Lu Shixiong and Lu Zicai shook their heads and agreed at the same time.
Li Xingchen breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Luoyang City, which was gradually filled with red flags in front of him. Yuchijiong couldn't hold on after all.
But the Battle of Luoyang is not over yet.
Luoyang is more than just a city wall. As the imperial capital of several dynasties, this majestic city has a wide enough outer wall and naturally has a taller and stronger inner city.
The inner city is also the imperial city, and there is also the palace city in the imperial city. As the political and military core of the Central Plains, this city is certainly not easy to capture.
The outer walls are often just places where ordinary people live. In fact, most of them have been abandoned or turned into military camps. Now the core of Luoyang's guard is actually the inner city. The inner city is where most residents live and where government offices, etc. are located.
place. And the center of the inner city is Luoyang Palace City. The palace city is almost deserted, and the walls of the palace city are not as tall and strong as the inner city. After all, even the inner city cannot be defended, and the palace city cannot be defended.
There is no difference in keeping it.
The inner city is not very big. Four city gates in the east, west and south guard the center of the city. There are also city walls connecting the north and east sides. The inner city is much older than the outer city which is only a few decades old.
Many, the outer city was built during the Ming Dynasty of the Northern Wei Dynasty eighty years ago, while the inner city is the former main city of Luoyang that was inherited from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although the city is not big, it is very strong. After all, eighty years ago,
This is almost the only barrier in Luoyang City.
Li Xingchen had enough reasons to suspect that Yuchi Jiong retreated so quickly not because he could no longer hold it, but because he found that Waiguo City faced the wide plain on the north bank of Luoshui, which was convenient for Han army artillery, trebuchets and siege queues.
of expansion.
If the Northern Zhou army insists on guarding the outer city, it will be exhausted, and it is very likely that the entire army will be divided and eventually fight on their own.
Rather than doing this, it is better to abandon the outer city and rely on a stronger inner city defense.
But in any case, taking Waiguo City also means that the Han army has made a good start in attacking Luoyang. I hope everything after that will be so smooth.
The outer city could not be defended, but Li Xingchen did not think that Yuchi Jiong could defend the inner city.
The artillery and trebuchets of the Han army began to be transferred to the city. By the time Li Xingchen climbed the city wall under the escort of Yu Linqi, the battle report from the north had also come. Daxia Gate had been captured, and Wang Qian also led his army to retreat into the city.
However, unlike Yuchi Jiong who retreated directly into the inner city, Wang Qian only mobilized part of his troops to retreat into the inner city, while the other main force retreated into Jinyong City in the northwest corner of the city under his leadership.
With the Han army now fully occupying the outer city, it can be clearly seen that the wall that originally connected Jinyong City to the inner city of Luoyang and the outer city has been artificially cut off. In other words, Yuchi Jiong and Wang Qian have separated the inner city and the outer city.
Jinyong City was separated from the huge grid of Luoyang City Defense.
Already prepared.
Li Xingchen narrowed his eyes.
The inner city and Jinyong City, which were originally used for garrisoning, are smaller but the walls are taller and stronger, and basically Luoyang's granaries and arsenals are distributed in them. This means that the Northern Zhou army can better restrain the army and hold on to it.
Waiting for help.
However, for the Han army that occupied the outer city wall, the biggest benefit was naturally to obtain the best artillery position. The trebuchet with a shorter range could be deployed against the city wall, and the artillery could be set up directly on the city wall, thus nearly
Bombarding the opposite city head with flat fire will undoubtedly make it easier to calculate the ballistic trajectory for aiming and correction. Secondly, the artillery shooting curvature will decrease and the range will increase. There is no need to place it too far forward, which can provide more opportunities for the siege troops.
In addition to having more attack space, it is also safer.
There are gains and losses. If Yuchijun, who had been bombarded many times by artillery, had no other choice, Li Xingchen believed that he would not voluntarily abandon the outer country. In addition, taking the initiative to destroy the communication wall meant that the Han army could
Cutting off the connection between Jinyong City and the inner city made it difficult for the two armies of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to assist each other. It seemed that they were at odds with each other, but in fact they were two isolated cities.
In terms of city defense, it is indeed conducive to city defense for two or more cities to form a rivalry with each other. The defenders can encourage each other and attack together. But the premise is that the communication between them is smooth, such as
Xiangyang and Fancheng are the most famous cities that are at an angle to each other, but if the Mianshui River connecting the two cities is cut off, then the two cities, one on the north bank and the other on the south bank, are no different from the isolated city.
.
If it were originally considered, the best way to cut off the connection between the two enemy cities would naturally be to station troops between the two cities. However, this often means facing enemies from both cities in a flanking attack, making it difficult to defend against them. But it is different now.
Now, the Han army can use artillery and cavalry to directly block this area. Any sentries or supporting troops who want to come and go will have any chance of survival after being bombarded by artillery and then quickly attacked by cavalry.
Therefore, Li Xingchen is not too entangled with the behavior of Yu Chijun and Wang Qian dividing their troops to guard two cities. Anyway, it is better than two people hiding in one place. Since you are like this, then I will eliminate them one by one, and no one can think of it.
run.
The Han army entering the city has already begun civil engineering work. Yes, in order to assemble the troops and allow the crossbowmen and others to have a place to line up, as well as to allow the ladders to be deployed, the large and small houses in the city must be dismantled immediately.
.
According to the plan of the Taiwei Mansion, these houses, which are similar to slums and military camps, can be disassembled directly. The dismantled items can be used to build siege equipment, and in the future, when the Han Dynasty takes Luoyang, they will definitely have to deal with it.
The city is undergoing large-scale renovations such as Chang'an. Anyway, by that time, these dilapidated houses will have to be demolished. It is better to demolish them now, not to mention that many of the houses have been demolished by the Northern Zhou army seven years ago.
All the pieces of wood and rolling stones used to defend the city have been collected. Why don't you tear down the remaining ruins and keep them for the New Year?
The Han army sentries who had just gone to persuade them to surrender were driven back by a barrage of arrows from the Zhou people on the city. Li Xingchen couldn't help but shook his head. It seemed that Yuchi Jiong was really planning to resist to the end.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guard has deployed from the East City, the Ying Yang Army has deployed from the South City, and the Tiger Wing Army has deployed from the North City. Please give your Majesty's orders." Yang Su came quickly.
The inner city of Luoyang is already close at hand. After taking the inner city, the remaining Jinyong City has nothing to defend. Therefore, Li Xingchen's goal is very clear, first break the inner city, and then break through the Jinyong City. The Tiger Wing Army has the largest number of soldiers and horses.
We have enough power to monitor Jinyong City and prevent Wang Qian from leaving the city to fight against the enemy.
"Wait until tomorrow morning before attacking the city." Li Xingchen said directly.