At night, the lights in the Chinese army's tent were brightly lit, and An Lushan summoned his counselors and generals to discuss strategies for attacking the city.
"Everyone has seen today's attack on the city. This Xiangyang Tang army fought in a very organized manner, with tight defenses and very brave soldiers. It is not easy to forcefully attack the city, so I have called everyone together to discuss and see if there is any more What’s a good way to conquer Chang’an? Everyone can speak freely and come up with your ideas.”
The first one to speak was General Tian Qianzhen today. He raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, I would like to say a few words for my humble position!"
An Lushan nodded, "You say it!"
Tian Qianzhen said slowly: "Although the Tang army's trebuchets and bows and arrows are sharp, they are normal and do not perform abnormally. I feel that our siege weapons are at a disadvantage. Using siege ladders can easily be attacked by the enemy with rolling logs and rocks." , and can easily be shot by cold arrows from the enemy's horse wall.
In fact, half of the casualties in our siege were caused by these two items. If we used ladders and nest carts to siege the city, we would not have to worry about the damage caused by rolling logs, rocks, and arrows. We could directly fight the enemy on the city head and lose casualties. It will be smaller, and the success of capturing the city will be greater."
Tian Qianzhen's conclusion convinced An Lushan that because the chariot and ladder were large siege weapons, they could not carry them.
An Lushan immediately said to Zhang Tongru, who was in charge of logistics: "Order the craftsmen to build trebuchets, nest carts and ladders on the spot. I will see the real objects in five days!"
They have two thousand craftsmen accompanying the army, so there is no problem at all. Zhang Tongru bowed and saluted, "I will do my best to build it!"
At this time, the prime minister said noblely: "Your Majesty, General Tian is right. Our siege weapons are too backward, resulting in heavy casualties. The minister suggested that until heavy siege weapons are built, we should suspend the use of siege ladders to directly attack the city. But Instead, use a battering ram to attack Beicheng. In addition, you can consider attacking from Qujiang. There is a thirty-foot gap there, which should be a good breakthrough point."
Li Guiren also smiled and said: "The battering ram is good. You can go to Han Chang'an City to look for it. There are many tall palace buildings there, and they must have thick and strong trees!"
An Lushan was overjoyed and said, "General Li will lead the army to demolish houses in the old Chang'an City tomorrow. If you have anything to add, please tell me!"
Discussions were going on in full swing in the Chinese army's tent in Anlu Mountain, and at the top of the southern city, the Tang army was already preparing to attack the camp by fire.
They still used fire kites, but the fire kites they brought from Xiangyang had been used up during the fire attack on Lantian County. They immediately ordered the craftsmen to make them again with wheat straw. However, there was no gunpowder, so they directly poured a little kerosene on them, ignited them, and fired.
A total of 600 aircraft were built, and their targets were Nancheng and Dongcheng. Beicheng and Xicheng were headwinds, and the range was not necessarily sufficient, but Nancheng and Dongcheng were barely enough.
The Fire Harrier is just an opportunity. After suffering a loss, An Lushan will definitely move his camp back, and they will not have another chance.
This was actually Li Ye's impromptu idea. He discovered that the opponent's camp was only two miles away from Chang'an City, which was exactly within the firing range of the Fire Kites.
"Your Highness, will it be effective?" General Li Sheng asked in a low voice.
Li Ye shook his head, "If the opponent is a wool tent, the effect will be very good. Unfortunately, the opponent is a leather tent, which is not easy to burn. We can only give it a try. Maybe it can dampen their military morale and boost our morale."
Li Sheng smiled slightly and said: "I'll wait and see!"
Li Ye smiled and gave an order. The first round of two hundred lit fire kites were launched at the same time. Countless firebirds burning in the air flew towards the enemy camp two miles away, which was a spectacular scene.
The Yan Army camp immediately sounded a fierce alarm, "Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"
An Lushan and the generals who were discussing the military situation were stunned. What happened? A soldier crawled in and reported, "Your Majesty, countless firebirds shot out of the city and flew towards the camp!
"
An Lushan shouted: "Send the order to dismantle the big tent immediately!"
The generals rushed out of the tent and saw countless flamingos flying into the camp. A flaming flamingo flew towards them and its iron beak stuck in the tent of the Chinese army.
Even though it was a large cowhide tent, it still burned slowly, but not as quickly as the wool tent.
"Save Your Majesty quickly! Close the big tent quickly!"
The soldiers were in a mess. Dozens of soldiers carried An Lushan out together with the couch. The other soldiers slashed the ropes with their swords. The big tent was overturned in the strong night wind, and countless soldiers flapped it.
The burning flame was extinguished by using wet bedding.
However, dozens of large tents were still set on fire. The only way for the soldiers was to cut off the ropes of all the tents in a hurry to make the tents collapse.
Although An Lushan was a little embarrassed, he was a veteran with decades of experience. He knew what needed to be guarded against at this time. He immediately shouted sharply: "Li Guiren and An Shouren listen to the order!"
"The humble position is here!"
Two generals stepped out.
An Lushan ordered: "Each of you will lead 10,000 cavalry to keep an eye on the south gate and the east city. If the enemy takes the opportunity to break out of the city, you guys will go up and intercept them!"
"Follow the order!"
The two generals galloped away on horseback.
An Lushan knew very well the effect of the fire attack. The South Camp and the East Camp were bound to be in chaos, and it was easy for the Tang army to sneak into the camp and attack them.
Dong Daying was rescued in time, and there was basically no big damage. However, South Camp was ignited in a sea of fire. Tens of thousands of soldiers were so frightened that they ran out of the camp to escape. The remaining thousands of people cut off ropes in the camp, and there was no rescue.
The burning tent.
Other soldiers from the Beida Camp and the West Camp could not sleep, so they also dismantled their tents and stood ready.
At this time, an order came from An Lushan, and the entire army immediately retreated to camp five miles away. The 200,000-strong army broke out of camp and retreated, while the 50,000-strong army provided cover to prevent the Tang army from sneak attack.
On the city wall, Li Ye shook his head regretfully. The fire attack was just a hair's breadth away, missing thousands of miles. Although the leather tent could burn, it burned a little slower, giving the opponent a chance to save it. At most, several hundred people were burned.
The huge tent was held up, but there was no burning that spread all over the place.
The next morning, Li Guiren led 10,000 troops to Han Chang'an City to look for the siege ram Damu, while An Lushan personally came to Qujiang Pool to supervise the battle.
Last night, Dong Daying suffered little losses, no deaths, only about 20 people were burned, and more than 50 tents were lost. However, South Camp suffered heavy casualties, with more than 700 people burned to death, nearly 2,000 people injured, and 500 people injured.
Many large tents were burned down, especially more than a hundred large tents storing weapons, and hundreds of thousands of spears were lost. An Lushan was heartbroken and hated Li Ye even more.
The Qujiang Pond has become a huge ice cap. The ice is so solid that it cannot be cracked with a hammer. Yan's 30,000-strong army is ready, and General Zhang Zhongzhi will lead his army to attack the gap in the Qujiang Pond.
Qujiang Pool has no chance in other seasons. Only in winter, when the lake freezes, Chang'an City has a thirty-foot-wide gap in the Qujiang Pool section. This is the biggest weakness of Chang'an City. Of course, Yan Jun must
Seize this weakness to attack Chang'an.
The Tang army built a two-foot-high ice wall at the gap in Qujiang Pool and deployed 6,000 soldiers on the city walls on both sides of the ice wall.
Of course, there is a hidden murderous intention on the ice. More than 100,000 poisonous needles and Tribulus are scattered within one mile of the ice wall. They are frozen on the ice and cannot be seen from a distance. You can only find them when you walk to your feet.
An Lushan squinted his eyes and looked at the ice wall in the distance. No one could stand on the top of the ice wall, nor could he stand for a long time on the ice below. So the Tang army could only use bows and arrows to deal with those who climbed over the wall on both sides of the bank and on the city walls.
Yan army soldiers are not afraid of bows and arrows if they carry shields.
An Lushan immediately said to Zhang Zhongzhi: "The ice wall is only two feet high. It is easier than the city wall. Both of us grew up in the ice and snow. This bit of ice is nothing. Just rush over and rush into the city."
Zhang Zhongzhi nodded and ordered: "Beat the drum and attack!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The drums of the attack sounded, and 10,000 Yan army soldiers, holding shields and spears and carrying ladders, rushed onto the ice with shouts. The biggest danger on the ice was that it was too cold and it was impossible to stand on it.
Freeze the blood. Only by running and letting the blood flow can the invasion of cold air be reduced.
Ten thousand soldiers ran hard on the ice, yelling, and gradually approached the ice wall