Northern Dynasties

When the army of the Eastern Dynasty marched southward to encircle Yubi City, the Hu people from Lishi, who had returned home from the east, also arrived at the first destination of their trip.

"My lord, the city standing on the plateau in front is Wutu City, and it is also the largest military city established by the Eastern Bandits in this territory. In the old days, the leader of the bandits, He Liuhun, personally led his troops to station here. Lishi's ministries caused heavy casualties..."

Before Liu Kuzhen went north to Yunyang Valley to marry his wife, he appointed a person to lead the tribe, that is, Liu Aqi in front of him.Talking about the old story of being encircled and suppressed by the army led by Gao Huan, I still gritted my teeth with hatred, and the words were all derogatory, as if Gao Huan didn't sneak attack, they would be able to defend their homeland.

Li Tai looked in the direction of Liu Ahqi's finger, and saw a city towering on the top of the plateau. This city was also built according to the terrain, with an irregular oval shape, covering most of a hill with outstanding terrain. Covering it, there are steep rock walls on one side and winding rivers on the other.

Liu Aqi explained from the side: "This Wutu city is located in the middle reaches of Lingshui. The terrain blocks the north and the south. It can go directly to Sizhou in the north and a big river in the south. The eastern thieves often recruit the Zahu thieves to garrison here. Take control of the place instead of them and harm the ministries!"

Li Tai knew the name of Wutu City.

Not only because the remnants of the Erzhu Clan fled here under the leadership of Murong Shaozong and were finally surrendered here by Gao Huan, but also because of the Liu who he hunted and killed for the first time in Beizhou when he hunted down Jihu. Liu Zhenqiang, the son of Pingfu, was once settled here by the Eastern Wei Dynasty.

The Lishi barbarians are rebellious and unruly, and have long been a danger near the Jinyang Bafu in the Eastern Wei Dynasty.Before freeing up his hands to wipe them out on a large scale, Gao Huan has been pursuing the strategy of using Hu to control Hu, recruiting Jihu who is not tolerated in the Western Wei Dynasty from the territory of the Western Wei Dynasty to clean up the Jihu who are not under the control of the hegemony in his territory.

This is what Liu Ahqi's so-called bandit bandits are talking about.And what Li Tai did this time was to pick up the wisdom of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and use your previous methods to disgust you.

Due to the existence of Luliang Mountain, it is impossible to go straight to Jinyang in the hinterland of Shanxi after crossing the river from northern Shaanxi. The western foot of Luliang Mountain is not all rugged mountains. , Piyuan distributed along the east bank of the Yellow River.

Wutu City is located at the northernmost end of this narrow and long plateau. The Eastern Wei Dynasty only needs to control this city, and then go south along the Lingshui River to sweep away the Lishi Hus.And if Li Shihu wants to return to his hometown, he must also capture Wutu City, otherwise he may be recruited by the Eastern Wei Dynasty to stop his retreat at any time, and he will be dumped in this land in the west of Shanxi.

Li Tai hadn't planned to cross the river so early, and Li Shihu would go to the front first, so as to consume the fighting power of the left-behind soldiers of the Eastern Wei Dynasty.But these people from Lishi are really in a hurry. Ten days after entering the country, they still haven't conquered the first goal.

Li Tai knew that the opportunity for war was like fire. Although the Eastern Wei army went south, if the remaining forces were fully mobilized, it should not be underestimated.In particular, if the plan at the beginning was not carried out smoothly, there would not be enough time and conditions to implement any ideas that followed, so he personally led a thousand Suizhou troops across the river to supervise the battle.

When he came to the outside of Wutu City, he waited and watched for a while, and found that he could not completely blame Li Shihu for being too scumbag. The Wutu City in front of him was condescending, and it was indeed easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In the previous battle in northern Shaanxi, Lishi Huzhong lost a lot. Li Tai had the cheek to ask all the generals who participated in the war to ask for it. In addition to the prisoners he had captured in Guangwu City, he finally gathered more than 5000 people to deliver. Liu Kuzhen was in command, but there were still a large number of old and weak women and children among them, and the real force was only three or four thousand.

Last year, the living environment was harsh, and there was a serious shortage of supplies for the winter. These Lishihu lost another two to three thousand people.Now that Li Tai wants to let them cross the river to return home, there are more than 5000 strong men and women on the road ahead, and before these people have specific meritorious achievements, Li Tai will not give them too sophisticated armaments, nothing more than some simple swords, guns and sticks .

The Yubi City in Hedong is only about ten miles in circumference, and although the terrain of the Wutu City in front of us is not as extreme as Yubi City, the scale of the city is not far behind.Gao Huan's army of 10,000+ besieged Yubi, and Li Tai counted on the 5000 Lishi Hu remnants to capture Wutu City.

More than 5000 people couldn't even surround the Piyuan where the city was located, so Liu Aqi gathered his tribe into a large camp and set it up on the banks of the upper reaches of Lingchuan.

This guy is quite knowledgeable about military matters. He had led the army to besiege Li Mu in Guangwu City earlier. Although he relied on his large number of people, being able to control so many people is a very rare skill. .

Since he didn't have sophisticated armaments, and he didn't have the conditions to build powerful siege equipment, Liu Ahqi failed to make any major breakthroughs in organizing sieges several times. He just tried to test the number of soldiers and combat effectiveness of the defenders.

Originally, Li Tai thought it would be too easy to attack a city stronghold suspended outside, and the tactics came at a stroke of the brain, digging up the Lingshui River to lure them away from thirst, or pile up a mountain of dirt, which is bigger than this city. High, condescending, and the tunnel was dried without digging.

But after observing the topography of the city, he couldn't help but frowned slightly. Could it be that I, Li Boshan, also want to have a little fun here?
With his strength of thousands of people, there is no need to think about big projects. If you really want to toss yourself to the point of exhaustion and distraction, it is just rushing to deliver the head, and you don't even have the energy to run, and you are rushed out by the defenders It was harvested.

Thinking of this, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he immediately looked at Liu Ahqi and asked, "How many defenders are there in the city? Have you ever tried to lure out a fight?"

"There are about [-] soldiers guarding the city. My own troops have entered the city and guarded the city without any intention of going out. Our troops are also weak, and we can order advance and retreat even if we stay together. If we lose our restraint, I am afraid that we will When it falls apart, it is difficult to reunite, so there is no..."

Liu Ahqi shook his head after hearing the words and said, the more complicated the military order, the higher the quality of the soldiers and the stable morale of the soldiers are needed to execute it.

Now his team is excellent in terms of combat effectiveness and equipment and supplies. They are only gathered together with the vision of returning to their hometown. Any orders that are not simple and direct may cause cognitive confusion and collapse of the public opinion.

Li Tai also knew what this team looked like, so he didn't criticize Liu Ahqi too much after hearing the words, but pointed to a direction where the terrain was open and suitable for cavalry battles and said to Liu Ahqi: "Since there is no If you have tried it, then you might as well give it a try. Later, you will supervise the battle and attack the city, if you are still unable to overcome it, then break out of the camp and retreat to the southeast, you might as well act like a defeated army to lure the defenders."

Although he brought reinforcements, it was only a thousand cavalry. Even if all of them were put into siege operations, the effect they could receive was very limited. Only in field battles could they exert their combat effectiveness to the greatest extent.

The team of cavalry he was in was not exposed to the sight of the enemy defending the city, and stopped in the distant valley to rest.As long as the city guards are determined to win or lose, they will definitely not let it go easily when they see this group of troops retreating in embarrassment after failing to attack the city, and it is very likely that they will go out of the city to pursue them.

After all, Gao Huan personally led the army to conquer this area before clearing this area. If these city guards waited on the Lishi Huzhong who fled back here to spread poison in the wild, they would inevitably be severely punished.

"I am following the order of my lord, and I will try my best to lure out the thieves, but I dare to plead with my lord, if these apprentices survive all the ordeals, they should be alive by God's will. Please guide them back to their hometown!"

Hearing that Li Tai arranged for his men and horses to be bait without mercy, Liu Ahqi didn't dare to refute, but kowtowed heavily to Li Tai and said.

"You don't need to worry about the future. Since I have sheltered you in the former, I will not lead you to a dead end. As long as I can survive the battle and pay for my previous crimes, I will do what I say and will help you regain your ancestral city. You If you still have doubts about this, immediately take off your armor and go, and I will supervise the crowd as another member!"

After Li Tai heard the words, he said in a deep voice that he was not worried that these Li Shihu would turn against him and betray him after returning here. Now the only person on both sides of the river who can accommodate them and provide effective help is him.

"Don't dare, please forgive me, my lord!"

After hearing this, Liu Ahqi kowtowed again and again to plead guilty, until Li Tai apologized before he dared to stand up, and then returned to the camp to start arranging the siege.Li Tai also pulled his horse back to his headquarters, waiting to lure the enemy out before fighting in the field.

The battle broke out quickly, and under the supervision of Liu Ahqi's subordinates and cronies, all the Li Shihu battalion soldiers shouted and rushed towards the gate of Wutu City, but when they rushed to the gate and there was still a distance, The defenders on the top of the city drew their bows and shot at them. Although the Hu soldiers who rushed to the front had protective tools such as wooden planks and grass shields, they kept falling down.

The army defending the city had enough arrows, and rolling stones and trees were thrown from the top of the city from time to time, while the attacking side didn't even have basic armor and defense, and they rushed back and forth to the city wall with a fierce spirit. However, without the cooperation of siege equipment, there is no effective attack at all, and it is just killing people in vain.

Looking at the clumsy attacking methods of these enemies outside the city, the defenders on the top of the city couldn't help laughing heartily. If the general hadn't been cautious and guarded, they couldn't help but rush out of the city to kill these mobs in disarray. Big kill.

Naturally, the futile attack like suicide could not last long. After hundreds of lives were lost, the Hu soldiers retreated like a tide, and the commander arranged by Liu Aqi led the troops directly to the Lingshui River. run away.

Seeing the tragic death of their comrades, the other soldiers subconsciously wanted to stay away from the desperate killing field, so they also fled into the river one after another.Although the river water in autumn is already bitingly cool, it is not enough to freeze people's hands and feet numbly, and the water flow in the river channel becomes shallow and slow, and soon they swim across the river and rush to the other side, running to the wilderness farther away. go.

As Liu Aqi said, these Hu soldiers were already on the verge of collapse, and now they only need to push a little bit, and there is no need to pretend to be any more, and they will look like they are completely defeated.

At this time, the defenders on the top of Wutu City couldn't help laughing and laughing when they saw that the enemy would collapse without fighting. Soon, rope ladders, baskets and cages were lowered, and guards continued to climb down and rushed straight to the enemy. The camp below to harvest the defeated soldiers and collect supplies.