Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 262 Commanding Troops
Ye Chen knew that he was no better than Cao Wei, Luo Yaoshun, and Yang Yanping in terms of arranging troops and commanding specific siege battles, so he simply ignored the generals and took Hu Sanguang and a group of soldiers to the northwest side of the mountain. on the hill.

This is the place he was optimistic about yesterday. There is a relatively flat place like steps on the northwest mountainside. Standing here has a wider view, which is good for him to control the overall situation and command the troops.

Without his arrangement, the heralds were standing next to him, and the drummers had already established themselves on the hillside in front of him.

When Ye Chen led the people up the hillside, he looked down and saw a dense crowd of people and flags like clouds.His own army was deployed one mile away, the flags were fluttering in the south wind, and a killing atmosphere rose into the sky.

The sun rises in the high mountains, and the radiant light gradually dispels the mist in the mountains. The ocean monsoon blowing from the south shakes the wind and clouds outside Shaozhou City.From a distance, the eaves tower looks like a monster hidden in the deep mountains. Although Ye Chen knows the current situation of Han in the south, this 'monster' is mostly strong on the outside and weak on the inside, but the battle is imminent, and his heartbeat still starts to speed up.

The shouts and noises of the generals down the hillside, the formation was being adjusted and the siege equipment was distributed noisily.Ye Chen saw that Wang Chao and Zhan Xiongwu had taken some equipment and went to the other three sides.

Although the surrounding area of ​​Shaozhou City is relatively open, the width is limited, and only about 2000 people can be dispatched to attack the city in one frontal attack.

Ye Chen waited for a while, the mist was almost blown away by the wind, his eyesight was far superior to that of ordinary people, and he saw a civil servant surrounded by a crowd on the tower, and another general commanded the troops loudly to scatter around the top of the city, sending the guards All kinds of utensils and weapons are placed all over the city, and they teach how to use them.

Ye Chen could even see the expressions of the people on the top of the city. Although the civil servant pretended to be calm, Ye Chen saw panic in his eyes.On the contrary, although the general looked dignified, he had a resolute face. Judging from the layout of his troops, he was a man who knew military affairs.However, the soldiers under his command seemed a bit unbearable, with flustered movements, flustered expressions, and weak footsteps. Most of them looked terrified and lacked confidence, let alone desperate to die, which exposed the truth that they had not fought for many years.However, following the yelling of the general, the defenders gradually calmed down and had some fighting spirit.

"Perhaps by shooting the guard Li Congxin to death, the defenders in the city will lose their backbone, and the city will be broken easily." Ye Chen muttered to himself.

"Siege the city!" Ye Chen gave an order, and the standard-bearers beside him waved their flags, and the rapid drums sounded from the hillside.

Cao Wei, who was in charge of the first attack, heard the voice and issued a series of orders.

More than a dozen catapults had already started, and huge stones whizzed towards the city wall two or three hundred steps away, but less than one-fifth of them could hit the city wall accurately.

The soldiers of the Song army under the city wall came rushing in, shooting arrows up and down one after another, and the ladders were pushed close to the city wall by groups of people like huge wooden "tanks".No matter how spectacular the scene in the wilderness is and how powerful the equipment is, its power is still limited.Since ancient times, it has never been heard that the stones of the catapult can destroy the city wall.

Bows, crossbows, stones, and fireballs are just a prelude, and finally returned to the siege method that Ye Chen had seen in the Battle of Jinyang last year-'brainless wall climbing siege method'.

Of course, in this era, there is a more vivid term called "ant-attached siege method".

I saw a cloud ladder being pushed to the wall, with carriages and two rows of wooden wheels underneath, and the folded ladder on top was unfolded immediately and then fell to the top of the city. As soon as the ladder was put on with a "snap", a burst of crazy shouts was heard immediately , Song soldiers surged up.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, there was a loud shout from the top of the city, the voice was full of panic and panic, but along with the voice, a wooden barrel suddenly poured a piece of black oil, and then threw several torches, "Boom" When the black oil touches the fire, it catches fire.

The ladder suddenly ignited a raging fire.The screams of the soldiers of the Song army were unbearable to hear. They fell from the ladders, some of them rolled on the ground in pain, and some of them splashed water, but it was not easy to splash them out.Many people couldn't bear it and jumped into the small moat directly.

Black smoke billowed in the air, a smell of burnt pitch mingled with the smell of burnt hair.

Just standing a few hundred steps away and looking at it, Ye Chen felt his scalp tingle for a while. The oil dug out in Nanhan Kingdom can still be used in this way.

This situation filled Ye Chen's heart with shadows. He felt that going to battle was not a horror, but siege was a nightmare.

There was also a catapult in the city, which seemed to be behind the city wall, and Ye Chen couldn't see it, but he could see Chen Shouyi, the guard of Shaozhou City, standing on the top of the city, looking back and shouting, as if observing his direction.Not long after, a dozen burning earthen jars were seen flying out of the city. The earthen jars fell into several crowds like a ball of fire, and shattered with a "bang" sound. Oil and flames were everywhere. Splash, the crowd scattered in a rush, and the people on fire rolled around on the ground.

Thick smoke billowed from top to bottom of the city wall, and the north of Shaozhou City was soon shrouded in black smoke and flames.

The Song army went up one after another, shooting bows and crossbows, and the ladders were put on the city wall again, and some simpler ladders were put up from all sides, and people climbed up like ants.Several commanders shouted from behind: "The general has an order. The first one to climb up the city wall will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver. The head of the head will be promoted to the head of the commander, and the soldier will be promoted to the head of the capital!"

The so-called "under a heavy reward, there must be a brave man", and the Song army were all elite soldiers, and death did not make them retreat. Countless heroes in the army set up ladders and rushed up.

But there is no sign of getting promoted and getting rich, and the first to see a barrel of oil is to pour it down!Several people were caught on fire and fell straight down, and the wooden ladder was instantly ignited... This oil is really useful for the Southern Han army, and it can be ignited at once, otherwise it would not be easy to burn the ladder.And falling from the top of the city, even ordinary people can do it. Although the Southern Han army was on the battlefield for the first time and was usually neglected in training, on the side defending the city, there were "sharp weapons" in hand. Under the command of good generals, It can still cause the Song army to suffer heavy losses.

But this wave of soldiers of the Song Army was exceptionally brave, and some of them rushed up the burning ladder desperately!It's completely a way of not wanting to die at the same time.Ye Chen could see clearly that the hands and feet of the first soldier who rushed up were burning, and the screams could be heard hundreds of steps away. He hugged a Southern Han soldier when he went up, and jumped straight from the top of the wall What's the use of the first person to rush up... He's dead anyway.Such a brave and desperate soldier died so meaninglessly?Ye Chen felt very sorry and worthless.

There are also some people who have suffered great casualties. A few people climbed up the city wall from the simple ladders, but seeing the dancing of knives and guns, they are afraid that they will be chopped into meat.

But this move startled the defenders at the head of South Seoul. Ye Chen even saw many soldiers jump up and turn around and run for a few steps, but was scolded by the guard Chen Shouyi and ran back again.

Seeing this scene, Ye Chen became even more certain that as long as Chen Shouyi died and went to the backbone of the defenders, the difficulty of breaking the city would be greatly reduced, and the casualties of Erlang under his command would be much less.Perhaps with the siege method like the one in front of us, the defenders will gradually stop after several times, and most of the Southern Han army will collapse in a few days, thus breaking the city.But Ye Chen is no longer willing to suffer such heavy casualties from his subordinate Erlang.

With a decision, Ye Chen yelled: "Send the order, immediately suspend the siege!" Then he led the people down the hillside and went to the commander's tent.

The sound of the drums and the ordering flag were passed out, Cao Wei was puzzled, but he carried out Ye Chen's order without hesitation, thousands of people retreated slowly like a tide, and retreated two hundred steps away, followed by Cao Wei, Luo Yaoshun, Yang Yanping, Zhan Xiongwu, and Wang Chao received the order and came to the commander's tent.

Not long after, there were several disputes in the handsome tent.

"General! This is absolutely impossible. The general is the courage and soul of an army. How can there be a general who goes into battle in person." Luo Yaoshun said eagerly, with some accusations in his tone.

"General, you can rest assured that we will be able to take this Shaozhou City before it gets dark today." Cao Wei said loudly.

"That's right! General, the last general has carefully observed the defenders just now. Although we have the advantage of defending the city and caused some casualties to our army, the defenders are really vulnerable. As long as a dozen people attack the top of the city at the same time, , this city will be destroyed." Yang Yanping also said immediately.

Wang Chao and Zhan Xiongwu, who rarely spoke, also tried to persuade them.

Ye Chen said: "I will naturally believe what you said, but when you attack, our army will be killed or injured at least nearly a thousand. Now the [-] Southwest Forbidden Army attached to our army has gone to Sichuan and Sichuan to quell the chaos. Our army was originally too small. If Attacking a small state city will cost one-tenth of the casualties, and there are still a few cities that can be conquered later, how can we attack a big city like Guizhou?"

Speaking of this, Ye Chen saw that the five people were a little moved, and then said: "Don't worry! I am confident that I can shoot Chen Shouyi with one arrow from 150 steps away. Except for the catapult in the city, the enemy's other attack methods will not touch him at all." Not to this general."

The five people were still hesitating. After all, Ye Chen's life and death were too important, and it wasn't even a matter of the commander of an army.

Not allowing the five people to hesitate, Ye Chen looked serious and said, "Okay, you guys carry out the order! I can assure you that this is the last and only time for this general."

After the five people looked at each other, they reluctantly clasped their fists and said yes.

After half a stick of incense, the Song army began to attack the city again. Ye Chen changed into the clothes of ordinary archers, mixed with the siege archers, and walked towards Shaozhou City.

His eyes were like lightning, and he locked on Chen Shouyi, the leader of the city.The bow in his hand was drawn to the full moon, and the special steel arrow was wound. From a distance from the Shaozhou city, he was no different from ordinary archers in the Song army.

Chen Shouyi was always followed by more than 30 personal guards, and there were always four soldiers with shields around him, defending him from flying arrows and preventing the Song army from attacking the city.Chen Shouyi also paid great attention to his own safety. When commanding the troops, he mostly hid behind the battlements and would not expose himself to the gaps in the city walls.

buzzing...

The Song Army's archers covered the erection of the ladder, and the Song Army shot a wave of arrows towards the top of the city.Chen Shouyi hurriedly hid behind the battlements, while the four guards beside him protected their shields in front of them.

(End of this chapter)