Chapter 4: Choices (five times) At the same time, different people have different dreams
The recruits who had just joined the Xiongwu Camp were thinking about how to survive the past two days and survive to obtain the ten stones of polished rice and two stones of grain promised by the general. Yu Wenshiji was thinking about how to lead the slowly forming army under his command to achieve more achievements, while Xu Zi What he was thinking about was how to secretly save the lives of his mentor Yang Fuzi and his friend Wu Heitai after the battle.
He deliberately shot Wu Heitai at close range with a strong bow in order to get him to leave Yuliang Avenue. Although that heavy blow might have left Wu Heitai lying down for several months, or even losing an arm forever, no matter where Either outcome is much better than attacking the city with a crowd and being burned alive by oil fire.
But now, Xuzi began to worry about Wu Heitai's ability to escape safely. The rebel general Li Mi didn't seem like a guy who cared about the lives of others. This could be seen from his crazy move of forcing Minzhuang, who had no armor or weapons, to participate in the siege. It can be speculated that once the soldiers and horses of the Sui Dynasty arrived, Li Mi would definitely not carry the wounded when he was defeated and escaped. If Wu Heitai, who was seriously injured, was captured, with his stubborn personality and sharp mouth, what would happen to him It will never be better than Yuanwuben
What to do? Xuzi looked at the smoke and dust outside the city and began to worry deeply about the enemy's failure. He was not a qualified general and could not treat human life as trivial. He was also not a qualified new nobleman and could not be ruthless. After going through so many ups and downs at the expense of his friend's life in exchange for his own fame, he is still the kind-hearted and cowardly Xuzi in his heart. He knows that his weakness is fatal, but he can't change it for a while.
While eating, Xuzi even imagined that Li Mi would realize that Liyang City was a tough nut to crack, and that it would be the best outcome to evacuate decisively before the other 300,000 Sui soldiers came to kill him. To hunt down the partners who had lived and died together in the past, these brothers in Liyang City no longer had to face the threat of death. But this idea was obviously a bit naive. Li Mi and Han Shihe just pulled the team down to make some repairs. Half an hour later, they The next attack was launched
Standing at the head of Liyang City, Xuzi couldn't see what was happening hundreds of miles away. In fact, Li Mi could no longer fail. The small Liyang City had now become a life-saving straw for the rebels. Without this straw, the three hundred thousand people would rise up. Those who will never recover
A few days ago, Yang Xuangan's younger brother Yang Xuanting was shot to death by a stray arrow during the battle with Wei Wensheng. Yang Xuangan was overly grieved and lost control of his advance and retreat. He was blocked by his defeated general Fan Zi and lost hundreds of his trusted staff. Yang Xuangan was furious and returned. The division attacked Luoyang fiercely, but Wei Wensheng turned back to fight back, trying to attack him from behind. When Yang Xuangan turned back to attack Wei Wensheng, Fan Zigai led his troops out of the city again, fighting one after another.
Yang Xuangan, who claimed to be a good soldier and good at fighting, was exhausted by the two "shameless" Sui generals. At this time, Xi Zuo sent more depressing news and learned that Liyang was captured by the Xiongwu Camp. It turned out that all parties were hesitant. The soldiers of the Sui Dynasty who were not advancing were marching all night and night, rushing towards the two cities of Luoyang and Liyang from all directions.
Yuwenshu, the general of Zuo Yi who was in charge of the counter-rebellion military affairs, sent Wu Benlang and Chen Leng to reinforce Yuwen Shiji. The vanguard was said to have arrived in Qinghe County, which was only two days away from Liyang. Wuwei General Qu Tutong first went west through Jingxing Pass and then Turn around and head south, heading straight for Hanoi along the official roads of the counties in Hedong. General Lai Hu'er, who was in charge of the Sui Dynasty Navy, is also heading upstream along the Yellow River, charging towards Luoyang with great momentum.
In order to reassure Yang Guang, Lai Hu'er sent his other two sons to meet with the Holy Emperor to serve as hostages and announced in public that his son Lai Yuan, who had surrendered to the enemy, would be removed from the family. This act of righteousness and annihilation of relatives was highly appreciated by the court, and Yang
After receiving the memorial from Lai to protect his son, Guang immediately issued an order to confer him a first-class title and announced to all officials that if there were descendants in the Baiguan family who were forced to surrender to thieves due to military force, the court would not hold their families accountable and those who had already taken refuge with Yang Xuangan would not be held accountable.
As long as the nephew of an official can repent and escape from the rebels, the imperial court will not forget the merits of his father's generation.
The incoming reinforcements, the court's magnanimous behavior and the news of Liyang's fall all combined to make the rebel army confused. Many people despaired of their future. Taking advantage of Yang Xuangan's unpreparedness, more than forty nobles surrendered to him.
Among the disciples, seventeen actually escaped from the military camp secretly and disappeared. Among the remaining twenty or so people, except for a few who were entrusted with important tasks by him and were fighting on the front line, the rest were a little restless and restless.
Those bandits and bandits who tried to establish their own merits in the troubled times and sent troops to respond to Yang Xuangan, after losing the temptation of Liyangcang's military rations, no longer wanted to let him control the bandits and burned, killed and looted in the counties around Luoyang, which in turn made Yang Xuangan more serious.
Army supply difficulty
Yang Xuangan was at a loss and asked Li Zixiong, the former Youhou Wuhou general, for advice. Li Zixiong believed that with Li Mi and Han Shihe attacking Liyang City, the destruction of the city was imminent. Zuo Xiaowei General Qu Tu was well versed in military affairs. If he led his troops from Hanoi County
If we cross the river, it will be difficult to win or lose. It is better to divide our troops and reject them. If we cannot cross the river, Fan and Wei will be without help.
Wei Wensheng and Fan Zigai circled another route, led by himself, and headed north to Heyang to intercept Qu Tutong.
As a result, as soon as he divided his troops, Li Zixiong was severely defeated by Wei Wensheng and Fan Zigai. Yang Xuangan had no choice but to turn around and fight back, merge the two troops again, and use all his strength to deal with Fan.
, he sent a report to Li Mi and Han Shihe with eight hundred miles of fast horses, ordering them to capture Liyang before Wu Benlang and Chen Leng's troops arrived.
"Without Li Yang's food, the army's morale will be depleted, and you and I will be ruined. Brother Dharma Master is so talented that he can do it for himself!" Yang Xuangan wrote in tears in the urgent military letter to Li Mi.
The situation was extremely critical, and Li Mi never wanted his fame and dreams to go down the drain. Therefore, he mobilized his soldiers and launched a more violent attack on Liyang City.
Amidst the fierce sound of war drums, the rebels once again approached the Western Wall of Liyang. Li Mi obviously summed up the reasons for the failure of the first wave of attacks. In this attack, he directed it very carefully. All the troops and horses advanced almost in parallel, without any single attack by the defenders.
Of course, those who walked at the front of the team were the shield bearers who were responsible for the cover. They were still shirtless and only had giant shields made of tree branches as weapons. However, each giant shield was covered with wet mud.
Liyang City is sandwiched between the Yellow River and Yongji Canal. It has abundant underground water resources. You can dig out well water anywhere you dig seven feet. Li Xu and Yu Wenshiji, who were once worried that the enemy would cut off the city's water supply, knew this very well.
, Li Mi, who organized the attack, also knew very well
Li Mi not only used wet mud on his shield, but soon the brothers in the Xiongwu Camp realized the enemy general's brilliance. But for them, this was definitely not good news. "His grandma, Li Mi, this bastard,
It’s a shame he can think of such a dirty trick." Zhang Xiu pointed at the enemy troops under the city and cursed angrily.
In the direction of his finger, tens of thousands of civilians, shirtless and carrying wet mud in straw bags, passed over the soldiers and horses of their own army, ignoring the arrows falling from above their heads, and quickly rushed towards the Liyang city wall and onto the weir beam.
Avenue
The defenders unceremoniously shot hundreds of civilians to death on the way. The black wet mud fell on the ground, mixed with the red blood, and the piles were very eye-catching. The people who were not hit by the arrows refused at all.
He stopped, carrying the straw bag, shouting in despair, and continued to rush towards the destination.
"Poof!" The first wave of Minzhuang who rushed to Liyang City dropped the mud, turned around, bypassed his own attack array, and the second wave continued to rush up, covering the corpses and bloodstains of the predecessors with a thick layer of
The third wave of mud, the fourth wave, the fifth wave, the archers shot one after another until their arms were weak, but they could not stop the mud from extending under the city wall and on the Weirang Avenue. Under the city wall, there were people running everywhere, and time was endless.
, repeatedly nocking arrows, drawing bows, and letting go, the attacking echelons were getting closer and closer to the city wall. Through the "war of attrition" between the people and the defenders, they gained sufficient preparation time.
Oil is flammable and cannot be covered with water. People who live at home have this common sense. Li Mi is very smart. He first used wet mud to turn the roots of Liyang City into an unignitable swamp mixed with flesh and blood.
After the swamp was basically formed, the Zhuang people lifted up more mud and piled up several mountains of mud seventy steps away from the city wall. If the defenders set fire again during the battle, these Zhuang people would use the mountains of mud to crack their scheme.
Suddenly, the drums stopped, and the battlefield fell silent. Minzhuang, who was transporting mud, completed his task at the cost of more than two thousand lives. He lined up and slowly retreated to the distance. Shields, ladders, archers, and armor
The army stopped about thirty steps away from Liyang City, looking up at the city wall that was stained red with blood and blackened by smoke. Then, the sound of drums sounded like the earth was shattering again, and the rebels broke out with a cry.
, rushing towards Li Yang
The feathered arrows arrived at the head of Liyang City ahead of the soldiers, making noisy noises, playing the note of death. This time the arrow rain was denser than the last time. The defenders were pressed behind the battlements and could hardly lift their heads. Li Mi
Like a beggar who burst out suddenly, he wanted to squander all the savings in his pocket at once. "Shoot, keep shooting, don't stop." He stood in a safe place 200 steps away, waving the flag and shouting, "Ladders, don't stop on the ladders."
The army, the armored army rushed to the fish beam road!"
Some of the rebel soldiers near the city wall were injured by their own arrows. Most of them only had cloth armor on them, and they could not stop the arrows falling from mid-air. The captain in front was supervising the battle, but the brigade leaders did not.
In order to stop the team, he threatened his brothers with a knife, braved the arrows from both the enemy and ourselves, and attached the ladder to the blue-black wall.
Immediately a scratching hook came out from the top of the city, and before the owner of the scratching hook could use any force to hold on to the edge of the ladder, dense arrows fell down and shot him to death at the crenellation. Many of the arrows deviated from the direction, killing one of the people holding the ladder.
And sent them to Huangquan Road. Up and down the city, countless pairs of immortal eyes stared at each other, accepting this tragic fate together.
"The archers changed their targets and concentrated their efforts to shoot the defenders on the Yuliang Road!" Seeing that his side was seriously injured by accident, Li Mi finally showed mercy and ordered the archers to temporarily stop suppressing the sky above the ladder.
The arrows twisted towards the weirway like a storm, becoming denser and more rapid. The crenellations of the city wall suddenly sprouted thick white hair like hedgehogs. The defenders' archers hiding behind the crenellations lowered their heads, curled up, and shuddered.
The opponent's attack was so fierce that they had no chance to counterattack. The armored infantry walking on the fish beam road held their shields high and swaggered forward. Occasionally, arrows from both sides hit their armor, causing a splash of "Clang!"
A string of sparks does not serve any other purpose
The rebels under various ladders began to climb the city. The defenders who quickly lost the opportunity used stones and rolling logs to block them, but they were unable to restore their own side's decline. Behind the mud shield wall, there were archers covering their side's shield bearers.
Down, he rushed directly to a place only ten steps away from the city wall. The defender soldiers who raised their heads and shot the arrows lay softly on the city wall. The blood slid down the city wall like a stream, and repainted the blood stains that had turned black.
thick layer of red
"Wu-wu-gulu-lu-lu!" The sound of drums and horns urged people. The armored infantry marching through the mud on the old Weirong Avenue were already less than sixty feet away from the city wall. They were facing the defenders of the Weirong Road.
The army was still suppressed and could not lift its head. Li Xu organized soldiers in the enemy tower and tried several times to counterattack the enemy archers. However, there were too few people in the enemy tower, and the shooting skills of the soldiers in the Xiongwu Camp were not rigorous.
Training cannot pose an effective threat to the opponent at all.
"Attack more points and choose key points to break through!" This was the siege tactic that Li Xu summed up in private when he attacked Liaoyang. At that time, he was very quiet and could not let his suggestions be known to the court. But now, Li Mi adopted the same strategy to deal with him.
, but it was very effective. The focus of the attack was placed near the Weirang Road. Feather arrows were used to cover the ladders in other places to distract the defenders' strength and attention. Once the ladder attack was successful somewhere, the non-key points were turned into key points to allow the defenders to attack.
Too late to prevent
In the battlefield of Liaoyang, the attackers had many people and the defenders were few. In the battlefield of Liyang, the number of rebels was three times that of the defenders. The children of creation were hiding in the sky, secretly laughing at the "copper blocks" in the oven. They were about to be melted. The furnace door
It has been closed, the last piece of charcoal has been added, all it owes is a little bit of wind
The wind suddenly blew from the east, making the war flags roar. Xuzi slowly pulled out the black knife from his waist and wiped the red color on the blade with a city brick.
"I want to withdraw the brothers on the Yuliang Road to relieve the pressure in other directions!" Yu Wenshiji rushed to Li Xu and suggested in a low voice
"Instruct the brothers on Yuliang Road to withdraw into the enemy tower and order Lieutenant Li to block the small door between the city wall of Yuliang Road and the left city wall!" Li Xu accepted this suggestion without hesitation. So far, Yu Wenshi
He has never given him any bad ideas, so Xuzi has great trust in his supervisor.
The messenger ran out with his body hunched over. After a few breaths, the brothers facing the Yuliang Road covered each other with shields and retreated into the enemy tower. The enemy armored infantry keenly caught the fighter opportunity, suddenly accelerated, and rushed through the last few steps.
Stepping forward, he pushed up his arms and climbed up to the top of Liyang City.
"Command the brothers, attack Yuliang Road!" Li Mi saw the figure of the Iron Armored Army appearing on the city wall with the feather fan raised high. At this moment, he felt that he had transformed into an ancient wise man. While talking and laughing, the enemy army was wiped out.