The night is deep, dark clouds cover the sky, not a single starlight leaks out, but there are bonfires lit everywhere on the city wall, both inside and outside the city wall, illuminating the top and bottom of the city wall as bright as day, and the shadows of people are looking forward to it.
The new round of siege came to an end, and Gao Teng Ancai, under the urging of Huaichuan County Magistrate Shi Fupeng, climbed up the tower full of broken arrows and broken stones to "supervise the battle."
Seeing the siege troops and horses receding like a tide in the distance, Gao Teng'an didn't feel the slightest bit relieved.
The Beijing and Xiangjun armies advanced the formation of shield chariots to a distance of only 200 steps from the base of the city wall. The next batch of siege troops had already assembled behind the chariot formation. No one knew when it would happen.
Launch a new round of siege.
After cheering up and giving a few words of encouragement to the men and horses guarding the tower, Gao Teng'an couldn't wait to get off the tower.
At this time, there were still stone bombs hitting him.
Although Gao Teng'an and others stood on the inside of the city wall and did not have to worry about being hit by stone bullets, they could feel the city wall shaking all the time, and earth and rocks were knocked down from time to time. Gao Teng'an couldn't help but complain:
"It's been more than ten days, and the soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasty are getting stronger and stronger outside. Why are there still no signs of reinforcements?"
Shi Fupeng didn't know whether reinforcements would come, but one thing was clear. He must not show timidity in front of Gao Teng'an at this time, and whispered comfort:
"Although the soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasty are attacking the city very sharply at this time, as long as we grit our teeth and hold on for another ten days and a half, when the weather gets colder, the water in Ruyinghuaivortex will freeze solid, and the Red Guards cavalry will sweep across
Hehuai, Major General, do you still have to worry about the Southern Dynasty troops not retreating and reinforcements not coming? Another thing, although Jingxi has not taken much advantage from Jingxiang in recent years, it has not suffered much loss. Besides, it was Jingxiang before.
The main defense, we are the main attack. This unified military campaign has always been difficult to attack and easy to defend. Now it is easy to attack and defend. We have 20,000 troops in Huaichuan. Are we still worried about not being able to defend the city? In my humble opinion, I would rather be the king.
Commander-in-Chief Yue slowly sent out reinforcements, and we severely dampened the vigor of the troops in Beijing and Xiang. Only then will it appear that the major general has accomplished extraordinary feats!"
"You are the only one who can speak." Gao Teng'an's expression brightened slightly, and he scolded Shi Fupeng with a smile.
At this time, they heard the noise coming from the front. They paused and concentrated, and vaguely heard someone making noise in front of them:
"The officials are all enjoying the food and drink in the back. The Southern soldiers have attacked four or five times after nightfall. There are dozens of brothers dead and wounded at the top of the city that is 100 steps long, but not a single official has boarded the city.
Let’s take a quick look. Who the hell has the guts to go with me to find those officials and ask them if it’s just us brothers who deserve to be hacked with knives and shot at the top of the city?”
"That's right. We are all Han people. Why should we work for the Red Husbands and kill each other with the Han people? The imperial court has also submitted several letters to persuade us to surrender. After the city is broken, the worst we can do is continue to work for the imperial court and eat military food. Not only will we not have to
Worrying about being beheaded, whoever takes the head of a red warrior can still perform meritorious service in exchange for a reward - a red warrior's head can be exchanged for a reward of hundreds of dollars, and without eating military rations, he can return to his hometown to buy more than ten acres of farmland.
Isn't it better to find a housewife than to live here in fear of not surviving until next year?"
After hearing these words, Gao Teng'an's forehead throbbed with veins, and he asked angrily: "Who the hell is leading the soldiers and horses, eating the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard, and then making lies and deceiving the public? Where is the supervising team? How can we allow these bastards to be there?
Fart?"
The Huaichuan garrison was mainly composed of Gao Teng'an's troops, and there was another 500 garrison force led by Qu Ming. The garrison troops were all the elites of the Red Hu clan or Semu, and were also directly controlled by the princes' palaces to strengthen local defense and
The elite soldiers and horses who monitor the local area have a higher status than the surrendered Han troops.
Since the founding of the Dai Viet Dynasty, most of the soldiers recruited by the Imperial Army have lived in the military camps with their families. After being captured or surrendered, the Red Husbands were basically followed by their families. This decided to mainly surrender soldiers and horses, and follow the clouds.
The Han army in the west of Beijing, which forced the young Han and Tibetan soldiers to join the army in Shuo, Hedong and other places, had a very weak relationship with Dai Viet.
Not to mention that over the years, the hands of these surrendering Han troops were stained with the blood of the Han people in the Central Plains.
In addition, Zhi Quming led the garrison troops and turned them into supervisors to take charge of life and death, inspecting the four cities to strictly enforce discipline. After Huaichuan City was besieged, the soldiers were panic-stricken. Some were worried that the city could not be defended, and they scolded and complained about the delay.
There are some people who have not seen any sign of reinforcements for more than ten days, but it is extremely rare for people to openly talk about taking the heads of generals and red soldiers and open the city to seek refuge with the Southern Dynasty.
Gao Teng'an immediately became furious after hearing these talks about surrendering to the enemy at the city gate. Without thinking about it, he ordered the guards and military officials around him to lead their men and horses to the top of the city to capture and deal with the soldiers who were deceiving the public with their monstrous words.
At first, only twenty or thirty guards climbed up the city wall, but no one at the top of the city admitted that they were talking about surrendering to the enemy. The defenders at the top of the city were already upset because of the noise. How could they let the guards easily capture their people? Suddenly, there was an explosion on the city wall.
There was a lot of chaos, and for a long time I couldn't catch one or two people who were deceiving the crowd with their monstrous words.
Although Gao Teng'an didn't have much ability, he also knew that this trend must be resolutely suppressed, and sent more people to the city wall to suppress it.
At this time, dozens of figures walked through the alley, and a familiar voice asked as they walked:
"Major General, what happened? Why is there such a mess in front?"
Everyone was attracted by the movement on the city wall. Gao Teng'an and Shi Fupeng were left with only twenty or thirty guards and soldiers, and no one thought to stop these people from approaching.
.
When the visitor walked to the place where the torches and bonfires could illuminate, they saw Sun Yanzhou, Tang Yuan and Gao Teng'an, the generals under Sun Xiao and his son, frowned and asked angrily:
"You have the nerve to ask me what's going on. Are you responsible for keeping an eye on this city wall? How could someone confuse the public with your monstrous words and openly talk about surrendering to the enemy? Are they your subordinates? Where did you run just now?
went?"
"I just defeated the southern soldiers, and when I saw the trebuchets outside started to move again, I took my brothers down to hide for a while. It's enough if someone is watching at the top of the city, and nothing will happen." Tang Yuan pretended to be confused and said, "Here
I am responsible for keeping an eye on it, but all my subordinates are very honest. How could they talk nonsense? Major General, are you going to misunderstand me?"
"Did I misunderstand, or did you indulge your subordinates too much?" Gao Teng'an sneered, "Let's see what else you have to say after we capture him!"
However, before Gao Teng'an could finish his words, he saw a flash of swords rising from the city wall - not to mention Gao Teng'an, the more than 20 guards around Shi Fupeng were unprepared, and more than a dozen of them were chopped down in an instant, and they climbed up the city wall to suppress the arrests.
His sixty or seventy bodyguards were completely unprepared. There were already more than thirty armored soldiers behind him. At this time, they quietly gathered and slashed at them with swords and shields. They were quickly defeated and they could only escape to the other side.
, there is no time to return to Gao Tengan and Shi Fupeng to guard him.
Liu Huting kicked the powerless Huaichuan pseudo-county magistrate Shi Fupeng to the ground, and then used a long bow to strangle Gao Teng'an's neck from behind, making him unable to struggle.
Tang Yuan put a knife on Gao Teng's Anhu Ge who was trying to resist. While taking off his knife, he sneered and said: "Young General was born in Han, grew up in Han, drank Han water and ate Han food. Today I am willing to be a Hu."
You are a running dog, Tang Yuan really wants to have a good talk with the Major General about surrendering to the enemy today?"
"You, you..." Gao Teng'an encountered a sudden change, and his body became weak with fear.
Tang Yuan didn't talk nonsense to him, and escorted Gao Teng'an and Shi Fupeng back to the city wall from the road to the city. While blocking both ends of the city wall with equipment, they arranged manpower up and down the road to prevent the defenders from rushing over to recapture Gao Teng'an.
Shi Fupeng, while waving torches to send signals.
The trumpet sound sounded again, and a new round of siege was launched immediately.
Other places have arranged regular siege troops, but Tang Yuan, Liu Huting and others have already arranged hundreds of selected vanguards outside the city wall.
The soldiers in armor were on standby, and quickly rushed to the bottom of the city to set up a ladder, directly attached to the wall and climbed to the top of the city.
This time Sun Yanguan also climbed onto the city wall and personally directed his troops to attack along the city wall toward the east gate tower.
Although the gate opening of the East City Gate has been blocked with bricks and stones, it is the most open inside and outside the city gate. There is also a wide long street that runs through the entire Huaichuan City and leads directly to the West City Gate.
At the same time, several climbing roads on the inside of the city wall are mainly concentrated near the east city gate tower. Seize the east city gate tower, set up ladders on the outside, and use the climbing roads on the inside to transport troops and horses into the city more quickly.
The east city gate tower has collapsed, but the broken bricks and miscellaneous trees have basically been cleared away. The stone city platform is twice as wide as the walls on both sides. It is easier to set up crossbows and medium-sized trebuchets to control the left and right sides and prevent the defenders in the city from counterattacking.
…
Tang Yuan and Liu Huting led their troops in a sudden uprising, not only killing more than half of the guards and horses around Gao Teng'an, but also taking Gao Teng'an and Shi Fupeng hostage.
Although the news was transmitted slowly in the night and the defenders in other directions had not yet reacted, there was already chaos near the east city gate tower - Tang Yuan and Liuhu Pavilion made their tribes loudly clamor for Gao Teng'an and Shi Fupeng to surrender.
The defenders at the head of the city were leaderless, so how could they have any fighting spirit? And without Gao Teng'an, Shi Fupeng and his guards were behind to supervise the battle, and the defenders were quickly killed.
They were retreating steadily, and a large number of soldiers abandoned their helmets and armor and fled to the city, or they put down their swords and guns and surrendered. It only took a stick of incense to capture the east city gate tower and the nearby city wall.
Normally speaking, Fan Zongqi should have ordered the troops and horses outside Beicheng and West City to be withdrawn, allowing the defenders to escape from Beicheng and West City.
In this way, they only need to continuously transport elite soldiers and horses to the city through the East City Gate, and launch offensives in depth along the long street, so that they can break the enemy's will as quickly as possible and force them to surrender or flee in a hurry out of the city.
At that time, all you need to do is send out cavalry to harvest the unorganized and routed troops outside the city.
However, the disadvantage of doing this is that a small number of fish that slip through the net cannot be avoided.
Once the details of the fall of Huaichuan City are leaked, Yue Hailou, Zhong Changqing and others will be wary of Sun Yanzhou and Hu Dangzhou's troops.
The Han armies in the west of Beijing, Heluo, Xusu and other places were either from Hedong, Hebei, Shaanxi and other places who surrendered with their families and children, or they were recruited from Yunshuo, Hedong, Hebei and more distant places such as Liaodong.
The Han people are young and strong.
For these enemy troops, the Military Intelligence and Staff Department can instigate individual generals to rebel, but under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible to instigate an entire group of troops unless they are surrounded and forced to submit and surrender.
The German returned troops led by Sun Yanzhou and Hu Dangzhou who surrendered to the enemy were exceptions.
On the one hand, the Red Husbands were first surrendered by the returning German army. Most of the generals were coerced into surrendering to the enemy by Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and others, and they had not yet had time to commit too many evil deeds of burning, killing, looting and looting.
On the other hand, in the Second Battle of Huainan, the Chihu people once crossed the Yangtze River and invaded Jianye Prefecture, but they only picked up the families of a few generals such as Sun Yanzhou and Hu Dangzhou, and most of the soldiers' families were still stranded in Jingzhou.
Nan is now under strict surveillance.
This is also destined to belong to the middle and lower-level soldiers of the German army, who have a strong desire to return south.
At present, the German troops are led by Sun Yanzhou and Hu Dangzhou, and are mainly stationed in the city of Ruyin in Yingzhou.
Whenever possible, even if it costs one or two thousand more casualties, it is still necessary to prevent the details of the fall of Huaichuan City from being leaked in advance.
Therefore, after Tang Yuan and Liu Huting sent out the signal to successfully hijack Gao Teng'an, Shi Pengfu and others, Fan Zongqi not only failed to open the North City and West City to allow the enemy to escape, but instead mobilized more soldiers and horses from the camp to strengthen the blockade and stabilize the blockade before dawn.
The East City Gate Tower position is the main position, and we are preparing to launch a strong attack on the city after dawn, and annihilate or capture every Huaichuan garrison...
