Although the commander-in-chief was changed, the fighting strength of the rebels did not improve. Gao Yingxiang sent his own troops and several small groups of rebels to attack the city, but the situation still showed no improvement. The morale of the officers and soldiers on the city wall was high, and they were equipped with crossbow arrows, torch stones, and hot oil.
When the defense weapons are sufficient, it is not an exaggeration to describe the current Huaiqing City as impregnable.
The two sides fought for a whole day, but the rebels failed to attack the city wall, but lost seven to eight hundred people. When it got dark, Gao Yingxiang had no choice but to order the troops to retreat.
In the next two days, the rebels dispatched various troops to take turns to attack. The main attack direction changed from the West City to the South City and then to the East City. However, the situation of the siege did not change much. Each rebel army lost troops and generals, and could not attack the city wall at all.
step.
Relatively speaking, the officers and soldiers guarding the city suffered very little damage during these nine days. The only siege that was slightly wexe was the half-day attack when Wang Ziyong sent troops from the "Jinliang Village".
It was almost the tenth day, and everyone in the city believed that Huaiqing City could be defended. General Yu Jue was even more convinced that although there were many rebels outside the city, they were just a bunch of rabble with no fighting power.
Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, and Li Zicheng were all peasants with mud-footed backgrounds. How dare they come out to rebel? They might as well go home and pick up manure![
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※The autumn wind is bleak.
The hillside is covered with wild grass. The grass is green with a hint of grayish yellow. It is constantly surging in the breeze, like layers of sea lng. However, the maple trees in the forest in the distance are already a fiery red.
Hua Bushi stood on the hillside riding a white horse, his snow-white Confucian shirt fluttering in the wind, making him look even more elegant. There was a solemn look on his face, looking far into the distance, looking straight at Huaiqing in the distance.
city.
Beside him, one on the left and one on the right, were two beauties on the backs of two horses, none other than Yang Jiangyi and Chu Yiyi. Li Zicheng, on the other hand, stood a little further away with a tall green and black war horse on his crotch.
General Li Chuang was dressed in military uniform, with a black iron helmet on his head, and iron armor on his head. A large black iron sword more than four feet long was hung on a copper ring in front of the saddle.
Behind these people are more than ten personal guards, and further back, on the other side of the hillside, are three thousand well-equipped elite infantry, that is, all the people of "Biluo Village". These soldiers
It is blocked by the hillside and cannot be seen from the direction of Huaiqing City.
"The weather is very good today." Hua Bushi suddenly said.
Li Zicheng said: "Yes, it's a good weather for fighting!"
"How many people did the rebels lose during the three-day siege?" Hua Bushi asked.
Li Zicheng said: "One thousand, three hundred and fifty-three brothers died, and nine hundred and seventy-six brothers were injured."
Hua Bushi said: "To make Yu Jue relax his vigilance, this level of damage is already considered very low."
Li Zicheng said: "On the battlefield, death and injury are inevitable. I hope that these more than a thousand lives can be exchanged for the opportunity to destroy the city today. It will be a worthwhile endeavor!"
Hua Bushi nodded and asked again: "Have the patrols and defenses outside the city been arranged? Now we are determined not to let any information from outside the city enter the city, especially carrier pigeons and the like. We must not let it go."
Li Zicheng said: "I have deployed archers outside the city. Not to mention pigeons, not even a fly can fly in!"
His eyes flashed and he added: "Brother Shi, how long do you think Zhang Xianzhong can hold off the reinforcements in Huangshi Valley?"
Hua Bushi said: "Although Zhang Xianzhong's 8,000 troops are smaller than Zhang Yingchang's troops, they can still be considered elites. They set up an ambush in Huangshi Valley and occupy the advantageous location. They can hold off the army for at least three hours."
Li Zicheng said: "So, we only have three hours to kill Yu Jue and attack Huaiqing City?"
Hua Bushi smiled faintly and said, "Three hours are already a long time. Could it be that Brother Hongji doesn't have confidence?"
Li Zicheng laughed loudly and said: "Brother Shi's schemes are second to none in the world, and all the soldiers in Biluo Mountain are not vegetarians. How can I not have confidence, brother! It is the quarter of the hour now, and it will be the end of the hour after three hours. I want to
At the General Military Mansion in Huaiqing City, I invite Brother Shi to drink three large cups!"[
In the three days since Gao Yingxiang became the commander-in-chief, the rebel army has been attacking the city continuously, losing thousands of troops, and has never climbed a step on the city wall. Now with only the last three hours left, Hua Bushi and Li Zicheng are full of confidence.
It seems that Huaiqing City is already in the bag!
This plan to attack the city was planned three days ago.
According to Hua Bushi's earlier thoughts, after the secret letter was discovered, the leaders of the various rebel armies would naturally not let Wang himself be the commander-in-chief. Even the men under his command would probably not be willing to follow this general who collaborated with the enemy and surrendered.
However, unexpectedly, the soldiers of "Jinliang Village" remained loyal to Wang Ziyong and followed him to withdraw their troops.
It seems that although Wang Ziyong is selfish and short-sighted, he is not entirely desirable. He does have a certain way of treating the people of his "Jinliang Village", which makes these soldiers still loyal to him under such circumstances.
two.
Although the Thirty-sixth Battalion of the Rebel Army has many men and horses, most of them are weak, and there are not many truly capable teams. Once Wang Ziyong left, more than 10,000 men and horses in the "Jinliang Village" were missing, and now outside the city
With the strength of more than 30,000 rebels, it is simply impossible to storm Huaiqing City within a few days.
The only way is to lure the officers and soldiers out of the city. The two sides fight outside the city. The rebel army has a chance to win. However, the officers and soldiers occupy the city and defend it. The commander-in-chief, Yu Jue, is not a fool. He wants to
How easy is it to lure him out?
The first step of Hua Bushi's strategy was to convince Yu Jue that the rebel army's combat power was low and to have the idea of underestimating the enemy. In the past few days, the king himself had been defeated in consecutive battles and lost troops and generals, but he did this inadvertently. And the next three
During the siege of the city, the rebels continued to perform as well as they did in the previous days. During the siege, the troops were scattered and unorganized. They suffered heavy damage before they even reached the city wall, and the officers and soldiers defending the city were completely missing.
After these few days of siege battles, this step seems to have been completed well, and today, it has reached a critical moment to determine the outcome!
At this time, the siege battle had already begun.
The main attack direction chosen by the rebels was still the same as yesterday at the east city gate, and more troops were dispatched than in the previous days, with more than 10,000 people. They seemed to know that today was the last day, so they set up a battle to the death.
The frame.
Tens of thousands of horses lined up three miles in front of the city. Even though the formation was a little skewed and scattered, it still had quite a bit of momentum. Gao Yingxiang personally went to the battle to supervise the battle. He was wearing bright armor and a bright red shirt. He stood tall and tall in the formation with a horizontal sword.
The banner with the word "handsome" on it is very conspicuous. Beside Gao Yingxiang, there are more than ten rebel leaders, all of them are fully armed, with raised eyebrows and majestic look.
After the formation was formed, the drums sounded, and more than a thousand soldiers rushed out, carrying more than 20 ladders and rushed towards the city wall.
These rebel soldiers quickly rushed to the moat, jumped into the river one after another and began to swim. Arrows on the city wall poured down like locusts, crossbows and torch carts began to fire, and wherever the fire flashed, there was a deafening sound. The roar was actually a row of artillery firing at the same time!
Although the rebels in the moat raised their shields for protection, how could they withstand the attacks of so many heavy long-range weapons? In just a moment, more than half of them were killed or injured, and only three or four hundred of the more than a thousand people were left. The entire section of the river was covered with water. Stained red with blood! Judging from the situation, all these rebels will die before they can reach the city wall.
The commander-in-chief, Yu Jue, is on the city gate tower at the moment. He is about thirty years old, with a green face and a long beard, a tiger's back and a strong waist. He is very powerful. He has a helmet on his head and armor on his body. He has a black sheath sword on his waist. It is more than half a foot longer than an ordinary waist knife, and the blade is much wider and thicker. It must be a weapon used by those who are proficient in sword skills.
Standing next to Yu Jue was an elegant-looking civil servant in his forties who was wearing a robe. He was Shi Dongchang, the prefect of Huaiqing Prefecture.
Looking at the heavy casualties of the rebel soldiers in the moat under the city wall, Shi Dongchang said: "General Yu is really good at predicting events. He actually predicted that these bandits would attack Dongcheng today and moved all ten Hongyi cannons here. , this time they will definitely suffer!"
Yu Jue laughed "hehe" twice and said: "Thank you, Mr. Shi! These mud-legged peasants don't know how to use troops. When the general saw the movement of troops in their camp yesterday, he knew that they would attack Dongcheng today. In fact, even if they don't Attacking the east side and attacking any of Huaiqing's gates are just a way to die!"
Shi Dongchang said: "What General Yu said is absolutely true! With a general guarding Huaiqing Town, what are the tens of thousands of bandits in this area? With General Yu's ability, if Lord Fan had sent you to lead the troops to suppress the bandits earlier, Henan Province would have I'm afraid the banditry in the territory has been put down long ago, so why let that Mingxuan Governor Zhang Zongheng come here to wield power and cause trouble?"
Shi Dongchang is the fifth-grade prefect, and his official rank is one level higher than that of Yu Jue. However, he is a civil servant and does not know how to fight. At this time, Yu Jue, the commander-in-chief of the army, is of great use, so he naturally picks up nice things to say.
After being praised by his superiors, Yu Jue even smiled and said: "In the past, I heard that Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong were so fierce, but now it seems that it is all untrue! It's not Yu Jue's boast, as long as the governor dispatches 20,000 elite soldiers and puts me in command, In less than three months, the general will be able to wipe out all the bandits in Henan, capture all the bandit leaders, and escort them to Kaifeng Mansion for questioning!"
Shi Dongchang said: "Okay! After these bandits retreat, Shi will definitely go to the governor to ask for merit for General Yu. Now Lord Fan is short of generals who can lead the army in battle, and there are only 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers left. Commander-in-Chief, Zhang Zongheng and his like were allowed to show off their power in the Henan territory and be unparalleled. General Yu did a great job in defending the city. Master Fan will definitely use him in a more important way. In the future, when the general will rise step by step and command tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, he must not forget Shi. Just people will do!”[
Yu Jue was almost overwhelmed with pride, and immediately bowed his hands deeply and said: "Thank you Master Shi for your support and recommendation. If I am really lucky enough to be promoted in the future, I will naturally treat Master Shi as a great benefactor. How can I forget it?"