Northern Dynasties

Chapter 541
The drums and horns sounded one after another on the battlefield, and the teams responsible for the siege advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, constantly launching offensives around the tall Fancheng.

Since the field forces in Fancheng had been completely lost, the front line of the attacking side was directly advanced to a position very close to the city, piled up soil as a ridge, and erected several arrow towers to shoot at the enemy at the top of the city. Attack each other.

Although the tyrants in Jingzhou were not very obedient at the beginning of the war, and even wanted to withdraw their troops and return when the front division was at a disadvantage, when they actually arrived at the front line, they still showed the advantage of local snakes. Many practical and effective methods of siege.

Li Tai's well-armed and elite troops are responsible for attacking the city itself, while the powerful troops are responsible for advancing the front line.

These Jingzhou local soldiers may not have high combat effectiveness, but they are hard-working and extremely efficient. They can build a front with a complete trench and ridge structure within an hour.

Although the field combat ability of the southerners is not high, it is mainly due to the lack of mobility. The attack power of the crossbow itself and hand-to-hand combat are not much inferior to the northerners, so the protection on the battlefield is also very important.

Without the front fortifications quickly built by the Jingzhou soldiers, the attack on Fancheng would not have gone too smoothly.Siege soldiers can rely on these fortifications to rest and attack the city at a shorter distance.

Seeing that the battle line is getting closer and closer, the defenders in the city are also extremely anxious. There are many soldiers calling for battle, hoping to recruit warriors to go out of the city to attack when the enemy is slack, to push the enemy back and seize the closer and closer troops. front.

But Liu Fanggui ignored such requests. Ever since he saw the hundreds of cavalry slaughtered by the enemy outside the city, he completely gave up his plan to go out of the city to fight the enemy, and only wanted to stick to the city.

Compared with the enemy army that was getting closer and closer, the personnel news from Xiangyang City really made Liu Fanggui feel desperate.

He originally thought that telling Xiangyang the news that the enemy had invested in the city before would make King Yueyang pay more attention to the defense line of Fancheng and strengthen the personnel investment here, but he didn't expect that instead of making King Yueyang pay attention to this matter, he would instead pay him a lot of attention. Add a reprimand.Although the scale of the patrolling water army has been strengthened, it has attracted many boats moored on the north bank of the Han River, as if forcing him to die and fight with his back.

Although Liu Fanggui was extremely resentful, he didn't dare to show any abnormalities. The defenders in the city were already under great pressure, and his family members who stayed in Xiangyang had already been put under house arrest by King Yueyang.

At this moment, on the battlefield of Fancheng, Liu Fanggui is not the only one who is anxious. Li Tai, who is the coach of the attacking side and whose advantage is becoming more and more obvious, is also haunted by melancholy at this moment.

Li Tai finished reading a letter calmly, but his heart was filled with turmoil. He really didn't expect that his father, who had always been in his dictation, would find out his whereabouts in this way.

He was silent for a long time before he calmed down the turbulent thoughts in his mind, and then looked down at Cai Dabao, the emissary from Xiangyang, and said in a deep voice: "My father has a lot of troubles, wandering in the rivers and lakes, he is a son, but he heard the news But now that the two countries are at war, I don't dare to be filial and ignorant, trust the enemy's words, and ignore the lives and deaths of soldiers.

If this matter is true, you should treat Cai Canjun as a distinguished guest, but it is difficult to tell whether it is true or not, and I need to be rude for the time being. Please forgive Cai Canjun.I need to send my cronies and family members across the river for verification before I can talk about other things.At present, the position is chaotic, and it is not enough to discuss the matter.Cai Canjun, please stay here for now, my family will cross the river with your nobles. "

In fact, before crossing the river to meet each other, Cai Dabao was also a little nervous. After all, according to Li Renlue, their father and son had only been separated for a few years. How could his son, a young man with a weak crown, become the general of Fangmu in the Western Dynasty in such a short period of time? ?
But when he saw Li Tai, he calmed down again.When he first met Li Renlue, he saw his outstanding manners and imposing manner, and he got close to him because of his demeanor. Now when he saw Li Tai again, his father and son had similar facial features, and Li Tai was probably because of his success at a young age and his domineering position. The father can be described as green out of blue.

Hearing Li Tai's prudent plan, Cai Dabao nodded and said: "It should be so, what is forgiveness. Although Li Dadu is a man, he is also the leader of the army. Only by prudent planning can he live up to his father and his father. Negative general."

Hearing that Cai Dabao was still considerate and didn't intend to blackmail him, Li Tai secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

Of course he hoped that his father would return safely without fright and twists and turns, but the other party chose to inform him of this at this moment of hostility, so it was conceivable that the purpose was not pure.So in addition to joy in my heart, I am also full of vigilance at the moment.

He didn't ask about his father's experience and situation in Xiangyang, and he didn't intend to discuss related matters with Cai Dabao right now, so he directly summoned Li Quji, and led him to lead a few soldiers to the other side to verify the truth with Cai Dabao's entourage. Afterwards, Cai Dabao was placed in the Xiaruo garrison, while he himself went to the front line of the battle.

At this time, on the east side of Fancheng, a round of siege had just ended, and the soldiers dragged the damaged ladder back to take a rest.

Li Tai summoned the frontline generals, and immediately asked, "Will there be a major breakthrough in the siege within today? Even if the city cannot be captured, can a section of the city wall be destroyed, or a gate be taken?"

No matter what purpose the opponent wants to achieve with his father as a bargaining chip, there must be a truce between the two sides.But right now, a truce is not the best thing. They are so aggressive that they lead the crowd to the south, and the result is just to dawdling outside Fancheng. How can they achieve the effect of establishing a prestige?

So he hopes that the two sides can make a breakthrough before the truce, and don't let this war end in an anticlimactic end.

As for whether stepping up the offensive will make the other party angry and be detrimental to his father, Li Tai thinks it should not.

First of all, the other party chooses to inform him of this news at this moment, which in itself has a kind of intention to seek peace. Perhaps it is because his previous provocation just happened to hit the core contradiction within the enemy, forcing the Yueyang King Xiao Xi to dare not fight again. Blindly tough externally.

Secondly, Xiao Xie may not dare to harm his father, because he raised an army to ask the crime. In the final analysis, the real target is Xiao Fan, the king of Poyang who led the army to attack him. The pot was also directly welded to their bodies, and they were absolutely inseparable from each other.

In the end, the value of his father in Xiao Xi's eyes is also determined by how much threat he can pose to Xiangyang.If he can't bring any shake to the situation in Xiangyang, then the meaning of his father to Xiao Xi will also drop sharply.

Although the generals didn't know what happened, seeing Li Tai's serious expression, they all nodded their heads to express that they would fight bravely and make a breakthrough on this day.

Because a more violent offensive was about to be brewed, all the frontline soldiers withdrew to the camp one after another, preparing to light a fire, cook and have a feast to recharge their batteries.

However, at this moment, the scouts cruising along the Han River in the west rushed to report that a large-scale navy fleet appeared in the upper reaches of the Han River, and it seemed that they were coming to assist Xiangfan.

Li Tai frowned immediately after learning about this, this navy must be the power of the upstream brothers that Du Youan said.He didn't agree to Du You'an's plan to jointly capture Fancheng and take the opportunity to drive away Xiao Xie, so this navy army obviously didn't come to cooperate with his military operation.As for whether he brought the ransom that Li Tai asked for, there is no way to confirm it. Presumably there was none, after all, he turned around and sold the Du family.

If it weren't for his old man, Li Tai would be able to deal with the enemy's reinforcements calmly.But now there is another local army, which undoubtedly makes the battle situation in Fancheng more complicated. There is little hope in the first place, and it may be more difficult to capture Fancheng now.

Li Taishang muttered to himself, and tall ship masts appeared on the Hanshui River as far as he could see.

Looking at the fleet gradually showing its full picture, Li Tai lamented that what Du Youan said was indeed true, this fleet alone seemed not easy to mess with, and the Jingzhao Du family really had a strong presence on the front line of the Hanshui River. Looking back at the top of Fancheng, he found that the defenders did not raise their arms and shout because of the arrival of reinforcements.

His heart moved, he raised his hand and ordered: "Ming Jin withdraws troops, all soldiers return to camp quickly!"

Only the main attacking elite soldiers were withdrawn before, and many powerful troops were still active in repairing the fortifications on the battlefield outside the city. When they heard the sound of gold ringing, these troops also withdrew from the front line one after another and returned to the camp behind.

Above the city of Fancheng, Liu Fanggui watched the enemy troops outside the city return to the camp one after another, leaving behind a devastated plain, but his face did not show any joy.When he turned to look towards the river to the west, his anger was revealed, almost uncontrollable.

Finally, he walked along the top of the city to the vicinity of the water gate, and saw that the Xiangyang patrolling water army and the Du's fleet going down the west were about to meet, and their respective flags announced the order to open the Fancheng water barrier for the water army to enter. He sneered loudly, his face became distorted and hideous because of the long laugh.

"The governor of the state is not benevolent, and the thieves of the sect are not righteous. Who should we defend and fight for?"

Liu Fanggui tore off the cage crown on his head, his hair fell down immediately, and then he drew a knife and cut through the shirt on his body, and shouted loudly: "Hanging down the flag! You can't tolerate it here, let Erlang find another way to live!"

When they saw the flags raised from the top of Fancheng City and the city gate slowly opened, all the Jingzhou troops who had withdrawn to the camp were in an uproar. They really couldn't understand why the reinforcements had arrived and the defenders wanted to surrender!
Not to mention these soldiers, Li Tai stared a little after he actually saw this scene. He had such expectations, and his dream came true so calmly.This inevitably gave him a deeper understanding of the so-called troubled times. The chaos is not only the situation, but also the hearts of the people.

(End of this chapter)