First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 25 Siege
24. Siege
Xicheng, the prefect's mansion.

Because Xihe County did not have a prefect to take up the post, the county magistrate Gao Deru was the largest in the entire Xihe County, and Gao Deru therefore hid in the prefect's official office, named Juncheng, but in fact he was the prefect.

The genius was bright, Gao Deru was sleeping soundly in the mansion behind the prefect's mansion, but he was hurriedly woken up by his servants, "Jun Cheng, Jun Cheng, Tang... Tang Guogong's army has arrived outside the city."

Early in the morning, he was sleeping soundly, and was forcibly woken up. Gao Deru hadn't recovered yet, when he heard the news, he was stunned for a moment, then panicked, and actually shrank into the quilt in fright.

"How...how is it possible", Gao Deru's fat head was trembling, "how come so fast".

"When I woke up, there were densely packed Tang troops outside the city," the servant said aloud.

"Hold on, you go and pass the order to me, you must guard it", Godruy hysterically stretched out his hand and shouted loudly, "Must guard it, I am a confidant of the saint, I cannot take refuge in rebels, you must guard it for me."

The servants rolled and crawled out to deliver the order.

Outside the city of Xi, [-] troops are arrayed here, with a majestic momentum. Seeing this, the defenders on the top of the city are already fighting with each other.

Not long after, Gao Deru, the prefect of the county, Zhu Zhijin, the judicial secretary, and others came to the top of the city. Seeing this situation, their expressions changed.

"Juncheng, there are only [-] defenders in the city, and... they are still lax in training, which is so good," Shu Zuo Zhu Zhijin said tremblingly, his face paled with fright.

Gao Deru was also terribly frightened, but he knew that he could not surrender, so he was obviously stern, and he slapped the wall with his teeth gritted, "Defend, defend, must defend."

Zhu Zhijin and others were trembling when they heard the words, and they were silent. They looked at the morale of the Tang army outside the city, and they really didn't have the guts to fight, so they asked tentatively: "Juncheng, the Tang army hasn't besieged the city yet, how about breaking through?" ?”

"What? Breakthrough?" Gao Deru jumped up when he heard the words, "No, I am deeply trusted by the saints, how can I abandon the city and escape, you, and you, don't even think about running, you must hold on to me."

At this time, some subordinate officials who remained sober saw this and said: "It is not an option to stick to it, and the joint efforts are not far from Hedong. Juncheng, you should send someone to Hedong for help."

"Ask for help?" Gao Deru's eyes lit up when he heard the words, "Very good, this plan is very good, the governor of Hedong, Yao Junsu, is the same as me, he was born as a saint's personal guard, loyal, he will definitely come to support."

"Juncheng, the next official is willing to go."

"Juncheng, the lower officials are also willing to go, and must ask for reinforcements."

All of a sudden, the officials and generals pleaded for orders one after another. The scene was arranged as if the city was full of loyal and brave men.

Gao Deru snorted coldly, squinted his fat face and stared fiercely at the crowd, "Don't think that I don't know what you plan to do, I will give you all here, from now on, I will live and eat at the head of the city, one by one. Don't even try to run away, stick to me."

After all, he selected more than ten people from his own entourage, each carrying the same letter for help, and rushed out through the other three unblocked doors.

Outside the city, among the army, Li Shimin observed the city wall, and immediately said: "Brother, everyone, now that the morale is available, I will personally lead the team to charge for this battle."

"The governor is not allowed," Gao Chong and the others hurriedly dissuaded him.

However, Li Shimin waved his hand, "This is the first battle of our Taiyuan Rebel Army, you must not be underestimated." After that, he looked at Li Jiancheng, "Brother, you hold the battle for me, I will go and kill a wave, and you can see the enemy clearly." The military is false and true".

It was hard for Wen Dayou and others to stop them when they saw this. After all, this battle was really about showing momentum. Wen Dayou looked at Gao Chong, "Yuzhi, you must keep the second young master safe."

Gao Chong looked at the several feet high city wall, and couldn't help feeling bitter in his heart, but at this moment, he also knew that it was not time to back down, so he immediately responded calmly.

Since it had long been expected that breaking Xicheng would require a siege, a siege equipment had already been built in Jinyang City, and it was transported here along with the rear luggage.

"Later Hongji will lead a thousand cavalrymen to cruise around and shoot at the city, and I will personally lead the army to attack the city." Li Shimin tightened his armor and looked at Gao Chong. Applicable to siege, you hold the line for me in the back."

Gao Chong frowned when he heard this, and said firmly: "I only lead my personal guards to guard the governor's side."

Li Shimin didn't say much when he saw this, he patted Gao Chong on the shoulder, "Be careful".

"Brothers, the city of Xi in front of us is the first battle of our Taiyuan Rebel Army. This city will be destroyed." Li Shimin came to the front of the battle and shouted to the more than [-] soldiers of the leading army on the right. ", the passionate horn sounded.

When the infantry soldiers saw that Li Shimin was taking the lead, they were shocked immediately, and without any worries, they followed up screamingly.

Gao Chong was also fully armed, with a mace in one hand and a shield in the other, he was closely guarding Li Shimin, guarding the ladders, siege vehicles, etc., and went straight to the city gate.

On the city wall, as the horn of the Tang army's attack sounded, there was a panic. Gao Deru huddled in the thickness of the city wall, roaring hysterically, "Shoot the arrow, you must defend it."

However, the defenders of Xicheng, who had been out of battle for a long time, could not understand the order for a while, and kept running around like headless chickens.

After all, Xicheng is in the rear of Shuofang and Taiyuan. Even if the Turks go south to attack Caogu, they can rarely reach Xicheng. One can imagine.

It wasn't until Li Shimin led his army to attack fifty steps away from the city wall that he encountered sparse arrows to counterattack. Li Shimin was overjoyed when he saw this, and roared: "Brothers, the enemy is scared out of their wits, break the city with me", say it They actually screamed and left the protection of the siege vehicle, stepped forward and rushed towards the city wall with the ladder together.

Gao Chong's eyeballs protruded when he saw this, and the arrows pierced the siege vehicle above his head. Seeing that Li Shimin had already rushed out, Gao Chong didn't care too much. Li Shimin couldn't die here, so he immediately He gritted his teeth and followed.

The cavalry led by Liu Hongji on the left and right flanks fought against the Turks all year round in the north. They had strict discipline and excellent shooting skills. They cruised on both sides and shot towards the city.

Gao Chong's eyes were quick and his hands were quick, and he blocked the arrows shot from above his head with a shield. The strength of the bowstring and the gravity of the shot from the top of the city made the hand holding the shield tremble slightly.

Li Shimin followed the soldiers and carried the ladder to the foot of the city wall. The grapple on the top of the ladder was firmly fastened to the city wall. Groups of soldiers scrambled to climb up. Li Shimin threw away the shield in his hand , Climbed the ladder with one hand and followed with a sword in the other.

Seeing this, Gao Chong spat and cursed, "You're so fierce", and immediately followed.

(End of this chapter)