Marco Polo Bridge, named after it spans the Marco Polo River, is located 30 miles southwest of Peiping and is an important gateway into Peiping. This is an ancient eleven-hole arch bridge. The entire bridge is made of stone and connected with silver ingots and iron tenons. The bridge is about ninety feet long, but only two feet wide, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Cao Guogong Li Jinglong led the army to attack here and was ready for a fierce battle. The wooden piles for the pontoon bridge had been ordered to be prepared by the heavy camp. They planned to forcefully cross the river and press in with the large army. Unexpectedly, the bridge was quiet, and there was not a single Yan army guard.
It was already quite cold on the Marco Polo River in October. The crescent moon at Lugou River is one of the eight scenic spots in Yanjing. A crescent moon faintly remains on the horizon, imprinted on the clear water of Lugou River, with blue waves rippling and the shadow of the moon dancing along with it.
It turned out that Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Neng, Dao Yan and Xu Ying had discussed that there were only 10,000 defenders in Beiping City, and they could only rely on Beiping's terrain and city walls to defend it. The garrison of Marco Polo Bridge originally numbered more than 400 people, but how useful were they in front of the Confederate Army's 500,000 troops? He was trampled to death. Simply withdrew from Beiping City.
Li Jinglong was riding on his horse, looking at the empty bridge. He didn't know whether he should be happy or worried. The governors Qu Neng and Chen Hui, and the deputy generals Ping An and Wu Jie came forward to inquire. Li Jinglong waved his hand, and the army crossed the bridge one by one.
When they were in Zhending City, the Southern Army heard that Zhu Di was leading troops to rescue Yongping. Qu Neng once suggested that since the Liaodong Army was attacking Yongping in the northeast corner, the Southern Army might as well attack Huai Lai Miyun and clean up all the counties around Beiping. Using the method of "driving fish out of four abyss", all the Yan troops were driven into Beiping City. Once Yan's tens of thousands of troops are trapped in the city, the supply of food and grass will sooner or later become a problem. By then, the army will be able to destroy Yan without a single blow.
Li Jinglong disagreed.
This time the imperial court entrusted him with an army that would overwhelm the country. According to Qu Neng's strategy, it would take at least half a year. The supply of these 500,000 people was also a problem. Now the imperial court has sent a message to the three provinces of Shandong, Henan and Shanxi to provide food and salary, but such a large team will definitely not be able to provide food for a long time. Is it possible to transport food all the way from Zhili? A protracted war would be even more detrimental to the imperial army.
Thinking of the emperor's ardent expectations before leaving, Li Jinglong wanted to capture King Yan immediately and take him back to the capital. How could he wait so long? It's better to take advantage of the high morale, attack Peiping, and seize King Yan's lair! Having made this determination, Li Jinglong left only a few defenders in Zhending and personally led an army of 500,000 to Peiping.
The moon was cold, the wind was blowing, and the soldiers of the Confederate Army in bright uniforms ran across the Marco Polo Bridge.
The team was so huge that it took a whole day to cross the Marco Polo Bridge. When the last man and horse crossed the bridge and arrived outside Peiping City, the vanguard had already set up camp and started burying pots and stoves. There were curls of smoke rising everywhere.
Li Jinglong stood in front of the Chinese military tent and looked at the city of Beiping in the distance. In the vast twilight, the majestic city of Beiping squats like a giant beast under Yanshan Mountain. The flag on top of the city flutters in the wind, and the big Chinese character "Yan" is faintly visible. There is a guard standing on the tower about every ten steps. From a distance of more than ten miles, it seemed that the solemn expressions of the guards could be seen.
"A strong man is so generous. He aspires to be powerful in all directions. He drives his car to fight far away, forgetting his orders. He has a good bow and a black horn, and his armor is shining. When faced with danger, he does not care about life, and his body and soul are in the air. How can he serve as a soldier with his whole body and fight on the battlefield? …”
In the camp, Qu Tao's chanting could be heard faintly. Li Jinglong listened with pride in his chest.
I am the son of King Qiyang, come on! A big fight! Take Peiping!
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There are nine gates in Beiping City. Li Jinglong, Qu Neng, Chen Hui and others discussed repeatedly and chose the widest Yongding Gate as the main attack in order to maximize the advantage of having more troops. Qu Yu Qu Tao spent the night preparing various siege tools such as stone chariots, ladders, siege chariots, and rams, and planned to start a strong attack early the next morning.
At Mao hour, the sky was clear and the morning light was slightly dew. The army formed a formation and slowly marched towards Yongding Gate.
The scout suddenly rushed back to report: "Report to the general! The Yan army has left the city!"
Li Jinglong and Qu Neng were startled and looked at each other. Li Jinglong ordered: "Explore again!"
When the army arrived in front of Yongding Gate, they saw that the suspension bridge had been lowered, and the Yan army was neatly lined up in the open space in front of the moat: in front was a row of shield bearers, followed by archers and shield soldiers, and then two spearmen. The cavalry troops were arranged on the left and right. Under the clear blue sky, the shining red tassels of armor were fluttering, and the fierceness of the Yan army came through the cold wind.
The two generals stood high on their horses and looked at the Confederate army coldly without saying a word.
Li Jinglong couldn't help but feel angry. How could this pair of Yan troops, with only five or six thousand men, compete with his own army of half a million? And the strategy of forming an array behind the city is even more contemptuous of oneself.
Ping'an was young and energetic. He couldn't help it and shouted loudly: "Rebel! Why don't you bow down when you see the imperial army?"
A general on the opposite side said loudly: "Dong Cao! The King of Yan is in trouble. He reports to Taizu Tian's kindness and protects the young ruler of Sheji. Taizu's ancestral teachings say that if there are no honest ministers in the dynasty, and there are evildoers, we must train troops to punish them. The King of Qing was evil, and King Yan followed the instructions of his ancestors to attack the two treacherous ministers of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng. King Qiyang was a hero in the founding of the country, and the Li family has been loyal and loyal for generations. How could Duke Cao bear to see his young master deceived?"
Li Jinglong's anger grew stronger, and these rebels were still justified! Just as he was about to attack, Qu Tao had already mounted his horse and marched into battle: "Rebellious ministers and traitors! So much nonsense! I am Qu Tao, dismount and die!"
The person who spoke saw a young general coming out and laughed loudly: "Okay! Refreshing! I am Zhu Neng! Let's have a fight!"
Qu Neng waved his hand, and the war drum behind him beat loudly, and the Yan army on the opposite side also beat the war drum at the same time. Amidst the sound of drums, the two generals immediately joined forces to fight. The sergeants of both sides waved flags and shouted. The Southern Army was victorious because of the large number of people, but the Northern Army had a loud voice. The noise shook the mountains and fields for a while.
When Zhu Neng and Qu Tao met their opponents in chess, they saw two horses going back and forth, swords flashing, and there was no winner or loser for hundreds of rounds. The fight lasted from early morning to noon, with no winner or loser.
Zhu Neng suddenly spurred his horse and jumped out of the circle, shouting: "It's hard for you to come far away, and I don't want to bully a junior like you. Let's rest today and fight again tomorrow!" Without waiting for Qu Tao's reaction, he had already raised his spear, and the rear team moved to the front. The team slowly retreated from the suspension bridge into the city.
Qu Neng said anxiously: "General, hurry up and pursue us with a drum, we can reach the city gate!"
Li Jinglong hesitated: "Is this a scam?"
Qu Neng was anxious: "Don't miss this opportunity!"
While Li Jinglong hesitated, the Yan army had already retreated into the city, and the suspension bridge opposite slowly rose.
Qu Neng sighed inwardly. The army marched long distances and came with great fanfare. On this first day, the morale was at its highest, but the Yan army deliberately made noise and delayed it for a whole day. Now the morale is gone and we can't attack today.
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The Confederate army returned to camp with all their strength and drums calmed down. Qu Neng advised: "General, don't quarrel with the Yan army tomorrow. Just attack directly. Our army's strength is dozens of times that of the Yan army. Even if the casualties are larger, the city will definitely be taken." ".
Li Jinglong agreed and returned to the barracks. General Zhenglu secretly made up his mind to launch a strong attack tomorrow!
In the middle of the night, the Confederate camp was quiet. Only the scouts who kept vigil were patrolling and guarding, and the soldiers in the camp were sleeping soundly.
Suddenly, there was a loud banging of gongs and drums, and shouts spread: "The camp is being attacked! The camp is being attacked!"
Li Jinglong hurriedly put on his clothes and ran out of the tent, but he couldn't see the Yan army's soldiers and horses. Only the frightened soldiers looked outside the tent, all of them disheveled.
The scout hurriedly came to report: "General! It was the Yan Army who had a dozen or so sergeants on the tower. They beat gongs and drums and shouted for a while. General Qu chased after them. They had already ran back to the city."
Li Jinglong was so angry that he waved his hand: "Go back to bed!"
As it approached early in the morning, another dozen or so Yan troops came to cause trouble, and Li Jinglong and the soldiers of the three armies all woke up from their sleep. Qu Neng was helpless, so he simply asked Qu Yu to lead a hundred soldiers to guard in front of the camp. The Yan army did not come, but it was daybreak.
That night, no one in the Confederate Army had slept well. When they got up in the morning, they all looked tired and yawned profusely when greeting them.
But this day is a day of storming. Peiping must be captured!
On the battlefield in front of the Confederate army, there was a line of stone carts, more than a hundred of them. Li Jinglong nodded, and Chen Hui shouted loudly: "Let go!" The boulder flew up in a whoosh, making a loud noise in the sky, and landed rumble on the city wall.
But the city walls of Peiping are extremely strong, and there will be no reaction if stones are thrown at them. Moreover, Beiping is located in a plain, so it is very difficult to find stones. Chen Hui led people to search for only this many for a day and a night. It is estimated that even an hour is not enough. Chen Hui looked at it and couldn't help but feel anxious.
Li Jinglong didn't sleep well all night, and his eyes were black and blue. Pulling himself together, he stood on his horse, looked at the three characters "Yongding Gate" on the city gate, and waved his hand: "Up!"
The dark crowd was like a rushing tide, shouting "Destroy the Yan! Destroy the Yan!" Ben Yongdingmen rushed over.
The city wall of Peiping is more than seven feet thick, with two layers inside and outside. There is a watchtower between the two lines of defense as a command post, and watchtowers at the four corners for observing the enemy. Zhu Gaochi was sitting in the enemy tower, looking down at the city. Zhu Gaosui was wearing armor and guarding him.
The endless stretch of Confederate military camps covered the ground in the southeast, south and southwest of Peiping, stretching as far as the eye could see. However, due to terrain restrictions, even at the widest Yongding Gate, only about 10,000 siege troops could rush forward in a single line. The southern army behind them formed a formation and waited for their turn. There are countless phalanxes connected to each other.
The weather is bad today, the eyes are full of haze, and heavy black clouds are hanging overhead. The swarming troops of the Confederate army were heavier than the black clouds and densely packed like busy and anxious ants before the rain. They were many and fast. Everyone is holding a huge shield, covering their heads tightly.
Seeing the first wave of Confederate troops entering the shooting range, Zhu Gaochi waved his hand and shouted: "Fire the arrows!"
Suddenly, arrows were flying like rain, and the archers who had been preparing for a long time on the city wall let go of their strings, and just shot at the crowd regardless of accuracy. However, blocked by the giant shield, the Confederate army's casualties were not large, and there were really many people, so more came up in waves.
When the waves got closer, Zhu Gaochi waved his hand again and shouted: "Strong crossbow, release!"
The power of the crossbow is far greater than that of bows and arrows. The triggers of the crossbows were pulled in waves, and the swish and swish sound suddenly jumped out, directly knocking down or even penetrating the shield. The charging crowd of the Confederate Army suddenly collapsed.
In the open space inside the city gate, there were about thirty stone carts standing. Xu Ying stood in the watchtower, holding a small seven-color flag, and directed the stone-delivering truck to the place where the crowd was the densest, or where the Confederate army fired the stone-delivering truck. There was a constant "squeaking" sound, and huge stones fell on the Confederate camp, causing bursts of screams.
With a "krack" sound, a stone-emitting cart of the Southern Army was hit by a huge boulder of the Yan Army and collapsed to the ground, like a giant beast that was killed by a hunter and became silent. One after another, Confederate stone carts fell down. The watchtower on the city wall is high up, and you can watch every move of the Confederate army very clearly. Xu Ying commanded the attack of the stone-throwing chariot, which was much more advantageous than the Southern Army who could only look at the wall and throw stones.
In the dense sea of arrows and crossbows, the bodies of the fallen soldiers of the Confederate army were instantly strewn across the field, covering the open space in front of the moat. Soon, the moat was also filled. The river water first turned red, and soon the water was no longer visible, only piles of corpses stuffed in the river.
The Confederate army behind them became red-eyed, and more people rushed forward, stepping on the corpses on the road, roaring and rushing forward. The war drums were beating so fast and violently that the air seemed to be boiling!
The two brothers Qu Yu and Qu Tao rushed forward, holding shields in their left hands to block the rain of arrows. They rushed across the moat and rushed under the city wall. Qu Yu waved his hand, and a large barrel of oil poured out on the city gate. Qu Tao stretched out the torch in his right hand to light it, and the city gate was instantly ablaze.
Qu Yu and Qu Tao smiled at each other, took the ladder from the hands of the southern army who was following behind, set it up next to the city gate, and climbed up with all his strength. Then one ladder after another was put up on the wall. Countless Confederate troops boarded the ladder and struggled to climb up.
Seeing the city gate on fire, Xu Ying waved the purple flag in her hand. A group of royal servants and servants who had been preparing for a long time in the city swarmed up carrying washing buckets and bathtubs; Dao Yan and a group of monks also arrived quickly, shaking the wooden buckets. The water flowed up like a waterfall, water splashed in all directions, and the fire gradually extinguished.
Qu Yu Qu Tao was in mid-air, holding a steel knife in his mouth, and continued to climb up. Ladders were being pushed down one after another, and soldiers falling in mid-air let out pitiful screams. However, more ladders were put up on the wall, and the defenders on the wall were overwhelmed and could no longer take care of them.
The troops led by Ping An rushed to the bottom of the city. The shield bearers protected the archers and formed a formation. Arrows flew continuously and shot towards the city tower. "Boom, boom, boom" a rhythmic loud sound sounded dullly, and the crashing car began to hit the city gate.
The yellow flag in Xu Ying's hand waved, and rows of powerful crossbows fell from the city tower. With a swishing wind and lightning, the Confederate soldiers who hit the door were instantly penetrated, and some were actually nailed in front of the city gate.
Seeing that the steel crossbow was powerful, Ping An hurriedly stepped aside to avoid the range of the city guard's crossbow. Looking up, Qu Yu and Qu Tao were already approaching the tower. Ping An shouted: "Quick! Quick!" urging the Confederate troops on the ladder to climb up in a swarm. The spearmen and axemen on the tower were suppressed by the rain of arrows from the Confederate army and were unable to push down the ladder.
The biting cold wind blew, and Li Jinglong looked at the city from a distance, feeling in a daze.
is this real? So many people dying in waves? Flesh and blood were flying everywhere, corpses were strewn across the field, and screams filled the ears. The entire battlefield was like a purgatory.
Finally, Qu Yu Qu Tao took the lead on the tower. The two men raised their long swords and slashed fiercely. The Yan army on the city wall fell instantly. The Southern army took the opportunity to climb up more than a hundred people, and there was a melee on the city tower.
When Zhu Gaochi saw it, he hurriedly pushed Zhu Gaosui who was guarding him: "Quick! Go quickly!" Zhu Gaosui had no time to think, so he rushed out with his sword and joined the battle group.
In the watchtower, Xu Ying also saw the Confederate troops ascending the city, and the Confederate troops on the ladders were still swarming up. Stomping his feet, Hou Xian shouted to Wang Jinghong: "What are you two waiting for! I can't die!"
Wang Jinghong and Hou Xian looked at each other, and at the same time, they flashed and ran to the top of the tower. These two masters were like tigers entering the flock, and the one or two hundred people who came up from the Confederate army fell down in rows in an instant. Zhu Gaosui and Qu Yu were defeated in the duel. Wang Jinghong struck with his sword, but Qu Yu dodged sharply and was hit in the left shoulder. Hou Xian took over Qu Tao, and the soldiers of the Southern Army suddenly became exhausted.
Suddenly, shouts rang out from Changui Gate to the west. It turned out that Qu Neng and Li Jinglong discussed it and expected that the Yan army would defend Yongding Gate with all their strength, and the other gates would be empty. Qu Neng led a team of 4,000 people and quietly attacked Zhangyi Gate. As expected, there were only a few hundred guards at Zhangyi Gate. Qu Neng led his troops to attack the city bravely, and actually succeeded in one fell swoop, breaking through the first gate of the city. line of defense.
Qu Neng was overjoyed and led thousands of people into the city. As soon as they entered the door, a general suddenly appeared. He was tall and cold-faced. It was Zhu Neng who had been ambushing him at the edge of the city yesterday. The two sides instantly fought together.
The Southern Army was directly under the control of the Chinese Army Governor-General's Palace. Most of the soldiers had only been trained in the school field, but the Yan Army had experienced hundreds of battles against the Mongolian cavalry, and they were tough and brave. In this situation where the difference in numbers was not huge, the Confederate army was powerless to resist. Qu Neng saw that the situation was not good, so he had to retreat while fighting, shouting: "General, reinforcements!"
Li Jinglong saw Qu Neng attacking Zhangyi Gate from a distance. He was happy at first, but was shocked when he saw Zhu Neng's ambush. I have heard for a long time that King Yan used his army treacherously, and Marquis Changxing was defeated three times by King Yan's tricks. The Zhangyi Gate opened easily. Who knew it wasn't a trick by the Yan army to lure the enemy? I don’t know how many tricks Zhu Neng has!
Li Jinglong looked at the tower again. There were only a few Confederate soldiers. Qu Yu and Qu Tao struggled to hold on. Qu Yu was bleeding all over his body and was obviously injured. The father and son of the Qu family came from far away from Shu. How could they be allowed to sacrifice themselves and chill the hearts of the Shu army
Li Jinglong sighed and shouted: "Ming Jin! Retreat the troops!"
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This day was the strongest day for the Southern Army's offensive. After that, the imperial army attacked the city day by day, but they were never able to climb the city wall and enter the city gate. Princess Yan and Crown Prince Yan defended the city and did not pursue the Confederate army when it retreated. Instead, they often dropped off a few people from the city tower at night to harass the Confederate army camp. Li Jinglong was so angry that he tried to dig tunnels, use artillery, and attack Xuanwu Gate, but he never succeeded.
The weather was getting colder day by day. One day, Li Jinglong looked at Beiping City and saw white light shining on the city wall, which was actually covered with a thick layer of ice.
Li Jinglong's heart was like this thick layer of ice, pulling out the cold.
The city of Beiping, at least this winter, cannot be taken.
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