Along the east bank of the Hongliu River, Liang Division built many fortresses and beacons.
But when more than 10,000 people from the Lingwu Corps of the Tang Army came to fight from the west, Duan Decao of Xiazhou also ordered Qi Shuofang's 10,000 men to attack from the south. While the two armies were attacking, Fan Xing of Yanzhou also led Yansui's troops to attack from the southeast.
Offensive support.
Division Liang still spent some energy on the defense line on the east bank of the Hongliu River, but the moment he took the initiative to abandon the defense of Yanzhou, he was destined to fail today.
There are no dangerous points to defend here, not to mention that now, without reinforcements from the Turks going south, Shuofang Liang's army actually has no will to fight at all.
The main force of Liang's army is placed on Xiazhou's inner defense line, and there are no elites on the outside.
Furthermore, even now, few people in the pseudo-Liang Dynasty feel that there is any hope left.
West bank of Hongliu River.
After Wu Huaiyu received the good news from Wu Junwei, he laughed and said, "This is the first achievement for the military captain."
"Send someone to send all those eight hundred people back to Yanzhou."
Regardless of soldiers, generals or civilians, those who voluntarily surrender will be temporarily sent back to the rear to work in the fields. After the war is over, they will either divide the fields and settle in households on the spot, or move into the interior. In short, these people will be given preferential treatment.
Officials may even retain their official status and go to Chang'an to participate in the election and be re-appointed.
There are no plans to let them stay in Yanzhou for the time being.
However, before moving, Wu Huaiyu asked them to cooperate with the Tang army in destroying crops, water canals, and even tearing off a wall of the castle.
"Under the festival, the destruction of Liang is just around the corner, and the Xia and Yin states in Shuofang will soon be owned by the Tang Dynasty. Isn't it a pity to relocate people, destroy fields, destroy castles, and canals now? Later, we will have to spend manpower and material resources to repair them. Why not preserve them?"
"
A government official suggested to Wu Huaiyu.
At this time, after the Dragon Boat Festival, the crops in the fields were growing well. They were planted by the people with hard work. It was not easy to build castles, canals, etc.
"It's not that I don't feel distressed, nor that I don't know that it was hard-won, but now is the time of war, and the battle to defeat Liang will not end immediately. This summer offensive was originally intended to harass and destroy, and there was no intention to complete its achievements.
One battle,"
The battle plan is drawn up in advance, and the plan cannot be adjusted immediately as soon as the battle begins.
Wu Huaiyu sent his own soldiers, holding command arrows, to each camp to supervise the execution.
Wherever they passed, not a single person or animal from Liang was left, and not a single fiber of the crops was left in the fields. People moved away and the crops were destroyed.
Canals, villages, and castles must be properly destroyed.
Even if the Tang army retreats, Liang will still be unable to recover.
Sidaogou Fort.
Wu Junwei saw the military order passed down by his cousin and had no choice but to obey it.
He has now captured more than a thousand Liang soldiers and civilians.
"dismantle!"
Starting from Sidaogou Fort, one side of the rammed earth castle wall was directly demolished, and all the green crops in the surrounding fields at the foot of the mountain were also cut off.
The people cried and begged.
"You are all going to be resettled in Yanlingling. Not a single plant or tree here can be left for false beams. Just demolish it."
Wu Junwei also felt that it was a pity, especially since the four trench forts were not big, but they were quite dangerous. A hundred soldiers could guard this area well.
But military orders cannot be violated.
The Lingwu Legion dispatched more than 10,000 troops this time, but they were not here to attack the city, let alone attack Tongwan. This time they were here to cause destruction, rob people and destroy the land.
No one feels comfortable seeing people crying and cutting away the crops they have worked so hard to grow, but that's what war is like.
Destroy the young crops, demolish the castles and villages, pack up all the household items that can be taken away, and then drive the livestock and help the old and the young to move westward, leaving behind a piece of ruins.
After the Lingwu Corps crossed the Hongliu River, they met the Shuofang Corps to the west and south, like two big axes chopping at Puppet Liang.
Many forts and generals surrendered without a fight, and many people showed no resistance. Many people were also forcibly moved from Yanzhou. Many people fled back before, and now they are still here.
It was difficult, there was no land, and you could only work as tenants, or even become slaves. Everything started from scratch, life was difficult, and those who had not escaped were either planning to escape, or had escaped and were caught.
Now that the Tang army came, many people came to greet Master Wang, even carrying kettles and eggs.
Although in the end the Tang army wanted to move them away instead of directly allocating land to them, which made them a little disappointed, for most people, this was still a rescue.
There are also many castles that resist.
Even some local powerful people relied on Wubao Manor to resist and refused to surrender.
Faced with these people, Wu Huaiyu and Yang Gongren had the same attitude. If the opponent's castle is strong, has more men and horses, and is stronger, they should encircle it first rather than attack it, and level the outside. If there are some small forts, they can attack them if they can, but not
Force.
It doesn't matter if you keep these strongholds and fortresses for the time being.
Three days before crossing the Hongliu River, the Lingwu Legion advanced a hundred miles eastward and arrived at the bank of the Lu River.
The Lingwu Army and the Shuofang Army met at the foot of Shanlu City on the banks of the Lu River.
Shanlu City used to be Shanlu County in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. During the Kaihuang period of the Sui Dynasty, the county was removed. The west of Lu River to the east bank of Hongliu River was merged into Changze County, and the east of Lu River was merged into Ningshuo County.
Shanlu City, like Ningshuo City and Wuyuan City, was built on the line of the Great Wall.
"The city is four miles in circumference and two feet high. It has one gate each in the southeast and north, and nineteen buildings. It governs the nearby Great Wall for forty-seven miles, and has forty-three piers and abutments. It has convenient transportation from east to west, and it also guards the entrance to the Great Wall.
"
"The city is currently stationed by Liang General Sun Da, with eight thousand soldiers."
Outside Shanlu City, a general wearing bright light armor reported to Yang Wu and others. This person was Shi Liu Min, the governor of Xiazhou.
He was so familiar with this place because he and Sun Da were old friends. Liu Min was originally a Liang general. In the third year of Wude, when he and Zhang Ju were stationed at Ningshuo in the east, he led his entire city to surrender to Duan Decao.
After joining the Tang Dynasty, Liu Min has been stationed on the front line of the Great Wall. He often fought against Liang Jun and performed very bravely. He was Duan Decao's vanguard and fought all the way to the east city of Shuofang. The Liang division had to defend the west city and almost destroyed Liang.
In the end, the Turkic army arrived and finally allowed Liang Division to survive.
"Sun Da is Li Zhengbao's brother-in-law and a fierce general."
Li Zhengbao is the number one general in the Liang Dynasty and is now the puppet Liang.
The situation of Sun Da and Liu Min is somewhat opposite. He was a Tang general in his early years, but later he took the initiative to defect to Liang. After Li Zhengbao accepted him, he even married his sister to him.
In today's Puppet Liang, the whole country can only cobble together 100,000 soldiers. Sun Dan can lead 8,000 troops in Shanlu, which shows that he is quite important in Puppet Liang.
"It seems that Sun Da can't persuade him to surrender?"
Wu Huaiyu was a little curious about why Sun Da, a Tang general, took the initiative to defect to Liang. Isn't this the same as joining Chiang Kai-shek in 1949?
"Sun Da was also from Shuofang, a local powerful man. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, like Master Liang, he also killed officials and rebelled, occupying prefectures and counties and calling himself the general manager. Later, he accepted the recruitment of the Tang Dynasty, surrendered to the imperial court, and was awarded an official position, but this person
Although brave, he is murderous, cruel and greedy.
Because he fell in love with the beautiful wife of a superior general, he broke into a subordinate's house after a banquet and raped his wife. Afterwards, he falsely accused the general of collaborating with the enemy and killed her. He also seized the property of his wife and daughter. However, he was later reported for intending to rebel and seize the city.
Defeated, he threw himself into the beams."
"So, this Sun Da really can only follow the same path as Master Liang until he gets into trouble."
It is indeed not easy to attack a city defended by such a guy with 8,000 men.
No, the Tang army did not intend to attack the city.
It's not time for a head-on confrontation yet. The main purpose of this visit is to harass and destroy. First, surround Shanlu City. If you don't attack, his eight thousand soldiers will be dead.
The two armies divided their forces to harass the countryside, carry out forced demolitions, and destroy young crops. Sun Da could only stare. If he dared to go out of the city to fight, he would lose the advantage of defending the city.
The Tang army had strong soldiers and horses, and was numerically superior, so they were not afraid.
Even if the Liang division sent troops to help, the Tang army could still besiege the city and fight for reinforcements. This was a strategic initiative.
The fact is as Wu Huaiyu expected,
Nasunda was known to be brave, but facing the two legions of the Tang Dynasty camped on three sides outside the city, especially after seeing the Duan Zi Commandery Flag, he did not dare to leave the city.
He only ordered the gates on three sides to be guarded tightly, and the city was guarded day and night without any let-up.
Although Duan Decao was very young, he served as the governor of Yanzhou for many years and beat the Puppet Liang Kingdom over and over again. From Liang Shidu to Sun Da, there was no one in Puppet Liang who was not afraid of Duan Decao, because if he really couldn't defeat him, all the Puppet Liang capitals would be defeated.
Duan Decao surrounded him three times.
Play once and lose once.
If it weren't for the Turks who came to the rescue every time, Puppet Liang would have been defeated by Duan Decao.
Now that Duan Decao has been appointed as the governor of Xiazhou, they are even more afraid of him.
As for Yang Gongren and Wu Huaiyu in the west, Sun Da had never suffered any losses from them and had never been taught a lesson, so he didn't pay much attention to them. However, the Lingwu Legion had strong soldiers and horses, so he did not dare to touch them easily.
I can only act like a coward and prepare to fight against the Tang army.
As for the officers who persuaded them to stick to the defense, it would be difficult to save the fortresses, farms and even the people outside the city. How could Sun Da take care of it?
It would be good to be able to defend Shanlu City, so don't worry about that.
The Tang army was three or four times their number, who would dare to go out?
Whoever suggested it went, and suddenly no one proposed fighting anymore.
Summer is hot.
Lingwu and Shuofang armies each left half of the siege, but they only surrounded three sides.
Each sent the other half of their troops to sweep the surrounding area.
Shanlu City has been very quiet for several days.
The two sides were living in peace and harmony. There was no one yelling or fighting outside the city, and there was no such thing as midnight sneak attacks inside the city. Anyway, the city gates were closed and they did not disturb each other.
Life is not easy for a coward.
Sun Da was under great pressure and could not sleep every night. Every time he finally fell asleep, he would wake up easily.
Sun Da, who couldn't sleep well, became more and more irritable. He drank alcohol every day to drown his sorrows. Then when he was drunk, he would whip his subordinates with whips, even the soldiers and slaves around him.
Outside the city, the Tang army was besieging the city. In the city, Sun Da was beating and scolding him every day, which made the soldiers in the city even more miserable. Sun Da not only attacked his subordinates, but also started to whip the powerful wealthy people in the city.
Eight thousand soldiers and horses were stationed in the city. They were isolated by the siege, and their food and wages were cut off. So many people needed to eat and drink, and even needed rewards and incentives. Sun Da apportioned them to the city.
The rich and powerful families provide money and food, while ordinary people who have no money contribute people and efforts.
The money and food that were spread out were very heavy, especially the soldiers and generals who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune. Even at this time, they became more and more crazily greedy.
They distributed money and food from house to house, and even asked for benefits. If they didn't give, they would take people away directly, or even go in and rob them directly.
The small Shanlu City is in a state of chaos, everyone is in danger and resentment is getting deeper and deeper.
In a shop in the city, the waiter sent away Sun Da's soldiers with money and silk. He came to the backyard and said, "Erlang, send them all away."
"These guys are becoming more and more greedy, their appetites are getting bigger and bigger, and the time has come three times a day."
In the room, the lame Song Jiang was drinking tea, very calm.
"The grievances are so deep, the time is almost here, and it's been so long, it's time to take action."
