On May 23rd of the third year of Dashun, the wind was beautiful and the sun was blowing, and the spring breeze was blowing.
The leaves of the wild pear tree were flying gently above the head, and the road was densely covered by weeds.
Carriages passed by on the road, and the shouts of the drivers, the whistling of whips, and the braying of animals extended from the woods far and near to the walled city in the distance.
Under the wall, the siege has officially begun.
The city defense system of the imperial dynasty was roughly divided into four levels: army, garrison, city and town. Shihaozhai was a typical "town".
A shallow trench, or moat, was dug outside the town, commonly known as a moat, and its official name was Chenghuang.
"Gaozu Ji" records: In the ninth year of Wude, "the county was ordered to build a city god to prepare for the Turks".
"City God Repair" is also one of the important contents in the assessment of local officials by the state.
During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court built a temple for the city god and offered sacrifices on a regular basis. The city god was sanctified, and the moat was renamed "Moat".
There is no water in the trench, so it is called "Hong". The city god outside the stone trench is still dug very shallow, and it can hardly play a blocking role.
At this time, there was only a sound of trumpet blowing, several temporary high platforms were built on top of the parapet wall, bows and arrows were fired in unison, and arrows as dense as raindrops flew into the village along the south wind.
The Bian soldiers on the wall raised their shields to cover themselves, and were in a hurry for a while.
"Charge! One person goes back and forth one at a time. When he comes back, he will receive the reward." The ten generals of the auxiliary soldiers of the Qing and Tang Dynasties roared angrily, and a large group of masters rushed forward carrying small sacks filled with soil and with ferocious faces.
Only a few arrows fell from the wall, hitting a few unlucky ones.
They screamed and fell to the ground, trampled by countless people, and fell silent for a moment.
The husband who rushed the fastest threw the sack into the trench.
The heavy sandbag fell to the bottom of the ditch, pressing the thorns underneath. The man's face was filled with joy, and he turned around and ran back. Unexpectedly, before he could take two steps, he was directly blocked by the people behind him. He was pushed and shoved, and fell directly into the ditch.
Bottom of ditch.
Countless sandbags fell on him, and after screaming for a long time, there was finally no movement.
"Next time we have to recruit some Tubo and Qiang people, Master Dangxiang to come over." Gao Renhou whispered on the platform.
The staff cupped their hands and kept these words in mind.
"I heard that last year when the army attacked stone trenches, dry trenches and other strongholds, Zhang Quanyi didn't even dig the city god, let alone the sheep and horse wall. It was really poorly prepared." Gao Renhou looked at a large section of the trench that was gradually being filled in.
He smiled and said: "This year we dug trenches, but there are no sheep and horse walls."
The Sheep-Horse Wall refers to a low wall located between the City God and the city wall, only shoulder-high.
There was a system in the country, and there was a distance of thirty steps between Huangqian and the city wall. The Sheep and Horse Wall was within this distance. Sheep, horses and other livestock were usually kept here, hence the name.
Arrows were still raining down from the high platform, and two new parapets were assembled at this time. Dozens of archers climbed on top and fired their bows one after another.
For the warriors of the imperial dynasty, archery was the first test, followed by lance and rifle. Those who did not know these two skills would not be able to earn a living as soldiers. On the high platform, the regular government troops were condescending and took advantage of the wind to move the village walls.
The soldiers from Fuzhou and County in Henan Province were so heavy that they could not even lift their heads.
At this time I have to mention Zhang Quanyi again, this guy is really outrageous.
If the state soldiers from Bianzhou, Songzhou, Xuzhou and other places were replaced, their level would not be any worse. However, the archery skills of Henan Fuzhou soldiers are the same as their Jiedu envoys' ability to fight, so it's okay not to mention them.
After filling in the trench, a burst of drums sounded in the Yi Congjun formation.
Dozens of soldiers got under the ladder car and pushed it forward.
This kind of stockade does not need any equipment such as rushing cars, and the city defense facilities are extremely simple. Gao Renhou felt that the defenders in this stockade were pitiful, and they were just serving as an early warning for those behind.
Behind the formation, two thousand cavalrymen were doing nothing, standing there holding the reins. They were there to prevent the enemy from leaving the city and destroying the siege equipment, but it seemed that there was no need to move out.
In a nearby valley and behind a forest, there are still more than a thousand cavalry hiding, waiting for some blind bandits to come to rescue them, but they will probably be disappointed today.
If you surround a spot and people don't pay attention to it at all, you can only do nothing.
After the flying ladder vehicle hit the wall, the soldiers from Hengshan City rushed out from under the vehicle and climbed up the ladder.
Gao Renhou no longer had much interest in watching it.
The guards looked like this, and it was unlikely that they would be able to put up a strong resistance.
Shuofang's army was in great shape and well-equipped. Looking at it from a distance, they were already losing ground in morale. In addition, since they had no reinforcements to arrive in time, they were even more devastated. Defeat was inevitable!
"I wonder if General Bai will wait for reinforcements from the Bian bandits." Gao Renhou asked to the left and right.
No one can answer this, it's hard to say.
They arrived too quickly. They completed preparations for the siege in one day and two nights, and then launched a resolute attack without stopping. Did the Bian thieves have time to react?
"A strong man has climbed up the wall!" An excited voice came from the watchtower car.
Gao Renhou looked intently and saw several people climbing up the wall of the village one after another, waving long blunt weapons and sweeping across.
They were wearing heavy armor and could not be harmed by thieves' swords and axes, but they were pushed back steadily.
"It's time to prepare for the attack on Qianhao Village." Gao Renhou looked across Shihao Village to the plains to the east and said, "That's a tough nut, so we have to prepare some strategies."
"As ordered." The staff responded one after another.
…
"The strategy is actually correct, but now we need patience." In the valley, Bai Gui sat peacefully like a mountain, calm and relaxed.
In fact, he was more anxious than anyone else, eager to make achievements.
But when marching and fighting, it is useless to be hasty, and it will expose flaws.
In his many years of military career, Bai Gui has seen too many things, and Bai Gui dare not look down on anyone.
At the end of the previous dynasty, Wang Shichong and Li Mi fought in the vicinity of Luoyang. Shichong led the infantry, and Li Mi had more than 10,000 cavalry, all armed with long spears, and they charged in formation with astonishing power.
But in the end, Wang Shichong's infantry won, and Li Mi's more than 10,000 spear cavalry were all owned by Shichong.
It is a taboo for military strategists to despise the enemy.
"Has any news come back from the south?" Bai Gui asked.
The south naturally refers to the direction of Ruzhou.
As Heluo Youyi's attack envoy, all the cavalry in the army were temporarily assigned to him. He deployed the 500 light cavalry under the Duhufu's Pro-Army Division to the south of Xiaoshan and spread out to monitor the enemy forces in the direction of Ruzhou.
military.
Ge Congzhou and Yang Shihou may lead the Zhongwu Army and Caizhou Army northward at any time.
There are many mules in Huaixi, and there are many "Huaiyi" who can ride horses and shoot arrows. Cai and Chen's soldiers have very strong maneuverability and cannot be ignored!
"not yet."
"Expand the search scope." Bai Gui ordered without hesitation: "Don't fight if you encounter the enemy, just report back to me."
"As commanded."
Bai Gui picked up the order letter sent by Li Tangbin again and read it carefully.
The main force of the Bian Army should still be east of Mount Wei, which is closer to Xin'an and Luoyang, where it is easier to obtain supplies and less likely to be intercepted.
There are indeed many troops stationed west of Mount Wei, but they don't appear to be the main force, nor are they old thieves.
If this bandit army can be successfully defeated, then the first battle will be won, and morale will be improved to a certain extent. This is the purpose of him and Gao Renhou in formulating a strategy to encircle the point and provide reinforcements.
But will there be any surprises?
What will happen to the rebels in Ganhao Village? What will happen to the enemy troops in Xiaoshan? Are there any new rebels emerging from other directions?
Bai Gui decided to wait until the situation became clearer.
This wait lasted two days.
On the 24th, Gao Renhou sent someone to report that there were no Tibetan envoys to escort the grain, grass, and equipment to Shihao Village. The village had been conquered, and more than a thousand Bian troops were captured and killed, and more than 20,000 dendrobiums of grain were obtained.
On the 25th, the main force of the Yi Congjun arrived outside Qianhao Stronghold, but the rebels could not hold on. The army was assembling siege equipment and preparing to capture the stronghold.
After Bai Gui thought for a while, he took several riders out of the valley to conduct reconnaissance in person.
There was a drizzle in the sky, which seemed to be creating an obstacle for their assault. It was mountainous and rainy, which was obviously not conducive to cavalry operations.
If they can't form a formation, how can they rush to kill them? They don't have mounted bows.
Bai Gui spent a whole day scouting in the wild, during which he encountered the Bian Army Rangers who were herding horses furtively on the river bank, but disappeared in a flash.
By dusk, nothing was found, and the wilderness was quite quiet. The Bian army seemed to have disappeared without any movement.
"Come here!" After returning to the camp, Bai Gui called for the messenger.
"General." The sergeant saluted.
"You go back to the main camp and ask the military envoys to collect the remaining horses in the camp and send a thousand soldiers who can ride over." Bai Gui said, "Let them set off late at night and take remote roads. Don't let them go."
People find out.”
"As commanded."
Bai Gui stood up and leaned against an old tree.
Since you have no movement, all you have to do is throw stones to ask for directions. Even if you don't succeed, the loss will not be big, but once you succeed, you can figure out the enemy's movements, which is still very worthwhile.
A thousand soldiers arrived in the valley where they were hiding on the night of the 26th.
"Why did Vice Ambassador Gao come in person?" Bai Gui was a little surprised when she saw Gao Renhou with a tired look on his face.
"I'm getting older, and I'm a little tired from traveling at night." Gao Renhou didn't answer, but complained: "General Bai, we originally agreed that the main force of the Yi Cong army would attack the stronghold, and you could lead the cavalry army in ambush and take advantage of the fact that they were in a hurry and the formation was not organized.
Time raid. What, changed your mind?"
The main force of the Yi Cong Army had already begun to tentatively attack the stronghold during the day, but the Bian army was well-defended and was not as easy to succeed as Shihao stronghold.
"The bandit army may not have moved at all, or it may have moved, but was not detected by my scouts." Bai Gui analyzed: "I have inquired about the tactics of the Bian army. The thieves from top to bottom like to take the initiative to attack, or
A sneak attack, an ambush, or a strong attack. In short, I don’t like to be beaten passively. Based on this analysis, the bandit army may have some action."
"Aren't you always staring at Hu Guo's bandits?" Gao Renhou sat down on the ground and asked.
"The mountains are high and the forests are dense. It is impossible to control everything. If the thief sets out at night and deliberately takes a detour, he may be able to escape my detection."
"How are you doing?" Gao Renhou asked.
"Wait for two days. If the rebel army makes no move, we will have no choice but to throw stones and ask for directions." Bai Gui made up his mind and said, "I also ask the high deputy to make it happen."
"I'm already here, what do you have to worry about?" Gao Renhou smiled and said, "When you make up your mind, just do it! Whether it succeeds or fails, it all depends on this!"
After that, he added: "If it doesn't work, just go ahead and attack the stronghold."
