Chapter 597: Bloody Battle in Xiangzhou (I)

At night, the dark night shrouded the land of Hebei, but the defenders at the city of Xiangzhou were extremely nervous. Everyone's eyes were filled with despair. The vast fields outside the city were covered with fire, forming an extremely huge oval. It was spread on the ground outside the city, like an ocean of torches gathered, extending dozens of miles away. On both sides of the oval, two bright streams of fire continued to inject into this ocean of fire.

An Lushan's army and Cai Xide's main force arrived in Xiangzhou almost at the same time. Until the second update, the forces injected on both sides began to gradually weaken. At the same time, the huge elliptical army formation began to change, like a lengthened steel rope, becoming longer and longer. The trend of surrounding Xiangzhou City from east to west was developing. Soldiers kept shouting loudly, "Come here! Come here."

An Lushan's army grew longer and longer. At the fourth watch, the 300,000 troops finally turned into a huge circle, surrounding Xiangzhou City and becoming more noisy.

It was just dawn and the warm sunlight shone on Xiangzhou City, but the hearts of the soldiers guarding the city were like falling into an ice cave. The city was covered with dense tents, like mushrooms growing after a night of spring rain. Tens of thousands of tents were next to each other, sieging Xiangzhou City like an iron barrel.

Cheng Qianli looked at the huge army of An Lushan three miles away. At this time, his heart calmed down. It was impossible for the 300,000 troops to be all attacked. At most, he invested 100,000 people to attack the city at one time. His defenders had more than 47,000 people, and nearly 50,000 civilians. He could last for a year if he had the law to defend the city. Only by defending the city was able to seize the city, An Lushan might not be able to capture Xiangzhou City. This is also the reason why Guo Ziyi insisted on defending the city. Xiangzhou City was strong and had sufficient food and troops. Why did he abandon the city and flee?

Thinking of this, the anxiety of the past ten days was swept away, and thinking that An Lushan's detailed work had been wiped out last night, Cheng Qianli's confidence rose sharply. The soldiers guarding the city were in panic and all showed fear. He shouted: "Why are you afraid of? Pray the drums and cheer me!"

The rumbling drums rang at the top of the city, which was also the order for the army to assemble. Teams of soldiers rushed from the city to the top of the city, from all directions, like ants gathered. A quarter of an hour later, more than 30,000 soldiers rushed to the top of the city, densely packed the north and east of the city. On the towering city walls, flags were waving, and the army was like a forest that cost dozens of miles long, forming a majestic and spectacular momentum.

This is a move that Cheng Qianli used unpleasant to stir up morale with the sound of drums and spread his own advantages to resolve the concerns of the soldiers. It should be said that this method is very effective. If the soldiers are not allowed to understand their advantages and the soldiers are not allowed to see the power comparison between the two sides with their own eyes, the fear in the soldier's heart will form a strong psychological hint, believing that An Lushan's 300,000 troops will be suppressed and his own army will be defeated. This panic will spread like an infectious disease, and will eventually seriously affect the morale and seriously reduce the morale. Before the attack, the morale will be defeated.

Therefore, Cheng Qianli must let the soldiers understand their advantages. Although the enemy is six times more powerful than him, they have a strong city and sufficient food. It is impossible for the enemy to attack the city. If it can be delayed for a long time, the reinforcements of the Anxi army will arrive, and An Lushan will eventually withdraw.

"Brothers, shout to me, we will win!"

"It will win!"

"It will win!"

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

The voice changed from one person to a hundred people, then to a thousand people, and soon spread throughout the city. Every Tang army was infected. They raised their swords and shouted, "I will win!"

Their confidence began to recover, their fighting spirit began to rise, and the head of Xiangzhou city was drowned out by the shouts of victory.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

An Lushan's tent is located in the north, which is the subconscious mind on his back to the north and south. His tent will always be pinned to the north. At this time, An Lushan, wearing a golden armor, sat on a chariot carried by 800 people. The so-called chariot is a large sandalwood platform five meters square and one meter high. The surface of the wooden platform is covered with gold foil, and the golden light shines in the sun. His golden ivory chair is placed on the wooden platform. He sat in the middle, surrounded by eighteen close-fitting guards with high martial arts skills. The eight hundred strong men carried the huge wooden platform with human power.

An Lushan squinted his eyes and looked at the city in front of him. Half a month ago, this city was undoubtedly a thorn in his eye and a thorn in his flesh, but the situation was changing quietly. As Guo Ziyi sent troops from Jingxing to Hebei, the city suddenly became less important on An Lushan's strategic balance.

So what can I do if I conquer Xiangzhou? Can I directly face the 200,000 troops deployed by Li Qing'an on Henan Road? An Lushan knew in his heart that Chang'an's military was divided into two forces, and Li Qing'an was just one of them. He might not be able to provoke Li Qing'an. Can he not be able to provoke the old military leader Guo Ziyi?

An Lushan was squinting his eyes and thinking about his thoughts. At this time, a personal guard next to him came forward to report: "Prince, Mr. Gao is here, please see the prince if you have something to do."

"Um!"

An Lushan nodded and ordered: "Send twenty scouts first. Within an hour, we will explore the situation around the city."

Immediately someone went down to pass the order. An Lushan stared at the city again and waved his hand and said, "Go back to the camp!"

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

Gao Shang followed An Lushan's army south, but he was the rear army and did not enter the camp until the morning. As soon as he entered the camp, he hurriedly found An Lushan. In the middle of the night last night, he received an emergency information from Xiangzhou City, and he wanted to report to An Lushan.

Gao Shang was walking back and forth outside An Lushan's tent with his hands behind his back. He was still thinking about the information. According to his regulations to the spies in Xiangzhou City, he had to send an information every two days. Logically, the information in his hand should have been sent the day before yesterday, but no information came the day before yesterday. Even if there was nothing to report, they should explain it in the information last night. What was delayed the day before yesterday, and Song Yi was cautious, he should add this sentence, but there was no explanation, which made Gao Shang feel a little suspicious. Did they missed it inadvertently, or was there another article here?

However, from other aspects, there is no problem with this information. Everything is normal. Song Yi's words and Mao Sheng's chapter are completely correct. In theory, there should be no doubts. He should believe his subordinates, but why did they delay sending a letter for one day without explaining the situation clearly? This little abnormality made Gao Shang, who was as careful as a hair, feel like a sharp short hair hidden in some place in his underwear, and his body is not comfortable.

"The King of Yan returns to the camp!"

A shout came from afar, and thousands of soldiers rushed towards this side. A tall wooden platform appeared from afar. The wooden platform was magnificent. Gao Shang couldn't help but sigh secretly. Since the rebellion, An Lushan has become more and more particular. His food, clothing, daily life is exactly the same as that of the emperor. He has regarded himself as the emperor, especially when he carried the chariot with 800 people, he probably didn't even have the emperor's appearance. Sima Zhao's heart has been exposed, but now he has not even fought out! How can people in the world support him, and the several massacres ordered by An Lushan are undoubtedly his biggest political failure.

Gao Shang's heart was full of disappointment and regret. What An Lushan did was not what a king should do, but it was like the style of Hu Ke on the grassland. Does he still want to live in the Han throne?

Gao Shang sighed in his heart. An Lushan had already arrived in front of him. The Jinmutai slowly landed on the ground. An Lushan smiled and said, "Mr. Gao, what's there to teach me?"

"See Your Highness the King of Yan!"

"No need to be polite, go! Let's talk in the big tent."

The two entered the tent and took the seat of the guest and the host. Gao Shang took out the information he received in the middle of the night and handed it to An Lushan. Although he was still a little hesitant, the information content was very important. He could not swallow food. He had to let An Lushan know such a major information.

An Lushan took the information and looked carefully, and was shocked. The information said that there were Anxi Army's thunders in Xiangzhou City, and the number was unknown, but there was no doubt about the thunders, and they also heard the explosion.

An Lushan did not expect that there was also a thunder in Xiangzhou. Li Qingan actually gave his secret weapon to Guo Ziyi. He suddenly remembered his thunder. It had been successful, but it was destroyed by Li Qing's security department. Later, even the sulfur he bought was intercepted, and an unspeakable bitterness surged in his heart.

"Mr. Gao, will your subordinates make a mistake?"

Gao Shang shook his head, "It shouldn't be. Mao Sheng had seen the thunder in Youzhou with his own eyes. He would not make any mistakes. Bei Zhi also thought that Xiangzhou City had a very high possibility of having thunder."

"Why?"

"If our Yan army never knew the secret of Tianlei, Li Qingan would definitely not have given this secret weapon to Xiangzhou. But now the general has already known this secret, known its formula, and even successfully tested it, then there is no need for Li Qingan to hide it from Guo Ziyi, so I don't find it strange that Xiangzhou has Tianlei."

Although An Lushan was very depressed, he had to admit that Gao Shang made sense, but he didn't know how much damage the thunder in Xiangzhou would bring to his army.

"Master, there is still information behind it..." Gao Shang saw that he was only concerned about Tianlei, so he reminded him again.

An Lushan continued to look down again, but the following is better news. Cheng Qianli distributed a large amount of grain to the fugitives. Although his external publicity could support one year, in fact, it could only support it for one month at most. The grain rationing system has been implemented in Xiangzhou City, and this news is absolutely accurate.

"Sir, this is good news! I only need to besiege Xiangzhou for a month, and they will lose all their food without fighting."

An Lushan turned his worries into joy and laughed. Gao Shang was a little confused about An Lushan's tactics. Didn't he say that he wanted to take down Xiangzhou City before the Yellow River was completely frozen? If that were the case, what would be the relationship between one month's grain storage and one year's grain storage?

"Master, why is this?"

But An Lushan kept a secret and smiled mysteriously: "Sir, please wait and see, how is my An Lushan's strategy?"

Gao Shang only felt that the battle situation had become confusing. Should he be the quick attack to capture Xiangzhou or to siege the city to attack the aid? Even he couldn't understand what the hell was selling in An Lushan's gourd.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

At noon, An Lushan's army, which besieged the East City, launched its first siege, and the troops of the Left Army General Li Guiren carried out a tentative attack. Although this was only a tentative attack, An Lushan still invested an army of 36,000 people and more than 100 siege equipment. The ferocity of the siege was no less than that of the official attack.

Thirty-six thousand troops were arranged into six square formations, each of which was a hundred steps apart, like six huge black carpets, rising and falling on the earth, with high morale and murderous aura soaring into the sky. They moved closer to the city wall from two miles away, drums were like thunder, trumpets were connected to the sky, flags covered the sky, spears were like forests, shields were like mountains, and death black appeared under the sunlight.

General Li Guiren rode on the war horse and pointed his sword at the city, "Go forward!"

“Woo~~”

The low trumpet sounded throughout the world, and more than a dozen wooden trumpets were erected in the middle of each team, which was used to resist flying stones on the city. With the sound of huge wheels under the wooden trumpets, as well as nearly a hundred nest cars and cloud ladders, the team began to slowly fight towards the city wall.

There was also a loud drum sound on the top of the city, Cheng Qianli's eyes were red and he roared repeatedly. Although he knew that this was a test by the Yan army, the other party invested more than 30,000 people, which still put a huge pressure on him. He invested 10,000 people to defend the East City and personally directed the battle. He threw all previous response plans behind him.

"Quick! Arrows are coming up..."

"Bastard! Go and move the stones first, and prepare for the trench!"

Thirteen heavy catapults on the head of the East City were creakingly opened, three meters high and six meters long. Thunderbolts could reach 700 steps away. Two hundred people needed to pull them. Thirteen black catapults stood at the top of the city, like thirteen monsters. A huge stone weighing 300 pounds was put into the bullet pocket. Two hundred people pulled twenty belts as thick as arms, waiting for the order to fire.

In the middle of the battlements, eight thousand soldiers held long bows and arrows, and a series of four-foot-long thick arrows were already on the bowstring. The bows used for defense are different from those used for flat combat. The arrows do not need to shoot far, but they must be heavy, so that the arrows can shoot through the enemy's armor by their own gravity. Therefore, large arrows are generally used, with arrow shafts as thick as fingers, the sharp tips are streamlined, and there are bloodletting grooves on all sides.

The enemy had gradually entered the range of the catapult. Cheng Qianli issued a shooting order. He shouted in a hoarse voice: "Shoot!"

The red flag was waved, and the troops fought hard. The long arms of the thirteen monsters were swung out, and the thirteen huge rocks flew into the air, roaring towards the city.
To be continued...