Northern Dynasties

Chapter 288
Boom... Boom!
Every time the huge siege cone hits, there will be a shocking sound, and the sound waves will sway back and forth in the valley, shaking both attackers and defenders on the battlefield dizzy, and even the transmission of the drum horn order is greatly hindered .

Near the city wall is the area where the fighting is the most intense. Countless Hu soldiers try hard to build the ladder against the city wall. Compete for the first one.

However, it is not easy to successfully ascend to the top of the city, and the defenders on the top of the city will not stand still.Some of them set up wide leather shields to shield themselves and the robes from the arrows thrown from outside the city; Destroying the ladder, or directly hanging the bandit army climbing up outside the city wall.

When the bandit army's offensive is too fierce on the battlefield in some areas, all kinds of counterattacks by the defenders have limited effect, so some extraordinary methods need to be used.

The flames were burning under several large stoves on the tower, of course not to feed the defenders who were fighting at the top of the city, but to process the golden soup and boiling water continuously. When the juice boiled, it would be eaten by the defenders Use clay pots, wooden barrels and other utensils to pour water directly on the bandit soldiers climbing on the ladder, and you will hear heart-piercing screams from under the city without turning their heels.

The first offensive and defensive battle lasted for more than half an hour. The offensive strength of the bandit army outside the city gradually decreased. The bloody corpses failed to cause any substantial damage to the city.

As the bandit army withdrew, the defenders on the city wall began to clean up the battlefield, repairing the damaged city wall, replenishing the supplies that were consumed, and a new force climbed to the top of the city to replace those robes that had consumed a lot of energy.

This battle can only be regarded as a small test of the two sides and a test of each other.Although the bandit army failed to make any substantial breakthroughs, Li Mu paid more attention to these enemies because of the discipline they showed during the siege.

Lishihu is not a nomadic Hu nationality. The terrain of the Luliang Mountains where they live is more precipitous and changeable than that of the Qingshui River Valley. There is a ditch every three steps, and a danger every five steps. They are used to the life of Jiezhailianwu. , is no stranger to offensive and defensive operations.

In the siege operation just now, Li Mu was stunned by the amount of various siege equipment invested by these thieves, and soon he realized that the next battle would inevitably become more and more intense and the situation would become more and more severe.

"It's okay, it's okay, at least there are Li Boshan's reinforcements nearby."

Although his mood became a little heavy, Li Mucai secretly heaved a sigh of relief when he thought that he was not fighting alone.

Although he didn't know exactly what Li Tai did to contain the rebel army after arriving, seeing that the rebel army went against the previous confrontation and directly attacked the city was more or less related to Li Tai's reinforcements along the way.

The thief army did not have much breathing time for the defenders, and soon launched a second round of attacks.

In this attack, in addition to the various siege methods before, the bandit army also invested in elite troops, and transported two tall nest carts to a position not far from the city wall to set them up, so as to observe the situation in the city and the dispatch of troops. Condition.

With the insight and guidance of the sentry on the nest car, the bandit army's attack on the city became more aggressive and more targeted. It was no longer an aimless attack on the entire city wall, but a conscious attack on key points.

With the change of the fighting style of the bandit army, the defenders on the top of the city also felt the pressure immediately, especially in some loopholes of the city defense, such as the northeast corner of the city. Therefore, there are not too many troops and equipment deployed here for defense.

After the enemy sentinels on the nest car outside the city noticed the loophole in the city defense, they immediately passed the semaphore to the bottom, and the bandit commander Liu Aqi, who was in charge of commanding the battle, immediately adjusted the direction of attack and increased the number of troops there. Thousands, ladders, rushing cars and other equipment are also put into combat.

Li Mu knew the hidden dangers in this section of the city wall. Seeing that the bandit army was coming to attack, he did not dare to directly increase his troops to resist the enemy. He could only deploy strong bows and heavy armor around the surrounding area for defense.

Because there was no decent resistance, the enemy army quickly climbed up the city wall from the turret here. The enemy soldiers who climbed the city first cheered happily, but what greeted them was the sharp arrows and sharp blades .

Under the siege and massacre of the city guards, the first group of bandits who climbed to the top of the city were killed and wounded very quickly.But this didn't stop the thieves swarming up from behind. They used the corpses of their comrades in front as cover, poured up to the top of the city continuously, and began to fight hand-to-hand with the defenders on the top of the city.

When the battle on the top of the city was in full swing, suddenly there was a loud click from the city wall, and immediately the turret that had been completely submerged by the enemy soldiers was separated from the city wall as a whole and quickly collapsed.

The sudden change occurred, whether it was the enemy soldiers who had already climbed the turret or were still trying to climb up, they were frightened and overwhelmed for a moment. In a moment, hundreds of bandit soldiers were crushed by the collapsed sand, gravel and earthworks. Hit and bury.

"Give it to me! Go out and kill all the thieves around you!"

Li Mu, who had already led his own soldiers waiting here, saw the turret collapsed. Even with a knife, he himself was wearing heavy armor and took the lead. The thieves and soldiers.

Hundreds of well-armed elite warriors like wolves and tigers followed behind Li Mu, rushing out from the gap in the city wall, like a sharp knife and sharp blade, stabbing straight at the siege soldiers outside the city, wielding swords and spears. Harvesting human lives continuously, blood flows like rivers wherever it passes.

The soldiers in the enemy's formation were all rejoiced at the successful attack on the city wall, but they did not expect this to be the situation in front of them. Seeing the defenders rushing out and continuously slaughtering the soldiers under the city wall, the Hu chieftain generals who supervised the battle in the rear He was also in a hurry to mobilize elite people to come forward to rescue and rescue.

After Li Mu led the crowd to kill and disperse several bandits under the city wall, he was supposed to continue forward and destroy the nest carts and other large siege equipment on the battlefield in one fell swoop, but soon there was a rush of hooves in the enemy's formation , At the same time, warning horns sounded on the city wall, and he could only secretly say that it was a pity, and led his troops to retreat from the gap to the city before the elite bandits arrived.

After Li Mu and others withdrew, the guards in the city began to quickly set up fences here, and then filled the gaps here with wood, stone and other miscellaneous materials.

Because of the unexpected situation this time, the bandit army suffered heavy casualties, and this time the attack also temporarily came to an end.For both sides in the war, there are gains and losses for each.

The thieves successfully broke through a turret, making the city defense in front of them no longer a complete one. Next, they can expand the damage to this gap, or pretend to attack here and choose to break through elsewhere. There are more tactical choices. Great encouragement.

The defenders took advantage of the variable of the collapse of the turret to go out unexpectedly for a while, not only repelling the second round of the enemy's attack, but also causing heavy losses to the bandit army, at least one or two thousand soldiers were killed.

"Mr. Wu'an's counterattack was wonderful, but it's a pity that he was a bit conservative. If he can cooperate with cavalry and cavalry to attack the bandit army's line, even if he can't smash the bandit line in one fell swoop, he can still destroy most of the equipment on the field. City defense can also be greatly eased."

Li Tai sees that the challenge is not difficult, standing on the top of the plateau far away from the battlefield while watching the battle while commenting on Li Mu's performance against the enemy, it is a pity that Li Mu failed to make the best use of the opportunity.

"Ah Lang, it's getting late, shall we continue to watch the battle, or do we have another plan?"

Li Yan raised his head to look at the sun in the sky, which was gradually setting to the west, and then asked Li Tai for instructions.Japan has short days in winter, and after noon it will be dark, so thousands of them need to make early preparations when they go in or out.

"It's freezing cold, and it's hard work for the soldiers to lie down in the snow and drink ice. If the thieves are dealt with earlier, they can return to the teacher to recuperate one day earlier."

After thinking for a while, Li Tai said: "The main force is waiting in the battalion for the time being. Dispatch a team of a thousand light cavalry and a hundred men to sneak up to the valley ahead and clear the road first to ensure that the army can enter the valley to attack the enemy at any time."

He stood on the top of the plateau and blew the cold wind for a long time, and of course it was not just to watch the excitement. Based on the troops invested in the two attacks of the bandit army and the scale of the opponent's formation on the battlefield, it can be roughly estimated that the bandit army can invest The total number of combat troops should be around [-], and at most not more than [-].

Although the scale of such troops is several times larger than that of one's own side, it is not invincible.Moreover, the coordination between the advance and retreat of the bandit army is obviously a bit out of touch and jerky. Obviously, these troops belong to multiple divisions, and the quality of the soldiers varies.

So what Li Tai needs to consider right now is to take advantage of the special terrain of the Qingshui River Valley, which has a lot of restrictions on marching and retreating, to leave as many bandits as possible, and not let the bandits disperse at a touch, and then spread poison all over the place.

The geographical situation in northern Shaanxi is too tricky. Before that, he was able to drive thousands of black water hulks away with hundreds of episodes. Can be big or small, immeasurable.

Although the thieves on the battlefield were attacking Guangwu City with all their strength, they did not relax their vigilance towards the surrounding area.

Hu Chief Liu Aqi placed thousands of troops waiting for contingencies near the unconquered Fenglin City, so as to monitor and deter the defenders of Fenglin City at the same time. An enemy army that has not yet seen the truth is approaching.

So when Li Tai ordered Qingqi scouts to approach the valley where Guangwu City is located, relevant information was quickly reported to Liu Ahqi.

After Liu Ahqi learned of this, he immediately cheered up. Luring this erratic enemy army out was part of his tactical conception. He carefully asked the location where the scouts appeared, and quickly sketched them in his mind. , Immediately after determining the possible offensive route of the enemy, Dang even ordered several powerful chieftains to lead their troops to the relevant locations for defense.

At the same time, he also ordered to stop the direct attack on the city of Guangwu, and instead put many carts carrying soldiers on the battlefield. He stopped not far from the city wall of Guangwu, opened the car The valance and plate shield resisted the attack of the enemy's arrows on the top of the city, and the soldiers dug ditches under the chariot.

And the thousands of elite troops who had never participated in the battle before were also mobilized by Liu Ahqi from the east side of the battlefield to the frontal battlefield. employment.

As the sound of fighting on the frontal battlefield stopped, the young man in the white wolf fur coat in the camp of the bandit army couldn't help but become curious and irritable, and immediately called Liu Ahqi back to the camp.

After seeing Liu Ah Qi, before he could ask a question, the young man swung his horsewhip and beat his head and face again, cursing angrily while whipping: "Didn't I tell you that you are not allowed to return to the camp until the city is broken? "

Liu Ahqi just gritted his teeth and endured the whipping, and did not explain that he was recalled, otherwise, according to the logic of this young master, he would scold him for not capturing the city for so long and tire him of self-reflection.Although he is the confidant of Zuo Xian Wang Liu Tuo, he has not changed his status as a domestic slave, but the young man is Zuo Xian Wang's direct son, named Liu Kuzhen, Liu Ah Qi naturally dare not disobey him.

Fortunately, this young man Liu Ku was really drunk and didn't have too much physical strength to punish Liu Aqi for a long time, so he vented his anger and asked angrily, "Why did you stop the siege?"

Only then did Liu Ahqi tell the situation of the enemy's reinforcements bullying him with a bitter face, and said that fighting on two fronts is a bad strategy. Only by encircling the points and killing the enemy's reinforcements can he continue to attack the city with all his strength.

After Liu Kuzhen heard these words, he didn't comment on whether Liu Ahqi's decision was right or not, but said in a trembling voice with a panicked expression: "The situation here is so dangerous, and the evil slave didn't report it, but welcomed me in. Battalion! If I suffer persecution here, your lives can be used as compensation and apology! Quickly arrange someone to escort me back to the king's tent..."

"Young master, please rest assured that our army of tens of thousands is far from being able to match the enemy's troops. There must not be many enemy troops hiding in the dark along the way. Once their whereabouts are revealed, I can dispatch troops to surround and kill them The young master only needs to stay in the camp, if he abandons the army at this moment, it will be even more dangerous!"

When Liu Ah Qi heard that the young master just heard the news, his expression changed drastically, and he even wanted to leave immediately.

"Then you, hurry up and kill all the enemies! As long as you can keep me safe, I will reward you heavily after returning! As long as you can return safely, I, I will take the daughter of your family and let you be my confidant!"

After hearing this, Liu Kuzhen said again and again that he attached great importance to his own safety and could not afford to make mistakes, and made a promise that he felt sincere about it.

Although the young lord's reaction was a bit unbearable, Liu Ahqi knew that he was deeply loved by the lord Zuo Xianwang, and a fortune-teller once said that this son could strengthen Zuo Xianwang's tribe, so this Liu Ku was really talented. No matter what, they enjoy a very detached status and treatment in the tribe.

Therefore, after hearing Liu Ku's true promise, Liu Ahqi nodded repeatedly, patted his chest and assured him: "Please rest assured, young master, even if this slave sacrifices his life..."

"You can't die, who will protect me when you die? Come on, put my golden armor on General Liu!"

Knowing that his own safety is in the hands of the commanding general, Liu Kuzhen turned away from his previous arrogance and domineering, and turned to caring for Liu Ahqi, and even put his own armor on his body for the opponent, which is also a living treasure.

Liu Ahqi raised his hand and stroked the gorgeous armor on his body. For a moment, he was also moved by the death of a confidant, and repeatedly stated that he would do his best to protect the safety of the young master. This was only under Liu Kuzhen's repeated urging. Return to the battlefield to supervise the battle.

After Liu Ahqi returned to the battlefield, he was even more motivated, and carefully inspected all parties on the battlefield to ensure that his plans and orders were fully implemented.

Especially the several positions where the enemy's reinforcements may launch an offensive, he carefully arranged each place. In addition to giving detailed instructions to the soldiers stationed here, he also set aside enough mobile forces to support all parties to ensure that no matter where Where there is an enemy trace, you can immediately invest superior forces and give the opponent a head-on blow!
Just when Liu Ahqi thought that he had made a perfect arrangement and was only waiting for the enemy to attack, the expected enemy had been missing for a long time.Not to mention the massive attack, even the few areas where the scouts had rubbed against each other before had no trace of the enemy, as if they had just tried a little and then retreated back.

This kind of feeling of being held back by others is really not good. Liu Ah Qi also knows that the pressure on the opponent is not enough, and he still hasn't grasped the lifeline that the enemy must save, so whether to fight or not still has the right to take the initiative. In the hands of the opponent.

The first day when the army left the camp to besiege Guangwu City ended in such an atmosphere of anxious waiting.Although the bandit army was the one that initiated the attack, as the next day came, the spirit of the bandit army soldiers was visibly more depressed than that of the defenders of Guangwu city.

After all, the thieves left their fixed camps and slept in the wild. The rest environment itself was already very bad, and they had to beware of enemy reinforcements who did not know where or when they would come out all night. The consumption is doubled, and the natural state is not good.

The bandits and chieftains guarding various places had nothing to do with it after a night of vigilance. They couldn't help but question Liu Ahqi's decision and arrangement in their hearts, and even the chieftains couldn't help sending their staff to complain to Liu Ahqi. If the enemy army in the field does not appear again, they will lead their troops back to the camp to rest, and will not stay here to suffer from the cold wind blowing through the valley.

Fortunately, because the young master Liu Kuzhen was worried about his own safety, he no longer exerted any pressure on Liu Ahqi, but instead supported him and reprimanded and suppressed those Hu chieftains who questioned Liu Ahqi.

But Liu Ah Qi also knew that such a state would be difficult to maintain for a long time. The people he commanded were not elite teachers with firm beliefs and full of loyalty. The city looted and collected supplies.

Now he has brought the army out of the camp, and put on a aggressive posture to attack Guangwu City in one fell swoop, but if the fire is turned off halfway, and the troops are not attacked for a long time, and the division is hanging outside without knowing where it is going, the morale will definitely drop. , Fatigue, and disintegration may only happen in an instant.

So after a little weighing, seeing the sun gradually climbing into the hollow, he ordered another fierce attack on Guangwu City.

This time, without any further encouragement and urging from him, the soldiers behaved more bravely than yesterday, because after experiencing the torment of sleeping in the open all night, they realized that the only way to end this pain is to conquer the Guangwu City in front of them. Make the situation change for the better.

As a result, the pressure on the defenders of the city increased sharply. The gap in the turret that could be used as a surprise soldier to recruit against the bandit army yesterday has become a huge loophole in the city defense today, and has been attacked by the enemy.

Thousands of people from both sides saw each other repeatedly in the narrow area in the northeast corner of the city, and the battle was fierce. When the situation was worst, Li Mu even led his own soldiers to fight, trying hard to repel the fearless bandit army.

Except for the gaps in the turrets, other places in the city were also attacked by the enemy to varying degrees. The guards and soldiers were exhausted on the top of the city like firefighters. Even the reserve troops and some of the city's strong men were sent to the city. First, although they have been able to hold the defense line of the city wall, the frequency of enemy troops entering the city is getting higher and higher.

"Li Boshan, why don't you send troops?"

On the city wall, Li Mu slashed and killed the bandit soldiers who had crossed the pile of walls, and immediately leaned on the blade and panted heavily, turned his head to look at the river valley and mountains to the west, and muttered to himself.

Outside the city wall, seeing the rapid progress of the siege, the Hu troops were also greatly encouraged.On the outskirts of this frontal battlefield, suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed in the mind of a Hu chieftain, and he said to himself in shock: "Liu Duhou put our troops here to guard against enemy reinforcements, or to distract our troops? Sweeping the city from its headquarters?"

Not only one person had this question, but some soldiers of the Hu army defending Taniguchi abandoned Taniguchi without waiting for the military order, and came to the battlefield to join the attack on the city.

"Order all parties to march at full speed. After entering the field, we will go straight to the bandits. We will only kill but not capture. We must kill the bandits in the shortest possible time and prevent them from gathering together!"

At this time, Li Tai also strode down to the top of the plateau, and first ordered the attack on the troops who had already separated from all directions. With the assistance of his own soldiers, he quickly put on his armor, got on his horse, and then led the army forward with a lance.

　Two in one big chapter, I've been waiting for a long time. . .Continue tomorrow. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)