Chapter 1059 The enemy is strong

Chapter 1059 The enemy is strong

Early the next morning, after the soldiers of the various camps had finished their meals, they marched out of camp amid the sound of drums and horns, and officially began the attack on Jinzhou City.

At this time, on the top of the city, the soldiers of the Qi Army who were guarding the city saw the enemy troops outside the city approaching from all directions. They were full of tension and anxiety, but they also had a hint of expectation.

For many days in a row, the enemy army had been besieging but not attacking, and the general in the city did not allow them to leave the city to attack the enemy army. The stalemate continued like this. The atmosphere in the city was dull and tormenting. Now that the enemy has finally launched an offensive, the subsequent development of the situation may be good or bad. After all, it can be regarded as entering a new stage, and it is no longer as dull and depressing as before.

Since the people and horses in the city have never left the city to make any defensive arrangements, there are basically no obstacles such as trenches to block horses outside the city. The siege troops and siege equipment of the Western Wei Dynasty can directly advance to the city to launch an attack.

In this first round of tentative attacks, the Wei army did not adopt very violent siege methods. Instead, they first used rams to ram the city walls in order to find weak points on the walls.

However, such an attempt was more or less in vain. Although the Qi soldiers in the city did not leave the city, they seized the time to strengthen the city's defense. Not only have all the city walls been properly repaired, but a layer of rammed earth has also been reinforced inside, making the inner and outer city walls extremely strong. The city walls have also been completely blocked from the inside, so there are no loopholes.

Although the Wei army deployed more than a dozen rams to attack the city wall from different angles and directions in the first battle, the huge impact wood only made a dull sound when it hit the city wall, causing minimal damage to the city wall itself.

On the contrary, because the sergeants controlling the ramming car probably underestimated their opponents and were too weak to protect themselves, many people were injured by falling trees from the top of the city. The enemy generals on the top of the city were also running around quickly, issuing counterattack instructions one after another, and all the operations of holding and counterattacking were quite satisfactory.

"It seems that there are still smart generals in the city."

Li Tai watched the back-and-forth offensive and defensive battle between the two sides outside the city, and commented with a smile.

The faces of Liang Shiyan and other generals were a little ugly. Since the war started, they had always been the side with the upper hand and the initiative. The enemy troops had always been huddled in the city, which also made these generals feel contempt and arrogance secretly in their hearts. As a result, now they are fighting. It's naturally a bit embarrassing to find that they can't take any advantage.

"At the end of the day, please recruit warriors from the camp to attack the thieves' front with ladders!"

Liang Shiyan said with clasped fists, trying to save some face by attacking the city more violently.

After Li Tai heard this, he waved his hand and said: "That's not necessary. First, build a mountain of earth from the east of the city to support the city wall, and then dig a tunnel from the south of the city to divert Fen water to pour the city wall. You don't have to do it quickly. It's better to be careful. You need to be wary of thieves coming at night. camp."

At present, there are no very effective methods to attack the city. Including the Heyang Cannon that Li Tai used many times before, the atmosphere created is greater than the actual destructive power. The battle needs to reach a certain stage before it can be defeated. It can be used as a means to destroy the enemy's confidence. If it is used at the beginning of the war, the effect may not be very good.

Although the officers and soldiers in this city have been unable to retreat before and have not fulfilled their responsibilities and obligations as an important border defense town in Pingyang City, in terms of the city defense itself, they have done a pretty good job. The defense is very solid and the morale in the city has been maintained. It's okay, at least it's not the kind of soldier who has no fighting spirit and will be defeated in one attack.

Regarding the attack on Jinzhou City, Li Tai did not want to adopt a method of siege that would cause too many casualties. Firstly, there was no need for that, and secondly, there was plenty of time. A normal siege and siege would suffice, and the enemy would be tired if he took the initiative in the war. One advantage is that there is no need to sacrifice a large number of soldiers' lives in exchange for time.

Not to mention the slightly conservative siege method of the Wei army outside the city, as the offensive came to an end, the defenders on the city also breathed a sigh of relief. It was already dark clouds over the city, but in the end there was only a drizzle, which naturally made people secretly feel lucky.

Especially a guy like Wei Can who was already panicking to death before the official war started. After seeing with his own eyes that the enemy's offensive was not too fierce, he immediately regained his courage.

As the enemy troops outside the city retreated temporarily and returned to camp, Wei Can quickly climbed up to the top of the city. Looking at the slightly messy ground outside the city, he laughed and said: "The Qiang thieves came with great force, how brave they are, and they ended up fighting. It's inevitable to show cowardice when you get up, it turns out that your skills are limited to this, so there is nothing to be afraid of! In my opinion, you don't have to defend the city wall when you come to fight again, you can use your surprise troops to attack the enemy unprepared! "

Zhencheng Xianyu Shirong, who had been supervising the battle at the head of the city, heard that Wei Can was a little carried away again, and he hurriedly said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, you should not take it lightly. The enemy forces outside the city are many times stronger than mine. Moreover, they have already surrounded the city before. Passing through and entering a dangerous place, the best strategy is to defend this isolated city. If there is no confirmed news of reinforcements, we should not attack easily. "

Wei Can just said casually that he wanted to redeem his previous too timid performance, so naturally he would not insist on going out to fight in the city. After hearing this, he nodded, and then looked at Xian Yu Shirong and others and said: "In terms of layout, winning when facing the enemy is very important. What I am good at is that I am very close to my relatives and it is my duty to promote talents for the country!

The military of this city is all at your service. If we cannot win, you and I will be defeated by the enemy, and there is nothing to say. But if I can defeat the enemy, I will definitely honor your achievements after I return to the court, and I will not let the meritorious soldiers be buried in obscurity! "

Hearing what Wei Can said, Xian Yu Shirong and others also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, the biggest unstable factor in the city is Wei Can. As long as this guy can stay calm and not dictate matters of city defense, with the various strengthening of city defense they have made in the past few days, it should not be difficult to hold on for a period of time. .

Although the Jinzhou City defenders breathed a sigh of relief at the way the Wei army attacked the city with heavy thunder and light rain, the panic letter Wei Can had sent people out of the city to swim to Fenxi and then forwarded it caused a stir everywhere. There was an uproar.

The first person to learn about this was the Jinyang side. In the past few days, various parties in Jinyang had recruited troops, and soldiers from all sides were constantly gathering. When the envoys from Jinzhou City finally arrived in Jinyang after arduous journeys day and night in the mountains and forests, Jinyang had once again gathered 60,000 to 70,000 horses. Because the armor was getting stronger, Qi Lord Gao Yang gradually returned to his bold and vigorous state. .

But when he saw an urgent letter from Jinzhou saying that the Western Wei army numbered two to three hundred thousand, and the envoy repeatedly described the majesty of the Wei soldiers and horses, Gao Yang suddenly became a little less confident.

However, now that it is known that the enemy's main forces have been deployed to fight here, Northern Qi can no longer be too conservative and should take active actions to encircle and attack the enemy. If the enemy is allowed to capture Jinzhou City and has a stable army base, it will be difficult to take Jinzhou back with its current military strength.

If Jinzhou was captured by the Western Wei Dynasty, it would be like holding a sharp knife directly under the throat of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Even if Jinyang could be unmolested for a while, if Gao Yang imagined that Jinyang and Ye could travel freely like in previous years, he would probably Can't do it anymore.

Once the emperor's own movements are restricted and he has to live somewhere permanently, then according to their internal personnel situation in Northern Qi, one of the two places in Jinyang and Hebei will inevitably fall out of control!

Although Gao Yang has been dim and clear in recent years, he has always been very clear about these personnel issues within his regime. Jinzhou's gains and losses are not just purely military and border defense gains and losses. Once Jinzhou cannot be defended, a series of personnel conflicts within Northern Qi will soon become obviously intensified, and even he, the emperor, will find it difficult to balance. operate.

However, the enemy force is currently strong, and Jinyang's military strength has not yet fully recovered, and is not yet enough to serve as the main force in this counterattack. And with the loss of the two important roads of Queshu Valley and Thousand Miles Path, it will take a certain amount of time to reopen them.

So Gao Yang ordered Nan'an King Gao Sihao, who had just arrived in Jinyang from Shuozhou, to lead a 20,000-strong division to go south. Together with Hedong King Pan Zihuang, he tried to reopen the main route south. At the same time, he asked Tang Yong to increase the recruitment of soldiers. Wherever the border situation is not important, all the troops will be mobilized to gather in Jinyang.

While Jinyang continues to recruit troops and accumulate strength, Duan Shao, king of Pingyuan, can only be used as the main force in attacking the enemy in Yedu. The total number of troops in Yedu and Heyang reached more than 100,000. Even if they could not completely defeat the enemy, they could still make the enemy tired and weaken their morale through constant harassment.

When the time comes, Jinyang will have gathered enough armored soldiers and opened up the passage south, and will be able to attack the enemy head-on with a large army. Li Boshan, a cunning and stubborn enemy, must pay a heavy price. By then, not to mention Jinzhou, even Hedong can be captured in one go!

Soon, Gao Yang's order reached Yedu. At this time, Yedu had withdrawn nearly 60,000 troops from Heyang.

Duan Shao had already led 20,000 troops into Fukou before. If he was to serve as the main force in counterattacking the enemy at this stage, a mere 20,000 troops would obviously not be enough.

After Gao Yan, who stayed in Yedu, received the emperor's order, he quickly sent an envoy to Fukou to discuss with Duan Shao, and decided to send all the troops in Yedu to reinforce Duan Shao, and then continue to mobilize troops from Heyang to return. Yedu, as a reserve force, also maintains law and order in Yedu.

However, when Gao Yan's transfer order was issued to Heyang again, he was opposed by Heyang guard Hu Luguang. Hu Luguang did not follow the order and continue to arrange for the troops to return. Instead, he secretly went to Yedu himself to express his views to King Changshan face to face.