The yellowed rammed earth walls, the dilapidated towers, the moat that is less than three feet deep, etc., all tell the story of the vicissitudes of this ancient city.
The city was densely packed with armored soldiers. All of them held bows and shields, and looked solemn. The military formations below the city were like walls, with swords and guns standing in large numbers, and iron cannons weighing nearly a thousand kilograms were pointed directly at the city gate, emitting a frightening cold light.
The city wall is quite long, and one city alone is thirteen or fourteen miles away. Li Chengzhi looked into the distance, and it seemed that he could not see the end. As far as he could see, he could only see dust and smoke flying away, and yellow mist rolling in.
.
It was the soldiers in the rear formation who were withdrawing battalion by battalion and were about to go to Binhua Prefecture to support Li Liang.
After staring for a while, Li Chengzhi turned his gaze back and continued to look at the city wall, his eyes looking thoughtful.
Chang'an City is not high, its generals are four feet tall. It was made of rammed earth when Liu Bang built his capital. However, it was breached by the Gengshi Army (one of the Green Forest Rebels) at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, and the city wall was in dilapidated condition.
Later, Liu Xuan led the Green Forest Army into the city. Due to internal strife due to the uneven distribution of the spoils, Chang'an once again broke into the city. The Red Eyebrow Army (one of the Green Forest Rebel Army) not only dug up the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty kings, but also burned the city of Chang'an with fire.
became ruins.
After the Eastern Han Dynasty was established and Liu Xiu established his capital in Luoyang, although Chang'an was designated as Xijing, it was only slightly repaired. Compared with the new capital of Luoyang, it was almost in the sky and underground.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo took the young emperor and ordered the princes to move the capital to Chang'an. Chang'an City was attacked again. However, this time the fire was started by Dong Zhuo himself.
After the Eastern Han Dynasty fell, Cao Wei founded the country and still made Luoyang its capital. Since then, Chang'an even lost the qualification to accompany the capital and was completely reduced to an ordinary state city.
This big city built of rammed earth has a history of seven hundred years. Like an old man in his dying years, it cannot withstand the slightest bump.
But Li Chengzhi surrounded and refused to attack.
For the first three days, they only tried to shoot a few rounds of arrows and fire a round of artillery every day. On the fourth day, Li Chengzhi simply withdrew most of his soldiers. Only one battalion of artillery soldiers and one battalion of artillery soldiers were left in each of the four cities.
The number of cavalry battalions and the number of troops besieging the city was less than 10,000.
On the fifth day, not to mention the cannons, even the arrows were not fired. There were only one drill at Chen hour (7 o'clock in the morning) and You hour (5 o'clock in the afternoon).
Just like this, with less than 10,000 troops, nearly 30,000 defenders were forced to huddle in Chang'an City, not even daring to take a step forward from the city gate.
Li Chengzhi was sizing up the garrison at the top of the city, and the garrison at Chang'an City was also sizing him up.
Yuan Zun was the great-great-grandson of Emperor Tuoba Si of Daowu. He inherited the title of King Yangping. After Yuan Ke succeeded to the throne, he successively served as the governor of Youzhou, Qingzhou and Binzhou.
Because he was at odds with Cui Yanbo, last year when Cui Yanbo Chen sent troops to Qizhou, and commanded the military affairs of Jing, Qi, and Bin states, Empress Dowager Gao Yingzhun sent him to Yuancheng to replace him with Yang Zhi, who was originally the governor of Yongzhou.
.
This change made Yuan Zunjue fall into a big pit.
If you are still in Qizhou, you will at most be exposed to Cui Yanbo's insults. Then, like Yang Zhi, when Cui Yanbo is defeated, you can follow Yuan Qin back to Tongguan, or even to Luojing.
It was good now that the army was approaching the city and defeat was inevitable. But as the governor of Yongzhou, how could he escape without fighting?
After suffering a huge defeat, the young emperor and Yuan Yi were worried that they had nowhere to vent their anger, and they didn't know how to shirk the responsibility for the defeat. If he ran away without fighting, wouldn't he just hit the tip of the knife?
On the other hand, Yang Zhi, who was swapped with him, even famous generals like Xi Kangsheng were defeated, and Cui Yanbo was defeated and died. Even though Yang Zhi was responsible for the defeat, he still had to obey Cui Yanbo and Yuan Qin's orders. Moreover, Chao Yan is now in his prime.
When employing people, you won't be too harsh on them.
Therefore, Yuan Zun's intestines are about to turn green.
In addition to regret, he also had hatred. He hated that the Li family's rebels had already occupied Xianyang County, and even occupied most of the northern border of Chang'an County, which was the administrative center of Jilingzhou City. Why not go all out and capture Yongzhou City as well?
You must know that Xianyang City and Yongzhou City are separated by the Wei River, which is only thirty miles away. It is a flat river, and if you use cavalry, you can get there in less than half an hour.
Li Chengzhi was lucky, but he stayed in Xianyang for nearly a month before sending troops again?
If Yuan Qin was still there, the blame for the city's destruction and defeat would naturally not fall on Yuan Shizun...
"Your Highness, even though we have been fighting fiercely for more than two months, the rebels have suffered very little damage, so they will not have to rest for the past few months. But why are they attacking Yongzhou now?"
"Why else? It's all the fault of that thief Yuan Qin, who insisted on the strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the wilderness, and burned all the food in Jing, Qi and Bin states with a fire. In order to avoid repeating the same thing, Li's son naturally wanted to
Quiet all the troops, wait for the summer grain from all the Yongzhou territory to be stored in the warehouse, and then conquer it, we will naturally grab a lot of grain and grass... Even if you and I want to burn all the grain and grass in Yongzhou City, how can we also use the grain and grass in the counties under our control?
Burn them all?"
Yuan Zun gritted his teeth in hatred, "Why did the bandits under the city surround you instead of attacking? You only surrounded the city for a few days, but then you withdrew more than half of the troops? It's because you were afraid of forcing us too much, and if you were desperate, I followed Yuan Qin's old wisdom.
When they fled, they burned all the autumn grain in the state..."
The confidant suddenly realized, and stared at the rebels in the city for a while, and whispered: "Your Highness, there are less than 10,000 rebels in the city now, and I have nearly 30,000 defenders in the city. Isn't this a God-given opportunity? Why not send the defenders out of the city to fight?
?”
"You are so stupid that you don't realize...that this opportunity is just a feather?"
Yuan Zun was extremely angry and laughed back, "Cui Yanbo was a famous general in the world. He was powerful in the world and had an army of 300,000. However, he was defeated and died. And don't you know that the enemy who knocked on Longguan was only Cui Yanbo's
One tenth?
And now, although there are 30,000 defenders in the city, most of them have fled from Jing and Qizhou. They have been frightened for a long time. How can they be the opponents of the rebels in the city?"
When the confidant heard this, his voice was lowered, almost inaudible: "Even if you can't win, you can still take advantage of the opportunity to break out..."
Breakout?
"Thief, are you trying to coax grandpa to leave the city and die?"
The more Yuan Zun listened, the more annoyed he became. He grabbed his subordinate by the collar, pointed at the iron cannon about a mile away and cursed: "Have you ever seen that artillery? There are ten cannons under the south city alone, and the doorway under the city is
There are only three of them, and there are three cannons waiting outside each doorway. But when the city gate opens, all three cannons will fire. Even the soldiers and horses will be shot before they can get out of the doorway. How do you break through?"
The confidant's face turned as white as snow: "So, Thief Li actually wants to trap us to death in Yongzhou City?"
"Otherwise, what else can we do? Thief Li is just trying his best to force us to sacrifice the city and surrender. But as a clan member of the Yuan Dynasty, how can I, Yuan Shi Zun, beg for mercy? Don't try to persuade me any more.
, guarding the city with me for a long time is nothing more than living and dying with the city..."
The confidant's liver and gallbladder were trembling, and his heart was filled with despair, but when he heard the second half of Yuan Zun's sentence, his eyes suddenly became bigger than walnuts.
When did I persuade you to surrender?
Haha, that’s what it meant?
The confidant immediately understood and nodded imperceptibly...
…
The equestrian drill for the cavalry is to rotate out the artillery battalion according to the brigade. It is not complicated, it is just a matter of standing up the troops and practicing the formation.
It wasn't that Li Chengzhi wanted to show off his power, but that he was afraid that something might happen to his soldiers.
It had been an hour since the Youshi period, which was at the beginning of the Xu period, when the sun had reached the top of the Western Mountain. Li Chengzhi ordered all the troops to return to camp one after another.
Under the four cities of Yongzhou, there are only three gates in each city. Naturally, the armies of the West Sea are stationed not far from the city gates. But they do not stay up all night to guard, but they are divided into two groups, one for the first half of the night and one for the first half of the night.
The troops were on duty in the middle of the night. If they heard any noise in the night, regardless of whether there was a military order or not, the artillerymen would fire at the city gate.
The ammunition provided is all explosive shells. Once the cannon fires, there will be no grass within a hundred paces, and no amount of it will be enough to kill...
Li Chengzhi's command camp was stationed about three miles east of Beicheng. This place was under the jurisdiction of Chang'an County. He occupied Xianyang more than a month ago and returned to the West Sea.
Therefore, a month ago, troops in Yongzhou had already arrived at the city, so Yuan Qin and Yang Zhi ran so fast.
But who would have thought that Li Chengzhi would insist on not eating the fat meat that had reached his mouth?
Presumably, the imperial court has been on pins and needles since this month, right?
Li Chengzhi changed his mind and followed the army back to the camp.
As soon as he entered the middle tent, Li Cong came up to him in a hurry: "Lang Jun, big brother (Li Liang) has good news!"
Li Chengzhi took the envelope and hurriedly scanned it, with a satisfied smile on his face.
Within seven days of dispatching troops, most of Binzhou would be recovered, and within three to five days at most, the remaining counties could be conquered.
The reason why it was so fast was entirely due to Yuan Qin's divine assistance. If he hadn't burned the food and grass when he fled, several counties in Binzhou would not have been at war in just two decades, and each county welcomed the righteous army one after another.
Therefore, Li Liang not only did not destroy any of his soldiers, but also gathered nearly 100,000 rebel troops in just a few days.
Of course, there should be less than one out of ten soldiers who can be requisitioned, and most of the rest are old, weak, women and children. But now Li Chengzhi is not short of land, only people and food.
Now that there are people, food is naturally not far away.
Li Chengzhi put away the envelope and asked again: "Did Huangfu send someone to report it?"
"Binglang-kun, not yet!"
Li Chengzhi said to himself again: "Well, it seems to be going well!"
Although he was conducting the expedition himself this time, it was still Huangfu who led the expedition. Seven days ago when he sent out troops, Huangfu crossed the Wei River from west to east and entered Fengyi County (which governs today's Gaoling District, Sanyuan County, Yanliang District, and Fuping County).
Feng Yi County is not big, its territory is hundreds of miles wide, and most of Xipei is surrounded by Xianyang County, so the county has long been in turmoil, and all the trees and grass are surrounded by soldiers.
Although it was not like the counties in Binzhou who took the initiative to surrender, as soon as Huangfu's 20,000 troops crossed the river, the counties only resisted symbolically and surrendered.
However, Huangfu encountered considerable resistance when he moved from south to north and attacked Beidi County.
It was also because Beidi County was close to Huazhou, and once it was defeated, Huazhou was in danger of being lost. Therefore, Yuan Qin sent troops and generals to support Beidi County with great momentum.
But Li Chengzhi estimated that no matter how fierce the resistance was, the officers and soldiers would only focus on defending the city and would definitely not dare to fight in the field, otherwise they would be defeated faster.
As for this troop dispatch, Xihai's strategic intention was mainly to grab grain, supplemented by land occupation. Huangfu had always been calm, so he would naturally carry out his intentions to the extreme.
"Where's Li Zhang?"
"We have captured Ba City at noon and are heading towards Lishan Mountain!"
"I'll tell him, don't go in too fast, lest Yuan Qin jumps over the wall in a hurry, so he tries again!"
Passing Lishan Mountain is Zheng County in Huazhou, and Zheng County is only a hundred miles away from Tongguan. Once the army invades Zheng County, not to mention Yuan Qin who is defending Tongguan, including the young emperor of Luojing, Prince Gu Ming, Yuan Yi, and
Among the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty, who would not be so frightened that their livers and gallbladders would burst into tears?
If Yuan Qin gets mad and burns all the food and grass in Huazhou, the gain will outweigh the loss.
It was also because Li Chengzhi's foundation was too shallow. Even though he won consecutive battles and gained overwhelming momentum, he only relied on a moment of bravery. Therefore, he definitely did not have the strength to conquer Gyeonggi.
Regardless of the rest, just food and grass can make him lose his hair.
Secondly, there is not enough gunpowder...
…
It is September, and the weather is getting colder. The young ladies in Beijing no longer dare to show off in just a light gauze, and have honestly changed into long skirts.
The corn in the fields has long been harvested, and the old farmers are driving their cattle to plow the fields hard, hoping to finish plowing the fields before the snow falls. It is best to have another rain to irrigate the fields.
When the weather gets cold, the hard soil in the field can be frozen into fine pieces, as fine as dust. When planted in the next spring, the germination rate will naturally be very high.
The weather has been good this year, and the harvests in Hedong, Henan, and Shandong are not bad. This is also the case in Luoyang, and the old farmers are naturally smiling.
If it were in previous years, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty would naturally have congratulated each other. The emperor would find an excuse to give a banquet to the princes and ministers to celebrate with the people.
But this year, all the officials in the palace are in a gloomy mood.
Ten days ago, Yuan Qin reported a victory, saying that the bandit commanders Huangfu Rang and Li Zhang were defeated, and the enemy was kept out of Huazhou, and Tongguan was safe.
But what is the reality?
Xiuyi envoy has already found out clearly: since half a month ago, the bandits surrendered to Huangfu, and Li Zhang successively captured Xinfeng and Lianshao in Jingzhao County, Tongguan and Pinyang in Beidi County, and the bandits have successively sent troops to the border of Huazhou.
However, Yuan Qin huddled in Tongguan and did not dare to go out. He only sent Yang Zhi and Yang Jun to divide their troops into two groups and go to the state border to defend against the enemy.
It was not at all the defeat of the rebels as Yuan Qin and the victory report claimed. Instead, after a few days of confrontation, the rebels retreated on their own and retreated into the nearest county.
It seems that Li Chengzhi intends to stop the war, or he may have withdrawn his troops because the weather is getting colder. It is expected that there will be no more fighting this year.
This was considered good news, and it was the only good news since the war between the imperial court and Xihai started this year, but Yuan Yi always felt that something was wrong.
Li Chengzhi has always been unreasonable and unforgiving, so how could he give up on a good situation and cease all activities?
Sure enough, near night yesterday, an urgent report came from Xiazhou: more than a month ago, the bandit general Li Feng sent troops from Jinming County to invade Xiazhou. In less than ten days, they took Shuofang (now Zichang, Qingjian area, Shaanxi Province),
Piancheng (today's Shaanxi Yanchang, Yankuan area and two counties).
Then, I don't know what method was used to reopen Youhu Lake in Gaonu County, and then drove the troops to the side wall of Baigan Mountain, using kerosene bombs to open the way. Xi Kangsheng was defeated and retreated, and now he has retreated to Tongwan City.
But for some unknown reason, the rebels did not go down the wall, nor did they attack the city and occupy territory. They just marched along the side wall. I don’t know what their intention was.
And with such a large-scale troop deployment and a hurried march of nearly a thousand miles, Li Chengzhi couldn't just sit around and send his troops to the north to blow up the wind, right?
Yuan Yi knew that there must be a reason for this, but unfortunately he had never led an army and was only familiar with military matters. So when he arrived at Mao hour, the palace gate opened and he rang the Duan bell.
There are many people in Beijing who are experienced in the military and proficient in the art of war, including famous generals like Li Chong.
And with just one glance, Li Chong guessed Li Chengzhi's intention: to march north along the border wall, just to block the grain road between the Six Towns and Luojing...