Liu Yin led his army to escort the food and supplies.
Zheng Pu, who was bluffing with two thousand soldiers, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It is impossible to say that he did not have the slightest bit of anxiety in his heart as it was the biggest factor related to his wealth and life and the success of the war.
Fortunately, Wei Ping, the commander-in-chief of the rebellion against Wei, was very cautious and cooperative.
"Brother Xiuran, the Dragonfly Army will have to work hard later and take over the daytime guard duty."
When the soldiers were unloading their baggage and food, Zheng Pu also came to Liu Yin's side and said in a low voice, "The soldiers under An Yue have been on duty day and night for the past few days and are in a state of panic. I plan to let them rest."
With two thousand soldiers tightly guarding a military camp that can accommodate four to five thousand, and also to confuse Ni Wei and unable to see the truth, Zhou Tai's men have been exhausted physically and mentally these past few days.
Now that the follow-up troops have arrived, they suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone must feel exhausted.
Liu Yin also understood this.
Therefore, he nodded without making any excuses, "Okay, Zijin, don't worry. I came all the way along the Zuli River by water, so the march was not too tiring. Well, I asked half of the soldiers to rest first.
, the one who is on duty tonight can be considered as one of my troops."
It also made Zheng Puzhen smile, "Then I'll have to thank you, Brother Xiuran."
"Hey, what's the point of being tired?"
Liu Yin smiled and waved his hand, sighing with a hint of self-deprecation, "Every time I lead an army into battle, I only have to do some duty and escort military supplies. I have long been used to it."
indeed.
Since the Northern Expedition, he has almost always been guarding the rear or serving as a rear troop escort transporting grain and fodder, and has experienced very few battles.
Promotion in the military can only be achieved by merit in battle, and there is little merit if one does not fight in battle.
Watching his old friends and generals who were awarded military power in the past, constantly accumulating meritorious service, promotion and reputation on the battlefield, but he himself was helpless. If he said he was not eager, he would not be able to deceive himself.
Especially since he is over forty years old.
"Hahaha~~~"
Involuntarily, Zheng Pu laughed, patted his shoulder, and said comfortingly, "With Brother Xiuren's talent, if you don't make a name for yourself, it will be amazing. If you make a hit, it will be amazing, so why belittle yourself?"
But Liu Yin didn't answer.
He just looked at Zheng Pu with a slightly amused smile.
It also made Zheng Pu smile even brighter and said jokingly, "If Brother Xiuran wants to use our headquarters as the vanguard this time, why should I not allow it? Is it possible that when brother is under my control, he will still have some free time?"
Immediately, Liu Yin's eyebrows rose with joy, "As a gentleman says, a horse is hard to catch, so I'll thank Zijin first. Well, I'll arrange the soldiers on duty."
After saying this, as if he was afraid that Zheng Pu would regret it, he immediately turned around and strode away.
"The troops are willing to sacrifice their lives, Xiuren is also eager to do so."
Looking at his back, Zhang Bao, who was also beside him, smiled and handed Zheng Pu a piece of cloth.
When his cavalry is not heavily armored, it is also one of the most elite light cavalry in the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, on the way, they intercepted and killed many of the mounted scouts sent by Wei Ping to Zuli County, and took advantage of the opportunity to search out Wei Ping's letters.
He said only a few figures: "Reinforcements will be coming soon, please help them!"
It's not an important military situation.
Zheng Pu glanced casually and put it into his sleeve, "It's still early, brother, are you tired? Why don't you take your cavalry with me to see the military camp in front of Wei Wei?"
"good."
Just do it and watch.
The location of Jiyinsai is not where the Zuli River converges into the big river (today's Jingyuan County).
Because when the Zuli River and the big river converged here, they created a flat valley similar to Jincheng County (Lanzhou Basin) but much smaller. There were acres of land for soldiers to farm and support themselves, but there was no narrow and dangerous valley mouth to rely on for defense.
A deeper consideration is that even though fortifications were built at the mouth of the Zuli River, the natural barrier of the Quwu Mountains to the east could not be used to prevent the nomadic tribes from entering the four counties of Hexi from the Wushui River Valley or the Hetao Plain.
Coincidentally, after the river passed the mouth of the Zuli River, it was blocked by mountains and suddenly curved to the west, bypassing the Quwu Mountains before flowing north again to the Hetao Plain.
It also provides a natural and dangerous place where mountains contain water.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened the border, for strategic considerations, two locations were chosen for the construction of fortifications.
The first is Yuwei County at the western end of the Quwu Mountains (now the ancient city of Diaogou in the southeast of Jingtai County), which is a barrier to prevent nomadic tribes from crossing the uninhabited desert and entering the Hexi Corridor from the north.
On the other hand, about forty miles to the northwest along the Zuli River mouth (in the present-day Hongshan Gorge area), the current Guanyin Fort was built.
The big river here, after going through the gentleness at the mouth of Zuli River, suddenly encounters a canyon that can be called "cliffs on both sides and a line of sky", making the turbulent river water roar and gallop like a suffocated python,
Roaring angrily, with the force of thunder, he wished he could break through the shackles of the cliff.
The Jiyin Fortress was built here, with a canyon and a large river barrier. Naturally, it can also be called "one man can block the barrier and ten thousand people can't open it."
However, the ferry entering the Hexi Corridor outside the city wall (today's Xiaohuangwan Village, Pingchuan District) is a narrow river with an "S" shape and a slow flow, which is easy to freeze in winter.
This is also a loophole in the defense line that gives defenders a huge headache——
In the past historical process, the nomadic tribes of Hetao often took advantage of the freezing conditions at the Anyin Ferry in winter to come on the ice.
Fortunately, the river and the Quwu Mountains are not seamlessly connected.
Between the mountains and the water, there is also a small plateau in front of the mountains, which is wide in the west and narrow in the east, called "Hanpingchuan".
This also gave Jiyinsai's defense line an additional opportunity to make amends: when the river was frozen in winter, soldiers and horses could be deployed on the narrow east side of Hanpingchuan and set up camps to prevent the enemy from passing the ferry smoothly.
Wei Ping, the general who defended the four counties in Hexi against the Wei Dynasty, now has his camp located on the east side of Hanpingchuan.
Although it is already April in summer, the ice on the river has long melted, and there is no hidden danger of the Han army crossing the river on the ice. But Wei Ping did not want to squeeze all the soldiers and horses into the fortress, so as not to destroy the original clear division of labor.
.
In addition, he also wanted to put some appropriate pressure on the Han army.
For example, the Han army that intercepted him in this way did not dare to return to besiege Zuli City.
The power should be used as a check, and it would be better to let Zu Li change hands later.
After all, the military intelligence of Zuli that the Han army sent more than 10,000 troops from Longyou was confirmed by his scouts.
After containing 4,000 Han troops here, facing the siege of 6,000 to 7,000 Han troops, Yin Feng defended the city with 4,000 soldiers. He should be able to hold it, right?
Even if it is captured, time will not go that fast.
With such thoughts in mind, Wei Ping, while ordering all the generals not to start the war lightly, still frequently dispatched ranger scouts to inquire about information, and remained unchanged to deal with all changes.
But Yin Feng, who was standing on top of Zuli City, had already realized something in his profound eyes.
Within one month, the city will inevitably change hands.
Even earlier.
This is not to belittle oneself, but the situation dictates it.
The reason why Zuli County is an isolated city is because the Zuli River water tastes bitter and salty and cannot be drunk by humans and animals, nor can it be used for irrigation. The fields outside the city are irrigated by ditches diverting water from the river.
Therefore, the population has always been small and the food reserves are also very small.
Spring and April are just about to enter the lean period. The four thousand soldiers and common people in the city consume a huge amount of grain every day. If there is no grain supply from Hexi within a month, the city will run out of grain.
A soldier will collapse without food.
Another reason is that the four thousand soldiers under his command were worried about their determination to fight to the death.
This is related to the power game among the four counties in Hexi.
Since the Wei State implemented the "border rule" and condoned the rise of powerful rightists, the prefects of the four counties in Hexi and the Qiang and Hu tribes have gradually strengthened their own power, and the wickedness of flies and dogs has never stopped.
At first, with the authority and coordination of Yang Fu, the governor of Liangzhou, they were able to maintain superficial harmony.
And in accordance with the previous agreement, he spontaneously launched his own troops to advance and retreat together with the Wei army.
But after Ma Dai attacked Zhangye County from the outside world, he gave them an excuse to violate the law.
For example, in the war two years ago, they called back all their private soldiers on the grounds of protecting the country and the people, so that Xia Houru, who was short of troops, had to abandon Xiping County.
He, the former Dunhuang governor, was forced to bear the charge of unfavorable supervision and was demoted to Zuli garrison.
Half of the four thousand infantry and cavalry under his command were county soldiers and half were private soldiers of Hexi Haoyou.
The county soldiers were not very powerful, and the powerful private soldiers were not even willing to die for the Wei State - they were sent here to protect the interests of various Silk Road companies and to protect the trade routes from Guanzhong to the Hexi Corridor.
It is too difficult to expect them to be "there in the city".
At least Yin Feng feels that he does not have this appeal.
Therefore, when the cavalry sent by Wei Ping sent a letter saying "reinforcements are coming", he had the consciousness of defeating the city.
If Wei Ping really led the army to help, the governor would have arrived long ago.
What kind of letter should I send?
In other words, Yin Feng, as a native of Longyou Ji County, was too familiar with Liangzhou, and also knew that Zuli County was a tasteless piece of chicken to the Wei state.
Wei Ping was the governor of the four counties in Hexi and would not care too much about the ownership of an isolated city.
It was the wisest choice to temporarily abandon Zuli County, extend the supply line of the Han army, and place the battlefield of the battle between the two sides in the Yiyin fortress where the Wei army had a good location.
Such a decision has nothing to do with right or wrong, it is just a matter of strategy.
If it were Yin Feng himself, he would make the same choice.
Therefore, he had nothing to complain about after being abandoned by Wei Ping.
There is no intention of taking the city down.
He was one of the people who expelled Ma Chao with Yang Fu and others in the past, and his whole family was slaughtered by Ma Chao out of hatred.
And Ma Chao's descendants are royal relatives in the Han Dynasty. For this reason alone, it is impossible for him to have the heart to surrender.
Not to mention, he is now old and ready to face death.
No matter how long the city can be defended, just do your best and obey the destiny. If you can defend it for a day, it will be enough if the city is destroyed and you die.
What's there to fear?
Compared with him who did not report any hope, Guan Xing, who led the army to besiege the city, was hesitant in his ambition.
When he led the army to arrive, he inspected Zuli City on horseback, then smiled at Yan Yu who was beside him and said, "Wen Ping, if our army wants to break this city, it will be easy!"
Wen Ping is Yan Yu, a native of Nanjun, Jingzhou.
He is diligent in his work and has a reputation as a capable person even before he is thirty years old.
He was previously a subordinate of the rear general Yuan Wei and stayed with the army in Hanzhong County. After the rear guard general Zhao Yun died of illness, he joined the Chinese army of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang. Last year, his clan father Xiang Fuxing joined the army. General Yan Yan of Jianyi died in battle.
He then asked the Prime Minister to be transferred to the Longyou front line, determined to kill the enemy and serve the country.
The prime minister couldn't bear to refuse, so he sent him to Guan Xing to serve as a general.
After hearing Guan Xing's words, he also smiled and nodded in agreement, "What the general said is absolutely true. I observe that the soldiers on the Wei city are demoralized. They seem to be timid before fighting, so we can attack them in a hurry."
Indeed, the morale of the Wei troops guarding Zuli City was worrying.
That was when two cavalrymen, Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, generals of the Northern Campaign, were marching into the Wushui River Valley. They responded to Zheng Pu's invitation and came to the city to show off their power before turning eastward.
In order to undermine the morale of the city.
After all, no matter how stupid the Wei soldiers were, they could have imagined that with thousands of Han cavalry on guard around them, it would be impossible for Zuli County to receive reinforcements. Even if there were, by the time they broke through the interception of these thousands of cavalry, it would probably be a waste of food and supplies in the city.
It's been a month since the end.
Moreover, Zuli City was built on the riverside, and the terrain outside the city was flat and there was no danger to rely on.
There are no thunderbolt chariots, bed crossbows and other weapons for defending the city in the city.
With a city wall less than two feet high and facing the Han army's large attack equipment such as ladders, siege towers, trebuchets and well traps, they found it difficult to hold on to the city for a month.
"Don't worry, we will attack the city again in three days."
Guan Xing said to Hu, "First write some surrender letters and send people to shoot into the city to see if you can break their determination to defend and reduce the losses of our soldiers."
Yan Yu handed over his hand and said, "No! I will make arrangements right now."
"Um."
Guan Xing nodded and continued to drive his horse to slowly patrol the terrain, looking for the most appropriate location to attack the city.
Although this low city is not difficult to break, his army only has more than 7,000 troops and cannot withstand too much consumption.
Otherwise, if the city is breached and the army goes to join Zheng Pu, there will not be enough troops to meet Jiang Wei's troops.
Don't think too much. When the isolated city is attacked, any defender will order the city gate to be blocked with rocks and solid wood. If you want to break through, you can only rely on ants to climb to the top of the city, and ants are the ones who suffer the most casualties.
Massive methods of siege.
After he became a famous general, he would never allow himself to be known as not good at fighting.
In other words, he has been holding a breath in his heart to clear his late father's name.
Although it can be said that the defeat in the Battle of Xiangfan in the past was not due to the fault of the war.
But he could not deny that the loss of Jingzhou was the main cause of the decline of the Han Dynasty.
Regardless of whether it was out of sincerity to serve the powerful man or out of selfish desire to restore the reputation of his father, he did not dare to be negligent in the slightest. Only by personally attending to every detail, no matter how small, could he feel at ease.
Three days later, the Han army attacked the city.
Guan Xing led four thousand soldiers to attack from the south gate, while Yan Yu led another three thousand to besiege the east gate.
As soon as the war started, it became intense.
Because the two of them coincidentally decided to take the lead and risk their lives to get there first.
It's not that they are reckless.
Instead, the letter inviting surrender was carried into the city by arrows, and the effect was very good.
Those heroes in Hexi did not want to be loyal to Wei and die together with the guard general Yin Feng.
When the contents of the surrender letter claiming that "those who surrender will be granted land" spread throughout the city, many heroes took advantage of the darkness of night to slip down the city wall with ropes and came to the Han army camp to surrender.
Anyway, their family members are not here, so if they surrender, Yin Feng cannot hold them accountable.
Based on this, Guan Xing and Yan Yu thought that the enemy's morale had collapsed, so they wanted to use the power of their troops to completely destroy their fighting spirit.
