Han Shizu

Chapter 252
On Renwu (fifth day) in the autumn of the first year of Qianyou, the siege was established, and after four days of stationing troops in the city, following the order of Liu Chengyou, the official army officially launched the first wave of offensive against the rebels.According to Liu Chengyou's order, the armies of Xidaying, under the leadership of Yao Yuanfu and Song Yanwo, launched an attack on the rebel Hexi Village.

Zhang Yansi, the defender of the enemy's West Village, was an ordinary mid-level officer in the Pu army before. He was promoted to the chief general of the West Village by Li Shouzhen's confidant. opponent.Only with the help of deputy envoy Zhou Guangxun, the general blocked it.

To the southwest of Hedong City, facing the river, Liu Chengyou is stationed on the side of Ma'an, looking westward.Across the river, you can see the Hexi village, fireworks rising, obviously using fire attack.The latest wave of killing sounds has lasted for less than half an hour, and has gradually weakened. Liu Chengyou waited and watched the West Village until the killing sounds completely dissipated in the increasingly desolate autumn wind.

"It seems that the attack on the stronghold failed. This is the third attack in two days!" Liu Chengyou asked while stroking the horse's mane.

"Yes!" Beside Liu Chengyou was a bearded veteran with a ruddy complexion and a solid armor, looking old and resolute.

This person's name is Hu Yanke, and he is also one of the Yuan officials. Now he is the envoy of Xuanhui North Court to act as the capital supervisor of the camp.Already in his sixtieth year, he is humble, kind, and knowledgeable, and he is one of the ten capable ministers in Liu Chengyou's eyes.

In the original history, he followed Guo Wei to suppress the rebellion, served as a military counselor, and provided Guo Wei with many important opinions on the decision-making of military aircraft.Coincidentally, Guo Wei also recommended Hu Yanke to join the army for this expedition. The two seem to have a good relationship.

"One effort, then decline, and three exhaustion." Regardless of whether the situation is appropriate or not, Liu Chengyou dragged out a sentence and ordered: "Send the medicine Yuanfu, suspend the attack, gather the soldiers, regroup, and wait for the military order!"

Regarding the failure of the attack on the stronghold, Liu Chengyou did not have any negative emotions such as sullen or dissatisfied.Of course, it was also because the counter-insurgency officers and troops hadn't done their best yet, otherwise, if it was still difficult to take this small city with all their strength, Liu Chengyou would definitely not be able to hold back.

After returning to the imperial camp, he sat down and took a few sips of tea. The battle report from the west was quickly presented to the desk through the Yellow River Shangshui Army.

Yao Yuanfu and Song Yanwo jointly reported the incident, and they attacked the village in three days, causing more than [-] officers and soldiers of the Xidaying camp to be killed or injured.However, the rebel army is not easy, and the battle damage is conservatively estimated to be more than a thousand people. Just based on this battle loss ratio, the difference in combat power between the two sides can be known.Moreover, under the attack of artillery shells and heavy kerosene, the enemy's Hexi Zhaizha was seriously damaged.

Yao Yuanfu said that the morale of the rebels in Hexi Guanzhai was already very low, and he asked for orders to continue to attack. He would like to issue a military order and destroy the enemy's village within two days.

"The old general Yao is not weak in his prime of life, and his courage and courage are vivid on the paper, which makes people yearn for it!" The general's report was passed to Hu Yanke, and the corner of Liu Chengyou's mouth twitched, and he said with emotion.Because of the war, Liu Chengyou let Yao and the second general of Song Dynasty not have to cross the river to come to see him, so until now, Liu Chengyou has not seen this veteran who has been heard so many times since this year.

"Mr. Yao has been in the army for many years, and his bravery is as good as before. It is indeed admirable!" Hu Yanke smiled slightly, spoke in a Jin accent, and praised, and then cupped the military report: "Your Majesty, do you want to follow him?"

"Using the general's ability to lead the army to take down the enemy's stronghold, it is definitely not a problem. However, the casualties of the soldiers are probably not small." Liu Chengyou said.

"Your Majesty is sympathetic to your feelings and loves soldiers like children"

Seeing that Hu Yanke opened his mouth to compliment him, Liu Chengyou gently raised his hand, stopped him, and asked: "I want to flatten the West Village first, and then destroy Pucheng. Does Hu Qing have a plan to destroy the village?"

Wen asked, Hu Yanke didn't show any embarrassment on his face, thought for a while, raised his hand and said: "Maybe we can use some tricks."

"Who?" Liu Chengyou asked with raised eyebrows.

"Zhou Guangxun!" Hu Yanke said bluntly.

"Is there a room for this person?"

With confidence in his eyebrows, Hu Yanke simply explained to Liu Chengyou: "This person was originally the deputy envoy of Hexi, and the first emperor sent Li Shouzhen out of the river, originally with the intention of doves occupying the magpie's nest. The previous army was defeated in Tongzhou, and Li Shouzhen took it away. The military power shall be replaced by the nameless Zhang Yansi"

"I will leave this matter to Hu Qing!" Liu Chengyou said directly without waiting for Hu Yanke to finish speaking.

After giving the order, Liu Chengyou pondered for a while, and then looked at Feng Dao next to him: "Hexi village can be built, and Hedong city can also be imitated! Feng Qing has the ability to observe people, and the previous mission to Hezhong is enough for Li Shouzhen and his subordinates Understand, you can choose among the world!"

"Obey!" Hearing the order, Old Fox Feng immediately got up and answered with cupped hands.His eyeballs rolled shrewdly, he was already thinking about it, and he was slightly happy, he felt that there was a possibility of manipulation in this matter.

Liu Chengyou completely left it to these two old ministers to handle the matter of time, and he only needed to see the result.

As far as Liu Chengyou is concerned, it would be best if the fortress could be breached from within. However, Liu Chengyou did not relax at all when preparing for the fortress to be breached by external forces, and was making intensive preparations.

There are four gates in the east of the river, the west is close to the big river, and one is missing in the north, but the east and south sides, with the strength of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, after a few days of rush work, the walled city is erected horizontally, connected by fences, and the stacked structure is like two giant beasts. , and the heavy crossbows, cannon carriages and "cannons" distributed among them are sharp fangs.

The forerunner of the wall, looking from a distance, was almost attached to Pucheng, and it was only a few dozen steps away from the moat.Look at the soldiers with swords, shields and spears stationed behind the wall of the village, and the defense against the enemy stands out.

On the watchtower in the front row, hundreds of strong men, holding "big horns", shouted in turn, persuading surrender, announcing, and intimidating.

"Punish the chief evil, and leave the rest alone" was called out again, and the generals in the city were asked to turn around as soon as possible. If not, after the city is broken, it will be too late to regret
The siege of the city by a large army, this method of blowing the enemy's morale and disturbing the morale of the army, has been tried and tested, after all, attacking the heart is the most important thing.

Looking at the layout of the city, it is not much different from Guo Wei's approach in the official history.It's nothing more than forging a stronghold and fighting a dull battle, but Liu Chengyou has no plans to fight for a year or a half.

Such a method of warfare is a safe and good method when the country is stable and the national strength is sufficient.However, the loss of national strength and the destruction of people's livelihood are too serious.

In the original history, the national power of the later Han Dynasty was basically consumed in the Ping San rebellion.In order to support Guo Wei in defeating the thieves, Yang Bin, Wang Zhang and other ministers were in the rear, amassing money and food, and doing everything they could. The harsh laws and tyranny of the later Han Dynasty, especially during this period, were extremely exploitative and oppressive for the subordinates and the people. thing.

The result is that, exhausting all means, bearing all the infamy and notoriety, and sending money and food to the river, the effect of countering the rebellion is of course achieved, but more is used to buy the hearts of the soldiers for Guo Wei.

A small Hedong city, a lonely city, with no foreign aid, and Li Shouzhen is unpopular, and needs hundreds of thousands of troops to fight for a year?And in the end, there was no fierce battle. The hearts of the people in the city were scattered and Li Shouzhen set himself on fire.

No matter whether Guo Wei has this intention or not, the result is very clear. After suppressing the rebellion, Guo Wei has gained the most.

It is said that Guo Wei was forced to rebel by Liu Chengyou. However, looking at Hezhong's suppression of the rebellion before and after, Guo Wei's various behaviors and methods, can't it be said that Guo Wei's heart is clearly revealed?

It's just a follow-up development, a bit out of control.Who would have thought that the original owner would come in such a hurry and be so ruthless as soon as he lifted the table?
Off topic.

(End of this chapter)