After finishing the conversation with Du Youan, Li Tai climbed onto the Xiazuo Tower and looked towards Fancheng a few miles to the southwest.
Although this guy Du Youan has no bottom line in ethics, what he said is indeed true in some places. Although Fancheng is already a lonely and dangerous city from the front, if you look from the side and the rear, there is a vast world.
The wide Han River is connected with the two cities on its north and south sides. From Li Tai's perspective, he can clearly see the outline of Xiangyang City and the large and small boats moored on the dock. The Han River in the south of Fancheng The same is true on the water dock.
Although the current flow of the Han River has decreased due to the season, exposing a large section of the embankment, it still does not affect navigation. As Du You'an said, if this section of the Han River cannot be controlled, there will be no way to cut off Fancheng's supply line. , it is very difficult to conquer the city.
The ultra-long-range reciprocating cannon can play a certain role in attacking boats on the river, but if the enemy advances or retreats on a large scale, the range that can be covered by two stone cannons and the damage they can cause is relatively limited.
Of course, this is just a normal situation, but the information provided and the attitude shown by Du Youan, the descendant, show that Xiangyang is in a very delicate period today. Therefore, many situations are difficult to predict through common sense. How it will develop specifically will only be known after playing it.
Li Tai planned in his mind that he would formally launch an attack on Fancheng tomorrow after the troops from behind arrived. At this time, Xiangyang was also in some confusion due to the loss of Xiaxie garrison.
"How many days did the enemy attack last? The garrison was actually lost!"
After receiving the battle report from the north bank, Yueyang King Xiao Jin immediately summoned the Yongzhou people to the state capital and shouted angrily with a livid face.
As soon as he finished speaking, a general stood up and said: "As the commander of the garrison, Du You'an couldn't focus on defense. He didn't dare to fight when he saw the thieves coming. He actually went out to capture the thieves. It's really hard to absolve him of the blame. !”
"The city of Xiazuo garrison is small and cannot accommodate a large number of troops! Its city is just a fortress outside Fancheng. The two places are connected by water and land, and they are closely related. If Fancheng can provide assistance in time, how can Du garrison become poor and surrender to the enemy?"
Someone else expressed another opinion, and the tone was stronger: "Fancheng guard general Liu Fanggui made a mistake in his deployment and defense, which resulted in the loss of many garrison units. He should bear the first responsibility!"
"Shut up, please. The war is going on like this. We are still blaming each other for faults and are afraid to take responsibility. Shouldn't we think more carefully about how to resist the enemy?"
Although King Yueyang denounced angrily, he felt a bit happy in his heart. He first looked at one of the generals and said solemnly: "Master Du Shu is trapped in prison. I know Gong Heng is also anxious, but the battle is urgent today. Please put your personal feelings under control and protect the peace of your hometown with all your strength!
Now that the thieves are approaching the north of the river, the Xiangyang defenders do not dare to move lightly. Please go west to visit Xinxing and other counties, and invite them to cross the river to fight against the thieves' flanks. At that time, I will also attack across the river to prevent the thieves from knocking on the river and disturbing the people!"
The person who was called "Gongheng" by King Yueyang was named Du An. One of Du Youan's brothers was also a state governor. After hearing King Yueyang's instructions, Du An stood up and clasped his fists to receive the order: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. , The safety of our country is of paramount importance, so I will visit you in the next few days to urge my brothers to send troops to fight against the thieves!"
After Du An was ordered to leave, King Yueyang assigned the generals who were close to him to assign tasks. At the end, he lowered his face and said, "Quickly tell Liu Fanggui that he must hold on to Fancheng and not lose it. Don't do it again." The bad news of defeat disturbs people! When it is time to rescue, I will send my own troops to rescue."
After hearing this, the envoy sent by Liu Fanggui had no choice but to quit the city with a grimace, and then returned to Fancheng by boat to inform the general that there was still no intention of rescue in the city.
At present, there are still more than ten thousand soldiers and civilians in the city, and Liu Fanggui's need for reinforcements is not very urgent. But who cares if he has more personnel power? Especially when he is in danger. So seeing the envoys' efforts in vain, Liu Fanggui couldn't help but curse secretly in his heart. .
Since he knew that King Yueyang had entered the town, he was eager to establish his authority and seize power. He issued various edicts frequently, and also wanted to arrange for his royal entourage to move into the state capital. However, he and other elders from the state capital blocked him, causing King Yueyang to I have always held a grudge, and I must have taken this opportunity to take revenge on myself.
As for the hostility shown by the envoys towards him in reporting the relatives of the Du family in Jingzhao, Liu Fanggui felt that he had suffered an unreasonable disaster. In his opinion, the enemy only used two artillery carriages. Although the power seemed relatively strong, they could not guard the distance. It did not reach the level of destroying the city and killing people. Du Youan himself cowardly asked for surrender. How could he blame himself?
Although he was filled with resentment, he could not abandon the city defenses and go back to the rear to fight with those people as he faced a formidable enemy. The most important thing was to deal with the business in front of him.
Early the next morning, Li Tai ordered people to measure outside Fancheng, and then set up two stone cannons at a location convenient for attack.
The defenders of Fancheng naturally saw the tragic situation of the garrison being bombarded yesterday. When they saw that they were going to suffer the same treatment today, they suddenly panicked. Then some generals suggested to Liu Fanggui that they might as well take advantage of the situation. The enemy army has not yet set up and sent troops out of the city to seize or destroy the two stone cannons.
Seeing that the number of enemy troops outside the city was not that large, Liu Fanggui agreed to the proposal after some weighing. Although he laughed at Du Youan's timidity, he was actually a little scared about facing these two stone cannons.
Following Liu Fanggui's order, the side city gate slowly opened, and the cavalry on the plains outside the city immediately noticed it and quickly sounded the horn to warn. At the same time, hundreds of cavalry came from the opened city gate. He rushed out and charged straight towards one of the stone cannons.
Southerners have fewer horses, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have horses. If you are willing to spend time and money, you can still get some horses in Shuzhong and Hanzhong. Although Shu horses are not the best quality war horses, they can still provide long-distance horses. Far exceeding the mobility of the infantry. These Liang Army cavalry had been preparing for a long time, and they rushed out with great momentum this time.
Liu Fanggui looked at the hundreds of cavalry rushing out of the city, and he was sweating in his heart. These were all the cavalry combat units that could be gathered in Fancheng. If they couldn't work, they would basically say goodbye to the next field battle. Confrontation is possible.
When he saw the enemy cavalry wandering on the battlefield, they did not react immediately and gathered to stop them. He was secretly happy. But when he saw the enemy cavalry gathered and then charged towards the open city gate, he suddenly became confused. Stunned.
Isn't the most important thing for the enemy on the battlefield at this time not to protect the stone cannon that has not yet been set up? Why did these enemy cavalry give up such important ordnance and turn to the city gate to rush towards it?
He was still doubting in his heart, but he saw that his own cavalry had rushed into the enemy's stone cannon, which consisted of dozens of infantry formations. However, the expected scene of destruction did not appear, and instead it was the flesh and blood of his own troops. Flying.
They seemed to have hit a solid rock made of steel. Before Liu Fanggui could clearly see the enemy's counterattack, he saw that his own cavalry were already falling layer by layer!
At the same time, the enemy cavalry had already rushed to the open city gate. At this time, there were still sword and shield infantry gathering inside the gate to meet the cavalry. Before they could get out of the city gate, they were attacked by the grown-up infantrymen.
The sharp horse spear thrust, and the already formed formation suddenly became chaotic.
Hearing the howls of fighting coming from below, Liu Fanggui suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He no longer cared about the cavalry sent outside the city, and hurriedly commanded a strong crossbow team to go to the city gate for support.
At this time, Li Tai had just finished arranging his troops at the foot of Xiazuo garrison city. Seeing this scene, he hurriedly ordered Gao Le to lead his troops to reinforce. Unfortunately, the opportunity was fleeting. When Gao Le and his troops arrived, this
A small team that almost broke into the city was forced to retreat by the enemy.
But the battle, which only lasted for a short period of time, had already caused heavy losses to the enemy, especially the pile of corpses inside the city gate, so that the city gate could not be closed for a long time.
Although Gao Le wanted to charge for a while, there were many strong crossbowmen inside the city gate, and the defenders' archers and crossbowmen came to reinforce the city. He could only regretfully retreat and found a new target.
The fleeing enemy cavalry were separated and surrounded, and they were quickly captured and killed.
Officer Li Tai collected the corpses of the enemy soldiers on the battlefield, loaded them on ox carts and dragged them to the city gate, out of the range of the crossbows. Then he shouted to the city to let their relatives and friends come in to bury them: "Our troops entered the country only for punishment."
The Liang army unjustly harassed my former division, not for the purpose of killing the people of Hannan! Our army general, Governor Li Dadu, has issued an order that if you stay in the city, you will not be harmed by the sword. If you dare to go out of the city with weapons, you will be killed without mercy!"
Hearing these shouts, Shang Zi was shocked by the ferocity of the Wei army. The defenders couldn't help but whisper. To be honest, they really didn't know why this war was started. When they heard the other party's shouts at this time, it didn't seem to be...
Must be beaten?
When Liu Fanggui heard the whispers of the soldiers, he felt a little nervous. He hurriedly ordered the drums to beat at the top of the city, trying to drown out the shouts. However, at this time, two stone cannons had been debugged and began to fire into the city.
Cannonballs.
Seeing this scene, the soldiers guarding the city who had witnessed the miserable conditions of the garrison yesterday couldn't help but cry out in sorrow, praying to gods and Buddhas not to be hit by the cannon stones that were as fast as thunderbolts and end up with no bones left.
Two cannonballs were fired, accurately hitting the buildings in the city, but the expected thunderclap sound did not sound. The power of the cannonstones seemed to be much less than yesterday. Instead of smashing the buildings, they rolled along the buildings and fell to the street.
.
Some people who were running away in panic realized that what they saw rolling down was not a cannon stone, but a stone but it was wrapped in thick sacks, and many paper balls were spilled out of the damaged sacks. Then some curious and brave people came away
He went forward, grabbed the paper ball, opened it, and examined it. He found that there were words written on the paper, but he didn't recognize it, so he quickly called for someone who could read.
Someone volunteered to step forward and read loudly: "The Du family is offering Fancheng in order to drive away King Yueyang! What does this mean?"
"And, and more! This one, what's written on this one?"
The people were excited. Although they couldn't figure out what these words described and the logic behind it, they felt inexplicably that something big was about to happen.
Liu Fanggui, who was ashen-faced, rushed over after hearing the news and ordered the people gathered here to be dispersed. Then he collected all the paper balls that rolled out of the sack and looked at them one by one. His face became increasingly ugly.
Outside Fancheng, Li Tai was already riding his horse, surrounded by his own soldiers, to meet the troops who had arrived from behind. He couldn't explain why he wanted to use this strategy, even if he didn't bother to associate with the likes of Du Youan, such a heart-attacking strategy
It can't be said to be clever.
If we really want to find a reason for this behavior, it is to hope that the soldiers and civilians in the city can understand and protect themselves wisely. Because the sword really has no eyes, when the real war begins, no one can distinguish the innocent.