Chapter 397 The troops approach Wutu

Chapter 397 The troops approach Wutu

When the mighty army of the Eastern Dynasty marched south to surround Yubi City, the Lishi Hu people who returned home from the east also arrived at their first destination.

"Lord, the city on the plateau ahead is Wutu City, and it is also the largest military city established by the Eastern Bandits in this territory. In the old years, the bandit leader He Liuhun personally led his troops to station here and conduct a sneak attack. The various ministries in Lishi suffered heavy casualties..."

Before Liu Kuzhen went north to Yunyang Valley to marry his wife, he appointed someone to lead the troops on his behalf, and that was Liu Aqi in front of him. Talking about the past when Gao Huan led the army to enter the country and be surrounded and suppressed, they still gritted their teeth with hatred, and the words used were derogatory, as if they could defend their homeland without Gao Huan's sneak attack.

Li Tai looked in the direction of Liu Aqi's finger and saw a city standing on the top of the plateau. This city was also built according to the terrain, with an irregular oval shape, covering most of the top of a hill with outstanding terrain. It is surrounded by steep rock walls on one side and winding rivers on the other.

Liu Aqi explained on the side: "This Wutu City is in the middle reaches of Lingshui River. The terrain blocks the north and south. It can go directly to Sizhou in the north and the river in the south. East bandits often recruit miscellaneous bandits to station here. Take control of the place on their behalf and harm the tribes!"

Li Tai knew the name of Wutu City.

Not only because the remnants of the Erzhu family fled here under the leadership of Murong Shaozong and were finally surrendered by Gao Huan here, but also because the Liu who he had hunted down when he was chasing Jihu in Beizhou for the first time. Pingfu's son Liu Zhenqiang was once settled here by the Eastern Wei Dynasty.

The Lishi Hu people were rebellious and had long been a danger to the Jinyang Ba Mansion in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. Before freeing up his hands to eliminate them on a large scale, Gao Huan had been pursuing the strategy of using barbarians to control barbarians, recruiting Jihu from the Western Wei Dynasty who were not compatible with the Western Wei Dynasty to deal with the Jihus in his territory that were not controlled by the overlord.

This is what Liu Aqi's so-called miscellaneous bandits are talking about. What Li Tai did this time was to imitate the wisdom of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and use your previous methods to disgust you.

Due to the existence of Luliang Mountain, after crossing the river in northern Shaanxi, it is impossible to go directly to Jinyang in the hinterland of Shanxi. And the western foothills of Luliang Mountain are not all rugged mountains. After years of erosion by large and small water, a relatively low and gentle terrain has also been formed. , Piyuan distributed along the east bank of the Yellow River.

Wutu City was located at the northernmost end of this long and narrow plateau. The Eastern Wei Dynasty only needed to control this city and move south along the Lingshui River to sweep away the Lishi barbarians. And if Li Shihu wants to return to his hometown, he must capture Wutu City, otherwise the Eastern Wei Dynasty may add troops to block his retreat at any time, and he will be made dumplings in this land of western Shanxi.

Li Tai had not planned to cross the river so early before, so he might as well have been struggling in front of Li Shihu to consume the fighting power of the remaining troops of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. But these Lishi Huzhong are really weak. Ten days after entering the country, they still haven't conquered this first goal.

Li Tai knew that the war machine was like fire. Although the Eastern Wei army moved south, the remaining forces should not be underestimated if they were fully mobilized. Especially if the initial plan did not go smoothly, there would not be enough time and conditions to implement any subsequent ideas, so he personally led a thousand Suizhou troops across the river to supervise the battle.

When he came to the outside of Wutu City and waited for a while, he found that he could not completely blame Shi Hutai Zha. The Wutu City in front of him was condescending, and it was indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In the previous war in northern Shaanxi, Li Shi Hu suffered huge losses. Li Tai shamelessly asked for help from the generals who participated in the war. Together with the prisoners he had captured in Guangwu City, he finally gathered more than 15,000 people. It was handed over to the command of Liu Kuzhen, but there were still a large number of old, weak, women and children among them, and the real strength of the soldiers was only three to four thousand people.

Last year, the living environment was harsh and winter supplies were severely lacking. These Lishihu lost another two to three thousand people. Now Li Tai wants them to cross the river and return home. There are more than 5,000 men and women on the way. And until these people have specific achievements, Li Tai will not give them too sophisticated weapons, just some simple swords and guns. stick.

Yubi City in the east of Hedong is only about ten miles in circumference. Although the terrain of Wutu City in front of you is not as extreme as Yubi City, the size of the city is not far behind. Gao Huan's army of more than 100,000 was besieging the jade. Li Tai expected the more than 5,000 Lishi Hu remnants to capture Wutu City, which was really too much.

More than five thousand people could not even surround the Piyuan where the city was located, so Liu Aqi gathered his men into a large camp and set it up on the bank of the upper reaches of Lingchuan.

This guy is also quite knowledgeable in military affairs. He had led an army to besiege Li Mu in Guangwu City earlier. Although he relied on the strength of his numbers, being able to control so many people is a rare skill. .

Since he did not have sophisticated ordnance and did not have the conditions to build powerful siege equipment, Liu Aqi organized sieges several times but failed to make any major breakthroughs. He just tested the number and combat effectiveness of the defenders.

Originally, Li Tai thought it was too easy to attack a city stronghold hanging outside. The tactics just came to his mind at once: dig out the Lingshui River to divert them away and starve them to death, or build a mountain of earth bigger than this city. It's so high, so condescending, that the tunnels can be dug down without digging.

But after observing the topography of the city on the spot, he couldn't help but frown slightly. Could it be that I, Li Boshan, also want to have a little fun here?

With his thousands of troops, there is no need to think about big projects. If he really makes himself exhausted and distracted, he just rushes to kill people. He has no strength to run and is rushed out by the defenders. It was harvested.

With this thought in his mind, an idea flashed in his mind, and he immediately looked at Liu Aqifa and asked: "How many defenders are there in the city? Have you tried to induce a fight?"

"There are about two thousand soldiers guarding the city. I entered the city and guarded the city with no intention of going out. Our troops are also weak. If we can't gather together, we can still give orders to advance and retreat. If we lose control, I'm afraid we will be killed. If it falls apart, it is difficult to reunite it, so there is no..."

After hearing this, Liu Aqi shook his head and said, the more complex the military order, the higher the quality of the soldiers and the stable military morale are required to execute it.

Nowadays, none of his troops are excellent in terms of combat effectiveness or equipment and supplies. They are only gathered together with the vision of returning to their hometown. Any order that is not simple and direct may cause cognitive confusion and the collapse of the crowd.

Li Tai also knew what this team looked like. After hearing this, he did not question Liu Ah Qi too much. He just raised his finger and pointed to a direction with open terrain suitable for cavalry fighting and said to Liu Ah Qi: "Since there is no If you have tried it, you might as well give it a try. Later, you can supervise the siege. If it is still difficult to conquer, break up the camp and retreat to the southeast. You might as well make some defeating gestures to lure the defenders. "

Although he brought reinforcements, they were only a thousand cavalry. Even if they were all devoted to siege operations, the effect they could receive would be very limited. Only in the field can the combat effectiveness be maximized.

The group of cavalry he commanded was not exposed to the sight of the enemy defenders and stopped to rest in the valley in the distance. As long as the soldiers guarding the city have a little bit of hope for victory and see this group of troops unable to attack the city and then retreating in panic, they will definitely not let it go easily and will most likely go out of the city to pursue them.

After all, Gao Huan personally led an army to clear out this area before. If these city defenders just sit back and watch the Lishi Hu people who fled back here and spread poison into the wild again, they will definitely be severely punished.

"I am following my lord's orders and will do my best to lure out the thieves. However, I dare to plead with my lord. If these disciples survive the ordeal, it is God's will that they should be alive. I ask my lord to guide them back to their hometown!"

Hearing that Li Tai arranged for his men to be used as bait without mercy, Liu Ah Qi did not dare to refute, but just paused and kowtowed heavily to Li Tai.

"There is no need to worry about the future. Since I have protected you in the past, I will not lead you to a dead end. As long as you can make meritorious service in the battle and pay for your previous sins, I will do what I say and will definitely help you regain your ancestral city. You If you still have any doubts about this, immediately remove your armor and leave, and I will supervise everyone else!"

After Li Tai heard this, he said in a deep voice that he was not worried that these Li Shihu would turn against him and betray him when they returned here. Now he was the only one on both sides of the river who could accommodate them and provide effective help.

"Don't dare, don't dare, please forgive me, Lord!"

After hearing this, Liu Aqi kowtowed again and again to apologize. It was not until Li Tai apologized that he dared to stand up, and then returned to the camp to start arranging the siege. Li Tai then also rode his horse back to his base, waiting to lure the enemy out before engaging in field battles.

The war soon started. Under the supervision of Liu Aqi's subordinates and cronies, the Li Shihu soldiers shouted and rushed towards the gate of Wutu City. However, when they were still some distance outside the gate, The defenders on the top of the city drew their bows and fired at them. Although the barbarians at the front had protective tools such as wooden boards and grass shields, they continued to fall.

The defenders of the city had sufficient force, and from time to time rolling stones and wood were thrown down from the top of the city. However, the attacking party did not even have basic armor, and only relied on their fierceness to swarm back and forth to the city wall. However, without the cooperation of siege equipment, there is no effective attack at all, and it will only cost lives.

Seeing the clumsy siege methods of the enemies outside the city, the defenders on the city couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter. If the general hadn't been careful and guarded, they would have rushed out of the city to attack these ragtag troops in a panic. A killing spree.

The suicidal and futile attack was naturally unsustainable. After losing hundreds of lives, the Hu soldiers retreated like a tide, and the soldier commander Liu Aqi arranged in advance led the soldiers to the Lingshui River. Escape.

Seeing the tragic death of their companions, the other soldiers subconsciously wanted to stay away from the desperate killing field, so they also fled into the river. Although the river water in autumn was already a bit chilly, it was not cold enough to numb one's hands and feet. Moreover, the water flow in the river became shallow and slow. Soon, Hu Zu swam across the river and rushed to the other side, running towards the wilderness further away. go.

As Liu Aqi said, the military strength of these barbarian troops was already on the verge of collapse. Now they only need a slight push, and there is no need to pretend at all. It will look like a complete defeat.

At this time, the defenders at the top of Wutu City couldn't help laughing when they saw that the enemies were defeated without a fight. Soon ropes, ladders, baskets and cages were lowered, and guards continued to climb down and rush towards the enemy's remains. Go down to the fortress to harvest defeated soldiers and collect supplies.