Li Zixiong's tactical thinking is actually very correct. He mainly uses the most orthodox siege tactics to attack the defenders head-on with the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai. The opportunity of the city.
If it was replaced by other cities, General Li used these methods to attack the city, at least six or seven out of ten have already been taken down, but it is a pity that General Li encountered Luoyang City, the eastern capital of the Sui Dynasty, and it was built. However, the city that has been built for more than ten years is extremely strong, needless to say, the fortifications are high, the moats are deep, and the supplies for the defense of the city are sufficient. 'Pei Hongce' also gave him a huge surprise. He used all kinds of defense methods properly, as if he could predict the future. He always predicted General Li's next move and prepared for it in advance, which made the confident old Li The general is full of ambitions, but he can't help the towering city walls of Luoyang.
The patriotic soldiers in white robes also disgusted Old General Li, tightly sealed every loophole accidentally exposed by the defenders of Shangchunmen, and even attacked very viciously, almost All the rebel soldiers who were lucky enough to rush to the top of the city were chopped into pieces. The catapults carefully arranged by General Li to cover the city wall battlefield tactics did not work for them at all. The city wall couldn't make them shake a bit, take a step back, and it couldn't stop them from chopping up the rebel soldiers into pieces less than a foot long and throwing them down the city wall to intimidate the rebels.
This is not over yet. After the corpses piled up under the city of Shangchunmen, seeing that the sun has gradually turned to the west, Old General Li put all his last five ladder trucks into the battlefield for a final attack. The car miraculously climbed up to the city wall with a few flames, and before General Li and the rebel army cheered, the Baoguo army in conspicuous white robes had already cheered and seized the top of the ladder car, continuing to be in a condescending position. In this position, the rebel soldiers who flocked to the car were killed screaming and howling, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and even launched a counter-charge at one point, killing all the rebel soldiers on the ladder back to the ground, and then the soldiers of the Sui Army threw torches and swallowtails torches and burned them easily. When the ladder truck was used in the end, the rebel army had already paid the price of no less than 300 lives for this ladder truck.
Of course, if Old General Li, who was extremely depressed, knew that the last ladder car was intentionally indulged by some bad guy in a white robe and ordered to stop shooting arrows and let the ladder car lean against the city wall, then Old General Li would definitely still be there. To be more depressed.
The twenty ladder vehicles were all gone, and the sun was slowly reaching the west of the sky, which was very unfavorable to the rebel army. The glaring sunlight directly shone on the face of the rebel army, making it difficult for the rebel soldiers to see even the defenders on the city wall. After being slammed and slashed by the defenders fighting against the backlight, before General Li gave the order to call for gold, the already hungry, thirsty and exhausted rebel ant-attached team had already collapsed automatically, and there were still many left behind. The light flying ladder ran back as fast as it could, retreating like a tide. The supervising team led by Yang Xuanting went up to stop it, and was completely submerged by the tide of his own defeated soldiers in the blink of an eye. The safe bow and arrow team and the toad convoy also fled for their lives. In order to escape as soon as possible, many rebel soldiers simply threw a lot of toad vehicles, which were not easy to build, under the city.
There is also the trebuchet fleet of the rebel army. Because of the lack of proficiency in technology and unqualified materials, three of the five trebuchets of the rebel army have withdrawn from the battle because of broken throwing arms. Although the remaining two are still throwing bombs, However, the power has been greatly reduced. Seeing their own brigade retreating backwards, they were densely covered with bows and arrows by the defenders who had freed up their hands. The last two rebel trebuchets also obediently gave up throwing bombs and joined the retreating escape team. team.
Seeing that the enemy's morale was down, Chen Yingliang quickly turned his head to look at the location of the city gate, and found that the rebel siege convoy at that location was also retreating. Chen Yingliang didn't think much about it, and immediately shouted: "Send orders to the regiments of the National Army, All go down to the city gate and gather at the city gate, ready to go out of the city to pursue!"
Roaring, Chen Yingliang grabbed the horizontal knife at his waist, and was about to rush down the city, but an arm stretched out from the side to hold Chen Yingliang, and a very familiar voice sounded, "Don't go, this time the fight was beautiful, The old man is very satisfied, and there is no need to chase after him. There is no need to pass on this order from Chen Yingliang."
"It's a rare opportunity, it's a pity to give up." Chen Yingliang refuted smoothly and realized that something was wrong. Turning around, he saw that the person who grabbed him was Fan Zigai, the boss of Dongdu. Welcome back, please stay behind and forgive me."
"On the battlefield, you don't need so much ceremony, get up." Fan Zigai waved his hand generously, looked at the retreating rebel army outside the city and said, "I heard that you commanded this battle. I can withstand the siege commanded by the old thief Li Zixiong himself. But there is no need to pursue it. It is too hard to serve the national army. They fought the tough battles of this great war. How can we not let them have a good rest? Besides, there are still people outside the city. There are so many Yang rebels, what should we do if we venture out of the city and are surrounded?"
"The villain is not greedy for merit, but wants to retreat after a short chase, continue to anger Yang Xuangan's traitor, and lure him to continue storming Luoyang City." Chen Yingliang explained.
"It's a good idea, but it's better not to take risks." Fan Zigai continued to shake his head, and said, "Don't underestimate Li Zixiong, a traitor. Long before the founding of the Sui Dynasty, he was already a famous general in the previous week, and he was on the battlefield. The time spent rolling is more than twice your age, and you'd better not take the risk to fight against him."
Seeing that Fan Zigai insisted not to fight, Chen Yingliang didn't have much to say, he could only honestly give up the pursuit plan. As a result, Fan Zigai also made a prophetic prediction. During the retreat of the rebel siege team, a rebel cavalry suddenly rushed out from the main rebel formation, rounded back and lined up at the main gate of Shangchun Gate, ready to meet them at any time. The chasing team of the Luoyang garrison, commanding the victorious Chen Yingliang, calmed down and realized that Fan Zigai's caution was not unreasonable. Li Mi, the fox, is not only several times stronger than Li Mi in terms of experience on the battlefield.
While secretly vigilant, Chen Yingliang began to ponder quickly, "Should I do something to lure Yang Xuangan to continue besieging Luoyang City? With the current situation, Yang Xuangan continues to attack Luoyang City. The safest thing is, if Yang Xuangan abandons Luoyang to go to Guanzhong, I will be in big trouble. Fan Zigai will order me out of the city to fight in the field, so as to restrain Yang Xuangan's advance speed. A little carelessness will cause a big problem. "
Chen Yingliang was only vigilant on the city wall, but Li Zixiong's face was ashen in the rebel flag formation. Although he hadn't had time to count the casualties, Li Zixiong knew that his casualties in this battle would never be so small, because at this moment Under the city of Chunmen, the area where the rebel army launched the siege was already blood-red. The corpses of rebel soldiers and broken flags and broken guns were piled up as high as one person, and the corpses and siege weapon wreckage spread all over the place. The mile was long and half a mile wide, and some seriously injured rebel soldiers could vaguely be seen struggling and crawling among the piles of corpses, and were quickly shot down by the defenders on the city wall with bows and arrows, and were nailed to death in the pile of corpses.
Li Zixiong looked at the city wall of Chunmen with a livid face again, and found that the defenders on the wall had already started cheering and celebrating, holding up swords, guns and banners, jumping and jumping, the loud cheers could still be heard two miles away It was clear and clear, and then Li Zixiong became clear again that a general of the Sui army in a white robe was thrown into the sky by the defenders, and then was thrown into the air again and again. It was obvious that this general of the Sui army It must have played a vital role in the war.
Li Zixiong didn't dare to look at the disappointed expressions of the rebel generals next to him, but Li Zixiong had to pay attention to Yang Xuangan's reaction. After carefully turning his gaze to Yang Xuangan's face, Li Zixiong found that Yang Xuangan was also looking at him. It was completely disappointing, Li Zixiong didn't know what he should say now, but he and Yang Xuangan looked at each other silently. It wasn't until a while later that the well-educated Yang Xuangan took the initiative to speak and said, "Old General, don't worry about it. Winning or losing is a common matter in military affairs. We have another time."
Yang Xuangan was just looking for a step for Li Zixiong, and said a symbolic word of comfort, but the face-saving old general Li took the opportunity to make use of it, and said to Yang Xuangan: "Chu Gong, I lost this battle. I am duty-bound. I will never cover up. I will bear all the crimes I deserve. But the old man must declare that the most important reason for the defeat in this battle is the lack of siege weapons, especially the most important catapults are too few. If there are more than 30 catapults, they can be used to To make up for our lack of bows and arrows, ten more ladder carts will be added, and the old man has already captured Luoyang City today!"
In a different way, he shifted part of the responsibility to Li Mi, the deputy military adviser in charge of logistics. Old General Li said brazenly again: "If Chu Gong trusts me, please prepare more siege weapons. To be able to take down Luoyang in one fell swoop, capture Fan Zigai alive, and capture Huangfu Wuyi alive is the revenge of Duke Chu Yixue today!"
Yang Xuangan frowned slightly, because heavy siege weapons such as trebuchets and ladder carts could not be prepared as soon as they could be prepared. Even without considering the necessary sources of materials, it would be extremely time-consuming to build these weapons. With the main force already rushing back to the Luoyang battlefield, would the rebels dare to waste so much time preparing for the siege? No matter how ambitious Yang Xuangan was, he had to hesitate to think about it.
"Chu Gong, look quickly, there is movement in the city!"
Maybe it was a coincidence, but at this moment, there was a new movement at Shangchunmen. Yang Xuangan who was reminded hurriedly looked up, only to see thirty or forty impacting flying poles erected on the Shangchunmen city at some time. Some defenders were binding other defenders to the wooden stakes used for the ladder. From a distance, a general of the Sui Army who was wearing armor was also stripped of his armor and tied to the wooden stakes. Yang Xuangan was very curious, and hurriedly arranged for several scouts to come forward and check the situation nearby.
The scouts were dispatched, and the situation on the city wall changed again. Some soldiers of the Sui army raised their horsewhips and beat up those companions who were tied to the stakes. At the same time, the figure of Fan Zigai appeared on the city wall. Tall and big, with snow-white beard and hair, it is easy to identify, the one who barks his teeth and claws is yelling something, too far away, Yang Xuangan and others can't hear them, so they can only patiently wait for the scouts to report back.
I don't know how many whips were whipped, and the ordinary soldier of the Sui army who was tied to a wooden post was released again, but the unlucky Sui army general was still being whipped. At the same time, Yang Xuangan sent over Several of the scouts also returned to the flag formation and reported to Yang Xuangan: "Reporting to Duke Chu, some officers and soldiers who fled down the city wall timidly before the battle, Fan Zigai asked them to tie them to the city wall and execute them in public. , the soldier will receive twenty lashes, and the eagle striker who quietly escaped down the wall will receive eighty lashes."
"Old man! You're so proud and arrogant after a small victory!" Yang Xuangan cursed, very dissatisfied with Fan Zigai's arrogant attitude of clearing up the deserters in front of him, and too lazy to pay attention to such trivial matters, so he shouted: "The order goes on, and the whole army returns to the camp to rest."
After the order was conveyed, the large number of rebel troops began to retreat slowly. Yang Xuangan, who is very good at leading troops and running the army, personally led the elite soldiers behind the palace, and led the army back in an orderly way. Looking at this situation from the city wall, Fan Zi Gai, Chen Yingliang and the others also completely gave up their thoughts of waiting for the opportunity to pursue them, and returned to the tower to start arranging the aftermath of the war. After a while, the unlucky Sui Army Eagle Striker finally finished his whipping, was carried into the tower by the execution soldiers, and was tested in front of Fan Zigai.
"Thank you, does it hurt?" Fan Zigai asked the Eagle Strike General whose chest was covered in blood and blood.
"My lord, stay behind, can you not feel the pain?" General Ying Chi, who was about to pass out from the pain, asked back crying, moaning in pain: "Eighty lashes, don't let the general put something under his clothes, the general To be able to come back alive is already a fate. For the great Sui, the last general sacrificed a lot."
"Since it's for the Sui Dynasty, I won't let you suffer in vain." Fan Zigai said with a smile, "Fifty guan for money, ten bolts of colored silk, I'll pay for your soup and medicine. Go ahead and act according to plan. If you succeed, The old man not only has a great reward, but also invites His Royal Highness the King of Yue to make you a general of Yingyang."
"Master Xie Liushou, the general is injured and cannot salute, please forgive me." The eagle general moaned and said: "The general will go back and write a letter, and send someone to send it to the traitor Yang in the evening. "
"Very good." Fan Zigai nodded in satisfaction, and urged: "Remember, you must emphasize in the letter how dispirited the old man is and how he abused you. Your younger brother, Captain Ma Yihao, is in charge of guarding the Luoyang granary. It must also be written to tell Yang Ni's rebels that when they attack the city next time, as long as there is a chance, one of you brothers will burn the granary and the other will open the city gate to welcome Yang Ni's rebel army into the city! Do you understand?"
"Understood, understood." The Eagle Commander agreed with snot and tears, and begged: "My lord, please let the general go down to treat the wound, the blood of the general has flowed into the crotch."
Fan Zigai smiled heartlessly, and then waved his hand to let the Eagle Commander go down to heal his wounds, but Chen Yingliang, who was beside him, dashed up to the Eagle Commander, and said: "General, please remember, you The person who arranged for the messenger to go out of the city must not let him know what happened, and he must also think that you were whipped because you fled the city wall timidly on the battlefield. It’s impossible to know the truth.”
"Chen Jishi, the general will ask my brother-in-law to go out of the city to deliver the letter!" The unlucky general Yingji said in a crying voice: "That bastard dares to attack the maid brought by my wife, I have long wanted to deal with him Well, it just so happened that he didn’t go up the city wall and didn’t know what happened. This time I let him go out of the city to die, is that okay? Please let me go down to treat the wound, my crotch is soaked in blood!”
Crying, the extremely unlucky Eagle Commander cursed again in his heart, "Damn it! Is that bastard a bad idea for Fan Zi? It's a crime of being cowardly in front of a battle. I have no chance." I was whipped eighty times for no reason. I was in charge of supervising the delivery of supplies for the defense of the city. How dare I fight? If I ran away timidly, the stones and trees on the city would be smashed down in less than an hour! I am wronged! I am wronged!"
In the evening of the same day, after the main force of the rebel army withdrew to the Jinyong City camp in disgrace, the decision-makers of the rebel army had huge differences on whether to continue to attack Luoyang, the eastern capital. The rational faction headed by Li Mi tried their best to persuade Yang Xuangan to give up attacking Luoyang and turn around to attack Guanzhong. The reason is that Luoyang is tightly guarded and the city is well-fortified. It is almost impossible to win it quickly without repeated attacks for a long time.
The passionate faction headed by brothers Yang Xuanting and Yang Wanshuo opposed changing the target. The reason was that the defenders of the Eastern Capital owed too much blood to the rebels. If Luoyang was not defeated to avenge their hatred, the brothers of the old Yang family would have no face to meet their elders in Guanzhong and the folks in Huayin. . Although the old general Li Zixiong understood that Li Mi's suggestion was very reasonable, he was unwilling to be severely damaged by the Luoyang army. Luoyang City, which had a large number of family members of important officials of the Sui Army, destroyed the morale of the main force of the Sui Army in one fell swoop.
Everyone has their own reasons, and the brave and foolish Yang Xuangan is of course difficult to make a decision. After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't decide whose suggestion to adopt. He could only temporarily put this important matter aside and decided to let the main force rest for a night. Discuss this important matter in detail the next day. And because Yang Xuangan didn't ask to rush to build siege weapons overnight, Li Mi was somewhat relieved, and went back to his tent and stayed up all night, thinking about how to persuade Yang Xuangan to adopt the correct strategy all night.
Li Mi, who was determined to rebel against the Sui Dynasty, soon completely despaired. In the early morning of the next day, when Li Mi had been waiting in front of the big tent of the Chinese Army to wait for Yang Xuangan to be summoned, a rogue-looking man was suddenly taken to the Chinese Army by the rebel scouts. In front of the big tent, Li Mi asked why. The rogue-headed man claimed to be Huang Youwei, brother-in-law of Luoyang Defender General Ma Kou, and claimed to have brought a letter of surrender from his brother-in-law, General Ma Kou...