It took the Marshal's Army a total of three days, and nine battalions were dispatched to occupy and capture the thirty-two fortresses surrounding Liangzhou Guard.
However, the war process has reached this stage, and Liangzhou City, which has gathered the defeated soldiers from all walks of life, is determined to defend it. The surrounding fortresses have either surrendered or the defenders have withdrawn into the city, which cannot be called martial arts.
As the entire Liangzhou Road defense system collapsed, only a lonely ancient city of Liangzhou remained, still fully armed and standing on the Wuwei Oasis with full vigilance.
Although Wuwei City in the Han Dynasty was destroyed by war, Liangzhou City, built in the Tang Dynasty, is still an important town in Hexi.
Yongchang City in the west of Liangzhou has a perimeter of seven miles and 230 paces, with a height of 3.6 feet and a thickness of 2.9 feet; Gulangsuo in the south is a small castle with a perimeter of only 230 paces; Zhenfan City in the north
Not too big, not too small, the city is divided into three minutes and twenty-three steps on a Saturday.
As for Liangzhou City, it is eleven miles and one hundred and eighty paces in circumference. The city is five feet and one foot high. It has five large towers and thirty-six watchtowers. The moat is two feet deep and three feet wide, and there are four pontoon bridges.
There is a moon city outside and an urn city inside. There is also a gate city built on the east wall of the city. The entire city wall was covered with bricks in the second year of Wanli.
At noon on May 28, the sun hung overhead like a fireball, making the entire oasis smoke.
On the Wengcheng Archery Tower on the west wall of Liangzhou City, Gu Tianshouyi, the leader of the West Gate Patrol, is sitting on the second floor window sill. On the surface, he is holding the flail tightly and observing the enemy's situation intently, but in fact, his eyes are dull and his thoughts have long been far away. p>
If it weren't for this war, Gu Tianshou would have taken the martial arts exam this year.
He is not from Liangzhou, but from Lintao. It's embarrassing. His father, Gu Huai, is Lintao's unofficial commander. He was sent as the foreman of Liangzhou to prepare for the imperial capital.
This is an official position similar in size to a general garrison, and its duty is to take soldiers to and from get off work. They go to work in Liangzhou in the fall and return to Lintao after get off work in the spring.
That is to say, the squad army, but it belongs to the border defense squad. Those who came to Beijing were guerrilla generals. They were to support the important border defense towns during the autumn defense. There were two such foremans on Ganzhou Road and two on Liangzhou Road.
One of the two foremen in Liangzhou is from Lintao and the other is from Gongchang.
This is inherently a very hard job, and the ability required has little to do with force. It requires three things: first, strength, second, integrity, and third, sufficient strength.
Being strong means being able to shoot a sixty-pound bow; being upright requires that the flag troops must serve in person and cannot hire substitutes; being sufficient means that as many squads are required as many squads are required.
There are also three difficulties in work, one is scheduling, the other is paperwork, and the third is scheduling, which is all a matter of brain.
The reason for urging the squad is that the guard troops live in scattered places, and they must ensure that they gather on time and go to work on time; the paperwork is also very complicated, including the number of squad troops, departure date, arrival date, and the appearance and characteristics of each squad soldier.
The last route arrangement is the most likely place for trouble. In theory, everything from the troops marching to Beijing from each town to the border defense squads in the town should all act collectively according to the Dusi and Wei Lai. But in fact, during the work process, the troops They walked separately, and commuting to and from get off work was at their own expense.
Therefore, it is normal for military households to forcefully buy and sell on their way to work, pick fights and cause trouble, and even commit illegal crimes.
For the foreman and the imperial officer, all this is scored. Each year, it will be calculated as ten points. Two points will be deducted for approval, five points will be deducted for suspension, and eight points will be deducted for demotion and expulsion into the army...
Last year, there was a small problem. Gu Tianshou and his father, Gu Huai, led the 120 squad troops to Liangzhou. They walked tremblingly on the road, but they arrived on time anyway... He led the squad army and asked for 300 troops. p>
But the problem did not lie in the number of soldiers, because when they got off work the year before last, 180 banner troops did not return to Lintao. They simply found a job in Liangzhou and waited until the fall to go back to work, so the number of soldiers was sufficient. This kind of operation can be as small as a side shift or as large as a Beijing shift. It is very common.
Every year when Ban Jun returns to his hometown after get off work, there are many people from various towns who stay in the capital to look for work. Later, they spread to the border defense and developed this habit.
Ordinary guard posts also turn a blind eye. Does the lack of soldiers have any problem with the guard post? It saves the military households from causing trouble on the way to work, and the flag army can still make some money, so it is worry-free.
Qiu Fang was very successful. It was time to go home from get off work after the New Year. Gu Huai stared at Lan
Lintao, the prefecture, was captured by Wang Wenxiu, the puppet commander-in-chief under Liu Chengzong.
This mother is going to work and her family is gone. Where can she go to reason?
Fortunately, Liangzhou has its own people. The 180 Lintao Banner Army troops who stayed in Liangzhou earlier were busy introducing their work to everyone. They were nominally off work, but in fact no one went home. They were all here.
Looking for a living in Liangzhou.
Gu Tianshou didn't think much about it at first, just thinking that he was unlucky. He was not a class soldier, but a guard for his father. He was visiting relatives and friends in Liangzhou, and took this opportunity to meet the senior military attachés from Gansu. He became familiar with them and passed the exam.
It is easier to carry out work after being lifted up.
A war, all in vain.
Anyway, even if he could not perform martial arts, it would not delay his meritorious service on the battlefield. At that time, they all thought that the imperial court would definitely regain Lanzhou and recapture Lintao in just two months.
I never expected that Yang Yanchang, Zhang Yingchang, He Renlong, these are all very powerful generals, the gods of war in Yan'an, tigers in the generals, Mizhi Haoqiang, and the elite troops of the third battalion stationed in Tao, and they are just doing damage to themselves every day, then
You’re not doing anything serious at all!
So far, they have not smashed a single brick of Lanzhou City.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Chengzong broke through the Jiayuguan Pass from the west. From Liu Chengzong's perspective, it was a problem for all powerful generals to fortify the city. Although the eastward march was fast, it was not easy to fight.
But in the eyes of Gu Tianshou in Liangzhou City - everything is trash.
Liangzhou was at the rear of the two battlefields of this war. Its military strength was originally exhausted at the beginning of the war. All combatable soldiers were led by the commanding envoy Ding Shaoyin into the Zhuanglang battlefield. Those left behind in the city were civilians.
Zhuang and Lintao, Gong Changlai's squadron, had a total strength of just over 2,000, and the guard was deputy general Liu Shaozong.
But since the war started in the west, waves of remnant defeated generals swarmed toward Liangzhou. Gu Tianshou felt that he had seen all the officials he could see in his life.
Li Hongsi, the deputy commander-in-chief who lost the melee in Ganzhou, Zhao Zhirui, the bare-bones general who lost the battle in Suzhou, Lin Chengdong, the Ganzhou general who lost heavy equipment in his camp, suppressed the barbarians during the guerrilla attack of the Tang Ming Dynasty, and countless capital officials.
Qian Zong, commander, commander, Qian Hu... There are officials everywhere, and the military strength has expanded to more than 16,000.
These 20,000 defeated soldiers were not subordinate to each other. That is to say, Hong Chengchou's official position was high enough and his authority was large enough, so he managed them obediently. They had their own places on the city wall and treated each other equally, so as to avoid possible troubles in the city.
In the event of civil strife, we must be prepared to fortify the walls and clear the country...
But now that Hong Chengchou has gone to Ningxia Zhongwei, Gu Tianshou can't help but worry about the fate of Liangzhou City.
At this moment, his thoughts were suddenly pulled back. In the shadow of rising heat in the distance, there seemed to be a tiny reflection flashing across his eyes, but if he looked carefully, he could not see anything clearly.
Only then did Gu Tianshou realize that even he himself was distracted, let alone the other defenders. Each of them could not help but feel slack after waiting for a long time.
Strictly speaking, Liangzhou City has been tense for nearly three months.
Since the seventh day of March, beacon smoke was lit at Jiayuguan. The Ban army and Minzhuang who were stationed in Liangzhou at that time were conducting training in the military camp outside the city. As the Marshal's Mansion broke down the border wall and captured the city, the situation became more and more tense day by day.
It's like a bow that was drawn when Liu Chengzong broke through the barrier. With the news of Yang Jiamo's death and the fall of Gaotai and Ganzhou, fear made the bow fully drawn.
In this high-pressure situation, no matter what orders Hong Chengchou gave, they would all be shot out like arrows, but no one could keep a fully stretched bow stretched, so that the bow string would be stretched like a string. If it is stretched, the bow will tip over.<
/p>
During the half-month period when Liu Chengzong was living in Ganzhou City, the soldiers and civilians of Liangzhou City were not idle. Not to mention the complex clearing of the countryside and immigration, every battlement was written with the names of the soldiers and civilians who were responsible for their duties and ate, drank, and slept.
They are all in the city, and it has been a full month now.
People experience extreme tension, and gradually relax as they lose sight of the enemy in the tension. As the patrol leader, Gu Tianshou can see this.
There are 1,400 defenders, 600 squad troops, 1,000 civilians, and 60 patrol policemen on the west city. Gu Tianshou is the leader of these 60 patrol policemen.
The patrol officer is not a permanent position, neither a battalion nor a guard nor a civilian body, but a name of duty. Patrol means patrolling, while police means guarding. It was common in the Ming Dynasty when the gentry encountered thieves and guarded the city.
out of the team.
There are fifty defenders in the city, and only two patrolmen keep an eye on them. The defenders have to take turns day and night, and the patrolmen also patrol day and night. Their duty is to directly attack each section of the city wall when they see the defenders being lazy, spreading strange words, or doing strange things.
Compliance report.
When selecting candidates for appointment as patrol officers, Hong Chengchou's pamphlet focused on two requirements: first, a strong body, a diligent and cautious personality, and second, and most importantly, a good fortune.
Hong Chengchou was very targeted at the peasant army. He knew very well that people without wealth were too easy to be instigated by Liu Chengzong to rebel. Even ordinary farmers with some land were unreliable, let alone laborers, craftsmen, government officials, people, and soldiers.
Those who receive salary and military pay.
Therefore, although Gu Tianshou has 60 people under his jurisdiction, who are nominally called patrol police, in fact they are all industrial and commercial owners who open shops on the west, east and south streets of Liangzhou City.
There is no North Street because the northwest of Liangzhou City is a warehouse for collecting grain and a large pasture for collecting and storing military horse grass. The people living on North Street are also military households, and small car shops are not as wealthy as foot traffickers. p>
They are all from well-to-do families, which is equal to sixty trumpet Ximen Qing.
Slowly, the reflections in the phantom rising in the distance became clearer and more numerous, and soon horns sounded from three sides of the city at the same time. Gu Tianshou knew that he was right, but he didn't say anything, because the city
The constant shouting has already said everything he wanted to say...
"Rebel Baocheng!"
Four or five miles away, let alone the small specks of people and horses in the field of vision, even the queues looked like small worms, but the dense black clouds like swarms of worms still made the entire Liangzhou City nervous. p>
Gu Tianshou was no exception. He quickly picked up the flail and ran down the arrow tower to look for his father Gu Huai, who was responsible for guarding the city wall.
In the northern section of the west city wall, there is a defense zone a hundred paces wide with a total of seventy-four crenels. The official guarding these crenels is Gu Huai.
When Gu Tianshou ran to his father's defense area, Gu Huai was holding a telescope in one hand and patting the crenel with the other. His face showed indescribable excitement and relief, and he murmured: "It's here, it's here."
This surprised the young patrol leader and asked in confusion: "Hey, what are you talking about?"
"Oops." Gu Huai sighed, raised his hand and pointed at the Marshal's Mansion troops who had begun to camp four or five miles away, and said happily: "I said the enemy army, we have been waiting for a month, and he is finally here... I just
I'm afraid he won't come."
There is almost a consensus among Gu Huai and other generals who defend the city. Now that Hong Chengchou is gone, the soldiers and civilians of Liangzhou have been in a tense state of defense for a month. To be honest, they can hardly withstand the pressure of fighting against the air.
.
[It has been running stably for many years, it is comparable to the old version of the book chasing artifact, and is used by old bookworms, huanyuan.]
If Liu Chengzong's army does not appear near Liangzhou in another five or six days, the city may not be able to be defended, and they will need an enemy.
The autumn grain was burned, the houses were demolished, and everything that could be transported into the city was transported into the city. The soldiers slept in the city for a whole month, and the common people in the city were only given food rations every day to ensure that they could not starve to death - there were no enemies.
,What is the reason for doing this?
Just to torment people?
The most important thing is that when the soldiers complain and complain, the general thinks that it is not my fault, I am also the one who is being tortured; when the poor people complain and complain, the gentry thinks that even the younger generation of my family cannot eat enough and lose meat all day long. p>
In the end, everyone unanimously looked at the city defense pamphlet in their hands, and he ran away after he tormented us.
There is indeed no rule that the governors of the three sides must stay in Liangzhou City, but if you run away at this time, you will be a bit of a dog.
The most uncomfortable thing is that the soldiers and civilians in the city know that what is written in this booklet is correct. If you want to defend the city, you must do this, but there are no enemies!
Now that the enemy is here, the problem is solved.
Gu Tianshou asked for a telescope from his father, and then he saw the appearance of the enemy's camp. Looking back and forth, he wondered: "How come there is only one camp?"
In his field of vision, he only saw one battalion, but one battalion was stationed in two separate camps. There were only a few people busy setting up camp in the camp, and most of them were riding horses to the fields. p>
"Don't look at it, you mob." Gu Huai glanced at his son and said, "A bandit is a bandit. If you don't have a horse or an ox, forget it. There are still people carrying hoes and pushing plows. How can you beat Mr. Yang with something like this?"
Died on the high platform?"
As he said this, he couldn't help but shake his head in confusion, and then asserted: "No, they are showing me weakness and openly luring the enemy. They are luring us out of the city to fight."
"I estimate that the people currently camping are all surrendered troops. They must have ambushes nearby. Once we leave the city and leave the protection of the moat and the cannons, everything on the oasis will be flat, and the war will definitely be unfavorable to me."
After saying that, Gu Huai turned his head and said relaxedly: "But there is a little advantage. I see that they are all wearing guard robes. The ghost soldiers went out to kill them for a while tonight, which just happened to lure the ambush soldiers out so that they can kill each other.
, know that our Liangzhou City is not a soft persimmon!"
"But big, they seem, like..."
Gu Tianshou did not listen to his father's words, and still looked through the binoculars with a very complicated expression on his face: "They seem to have really come to farm, and they have already planted it!".
