Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 535 Breaking the City in Three Days

Therefore, in this case, if others say such big words, they will definitely sneer at them.But Ye Chen's reputation is too great now, whether it was the year before last that he besieged Song Emperor Zhao Kuangyin with an army of tens of thousands for four or five months without breaking through Jinyang, or captured the Southern Han Dynasty in just two months, or took thousands of troops. Attacking hundreds of miles and breaking [-] bandits at night, and conquering Wuyue and a country by one person, and so on, all the amazing deeds in the past are all done under impossible circumstances to surprise the whole world.

Therefore, Ye Chen said that the city would be broken in three days at the latest. Although the five people were surprised, they couldn't help but disbelieve it.Zhe Yuxun and Yang Chongxun even looked at each other, feeling that there is nothing worthy of their reputation, thinking that this young county king really lived up to his reputation, even more powerful than he appeared in the legend.

The five of them thought this way, but they were so curious about Ye Chen's method of breaking the city. If Ye Chen's status was not too high, otherwise they would have already asked questions. At this time, they could only look at Ye Chen eagerly. Wait for him to tell the way to break the city.

Ye Chen saw the five looks in his eyes, and couldn't help thinking that with his current status and prestige in the hearts of the world, he could easily convince almost everyone without doing anything at all.That's the benefit of status and fame.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen's expression became serious, and everyone's hearts trembled. Then Ye Chen said: "From tomorrow, the defenders of the East City will withdraw and concentrate on attacking three sides."

"Open one side?"

"That's right, on the one hand, go around the city three times, and the water will not get through. Are you going to force the defenders to resist to the death? On the other hand, whether it is the defenders or the people in the city, if they have a glimmer of life, they will no longer be as determined as they are now." , even if they knew it was a trick, their belief in death would be shaken. In addition, more than 50 people sent by Li Jiyun to Hengshan have returned. I want to create opportunities for these 50 people to enter the city reasonably, and these people who enter the city will be The key to breaking the city this time."

The five people looked at each other, with some guesses in their hearts, but more doubts, but because of Ye Chen's identity and the secrets that might be involved in the Huaxia Weifu, they dared not ask more questions.

"My lord, what shall we do next?" Tang Peng hesitated for a moment and asked respectfully.

Ye Chen glanced at Zhe Yuxun and Yang Chongxun indistinctly from the corner of his eye, and said, "I'll tell you about the plan later. From now on, you just follow my orders."

The five dared not disobey, and respectfully said yes without hesitation.

Several days have passed since the siege of Ten Mile Fort. Regarding why the Northwest Frontier Army of Gyeongju Camp was late to come to help, and Fuzhou and Linzhou each sent 5000 troops, it happened that during that day and a half to wipe out the party's small group of Caogu bandits, Ye Chen didn't need to order these things, Huang Louping had already sent people to inquire in great detail, including when Fuzhou and Linzhou would send troops, and so on.Although the Zhe family and the Yang family did a good job in this matter, and they were even the ones who reported to the camp of the northwestern frontier army in Gyeongju in the end, but all these coincidences made Ye Chen inevitably suspicious of the two feudal towns.Therefore, of course, he couldn't tell the detailed plan this time in order to avoid leaking the news and spoiling the big event.

On the second day, the Song army followed Ye Chen's plan, suspended the attack on the city, let go of the east city, gathered the army, and redeployed the camp.

Then, Ye Chen ordered them to rely on long-range attack weapons such as bed crossbows and catapults to suppress the firepower at the top of the city, and the three armies began to rebuild the camp.

Construction began in front of the Song army camp.A camp is not just a place to rest and sleep. A well-designed camp can not only prevent enemy attacks, but can even serve as a barrier to counterattack when the attack fails. A well-built fortification system is difficult to break through, just like The not-so-precipitous Xiazhou City in front of him had a formidable defense like a fortress of copper and iron.It's just that this move made the three commanders of the Northwest Frontier, He Zhe Yuxun and Yang Chongxun, five people feel puzzled.Because if they were prepared to attack the city for a long time, it would be natural to reinforce the camp, but why did Ye Chen tell them last night that they would break the city within three days?
But doubts are doubts, but the five dare not disobey Ye Chen's order.

The first trench with a width of nearly five feet, the second and third trenches with a width of three feet, with picket piles placed in the middle of the trench, and then poured with water, followed by a berm, breast walls and battlements, and the walls are arranged obliquely outward With sharpened stakes.An archery tower was built every 25 steps on the berm, and the first two trenches were cut down by people. During the time when there were many thorns, the Huaxia Weifu Assassin, who was good at arranging traps, was used between the berm and the first trench. He pointed out that there are many killing organs all over the place, and talked about the attack at night, even if it is in broad daylight, it does not take a day's effort to eradicate these obstacles under the opponent's arrow rain, unless they enter and exit through the passageway with a width of four feet, otherwise small units The harassing army will be completely useless. Only a few archers need to be guarded, and the soldiers in the camp can rest in peace.

Ye Chen also ordered the Northwest Frontier Army to go to the upper reaches of the moat to cut off the water source and divert the water to flow elsewhere. Although there is running water in the city, once the moat with a width of fifteen feet and a depth of more than two feet dries up and fills up several sections of the river, all kinds of giant storms will be destroyed. The city equipment can be directly built on the city wall. At the same time, the moat is gone, and it is easy to dig tunnels. Of course, the defenders in the city can also dig tunnels to counterattack, but digging tunnels does not necessarily have to sneak close to the city. If you want to destroy the city wall, then We have to solve this moat first.This move makes people feel that they are preparing for a long-term siege.

After the four-sided siege was changed to three-sided siege, the siege equipment in the army from all sides of the city wall began to concentrate, and Ye Chen ordered to further concentrate the siege equipment on the third day. If a cloud ladder is built on the same city wall at the same time, it is enough to cover the city wall, and countless soldiers and ants will attach to it, which will largely offset the geographical advantage of the defenders.

Folding bridges, goose cart holes, wooden oxen, siege vehicles, wooden mantles, dust vehicles and other siege equipment also began to be slowly mobilized, and re-deployed and assembled according to their functions. Note that Ye Chen is standing on the ten-foot-high watchtower erected in the camp. His perverted eyesight allows him to clearly see groups of soldiers and horses coming and going in the city like soldiers and ants, as if responding to their reactions. , making a new deployment.But the people on the city wall of Xiazhou couldn't see him clearly.

"Sure enough, there are experts in charge of defending the city. If the method I used to destroy the city has surpassed ordinary people's imagination, this Xiazhou City is really difficult to break through." Ye Chen muttered to himself.

On the same day, 51 rescue troops sent by Li Jiyun to Hengshan took advantage of the chaos to rush through the blockade of the Song army. While taking out tokens and uttering secret words, the Xiazhou guard who guarded the east gate also recognized that the leader was Li Jiyun. The confidant, Li Jiqian, who is also Li Jiyun's distant cousin, knew that Li Jiyun sent Li Jiqian to Hengshan to report, so he immediately ordered to open the east gate and let them into the city.One of them was disguised by Huang Louping.

Li Jiqian was soon led to Li Jiyun.After seeing the ceremony, the former said happily: "Young master! Fortunately, Ji Qian did not disgrace his life, successfully met the patriarch in Hengshan, and reported to the patriarch that Xiazhou was surrounded by the Song army, but on the way, he encountered the Tuoba clan's rout, 200 people The loss is down to 51."

Li Jiyun waved his hand and said: "There is no one who is immortal in a war. It is a great achievement for you to report to my father successfully. Well, let's not talk about these, let's talk about how my father confessed."

Li Jiqian was overjoyed immediately, and said: "Young master, the patriarch's progress in Hengshan is very smooth. When his subordinates left Hengshan, six of the seven tribes had already been defeated by the patriarch and surrendered. Decrease instead of increase, already close to 1 cavalry. Now only Tuoba Zhenli is left with more than [-] remnants of the Tuoba clan fleeing everywhere. The patriarch is leading the army to hunt down. When his subordinates came back, the patriarch also sent [-] elite soldiers It was brought by General Li Guangyan, and came back with me to help in the battle. Now it is hidden in the Shuiquangou outside the city. General Li Guangyan asked me to tell the young master that he did not carry much food and grass with him, and he will be there in these two days according to the situation of the Song Army camp. To attack the camp at night, if the time goes well, the young master can send a large army out of the city to attack on both sides. If the attack on the camp does not go well, he will choose to enter the city at the east gate and let the young master prepare for the response."

Li Jiyun was overjoyed when he heard the words. He knew that the five thousand elite cavalry led by Li Guangyan were the most powerful elite soldiers of their Li clan. Most of the Song army did not expect that such an elite cavalry would suddenly attack the camp from the rear.Moreover, it is easy for the attacked camp to blow up the camp at night, and it may be possible to defeat the Song army with these five thousand elites in one fell swoop.Even if the Song Army could not be completely defeated, it should still be possible to cause the Song Army to lose 5000 troops.At that time, the 8000 elites will be brought into the city, the defenders inside the city will increase, and the losses outside the city will be heavy. Under the circumstances, it will be even more difficult for the Song army to break through the city.But Hengshan's father is doing well, and he will be able to return to the city in a few days. When the two sides attack, the Song army will definitely be defeated. Not to mention taking the opportunity to take back the lost army fortress, he must take the opportunity to seize several Song army fortifications.

Huang Louping, the envoy of the Xifu of the Huaxia Weifu, had doubts about the relationship between Li Guangrui and the Holy Church in Xiazhou. As early as when Ye Chen first came to the northwest, he was worried that when Ye Chen comforted the army stronghold, Li Guangrui would lead the army. It's not good for Ye Chen, so [-]% of the spies and killers from Xifu sneaked into Xiazhou City.

These days when the Song Army attacked Xiazhou, the spies and killers of the Western Mansion did not receive Huang Louping's order, and did not take action without authorization, but they have been lurking all the time, secretly assassinating some people in Xiazhou City or burning down the food and grass of Xiazhou's army. Prepare.As for breaking the city from the inside, they were still lacking in manpower and strength, so they never thought about it.

(End of this chapter)