The sky at dawn was covered with gray clouds. Occasionally, I saw a few morning stars, twinkling and twinkling, looking so lonely.
People gathered outside the city gate early in the morning.
The carriage was filled with winter vegetables, which were ordered by the city's wealthy households.
Dozens of sheep were herded together, bleating, lowering their heads from time to time, looking for withered grass roots to gnaw in the severe frost.
It's a pity that they couldn't have a good meal at the last moment of their lives. The warriors who stayed behind wanted to eat meat, and these sheep would not survive today.
There are also people driving several large carts of charcoal. Cutting firewood and burning charcoal is a hard job, and you don't earn much money. It is usually done by elderly people.
Young people? Young people are gesticulating with a wooden spear whenever they get a chance. Being a soldier is always the best opportunity for the people at the bottom to make a comeback. There is no doubt about this.
Don’t have a chance to be a soldier? You’ll have a chance once those old warriors die.
The words sound cruel, but they have always been like this. When Zhu Quanzhong came over, batch after batch of old warriors were annihilated. Didn't opportunities come?
"I heard that Yunzhou was conquered by Xia thieves." While waiting for the city gate to be opened, everyone was bored and started talking casually.
"Where did you hear that?" Someone asked: "Yun Bing was so fierce, and he was all killed?"
"Believe it or not, all the soldiers in the city have gone to fight in the west, can't you tell?"
"Oh, it's a pity that I, the son of Qizhou, a very good young man, can't defend Sangzi, but I go to fight for the Yun people."
"We are also from Yun. It has been so many years since Qizhou fell, and Qingzhou has nothing to say. It seems like it is sleeping."
"Humph. People from Qingzhou are here. Do you think the soldiers in the city will recognize Marshal Wang?"
Zhang Wen silently listened to the conversation of the merchants and laughed secretly.
Where are the Yun people, Qi people, Yan people, and Qing people? There are only locals and outsiders.
Qizhou has been occupied for so many years, and the Yun soldiers who first arrived have long been localized. They have married each other and become in-laws with Qizhou soldiers. Everyone continues to make money and become masters. Life has not changed much from before. Who is the governor?
The governor has nothing to do with me!
Well, you can't say that. There have been frequent wars in Yuncheng, and Qizhou warriors have gone into battle more often. This may be why they are dissatisfied. But it's now, and you can't escape the war even if you submit to Wang Shifan again.
When the King of Xia comes, the warriors are everywhere wailing. He wants to take away the wealth and power and disperse the army. I am afraid life will be difficult.
After chatting for a while, everyone had nothing to talk about. Some people took out the biscuits and started eating, some closed their eyes to rest, and some counted the goods.
The normal operation of the city cannot be separated from the countryside. Unless there are special circumstances, it is impossible to close the city.
"It's open, it's open!" someone suddenly shouted.
Zhang Wen and Dong Zhang looked at each other and pretended to start packing the firewood in the car.
"Creak!" The sergeant guarding the gate weakly pushed the gate open.
Several people waved their scabbards and drove away the merchants who got too close, while cursing.
The sound of horse hooves suddenly sounded in the distance, and everyone was startled.
"There are thieves! There are thieves! Close the city gate quickly." A rider rushed over quickly and shouted.
The horse under his crotch almost lost its strength, foaming from the corners of its mouth, and it was about to die.
"Sun Er! It's Sun Er!" a sergeant exclaimed.
"Sun Er, what's going on?" A burly man stepped forward, grabbed Sun Er's horse rein, and asked.
"Captain Zhao, close the city gate quickly! A large group of thieves appear from the north, and they are very fast." Sun Er rolled down from his horse, with an arrow stuck in his back, and said anxiously: "Wu Dalang and the others are all dead.
I was hunted by thieves, so I ran back alone and quickly closed the city gate."
Captain Zhao hesitated for a moment, seeming to weigh the situation.
The merchants listened on the sidelines, regardless of whether it was true or not. Some wanted to go to the city to escape immediately, while others wanted to turn around and go back to the countryside. For a while, they were noisy and chaotic.
"Close the door!" Leader Zhao yelled, making up his mind.
"Hoo!" A spear flew towards him.
Captain Zhao's body was taken away and fell to the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Why are you still standing there? Take action!" Wang Jiao pulled out another throwing spear from the firewood pile, took aim, and then nailed one person to the ground.
"Do it!" Zhang Wen pulled out a long Ke ax from under the firewood pile, and Dong Zhang also took out a short spear.
There were more than ten people nearby. Seeing this, they all drew out their swords and iron swords, and some were stringing their bows. They suddenly changed from merchants to murderous warriors.
The guards at the city gate were completely stunned. Some people reacted and ran back screaming, trying to close the city gate, but were quickly knocked to the ground by spears thrown.
Wang Jiao took a strung strong bow from someone else's hand, weighed it, drew out his arrows, and shot left and right.
"Damn, that's a really accurate shot!" Zhang Wen rushed to the Wengcheng, admiring while waving his long Ke ax and slashing left and right.
Scout Sun Er drew his horizontal sword and tried to stop him. Dong Zhang rushed forward without saying a word, stabbed him to death with his spear.
"Follow me!" he roared.
Someone pulled a carriage over and blocked the city gate. The other sergeants followed with rifles and bows in hand. They were all carefully selected warriors, and their rifle fire was accurate. After repeated shots, the guards were almost completely killed or injured.
The sound of horse hooves could be heard at the end of the road.
After galloping all night, the warriors forcibly cheered up and suppressed their physical and mental fatigue. After rushing to the city gate, they dismounted one after another and began to put on their armor.
Wang Jiao had already jumped onto the carriage blocking the door, holding two bloody spears in his hands, staring at the end of the street.
Zhang Wen looked a little impressed, but then he was very annoyed. How could he let others compete with him? Without saying anything, he walked around the carriage and rushed to the front.
The five hundred sergeants who arrived earlier had already put on their armor and charged forward in formation with their long hats straightened.
They pulled away the carriages that were blocking the door and filed into the city.
Wang Jiao also put on a layer of iron armor. He held a bow in his left hand and a throwing spear in his right hand. He shot left and threw right. He was so brave that more than ten enemies died under his hands today.
The Qi people, who were slow to respond, finally arrived for reinforcements.
Hundreds of people rushed over from the street in a chaotic manner. The first commander of the Tielin Army, five hundred soldiers, quickened their pace and fought head-on with the enemy.
In the collision between men, the winner was determined immediately.
The Qi soldiers were defeated and retreated, and the streets were covered with corpses. In fact, if you observe carefully, you can find that the moment the two sides faced each other, the number of people who fell was actually about the same, but the strength of a strong army is that it is used to life and death.
, can tolerate higher casualties, so just this one decision determines success or failure.
There was also a large group of cavalry approaching outside the city.
Two warriors from the Tielin Army commanding four thousand infantry warriors arrived one after another. No one was needed to mobilize, everyone knew what they should do and what they should not do. After putting on their armor and taking out their equipment, the officers carrying the flags on their backs
Shouting loudly, they then marched through the walls and rushed into the city.
Wang Jiao rushed to the front with 500 men. He was surprised to find that the resistance he encountered was very weak. The enemy's equipment was messy, their morale was uneven, and their uniforms were not even uniform. What kind of soldiers were these?
"Kill him and his head will roll!" Wang Jiao raised his spear and threw it with a "whoosh", and there was a bandit in front of him.
"Kill him and his head will roll!" the Iron Forest Army soldiers shouted in unison, quickening their pace and charging.
The thieves were suddenly attacked and failed to react in time, so they resorted to the Bianzhou-style fueling tactics. The soldiers of the Tielin Army pushed forward horizontally, lined up against the wall, and brought down their swords and axes. Almost no one could block their attack.
.
As more and more Xia soldiers poured into the city, the change of hands in Licheng County became inevitable.
"Creak!" The south city gate was opened, and Zhu Ding, with dozens of cavalry, fled in a hurry, not daring to look north.
The sound of horse hooves sounded in the field. The cavalrymen of the Tielin Army, who had been waiting for a long time, mounted their horses one after another and began to accelerate.
"Can a thief recognize grandpa?" Xu Hao held the horse spear in his hand and rushed out first.
Zhu Ding looked back and walked away wildly with his whip raised.
Xu Hao also speeded up, looking for him and chasing him.
The two of them chased each other and quickly ran for several miles.
"Huh!" Xu Hao tried to reach the target with his horse's spear, but when he couldn't reach it, he was so angry that he took off his helmet and threw it forward with all his strength.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Ding had such a "hidden weapon" and was hit on the head accidentally. Stars appeared in his eyes and his speed slowed down a bit.
Xu Hao was overjoyed. He clapped his horse and stepped forward, stabbed Zhu Ding directly and picked him up.
"Haha! I finally caught you." Xu Hao flicked him, and Zhu Ding's body suddenly fell to the ground, creating a human-shaped snow pit.
Shao Shude led the follow-up troops to stop outside Qizhou City.
"Only 700 or 800 people were beheaded? There are so few defenders?" He was a little surprised, but then he realized clearly: This meant that there was no time to mobilize a large number of local warriors, otherwise it would be no problem to gather a few thousand defenders.
It seems that the main forces of Qizhou have already moved out and settled in Pingyin. Maybe Zhu Qiong saw that Zhu Wei had made a fortune as the governor of Qizhou, and then took control of Yunzhou and became the governor of the Tianping Army, and tried to replicate this process?
There are many bandit troops gathered in Pingyin County.
Shao Shude recalled the topography of Pingyin County: the county is adjacent to Jishui in the north, the Yellow River is ten miles north of the county, there is the ancient city of Pingyin of Qi State in the Spring and Autumn Period, and in the northeast of the county, there is also the Qigu Great Wall, which runs through Pingyin County in the west and Pingyin Old City in the east.
To the south of the city, the Great Wall has been abandoned, but important gates (such as the defense gate) are still there. To the east is the western end of the Taishan Mountains, and to the west is the river, the intersection of economic exchanges.
In such a place, cavalry cannot charge. It is either separated by mountains, or blocked by Jishui, the Yellow River and some walled cities.
In the eighteenth year of Duke Xiang of Zuo Chuan, the marquis of Jin gathered troops from the princes to attack Qi, and the marquis of Qi defended the gate to defend against the enemy.
With water to the west and mountains to the east, such a terrain is naturally conducive to defense. Previously, the soldiers and horses of Zhongwu Second Town in Hezhong also fought repeatedly in these places. After failure, they retreated to the county town to defend. This area has been occupied by Ziqing and Qizhou soldiers.
If you want to replicate the Battle of Sishui, it is impossible for your cavalry to be discovered by the enemy while they are still crossing the river or climbing the mountain.
But this does not mean that there is no way to deal with Wang Shike, Zhu Qiong, Zhu Xuan and others.
How much food and grass does the army still have? It's just over a month, no more than two months at most. Don't move away if you have the ability. I will first capture the counties in Qizhou and cut off all the roads. You can eat the dirt.
"Encamp outside the city wall and enter the city again tomorrow." Shao Shude ordered: "In addition, send envoys to Yucheng, Zhangqiu, Linyi and other counties to order them to surrender."