Chapter six hundred and twentieth deep into the enemy
Taiyuan City is tall, solid and well-defended. During the An-Shi Rebellion, hundreds of thousands of Shi Siming's troops besieged Taiyuan. Li Guangbi led his army to fight in a bloody battle against Taiyuan for more than 50 days. Taiyuan City remained standing, which shows how difficult it was to attack the city.
Outside the city, drums were beating loudly, horns were blaring, and hundreds of healthy oxen were pulling three huge nest carts slowly toward the city wall. These were nest carts in the true sense, and were not the same thing as Western siege carts.
It was actually a tall wooden platform, higher than the city's head. On it were more than a hundred soldiers shooting arrows at the city's head to cover the attacking soldiers.
The moat below has been filled for more than a hundred feet. Soldiers carrying siege ladders swarmed up. The rolling logs and stones on the top of the city fell like hailstones. The soldiers on the wooden ladders were constantly being hit, and they screamed and fell.
Go down to town...
Zhu Tao's army had been attacking the city for five days, but they still could not capture Taiyuan City. However, they lost troops and generals. Of the 30,000 troops that set out from Youzhou, only 20,000 were left.
The Youzhou Army camp is located three miles north of the city. It consists of more than 2,000 large tents and stretches for nearly ten miles.
The Youzhou Army also built a five-foot-high wooden platform about a mile away from the city wall as a command and observation platform. At this time, on the high platform, Zhu Tao looked at Taiyuan City with a gloomy face, and the trebuchet on the top of the city.
It was extremely sharp and destroyed all the dozens of ladders they carried. Now they can only rely on the siege ladders to function.
The scene that worried Zhu Tao the most appeared again. Buckets of kerosene were poured down from the top of the city, and torches were immediately thrown down. The fire burned fiercely, and the flames engulfed the siege ladder. The soldiers on the ladder were burned and screamed.
They jumped down one after another.
At the same time, the trebuchet threw clay pots filled with kerosene. The pots hit the nest cart. The kerosene flowed on the nest cart. Rockets shot out one after another. The huge nest cart was ignited.
There was a huge cheer.
Zhu Tao had no choice but to order: "Withdraw troops!"
‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’ The gong for withdrawal rang, and thousands of soldiers withdrew like a tide. Zhu Tao also left Damutai and retreated to the military camp under the escort of hundreds of soldiers.
The drums were beating loudly on the top of the city, and cheers resounded throughout the city.
Looking at the blazing arrow stand, Yuan Lu couldn't help laughing proudly. He gave a thumbs up to a young captain and said, "Good advice, I will reward you heavily!"
The young captain suggested using clay pots filled with kerosene to project, and then using rockets to ignite the fire. He destroyed three wooden arrow rests one after another. In fact, it was also his suggestion to use kerosene for defense.
The captain's name is Zhang Dayun. Needless to say, everyone has guessed that he is Zhang Yun. Zhang Yun is from Taigu County, Taiyuan Prefecture. He can speak Taiyuan dialect fluently. The Yuan family recruited soldiers, and he used Ma Sui as the captain of the army.
With his identity, he led thirty of his subordinates to join the army and was appointed brigade commander. He soon stood out in the battle and was promoted to captain.
After he discovered that there were 2,000 barrels of kerosene in the warehouse in Taiyuan that were more than ten years old, he suggested using kerosene to defend the city. It immediately worked wonders and was appreciated by Yuan Lu.
Yuan Lu immediately issued an order to promote Zhang Dayun to the rank of Lang General, commanding a thousand men. In just one month, he was promoted from brigade commander to general by two ranks, making others envious. His subordinates also served as captains.
The brigade commander and other positions firmly controlled these thousand soldiers. Yuanlu never dreamed that there were a thousand Hexi troops in his army.
At this time, the city gate was opened, the suspension bridge was lowered, and Zhang Yun and other troops went out of the city to clean up the battlefield. It was midsummer. If the corpses were not buried in time, epidemics would occur.
Zhang Yun took out a letterbox, quietly handed it to a confidant, and said in a low voice: "Look for an opportunity to sneak away and go to Sanjin Manor. I think your Majesty has already arrived."
The soldiers went out of the city to clean up the corpses, then quickly returned to the city and closed the city gates. At this time, the sky was getting darker. When it was completely dark, Zhang Yun's men left the battlefield under the cover of night and ran towards Nanlin Inn. There is a horse nearby to help him.
.........
The 25,000 troops led by Guo Song marched day and night. Four days later, at dawn, the team arrived at Sanjin Manor. It was only fifty miles away from Taiyuan City and was the best place to ambush and wait for an opportunity.
When Manager Wang heard that the master had arrived in person, he quickly came out to greet him personally.
Guo Song heard Dugu Youlan talk about this steward Wang. Wang was just his mother's surname. His real name was Dugu Fuyun. He was a senior figure in the Dugu family servant Fu generation. From the Duguxin era, Dugu Fuyun's ancestor He is Dugu Xin's stable boy. It has been passed down from generation to generation. His great-grandfather was also the chief steward of Dugu Mansion, and his grandfather and father were both stewards of the manor.
Dugu Fuyun has been working at Sanjin Manor for thirty years. Even in front of him, Dugu Youlan has to call him grandpa and regard him as an elder. This is the rule of the Dugu family. For such servants who have followed their master for generations, Dugu Youlan has to call him grandpa in front of him. All children must respect him.
Dugu Fuyun was very satisfied with this son-in-law. He was well-informed and knew countless people. He was impressed by Guo Song's monarchical demeanor, and he was so young. He was truly a rare son-in-law in the world.
Dugu Fuyun stepped forward and knelt down to kowtow, "Old slave Dugu Fuyun pays homage to my uncle!"
Guo Song quickly helped him up and said with a smile: "Thanks to the help of Grandpa Fu, my men can gain a foothold in Taiyuan."
"Isn't this what it should be? My uncle is the owner of the manor, so of course I have to do my best."
"They are all our own people, Grandpa, there is no need to be so polite!"
Guo Song smiled and said: "I am bringing 25,000 people this time. I am really worried about the problem of food and supplies."
Dugu Fuyun smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, uncle. There is a lot of supplies stored in the manor. The grain harvested last year was specially not sold. It was stored in the warehouse, which is about 50,000 dan. The old slave also specially accumulated 100,000 dans of fodder."
Guo Song was overjoyed that there was enough food and grass, and he quickly asked: "How many tents are there?"
"The big tent is a cloth tent, there are about two thousand tents, as well as armor, weapons, pig iron, wine, cloth and other materials. In addition, the manor also raises five thousand sheep and a large amount of cured meat."
Guo Song felt relieved and quickly asked the marching Sima to lead hundreds of soldiers to follow the chief steward to carry the things.
He immediately ordered the manor to be sealed and no one was allowed to go out.
Large tents were set up in the manor, and Guo Song sent dozens of scouts to various places to monitor. He not only wanted to pay attention to Zhu Tao's attack on Taiyuan City, but also to pay attention to the Yuan army's support from various places in Taiyuan City. We should pay attention to Li Huaiguang's imminent moves.
For three days in a row, Guo Song paid attention to the offensive and defensive battles in Taiyuan City.
In the lobby, more than a dozen generals gathered together. Guo Song said to the generals: "The Youzhou Army's attack on Taiyuan City is a mirror. It tells us that it is very difficult to attack Taiyuan City. Zhu Tao is fully prepared. He has fifteen ladders alone. There are a large number of siege ladders, but we didn’t carry any ladders, so what weapons should we use to capture Taiyuan City?”
Guo Song laughed when he saw that everyone understood. He also smiled and said: "Iron Fire Thunder is indeed a good thing. It can help us break through the city gate or blow down the city wall, but what happens after we capture the city gate? I am more concerned about this issue."
Everyone was deep in thought, and Guo Song slowly said: "After capturing the city gate, there will inevitably be arduous street fighting. The army guarding Taiyuan is the Yuan family's most elite army of 20,000, and their combat effectiveness is very strong. Judging from their actions in the past few days,
Judging from their performance, they are well-trained and fight bravely. I feel that if they go out of the city and fight to the death with the Youzhou Army, they may not lose. With their familiarity with the streets and lanes of Taiyuan and their pre-occupation of favorable terrain, I am afraid that our battle will not be optimistic."
"Your Majesty, don't we have any chance?" Li Bing couldn't help but ask.
"Have the opportunity!"
Guo Song smiled and said to everyone: "I just received a letter from Zhang Yun. It's unexpected! He actually defended the city for meritorious service and was named a general by Yuan Lu."
All the generals were startled, and then burst into laughter. Guo Song waved his hands to calm everyone down, "Our scouts are indeed very good and can perform well wherever they go, but I want to tell everyone that Zhang Yun is the key to our victory this time.
."
Everyone's eyes lit up, it was indeed the case. Since he was appointed general, he must have 1,800 soldiers under his command, enough to cover the Hexi Army's entry into the city.