I just heard the sound of a cannon and the shouting of killing shook the sky.
Hundreds of arrows were shot from the urn in the city. The tails of the arrows were filled with flames, like flowers raining all over the sky, across the sky, with beautiful arcs, over the city wall, and shot towards the road.
The rocket instantly ignited the entire path, and the cavalry galloping on the path were like messengers from hell and knights of flames, both men and horses were burned to death.
Many cavalrymen had no choice but to pass through the thick smoke and risk their lives by leaping down the stairs. The cavalry at the lower end of the stairs would be thrown off their backs, while the cavalry at the top of the stairs would often suffer broken bones and tendons once they jumped down, along with their horses.
The wind helped the fire, and the fire in Dengdao was so big that it was impossible to put out the fire.
Yin Ziqi stood blankly in front of the formation, helpless.
The officers and soldiers of the Yan army sighed at the sight of the fire, helplessly watching the hard work of more than ten days being wasted, and they were helpless.
The first batch of dozens of cavalry vanguards who rushed to the Suiyang Tower did not fare much better.
As soon as they jumped onto the city wall, the cavalrymen ran into the brave general Bai Fu. Bai Fu was holding a black iron thick-backed sword. The sword stood proudly, murderous and unruly.
Bai Fu raised his hand, and three pebbles shot out, heading straight for the enemy general's door, piercing the skulls of the first three cavalrymen, and killing them on the spot.
Bai Fu used his Qinggong skill and flew over the heads of the three horses. The black iron sword slashed horizontally and drew a golden arc. The sword's light rippled away like water waves.
The sword flashed, and the fourth cavalryman was cut into two pieces, including his horse and man. The horse's head and his human head rolled down the stairs of the inner city together.
Half of the men were left, and the horse continued to charge forward. Bai Fu passed by and faced the fifth cavalryman.
This man was a general of the Xi tribe, brave and good at fighting. When he saw Bai Fu's sharp sword skills and extraordinary bravery, he not only did not feel timid, but his blood surged up. He roared angrily, brandished his wolf fang, and rode his horse towards Bai Fu.
Arriving in front of Bai Fu, General Xi relied on his horse's speed and aimed a stick at Bai Fu's head.
The force of the wolf's fang is heavy, and coupled with the speed of the horse, the force becomes even more extreme.
With the blessing of Kan Ding's true energy, the black iron thick-backed sword was invincible. Bai Fu was not afraid at all, and he slashed with ease without any fancy.
"laugh"
Just like scissors cutting cloth, the black iron thick-backed knife cut the wolf tooth tree into two pieces.
The blade regained its strength, Cong Xi General's arm went up, broke the armor, slashed diagonally from the shoulder blade and armpit, and cut Xi General Xi La La into two pieces.
Before the blood splattered on Bai Fu's body, Bai Fu had already reached the sixth place, next to the seven cavalrymen.
Seeing that the situation was not going well, the two cavalrymen marched abreast. The one on the outside held a sword and slashed diagonally, while the one on the inside thrust his spear straight at them. They rode around the city several times, thinking about ways to break the city.
At noon that day, when Yin Ziqi passed the northwest corner of Suiyang City, he found that there were dense trees and thick tree trunks. Yin Ziqi came up with a plan and decided to build a "Deng Road".
Yin Ziqi ordered his soldiers to cut down a large number of trees here, then arrange the tree trunks slightly, and pile them up under the Suiyang city wall according to a certain mortise and tenon structure like building a house.
The Yan army also piled earth bags and sandbags on the branches, planning to build a strong and wide trapezoidal ramp so that the Yan army could gallop their horses and rush up to the tower quickly.
Because trees were used as beams and ribs, the construction of the road was much faster than the construction of siege hills. The generals of the Yan army were gearing up and training their horses, expecting to break the formation and massacre the city in a decisive battle.
Yin Ziqi was worried that Zhang Xun would destroy the Dengdao, so he sent heavy troops to guard it. He divided thousands of crossbowmen into three squads and guarded them day and night. Once the Tang army's raiding party charged the Dengdao, they would go all out to kill them.
During the days when the Yan army was building the Deng Road, Zhang Xun remained calm and did not send anyone to harass him.
However, this does not mean that Zhang Xun just let it go.
As late at night, Zhang Xun ordered Bai Fu to use his extreme lightness skills to secretly go down to the city. Bai Fu was as fast as the wind and his body was like a ghost. Taking advantage of the Yan army's unpreparedness, Bai Fu stuffed a large amount of pine trees, dry wormwood and other flammable materials under the sandbags.
in the trees.
Bai Fu was busy for more than ten days. Due to the bright pines and dry wormwood, the soldiers of the Yan army were not aware of the clues.
Early that morning, the Yan army buried pots to make rice. After the soldiers had breakfast, they organized their troops to prepare for war.
I saw the gate of the military camp slowly opened, and thousands of cavalry galloped out from the gate and rushed towards the road.
Yin Ziqi waved his flag and used an arrow array to suppress the firepower of the Tang army at the top of the city, covering the cavalry attack. Thousands of crossbow arrows were shot towards the tower like dark clouds over the city.
The firepower was so fierce that the soldiers at the top of the city were unable to look out.
The Yan army cavalry was overjoyed. They raised their shields in their left hand and swords in their right hands, and roared towards the road. No one among the dozens of cavalry vanguards was shocked, and they were about to withdraw their swords and stab again. Bai Fu swept with his left and right hands, Xun, and Kan Gang Qi surged.
out.
"puff"
The people on the inside of the tower were decapitated by Bai Fu with a knife, like cutting open a watermelon. Hot blood spurted out from the neck and neck like a fountain;
The people on the outside of the city tower were swept by the wind from Bai Fu's palm, flew horizontally from their horses, were swept off the city tower, screamed in agony, and fell to the ground dead.
Bai Fu grabbed the reins of the horse, reined in the horse, turned the horse's head, and charged towards the rest of the Yan army's cavalry.
Bai Fu is like a god of murder. He raises his sword and drops his head, and there is no single general under his command.
The Yan general was so frightened that he turned around and ran away. In the panic, many cavalrymen collided with each other, and both men and horses fell off the tower.
…
The Dengdao fire was raging with flames and smoke rising into the sky. It burned for more than 20 days before gradually extinguishing.
At this point, the generals of the Yan army were finally at their wits' end and had nothing to do and did not dare to attack again.
Bai Fu studied under General Wang Zhongsi and his military skills were unparalleled.
However, Zhang Xunwen led the troops, his vision was like a torch, he was able to command when the enemy was in sight, his wisdom in adapting to situations, and his skill in responding to opportunities opened Bai Fu's eyes and made him admire him.
This kind of change in facing the enemy cannot be understood without actual combat.
In Bai Fu's eyes, Zhang Xun can be called a master of tactics. He can make moves at the drop of a hat. His whimsical thoughts flow freely, and his imagination runs wild. He is as infinite as the sky and the earth, and as endless as the rivers and seas. Just like the swordsmanship of the Dugu Sword Demon, there is no fixed method and no move to win.
trick.
…
In the Battle of Dengdao, the Yan army lost a thousand elite cavalry in vain, and its morale was devastated.
General Hu from Tongluo, who was under Yin Ziqi's account, said: "General, Suiyang City cannot be captured for a long time and we have suffered too many casualties. Why not bypass Suiyang and go directly south.
When the Khitan tribe invaded our Fanyang County, they often bypassed important cities and broke through directly to Youzhou. After plundering massively, they slowly withdrew their troops and escaped unscathed."
Yin Ziqi glared and said: "You barbarians have simple minds! If the purpose is to plunder, there is no need to engage in siege warfare. If the purpose is to seize the city and occupy the territory, then siege warfare is inevitable.
If we bypass Suiyang, we will be in danger of being attacked from both sides. Our army's logistics, messenger communication, and troop transportation will all be exposed under the eyes of the Tang army.
Our army of more than 100,000 people eats and feeds horses every day, consuming countless amounts of food and grass. Once patrols cut off our food routes, the morale of the army will be in chaos. Without food for three days, without the Tang army attacking, our army will be defeated."
Another general cursed angrily: "It must be those stupid courtiers in Luoyang who made a random plan and ordered our army to move south from Suiyang!"
Yin Ziqi shook his head and said: "Master Yan Zhuangyan, the Vice Minister of Zhongshu, is also a man who has read many poems and books. His strategic plan is not wrong.
The Huaisi area looks smooth, but in fact there are not many options for attacking cities.
An army of hundreds of thousands, with food, grass, baggage, and siege equipment, was so huge and cumbersome that they could only rely on water transportation for logistical support.
The Huaihe River area is densely covered with water networks and there are many rivers, but there are not many rivers with large enough water volume that can be used to support the logistics of the army. There are only a few rivers such as Yingshui, Suishui, and Sishui.
Therefore, the attack points that our army can choose are nothing more than Pengcheng in the Biansi River Basin, Suiyang on the Suishui River, Shouchun on the Yingshui River and other cities.
Compared with Shouchun and Xuzhou, Suiyang's defense is relatively weak, with only five or six thousand troops. There are very few civilians in the city, and there are only 30,000 to 40,000 old, weak, women and children.
When our army goes south, if we don't attack Suiyang, we can only choose Xuzhou or Shouchun. Since the Sui Dynasty, Xuzhou and Shouchun have been important military towns, with heavy troops stationed in them to ensure the security of the food supply in the south of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, from an overall perspective, compared to Xuzhou and Shouchun, Suiyang is the best to defeat, but we did not expect that we encountered Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan, two tough bones."
Yin Ziqi also had some military information that he did not tell the generals: the Yan army's plan to capture Xiangyang, seize the Han River, and cut off the Tang army's food and salary transportation line was destroyed by Lu Jiong's troops.
Lu Jiong, the envoy of Shannan East Road Jiedu, guarded Nanyang, and Yan army generals Wu Lingxun and Tian Chengsi attacked it one after another. The city was completely depleted and the starved dead were lying on the ground.
On the night of Renxu (the 15th day of the fifth month of the second year of Zhide), Lu Jiong abandoned Nanyang and led thousands of remaining soldiers to withdraw to Xiangyang, where he continued to defend to the death. Tian Chengsi could not conquer Xiangyang and had to evacuate.
"Now the Yan army going south is the only one left. If Suiyang is not captured, Yan will miss the opportunity to sweep across the Jianghuai area." Yin Ziqi looked at the map and sighed.