Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 340 The troops arrive at Helin City
A month later.

early morning.

Outside Helin City.

The camp of the Ming Army's West Route Army.

In the tent of the Chinese army.

Zhu Gaoxu sat on the main seat, and more than ten people, including Li Jinglong, Yang Rong, Qu Neng, Zhu Neng, Chen Mao and Yang Hong, stood in two rows according to their status.

"Tuhuan sent people in advance to relocate the herdsmen within a thirty-mile radius of Helin City, and the river and well water within a thirty-mile radius had been poisoned. The West Route Army only carried enough food and grass for ten days. If victory cannot be achieved within ten days, the army will face the dilemma of running out of food."

Zhu Gaoxu looked around at his subordinates and generals, and said loudly: "Now that Tuohuanjian has cleared the wall and led tens of thousands of troops to stay in the city, we can only attack by force. Can you all tell us how to break the city?"

Although he had received a secret report from spies in advance and knew that Tuohuan had decided to defend the city, the time for dispatching troops had already been decided. In a hurry, the West Route Army did not carry many siege equipment, and some ladders may need to be built quickly.

Although the Central Route Army and the East Route Army also received the news and had siege equipment, it would take time to travel thousands of miles to attack.

Moreover, among the two armies, only the middle army came towards the Helin area.

It will take at least seven or eight days until the middle route army arrives to join Lin and Zhu Gaoxu's west route army.

As for the task of the Eastern Route Army, it is to first attack the Yinma River Basin, the home base of Arutai. After the victory, [-]% of the troops will be left to garrison the Yinma River, and the remaining [-]% of the troops will rush to Moxi to join Zhu Gaoxu's troops at full speed. .

Similarly, the soldiers of the Central Army also needed to eat, and the war horses also needed to eat. Tens of thousands of soldiers chewed the horses and consumed a huge amount of food and grass.

All in all, it is impossible for the West Route Army led by Zhu Gaoxu to retreat. The only thing they can do now is to attack the city.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Helin City is as majestic as Datong City. If we send troops to attack by force, we will definitely lose our troops and generals, which will affect the morale of our army."

Cao Guogong Li Jinglong bowed and said.

He knew very well that no matter how majestic Helin City was, it was just an isolated city standing in the west of the desert. If the Ming army attacked regardless of the cost, it would take at most three to five days to break through the city.

However, Emperor Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu, was kind and did not want to sacrifice the lives of the Ming army soldiers in vain. He did not want to pay for it with human lives, so he asked his ministers for their opinions on breaking the city.

So he decided to make a suggestion that sounded and worked perfectly.

I just heard Li Jinglong continue the first half of what he said: "I request that the magic soldiers be dispatched first to bombard the city gates or walls with artillery to create a gap, and then send troops to attack the city. This can reduce the losses of our army."

Zhu Gaoxu stroked his beard and said, "What Duke Cao Guo said makes sense."

He paused, his eyes fell on Yang Rong, and said: "Yang Aiqing?"

"Your Majesty, I have specifically investigated the process of Tuohuan's reconstruction of Helin City, and I know that this city was built in imitation of Datong City."

Yang Rong, the minister of the Ministry of War, bowed and said: "However, most of the city-building craftsmen were recruited from the country of Khali (formerly Timur's country) in the middle of the river. The people of Khali are good at using the method of inlaying huge stones to build the city. I am worried that the ordinary artillery offensive will not be able to attack the city." A gap was made in the city wall.”

"I specially observed the city gate with a telescope and found that the city gate was covered with several thick layers of pig iron. I visually judged that the two city gates must weigh at least several thousand kilograms. But the thief Tuhuan chose to defend the city, and there must be no one behind the city gate. It has been blocked with huge rocks.”

"Therefore, I believe that bombarding the city gate with ordinary artillery will not achieve better results."

At this point, he bowed deeply and said: "Your Majesty, since the ground is difficult to attack, I am bold enough to suggest that the army dig a tunnel underground. Of course, in order to cover up others' eyes and ears, we can send troops to feint attack and divert the attention of the escaped thieves."

After listening to Li Jinglong and Yang Rong's suggestions, Zhu Gaoxu turned to Pingyang Bo Qu Neng and asked, "What do you think, General Qu?"

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, Helin City looks majestic, but if you look closely at its strength, I'm afraid it's not as strong as Datong City."

Qu Neng first bowed and saluted, then raised his head slightly and said with pride: "Whether the artillery can blast a gap in Helin City, we will only know after the blast!"

"Your Majesty, I agree with General Qu's proposal. Regardless of whether we can create a gap in Helin City, we must first fire a few cannons!"

Cheng Hou Zhu Neng quickly added.Ningyang Hou Chen Mao also followed closely and said: "Your Majesty, the last general also seconded the proposal."

Zhu Gaoxu turned his gaze to Yang Hong and said loudly: "Do other people have different opinions?"

Yang Hong didn't speak.

The other battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders were silent.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu stroked his beard and said, "If the officers and soldiers have any suggestions, please feel free to express them."

Yang Hong and other battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders still said nothing.

Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to name him: "Yang Hong, don't you have anything to say?"

"Your Majesty, since I have served as the vanguard, I am willing to lead the officers and soldiers of the third battalion of Shaanxi and Puzhou tomorrow to take the lead in attacking the city after two rounds of artillery attacks!"

Yang Hong replied solemnly.

Of course he could see that Zhu Gaoxu wanted to reduce the casualties of the Ming army soldiers as much as possible, but he knew that someone had to be the first to rush out, so in order to prove his worth, he decided to be the first to rush out.

"Helin City is majestic. If the artillery fails to blast a gap, your lives may be in danger!"

Zhu Gaoxu reminded seriously.

"Your Majesty is kind, but dying on the battlefield is the honor of our generals. It is our mission to be loyal to your Majesty and die for the Ming Dynasty!"

Yang Hong knelt on one knee and said.

"I know that Ci is not in charge of the army, but I can't do it if I can witness my dear son of the Ming Dynasty going to die with my own eyes!"

Zhu Gaoxu has never been an indecisive person.

The reason why he is so hesitant now is not that he is pretending to be compassionate and deliberately showing it to everyone, but that he truly cares about the lives of his soldiers!

The generals and sergeants who formed the West Route Army this time are all the elites of the new army who were reorganized after the implementation of the new soldier system!
Not to mention the generals, just talking about every soldier at the grassroots level, they are all carefully selected before, and one can be as powerful as five!
To put it bluntly, even if a soldier is killed in battle, Zhu Gaoxu will feel distressed!
What's more, this expedition against Tuohuan was the first large-scale battle against the enemy by the new army he formed after implementing the new soldier system.

If he can win the greatest victory at the smallest cost this time, then the correctness of his implementation of the new soldier system will be undisputed, and his power, reputation, and influence as an emperor will also rise to a higher level.

"Your Majesty, I have military information to report."

At this moment, Qingyao hurriedly walked in from outside the military tent and bowed.

As soon as these words came out, everyone at the scene looked sideways and followed the words.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Speak quickly."

"Your Majesty, I was ordered to investigate, and sure enough I found three suspicious locations outside Helin City. They should be the tunnel exits built by Tuohuan."

Qingyao reported concisely.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, but did not ask where these suspicious locations were.

It was not that he was worried about the people in the big tent leaking the news, but that he did not plan to attack the city from the tunnel.

"Since none of you can think of a better countermeasure, let me tell you my strategy for destroying the city."

Zhu Gaoxu stroked his beard unhurriedly.

(End of this chapter)