Li Yan unexpectedly sent troops to attack Dali, which shocked Tian Jianxiu and Gao Yigong, but they soon figured it out. Is this guy going to surround Wei and rescue Zhao again?
Or should we use offense as defense?
After all, once Dali is besieged or defeated, the crisis in Puzhou will be solved immediately. It is obvious that Li Yan is making a difference in time and distance. Luo Hu can reach Puzhou in three to five days at the earliest, and Chaoyi is far away.
Dali is only fifty miles away, infantry can reach it in half a day, and cavalry can reach it in an hour! But how can he have the confidence to defeat Dali before Luo Hu reaches Puzhou?
Tian Jianxiu couldn't figure it out, but now was not the time to think about it. He had to make a countermeasure, and he had to do it quickly!
While sending people around to report the changes here, they ordered the spies to continue investigating. After all, it was late at night and foggy, and they were worried that the intelligence would be wrong. First, they had to find out the strength and deployment of the officers and soldiers.
"It seems that Li Yan's attack on Tongguan is just a cover. Do you want Li Guo to send troops to support him?" Gao Yigong asked. Tian Jianxiu shook his head: "It may not be a cover. The soldiers and horses at Tongguan cannot be moved."
"Then...if Li Yan really has tens of thousands of troops to attack, I'm afraid...then let Hejin's soldiers and horses rush back to help." Gao Yigong was a little anxious. In order to attack Hejin, they sent the northern line to Heyang and Hancheng.
, the troops and horses from the three cities of Chengcheng County were all sent out. At this time, the northern line was empty, so that Dali could not come to help in the crisis, and the troops and horses at Tongguan could not move. So how could Dali's troops and horses alone be able to carry it?
"If the two or three thousand soldiers and horses from Hejin return to support, wouldn't Luo Hu and Ma Bao be trapped in the gap!" Tian Jianxiu shook his head, and Gao Yigong shook his head with a wry smile. Indeed, if the soldiers and horses surrounding Hejin left, Qin Songwang
They will immediately send troops to encircle Luohu with Gao Qi of Puzhou. He may even send troops to attack Hancheng on the other side in anger. Then things will really fall into chaos.
"Besides, two or three thousand people traveling long distances to come here won't be of much use. It's better to trap Hejin over there, so that Luo Hu and Ma Bao can go out without worries," Tian Jianxiu said with a cold smile.
: "There are more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in Dali and the Pucheng Crouching Mountain military camp behind. Li Yan may not be able to win a favor by attacking from inside and outside. Hehe, Li Yan thought he had made a strange move, but in fact he was trapped in a cage. He
It’s a good trip.”
"Why did Marquis Ze say this?" Gao Yigong was a little confused.
"We just need to trap Li Yan in Dali!" Tian Jianxiu's face no longer showed the solemnity and shock when he first heard that the officers and soldiers were coming, and became very confident and calm.
"If he comes with all his troops, the city of Puzhou will be empty. Wouldn't that just allow Luo Hu and Ma Bao to take advantage of it?" Tian Jianxiu woke up the dreamer with a word, and Gao Yigong clapped his legs and shouted: "Sure enough, he came well, he
He wants to take advantage of a loophole and attack Dali in front of Puzhou City. He has such a good idea. We only need to hold him for a few days and let him shoot himself in the foot! This is called stealing chickens.
Don't lose the rice."
At dawn, the fog gradually dispersed. When I looked up, I saw the sun was three in the sky. Tian Jianxiu and Gao Yigong also had red eyes. Officers and soldiers Chen Bing arrived outside the city.
At the top of the city, Tian Jianxiu looked a little tired but calm. What should be done has been done. The reconnaissance cavalry was out in all directions. The intelligence that should be investigated was investigated, and the messages that should be sent were sent out. Although Dali was an isolated city at this time, it was
It’s not helpless. There are thousands of soldiers and horses in the city. There are thousands of soldiers and horses in the Crouching Mountain military camp on the north side of Luohe River in Pucheng in the west of the city. That is, the military camp that Chang Yu once visited secretly. There are still thousands of soldiers and horses in the city.
Water comes to the rescue.
He wanted to see how Li Yan could defeat Dali City with the same force!
Li Yan was not in Puzhou at this time, but in Chaoyi. He had also stayed up all night but did not look tired. His expression was as calm as before, with no waves visible.
After learning that the bandits besieging Hejin actually divided their forces to attack Puzhou, it was obvious that his opponent wanted to attack Chaoyi, but Li Yan did not give him a chance and decisively ordered the army to cross the river and march westward.
He has been waiting for this opportunity for days!
This time he personally led the troops across the river and took command of the court, leaving only 3,000 troops to guard Puzhou City and 2,000 troops in the camp outside the city as mobile backup.
Li Yan's total force in Puzhou was nearly 30,000. Apart from guarding Hejin, Puzhou and various patrol posts, he had nearly 20,000 troops crossing the river to march westward, including nearly 8,000 cavalry.
After crossing the river in the middle of the night and annihilating the bandit army that had been harassing the city for several days, Li Yan and Gu Junen left five thousand troops to guard the city. They ordered the five tiger generals headed by Ma Huabao to advance towards Dali, with as many as 10,000 troops participating in the battle.
The artillerymen of the Shenji Battalion were also among them.
As soon as Zishi passed, the army sent troops from Chaoyi to advance towards Dali. The cavalry was in front, the infantry was in the middle, and the artillery and baggage were behind. The so-called baggage was siege equipment. The purpose this time was clearly to break Dali. Li Yan
The military order given was to capture the city within three days.
Ma Huabao and others happily accepted the order. To be honest, they had been exhausted in the past few days. Although they had achieved the first success in destroying the imperial court, in fact, the artillery of Shenji Battalion had exerted great effort. They belonged to
It was a big bargain, so several people were holding back their energy and wanted to have a good fight when the bandit army counterattacked.
Unexpectedly, the bandit army just stopped and didn't come in. They came every day, which made them feel itchy but couldn't vent it. As a result, they couldn't eat well or sleep well. They were very tired, and their hearts were already on fire.
They were ordered to fight against Dali, and the soldiers and horses participating in the battle were almost all Liu Zeqing's original team. This made several people very excited. It was time to earn merit and face!
It was only fifty miles from Chaoyi to Dali, and the cavalry could arrive in an hour. However, due to the darkness and fog, they were preparing to be ambushed by the bandits. Ma Huabao ordered the cavalry not to go deep alone, and to always keep a distance of ten miles from the main infantry in the rear. However,
Li Yan also said before coming that although Gao Yigong, one of Dali's rebel generals, was not outstanding in strategy, he was very cautious by nature, so it was unlikely that he would immediately make an ambush outside the city when he heard that the officers and soldiers were coming.
Decided that he didn't dare to take the risk.
Before dawn, the cavalry had arrived outside Dali City. They circled the city to conduct reconnaissance and reported back to Ma Huabao. Although the city was not big, it was much larger than Chaoyi. It faced a river on both sides to the southwest. There was a moat outside the city and artillery at the head of the city.
.
In fact, Li Yan had known this information for a long time. The efforts of sending so many scouts across the river for reconnaissance in the past half year were not in vain. At this time, the combat troops were just doing on-the-spot reconnaissance to familiarize themselves with the terrain.
There is an unnamed wild lake about ten miles east of Dali City. Ma Huabao ordered the main force of the infantry to temporarily camp and rest here, waiting for the artillery and baggage in the rear. At the same time, they studied the intelligence information at hand and the siege plan. In fact, Li Yan had already prepared the plan before they arrived.
The general direction has been set for them, and now they are studying the details of the attack.
"According to Li Shuai's words, the traitor's northern front is empty, Tongguan is in danger, and Dali is actually isolated. Its only support is Pucheng on the west bank of the Beiluo River. The two places are hundreds of miles apart, but their troops are not in Pucheng, but in Hexi
It is reported that there are thousands of people in Crouching Mountain, which is tens of miles away. They can reach Dali within a day for support. This is the only external pressure we have to break the city this time." Ma Huabao looked at Zhang Shiyi and the others: "Li Shuai said before coming.
Yes, before attacking the city, we must first cut off its support. Who are you, brothers?"
Zhang Shiyi and others looked at each other without saying a word. After a while, Zhang Guozhu stood up and said, "I'll go ahead. This time I won't compete with my brothers for credit."
During the attack on Chaoyi, Ma Huabao broke his scalp and rushed to get the first victory, but he didn't expect to be stepped on by Zhang Guozhu. He was so lucky that he didn't have any trouble. He felt a little embarrassed, so he took the initiative to ask for help this time to block the reinforcements of the thieves.
, defend Beiluohe.
Seeing that he was so sensible, Ma Huabao quickly said: "You, Lao Zhang, deserve most of the credit after the city was broken. They are all ours!"
"Yes, they are all ours." Several people grinned and laughed.
However, a few people quickly calmed down. Although Dali is not a big city, the gate of Xi'an Middle Road is heavily defended by thousands of soldiers, and the commander-in-chief Gao Yigong is a cautious person. Is it really that easy to fight? Li Yan said
The deadline was three days, and they were not sure whether they could complete the task.
If you don’t know the bottom, just explore the bottom.
Mahua and others decided that after dawn, after the infantry had rested and the baggage was in place, they would start the first round of attack. As for where to attack from, after several discussions, they decided to attack from the east gate and west gate.
The south side of Dali is close to the river and it is not suitable for troops to attack. The west side is more than ten miles away from the Beiluo River. If you attack from this side, you can prevent a sneak attack by soldiers and horses in the city or encircle Zhang Guozhu's troops stationed on the river bank, because Zhang Guozhu wants to station on the west bank of the river to block his reinforcements.