The happy life of the devil and the devil

There is a saying in the art of war: the first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the next is to attack the city.

Siege is always the last option.It means that unless the defending side is particularly incompetent, or the strength of the attacking and defending sides is very different, otherwise, three times the casualties will be exchanged for a strong city in front of them.

And expelling the people has always been the most tragic touch of blood in the siege.

Driven by the besiegers, the unarmed civilians, carrying soil bags, carrying ladders, pushing crash cars, staggered forward.Arrows, wood, stones, and gold juice poured down from above the head, and steel knives, bows and arrows gleamed behind.Backing is a dead end, and moving forward can only slow death for a while, even if you stop, you will be pushed and fall, and then you will be trampled by countless feet...

The only difference is whether he died at the hands of the enemy or at the hands of his own people.

Mothers cry for their sons, wives cry for their husbands.Above the head, the former relatives and friends were howling and shooting arrows.

Amid the screams of blood and tears, Ling Yucheng stood expressionlessly on the watchtower, and the voice of giving orders could not hear any fluctuations from beginning to end:

"next."

"next."

"next."

Every order raised a wave of heart-piercing wailing, which gradually faded away amidst the yelling of soldiers in the Great Liang army, and turned into a dying cry under the city.Even if you are in a foreign land and cannot understand the language, such screams and wails that transcend language can still make people feel chills.

Yuen Long's little hand was already cold, he tightly grasped one of Ling Yucheng's fingers, and dared not speak when he was next to Master.A little further away, the young master of the Lu family huddled in a corner of the watchtower, his face was so pale that it was transparent, even the sun shining directly above his head at noon could not bring him any warmth.

A long, long time later, Lu Zhong, who grew up to be an official, would still wake up from a nightmare at midnight.There were no sights or figures in the dream, only an extremely calm voice:

"next."

As the sun moved past Zhongtian, Ling Yucheng motioned to take the child of the Lu family down to rest.Xiao Shiyi didn't leave, he ate a few mouthfuls, and then stood listlessly beside Ling Yucheng, listening to the reports from the soldiers in black:

"My lord, Mr. Li, the black water guard, said that the people in his place are strong enough for two more rushes!"

"Send another 1000 people to them. Pass on my words and ask him to send some soldiers among the people to try to capture the city. Be careful, don't be greedy for meritorious deeds, and focus on preserving your military strength."

"My lord, Master Anuhai said that the arrows on Yimi Peak were shot too hard, and they couldn't charge up!"

"Let them bring more rattan badges, and try to charge again. If it doesn't work, try to lure the defenders down."

"My lord..."

The sun is fading to the west.The setting sun, which is usually praised by countless literati and poets, now covers the top of Hirano City, but it is a layer of thrilling blood.

There are piles of corpses under the city.It seemed that the endless offensive had finally come to an end. From time to time, ragged arms stretched out from the pile of corpses tremblingly, struggled to plan a few times, and then fell down feebly.However, a hundred paces away from the city wall, there were still cavalry reining in their horses and standing vigilantly. When they saw someone trying to jump down from the edge of the city wall, they shot an arrow involuntarily.

In the summer smoky wind, the tangy smell of blood makes one want to vomit.

After a day's battle, whether it was the civilians who were not dragged to the city, or the soldiers who charged or guarded for a day, they all had dinner and fell asleep.Ling Yucheng settled Xiao Shishi to sleep, and he read leisurely at night with the lamp on. Not long after, the guards guarding outside the tent really came in through the curtain and whispered the message.

"My lord, General Xi asks to see you."

Xi Jun, who came at night, frowned deeply, and the smile on his usual cheerful face was gone.He bowed respectfully to Ling Yucheng, and as soon as he sat down, he pressed his throat impatiently and said:

"My lord, why are we fighting like this?"

The voice was hurried, Ling Yucheng glanced at him, but did not answer immediately, but raised his hand to pour himself a cup of tea, then pushed the teapot in front of Xi Jun, and drank it slowly by himself.Seeing the adults like this, even if Xi Jun had more questions to ask, he could only pour a cup of tea, swallow it with a thump, and then stared at Ling Yucheng unblinkingly:

"grown ups?"

In the past year, Xi Jun has also grown a lot.The young general who used to follow behind him step by step can already question his decision face to face... Ling Yucheng admired secretly, and asked softly:

"Then how do you think we should fight this battle?"

"Anyway, it shouldn't be like this. Drive the people to attack the city...Your Excellency, you used to hate this kind of method the most. And this time we are going to annex Suluo, not just grab a hand, and use this method of harming the local people. It's too appropriate..."

The voice of the young subordinate was slow but without hesitation.Ling Yucheng smiled from the bottom of his heart, but his face became more and more serious:

"I used to hate this kind of method, because we were all on the side of the city. The people who were driven by the enemy were the people we wanted to protect. Now we are attacking the city! Xi Jun, if a hundred people from the enemy country can be replaced by yours A life, do you want to change it?"

"But my lord..."

"how?"

Whether it is siege or defense, some things are always the same.Killing people for no reason is not a good thing... Such words were choked in Xi Jun's throat, but he couldn't say a word to Ling Yucheng's bottomless dark eyes.

"A war is a war. In the face of victory or defeat, everything is false... Besides, Xi Jun, I only tell you this sentence, and I will only say it here once."

"We are not the ones who are qualified to be kind and compassionate to the common people!"

With the order to "lead the headquarters and stay on guard all night", Xi Jun resigned and left in a daze.Behind him, Ling Yucheng blew out the lamp, went back to the back tent, sat down beside Xiao Shiyi's bed who was already soundly asleep, stared at the faint silhouette of the little child in the darkness, and fell into a long silence.

If possible, he...wouldn't want to use the trick of driving people away and attacking the city.

However, in this strange land, it is not a good thing for an alien army to go too far without committing any crimes and gain too much popular support.

Before he was ordered to go to war, he and Yuan Shao had a dispute.He insisted on taking Xiao Shiyi with the army, but Yuan Shao, after being annoyed, finally chose to give in.

At that time, Yuan Shao said this: "It's good to take him out for a walk. Take a look at this place in advance, so you can count on it in the future..."

The shock of that moment, recalling it now, still made him fall into an ice cave.

He is indeed optimistic about the place of Su Luo.It is far enough away, remote enough, and the place is not so rich that it is coveted, nor is it so barren that it cannot support the troops to protect itself... Moreover, unlike Qingzhou, that piece of land does not belong to Great Liang.

But that was decades later.After Xiao Shiyi grew up, when he was gradually approaching the end, he wanted to find a way out for his beloved child and the subordinates who had been following him.

not now.

Didn't Yuan Shaofang divide this land in advance and give it to a young son when Yuan Shaofang was in his prime, and who stood behind that child, who was stronger and held an elite army, A foreigner from a distant enemy country.

Showing kindness, comforting the people, establishing one's own prestige and influence in this land far away from the capital... is not what he should do, nor can he do!

The night coolly dipped in.Clanking Diao Dou rang the second watch, but Ling Yucheng sat by the bed like a statue, letting the chill of a foreign country creep from the soles of his feet to his fingertips, and finally, even the breath he exhaled became cold one by one.

A strange scream pierced the eternal night-like silence without warning.Ling Yucheng was startled, but he didn't rush out of the camp, but slowly moved in another direction, and lay flat on the pillow with his clothes on.At this moment, Xiao Shiyi turned over in a daze, stretched out one arm under the bed, groped twice, and accurately grabbed the corner of his clothes in the dark:

"Master...?"

"It's okay. Be good, go to sleep."

The low and steady tone effectively comforted the child who had just been woken up and didn't know what happened.The arms were stuffed into the bed, and the familiar force was patted on the body, and the child's snort quickly returned to the gentle and even tone just now.

While patting the little disciple with sleepy eyes, Ling Yucheng gently held his breath and listened attentively.With well-trained ears, he quickly distinguished what he wanted from the chaotic sounds in the distance: the terrified neighing of war horses, the muffled sound of camp tents and fences being brought down, and the sound of flames licking and cracking camps , and, the sound of weapons and the cry of the people...

Is it coming so soon?In the darkness, Ling Yucheng raised the corners of his lips slightly, revealing a silent smile.

Based on the sound alone, every move of the enemy army attacking the camp is as if it is present to him.

First, they found a stable—from the location and number of neighing horses, they should have found the stable that was specially placed in the southeast corner of the camp, where hundreds of pack horses and mules were tied up.Let go of these big animals, set fire to them, and let the war horses rush into the camp...

Very orthodox action.However, the sound of fighting was still a little quieter.In this way, the enemy will not believe that such a few hundred people can rescue a large group of people from a camp of tens of thousands of people——

As soon as I thought of this, there were waves of noise around the large tent of the Chinese army.Yuxia dialect, Tie Le dialect, the sonorous tones unique to the Baishan Heishui department, and even the Haixi dialect rang together in a chaotic mess.Some people even shouted hastily, but the voice of commands full of spirit could not suppress the noise in the camp. It seemed that the army was disturbed in the middle of the night and became a mess, unable to pursue the foreign enemy at all...

Hmm, now it looks a bit like it.That boy Xi Jun's response is not bad.Turning over and landing, with his ears on the ground, Ling Yucheng let out a long and happy breath when he heard the sound of hooves gathering quietly amidst the shouts.

As long as the camp is not chaotic, there will be no danger.The subordinates are enough to deal with the situation tonight, and he can rest assured...

Falling back on the pillow, pulling a thin blanket to cover himself, Ling Yucheng yawned a little, and after a while, he fell deeply asleep.

What woke him up was He Liu's loud voice.This tall man was obviously overwhelmed with joy, and as soon as he lifted the curtain of the big tent, he shouted loudly: "My lord, my lord! The city gate is broken——"

"How is the battle now?"

"The north gate of Zhongcheng has been broken, and the enemy is trying their best to counterattack. Xi Jun has already brought people up—hey, they actually want to rescue the people in the middle of the night, so it is convenient for us to send people to mix in, and rush in as soon as the city gate is opened. Three times, five divisions and two divisions snatched the city gate! Now it is a little troublesome to shoot arrows down on Yimi Peak..."

"Beat the drum, order the soldiers!" Ling Yucheng strode out halfway through hearing it, and while buttoning the last few buttons on his battle robe, he quickly ordered:

"Ask Luo Sha to lead people to reinforce Xi's army. We must not let the North Gate fall into the enemy's hands again! Send me an order to let Anuhai lead all his men to attack Yimi Peak at all costs! Li Zhongcheng from the west gate, Li Gansheng from the west gate. South gate, immediately attack the city!"

The horseshoes are like thunder, and the four fields are in motion.

Looking down from Yimi Peak, several giant dragons rushed out of the Great Liang military camp with billowing smoke, and with the momentum of crushing all enemies, they rushed straight to the crumbling Pingye City.

At the end of the day, Yimi Peak, which had been cut off from Hepingye City, fell.At noon, Ximen broke down.If you fail, the south gate is also broken.

Before sunset that day, the Hirano defenders who had not had time to escape from the south gate had all withdrawn to the inner city and stood behind closed doors.

The author has something to say: today the tooth extraction was successful, almost no pain at all, very happy!