathed out.
"Whether there is a worry of attracting wolves into the house is something that Xu Jun has asked you to discuss." Guo Zhongxiong straightened his face at this time, said coldly, and continued to drive his horse forward, no longer paying attention to Xu Huai.
"The Red Guards are not in a hurry to attack the city. They have been observing the situation of the Xiaosheng and Xuanwu armies attacking the city in the past few days. At present, the Red Guards seem to be led by Zhennan Deputy Capital Yuanshi Mu Chi, but I followed Guo Zhongxiong.
Judging from the expressions of the generals and generals, there should be more important figures hiding behind the scenes!" Shi Zhen said with a heavy frown as he watched Guo Zhongxiong's retreating figure.
It is one thing to be able to predict, but to confirm the prediction step by step through various signs is another, heavier feeling.
"Don't think too much. Don't go back to the camp. Go directly to Shuozhou." Xu Huai tightened the reins and said decisively.
"Ah?" Zhu Zhi was stunned for a while, then asked, "Are you saying that the Red Husbands can capture Datong City in one day and one night, and murderous intent will break out at any time?"
"Pretty much, I just don't know whether the Red Husbands will choose to find an excuse to tear up the alliance after capturing Datong City, or directly send troops to outflank Nancheng!" Xu Huai said, "But there is no need for you to risk returning to the camp.
Just send someone back to report it, saying that you were forced to drink by me..."
