Under Yangzhou City, there was blood and fire. After more than a month of siege, all the soldiers and horses were red-eyed.
Liang Hanyong had just bandaged his wounds. He had excellent riding skills, extraordinary bravery, and excellent archery skills, but during the siege, all of these were greatly restricted.
Looking back at Yangzhou City, which was still defending, a large group of soldiers climbed up the flying ladder, risking their lives. Every time they rushed near the city head, they were greeted by a hail of arrows, or a shower of scalding water covering their heads and faces.
.
Inside and outside the city wall, there were endless screams.
In the wounded barracks, cries could be heard everywhere.
In the baggage camp, the sound of clanging bells continued all night long.
Attack the city, attack a ghost town!
Liang Hanyong sighed. He also attacked the city twice. Once when he was near the top of the city, he was pushed down. When he fell, he hurriedly grabbed the flying ladder. Although he fell down in the end, he was lucky enough to survive.
, the price was that the palms and arms were wiped with blood.
Another time, as soon as I got up, the flying ladder was doused with oil and burned down. The sergeant who was rushing in front was covered in flames and could not be extinguished no matter how hard I photographed. The scene was too tragic to behold.
No matter how heroic you are, you may not be able to survive during a siege, and you may not even be able to support the enemy before you die.
The casualties exceeded 7,000! Zhu Mei's unit suffered the most casualties, with a total of 2,500 people lying down. Who made him the commander of the four-sided camp in Yangzhou?
Baoda's army, Dongfang Kui's 3,000 men, lost 700.
The 3,000 Hexi party members escorting the grain and grass were also sent up, suffering 900 casualties. The camp was then directly bombed and was brutally suppressed. The 6,000 infantrymen in the left wing of the Yi Cong Army also lost 6,700, and the total casualties of the Zhenwu Army and the Yinshan Tube were
one thousand.
Such tragic casualties must be the first time for the disaster-stricken army.
However, Yangzhou City may not be able to hold on any longer. The city's defense supplies have been exhausted. Yesterday, the city was attacked twice in succession. The city began to recruit strong women to defend the city.
The ones attacking the city today were the Shence Army, the Xingning Army and the Jingyuan Army. They had suffered more than a thousand casualties in total before. Today they mustered up their courage again and attacked the city with all their might. They had already climbed up once in the morning and were driven down. Now
If we fight again, there shouldn't be much suspense anymore.
Yang Fugong and his son only have a few hundred government soldiers, more than a thousand state soldiers, plus temporarily recruited Ding Zhuang, and they have managed to defend until now. However, they are not very lucky. In general sieges, most of the time they are sieges. For example, Huang Chao besieged Chenzhou.
Three hundred days. In fact, it doesn’t matter whether the battle lasts for 100 days. But Zhu Mei is a ruthless person and has to fight every day. Each unit takes turns to attack the city with high intensity, regardless of casualties. Who can withstand this?
A burst of warm cheers suddenly erupted outside Yangzhouzi City.
Liang Hanyong jumped out of his wits and quickly walked out of the wounded soldiers' camp. He saw that the Jingyuan Army had already attacked the city. The rebels fought back desperately, and people and corpses kept falling on the city. But the Jingyuan Army withstood it and even killed the bandits
Jun pushed in step by step.
The Shence Army who was on standby immediately sent reinforcements to Pengridu. Hundreds of strong men armed with weapons rushed up to the top of the city and stood firmly there. The Jingyuan Army who was the first to attack had already pursued them.
The bandit army broke up and rushed into the city to kill them.
Yangzhou City is finally about to be destroyed!
Liang Hanyong let out a long breath. He didn't want to fight any more siege battles, not at all. Seven thousand soldiers died, but more than two thousand bandits were eliminated, many of them were even strong men. If it was a field battle, I'm afraid it would only take one round.
It can make the enemy army collapse. But when they were defending the city, Yang Fugong and his son repeatedly rewarded them and forced them to attack for more than a month, and then they bulldozed the city.
There shouldn't be any surprises in the general's southern expedition to Zhuge Zhongbao, but I don't know if he will also encounter the siege of a fortified city. In fact, the battle in Henan was smooth, except for the time when the nest bandits besieged Chenzhou, where various forces fought back and forth.
There are almost no examples of prolonged sieges.
Either it was a field battle, or the defenders were easily captured. In short, it was very easy. The Xuanwu Army attacked Huazhou in one night, and it took a day or two to attack Pu and Cao Erzhou. The Henan people were so happy!
While Liang Hanyong was daydreaming, the city gate was quickly opened, and the armies swarmed in. There were even some quarrels. Fengxiang's army wanted to massacre the city to vent their anger, but Zhang Yanqiu sent someone to dissuade them, and they almost fought.
Although Zhu Mei was appointed by Shao Shude as the recruiting envoy to Yangzhou, she was still wary and did not dare to completely ignore Zhang Yanqiu's opinions. In addition, Zhe Zongben was also on Zhang Yanqiu's side, so in the end she had no choice but to give up and rush to rob.
Let's do some looting.
In this regard, Zhang Yanqiu and Zhe Zongben had nothing to say and did not stop them. After all, many people died here, so they must be angry. The people in the city more or less helped defend the city and took away their wealth.
It is also appropriate to hand over the goods.
Yang Fugong and his son were found out after being searched. They did not have the courage to commit suicide, which made people look down upon them. Without saying anything, they were tied up and transferred to Xingyuan Mansion and handed over to the commander-in-chief. The commander-in-chief would probably take his weapons to the capital and hand them over to the court.
punish crime.
Shao Shude received the news on the 23rd, when he was spending the night in Jizhou.
After reading the battle report, he suddenly had a headache.
Since this expedition, a lot of soldiers have been killed or injured. Counting the Tibetan tribe, the number is close to 4,000. Even if some of the wounded can return, the pension of more than 30,000 tons of food a year is definitely unavoidable.
The price of one hug of grain is almost the same as that of a bolt of miscellaneous silk. More than 30,000 husks of grain are equivalent to more than 30,000 bolts of miscellaneous silk.
As for the harvest? Zhao Jian presented 20,000 pieces of cash and 60,000 pieces of silk. These silks were converted into miscellaneous silk. Based on the price of goods in Lingxia, it was considered to be 120,000 pieces. This was a one-time income.
In the future, thirty thousand coins and fifty thousand bolts of silk will be offered every year. Although I don’t know how many years it will last, let’s just say it is every year. Shannan West Road has to offer the same goods no matter what. It depends on Zhuge
The commander-in-chief doesn’t have too much in his face.
Okay, there is still a lot left. But actually the biggest gain is that this year's military expenses were borne by the people of Guanzhong, Fengxiang, and Shannan West Road. In one year, hundreds of thousands of money and hundreds of thousands of silk were saved.
, this is the big head.
Raising an army is not easy! But if you don’t raise an army in this way, you will not be able to maintain combat effectiveness. High combat effectiveness requires high military expenditures, which is quite consistent with the law of conservation of energy.
"Commander, Wei Zhaodu has arrived in Nanzheng." Zhao Guangfeng walked into the room and reported.
"Wei Zhaodu is going to Shu." Shao Shude waved his hand to stop the little Zhao girl who was massaging his shoulders, and said: "Most of those Shen Ce troops in Yangzhou are going to Shu. There are 20,000 people.
Can Chen Jingxuan withstand it?"
"I probably can't stand it." Zhao Guangfeng said: "The imperial decree still has some weight in Shu. It doesn't need to be fought from city to city. It is often decided by communication."
This is the benefit of the imperial court's righteousness! The Tang Dynasty brand is still popular in the south. The towns in the north have more or less fought against the imperial court. They are not so respectful of the imperial power, so the imperial righteousness is not easy to use.
"Did Han Quanjie get any news about Zhu Mei's move to the town?"
Han Quanjie is currently supervising the army in Yangzhou. After all, killing Yang Fugong and his son is more important than recovering the three states of Tong, Bi and Kai. Even from the court's point of view, it is better if these three states cannot be recovered, so they can win over them.
The opportunity. When the time comes, I will give you the entire Banan Defense Envoy. Is it disgusting?
"There is basically no problem with the Beisi side, but the prime ministers of Nanya have different opinions."
"Hmph! I just passed by Chang'an, so I don't have a long memory? Now all the prime ministers have to judge the third division, right? Tell them directly that if they don't agree to my request, Shannan West Road will not be allowed to pass by the imperial army. From now on.
If you have the ability to ship out of Sichuan, take the Kui Gorge, Shannan East Road, and the gold merchant line, let's see if Li Kan, Zhao Deqian, and Li Xiang can talk well."
Zhao Guangfeng lowered his head and said nothing.
"Sou Shi Zhao, I think you should go to Chang'an. Those court officials in Nanya, no matter how famous they are, sometimes they are not as reliable as those middle-ranking officials. I have two requirements. First,
Wu Dingjun was dismissed and Longyou Town was established. Longyou Jiedu envoy Xiao Yu remained unchanged, and Fengxiang Jiedushi envoy became Zizongben. Secondly, Xingning Jiedu envoy was handed over to..."
Having said this, Shao Shude pondered for a long time, and finally said: "Li Yanling, who is responsible for the supply and demand of the army, has been appointed as the military governor of Xingning."
"Does the commander-in-chief want to serve as the governor of one town? Now in the world, there are already Zhu Quanzhong and Li Kan who serve as governors of two towns."
"Let's forget it. Nowadays, Dingnan, Shuofang, Zhenwu, and Tiande are the four towns. All major and minor affairs are handled by one person. How is it different from the Shuofang Jiedushi of the Xuanzong Dynasty?" Shao Shude smiled. He was very serious.
A person who only cares about practical benefits and can live well in terms of reputation is fine. There is no need to pursue it too much.
A few months ago, Bo Chang'an, if he really demanded it by force, wouldn't a prince be able to get it? Is it impossible for one person to be the governor of the three towns of Shuofang, Hexi, and Longyou? It's just not necessary.
Likewise, being the target of public criticism is just asking for trouble.
"Commander, I will set off tonight." Zhao Guangfeng said: "It is better to do things quickly rather than later, so as to avoid another mishap in the DPRK."
"Why rush?" Shao Shude stretched out his hand to stop him, and then said: "Zhao Shu, pour tea for Mr. Zhao. By the way, you are still relatives, right?"
Zhao Guangfeng was a little embarrassed and said: "They are all Tianshui Zhao family, but they are not one."
Shao Shude gave him a strange look.
The other Zhaos all wanted to have a relationship with the Tianshui Zhaos, but Zhao Guangfeng kept a distance. This person was interesting.
Zhao Shu quickly brought the tea set and poured a bowl of tea for Zhao Guangfeng.
Zhao Guangfeng bowed his head and thanked him, then drank slowly.
"Today, I received a personal letter from Li Keyong, inviting me to attack Zhang Quanyi together." Shao Shude suddenly said.
"Has the commander declined?" Zhao Guangfeng put down his tea bowl and asked.
In Zhao Guangfeng's view, this matter is very unnecessary. Now that the situation in Shannan has just been calmed down, in the future, we can collect the offerings from Shannan West Road and Longjian Town. It is no problem to pay 60,000 to 70,000 yuan a year and more than 100,000 pieces of silk.
, can support the tens of thousands of troops that will be stationed in Xingzhou and Xingyuan Prefecture.
After returning home, we can also carefully work out the amount of annual contributions to the Baosai Army, Bao Da Army, and Fengxiang Town. The town will have a lot of money and food, which can just be used to clear out the people's livelihood debts accumulated over the years.
It's really not appropriate to use weapons at this time, at least take it slow.
"I did refuse." Shao Shude said: "However, Zhu Quanzhong has sent troops to attack Caizhou. After Caizhou is defeated, I am afraid that he will have to attack the Zhu brothers in time. The Xuanwu Army fought almost every month, every year.
Years of fighting, the pace never stops for a moment."
Zhao Guangfeng thought about it carefully and now seemed to have reached a critical point of strategic decision.
Going south to Shuzhong, the best candidate for the commander-in-chief is actually the commander-in-chief's own son, and others are worried about it. Unfortunately, the princes are young and no one can take the lead, so they can only interfere with Shuzhong for the time being.
And since we won’t enter Shu in a short time, we have to find new expansion directions besides construction. Liangzhou is an option, but the commander-in-chief will not conquer it himself. Guanzhong is excluded, so where else can it be?
"Stop thinking nonsense." Shao Shude said with a smile: "I'm not that stupid to go to Henan to fight Zhu Quanzhong.; w;;;.; Across the Guanzhong and the river, there is no need to stretch your hands so long. This time after the class
, we should keep it quiet and clarify the results of this expedition first."
"Commander is wise." Zhao Guangfeng said with cupped hands.
On the 27th, the army returned to Xi County.
During his stay here, Shao Shude met Wei Zhaodu, the envoy of Jiannan Road and the envoy of Xichuan Jiedu.
Prime Minister Wei was very high-spirited and led a victorious army of 20,000 men, marching southward to the center of Sichuan in a mighty manner, hoping to seize Pingtian and Yang Yunie.
"The king of Lingwu County is indeed good at fighting. He conquered the three states of Banan in less than a month after the expedition." As soon as they met, Wei Zhaodu congratulated him.
Shao Shude glanced at the generals of the Shence Army standing behind Wei Zhaodu, and said with a smile: "When Prime Minister Wei enters Shu, he should also sing a triumphant song. I am waiting for victory in Xiazhou."
Ximen Wentong did not dare to look at Shao Shude. The more knowledgeable a person is about soldiers, the more he knows how powerful the Dingnan Army is. Ximen Wentong felt that the soldiers under his command were good, but during the Battle of Yangzhou, he watched the Zhenwu Army attack at close range.
With the bravery of the city, we no longer dare to have any self-respect.
Shao Shude's eyes lingered on Ximen Wentong for a while. Twenty thousand Shence troops entered Shu, and even if the two rivers in the east and west were pacified, it was not certain who would take away the fruits.
What's more, although the 20,000 people are different from the old Shence Army, they were recruited from the towns in Guandong. However, the army has only been established for a short time, and its true combat strength is still unknown. Let's take a look first, there are more than 40 states in Sichuan, and finally
What did it look like?
Zhao Jian and Zhu Mei's ambitions are quite big. Zizhou is very kind and has the talent of a famous general. Wei Zhaodu is a scholar, but Shao Shude is not optimistic about his ability to play well.
On the first day of July, Shao Shude personally led the army back to Nanzheng, where Zhu Mei had been waiting for a long time.