Reborn in the late Northern Wei Dynasty

Chapter 372 City Defense
Gao Cheng felt that there must be some high-level men in the Nanliang army, otherwise how could they explain their ability to see through their secret schemes?

It turned out that Gao Cheng's forcible crossing of the Huaihe River was just an illusion to lure the Liang people to set up an ambush. Duan Shao and others had already left the camp at night, traveled [-] miles westward upstream, and sneaked across the Huaihe River. After rushing to the battlefield, Liang Jun was ambushed by counterattacks, and he was bound to be in chaos.

Compared with storming the heavily fortified city, he hopes to wipe out the enemy in field battles. Even if the enemy army cannot be wiped out, it can shake the morale of the defenders.

But now that the plan has come to nothing, Gao Cheng looks at Duan Shao and others who are busy in the world, and always feels that he is just throwing winks to the blind these few days.

"His Majesty."

Wang Wei was about to plead guilty, he was the one who presented this plan to Gao Cheng in Runan City that day, but was interrupted by Gao Cheng:
"This plan was approved by me. It is not Wang Qing's fault, so there is no need to say more."

Seeing that Gao Cheng did not punish him with this crime, Wang Wei hurriedly thanked him. He was originally an aide of Hou Jing, but he was suddenly promoted to be a close minister of the emperor before the Southern Expedition. In vain.

'That's all, everything is difficult at the beginning, but fortunately His Majesty is tolerant and not guilty. '

Wang Wei comforted himself.

At the same time, seeing all the Qi troops crossing the river, the Nanliang navy also withdrew from the main stream of the Huaihe River, preparing to retreat to Feishui, relying on the Huainan water system to assist in defending the city and harassing the Qi army.

This is also the biggest difference between the Huai River and the Yangtze River. When the army crosses the Huai River, food and grass can be transported by detour. At this time, if you continue to intercept the river, it is better to retreat to help defend. After all, the Huai River defense line has been broken.

Of course, Gao Cheng did not feel the joy of breaking through the Huaihe defense line at all. He already felt the thorniness of the Huainan battle.

Liang Jiang Xia Houzhen worried that Gao Cheng would ignore Shouyang, and drove straight in. After all, Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, adopted this method to conquer Liu Song in the south.

But he didn't notice the difference between Gao Cheng's Southern Expedition and Tuoba Tao's Southern Expedition.

Tuoba Tao was established on the basis of Liu Yilong's defeat in the Northern Expedition and the annihilation of a large number of field troops. He then marched south. According to historical records, the various ministries of the Liu and Song Dynasties collapsed in despair.

The army of the Northern Wei Dynasty surrendered wherever they passed, and when they encountered a fortified city, they only had to stay behind to guard it. The Liu Song army who steadfastly defended the city did not dare to go out of the city to attack the grain road. .

But Gao Cheng did not have such conditions. Previously, the Southern Liang and Northern Expeditions were defeated and Yang Yaren was damaged, but that was already eight years ago. Although Xiao Yuanming and others were afraid of the enemy and did not dare to fight in the wild, Gao Cheng If he abandons Shouyang and leads the main force southward, Xiao Yuanming still has the courage to go out of the city and give him the whole job.

If the Shouyang defenders harass the Gaocheng grain road, the main force of the Qi army will go deep into the enemy's territory, and the food supply cannot be guaranteed, and the army will be in danger of being destroyed.

When the news of Gaocheng's cavalry crossing the river from the upper reaches reached Shouyang, Xia Houzhen also shut up, no longer lamenting the disappointment of the day, only fear in his heart.

Xiao Lihui made up his mind not to interfere in the military, and his cousin Xiao Yuanming presided over it all.

Gao Cheng never expected that the Nanliang army he thought had expert advice, but its commander Xiao Yuanming was frightened by his name and dared not fight in the field.

After all, Xiao Gaowang led the army at the age of 13 and had never been defeated. He also had a land and water army of 35 under his command. The savings in the city are enough to last for more than two years.

As long as there is the nail of Shouyang, Gao Cheng will not dare to go south with confidence.

The fact is indeed true, Gao Cheng led the army to the outside of Shouyang City, it was midsummer, and the scorching sun in the afternoon made people feel irritable, especially when seeing the towering Shouyang City, Gao Cheng frowned.

Shouyang is Shouchun. Although it claims to control the Huaihe River, it is actually a short distance away from the Huaihe River. To the north of the city is the Feishui River that connects Chaohu Lake and the Huaihe River.

The terrain of Shouyang is not dangerous. Except for the water gate in the north, the other three sides are relatively flat, so the city was built extremely high and surrounded by a wide moat.

Gao Cheng didn't dare to approach, lest he be lost.

Under heavy guards, Gao Cheng frowns even deeper as he inspects the east, south, and west sides of Shouyang.

At night, after setting up the camp, Gao Cheng asked Ji Yu, the counselor:
"Do you have a plan to lure the Liang people out of the city?"

He really didn't want to attack Shouyang by force, especially since the Liang army had the advantage over the water, and could continuously transport supplies into the city from the water gate on the north side.

The secret workers in the city sent back news before the city was closed that there was enough food in the city, and there were [-] defenders. Xiao Yuanming also recruited civilians to help defend the city.

Chen Yuankang hesitated for a while, seeing that his colleagues were still contemplating, he expressed his thoughts first:
"I think it's better to leave a weak brigade to set up a stronghold outside Shouyang City to guard the city. Your Majesty personally led the main force to abandon Shouyang with great fanfare, and set up an ambush outside the city with fine cavalry. Liang Jun saw His Majesty going far away, so he must relax. Or go out of town to fight."

Gao Cheng nodded when he heard the words, this method is worth a try, and asked Wang Wei:

"Can Wang Qing get something?"

Wang Wei didn't think of a good solution for a while, so he seconded Chen Yuankang's plan:

"I think what Chen Gong said is true."

Neither of them mentioned that they would cross the river and take Taicheng directly with a small number of troops.

After all, Hou Jing was able to succeed because Xiao Yan was unprepared. Now that Xiao Yan has accumulated troops in Jiankang, if he really wants to smuggle across the Yangtze River with a small number of troops, he is afraid that he will not be able to return.

Gao Cheng looked at Wang Hong and Wang Jun again, and the two of them had something to gain for the time being, so they decided to try Chen Yuankang's method first.

But before that, it is still necessary to do enough tricks, and now there is a fight in Shouyang City, in order to make it look like there is no hope of breaking the city, leading the army to the east, and marching south from Huaiyin.

On May 548, the first year of Zhaode (24), that is, the second day after Gao Cheng entered Shouyang, the peasants were already filling the moat on three sides with the arrows on the city wall. , Confronted with Liang Jun's catapults on the city wall.

Arrows and stones flew in the sky, and many civilians in the Northern Qi Dynasty suffered casualties, but by the end of the night, the moat was finally filled.

The next day, the Qi army was besieged by ants on three sides, and the ladder was put on the city wall. Black smoke billowed on the city wall, and hot dung was poured from the top of the city. The screams and wailing resounded through the sky.

Gao Cheng stood far behind, looking around, countless small figures fell from the ladder like ants.

Even though he has been in the army for many years, he knows that being a general is not benevolent, and that being kind is not a soldier, but such a scene of ants attacking with force was rarely seen before.

　Also, go to bed first, and write after watching the game.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)