Chapter 2 Tiger Cub (Part 2) Liaodong City is like a stone in a toilet, black and smelly
The long war has stained the walls of this isolated city with human blood. Black flies and mosquitoes are looking for food on the black bloodstains. Whenever a stone or crossbow arrow falls down, those bloodthirsty insects "coax"
With a loud bang, smoke flew up into the sky, and together with the splashing gravel and soil, covered the pale sun.
This is by no means a comfortable sight, but Li Xu has to face it every day. Now, he is already the commander of the first battalion, with 10,000 soldiers and more than 2,000 auxiliary soldiers under his command. He can no longer be like the last time in Liaodong.
In the initial stage of the battle, if you feel the battle is boring, you can sneak back to your camp and sleep.
But on the battlefield, he did nothing. The Goguryeo people blocked all the gates of Liaodong City with stones and soil. The Sui soldiers did not need to be alert to possible enemy attacks, but they could not attack the Liaodong City. Although outside the city
There is a Yuliang Avenue built by the soldiers with sand bags. You can walk to the city wall step by step along this road. But the Goguryeo people defended it very smartly. They used wooden fences and sand bags to divide the city wall into small sections and attacked the city head.
The Sui army either stood on the city and endured the attacks of arrows from the enemy towers on both sides, or they continued to move forward and jumped from the city wall more than two feet tall in order to expand their victory to both sides of the city, but they were absolutely unable to do so.
In the city close to the city wall, the Goguryeo people dug countless trenches and demolished all the houses close to the city wall. Anyone who dared to jump into the city would be chopped to pieces by the swarming enemy troops even if they were not thrown to death immediately. Therefore, facing
In the black city of Liaodong, the soldiers and horses of the Sui Dynasty were still unable to do anything after the arrival of new forces.
Five days ago, when the Xiaoguo battalions arrived at the gates of Goguryeo for the first time, several generals made a red-faced argument in order to join the first wave of siege sequence. Lord Yelvhu, the minister of war, who came to introduce the battle situation, said that the Goguryeo soldiers in the city
We are at the end of our tether. As long as we, the Sui warriors, launch another charge, we can capture the entire city.
"Those who are the first to enter will be promoted to the third level and rewarded to ten thousand households!" Under the huge reward, no one is red-eyed except for a general named Pei and General Li Lang who has no foundation. The other eight generals are all competing for this first achievement. General Pei is not competing.
The merit is because he has a prominent family background, and he already has the title of Doctor Guanglu, so he doesn't have to compete with his juniors. The reason why General Li Lang can't compete is because he is self-aware. Countless descendants of famous families have not yet had their turn.
Is there any chance for a newbie like him to show up?
The narrow Weirang Road cannot accommodate too many soldiers and horses to attack at the same time. Therefore, after coordination with the Ministry of War, the eight battalions of warriors who actively requested the battle were divided into eight shifts. Each shift would attack for a day. If any battalion's offensive could not last a whole day,
Heaven, then the wheel will be given to the general next to him to lead the troops on top.
On the first day, the Zhechong Xiaoguo Camp, led by a general from the Zhao family in Tianshui, took the lead in attacking the city from noon to midnight. More than 3,000 Xiaoguo soldiers died on both sides of Yuliang Avenue, and no one was killed.
After being able to increase the gap on the city by half a minute, General Zhao hid his face and cried, admitting defeat, and tied himself to the Chinese army to plead guilty to His Majesty the Emperor, then laughed and let go, ordering the three armies to rest and fight again tomorrow.
The next day, Guo Yilang's general Yuan Wei, under the cover of strong bows and crossbows, led his soldiers to climb the city with earth bags, trying to build a road down to the city on the other side of the city wall. The soldiers were busy all day.
Exhausted, all the soil bags thrown into the city were pushed away in wheelbarrows by the Goguryeo people in the city. Before dark, Yuan Wei thought he was defeated and took the initiative to ask the Chinese army to plead guilty. Yang Guang, in the face of the late imperial eunuch Yuan Shou, offered forgiveness.
Got him
The name of the general who was drawn in the third round of attack was Yu Shize. He was the cousin of Yu Shiji, the current Minister of Internal Affairs. With the experience of the first two generals in siege, he did not dare to underestimate the enemy anymore.
Stone cannons suppressed the Goguryeo army near Yuliang Avenue, and sent dead soldiers to carry ladders to the top of the city. However, the length of the ladders could not reach the ground inside the city. Goguryeo dug the area near the city wall much lower than outside the city, but Yu Shi had nothing to do.
He had no choice but to attack the obstacles erected by the Goguryeo people on the city wall. After a day of bloody fighting, he destroyed twelve fences and dismantled three sand barriers. However, in the evening, he was shot by a poisonous arrow in the face gate and fought on the spot.
die
The heroes who had not undergone strict training retreated in panic after the death of their leader. More than 200 people fell down the weirway and were squeezed off the city wall by their own people.
Immediately afterwards, the fourth and fifth rounds of attacks also returned without success. Once the Xiaoguos who came with the intention of making meritorious deeds found that the credit was not as easy to get as they imagined, their morale dropped at an extremely fast rate. Today
, Less than an hour after the sixth attack was launched, Li Xu, who was watching the battle from the side, had already anticipated the failure of the attack.
"We shouldn't just attack this one point. The more single the attack point, the better it will be for the defender. Instead of letting hundreds of thousands of troops waste away under the city, it's better to use the Weirang Road to attract the attention of the defenders, and send surprise troops to attack the city from other directions or build multiple bases."
Several fish beams are coming, attacking the city from several directions at the same time!" Li Xu whispered to several low-level generals under his command.
The Art of War has it that, considering the current difference in the number of soldiers between the enemy and ours, the most appropriate offensive strategy is to siege the city rather than storm the city. However, the suitable fighting weather in Liaodong is too short. Once the war continues after August, suddenly and
The heavy snowfall is not a disaster for the Central Plains soldiers. Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor's strategy of storming Liaodong City may not be wrong, but the means of storming are too simple.
"Your Majesty, what you said is absolutely correct, but no one will listen to us!" Murong Luo, the commander of the Xiongwu Camp, responded in a low voice. He is a veteran with nearly twenty years of experience in the army. Since the expedition to Liao during the Kaihuang reign,
He has been wandering around the sixth-grade military position. Murong is a Hu surname. His ancestors committed too many crimes, so this surname has never been accepted by the aristocratic families in the Central Plains. Murong Luo himself has no relationship with the Yuwen family, a prominent member of the military.
, so after having been around for more than ten years, he was just a captain and had not yet been able to enter the Sixth Army of the Emperor, which had more opportunities for promotion. When Li Xulai took up his new post at the Xiongwu Xiaoguo Camp, a group of low-level generals who had connections and served as errands in the camp tried to intimidate the new commander.
Because Murong Luo had no background, he did not dare to participate. In the end, it was a blessing in disguise. The people who took the lead in making trouble were all taken down by Li Xu. He and Li Anyuan, another person from a relatively humble background, were promoted because they acted in a low-key manner.
Li Xu had no choice but to smile bitterly. He knew what Murong Luo said was right. Although it was only a short time to squeeze into the ranks of Sui generals, Xu Zi had already felt the invisible walls around him. "Who is that boy who got this shitty luck?"
, What great achievements has his father made, and are there any famous people from his ancestors?" Every morning when he went to the Central Army Ying Mao, other people's whispers made him feel uncomfortable all over. Although his identity as a descendant of Flying General Li Guang was genuine,
Nowadays, the two Li surnames recognized by the Sui Dynasty are the Li family of Zhaojun and the Li family of Longyou. They can be considered the same clan as his Shanggu Li family, but they have not had any contact with each other for hundreds of years.
The fifth rank general is a "six-parallel officer" and has only six opportunities to participate in court meetings every month. During the routine military roll every morning, they can only stand in the second-to-last position on the west side of the generals' row.
The first one is where the on-duty captains of the Sixth Army of the Emperor stand, and those internal captains often disdain foreign generals who are three levels or more higher than themselves.
With no one to introduce him, it was difficult for Li Xu to get His Majesty the Emperor's attention at midnight in the morning. Because he stood too far away, he often couldn't even hear what His Majesty the Emperor was saying. Therefore, he couldn't compete for the credit and limelight, and it was his turn to make suggestions.
Not on the head of his little new general.
"The cost of multiple attacks is too high. I have seen other soldiers and horses in the past two days. They are all sons of good families temporarily recruited from local places. Very few of them have served as soldiers. With such a high city wall, the opponent's defender is a capable soldier."
A ruthless person who is accustomed to fighting will be killed if he rushes forward. Besides, our morale is so low now, there are not many people who are really willing to step forward and fight for their lives!" Zhao Ziming, the commander of the Xiongwu Camp, whispered to his general and analyzed that he was an aide recommended to Xu Zi by General Xue Shixiong.
, he looks like a tuberculosis ghost, but he has rich experience in officialdom and on the battlefield. When he first arrived at Liaodong City, the reason why Li Xu did not rush to rush to establish a military order was thanks to his and another Li family's recommendation.
The eight-level recording plan
"Actually, that's fine. We won't get the chance to receive awards for meritorious service. At least there are no mistakes to make!" Zhang Xiu, the fifth child, said with a smile. This boy is now Li Xu's captain of the bodyguard. Although there are not many people under his command, his rank is high.
He is a sixth-grade official recognized by the imperial court and can receive a fixed salary every year. He is also looked down upon by captains of the same rank in the army and those who join the army. So he is very satisfied with the current situation and does not want to think about anything more.
"That can't be done. We can't speak the same language as one family now!" Don't look around Murong Luo and whispered, "Xiaoguo Camp was temporarily established. It will have to be disbanded after Liaodong is pacified. If we don't have some actual achievements,
, there is only one official title left, and it will be difficult to fill the actual vacancies in the internal and external governments in the future. After this battle, those soldiers from the external governments will also be disarmed and returned to their fields in large numbers. There will be many generals and commanders who have no place to take office, unless you have a big backer in the court, or
Willing to use money..."
"I'll try my best to find a way!" Li Xu looked at the people with longing eyes and comforted in a low voice, "Everyone has the dream of being admired by others. Sitting in this position, you must know what the people below need, and try not to
Let them down..." Before taking office, Liu Hongji's instructions were still echoing in his ears. Xuzi was a little melancholy. Looking at the dark and stinking Liaodong City, he had no choice but to do so.
"General Li!" Murong Luo suddenly pushed his shoulder and called in a low voice.
Li Xu looked away from a distance and saw several people in palace guard uniforms striding towards him. These people were all from noble backgrounds and had never wanted to associate with a child from a poor family like Xu Zi.
"The Emperor orders you to come to the Central Military Commission immediately to discuss matters!" a guard in front said coldly.
"General, I obey!" Li Xu stood solemnly, clasped his fists, and responded in a low voice. Chief Shi Zhao Ziming coughed slightly. Zhang Xiu, the captain of the guard, rushed forward with his people, put on a smile and pulled the arm of the guard in front.
"Generals, don't rush back to answer your orders. Our generals have never seen the emperor before..." Zhang Xiu smiled flatteringly and stuffed a small yellow thing into the palm of the guard.
"Your husband will be young and promising." A smile immediately appeared on the leading guard's face, and he clenched his hands. With his good intuition about yellow and white things, he came up with an evaluation of Li Xu, "Actually, this is very simple. Let's take it slow.
Walk slowly while I explain it to your general..."
