Zhu Si punched the table hard, his eyes filled with anger, "How could there be an epidemic? Are you looking for an excuse to withdraw the troops?"
General Zhang Tingzhi lowered his head in shame, "Brothers have been stationed in the wilderness for several months. Some people must have contracted dysentery after drinking unclean water from the canal. It is highly contagious. More than 3,500 people have died of the disease.
"
"I want to know now, how many people in your Dongda Army are infected with the disease?"
"If you include the dead soldiers, more than 10,000 people have been infected."
Zhu Si paced back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back. This news made him upset. Starting from last September, 200,000 troops surrounded Hedong City. Now it is mid-January. For four months, they have not been able to attack it.
He went down to Hedong City, and as a result, his army began to suffer from epidemics.
Zhu Si's 200,000-strong army was divided into four camps, stationed in the east, west, north and south respectively. The epidemic outbreak was in the east camp. The commander was Zhang Tingzhi, who was originally the military envoy of Longyou River and Huang. After surrendering to Zhu Si, he was highly used.
, was named Jing Guogong, General Zuotunwei, and was one of Zhu Si's six great kings.
"I know my crime due to my humble position!"
Zhu Si waved his hand distractedly, "What's the point of talking about this now?"
At this time, military advisor Liu Sigu hurried over after hearing the news, "Lieutenant, where is the epidemic?"
"Ask him!" Zhu Si pointed at Zhang Tingzhi and said.
Zhang Tingzhi told the story of the epidemic again with a grimace. Liu Sigu frowned and asked, "Have the infected soldiers been isolated?"
"They were all isolated. A special isolation camp was built for the subordinates. All the dead soldiers were burned and nothing was left."
"How long has the epidemic been going on?"
"Seven days, the first case was discovered seven days ago."
Zhu Si was furious, "I discovered it seven days ago, and you are reporting it now. Do you want my two hundred thousand soldiers to die before you are willing to do so?"
Zhang Tingzhi knelt down and cried: "It is a crime to be in a humble position!"
Liu Sigu quickly said to Zhu Si: "Lieutenant, now is not the time to investigate the culprits. In just seven days, more than 10,000 people fell ill and 3,500 died. The attack is too violent. We cannot delay any longer. Tonight
The troops must be withdrawn, first the other three camps, and finally the east camp."
Zhu Si was filled with anger and kicked Zhang Tingzhi hard, "Get out of here!"
Zhang Tingzhi ran out rolling and crawling on the ground.
Liu Sigu then comforted Zhu Si and said: "Actually, I feel that this epidemic came in time, giving the Taiwei an excuse to withdraw his troops. Otherwise, there would be no reason to withdraw, and it would be a clear defeat, and the morale and morale of the army would be hit."
Zhu Si nodded. Of course he knew that the military advisor was right. If Hedong City could not be captured, he could only resort to trapping him to death until the food in the city was cut off. However, the situation was not optimistic. It is said that Li Huaiguang had been storing food for two years. The news was true.
If so, they really wouldn't be able to hold on any longer. Fortunately, an epidemic broke out and he found an excuse to withdraw his troops.
That night, the 150,000 troops from the three battalions in the north, south, and west that besieged Hedong City retreated. At the fifth watch, the East Camp began to retreat. First, the healthy soldiers retreated, and finally the isolation camp soldiers retreated. No one cared about them at all.
They supported each other and headed west. After a short walk, they fell down one by one. There were dead soldiers all the way.
At dawn, the defenders at the top of the city discovered that all the enemy troops had retreated, and they immediately cheered. Especially, the East Camp was well preserved and all supplies were not taken away.
Li Huaiguang immediately ordered three thousand soldiers to carry supplies to Dongda Camp. At this time, some soldiers discovered that the countless soldiers who died along the way were all seriously ill. Li Huaiguang was shocked when he heard the news. He immediately ordered the city gates to be closed and informed the three soldiers.
Thousands of soldiers set fire to the enemy's east camp.
The three thousand soldiers were unable to return to the city, so they had to camp outside the city and were responsible for clearing the bodies of the dead soldiers. However, the three thousand soldiers were still heavily infected, and some people continued to fall ill and die. In the end, less than half of them were safe and sound. They followed Li Huaiguang's army from Hedong.
The city evacuated.
The disease broke through the city wall and began to wreak havoc in the city. Li Huaiguang, fearing that the disease would spread massively, issued a city closure order and strictly prohibited the people of Hedong City from escaping.
The epidemic that occurred in Hedong City did not gradually stop until May. Nearly 70% of the more than 100,000 people in Hedong City died. When the epidemic ended, the entire Hedong City had become a dead city.
.........
In early spring and February, the ice and snow on the Hexi Corridor had begun to thaw, and the freezing floods on the Yellow River were coming. At this time, the 30,000 Hexi Army set out again under the leadership of their coach Guo Song.
They rode war horses and marched along the Helan Mountains towards Bei, passed through Fengzhou and arrived at Yunzhou. The Hexi Army entered Yunzhou along the Zi River.
The northern part of Yunzhou is a continuous mountainous area. During the Sui Dynasty, the towering Great Wall was built here to block the southern invasion route of the northern nomads. However, the Tang Dynasty did not attach importance to the defensive role of the Great Wall. Instead, it built three surrender cities to defend against the invasion of the northern nomads.
.
With the wars in the late Mid-Tang Dynasty, Shoujiang City was abandoned, and the Great Wall built by the Sui Dynasty was severely damaged. The northern defense line became riddled with holes. The Uighur cavalry could have entered Yunzhou along the countless mountain valleys in the north.
It is no longer meaningful to defend the Great Wall. The Hexi Army can only defend Yunzhong County with all its strength. In fact, last autumn, the Hexi Army had left 20,000 troops stationed in Hedong. This time it sent an additional 30,000 troops to make the Hexi Army stationed in Hedong
With a population of 50,000, it is not as simple as defending against the Uighur cavalry.
In mid-February, 30,000 Hexi troops arrived in Yunzhong County, and Yunzhong County suddenly became lively. Prior to this, the army stationed in Yunzhou obtained a large number of tents and food supplies from the Suizhou Logistics Base and set them up in advance.
military camp.
Guo Song, accompanied by Zhonglang General Li Tie and Yunzhou Governor Li Dian, walked to the head of Yunzhong County. Twelve large trebuchets have been installed on the city head, which can throw large iron fire mines weighing more than two hundred kilograms.
A hundred steps away.
Taking this opportunity, Li Tie couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, everyone is talking about two issues this winter. One is whether the Uighurs will come, and the other is whether the Uighurs will bypass Yunzhong City without fighting.
?”
Guo Song looked into the distance and said calmly: "So what if the Uighurs come, what if they don't come? So what if we fight, what if we don't fight?"
Everyone looked at each other with wry smiles on their lips. None of them understood the meaning of this sentence.
Guo Song looked back at them and saw everyone's confused expressions. He couldn't help but laugh and said: "I said it a little too vaguely. What I mean is that whether the Uighurs come or not, everyone has to defend the city, and whether the Uighurs fight or not,
Everyone must be prepared. We cannot relax our guard just because the Huihe people are not coming. Especially at night, we need to be more careful. In addition, the beacons on the mountain col in the north are well prepared. Early warning is very important. We cannot do it without leaks.
But as long as normal precautions are taken, it is enough."
Only then did all the generals understand, and they saluted together and said, "Thank you for your teaching!"
Guo Song added: "But the Huihe people should come this time. When our army arrived at Zihe, we met their hundreds of spies. Everyone knows that once the hundreds of spies appear, then an army of tens of thousands will not be far away. If
If my judgment is correct, we will definitely get the exact news within three days."
........
Guo Song's inference was still a bit conservative. That night, a fire was lit on the top of Baishan Mountain forty miles away in the north, and a warning beacon was lit. This was the third beacon, and the farthest beacon was on the Great Wall a hundred miles away.
This means that at least several thousand Uighur cavalry appeared hundreds of miles to the north.
‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’ The rapid bell rang, and countless soldiers rushed out of the military camp. Figures flashed rapidly in the darkness, and the soldiers rushed to the city.
Guo Song also went up to the city surrounded by a large group of soldiers. Li Tie immediately stepped forward to report: "To the envoy, the beacon on Baishan Mountain has been lit."
Guo Song stepped forward and stared for a moment and said: "Has the beacon farther away been lit?"
"This is not clear!"
Guo Song nodded. Now he didn't know whether it was the defenders at Baishan Mountain who discovered the enemy, or the defenders farther away who discovered the enemy. If it was the former, then the Uighur Army was forty miles away.
"Don't worry, everyone, and hurry up and get some sleep. The Huihe people don't have the habit of attacking cities at night."
Li Tie shouted loudly, and the soldiers sat down one after another, leaning against the wall to rest, and gradually became quiet.
Guo Song, however, looked deeply to the north, meditating on strategies to defeat the enemy.
The Uighur cavalry coming from the grassland came like a whirlwind and traveled thousands of miles. It was unrealistic to expect them to carry a large number of siege weapons. The cavalry would not carry siege weapons, but it did not mean that the Uighur people would not attack the city.
The Uighur people's siege methods were relatively simple. They filled the moat with sand bags, then cut down large trees around them to make battering rams, and mainly attacked the city gates. If the city gates could not be attacked, they basically gave up.
The Uighurs are good at cavalry plain warfare, and siege is their weakness. They generally will not give up their advantages and choose their weaknesses.
The Uighurs will bypass the city and continue to attack southward, replenishing their consumption by looting along the way. Once they reach the hinterland of the Central Plains, it will be a disaster for the Han people, so the invading Uighurs must be eliminated in Yunzhou and Shuozhou.
.
This is also the main reason why there are so few counties in Yunzhou and Shuozhou. There are only three counties in total, Yunzhong County in Yunzhou, Mayi County and Shanyang County in Shuozhou, and the population of Mayi County has all been transferred to Shanyang County.
In fact, there are only two county towns, plus one, Loufanguan.
As long as the Hexi army holds these three places, the Uighur army can only circle around these two states and cannot enter the Central Plains.
At dawn, a black line appeared in the north, and the Uighur army finally came to kill them.