Since the two countries are currently at war, the border area is also filled with a tense and murderous atmosphere, and personnel exchanges have completely stopped. While the Wei army blocked Queshu Valley, it also blocked news from Jinyang.
Therefore, Li Tai, who has now entered Yining City in the Qinshui Valley, does not know the enemy's movements in Jinyang, but this is not important to him. The current rhythm of the war has always been in the hands of the Western Wei Dynasty.
Just a few days after Yining City was captured, Han Guo, who was specially recruited to the Qinshui front line, also led the 10,000 rear division brigade to Yining City. Along with him, there were several generals from Hedong, such as Xue
Shan, Liu Daiwei, etc. At the same time, there was also a general who surrendered from the Eastern Wei to the Western Wei in the early years, Yun Bao.
The previous attempt to surrender Yining City gave Li Tai a big taste. The methods of storming the city and persuading the defenders to surrender were different, and the harvest was also very different.
If you attack the enemy city by force, the price you pay will be greater, and the losses in the battle between the two sides will also be very staggering. However, if you can use relatively peaceful means to recruit and surrender the enemy in a united battle, not only will the price you pay be smaller, but the cooperation of the surrender will also be higher.
, more character resources are collected.
Of course, Li Tai does not insist on frequently persuading the enemy to surrender. Various situations may occur during the war. It is of course good to have an additional option of united front methods when facing the enemy.
Hedong has a special geographical location, and many people are distributed between the two countries. It is more convenient to recruit several subordinates from Hedong to accompany the army, whether it is to persuade opponents to surrender during the war, or to reorganize and place prisoners to surrender after the war.
"The former communist generals and Korean generals attacked the Eastern bandits together. I think about it as if it was yesterday. It was endlessly fun. Now we are fighting side by side. When we fight against the bandits again, the generals are as brave as they were yesterday. They will definitely be able to win even more than they did before!"
Li Tai greeted the soldiers in front of Yining City. After Han Guo heard this, he quickly bowed and said: "My lord, your courage back then was already admirable, but now the army is even more powerful. The last general will obey the orders.
If you kill the enemy bravely, you don't need to be afraid of the tenacious thieves."
The group of people exchanged brief greetings in front of the city gate, then entered the city together and sat down in the main hall. Then Li Tai personally told Han Guo and others about the current situation and the next combat goal.
"Now that all the enemies in Qinyuan have been defeated, I own Yining, Guyuan and other cities. The thieves from Shangdang patrolled their old places but did not dare to enter. There are still thieves approaching Wusu City, two hundred miles east of Qinyuan.
Wan, the guard general Wei Yi also congratulated the old subordinates of Liuhun's minions. If this city is captured, our army's path to the east will be more open, from the south to the north, and the thieves will definitely be poorer!"
At this point, Li Tai asked someone to display a topographic map around Wusu City in the hall. This map was drawn after asking locals and scouts to visit it, but it still looked too messy and scrawled.
Li Tai was also a little helpless about this. In an important town like Wusu City, even if the enemy has relatively detailed maps and information, they are important military secrets and difficult to capture. The surrounding terrain is complex and changeable.
There are many enemy troops stationed now, and the scouts may take advantage of the gap, but it is difficult to move around calmly. The current topographic map has been drawn with great efforts during this period, but its real practical value is still relatively limited.
He then looked at Han Guo and said: "Wusu City is located in the ancient Yanyu area. It is what Zhao General Zhao She called the Rat's Fighting Cave. It has ravines and ridges, and the terrain is changeable. If the city cannot be conquered, it will be difficult for the army to get out." The situation is far away, and because the enemy is victorious, General Han is the leader, so he summoned the general here and led the best troops to advance towards Wusu. I will lead the remaining troops and follow the way forward. If there are thieves on the left and right who come to disturb me, I will lead the troops myself. In conclusion, the general can concentrate on attacking the city."
After hearing this, Han Guo nodded and said: "This territory has never been in or out before. Please follow the scouts to inspect it first, observe the unevenness of the terrain and the straightness of the roads, and then tell the Lord how many soldiers should be sent to attack the enemy's city."
Li Tai had seen Han Guo's talents with his own eyes, so he arranged for scouts who had been in and out of that territory before to serve as guides, leading Han Guo and others to go to Wusu with a small group of elites to spy on the enemy.
This is the general Yun Bao. In the third year of the reign of the Western Wei Dynasty, when Dugu Xin led his army to conquer Luoyang, He Ruotong, who was the governor of Ying at the time, and his son He Ruodun and others killed the governor of Yingzhou in response to Dugu Xin. Ren Xiang led the army to attack in Xingtai of the Western Wei Dynasty. In Yingchuan, Yunbao was in Ren Xiang's army. Later, Yu Wengui led his army to rescue Yingchuan and defeated Ren Xiang. Yunbao also surrendered to the Western Wei Dynasty at this time.
However, like other surrendered generals, Yunbao was also quite neglected in Guanzhong and found it difficult to integrate into the mainstream core. Li Tai did not know much about him before and had little communication with him. However, when preparing for the Eastern Expedition, Yu Wengui asked him The recommendation was Yun Bao, and Li Taicai summoned him into the army.
Yunbao also attached great importance to this opportunity to accompany the army on the expedition, so he took the initiative to ask for orders: "There are many dangerous and secret connections between Qinguzhi and Shangdang. I will invite other troops to guard the flanks for the Lord, and also It can monitor the enemy's movements. If the thieves head north in large numbers to rescue Wu Su, it would also be a good idea to attack the Shangdang from the side!"
After hearing this, Li Tai nodded and said: "Wen Hua Zhenggong, Han Mulan and others praised General Yun for being a mighty and brave general. Today's matter requires the help of loyal and brave people to succeed."
There are roads along the Qinshui River Valley to the east that can lead to Tunliu, Changzi and other places in the western border of Shangdang. Although the army is still reluctant to advance and retreat on these roads, it is also impossible to prevent a small group of elites sneaking into the country and harassing them with light armor.
Li Tai had already deployed some spy scouts among the paths to monitor the movement. Since it was Yun Bao who took the initiative to ask for help, he enlisted the help of two thousand troops to guard the paths to ensure the safety of this direction.
Han Guo went to the enemy territory to patrol and explore, and it took him three days to return. After returning to Yining City, he presented an attack plan to Li Taijin, which required at least 15,000 soldiers to guard the dangerous points. You can launch an attack on Wusu City.
Wusu City is located in the angle between Taihang Mountain and Taiyue Mountain. The terrain is surrounded by mountains on all sides, but the mountains in the south are gentler. It is a hilly area transitioning from the mountainous area to the Changzhi Basin. The city is located at the intersection of various roads. Although the terrain is equally steep, it is not like Yining City, which has only the north and south passages of the Qinshui River Valley. It is more like a city located in the center of a complicated spider web.
In such a terrain, if you want to besiege a city, the tenacious resistance of the defenders in the city is not the most important. You must be prepared for the silent approach of reinforcements from all sides. If you are discovered by the enemy reinforcements when they get close, you will be attacked from both inside and outside. Defeat is inevitable.
A considerable part of the fifteen thousand troops proposed by Han Guo were used to separate lanes for defense and block Northern Qi reinforcements. Only in this way can we attack the city with peace of mind.
After Li Tai heard Han Guo's plan, he directly dispatched his 20,000 troops. As the army did not go north from Queshu Valley to attack Jinyang, the war had progressed to this point, and there were already few who could attack Wusu.
Not many choices.
Once Wusu City is captured, it will further separate the different regions of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and even intensify its internal conflicts. At the same time, Li Tai also wants to test the Northern Qi army's internal combat response capabilities through such extreme pressure.
, if the reaction of the Northern Qi army is still not sensitive enough in the next war, then some jump raids and fortification operations can be carried out next, making the Northern Qi defense force even more stretched.
Previously, Li Tai led an army of 20,000 to attack Yining City, and then Han Guo brought another 10,000 troops. After sending 20,000 divisions and brigade led by Han Guo to attack Wusu City, only 10,000 troops remained in the Qinyuan Valley.
.
There are still more than 90,000 troops in Jinzhou City, and before Wusu City is captured, Li Tai does not plan to send more troops to Yining for the time being. The Qinshui River Valley is long and narrow, which is not conducive to the long-term garrison of the army. The passage through Wusu City has not been blocked.
Before it was opened, it would be meaningless for too many people to gather here. It would only increase the consumption of transshipment of grain and grass supplies. The road between Pingyang and Yining is smooth, and it would not take long for the people to arrive if a large army is really needed to advance.
Soon Han Guo led his army eastward from Qinyuan. He first sent a small group of elite troops to move forward and sweep out the garrison strongholds set up by the Qi army around Wusu City one by one. Then the troops on the way gathered and stopped in Wusu City.
In the northeastern region, guard the mountain trails in the direction of Taihang Mountain.
Then the main force led by Han Guo arrived at Wusu City. He did not set up any fortifications such as ravines and barriers outside Wusu City, and carried out an all-round siege of the city. He only set up construction in the north of Wusu City near the mountains and wilderness.
They built fortresses, piled up mountains of earth, and launched an attack on Wusu City.
The garrison soldiers of Wusu City were not willing to be outdone. As early as Han Guo and his army had just arrived at the city, and when their foothold was not stable, the garrison general Wei Gu personally led a group of elite troops to rush out of the city and charge towards the Wei army.
Fortunately, Han Guo also used his troops prudently and did not feel arrogant because he was the main attacker. The soldiers were well prepared and were able to calmly meet the attack. After repelling the enemy, they established a fixed camp in the north of Wusu City.
After building all kinds of siege equipment, they continued to attack Wusu City day and night.
During this period, the Shangdang direction also sent reinforcements several times, but Han Guo, who was good at observing the enemy's movements, noticed in advance and sent troops to contain and repel them, leaving Wusu City as an isolated city.
Just a few days after Han Guo launched his attack on the city, the defenders in the city gradually couldn't stand the loneliness and suffering. One evening, they chose to break out and fight. After a battle with the attacking Wei army under the city, the two sides ended up winning or losing.
Fearing that he would retreat to the city and be besieged again, Wei Xun decided to burn the city and leave.
Because the fire in the city was too fierce, Han Guo did not dare to lead his troops directly into the city. On the one hand, he sent people to inform Li Tai in Yining City on the back road of the good news. On the other hand, he also sent people to search for water sources in nearby streams and springs.
He fetched water to put out the fire, and after the fire was under control, he led his troops into the city and stationed themselves there, waiting for the arrival of the rear division brigade.