A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 296 Tuo Ding Wang

Holding the imperial insignia and overseeing the military affairs of three prefectures sounds prestigious, but it is actually not an easy job.

With a formidable enemy at hand and no external reinforcements, we are facing a deadly enemy.

Li Yi felt like he was walking on thin ice, and he couldn't sleep soundly at night. Since the division of troops, the five hundred soldiers brought from Guanzhong to Lingshi City often woke up in the middle of the night.

Insomnia, palpitations,
Vertical ridges have grown on my nails.

At lunchtime, Li Yi had little appetite. Seeing that he had no appetite, Luo Dafu specially went to get him some tender locust leaves, mashed them to extract juice, and mixed it with flour to make locust leaf cold pottery.

“I also added some chamomile juice and chilled it in the well. Please have some, Steward.”

Looking at the bright green cold dishes, Li Yi felt a bit more hungry. They were green and cool, refreshing and chewy, and the addition of Shanxi vinegar made them even more appetizing.

I ate a whole bowl in one go, and I still wanted more.

"Is the steward worried about Li Zhongwen, or about Haozhou?"

"A bit of both," Li Yi said frankly. He was genuinely unsure about Li Zhongwen's decision to go to Haozhou, given that Li Zhongwen was a defeated general. However, due to the circumstances, he could neither ignore Haozhou's plea for help nor refuse Li Zhongwen's request to fight.

Hopefully, good news will come.

Besides worrying about whether Li Zhongwen could enter Haozhou under the blockade of tens of thousands of enemy troops, he was also concerned about the problem of food supplies.

Although Huang Ziying was trapped in Sparrow Rat Valley, his several thousand men occupied Jiahu Fort, thus cutting off the vital transportation route through Sparrow Rat Valley.
The Tang army was unable to transport supplies from there.

The only alternative route was to travel from Huoyou over Hanhou Ridge to Lingshi. This route was much more difficult than Queshu Ridge, making transportation even more challenging. Although Queshu Ridge was treacherous, it was a well-established passage with a post station every thirty li and a pass every fifty li, along with castles and villages in between.

Although Hanhou Ridge is passable, it is only accessible to horses and mules, not carts.

Now, north of Huoyi, the garrisons at Lingshi, Yindi Pass, Lengquan Pass, as well as Zhangnan Fort, Zhangbi Fort, and Yong'an Fort, cannot solve their food and military needs locally and have to be transported from the rear.

The south has no shortage of food supplies, but the problem is transportation difficulties.

Organizing horses, mules, and laborers to carry the loads is time-consuming and laborious, and the costs of food for both people and horses are also high. Sending one shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain here would incur three or four dou (another unit of dry measure) in costs along the way.

"This Huang Ziying is really resilient. How come he hasn't run out of food yet and can still hold on?" Li Yi was also puzzled. Although they were trapped between Yindi Pass and Fenshui Pass, covering an area of ​​several dozen miles, it wasn't like they were stuck in a small, dead-end valley.
With several thousand troops and a considerable number of Tang prisoners, plus the need for food and drink among the locals in places like Jiahubao, how could the local food supply last so long?
Even if a batch of grain was harvested in the summer, it's already been two months.

If Huang Ziying is not eliminated, the valley will be blocked, and the supply of grain and fodder will be disrupted.

Now, all we can do is ask Huoyi to recruit more laborers and mules to expand the transportation fleet.

In the afternoon,

No wind, muggy.
Li Yi felt sleepy and took a nap.

"Manager,"

Liu Heizi strode in from outside, excitedly calling out to wake him, "Good news! Good news from Haozhou!"

Upon hearing the good news from Haozhou, Li Yi immediately woke up from his sleepiness, rubbed his face, and sat up straight, saying, "Tell me quickly."

"Li Zhongwen led three thousand men into Haozhou City."

"Please be more specific!"

"To be more specific, Li Zhongwen led 3,000 men to the south gate of Haozhou, where they faced 10,000 troops led by Liu Liu'er, the Hu bandit king of Lishi. Li Zhongwen led his 3,000 men in a formation to charge the enemy, quickly defeating Liu Liu'er's left flank with a diagonal attack, and then scattering his center and right flanks as well."

They broke through the enemy's blockade and stormed into Haozhou City.

The governor of Haozhou also dispatched three thousand men out of the city to provide support, and they beheaded hundreds more outside the south gate.

Liu Heizi spoke with great enthusiasm, his saliva flying everywhere.

Li Yi was also very excited.

After not sleeping well for several days, hearing this news finally put my mind at ease.

If Li Zhongwen suffers another defeat, he will be unable to send troops to rescue Haozhou.

It's impossible for him, the governor of Lüzhou, to lose two prefectures as soon as he takes office.

A diagonal attack tactic—I never expected Li Zhongwen to use this move. Quite impressive. It seems I underestimated him; I really thought he was a good-for-nothing. Turns out, he truly has family connections and genuine skills.

This diagonal attack tactic sounds simple, but it is very difficult to implement in practice, and it tests the general's grasp of the battlefield situation.

Three thousand reinforcements entered Haozhou City. Now Haozhou should be able to hold out by defending the city. In particular, Li Zhongwen's military prowess made Li Yi even more reassured.

"Okay, I'm going to continue my afternoon nap, don't bother me anymore."

Li Yi went to take a nap.

Haozhou, the state governs Xicheng.

The Book of Songs, in the section on the Guofeng section, says, "There are hazel trees on the mountain, and lingzhi trees in the marsh." According to the Shuowen Jiezi, "marsh" means "dampness under a slope."

Xicheng is located in the southwest of the Taiyuan Basin. Originally, the seat of Xicheng was in Liulin and called Xicheng. During the Western Jin Dynasty, it was moved to the territory of Zishi and renamed Xicheng, which was under the jurisdiction of Xihe State of Bingzhou.

Because it is located northwest of the Fen River, it was later called Fenyang.

It is bordered by the Lüliang Mountains to the west and the Fen River to the east.

It is 210 li north of Taiyuan.

At that time, Haozhou only governed three counties: Xicheng, Xiaoyi, and Wenshui, but its location was important.

Liu Liu'er wiped the blood scabs off her face, and between her fingers were dark bloodstains that had already congealed.

His gaze was fixed on the red flag of the Tang army atop Haozhou City. The flag was so red that it resembled the blood of countless men who had flowed under his command in recent days.

"Send another team and continue the siege!" he shouted angrily, cracking his whip.

His messenger immediately spurred his horse forward and gave orders to the waiting troops.

The Lishibu Luoji Hu warriors hesitated to advance, looking at the towering Haozhou city walls and the stench of decay and blood that permeated the battlefield.

Fifty of Tuoding King's personal guards rode forward on horseback, bows in hand, to oversee the battle.

A tribal chief couldn't help but say to his personal guards, "Without enough siege equipment, if we just attack head-on like this, we're just throwing lives away. No matter how many lives we have, it won't be enough."
The brothers followed the Khan in raising an army, but they didn't want to die beneath the walls of Haozhou.

The captain of the personal guards who was in charge of the battle was short and stocky, with prominent cheekbones and a high nose bridge, typical of the Shanhu people, and his hair was loose and his beard was thick.

He had a large gold ring hanging from one ear, the bloodstains of which hadn't been wiped away.

"The Khan has decreed that anyone who fails to capture Haozhou City will be executed!" The horn sounded urgently.

Under the watchful eye of their personal guards and archers, this group of mountain barbarians reluctantly launched an attack on the southern city of Haozhou.

The hastily constructed, crude cloud ladder was carried forward by a large number of mountain barbarians, with archers providing cover from behind and other mountain barbarians carrying cowhide shields to guard the front.

Liu Liu'er coldly watched from behind the flag.

The mountain barbarians gradually approached the city walls.

They were first blocked by trenches, which were wide and deep, with sharp stakes at the bottom; falling in meant certain death. After many days of fierce fighting, the mountain bandits managed to fill in the trenches and create several paths.

But in this sweltering heat, many corpses had fallen into the trenches and hadn't been recovered. They were already rotting, and the stench was unbearable to approach.

Liu Liu'er counted silently in her mind.
As he counted down to one, sure enough, a muffled, thunderous clicking sound came from the city wall—it was the Fu Yuan crossbow.

This terrifying crossbow has a range of three hundred paces.

When his father raised an army, he was eventually killed by a crossbow bolt fired by Liang De's army.

Dozens of crossbows on the city wall fired simultaneously.
The long, thick crossbows fired at the mountain bandits who had charged towards the trenches, eliciting screams of agony. The crossbows were then aimed at the channels used to fill in the trenches.

One crossbow bolt can kill a whole bunch of enemies.

Even a leather shield couldn't stop this crossbow.

Despite the terrifying destructive power of the crossbows, the mountain barbarians continued their advance, finally crossing the city moat.

Countless thunderclaps resounded.
The sky darkened.
That was a volley from the archers of the defending army.

Half an hour later,
After losing about 20% of its soldiers, the offensive failed again.

Liu Liu'er gritted her teeth, staring coldly at Haozhou City.

night,

Inside Tuli Khan Liu Jizhen's large, oversized tent, Liu Liu'er was once again subjected to a torrent of abuse.

"I'll give you three more days. If you can't break through the city in three days, you'll bring me your head!"

The next day.

Liu Liu'er ordered another attack on the city, but his mountain bandits were already very resistant. They went through the motions but didn't put in any real effort. They shouted loudly, but moved as slowly as turtles. They would approach the city, fire a few arrows, and then retreat.

Enraged, Liu Liu'er slashed more than a dozen people.
It was still to no avail.

On the seventh day,
The siege was still unsuccessful.
Of Liu Liu'er's ten thousand men, nearly three thousand had been killed or wounded. In the setting sun, he looked at the piles of his men's corpses.

He personally threw the torch up, setting the oil-soaked pile of corpses ablaze.

The fire was raging.

The stench of the corpse was intense.

In the rear camp, more than a thousand wounded soldiers lay or sat, and in the hot weather, many of their wounds were rotting and infested with maggots.

"Your Majesty, we can't continue attacking the city like this. We don't have siege equipment. Attacking like this is just suicide."

"Yes, we've already lost over a thousand brothers and wounded over a thousand more. If we keep attacking like this, we'll all be wiped out here."

"Why fight like this? Let's go back to Lishi."

Several mountain bandit leaders, seeing the pitiful state of the wounded soldiers' camp, couldn't help but shed tears.

These descendants of the Xiongnu, known as the most barbaric and ferocious Shanhu, also suffered a humiliating defeat in Haozhou City.

night,

Inside the Khan's tent, Liu Jizhen
Liu Liu'er pleaded with her brother to stop the assault, suggesting they either besiege the city, attack other cities, or simply return to their hometown of Lishi.

Why should we be dogs for Liu Wuzhou and the Turks? Why should we shed blood for them here?

Liu Jizhen looked at his brothers, "Retreat to Lishi? And then what? Raising an army in rebellion is like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you retreat. If we don't attack, can we really stay safe in Lishi?"
Have you forgotten how your father died? He held onto Lishi, hoping to establish his own independent regime, but he only lasted three years.

"Haozhou City must be taken."

"Then you have the guts to attack. I don't have that ability. I've already lost nearly three thousand men."

"You were the one who let the people into the city, so naturally you should be in charge of attacking it."

The two brothers were arguing fiercely.

"Report!"

An urgent report came from outside the tent.

"Reporting to the Great Khan, Ji Sigong and Yu Jun, the garrison commanders of Yong'an Fort, attacked our grain transport team and seized 5,000 shi of grain."

Liu Jizhen kicked the table over.

The five thousand shi of grain and fodder were transported from Lishi.

Liu Liu'er frowned: "Your Majesty, our army only has three days' worth of food left."

Liu Jizhen glared at his brother: "Then I'll give you three days. You lead your troops to intercept and annihilate the Tang army at Yong'an Fort, retrieve the grain supplies, and then take Yong'an Fort."

"Your Majesty, the Tang army has surely fled after seizing the supply route. They can't possibly be left there for me to fight. Although Yong'an Fort is not large, it is extremely fortified."

Without siege equipment, it's impossible to take it within three days. Besides, our army only has three days' worth of provisions left; how can we launch an attack then?

"Useless! You couldn't stop Li Zhongwen, you couldn't conquer Haozhou City, and now you don't even dare to attack a small Yong'an Fort?"

"Intercept that Tang army and retrieve five thousand shi of grain, or you'll have to figure out how to solve the grain problem yourself. Get out!" Liu Jizhen kicked his brother out.

Liu Liu'er gritted her teeth and walked out of the tent.
I've cursed this older brother countless times along the way.

He returned to the camp, summoned his generals, and informed them of the orders.

"We must recapture the grain supplies, or we'll all starve."

(End of this chapter)