(Historically, Li Siqi was in panic all day long when he learned that Zhang Liangbi's city was destroyed and people were killed. As soon as Xu Da's army arrived, he led his troops to surrender. There are slight changes here, because not fighting is not enough to show the protagonist's brilliance.)
With banners fluttering and war drums beating, Dakui led 50,000 forward troops to Lanzhou City to prepare for the attack.
When Li Siqi learned that the forward troops of the Ming army had arrived at the city, he quickly ordered his 80,000 elite troops to fortify the city on all sides. There were 20,000 elite troops on each of the four walls in the southeast and northwest. On the city walls, there were all bows and crossbows and artillery in place. Li Siqi personally led 30,000 horse infantry troops to make arrangements.
There is sufficient food and grass in the city of Lanzhou. It is no more than a dream for the Ming army to attack the city immediately. Even if the forward army arrives, they may not dare to attack the city. They will definitely wait for the large army to arrive. Li Siqi has already made a plan. As long as Lanzhou persists for three months, nearly Timur will send troops to support his expansion in Xining, and by then a pincer attack from both inside and outside will be able to defeat the Ming army.
Xining is only a few hundred miles away from Lanzhou, but in the early stage of expansion, Timur sent his troops to the east, but his supplies were burned. Later, Li Siqi merged with them and wanted to take the Guanchuan River again, but he never imagined that the army had just arrived at the Guanchuan River. On the west bank, they learned that the city of Qingyang had been broken. Qingyang was the throat of the east-west military route. Xu Da stationed troops in Qingyang and expanded his territory. Timur knew that there was no hope of advancing eastward, so he had no choice but to retreat to Xining. When he retreated, Li Siqi only allocated him one month's worth of food and grass.
This time when the Ming army arrived at Lanzhou City, Li Siqi had already sent a messenger on horseback to ask for help from Timur. Unfortunately, Timur had more than 200,000 soldiers, but they had no food for the winter. Even if they came to rescue Li Siqi, they would still have to wait. It took several months to raise food, but Li Siqi was very calm in his heart. There were more than 100,000 elite soldiers in the city, and the food and grass were enough to last for a year. Even if Timur came to expand his territory next year, he would not be afraid. The Ming army couldn't fly over.
There was a tense situation outside the city, and the singing and dancing in the city was peaceful. Li Siqi was enjoying himself and enjoying himself. He was relieved because Tan Ma had come to report early. Xu Da's army was still resting in Qingyang City. At this moment, it was actually the Ming army. The forward troops arrived alone. Li Siqi originally wanted to send out troops from four gates and use the 100,000 elite soldiers in the city to fight against the 50,000 Ming army forward troops. However, when he learned that the leader was Zhang Dakui, Li Siqi couldn't help but give up this idea.
When the Jiangbei Red Turban Army was invincible, it was Zhang Dakui who played the most important role, and his bravery and toughness make Li Siqi still fearful to this day.
They closed the four gates tightly and defended without fighting, just to see who could outstrip the other. Li Siqi was a little worried at first, but soon the city soldiers came to report and the Ming army began to set up camp. Li Siqi was happy when he heard the report. flower.
For three consecutive days, Dakui sent soldiers to call for formation in front of the city, but the Yuan soldiers in the city ignored them.
During these three days, Da Kui ordered his soldiers to cut down trees and build siege ladders, and carry earth at night to fill the river. By noon on the third day, the moat in front of the east gate of Lanzhou City had been filled in. Even so, the Yuan army did not care. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty went to the city to call for formation, and soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty laughed and cursed loudly on the city from time to time.
In the central army tent, Dakui sat on a tiger-skin chair with a livid face, and Sun Qian and other generals stood on both sides. Sun Qian secretly laughed in his heart: "Now that the city of Lanzhou is impregnable, and the marshal does not send a single soldier, I I want to see what Zhang Dakui is capable of taking over Lanzhou,'
Looking at the generals in the tent, Dakui said slowly: "What strategies do the generals have for this battle?"
Sun Qian cupped his fists and bowed, saying: "The general thought that the gate of the village would be closed tightly and he would only defend without fighting. He would wait until the marshal's army arrived before attacking the city."
Hearing this, Da Kui was noncommittal and asked: "General Yang, what do you think?"
At this moment, Yang Xiaohu had been promoted to commander of the infantry camp by Da Kui. Although he was still a commander of thousands, he was able to lead troops.
When Yang Xiaohu asked about it, he came out and reported: "To tell you what the general said, the general thought he could trick the enemy into tricking the Yuan soldiers into leaving the city, and then he would definitely win in one battle."
Yang Xiaohu spoke so plausibly that Da Kui couldn't help but ask: "How to lure the enemy, I would like to hear the details,"
Yang Xiaohu then continued: "There is Lintao County eighty miles south of Lanzhou. Although the city there is small, it is enough to station our 50,000 Ming army. Now Lintao County is guarded by Li Siqi's troops, and the defenders are no more than With a mere 10,000 troops, our army can pretend to attack Lintao and hide 30,000 elite troops on the road. We only use 20,000 horses to capture Lintao. When the Yuan army sees that our army is attacking Lintao, they will definitely wait for our army to attack the city and send troops from behind to attack. , when the 30,000 soldiers and horses who had set up an ambush took advantage of the situation to rush out, and the 20,000 soldiers and horses who pretended to attack Lintao will also return to cover up the attack, the Yuan soldiers will definitely be defeated."
Dakui smiled and nodded, approvingly saying: "Xiaohu has grown a lot,"
Yang Xiaohu smiled slightly and said: "Thank you, General, for the compliment." The other generals also agreed and praised Yang Xiaohu full of praise. Yang Xiaohu was in a daze for a moment.
Dakui asked: "Even if this plan is feasible, it will not harm the city of Lanzhou. Our forward army is here to capture Lanzhou. If we want to attack the city openly, why do we need to make small moves?"
Hearing what Dakui said, Yang Xiaohu suddenly wilted like an eggplant beaten by frost.
Another commander came forward and reported: "General Rong, even if we attack the city, our army of 50,000 men will still not have enough troops to attack the city from all sides, but there is nothing we can do."
Dakui laughed loudly and said: "It is true that we don't have enough troops to attack from all sides, but we have more than enough to attack from one side." After that, Dakui stood up and walked to the tent door, pointing to the Lanzhou City Road in the distance: "Look, there is only the east gate wall. How many Yuan soldiers are there?"
Sun Qian looked at it and said: "Right now, the Yuan soldiers are only defending and not fighting. The soldiers on the city are slack. There are only more than a thousand soldiers. But once our army attacks the city in a big way, there will be Yuan soldiers below the city and come up to resist."
Dakui smiled softly and continued to ask: "There are Yuan soldiers all over the city wall, how many people can stand on it?"
Sun Qian looked at it carefully and then said: "At least it can stand eight thousand people."
Dakui asked again: "Fifty thousand versus eight thousand, what is the chance of winning?"
Sun Qian couldn't help being shocked when he heard this, and asked hurriedly: "The general wants to attack Lanzhou City with our fifty thousand soldiers and horses." Seeing Dakui smiling and saying nothing, Sun Qian hurriedly said: "Does the general know that even if the city is strong?" There are only 8,000 yuan of soldiers, but they are located in a commanding position, and they are assisted by long bows and hard crossbows and artillery. Even if our army succeeds in attacking the city, it will inevitably suffer heavy casualties, and it may seriously damage our vitality."
Dakui laughed at Sun Qian's words and did not answer. He turned around and said loudly: "Send my general's order to gather the three armies in front of the camp and prepare to attack the city."
When the generals heard this, they all looked at each other, but the general had already come out, so the generals had no choice but to follow.
At noon in early winter, when the warm sun shone on the earth, the Ming army under Lanzhou City formed a formation in front of the camp. Four infantry squares of ten thousand people were lined up neatly, and in front was a cavalry square of ten thousand people.
Dakui, in red robes and golden armor, sat on a bay-red horse, looking at the 50,000 elite soldiers under his command. After a long time, he raised his voice and shouted: "Soldiers," the sound of Dakui's energy filling his Dantian spread far and wide.
"The city of Lanzhou is behind you, and today is the day when we make great achievements. In the battle of Qingyang, my forward army was at a disadvantage. Today I will take you to wipe away your shame," Dakui said, lifting his leg to take off the iron gun from the saddle hook, and raised his arms and shouted Said: "Recover Lanzhou and become famous in the first battle."
Unexpectedly, Dakui shouted three times out of wishful thinking, but the fifty thousand soldiers fell into silence.
Da Kui was not angry when he saw this, he just shouted: "Yang Xiaohu, take the lead,"
In the formation, Yang Xiaohu responded loudly: "I will obey the general's order." After saying that, he waved his iron gun and shouted loudly: "First echelon, attack the city."
Yang Xiaohu's subordinates, Qian Erlang, carried hundreds of ladders, shouted and rushed out of the crowd, rushing towards the Lanzhou city wall.
When the Yuan soldiers on Lanzhou City saw this, not only did they burst into laughter, but a thousand men and horses carried ladders to capture Lanzhou City.
Until Yang Xiaohu led his soldiers to put the ladder up on the city wall, the Yuan soldiers only fired one round of arrows. Nearly a hundred Ming soldiers under the ladder were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, but the rest still clung to the ladder and refused to retreat. The thousand men and horses were borrowed by Dakui from Tang He. They were carefully selected elite soldiers.
Dakui still stood up in front of the formation, looking at the 50,000 soldiers and shouted again: "Liberate Lanzhou, make a name for yourself in one battle." As soon as he finished speaking, he turned the horse's head, knocked the horse's belly with both feet, and actually galloped towards Lanzhou with his whip raised. city wall.
The 50,000 Ming army were all dumbfounded. As a general, they went to attack the city. Dakui's move actually aroused the crowd's excitement. While Sun Qian was still hesitating, a captain had already stepped out of the crowd, drew his sword and shouted loudly. : "Recover Lanzhou, make a name for yourself in one battle, kill,"
A single spark can start a prairie fire, and the morale of the Ming army suddenly rose. Fifty thousand soldiers shouted in unison: "Recover Lanzhou, make a name for yourself in one battle, and kill." Then five square formations advanced together, and the Ming army soldiers roared and raised their weapons high to attack Lanzhou City.
The Yuan soldiers on the city were shocked, and fifty thousand Ming troops swarmed into the city like a tide.
Dakui immediately ran to the base of the city wall. He jumped up on his horse and rushed towards a ladder. He didn't stop. From a distance, he could see Dakui running as fast as he could and rushing to half of the city wall.
"Woooo" the alarm horn sounded, and the more than a thousand Yuan soldiers guarding the city fired their bows and arrows. For a moment, arrows shot down like locusts from the top of the city. The Ming army below the city had just rushed to the root of the city, and the arrows rained down on the Ming army immediately. Throw it down.
Dakui was climbing up the city. Because he was wearing a general's armor, he naturally attracted special attention from Yuan soldiers. When Dakui was still three to five feet away from the city, dozens of long arrows with fierce roars were shot in front of him. At the critical moment, Dakui stretched out his hand to tug on his cloak and shook his hands to make a gesture of "knowing everything within his sleeves". The fiery red cloak was not stirred by the wind, and dozens of long arrows were already included in it.
Just as the Yuan soldiers who were releasing arrows were stunned, Dakui had already taken a few steps forward and turned over into the city wall.
The brave man wins when they meet on a narrow road. As soon as Dakui entered the city wall, the spear in his hand was shaking and piercing several points of cold light. The spear was like a swimming dragon and the body was like a tiger. The soldiers who had just got close had blood spurting from their throats before they even made a move. Fall to the ground.
Dakui succeeded in his move, and without hesitation, he rushed to the right without risking his own life. There was a city defense cannon there. Once the cannon was fired, it would definitely cause a large number of casualties to the Ming army. The 50,000 Ming army only attacked one city wall, and there were a huge number of Ming soldiers below the city. The power of one shot can be imagined.
When Dakui charged fiercely, the iron spear danced like a wheel, sweeping or smashing it. Wherever it passed, Yuan soldiers howled miserably and corpses were scattered on the ground. While Dakui and Yuan soldiers were fighting, the city went "boom" and "boom". "The artillery fired continuously, and the shells exploded under the city. For a time, the Ming army under the city was full of blood and flesh, and there were numerous casualties.