Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 264 Conquering the East and the North
"Sorry..."

At night, the military camp on the east bank of the Macheng River was only two hundred steps away from the camp on the west bank, and the camp was brightly lit.

"The camp on the west bank is right next to the stone bridge, so it's not easy to attack."

"But I have already made arrangements for this."

In the tent, Liu Jilong talked freely, then looked at Cao Mao and said, "Bring the things up here."

"Yes!"

Cao Mao stood up and responded. He walked to the door of the tent and gave a few instructions to the armored soldiers. Then he turned around and walked back to his seat and sat down.

The crowd didn't have to wait too long before two armored soldiers came carrying an object and put it down in the tent.

In front of everyone was a ball-shaped wooden Cuju.

It is similar in shape to a Cuju, but is several times larger.

Liu Jilong walked forward and pulled out the wooden plug of the thing, then took it apart.

After the thing was taken apart, a spherical shape became two semicircular objects, and the middle was hollow, so things could be put in.

Liu Jilong squatted down and clapped his hands, saying, "This thing is called a flying fire machine. It mainly places a gunpowder bag inside a wooden ball, and then ignites the fuse and throws it out with a catapult."

"As long as it is thrown into the camp, it will be enough to cause damage to the Ummoth Army inside the camp. Even if it falls on the stone bridge, it will not damage the stone bridge."

The hollow wooden sphere plus the gunpowder bag was actually the flying fire machine used by Yang Xingmi to attack Yuzhang in the late Tang Dynasty.

However, due to the incorrect configuration of gunpowder, the flying fire from the engine could only burn tents and houses after being thrown out by the catapult, but could not blow them up.

In comparison, what Liu Jilong made can explode, and this wooden sphere will turn into sawdust after the gunpowder explodes, causing great damage to the surrounding enemy troops.

The power of this thing is not great for the stone bridge, and it is not enough to shake the stone bridge and the city wall, but it can assist the Longyou army in attacking the city.

Of course, there is a more powerful method, which is to directly throw a bomb to shock the enemy to death.

However, by doing so, the gunpowder will be consumed very quickly and the stone bridge will be easily destroyed.

Because of this, Liu Jilong chose to use a less powerful engine to launch a rocket.

"General Jie, I will be the main attacker tomorrow!"

Zhang Chang immediately asked for the job, and naturally no one here would compete with him for it.

Before Liu Jilong could speak, Dou Bin echoed, "General, I will supervise the troops in Tang, and leave the main attack to General Zhang."

Liu Jilong agreed upon seeing this, and then looked at Zhang Chang: "Don't rush to attack Guzang. Take down the camp first tomorrow, and then our army will move to the west bank."

"There are many trebuchets on the walls of Guzang. I guess Dugazhi and others have already acquired the technology of counterweight trebuchets. After you capture the camp, don't rush to attack. First test the attack range of their trebuchets."

"Don't worry, General!" Zhang Chang bowed in response.

Seeing his calmness, Liu Jilong nodded in appreciation, then stood up and said:
"Everyone, go down and rest. There will be a fierce battle waiting for us tomorrow!"

"I'll take my leave..."

Everyone stood up and left the tent under Liu Jilong's gaze.

After they left, Liu Jilong also went behind the screen to rest.

A night passed and it was the seventh day of March.

Zhang Chang did not rush to attack. Instead, he slaughtered and stewed more than 3,000 sheep they brought from Changsong, allowing the soldiers and civilians to have a good meal. After they had regained their strength, he sent people to build catapults. At the same time, he dug for usable trebuchets along the north and south of the Macheng River.

I have to say that Umu has plenty of manpower, so the river stones are collected very cleanly.

From early morning to noon, 20,000 laborers were able to gather more than 40 carts, which were each more than five miles away in the north and south.

Fortunately, the time was short and the Umu people could only clean up to this extent. Therefore, after the Xiangminfu continued to search outward, the river stones gradually increased.

Seeing that the river stones had been found, Zhang Chang immediately sent out his soldiers to operate the catapults.

Although Liu Jilong had said that the power of the "Flying Fire Engine" was limited and would not damage the stone bridge, Zhang Chang was still very careful.

Having served in the army for nine years, he is no longer impetuous, but has gradually calmed down and taken steady steps.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

Under the command of Zhang Chang, thirty catapults were equipped with only three hundred kilograms of weight, and thirty kilograms of stones were used to try to target the target.

With a counterweight of three hundred kilograms, a thirty-kilogram slingshot was thrown a hundred steps away, across the open space in front of the Longyou army, over the stone bridge, and most of it flew over the camp and hit the rear.

"Reduce the load by fifty pounds, and continue to use thirty pounds to throw stones!"

Seeing that he couldn't determine the distance, Zhang Chang continued to let everyone operate the stone throwing.

Compared to the last time, the distance this time is much better.

Most of the 30-jin stones thrown by the 30 catapults fell into the camp, but because the Umo people were well prepared, not too many casualties were caused.

"Hmph, it looks like their trebuchets are similar to ours."

In front of the tower, Dugazhi looked at the Longyou Army's probing and snorted coldly:

"They thought they could break through the camp by throwing stones, but they didn't think about the fact that we suffered so much from their trebuchets. How could I not learn from the lesson?"

Seeing this, Du Lunqilu also flattered: "Father, you asked me to prepare so many trenches and thick planks, just to defend against catapults, right?"

"Yes!" Du Gazhi nodded in agreement, then looked at Du Lunqilu and said:
"Even if there are trenches and thick wooden boards, it won't work if the number of stones thrown is too large and too heavy."

"But I sent light cavalry to Jialing last night and informed Chengle and his men of the situation."

"There is a saying in the Tang Dynasty: If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold."

"It is impossible for Chengle not to understand this truth, so he will definitely send troops to help us."

"As long as we hold on for three to five days, Liu Jilong will definitely retreat when he sees Chengle's army coming!"

"Aye is wise!" Du Lunqilu praised him generously, and Dugazhi gradually became arrogant.

However, when the father and son were talking, Zhang Chang nodded with satisfaction and said, "Remember this counterweight and the weight of the stone."

"Okay, now gradually increase the weight and the stones until the heaviest stone hits the fortress!"

"Yes!"

The captain under Zhang Chang's command quickly responded, and then ordered the armored soldiers to add weight to the catapult, constantly testing and calibrating it.

From 300 kilograms of counterweight to 40 kilograms of boulder, then to 500 kilograms of counterweight and 60 kilograms of boulder...

The trebuchets kept adding weight until they had added 1,500 kilograms of counterweight and 100 kilograms of boulder, and only then did they stop.

"Sir, this is the maximum weight of the stones that these trebuchets can throw. It can just hit the fortress a hundred steps away."

"Okay, let's do it!" Zhang Chang nodded and gave the order.

A quarter of an hour later, with all preparations ready, at the command of the captain at the trebuchet position, thirty trebuchets moved instantly.

"Boom bang bang-"

Thirty 100-jin hurled stones flew over the stone bridge and the open space, slamming heavily into the fortress wall on the other side of the Macheng River.

The five hundred armored soldiers in the city immediately dived into the dirt road and waited to emerge after the stone throwing was over.

In response, the Longyou Army continued to attack the walls of the camp at a rate of three rounds of stones every quarter of an hour.

After all, the wall had only been reinforced for two days, so after two hours of bombardment, most of the front wall collapsed, and the situation inside the camp could already be seen.

Seeing this, Zhang Chang continued to order the stones to be thrown for half an hour until the time reached Youshi (17:).

In March, it usually gets dark in Liangzhou at 19:30, but today the sun is shining brightly, so it may get dark even later.

Because of this, Zhang Chang did not order a rest, but instead ordered: "Reduce the weight and replace the engine!"

"Yes!" The captain agreed, and in less than a quarter of an hour he reduced the counterweights of all the catapults. After reducing the counterweight to two hundred and fifty kilograms, he replaced it with a thirty-kilogram engine flyfire.

The wooden ball in the flying fire of the engine weighs ten pounds, the gunpowder bag weighs fifteen pounds, and there are five pounds of iron sand, with a total weight of thirty pounds.

"Light it up, set it off!"

When Zhang Chang opened his mouth, thirty team leaders lit the fuse of the engine and then opened the mechanism.

With the sound of the winch releasing, thirty rockets were thrown out, streaking across the sky and landing in the camp on the west bank of the Macheng River.

The armored soldiers in the camp hid in the dirt road one after another. After hearing the sound of something falling to the ground, they climbed out of the pit one after another.

However, when they climbed out of the pit, they immediately heard a "hissing" sound, as if something was burning.

"what is this?"

Some people looked at the flying fire from the engine with curiosity. Many people went up to kick it tentatively with their feet. After they found that it was wood, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought……"

"Boom boom——"

Suddenly, thunder roared, iron sand and wood chips flew everywhere, and some of the armored soldiers who were closer had their hands, feet and faces pierced by bullets without any armor protection, and they wailed in pain.

"Uh-huh!!"

"Cut the fuse an inch and launch it again."

After Zhang Chang finished explaining the situation to the captain of the catapult, he immediately turned around and said, "Lanzhou Town and Hezhou Town, prepare your troops!"

With the command flags waving, the 1,600 armored soldiers from Lanzhou Town and Hezhou Town were ready.

"put!"

A cup of tea later, the catapult started again. Thirty rockets were thrown out, fell into the camp and exploded one after another.

“Beep beep——” “Kill!!!”

When the whistle sounded, the soldiers from the two towns marched out together and charged towards the camp on the opposite bank along the stone bridge of Macheng River.

"Why is there a sudden thunder?!"

"What's going on in the camp?!"

In front of the East City Tower of Guzang, Dugazhi's face was full of panic. He didn't know why there was a sudden thunder, nor why bursts of smoke rose in the camp.

Faced with the unknown, he couldn't help but panic.

Not only him, but also the superstitious Tibetans and Umu people, Liu Jilian's attack while thundering seemed like divine help.

"The Elephant King has appeared!"

"King Liu Xiang is angry!"

Many of the Umo people on the city walls remembered the names Liu Jilong was called by the various tribes on the plateau.

They said that Liu Jilian was the reincarnation of the Elephant King, and the anger of the Elephant King represented the anger of God, and the symbol of God's anger was thunder.

"Pig and dog stuff! It's just two thunderclaps!"

Seeing that his own morale was low, Dugazhi immediately kicked over the kneeling Umojia soldier next to him, and then looked at Dulunqilu:
"Take 500 armored soldiers to support the camp outside the city!"

"Yes!" Du Lunqilu was also afraid, but he knew better what would happen to him without Guzang City.

"kill!!"

A distance of one hundred steps is not considered long for the elite soldiers from the two towns wearing armor.

When training in Longyou, jogging three miles in armor was a routine operation, and the next best thing was five miles.

Although their throats felt like they were on fire after running, it also trained their ability to launch surprise attacks.

At this moment, they climbed onto the stone bridge after running a hundred steps, and in a few breaths they formed a formation and rushed to the camp on the west bank of Macheng River.

The screams from within the camp were still ringing in my ears, and a small number of armored soldiers formed a defensive formation at the gap in the camp.

In the blink of an eye, the two armies' fronts met and their spears collided.

After a short-distance raid, the Longyou Army remained calm and crashed into the Emo defense line as steady as a rock.

The solid defense line formed by more than 300 Umu armored soldiers was pierced like tofu when the Longyou army formed a battle formation and attacked.

Before Du Lunqilu even had the chance to lead his troops out of the city, Du Gazhi on the top of the city saw the Longyou army rushing into the camp.

"Du Lunqilu, come back! Come back!"

"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

While calling out to Dulunqilu, Dugazhi ordered his troops to withdraw.

Facing the elite troops from the two towns, the Umu people simply did not have the strength to defend the bridge.

"Dang Dang Dang..."

When the horn sounded, Du Lunqilu, who had not yet left the city, hurriedly withdrew his troops, and the Umojia soldiers in the camp outside the city also began to retreat.

Their retreat was very crude. They could have formed a formation and retreated at first, but after being killed one after another by the elite troops of the two towns, their retreat immediately turned into a rout.

Hundreds of people turned around and fled, and the Umujia soldiers who did not have time to escape were killed by the elite troops of the two towns.

After the elite troops from the two towns dealt with them, the tired soldiers in the front row stayed behind to clean up the battlefield in an orderly manner, while the elite troops in the back row immediately launched a pursuit with their spears in hand.

The distance from the camp to the Guzang city gate was more than three hundred steps.

Even if they were traveling light, it would still take two or three minutes to run, not to mention that the Umo people were all wearing armor.

They had not run a hundred steps before they were caught up and slaughtered by the elite troops from the two towns.

“Catapult!!”

Dugazhi quickly ordered the catapults to attack, and the catapults that had been prepared long ago also began to move.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

In an instant, the captains and foreman of the two towns on the attacking route blew their wooden whistles one after another: "Retreat!!"

Without a moment's hesitation, the troops of the two towns retreated quickly, but were still inevitably hit by the stones.

More than ten elite soldiers were killed on the spot, and more than twenty were injured and dragged away from the battlefield by their comrades next to them.

In the end, only 176 of the 500 Umu armored soldiers stationed in the camp escaped into the city, and the rest were killed.

After they fled into the city, Dugazhi's face turned pale.

The combat effectiveness displayed by the Longyou Army soldiers was like divine help to them.

"Sir, the Hu bandits can throw stones at a distance of about 180 steps, and the weight of the stones should be 70 to 80 kilograms!"

Among the elite troops of the two towns who withdrew to the camp, a captain from Lanzhou Town reported the situation to Zhang Chang who had just crossed the bridge.

"Thank you for your hard work. This time, you two towns are considered the first to reach the summit. You will be collectively commended. The armies, brigades, teams, and groups that reached the summit first, please report your names."

"Yes!"

Zhang Chang's words made the captain very excited, and the elite troops from the two surrounding towns also became excited after hearing his words.

Once they capture the camp, they will all be promoted to the first rank, and their annual military pay will be increased by at least several stones, not to mention the subsequent rewards.

Thinking of this, everyone wanted to charge again and capture Guzang City.

However, this idea is just a thought. The entire brick-covered wall of Guzang City is not so easy to take down.

"Gather the civilians to build a military camp on the west bank, 400 steps north to south and 150 steps east to west, leaving 50 steps for the catapults!"

Zhang Chang's military order was conveyed, and Liu Jilian, who was resting in the tent on the east bank, knew that the Macheng River defense line was probably taken when he heard the shouting and killing sounds gradually fade away.

"General, the west bank camp has been taken. Mr. Zhang is directing the people to build the camp!"

Cao Mao was very fast. As soon as Liu Jilong finished his thoughts, he rushed in and excitedly reported the progress of the war.

Liu Jilong nodded after hearing this, and then instructed Cao Mao:

"Let's move the tent to the west bank. It will probably only take three to five days to take the city."

"Tell Dou Bin to send a thousand elite cavalry to surround Guzang from the north, south and west to prevent Emo from escaping."

"Also send another 500 elite cavalrymen to explore Jialin to see if Dugazhi has colluded with Chengle, and let Chengle come to his aid."

"Yes!" Cao Mao bowed in response, turned around and walked out of the tent.

Seeing him leave, Liu Jilian sorted out the books he had written along the way. After packing them up, he watched the soldiers come in and move the tent for him.

At the same time, Dugazhi was furious when he learned of the casualties on his side.

"Five hundred men were stationed at the Macheng River, with the help of a fortress, but they lost it in less than a day. Are you idiots?!"

Looking at the 176 armored soldiers standing in front of him, Dugazhi felt heartbroken.

He was not heartbroken for the more than 300 lives, but for the more than 300 sets of armor.

Gu Zang's armor production was no more than fifty sets per month, but now more than three hundred sets were lost at once.

His heart ached when he thought that he would need to spend more than half a year to make this batch of armor.

Of course, what scares him more today than these more than 300 sets of armor is the discipline and combat effectiveness of the Longyou Army.

There are still six or seven thousand such enemies outside the city.

If they start to attack the city and show the same discipline and fighting ability as they do today, it will be impossible to defend Guzang City.

As he took a breath, he couldn't help feeling a little regretful. He regretted not listening to Du Lun Xiga's advice, giving up Guzang and heading north to Baitinghai.

"Aye!"

Suddenly, Du Lunqilu's voice came from a distance. Dugazhi looked in the direction of the voice, only to see Du Lunqilu hurriedly approaching with anxiety written all over his face.

"Aye, Longyou has sent out more than a thousand elite cavalrymen to block the South City, North City, and West City!"

"Liu Jilong is a pig and a dog!" Du Gazhi was furious when he heard what Du Lunqilu said.

Even though he had used the tactic of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open when he besieged Suo Xun, Liu Jilong now simply cut off all hope of survival.

The fact that he dared to do so showed that he did not take the Umo people in the city seriously and was determined to exterminate the Umo clan.

Dugazhi was angry and sad, and Dulunqilu even cried:
"Aye, shall we break out?"

Hearing this, Dugazhi looked at Dulunqilu and said with disappointment in his eyes:

"We are blocked on all sides by Liu Jilong. If we can't break out immediately, we will be killed by Liu Jilong's elite cavalry from behind."

"Now we can only hold on to Guzang and wait for Chengle and his men to send troops to help us."

"If we perish, Chengle will be next."

Dugazhi couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. At this moment, he admitted that he was old and his eyes were blurry. He actually abandoned Dulun Xiga and chose Dulun Qilu, a weak guy.

Ummat would decline in his hands, but fortunately he still had Dulun Xiga.

"Dulun Xijia, you will do better than Yeye in the future, and Umo will continue to become stronger in your hands."

Dugazhi, who was sighing here, might not have thought that their enemies were not only Liu Jilian, but also Zhang Huaishen in the west.

(End of this chapter)