Chi Hu besieged Zhengzhou and formed three large camps outside the city, located at Malinggang between Zhengzhou and Zhongmou, Yangtang Au northwest of Zhengzhou City, and Fangouling southwest of Zhengzhou City.
The two camps at Fangouling and Malinggang mainly stationed 60,000 cavalrymen of the Red Hudong East Route Army; while the Yangtangao camp stationed 20,000 soldiers and horses in addition to the remnant Khitan army Xiao Qian who surrendered to the Red Huns in Datong.
There are also eight thousand surrender troops and horses commanded by Yue Hailou and Cao Shili respectively.
Xiao Qian, Yue Hailou, and Cao Shili were all equipped with sufficient horses, but it took a full month to reach Zhengzhou.
The Guanlui Mountain, Luliang Mountain, Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain in Hedong are criss-crossed. Going south from Taiyuan, in addition to the large cities in Kaize, Lu and other prefectures that are difficult to conquer, there are also large and small fortresses stuck in various passes and canyons.
Xiao Qian, Yue Hailou, and Cao Shili also conquered more than a dozen large and small cities along the way before finally opening up the passage south to Zhengzhou.
Although the resistance of most of the fortresses was very weak, and many of them had to surrender due to the wind, the three soldiers and horses marched non-stop all the way south, and when they arrived at the gate of Zhengzhou City, they were so exhausted that they fell on their backs.
However, the marshal of the East Route Army and Zhendong Zong Wang Xuluhan had no sympathy at all. Not only did he order the surrender troops to immediately engage in emergency siege operations without stopping for a moment, he also gave them ten days to capture Zhengzhou City.
If the city is captured in advance, for every day it is advanced, the generals will be allowed to enter Zhengzhou and plunder the city for one day.
If the city cannot be captured within ten days, a thousand men and horses who are most unfavorable for attacking the city will be selected every day, and all of them, from the general to the soldiers, will be killed under the city without leaving any one behind.
Of course, this does not mean that within the ten-day period, those who are unfavorable in attacking the city will not be punished.
This was already the fourth day of the official attack on Zhengzhou. Yue Hailou sat on the saddle and squinted at the northern city wall he was responsible for attacking. The defenders' will to resist was slightly stronger than he imagined.
In the past three days, the two sides fought fiercely up and down Beicheng. The casualties during the siege were more severe. However, Zhengzhou's Beicheng defenders only had more than 4,000 soldiers, and the cumulative casualties were six to seven hundred, which can be said to be quite heavy.
However, the Beicheng defenders showed no signs of collapse, and Beicheng was still under the control of the defenders.
On a new day, the offensive was launched. Three groups of a thousand men formed three groups on the left, right, and center in front of the northern city wall.
There are still more than a hundred generals who were deemed to be unlucky in attacking the city yesterday. At this time, they were tied up in front of the formation. They saw the supervisors reining in their horses and stopped in front of the formation. Baihu Kuo Tile had a rough face, he was not old, but his cheeks were thick.
The man with thick beards saw him raising his riding whip, and then swung it down with all his strength. Amidst the low sound of the horn, the executioners raised their sharp swords and chopped off one after another. More than a hundred heads soon rolled down.
All over the place, blood flowed freely on the ice.
Yue Hailou is a heroic figure who prides himself on being hard-hearted. Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but tremble slightly in his heart.
Fortunately, in the past three days, he mainly used the Yan army that surrendered from Yingzhou, Shuozhou, and Datong to attack the north city of Zhengzhou. The Han army in Yingzhou, which he intended to rely on as his confidant, was not in a hurry to move out. These troops
After arriving in Zhengzhou, I still got a certain degree of rest in three days.
However, Yue Hailou did not want to delay it any longer, and finally sent out the Yingzhou Han army today.
If it were Cao Shili, Xiao Qian and his troops would be the first to attack Zhengzhou City. The first thing to do to seize the city would fall into the hands of others. The most important thing is that they were afraid that Xuluhan would think that their attack on the city was delayed and they refused to contribute, even if they were not punished in the end.
But he could only stand obediently outside the city and watch others enter the city, burn, kill and loot. He had no way to explain to the generals below.
Yue Hailou knew in his heart that for such harsh oppression of the generals, in addition to the general's determination and strong command, he also needed to indulge the generals in plundering after the war to make up for it, in order to eliminate the resentment in his heart.
Only next time can we plunge into a fierce battle again regardless of casualties.
"Can we attack the city today?"
Mo Lihu, surrounded by dozens of retinues, galloped into Yue Hailou's army. He looked at the soldiers who were making final preparations on dozens of ladders under the city, looked at Yue Hailou and asked.
The West Route Army was still under the leadership of King Wu Lulie of the Nanzong of Erhuangzi Town and Deputy Marshal Muchi, etc., besieging Taiyuan City. Mo Lihu was the commander-in-chief of the troops of the West Route Army going south.
However, after arriving in Zhengzhou, they all had to accept the rule of Xuluhan, the marshal of the East Route Army and the East King of the Third Prince Town, Xuluhan.
The main force of the West Route Army stayed in the north this time and did not go south. Although the Second Prince Zhennan Zong Wang Wulu Lie was completely unconcerned and believed that the battle against Yue could not be accomplished overnight, but after going south, he saw the cities in Hedong, Hebei and near Yuejing.
, even if not all of them surrendered, there were only a few that could truly resist, and Mo Lihu was still a little worried.
Mo Lihu was not worried about anything else, but worried that the soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasty were too weak and incapable of fighting.
If the Southern Dynasty was directly destroyed by the Eastern Route Army under the Zhendong Zong Palace, wouldn’t the Zhennan Zong Palace and its line be overshadowed by the Zhenwang Zong Palace?
Therefore, Mo Lihu could only hope that Yue Hailou, Cao Shixiong, Xiao Qian and other troops would perform well.
"Do your best!" Yue Hailou was anxious, but in front of Mo Lihu, he acted calmly and said calmly.
"If necessary, Kuo Tile can lead his troops to the city," said Mo Lihu, who was certainly no match for Yue Hailou in terms of scheming and scheming. "Although he supervises the army, he cannot hide behind him and not fight."
, Yue Qianhu should not spoil him and let the blade in his hand become rusty!"
Xiao Qian, Cao Shili, and Yue Hailou had three troops. Xiao Qian's troops had the largest number of troops, and Cao Shili's troops had the strongest combat effectiveness. However, Yue Hailou was very familiar with everything in the Southern Dynasties. Mo Li ignored his military tent.
He wanted to follow Xiao Qian's troops as the main force, but he himself wanted to stay with Yue Hailou so that he could learn more details about the Southern Dynasties that interested him.
Worried that Yue Hailou still had some scruples, Mo Lihu waved his hand to Kuo Tile to ride over and personally ordered him: "Today you personally led your troops to the city. Yue Qianhu's troops went south and fought fiercely. The casualties were heavy. We are naked."
Hu men cannot just sit back and enjoy the success!"
"Yes." Kudile responded.
"Who do you want to be the first general in Beicheng today?" Mo Lihu asked again.
Yue Hailou motioned to Zhong Changqing in the distance to gallop over.
"Oh, Zhong Changqing, I remember you. There are so many surrendered generals in Hedong, and Yue Qianhu single-handedly asked you and Gao Xiangzhong to pass over," Mo Lihu said, "You can be sure to attack the city today.
Go there?"
"Changqing climbed up the city wall today. Unless he dies, he will never retreat from the city wall." Zhong Changqing said coldly.
"Good!" Mo Lihu praised and said to Kuo Tile, "You will go to the city with Zhong Baihu today!"
Yue Hailou had just been awarded the post of marching thousands of households by Chihu. Zhong Changqing and several of Yue Hailou's direct descendants commanded thousands of troops, but they were still only generals of a hundred households.
Mo Lihu was not very familiar with the generals under Yue Hailou. He only knew that Zhong Changqing was also the bandit chief of Tongbai Mountain back then, but he did not know what his abilities were and why Yue Hailou valued him, Gao Xiangzhong and others.
However, Mo Lihu was still very happy that Zhong Changqing could express his stance in front of him. He also knew that Yue Hailou's troops could conquer several villages in a row when they went south, so Zhong Changqing performed very bravely.
Now they rely on simple ladders and hooks and ropes. Although the difficulty and casualties of storming the attached city are very high, it is still easy to attack the city wall.
The key is to gain a foothold on the city wall and extend the offensive into the city. It is best to control a city gate and open the city gate. The troops outside the city can be larger in size and attack the city more smoothly, thus defeating the defender.
The army's will was completely shattered.
…………
…………
This siege lasted until dusk.
Zhong Changqing stood on the city tower holding an iron halberd, his armor stained with blood, but he looked coldly and ruthlessly at hundreds of soldiers attacking from the city gate to the city under the dusk -
The will of the defenders completely collapsed at dusk, and the South City, West City, and East City all fell one after another soon. Xiao Qian and Cao Shili's troops were also opening the city gates at this time, letting the soldiers and horses outside the city rush into the city.
The fast-moving men and horses lowered themselves directly from the towering city wall, raised speckled torches, and set fire to the buildings in the city, further weakening the will of the city's defenders to resist in the streets.
Yue Hailou also rode his horse to the city, preparing to enter the city with his troops.
At this moment, several cavalry came from the southwest. Behind the leading knight was a khaki signaling flag unique to the commander's tent of the Eastern Route Army. The scouts and scouts along the way gave way to the cavalry.
Yue Hailou reined in his horse at the foot of the tower and waited for the cavalry to arrive.
"The king of Zhendong Zong, the marshal of Dachi's army on the South East Route, issued an order, and Xinzhou marched to Qianhu Yuehailou to listen to the order." The cavalrymen galloped to the foot of the city tower, reined their horses and stopped, vibrating their voices to convey the order, "Your troops will assemble immediately.
Set off to Hulao Pass overnight without any delay. The soldiers will reward you with gold and silver for winning the city's first victory. A hundred households of military generals and above will be rewarded with a beautiful woman after the war..."
Zhong Changqing stood on the city tower and clearly heard the Chinese spoken by the messenger cavalry, but he looked towards Yue Hailou in confusion:
After capturing Zhengzhou, the next step is to seize Hulao Pass and Gongxian at the northern foot of Songshan Mountain, as well as Yanshi, Mengjin and other cities at the northwest foothills of Songshan Mountain, completely blocking the Western Army's eastward advance so that the main force of the Eastern Route Army can survive the ice and snow.
After melting, it can continue to wreak havoc among the rivers and Huaihe Rivers.
The problem is, they still have many soldiers and horses near Zhengzhou who have not directly participated in the siege and can be mobilized directly. Why is it so urgent to mobilize them to march westward?
At this time, Mo Lihu was also galloping towards this side, surrounded by dozens of riders.
Yue Hailou asked: "Why did King Zong send us to attack Hulao Pass?"
"Not only your troops, but Cao Shili's troops are also being mobilized," Mo Lihu said, "I requested from the third prince that you two troops be transferred to the west to Hulao Pass."
"..." Yue Hailou was even more confused.
Mo Lihu did not give in and said: "There is something unusual about the defenders of Gong County. I didn't think much about it at first, but today a scout detected that a group of Southern Dynasty troops, about a thousand people, entered Songshan Mountain directly from the southwest of Xuzhou.
Zhong, Yue Qianhu, what do you think of?"
"Pawn of Tongbai Mountain!" Yue Hailou suddenly thought of Xu Huai.
Caizhou soldiers and horses want to go to Luoyang. They can take the gorge road west from Ruzhou Liang County at the southern foot of Songshan Mountain. If they want to come to Zhengzhou to participate in the war, they can move from Xuzhou to Changge without entering Songshan Mountain...
