Minister

175 [The second year of Zhenglong]

The death of Anuo Wenda seriously frustrated He Shepeigne and his family, and the living chiefs even frustrated the spirit of the old nobles.Read the latest chapter of Perfect World, and you will be quick to catch your eyes.When Wo Tuolei heard that He Shepeigne had made the decision to run away when Zuzi suggested a counterattack, he raised his eyebrows contemptuously: "I thought you were a foolish and foolish person, but I didn't expect you to be wrong." Yes, you ridiculously stupid clown."

The sergeant of the guards understood his expression and quickly dragged away the prominent general.The nobles sitting in the banquet certainly understood the meaning of this behavior, and He Shepei Nie's dull shout sounded outside the tent - in Monan, as a nobleman, he can leave a whole body at this moment, so his back will be broken, This would cause him great pain, but it was an honor not enjoyed by slaves.

None of the noble generals stood up to intercede for him, and the ethos of intercession is not popular here in Wotulei. This kind of court custom in the Central Plains is the elegance of the previous king.

"Chuz, I hope you don't let me down." Wo Torre was still in a very bad mood.

Zuzi saluted respectfully.

Vottore has experienced many failures before, this is really not a big deal.He often held a banquet with wine and meat just after executing his generals, on the one hand to show his contempt for failure, and on the other hand because the king was indeed an optimistic and eccentric person.But this time he didn't seem to have such a plan, and left with a cold expression.

The other nobles in the tent couldn't stand the discussion: It seems that there was another time before, the king's expression was similar to today's, and that time was for righteousness.It seems that the king couldn't get rid of the same huge pressure in the face of such a huge temptation.

The battle still needs to continue, and Wo Tuolei will not give the capital a chance to breathe.Chiefs has a very different style of leadership than Wotraure, and he knows his time will be limited.He is now the commander of more than [-] soldiers, and he must launch a general attack as soon as possible. If he can't satisfy Wo Tuolei, he may have to enjoy the treatment of nobles.

The last thing the Qi side wants to see is the enemy launching a general attack. The heavy weapons that can really deter the enemy on the city wall are inconvenient to move and have a long range. , it is difficult to confront the enemy.Therefore, a city wall that is more than ten meters high cannot provide complete guarantees.When Mao Yixuan was training the militia, Mr. Yu personally supervised the engineers to build a beautiful trench at the north gate.The trench is like a six-character facing north, and the point of the six-character is facing the north gate, which is convenient for covering the withdrawal of soldiers from here to the city.The two sides of the six characters face the enemy, forming a total of three included angles. Inside the four fires, the trenches communicate with each other, which is convenient for changing the direction of vitality at any time.The bottom of the trench is all rammed with soil, which is just enough for the gun carriage to pass through. There are shooting ports built with earth at the mouth of the trench, which can cover the attack of the firecrackers.

Wei Chi named Master Yu's trench: Liutong trench.Standing on the city wall and seeing the militiamen shuttling through the trenches, Wei Chi recalled Wo Tuolei's persistent attack outside Fengyi City.This is a very cruel general. After several years, I don't know if he has changed.

Wo Tuo Lei really has not changed, but this time the general has changed.

Zuzi is now the real commander-in-chief, and Wo Tuolei doesn't like to dictate to his front-line generals. He only gave him an acceptable time for the general attack: ten days.

Ten days is the same time as the general attack on Jiaxing, but Jiaxing is obviously completely different from the capital.Judging from the strategy of the first attack, the opponent has rich combat experience, and the entire war deployment is designed to be flexible and practical without exaggeration.Zuzi sincerely hoped that he could at least give him a few more days to understand the situation of the opposing generals.But there is also a reason for the time given by Wo Tuolei - after all, he entered the enemy's rear alone, and unknown forces such as the King of Qin and the Wang family were in the dark.If these people have the heart to be kings, and when they are exhausted by the little emperor in the capital, they come to buy the bottom, wouldn't they be taken advantage of by others?Zuzi nodded in distress: "Attack first."

Seek breakthrough points from the offense.

In the past, when the Chinese New Year was approaching, the suburbs of Beijing were lively even when it was cold, but now, the villages and towns are all empty and desolate, the snow is not cleaned by anyone, and the white permafrost and criss-crossing canals are connected together.The cavalry of Monan shuttled carefully, gradually approaching the high wall of the capital.

Kuiz is not a general who likes to rush forward and shout to kill, but this time the time is urgent, so he can only lead the team to monitor the battle situation in person.Compared with most Monan people, Zuzi is taller and has a fairer complexion than them. If you look closely, you will find that his hair is brown.When he became a soldier of Monan, many people laughed at his high nose. He has a very good temper. Compared with most generals of Monan who like to chatter, he seldom punished his soldiers, but his soldiers That didn't diminish his awe.His words and deeds make it hard for people to forget that he is a foreigner, so despite his outstanding military exploits, few nobles are willing to associate with him.The only person who has had a personal relationship with him in the past few years is his adjutant - Dukar.This is a legitimate Monan nobleman, and his temper can be regarded as a strange one, so the two of them can talk about the same thing.

"Can we launch a general offensive in ten days?" Dukaer pursed his lips: "If we can listen to your suggestion on that day and send troops to counterattack, we will not be so passive."

"The fighter opportunity is only fleeting. Since it has been missed, it is worth not mentioning it."

"We wandered here for three days, and we really didn't find any loopholes. The capital of Qi Kingdom is stronger than we thought."

"It's not Qi's capital that is strong, but his guards. Look at the map drawn by the spies. Before this, there was no such a strange trench here."

After many days of raids, although there were constant casualties, the spies gradually drew up a firepower net.Upon further observation, the shape of a trench gradually became clear.

"The ladder we used to attack Jiaxing is enough to attack the capital. As long as we can quickly pass through the firepower net on the city wall, we have the confidence to climb the city wall. The enemy should have expected this, so they specially deployed infantry here. Now The most difficult thing is to occupy this trench, if you can occupy this place, the enemy's strength will become their weakness."

Mao Yixuan never considered that his trench might be occupied by others, because the design of this trench can be advanced, attacked and retreated, and equipped with powerful firearms. It is difficult for the cavalry in Monan to even approach it, let alone occupy it.He has been so complacent these past few days, no matter when the cavalry on the opposite side makes a surprise attack, they will definitely be beaten to pieces.The trenches were well-supplied, and the cavalry had traveled nearly an hour from the station to arrive here. They were cold, tired, and miserable. When they came, they were greeted by artillery fire, and some of them would be lost.

Time passed day by day, and the mood of the nobles in Monan became anxious from being happy to watch at the beginning, because fighting is not a joke, although slaves make a fool of themselves can add fun, but if they really lose the battle, it is not a joke .Chiefs didn't seem to have changed much, he just dispatched troops step by step, withdrew troops, and counted the losses.

Thus ushered in the morning of the tenth day, which was filled with heavy fog.Emirates, who had been silent for ten days, gathered all the troops and began to deploy them closely.His goal is the east gate, and the general leading the army this time is Umuji.If you remember correctly, there is a river outside the east gate, called Beicha River, where Saul Hahan boarded the boat when he returned from the capital to Monan.As the most prosperous ferry in the capital, his city defense is also not bad.Because the Beicha River only bypasses the capital, there is a moat beside the river bank, and the distance between the two rivers is only more than [-] meters. If you want to arrange troops in this gap, you can only be suppressed by the firepower from the city. move.So in the early days of the war, Yu Mian dared to send Wei Chi to station here with his warships, taking advantage of the dangerous terrain to conquer the enemy.

Choosing to attack this gate is not a good choice, and you must have a warship.

Kuiz really prepared warships. Although they were not taller than the warships in the capital, the warships from the cities along the road still had certain combat capabilities.Daqi's warships had already been reorganized and parked on the river, with sufficient ammunition. When the enemy ships gradually approached from the thick fog, they were almost ready to attack.

Umuji had rich experience in commanding troops, and he knew that his own side had the weakness of not being familiar with navigating ships, so he chose to attack as close as possible to the large ships of Qi State.At the moment, Qi Bing's leader is the navy general Guan Xiao. This general is down-to-earth, but he is a bit old.He doesn't like to use firearms, or he doesn't know much about firearms. When Wei Chi was on the boat, he let Wei Chi do it. It's a pity that the Monan soldiers were not fooled, so before he heard the sound, Wei Chi would go to the city to supervise the defense. .He didn't quite understand how to deploy the guns and guns equipped on the ship.What's worse is that because of the shortage of manpower, he has no adjutants, and the old man can only use his experience in the navy accumulated decades ago to fight.

Of course, Umuji didn't know about these situations, and he still prepared according to the usual firepower of the Qi army, and was extremely careful.

With the help of the thick fog, Umuji's troops were already close enough. As Zuzi expected, because of the thick fog, the firepower on the city wall was very careful not to fire.There are very few firearms in Monan, they must avoid the firepower of these big ships and board the ship close to the side of the ship to fight.

There are six large ships in Qi State, arranged in two rows, while the warships in Monan are small, with more than 20 ships.At this moment, the small Beicha River was almost full of boats.Although Guan Xiao is not good at dispatching firearms, he has his own method. He can naturally see through the enemy's thinking. He ordered the engineers to line up iron shields on both sides of the ship, and the soldiers hid behind the shields with spears. When the enemy wants to climb the side of the ship, stab him in the opposite direction.

This method is quiet and effective, and it would be even better if it wasn't for another group of infantry on the shore to attack the city wall.

The general in charge of the north gate is Cao Xi. This general used to be stationed in the southwest. He dealt with chieftains every day. He was finally transferred back to the capital from the borderlands. He felt very helpless about this war.Having experienced hundreds of battles, he saw that General Guan was using simple methods to deal with the enemy, and he immediately felt very sad—it seems that this old man can take care of himself, and he has to rely on himself on the city wall.

He didn't dare to release the firearm casually for fear of hitting his own people, so Cao Xi had no choice but to choose the same method - the local method.

Without fire cover, the defensive function of the moat was almost useless, and the Monan army quickly built a pontoon bridge and rushed to the city wall.Faced with this situation, Cao Xi began to order the officers and soldiers in his hands to throw bricks, because the fog was so heavy that he could not see the situation below clearly, anyway, it was impossible to throw bricks on the boat, so Cao Xi ordered the soldiers to throw them as much as they wanted.Bricks were not enough, so the bricks from the residential buildings were demolished to use them.What is rare is the unusual cooperation of the people in the capital. Many people near the north gate took the initiative to demolish their own house bricks and send them over for support.

The fog did not last long, and the battle between the two sides was not too intense. When the fog completely dispersed, Monan's ship withdrew.But this time he did not retreat far away, but kept a safe distance and confronted the Qi army.

Standing at the bow of the boat, Umuji was a little puzzled. He couldn't understand why the Qi army didn't use firearms, but he still decided to follow the plan with hesitation in his heart.

Faced with this somewhat inconspicuous attack, the Qi State seized the opportunity to hold an emergency meeting.

First of all, everyone must figure out whether this attack is a detailed attack.

When this chieftain commanded the siege of Jiaxing, he did choose to attack by water.Before the Battle of Jiaxing, Monan had no record of using sailors, but this general creatively used the moats and waterways of the cities in the Central Plains to carry out several ambush attacks, caught them off guard, and took the city by skill.

If you think about it carefully, these moats are not big, and the waterway is stable, so you don't need skilled boating skills. The route to attack Jiaxing is basically similar to today's situation.

Wei Chi and Lin Yanhu disagreed with this inference—these two had fought against Kuz in the first battle, and this was obviously not a general who liked to copy the original method, it was more like a detailed attack.

If it is to attract all the firepower to the North Gate, what kind of flaws is it to expose the Qi State?

Every gate in the capital has a unique defensive feature, the only weak point - the north gate, with six trenches, the Monan people have suffered a lot, what will he think of?Wei Chi began to bite his fingers.

Qi Guo didn't know that Wotulei only gave Zuzi ten days. When everyone guessed, the nobles in Monan suffered a lot.It was hard to see a little bit of hope from the deployment of Zuzi's sneak attack through the fog, but the fog cleared in less than an hour. It seemed that the war had returned to the original point, but time was passing bit by bit.

As the sky darkened, Umuji's army began to regroup and launch an attack before the last twilight of the setting sun faded away.This time they showed their firearms, and small cannons were placed on the bows of the boats. Because the banks of the Beicha River were not wide, the range was sufficient.As expected by Zuzi, the reason why the Qi State Navy didn't use firearms this time was not because they wanted to keep a hand, but because they were not good at it.The fire cover on the top of the city is limited, Guan Xiao was forced to start preparing to fire.The range of the guns on the big ships is relatively long. Because of insufficient estimation, almost all of them exploded behind the enemy ships.The weakness of the Qi army's firepower was once again exposed.

Are the Monan people really planning to enter the palace and capital by water?

Yu Mian insisted that this must not be the case, although this is the place closest to the city wall, it is not easy to get benefits from here.He ordered everyone to strengthen patrols and closely monitor the situation outside the city.Sure enough, when the battle at the east gate was in full swing, a large number of troops suddenly gathered outside the west gate, all infantry capable of engineering.

"Dense fog!" Wei Chi suddenly realized: "They took advantage of the morning fog to attack the east gate, and took the opportunity to ambush the infantry outside the west gate!"

There is quite a long distance from Pingjin, where Monan is located, to the capital, and the lookout function of the city wall can be used to detect the enemy's situation in advance, which is why the people of Monan fumbled silently, but in the end it was difficult to move the heavy weapons for siege close to the city wall The reason for the place.A heavy fog alone is not enough, General Monan attacked the east gate in detail to prepare for the ambush outside the west gate!

"All firepower should be concentrated to protect Ximen!" Wei Chi stood up and proposed.

"Wait." Lin Yanhu stood up to stop him.

"I can't wait. It will take at least half an hour to dispatch firearms. Now that there is a serious shortage of manpower, I dare not delay." Wei Chi insisted on his opinion.

Dongchang still sent a eunuch to supervise the battle, this eunuch is called Wang Bao, he looked at Yu Mian without saying a word.

Before Yu Mian could speak, Wei Chiqiang made a salute first: "The battle is urgent, I'm afraid we can't allow everyone to continue discussing, the firepower of Liutong trench is limited, and the opponent's heavy artillery has already arrived at the west gate. If we don't have firepower to fight against it, ten Yu Mi's wall cannot block the enemy's ladder."

When everyone was at a stalemate, someone suddenly reported that the preparations for the ladder of the Monan people had begun.If the firepower is not deployed, the artillery fire on the west gate wall will not be able to resist the opponent.

Yu Mian was silent for a moment, then nodded.

When the firepower was in place, it was already night, and standing on the city wall of the west gate, it was already hard to see how many people were in the position in front of them.When Wei Chi arrived, a batch of ladders had already been built on the city wall. Fortunately, there were not many. After a brief counterattack, the ladders were knocked down one after another.

The gunfire at the west gate rang out, but the "detailed attack" at the east gate did not stop.The boat in Monan was running fast, while Qi Guo fired artillery one after another, and at the same time retrieved the earth by shooting arrows and throwing earth mines.That stick infantry reappeared in the morning, using their warships to hold the gap between the Qi State warships, quickly crossed the moat through the pontoon bridge built in the morning, and began to build ladders.

Yu Mian personally rushed to the east gate to supervise the battle, he saw the boats on the river were busy, because they were all lit with torches, so it was not as difficult to distinguish the enemy as in the morning fog.A powerful fire resistance has begun to be organized on the city wall to support the crisis situation on the river.Facing the siege infantry, they also launched a defense.

"Do you want to transfer all the people in the city defense?" Cao Xi estimated that tens of thousands of infantry would attack the city, and it was really difficult for him to take care of both the river surface and the city wall.

It's not that Yu Mian doesn't want to mobilize troops, it's that there is indeed no troop strength to mobilize. Regardless of whether Monan's attack on the East Gate is detailed or not, it can be seen that he has made careful preparations. If he doesn't send more troops, he may not be able to sustain it .In an emergency, all the Eight Hundred Brocade Guards guarding the city can only be dispatched.

Most of the firepower and manpower of the entire city defense were concentrated on the east and west gates, and Yu Mian always had an indescribable premonition in his heart: "How is the battle going on the west side?"

"The enemy's firepower is fierce, and it is estimated that there are at least 5 people."

Is this the general attack launched by the opponent?Lin Yanhu heard that there were more than 5 people, so he couldn't ask Ximen to send someone over.

As the fighting in the west gate escalated, the Monan soldiers in the east gate also launched a fierce attack.Cao Xi was held back by General Guan, and he yelled loudly, regardless of the presence of several court officials behind him.Curse to blame, General Cao is not a vegetarian. Seeing that the enemy's ladders are getting denser, General Cao asked to take the cavalry out of the city himself.

How could Kuzi, who had seen the Qi cavalry, not have thought of this?Those Monan infantrymen who groped their way to the base of the city wall in the morning didn't just come to face the bricks. They each carried a large bundle of wood and a large barrel of oil, in order to prevent the cavalry from breaking out of the city at this moment.

The fire blazed up. The city walls of the capital were actually far less useful than Fengyi. The walls of Fengyi were covered with muzzles, and the middle layer had a hollow interlayer. enemy.The city walls of the capital city are beautiful, but flashy. Fortunately, the city walls are made of bluestone bricks, which can withstand fire.

General Cao couldn't get out of the city, so he could only continue cursing on the city wall.After scolding for a while, the person suddenly disappeared.Cao Xi didn't want to squat on the city wall and guard a few cannons waiting to die, so he gathered the eight hundred guards and left the city.Before leaving the city, he specially prepared one thing—a wooden fence.The wood of these fences is tied with the beams and columns of the shops facing the street. They are all good wood and very strong. Shields are tied between the gaps in the fences.General Cao, who often runs between the mountains and forests to fight chieftains, decided to let the people of Monan see his style of play.

Since you can't go out by the east gate, you can leave the city by the south gate. This gate faces the battlefield, which is relatively the calmest. 800 people arrived outside the east gate in a detour and blocked the wooden fence on the south corner of the east gate.The continuous wooden fence leans on the city wall on one side and the moat on the other, forming a temporary trench.The Monan people really didn't expect the defenders to attack at close range, and they lost their pace for a while. The infantry who were preparing for artillery fire only paid attention to the city wall and were caught off guard.General Cao was very cunning, and he aimed at the place where the Monan people fired their cannons. Many of the shell boxes of the Monan people were hit, and their momentum was greatly reduced.

But this is not a long-term solution. After all, there are tens of thousands of people on the other side. Cao Xi didn't dare to fight, so he quickly withdrew from the south gate.Although the Monan people suffered heavy losses, they gathered again and rushed towards the city wall.

At this moment, Muzi sat in a small boat on the Beicha River and looked at the map without saying a word. The night was approaching dawn, but the moment he had been waiting for had not yet arrived.Yu Mian, who was standing on the top of the wall, also remained silent, he had an unresolvable doubt in his heart.

There was a stench of burning in the air, and there were dead bodies everywhere outside the west gate, but the Monan people didn't seem to be afraid of death, and they still violently attacked the city wall.The Monan people's siege technology has been greatly improved, and another wave of attacks is over. The gun barrels on the city wall are still not cold, and a row of giant chariots crossed the pontoon bridge above the moat to reach the city wall.

This is a real siege weapon, because it was invented by the Qi people themselves.There is an iron shield in front of this kind of car, which is more than enough to guard against firecrackers and the like. There is a ladder inside, and you can launch an attack as long as you reach the city wall. City equipment, but can not withstand the attack of artillery.But at this moment, the situation was special. The gunboat on the Beicha River was dragged by the enemy, so the battlefield outside the east gate was not deep enough. The range of the cannon could not be adjusted to such a short distance, and the enemy took advantage of it.

Did they already expect this battle?Yu Mian asked himself: Are they really planning to bypass the Liutong trench and forcefully attack the east and west gates?

Zuzi stood on the bow and looked at the east gate—the fire reflected the boats on the river clearly, and the west gate—the roar of the guns could be heard even here.

Who is the general of the Qi army?What decision will he make?

The wind was blowing on the river, which indicated that the morning would come. Kuzi not only prepared chariots for the east gate, but also prepared all his siege belongings. He ordered the east gate to be attacked at all costs, and those who violated the order and retreated would be executed immediately.Finally, some Monan soldiers climbed up the high city wall, and the entire Monan army was boiling.

The defenders at the top of the city finally faced the Monan people head-on, what they saw was just like what Wei Chi had seen back then, and it was horrifying.

"What should I do?" There are only more than 2000 people on the city wall. If the enemy climbs up the city wall, these people are not enough for tens of thousands of enemies.

Yu Mian looked at the battle situation in front of him seriously: "Order Mao Yixuan to quickly bring the infantry to help."

There are [-] militiamen lying in ambush in the Liutong trench outside the Zhengbei Gate day and night. Only this number is enough to compete with the current enemy.

It took a quarter of an hour for the order to reach Mao Yixuan, and two quarters of an hour for Mao Yixuan to lead his troops to the east gate, and it would be dawn in less than an hour.Yazi, who was sitting firmly in the military tent, finally couldn't help but pace back and forth nervously: "Close to the east gate."

"General, the battle ahead is too fierce. We are already close enough. It may be dangerous to go any further."

"Closer!" Kuzi almost shouted.

Finally, before dawn, Mao Yixuan led the crowd to the east gate, and the people on the walls of the capital breathed a sigh of relief.

Kuzi and Umuji, who were squatting on the Beicha River, also breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on the corner of Zuzi's mouth: "The next good show will depend on Dukaer."

"Report! The Monan Army has begun to retreat!"

Hearing this news, everyone smiled happily, but Yu Mian was still frowning tightly.

The refreshing morning air filled the air, and Wei Chi, who was far away from the west gate, was already dumbfounded at this moment—the enemy she bombarded all night last night did not exist, except that the first batch of ladders were real, and the subsequent attacks all had nothing to do with them. No one was seen approaching the city wall. In the early morning when nearly [-] shells were released overnight, what Wei Chi saw was a scorched but empty position.

Ximen is "detailed attack".

Yes, the fiercely fought East Gate is also a "detailed attack".

Regardless of whether it is the east gate or the west gate, the purpose of the chiefs is only one, and that is to use their 20-strong superiority to force the Qi army stationed in the Liutong trench to withdraw.With the help of the thick fog, he created the illusion of an ambush at the west gate, and this part of the restrained firepower and manpower brought enormous pressure to the defense of the east gate.For the same detailed attack on the east gate, he knew that the generals of the Qi army would definitely guess his intentions, so he wanted to make a full-fledged attack on the east gate, using all his siege possessions to make the east gate fall.

What he wanted was neither the east gate nor the west gate protected by Beichahe, because even if he could succeed in a hard attack, it would be difficult for him to use this as a base to further occupy the capital.What he wants are six trenches, the trenches prepared by the enemy for him. Only by occupying this place can he turn the tide and use the enemy's trenches to attack the enemy's city walls.

It was too late, and shortly after Mao Yixuan withdrew from the trench, Dukaer led a real large force to capture the Liutong trench, and wiped out the remaining defenders with a force of [-].He had been freezing outside the north gate for a whole day, waiting for this moment.

In ten days, Zuzi's promise was fulfilled.

He reversed the situation with minimal losses.

This moment is the beginning, and it is also the end. The north gate without six ditches cannot be defended.

The capital is at stake.