Chapter 46

On September 19, with the order of the Grand Marshal Magistrate to fight against rebellion in Hedong, except for leaving 70,000 troops to station in Jinyang, the remaining 330,000 troops were divided into three left, middle and right routes to attack the four towns in Hebei. Each army was composed of 40,000 Shence cavalry and 70,000 infantry, and the three routes covered each other and attacked parallel. Obviously, Marshal Ma Sui had no idea of ​​being entangled with the enemy. In this way, the war was launched across the entire line, and all the towns were completely pacified in the shortest time, so as to achieve a win-win situation in military and political terms. For a moment, smoke was rolling, and fire was fired on every village on the land of Hebei, and smoke was produced.

The four towns in Hebei have a regular military strength of 180,000, but they are scattered by the four towns. Except for Wei Bo, the remaining 100,000 are owned by the three towns. Although the absolute number is quite large, it is divided into several places. Each town is at a disadvantage when facing the imperial army. The left army is led by the impatient Shence Left Army Horse Envoy Shang Kegu; the middle line is led by Ma Sui personally led the army to support it; and the right line is facing Wei Bo is the mature and steadfast Shence Right Army Horse Envoy Lu Xiqian.

Crossing Taihang Mountains, heading east into Hebei Road, breaking the important town of Wu'an, then turning south through Busan Bukou, pacifying Zhaoyi and Buyang, crossing Zhang River and breaking Ye County, and continuing to attack south. On the 21st day after the war officially started, the right army with a strong momentum was already opposite Xiangzhou, the Huan River.

Xiangzhou is located in the southwest of Hebei Road, standing against mountains and water. From its place to the east, it can cross the Yellow River and attack Henan Road. Duji Road Luoyang is only a few days away from it. Behind Xiangzhou is the foundation of Weibo. Once this city is broken, you can go east to attack Wei and Bo two states. This place can be called the gateway to Tianyue, and its importance is self-evident.

It is precisely because of this special geographical location that Xiangzhou has always been one of the most solid cities in Weibo's architecture. It is also because of his confidence in the protection ability of this city that Chongqing, a veteran who has only 20,000 troops, has no fear in the face of the 110,000 imperial army.

"Prepare the cannon, let it go!" With the gunner's snarl, nearly ninety stone casters made a sharp scream. Dozens of huge rock bombs soared into the air and rushed towards the Zhang River in front of the city. While attacking the water columns in the sky, they also smashed dozens of powerful ferries into pieces. Hundreds of vanguard soldiers from the Right Army dragged their long screams and destroyed them.

With the first wave of stone bombs fired, countless stone bombs were successively ejected and attacked. The water columns on the river about a hundred feet in front of Xiangzhou City were one after another, and the sound of the hull was broken and the screams of the soldiers were heard. After two incense sticks of hell, dozens of troop transport ships finally succeeded in crossing. The soldiers carried out long shields, occupying the favorable terrain on the river beach, waiting for the support brothers to follow.

"The general's cannon is dragged fifty steps forward, block the heart of the river, let these people come up, and order the powerful crossbows and archers to prepare." He stared coldly at the court soldiers who were squirming forward under the city wall, Chongqing made a decisive order.

Without the stone bombs on their heads, the strong ferry boat that had just crossed the middle of the river quickly approached the river bank. In a short while, more than a thousand soldiers from the right side of the river had gathered at the river beach. However, at this time, they did not have the joy of successfully crossing the river. They looked at the tall city wall not far away, and then looked at the dense stone bombs behind them that completely blocked the reinforcement ships. Many of these southern soldiers who fought on the battlefield for the first time were pale faces, and some of them could not resist their fear and began to sob.

"Why are you crying? I'll cut you all the soft eggs!" Just as many new recruits were at a loss, they heard a violent voice roaring wildly. Everyone looked up and saw a soldier with a strong beard all over his face. Looking at the armor patterns on his body, they were clearly the seventh-grade general. Seeing him, everyone seemed to have a backbone, and the curse that had been familiar with in the military camp for the past three years also quickly calmed the fear in the hearts of these new recruits.

"It is natural to eat food and fight. Since we have eaten the food of the court, it is time to work hard. These Hebei troops are all eggless goods. As long as we have an impact, they will be soft. At that time, everyone will be heroes. If they are promoted and wealthy, they will be waiting for their brothers." After a few short words of arousing morale, the general of the town, covered by big shields on both sides, shouted: "There is no way to retreat now, we can only fight for his own good. Everyone should follow my orders to form three rows, with the shield hands in front, and the siege ladder in the middle, and the brothers behind are preparing to attack the city."

At this point, the three years of hard work of the soldiers were fully reflected. In a very short period of time, the formation was quickly formed, and the small Peng platoon was protected by Zhang Qi on the sky. As the town general shouted, the entire brigade was moving faster and faster towards the city.

Five hundred steps, four hundred steps, three hundred steps, until only two hundred and fifty steps away from the city wall, with Chongqing's loud shout: "Release", hundreds of feather arrows suddenly broke through the air and attacked the formation like a storm. Even with the protection of Peng Pai, more than a hundred soldiers were caught in arrows and fell to the ground.

The subsequent siege turned into a naked massacre. When the roaring town general was filled with feather arrows and fell from the siege ladder halfway, the sound of the gongs of the right-road army on the north bank also sounded simultaneously. Countless ships that forced to cross the river gave up this almost impossible task and retreated and retreated.

On the Xiangzhou city wall, looking at the corpses covered with the ground, Chongqing, who had pondered for a long time, waited for the shocking cheers of the soldiers of this side to stop, and then asked beside him: "Wei'er, what do you think?"

"What kind of elite gods in the world are still vulnerable to me in front of my Hebei soldiers." Chong Wei, who was wearing armor, said with disdain on his face when he heard his uncle's question.

"This is not the Shence Army, this is just a new army trained by various corpses in the south. I have fought all my life. The former imperial army was very cowardly. If it were to oppress the people, it was naturally a good player. If it were to fight, I, a Hebei Jian, could fight three of him. But now it seems that in just a few years, the imperial army was so fierce and fearless! What a Cui Po, a recruiter! If other soldiers were the same, this battle would be difficult to fight." As if to confirm his words, the central army on the north bank arrived at this time. Under the blue sky and white clouds, a team of court troops with distinctive armor arrived one after another, and the Wei Bo army was separated from the river. The strict military appearance and strong murderous intent made the Xiangzhou defenders who were still cheering just now no longer relaxed.

"The crossing of the river just now was just a test of the reality and the enemy will not attack the city again today. Let's continue to give orders, except for the guards, everyone else retreated and rested for a long time, waiting for the subsequent battle." After observing carefully for a long time, seeing that the other party had already set up camp in the normal and regular Yan, Chongqing gave a low order and then went down to the city first.

… … … …………………………………………………………………

"My subordinates are incompetent, which has caused our vanguard to lose its troops and his morale is taken away. I ask the army and horse to punish him." In the tent of the commander of the Right Army, Liu Yu, the vanguard of the Right Army and the General of the Shence Clan, bowed and apologized with shame.

"The city of Xiangzhou has natural dangers to defend, far from Zhaoyi, Ye County is comparable. The one guarding the city is Chongqing, the famous general of Hebei. If you want to break the city with three thousand troops, isn't it a joke!" Lu Xiqian, who is in charge of the general case, suddenly said with a solemn expression: "I am just asking you to test the truth and reality. I have never ordered you to attack blindly. If you don't want to do anything, just call the gold and withdraw the troops earlier. However, you are too greedy for merit, which has caused our army to lose more than 3,000 people. This is wrong with you. When you are using people, I am sure that you will be punished and made meritorious. Are you convinced?"

"Thank you for the grace of the army and horse envoy!" Liu Yu bowed to thank him again and immediately asked for battle, "Tomorrow, the general will be the vanguard. He will never come down to see the army and horse envoy."

Nodded, Lu Xiqian smiled slightly and said, "You are responsible for the siege from tomorrow. There are two things to remember. First, the number of people sent out each time shall not exceed 3,000, and the loss shall not exceed 500. Second, use the recruits of each unit in turn to let them feel what the real war is like. This will be beneficial to the subsequent war. If these two items are violated, although I am nostalgic, the military law cannot tolerate you."

"Sir, the number of people sent out is only 3,000 each time. How can this break the city..." Liu Yu, who was puzzled, was still waiting to talk about it. When the lord ate the army and horses glared, he could only answer: "Yes", turned around and left the tent.

In the following days, the right-road army, with many soldiers and wide generals, did not start a large-scale siege war as both sides guessed. Of course, the siege never stopped every day, but at most three thousand people dispatched, and they were rotated every day. Judging from the driving, the army and horse envoy Lu Xiqian actually used Xiangzhou as his training place. Compared with the small fights on the front battlefield, the entire Zhang River was dispatched with large scale scouts to find shallow and slow levels. At the same time, the entire right-road army also sent countless teams to cut down trees and build rafts of water.

Although Chongqing was worried about the court army's actions, he was powerless. The huge gap between the troops and the enemy made him dare not take any risk of losing his strength. Finally, after eleven days of anxious waiting, the right army, which crossed the river a hundred miles upstream and downstream, began to attack Xiangzhou in two directions.

The tragic siege battle began.

The right-road army, who had delayed the entry time in front of the army, did their best to attack the city this time. With the effective support of the baggage, they carried out huge and ferocious siege crossbows and clumsy and thick donkey carts, and launched waves of attacks like a tide in the rain of arrows on both sides.

It was on the evening of the third day when the siege between the two sides was in full swing that Tian Xi, a military ration envoy who was carrying a large number of supplies, was arrived in Xiangzhou.

"It's so dangerous, so dangerous. As long as you get one point, I'm afraid that I will be unable to protect my life. Well, Mr. Tong, why do I feel that the enemy army just now seems to have not done its best?" Looking back on the danger he encountered when he entered the city just now, Tian Xi was still scared, and at the same time, he also had a little doubt about his dangerous escape.

"Now the two armies are killed by life and death, how could the imperial army be ruthless to the prince? It is said that the prince is protected by God. If he survives a disaster, he will have good fortune. Looking at it today, what the prince wants will be accomplished." Mr. Tong, who came with him, was also wearing armor. At this time, he was full of confidence in his words.

Thinking about the reason why the enemy had no water, Tian Xi became more and more convinced of his destiny. However, after hearing the shouts of killing on the top of the city and handing over the job at the Chongqing General's Mansion, the military rations made the adults hope that he could leave the place where the war was dangerous as soon as possible. Especially when he went up to the city wall to watch the battle the next day, this essential young master firmly determined this idea. Even when he was resting in the house that night, he was so scared that he couldn't sleep.

It was not until the third o'clock in the morning that Tian Xi, who had just fallen asleep in a daze, was suddenly awakened by a shrill roar. Then more and more sounds surged around. Just when he was at a loss, he suddenly saw a flash of figures at the door. The next moment, Mr. Tong, who was also in disheveled, ran to the bed and pulled him up and said, "Deputy General Chen Kang has rebelled. He just led his troops to kill Lord Chong, and now he is taking people to the west gate."

"What! Chen Kang is rebelling. Oh my god, yes, please hurry up and call your brothers. Our baggage team has horses, so you can walk quickly, quickly, quickly!" Tian Xidii ordered after being stunned for a moment before reacting.

"What the young master said is," Mr. Tong responded, then turned around and ran out of the room, shouting loudly to Wang Hu and others who were rising up after hearing the sound: "As for the young master's instructions, everyone should quickly pick up their swords and prepare horses. Let's go to save Ximen. We must not let Chen Kang succeed. This time, this time, the young master will not be stingy with a reward of a thousand gold coins. Hurry, hurry up."

Listening to this sentence, Tian Xi, who was dressing in a hurry, almost sat on the ground in fear, but he didn't want to think too much. He was supported by Mr. Tong, who had returned to the room and two close-fitting death soldiers who protected him, and then the group of people rushed towards the west gate like a swarm.

"Weibo's military ration envoy, Lord Tian Xi is here. All the troops are not in trouble. Come with the horse and go to rescue Ximen." Looking at the military ration envoy who had always been good to him, the baggage soldiers followed Mr. Tong's orders and shouted in unison while galloping towards Ximen.

The subsequent process was like a dream for Lord Tian Xi. He only saw that he had chased the rebels' rear squad shortly after running out. Then there was a shout of killing sounding around him. Although he was tightly wrapped by eight dead soldiers, he was not at all dangerous, but as countless cold lights flashed by and blood spurted out, he was still scared and lost several times. Fortunately, all the fighting was fighting on all sides at this time, no one would pay attention, otherwise the military ration would have lost the man! At this moment, all destiny belonged to him, Wang Tu's dominance was forgotten by him, and all that was left was the fear that penetrated deep into the bone marrow.

Mr. Tong trained the dead soldiers. They forced themselves into the rebels, cooperated with the city gate defenders to withstand the decisive attack launched by Chen Kang. As more and more reinforcements came down, the Xiangzhou defenders narrowly quelled the sudden rebellion. With the death of the main general and deputy general one after another, Tian Junjiao, the highest-ranking hero in the city, naturally took over the defense of Xiangzhou. At this point, in this battle related to the destiny of the country, Tian Xi, the tenth son of the former Wei Bo Jiedushi, officially stepped on the front...
Chapter completed!