Fengjiazhuang is located on a small plain with several streams crossing it. The abundant water has allowed the entire plain to be developed into rice fields.
It is precisely because of this small plain that Fengjiazhuang has become a famous granary nearby.
It's just that in Li Xuan's opinion, Fengjiazhuang doesn't look like an ordinary village, but more like a fortress.
It has a wall that is not found in ordinary villages, and the wall is quite high. Looking from a distance, you can see a lot of people walking around on the wall, looking very guarded. It is obvious that the people of Fengjiazhuang are not interested in the king of the Tang Dynasty.
The arrival was also noticed early and preparations were made early.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to see that all the grain outside the village has been harvested, and there is no one outside the village. It is obvious that they harvested in advance and hid in the village in advance.
Li Xuan felt a little strange looking at Fengjiazhuang, and Huang Xueren and the others were also shocked!
"When did Fengjiazhuang build this wall and dig a moat? The last time we came here, their wall was just a wooden fence!" Huang Xueren obviously couldn't believe what he saw.
This scene.
Butcher Chen on the side said: "They must have been frightened by us last year, so they built such a wall and dug a moat. But if they think that they can stop us with such a moat and wall, that is simply crazy."
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Butcher Chen habitually said half an idiom, but at this time, Qian Mengjiu, a scholar who could pick up his words, had no intention of playing a duet with him, and did not pick up his words and complete the wishful thinking.
Instead, he turned around to speak to Li Xuan, which made Butcher Chen's face turn red. He held it in for a long time without even thinking of what the last two words were.
At this moment, Butcher Chen missed Liu Bagou who stayed in Huangzhu Mountain very much. Liu Bagou would not ignore him like this with Qian Mengjiu.
A good partner who works well together is hard to find in this world!
At this time, Li Xuan listened to Qian Mengjiu say: "Even though Fengjiazhuang has built a wall, but now our Tang Dynasty soldiers are strong, Fengjiazhuang is not big, and its wall is not as good as that of Longhua Town. It is still possible for us to defeat it."
of!"
As the forward fortress of the Ming army, Longhua Town was also an important logistical supply base for them to enter the mountains to encircle Huangzhu Mountain. Therefore, both Su Jiakang and Diao Leixun attached great importance to the construction of Longhua Town's fortifications.
After a year of perfecting the town's city wall, now Longhua Town's city wall is not much worse than that of Zhengtai County in terms of thickness and height, and the defenses on all sides are quite complete.
The reason why they were plundered by Huangzhushan at the beginning of the year was not because Longhua Town's defenses were not perfect, but because there were not many Ming troops in Longhua Town at that time, only a group of young men. Strictly speaking, they all fled without even being able to defend themselves.
Although the Feng family in front of us is better than ordinary villages, it is definitely not comparable to Longhua Town or Zhengtai County.
Li Xuan also nodded slightly: "Be careful when fighting later, don't rush in!"
Li Xuan was unwilling to lose too many troops under Fengjiazhuang. If the loss was too great, it would seriously affect his subsequent combat plan.
After the army successfully arrived outside Fengjiazhuang, Li Xuan did not waste time having a long speech with the generals. He did not even conduct a pre-war mobilization speech, because he knew that if the defenders in Longhua Town wanted to come over, it would only take most of the day.
It's just Kung Fu, but there is no time to waste time with the bandits in Huangzhushan.
Therefore, as soon as he arrived at Fengjiazhuang, after a brief discussion, Li Xuan ordered all ministries to prepare to attack Fengjiazhuang according to the plan discussed last night, strive for a quick victory, and strive to break Fengjiazhuang today, grab the food and run away.
Because Fengjiazhuang has a moat and a wall, the previous plan of rushing up directly cannot be used. They first plan to suppress the enemy with long-range firepower, and then fill in the small ditch temporarily called the moat.
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Then depending on the situation, whether to launch an assault on the city!
As orders were issued one after another, the more than 500 bandits in Huangzhushan began to get busy. The more than 300 New Army soldiers who were the main force in the siege directly rested on the ground, and then ate dry food and drank water to restore their physical strength.
And a large number of young men in the baggage train team began to take action. In fact, the young men in these baggage train teams did not carry much baggage along the way, because the Tang Dynasty King's army did not bring much food when he went out to the mountains. He brought these young and strong bandits with him.
In fact, it was to allow them to transport food back to Huangzhushan in the future. As for the New Army itself, it did not need so many logistical personnel to support it.
Because they feed on the enemy, they don’t need any logistics in the first place!
The peasants began to cut down trees nearby and planned to use trees to build a bridge directly across the moat, which was only one foot wide. As for filling the ditch with earth and rocks, it was not necessary at all, and it was too troublesome. Simply cutting down some big trees and spreading them on the moat was better than digging soil.
Filling ditches is much easier and faster.
In addition to preparing to build a bridge, we will also prepare some long ladders to climb up to the top of the city.
Many preparations before the war were rather complicated. It was also the first time for Li Xuan to experience this kind of formal siege operation. To be honest, he didn't understand many of them. Fortunately, Zeng Ziwen was here.
This person is now following Li Xuan, constantly reminding Li Xuan how to arrange it!
At this time, Li Xuan felt even more that he was right to insist on recruiting Zeng Ziwen. Even though it took him half a year and he wasted a lot of thought, judging from today's situation, it was all worth it.
In terms of formal combat planning and arrangements, Zeng Ziwen is as useful as Fang Dongquan, Huang Xueren, Chen Tufu, and Wang Shanxu combined.
At this moment, Li Xuan wanted to directly unblock the title that had not been awarded before, and then give Zeng Ziwen a duke, marquis or something like that.
But in the end, I still endured it. The official titles of the Tang Dynasty were already worthless due to excessive distribution. If this title was still given casually, then the Tang Dynasty would not be able to have princes and princes everywhere in the future.
This title must be restrained and cannot be given randomly. At least it must not be awarded until the Tang Dynasty is on the right track, for example, when the population exceeds 10,000.
Li Xuan resisted the urge to reward the ministers generously and make kings and marquises, and then continued to make preparations for the siege.
The progress of logging was quite fast. In less than an hour, the civilian workers of the Tang Dynasty King's Division had already brought back many trees from the surrounding areas. The carpenters in the army even made many huge wooden shields and long ladders on the spot.
In the afternoon, Bai Yunqi, who was in charge of logging affairs, reported that the trees needed to build the bridge had been prepared.
Li Xuan immediately gave the order to prepare for action. Leave the rest alone and build the bridge across the river first. By the time the bridge is completed, the long ladders are probably almost ready. Try to get into the city before dark.
Following Li Xuan's order, the more than 300 New Army soldiers who had been resting on the ground to maintain their strength all stood up and began to line up one by one.
Two of the musketeers and the archers lined up and slowly stepped forward, preparing to suppress the enemy at the top of Fengjiazhuang City with firepower and cover the others in carrying trees up to build a bridge.
After a while, the first musketeer team and the second musketeer team had arrived at the predetermined place and began to load and light the match ropes!
As Wang Shanxu on horseback waved the sword in his hand, the musketeers in the front row of the two musketeers all pulled the triggers!
Then came the second row and the third row!
In an instant, intense bursts of gunfire rang out outside Fengjiazhuang, and along with the gunfire, large sheets of white smoke filled the air!
With the firing of the musketeers, the battle of Fengjiazhuang, which was huge in scale and would have a significant and far-reaching impact on the struggle between the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, officially started!