"The Xia thieves are attacking the city!" Heart-rending shouts rang out from the top of the city.
The sergeants who were resting under the city got up after hearing the news. After checking the equipment, they climbed to the top of the city under the leadership of the officers.
Wang Tan, the commander of the Shenjie Army, also received the news. Since it was the first time for the Xia Army to attack the city, he took it very seriously and personally led people to the city to supervise the battle.
But when he got there, uh, that was it?
There are already officers nearby whipping the defenders who made random reports. What the hell, is this a siege? They just gathered people and horses in formation, with no intention of attacking at all.
"Who are these people?" Wang Tan asked the guard directly without losing his temper at the poor soldier.
"The envoys who returned to the army are all strong men in the city. They have never been on the battlefield. They panic when they see the bandits gathering."
Wang Tan sighed.
It is really difficult to find experienced Liang veterans now. Two hundred thousand people have gone, and I don’t know where they are. If you really want to search carefully, there may be more Liang veterans in the Xia army.
This is too unacceptable.
"Watch carefully and don't yell." Wang Tan scolded, then walked aside to look carefully outside the city.
Bianzhou is actually not big, that is, it is the size of an ordinary state city. It was expanded during the Dezong period, with a city circumference of 20 miles and 155 steps, and seven city gates, including two water gates. Before the expansion, it was not even as big as an ordinary state city.
After all, the imperial court did not rely much on money and grain from the south at that time, and Bianzhou's status was not that high. Hebei, the main grain producer, was still sending rents and taxes to the imperial court, and this transportation line did not pass through Bianzhou. Weizhou's status
Even far surpassing Bianzhou.
Since the secession of the vassal towns, the money and food supplied to the imperial court from the prosperous Hebei Province has been greatly reduced, and wars have been frequent in Henan Province, which sometimes required assistance from the central government. The imperial court's expenses began to come from Jiangnan in large quantities.
But to be honest, the population and cultivated land area of Jiangnan are not large. There are a lot of swamps and forests there, and the wild natural scenery. How can there be much wealth? To put it bluntly, Jiangnan is still honest, and there is not much.
The money spent on raising the army and the remaining grain were all confiscated by the imperial court. At that time, the tax amount in Jiangnan far exceeded that of Huainan, Henan, Hedong and other places, and the people were overwhelmed, which eventually led to Qiu Fu's uprising.
Water transport brought prosperity to Bianzhou, causing it to rise rapidly, surpassing Weizhou and becoming the most fertile place in Guandong. Cities such as Caizhou and Xuzhou also developed along with it, and the strength of the entire Guandong began to grow rapidly.
Wang Tan is relatively clear about these histories.
He once imagined that if there was a revolution in the world and King Liang established a new dynasty, then Bianzhou would probably serve as the capital. By then, Bianzhou City would have experienced great development, with the city perimeter changing from twenty miles to fifty or even seventy miles.
Waiting for idle things.
It's a pity that none of this happened.
Wang Tan felt slightly regretful. Bianzhou may have missed a golden opportunity, that's all.
More and more Xia troops gathered outside the city. Their formations were neat and disciplined. The soldiers were showing off their bravery, and the auxiliary troops were digging trenches.
Yes, it means digging trenches. This is the prelude to attacking the city. The Xia army will not give up until they take Bianzhou.
"What a good soldier, with high morale. I feel that I can conquer the world." Wang Tan took one last look at the soldiers of Tianxiong outside the city, and then got off the top of the city.
Liang Jun has lost the confidence to win, which will make their combat effectiveness lower than their true strength. Self-confidence is too important for an army that fights all year round, and sometimes it can even allow you to exert combat effectiveness beyond your own strength.
The situation has reversed and the general trend has passed.
Wang Tan returned to the military camp and suddenly saw Shi Yanci, the street envoy.
"General Wang." Shi Yanci bowed and saluted.
"Doctor Shi." Wang Tan was a little impatient, but still returned the greeting.
Shi Yanci didn't take Wang Tan's attitude seriously and said, "General Wang is from Chang'an, right?"
Wang Tan's heart was moved, but his face remained calm as he said, "It was all over ten years ago, and now my home is in Bianzhou."
Shi Yanci seemed not to have heard this, and added: "I heard that King Xia likes to use Guanxi warriors as generals..."
Wang Tan suddenly stood up, put his hand on the handle of the knife, and called for the generals.
Shi Yanci turned pale and secretly sighed, "My life is at stake." Under the encouragement of his staff, he prepared to take a risk, but he didn't expect that he would be finished just after taking the first step. This must be such bad luck.
"Drive everyone far away. Anyone who approaches the tent without reason will be killed without mercy." Wang Tan ordered.
"Yes!" The general followed the order and left.
Shi Yanci's face turned from white to red, his heart was beating fast and he became active again.
"Why didn't Doctor Shi continue?" Wang Tan looked at Shi Yanci with a half-smile and asked.
Shi Yanci was so frightened that he forgot what he had planned. Hearing this, he was heartbroken and asked: "General Wang, do you think Bianzhou can be defended? And how long can it be defended?"
"If the Xia thieves besiege and do not attack, the whole city can only defend for more than a year." Wang Tan sat down, suddenly smiled, and said: "But with the current situation, it will take at most half a year. If the city is not destroyed within half a year, we will not be able to defeat it."
Then it can last for one year."
Generally speaking, the farther back the city is defended, the stronger the will of the defenders will be. Because they have killed a large number of siege soldiers and are worried about being liquidated after the city is broken, they dare not surrender easily unless the attackers give instructions not to massacre the city.
Guaranteed, and it must have credibility, otherwise it will be a tragedy for both offense and defense.
"From what I can see, the people in the city are in panic. It's impossible to do it for half a year, and it's enough to hold on for three months." Shi Yanci said: "The Xia thieves dug trenches and pretended to be under siege for a long time. Obviously they didn't want to kill a lot of people. Half a year later,
The water is gradually rising, so there is no need for the Xia thieves to attack by force. They can build dams to block the water and dig embankments to flood the city. I'm afraid they won't be able to defend it."
Attacking with water is indeed a good method, but it will be ineffective if the defenders are stubborn. Historically, Jinyang has been flooded and attacked more than once. The water in the city is knee-deep and corpses are floating on the water. Has it been surrendered? No!
On the contrary, the besieging sergeants suffered from epidemics due to the weather in Jinyang, resulting in heavy casualties.
Zhu Quanzhong's Liang Army besieged Jinyang, but due to continuous heavy rains for months, diseases abounded in the army, and the number of troops was seriously reduced, so they had to retreat.
In the later Zhou Dynasty, Guo Rong besieged Jinyang. Due to continuous heavy rains for months, the soldiers suffered widespread illness and suffered heavy casualties, so they had to retreat.
But if the morale of the defenders is low and their fighting will is not tenacious enough, then Bianzhou is indeed difficult to defend because it is more suitable for flooding.
Is the morale of the Liang army defending the city high? Even a blind person can see that it is not high.
"Doctor Shi has already visited Xia people?" Wang Tan suddenly asked.
Even though he already knew Wang Tan's attitude, Shi Yanci was still shocked and denied it: "This is absolutely not the case."
After saying that, he felt a little regretful. His staff asked him to pretend that he had connections with the Xia people, but now it was too late to make up for it.
"Then why did you come to me?" Wang Tan touched his hand to his waist again and sneered.
"The Shenjie Army is responsible for the defense of Zhengmen, Liangmen, Suanzaomen, and Fengqiumen, right?" Shi Yanci's face turned a little pale again and he said hurriedly.
"You are a street messenger until now. Have you ever thought about why?" Wang Tan said sarcastically: "Just now you should have replied that you have secretly communicated with the Xia people. I may still be afraid of killing you. But now What value do you have? If I want to surrender to the King of Xia, wouldn’t it be nice to cut off your head and open up the city, and get an extra share of credit?"
"How could General Wang act like this?" Shi Yanci was startled and said subconsciously.
"Why can't we act like this?" Wang Tan asked.
"My sister-in-law is Liang Wang's concubine. She is charming and charming, and she has always been favored by Liang Wang. When Xia Wang saw her, he would definitely love me too much. You can't kill me," Shi Yanci said.
Wang Tan was dumbfounded.
He forced a smile and said, "Come here, serve Dr. Shi tea."
After that, he added: "I was just worried that Dr. Shi was sent by Zhu Youwen to test me, and he may have offended me with his words. I hope Haihan will do it."
Shi Yanci thought to himself, I believe you. Just now he really felt that Wang Tan was going to kill him.
But now is not the time to dwell on this matter. Shi Yanci collected his thoughts and asked: "General Wang, would you like to send people out of the city with me to meet with King Xia?"
Wang Tan was silent for a moment and said: "The envoy can go through Zheng Gate, other gates are not safe."
******
Zhu Youwen is very busy now, busy killing people.
The Xia army marched into Bobian Prefecture in large numbers. People in the city were panicked and rumors were spread.
Some people said that the defenders were fleeing and the Xia army was about to break the city. Zhu Youwen sent troops to arrest and kill dozens of people.
Some people said that there were generals in the city who wanted to sacrifice the city to gain wealth. Zhu Youwen sent troops to arrest and kill dozens of people.
Others said that there was not enough food and grass in the city, and that even a month's consumption would not be enough. Zhu Youwen also sent troops to arrest and kill more than a hundred people.
Bloody heads were hung everywhere as warnings.
The atmosphere in the city became increasingly silent and strange. Zhu Youwen subconsciously felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what the problem was.
"The King of Liang was forced to leave and could not enter the city." This was the latest news circulating. Zhu Youwen did not dare to kill anyone because it was spread too widely. Even the sergeants were speculating and whispering.
It's not impossible to defend an isolated city without reinforcements. But you have to give a time limit, right? How long do you have to defend it?
No one dared to answer, and no one could answer.
From the looks of it, either the four towns of Yun, Yan, Qing, and Huai joined forces to defeat the Xia thieves and relieve Bianzhou, or the Xia thieves surrounded this place tightly, and no one could break the siege until the city was broken.
Moreover, for the civil and military generals and even the top soldiers in Bianzhou, the arrival of Yun soldiers and Yan soldiers to relieve the siege is not necessarily a good thing, and may very well mean a greater disaster.
The hatred between the two sides is too great. Once Bianzhou is controlled by them, everyone's wealth will not be preserved, and women will be humiliated by these hateful warriors from other places, and their lives will even be in danger.
Then, it is better to surrender to the Xia thieves. At least, Shao Shude can restrain the military discipline. He will only insult the women of the Zhu family and will not harm ordinary people.
Zhu Youwen left the military mansion with deep thoughts and returned to his residence under the escort of his own soldiers.
His wife, Wang, was busy and changed Zhu Youwen into casual clothes.
"Alas, these warriors!" Zhu Youwen sat down and sighed.
He has little experience in front-line fighting. This is his flaw, and it also makes many warriors vaguely dissatisfied and very unruly.
As for why he became the commander of the Guangsheng Army and even took charge of the defense of Bianzhou, it is actually not difficult to understand. Zhu Youyu is the eldest and the most outstanding among the brothers, and often leads troops into battles. After his father and eldest brother went to war,
The person who stays in Bianzhou is very critical. In the past, he could choose generals to take charge. However, in the past two years, my father's suspicion has become more and more serious. He no longer trusts those Yuan Cong veterans and prefers to choose people from the clan.
But the Zhu family is too thin, and the relationship with the Zhu clan in Dangshan is also very poor. This can be seen from the fact that no one from his hometown has come to join him.
Choosing and choosing, I chose myself.
At first, Zhu Youwen felt quite excited, feeling that his status in his father's heart was second only to his eldest brother. But after hearing the "rumor" that his eldest brother might have died in battle, he even secretly rejoiced, feeling that an opportunity had come.
But now it seems that this is a big fire pit. He was put on it and roasted repeatedly. Maybe one day his subordinates would borrow his head and die without a burial place.
"Husband, the princess has returned to the palace from Kaiyuan Temple. I went to see her today, and the princess promised to help stabilize the morale of the army." Wang came over, poured a bowl of wine for Zhu Youwen, and said.
"Oh? That's great." Zhu Youwen breathed a sigh of relief.
The influence of the princess in the army should not be underestimated. My father had a bad temper and often killed generals and punished sergeants. Thanks to the princess's persuasion, there were quite a few generals and sergeants in the army who received the favor of the princess, and some of these people were transferred.
Now they are all officers in the Tianwu Eighth Army.
There were footsteps outside the door.
Zhu Youwen raised his eyes and saw that it was his own general, and asked, "What's the matter?"
The general looked around, leaned closer and whispered: "Zhang Guibian, Xie Yanzhang has run away."