Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Hou Junji's face was determined. This time he wanted to use himself as bait to lure Li Yuanji's army here. Once Li Er's army arrived, he would be able to surround and kill Li Yuanji in Hengzhou.

After sending the message to Li Er, Hou Junji carefully read the battle reports sent back from Qianzhou and Chenzhou. When he saw the way the two cities were broken, Hou Junji was extremely shocked.

From the battle report, Hou Junji could see that the firearms of Li Yuanji's army were far more powerful than theirs, and their firearms were simply no match for them.

Hou Junji looked solemn and kept rubbing his brows. Now the combat effectiveness of Li Yuanji's army was undoubtedly much higher. Hou Junji was not so confident in holding Hengzhou and waiting for the arrival of Li Er's army.

After thinking for a long time, Hou Junji called his deputy general.

"Now that Qianzhou and Chenzhou have been conquered, Qi Wang Li Yuanji has appeared in Qianzhou and is now heading towards us.

The firearms that Li Yuanji possesses are too powerful. If we defend Hengzhou the same way we defended Qianzhou, not only will we not be able to defend Hengzhou, but I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on to it for even two or three days.

Therefore, I will decide to divide the troops!"

Hou Junji looked at the map and continued in a solemn voice: "We now have 42,000 people. I plan to leave 12,000 people in the city, and I will take the remaining 30,000 people out to carry out activities around Hengzhou.

Of the eight guns we have now, I will take five away and leave three for you.

When Li Yuanji's army arrives to attack the city, you will certainly not be able to hold it. You will then lead your troops to continue fighting in the city.

You will disperse these 12,000 men in the city, and when Li Yuanji's army enters the city, use artillery to concentrate on attacking those entering the city, causing concentrated casualties to Li Yuanji.

While you lead your army to fight in the city, I will lead the army outside the city to attack Li Yuanji. At that time, I will defeat Li Yuanji's army outside the city, and then lead the army into the city to destroy the enemy troops entering the city!"

Hou Junji made arrangements in an orderly manner. He knew very well that if he did not make any changes, the outcome of the city being broken would inevitably remain unchanged.

In his opinion, the method of dividing the troops is particularly applicable.

He didn't know whether he could succeed in the end, but what he said was indeed what he thought. In his mind, that was how it was.

The reason why he said this was to give confidence to his deputy general, so that he would fight to the death in the city instead of collapsing at the first blow.

While Hou Junji was discussing the defensive deployment, Li Yuanji was leading his army towards Hengzhou.

"Dingfang, do you think Hou Junji of Hengzhou will defend the city like the garrison commander of Qianzhou?"

Defending the city was the best defensive method in previous battles, especially for a fortified city.

As long as the city is rebuilt and raised, sufficient supplies for defending the city are prepared inside, food is stored in advance, and thousands of elite troops are available, it can often hold out for more than a few months.

Compared with outdoor defense, in the wild you need to consider the construction of a camp and find a suitable place to defend based on the terrain. If these are not done well, the defense requirements will basically not be met.

Relying on the city to defend is a perfect solution to this problem, because the city is the biggest obstacle and the most advantageous terrain for the defenders.

Upon hearing this, Su Dingfang pondered for a moment and then spoke slowly.

“Your Majesty, Hou Junji is a veteran general who has fought on the battlefield for a long time. After receiving the battle report from Qianzhou, if he is not stupid, he will probably not defend the city anymore.

As long as Hou Junji had a detailed understanding of the attack and defense of Qianzhou, he should be able to see that it would be impossible to hold out for even two or three days in Hengzhou.

At this time, Hou Junji would probably choose to retreat. Now that our army is strong, Hou Junji's army is unable to stop us, so they will definitely retreat to the rear, strengthen the city walls, and wait for Li Er's army to arrive.

If Hou Junji still chooses to hold on, then there must be a trick, and Hou Junji will definitely not place all his troops in the city."

Li Yuanji listened to Su Dingfang's analysis, looked pleased and nodded frequently.

"You are right. Hou Junji has fought for many years and has gained the trust of Li Er in the Qin Palace. Now he is the Minister of War, so he must be good at commanding troops.

For these people, they will not evacuate easily without Li Er's order, and they will definitely have other ideas.

For example, defeat me in Hengzhou, severely damage my army, and then withdraw.

Or I can defend Hengzhou to the death and wait for Li Er's army to arrive, then start a major battle in Hengzhou to create an opportunity for Li Er to encircle and annihilate me.

But no matter what choice Hou Junji makes, it means that he will not give up Hengzhou easily, and he will not leave his army in the city.

Ding Fang, where will he place his army?

The two looked at each other and laughed.

When they arrived in Hengzhou and looked at the densely packed defenders on the city walls, the two of them smiled in sync.

Li Yuanji looked at the top of the city wall and sneered in his heart. In Li Yuanji's opinion, Hou Junji still treated him as the former Li Yuanji.

It was so easy to guess, was this person sure that he couldn't think of it? Or was he sure that he was stupid?

If it was some inexperienced person, or someone who really had poor ability to lead troops, Hou Junji might be able to succeed, but facing him and Su Dingfang now, Hou Junji obviously underestimated them.

However, if one had to say something good about Hou Junji, what Li Yuanji could think of was that he was much better at using troops than the people of the Harsha Dynasty, and he could easily keep those people under control and fight them.

From the moment he entered the Harsha Dynasty, it was clear that his army had an absolute advantage in firearms, but the Harsha Dynasty's army did not engage him in a field battle, but chose to defend the city, still thinking that it was a strong city, but in fact it was just a small city.

He had already captured several cities, and everyone had seen that defending the cities would lead to death, but those people refused to make any changes and just waited for him to attack.

Compared to those people, isn't Hou Junji obviously much stronger?
At least Hou Junji now knows that he should not keep all his troops in the city, otherwise he would end up like Qianzhou.

"My king, I will deal with Hou Junji in the future, right?"

Su Dingfang came to Li Yuanji and asked.

Li Yuanji shook his head when he heard this.

"You organize the siege. I am sure that the defenders on the city are ready for street fighting. You should also be prepared.

As for Hou Junji, I have come here in person. I have some grievances to settle with him!"

There was a cold light flashing in Li Yuanji's eyes. As for Hou Junji, an old man of Li Er, Li Yuanji had no idea of ​​persuading him to surrender.

Moreover, when he was in Chang'an, he had some grievances with Hou Junji, or to be more precise, his predecessor.

It was he who challenged Yuchi Gong to a duel, and this person was always talking nonsense on the side, second only to Zhang Liang. Hou Junji could be said to be a die-hard supporter of Li Er, and he followed Li Er earlier than Cheng Yaojin and others.

After a day of preparation, the army was in place on the second day and immediately launched an attack on Hengzhou.

The same familiar taste, the same familiar pattern, the cannons led the way, and after several rounds of bombardment, the army began to attack the city. The defenders on the top of Hengzhou City could hardly put any pressure on the attacking army, and the army had already arrived at the foot of the city.

When the city gate was blown open, the same hand grenade was used to clear the way, but this time, rockets were immediately taken out after the grenade cleared the way.

The rocket cannot be launched only upwards. Maintaining a certain angle of inclination, the rocket flew directly into the city, with bursts of explosions heard in front.

After the rockets were launched, the Shenwu Army began to enter the city under the cover of mortars. However, they were still hit by a cannon in the city, resulting in several casualties.

After entering the city, the people immediately began to adjust the mortars and started shelling at the places where the artillery was hidden in the city.

At the same time, the large-caliber heavy artillery outside the city began to extend its fire and started carpet bombing the city.

Small-caliber artillery continued to enter the city. At the same time, on the commanding heights, mortar gunners and sharpshooters of the Shenwu Army began to occupy various commanding heights.

After these were completed, the infantry began to follow, with six people in a large group and three people in a small group, with each group of three taking turns to move forward, while the three people were always ready to provide cover. Once they detected any unusual movement, the three people providing cover would open fire immediately without any hesitation.

And on each commanding height, there is an observer who is constantly patrolling the city with a telescope. As long as any unusual movement is discovered, the mortar will directly fire according to the coordinates provided by the observer, and the Shenwu Army below will coordinate to encircle and suppress the movement.

However, even so, the Shenwu Army still suffered casualties.

Some defenders hid in the houses and shot arrows with bows, causing great losses to the Shenwu Army. Some defenders were equipped with muskets, and some were discovered through sound, but a small number were successful.

When one team of Shenwu Army was moving forward, they saw more than 20 people suddenly rushing out from the front. The Shenwu Army responded hastily. Although they shot and killed more than ten people with rifles, they still engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Fortunately, a sharpshooter on the commanding heights came out to help and quickly resolved the situation.

However, as time passed and the ground army advanced, the defenders in the city were constantly oppressed. Most of them were bombarded and annihilated just because they were seen by observers on the commanding heights before they could take any action, leaving them with little room to maneuver.

This street fighting was what Li Yuanji had asked Xie Shufang and others to organize. In addition, Li Yuanji made a very detailed plan himself, which was then distributed to every officer for training the army.

Otherwise, what did we practice during the time we returned to Hikvision? It was not just about coordinated operations and adapting to firearms combat, but also about street fighting.

Li Yuanji knew very well that when fighting within the Tang Dynasty, Li Er's army, knowing that they would be defeated, would choose street fighting as the only option to defend the city. It was also the method of fighting most likely to cause him casualties.

Li Yuanji had made preparations early on to deal with this situation.

Now, it comes in handy.

Outside the city, Li Yuanji listened to the military reports coming out of the city, his eyes fixed on the flank of the army.

At this moment, all the cannons in the artillery position turned their muzzles and aimed at the flanks.

At the same time, Li Yuanji deployed ambushes on both sides of the artillery positions, because he knew that Hou Junji's army outside the city would definitely choose to attack the artillery.

Li Yuanji believed that as long as Hou Junji saw the power of the cannons, he would definitely be tempted and would definitely think about taking the cannons for himself.

Compared to killing his central army, killing his artillery positions would undoubtedly be much easier.

After waiting for a long time, finally, a burst of artillery fire was heard. This time his army was bombarded. Li Yuanji looked over with a telescope. As soon as he looked over, his artillery had already begun to fight back, directly covering all of Hou Junji's artillery.

Hou Junji's charging army also began to face the artillery shells pouring down from his artillery, and countless people were directly killed or injured during the charge.

When Hou Junji approached the artillery position after suffering great casualties, the Shenwu troops who had been ambushed long ago appeared one after another and began shooting at the rushing enemy troops.

The rockets in the formation had been ignited and launched, pouring towards Hou Junji's army.

Hou Junji's eyes became dull for a moment as he looked at this unprecedented battle pattern. His army could no longer bear it at this moment and began to collapse.

Li Yuanji watched this scene through a telescope, sneered, and led three thousand cavalrymen to attack Hou Junji's army.

Although Li Yuanji does not have many cavalry now, there are still nearly 30,000 of them.

Not many does not mean that he has none, nor does it mean that his cavalry is really few. It just means that compared with the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, his cavalry is indeed very few.

Li Yuanji led the cavalry to charge in. Hou Junji's army had no ability to resist and kept fleeing backwards.

Li Yuanji only had Hou Junji in front of him, and he kept charging towards Hou Junji.

Hou Junji's eyes were red and his teeth were clenched. He was almost going crazy. He couldn't understand why Li Yuanji's army was so powerful. With such an army, could his majesty really defeat Li Yuanji?

When he saw Li Yuanji rushing towards him, Hou Junji suddenly saw the light. He had only one thought in his mind, and that was to kill Li Yuanji. As long as Li Yuanji was killed, the rest would not be a problem.

Seeing Li Yuanji leading his troops to charge like a great general, Hou Junji sneered in his heart. In his eyes, he was still the same Li Yuanji. How could an army commander personally lead his troops to charge?

Especially for someone like Li Yuanji, whose status is completely above that of the commander-in-chief. It is like when Li Er leads his troops to charge, no matter how desperate the enemy is, when they see Li Er, all they think about is killing Li Er and turning defeat into victory.

This is what Hou Junji is thinking now. He just wants to kill Li Yuanji.

Hou Junji led more than a hundred personal guards and rushed straight towards the direction where Li Yuanji was rushing.

Li Yuanji looked at Hou Junji rushing towards him and immediately laughed, a very happy laugh.

As the two men got closer, Li Yuanji swung the long spear in his right hand towards Hou Junji, but with his left hand he took out a pistol and fired directly, hitting Hou Junji in the vitals.

Hou Junji stared at Li Yuanji with wide eyes and fell down unwillingly. He had not expected that Li Yuanji would be so insidious, and he had never expected that Li Yuanji had such a weapon in his hand.

Li Yuanji looked at Hou Junji, who had opened his eyes and fallen to the ground, and smiled even more widely.

"What era is this? You're still thinking about close combat? It's not like I'm out of bullets."

Li Yuanji did not think of using the spear in his hand to solve the problem that could be solved with bullets.

This pistol was specially developed by the Firearms Bureau. Compared with earlier pistols, it still has many shortcomings. Nowadays, only officers and generals are equipped with it. Because of its short range and instability, it is not equipped to the main army.

And the famous general Hou Junji came to an end just like that. (End of this chapter)