.Chapter 97: Burning the River (Part 2)

When he was in a good mood, he turned his head and Salem ordered people to push out a large number of catapults.

This is a thorn in the eyes. If you don’t let it go for a day, you will feel uneasy.

Large stones fell from the sky, but the result disappointed him. When building the fortifications this time, Li Wei personally supervised it, and almost turned Guazhu Mountain into a huge air-raid shelter. At least it could meet the standards of a war in later generations.

The special terrain of Guazhu Mountain also plays a role. The Wuhu River on the back ensures that it will not be attacked from both sides and ensures that it can provide sufficient freshwater resources. In March, the weather is a bit cool, otherwise you can take time to go down the river to take a bath. The front slope is not large, but it can occupy a condescending momentum.

The Tang army was about to launch an attack and only stationed 10,000 people. Otherwise, even thousands of Tang troops would be able to conquer it smoothly.

When the stone fell down, the soldiers immediately hid in the grottoes in the trench. It caused almost no damage to the Tang army. On the contrary, when he saw Dashi smashing for a long time, Luo Wu was angry, so he pushed out the catapult and fell down. Anyway, there were stones on the mountain, and it would not be smashed for a year. At most, some mining labor was spent.

After a thunderous blow, dozens of soldiers in Dashi were in trouble. They were hit by stones and fell into a pool of blood. Some catapults were also smashed. Salem's good mood disappeared immediately.

He shouted: "Catch up."

He retreated and stopped smashing it. He gritted his teeth and said, "Wait and see."

Once you control the Wuhu River, use the ship to launch an attack, and do not fetch water for the Tang army, and lose the water source in the rear. It depends on how long you can last? In fact, this stalemate is very beneficial to Salem. If you wait for another month, the winter wheat will mature and harvest it. If you have a strong wall and clear the field, the weather will become hot again, which is beneficial to your side. At that time, even if the Tang army does not cross the Wuhu River, he can cross the river and take the initiative to find fighter opportunities. This current style of fighting is not suitable for him, and it will also make him feel awkward. But he can only endure it for a while.

The guards under his command suddenly said, "Sir, look."

Looking in the direction of his finger, he pointed to the other side of the river. The Tang Dynasty troops moved and boarded the ships one by one, and were practicing. The Wuhu River is the largest river in Central Asia, not the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and not even the vast river of Xinde (Indus River). Standing on the other side, with good eyesight, you can clearly see the movements of the soldiers on the ship.

Once they got on the ship, the ship also started to sail. However, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were tilted around on it. Obviously, as the information said, they did not understand the nature of the water, so they would have this reaction.

However, Salem frowned.

The Wuhu River is not the sea. Although the rainy season in the upper reaches will soon arrive and the river flows faster than before, the water flows from the upper reaches here is still very smooth. It can only be said that it is a little more urgent than now. Although the Tang army is not water-based, it will not take long to adapt to this kind of water surface.

So he issued an order, and sent a water-going army to divide the troops to the farther ends, and sent some soldiers who could drive ships to accompany him, collect more ships and start the war directly.

This move has an immediate effect.

A few days later, the two armies kept fighting on the Wuhu River. The real Tang Dynasty people did not participate, and all the soldiers in the Hezhong area were involved. On the shore, they asked the Great Veterans to fight the cold. When they arrived on the water, they still felt very scared when they saw the Great Veterans. In the end, they gradually forced them to Xiangliudu. More than ten days later, the third batch of 20,000 troops of the Great Veterans arrived, and there was a group behind them. There were also more than 10,000 soldiers from the Tang Dynasty, but this became the last group of soldiers to come to the Tang Dynasty.

For the time being, the battle in Wuhu River is just like this.

The huge gap is not very big. In a major battle, it is difficult to tell who has the advantage and who has the disadvantage. The command ability, morale, combat effectiveness, or an accidental incident of the generals on both sides can make up for this gap.

But the more people, the confidence is enough.

Under the urging of the officials in the rear, nearly a hundred ships were built. The ships were not big, the largest could carry forty or fifty tons, while the smallest could only carry forty or fifty tons. In addition, the ships collected some time ago, the number gap was made up. Salem ordered an attack on the fleet gathered in Xiangliudu.

However, he punched Mianhua. Seeing the fleets on both sides gathering in the middle, the Tang Dynasty made a mobilization and drove all the ships into a small river next to it. The river was only ten meters wide and very shallow. When a slightly larger ship sailed in, even though it was empty, it was stranded from time to time. He still used soldiers as a boatman to force it into it.

Since this is the case, I dare not go in again, and I will die if I go in. But Salem's goal has been achieved, and the entire middle and lower reaches of the Wuhu River were controlled by the great cannibals. Guazhu Mountain, the Tang army, also became an isolated army. This was used as a bridgehead, and the Wuhu River could not cross it again. Could these ten thousand troops still endanger Henan?

That's it, Salem still didn't let it go. He asked the ship to sail along the Wuhu River and saw a Tang army coming down from Guazhu Mountain to get water and shoot with bows and arrows. He forced the advantage of water to cut off the water source on the mountain.

There was still water on the mountain. Seeing this situation, Tang Jun filled water with water bags in advance and placed it in various trenches. He could not take a bath or wash clothes as he had before. However, the water he ate could still last for a period of time.

However, the situation has become very beneficial to the cannibalism.

Guazhu Mountain is just a large area, and it has accumulated 10,000 troops, more than 1,000 war horses, and a large number of weapons. People need to eat, drink, and horses also need to eat and drink. How much space can there be to store food and grass?

Li Wei seemed to have not seen this.

After a few more days of stalemate, Empress Dowager Anguo came with some nobles.

Some time ago, they were so proud that they heard about the great victory in Guazhu Mountain. But when they heard this, they were worried.

In order to gain the support of the Tang Dynasty, almost all of their countries sent soldiers and supplies. Of course, these were released to avoid invasion. As Islam was expelled, Islam and the Hezhong region were actually very opposed to Islam and the *** religion. The war was fought wherever these two religions developed. Unlike Taoism, Buddhism or their Zoroastrianism, the doctrine was peaceful. But it was considered to have completely offended the cannibalism.

Once the Tang Dynasty was defeated, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty could continue to be his Tiankang when he returned. However, the Hezhong area would surely usher in crazy revenge from the great cannibals. In particular, Anguo was the first to bear the brunt.

The idea was somewhat extreme, but after all, they lived in the cracks, so they turned to the Tang Dynasty and did not dare to publicly turn against Dashi. If they turned to Dashi, they would continue to be close to the Tang Dynasty.

With questions and worries, I came to Xiangliudu.

When he saw Li Wei, he asked very tactfully: "Your Majesty, now that the Great Food has raised the Wuhu River, what should the soldiers on the south bank do?"

Li Wei looked at the old lady and saw it for the second time. He wanted to laugh as soon as he saw it. He was very luxurious in life, and a shoe was worth 20,000 yuan. However, after several washes and grabbings from the big zodiac, he met twice and only wore a cloth linen. What did you do earlier? Using these wealth to support soldiers, even if you lose, you won't lose so badly.

He asked lightly: "Does the soldiers in my court have strong combat power?"

"How does the Great Cannibal compare with the Heavenly Dynasty?"

"You don't have to praise you. In the battle of Guazhu Mountain, I witnessed with my own eyes that my weapons are slightly better than those of the Great Cannibal. But purely speaking of combat power, the two are similar. But war is not something that the side has strong combat power, and that side will definitely win."

“Yes, yes.”

"Since you are here, it's almost time to go, let's take a look."

Let this group stay.

Then the soldiers were asked to blow the horn. After the blow, the Tang army across the river was also blowing the horns. Salem was in the barracks and heard the horns sound and hurried out. But when he saw that the blows were finished, there was no movement on both sides of the shore and returned to the camp. He had to deal with a lot of affairs. The Tang Dynasty really launched an attack, and Persia also bombed the camp. News of rebellion from various places came from time to time, and several brave generals under him were in need to put out the fire. He had to be distracted to think about the movements of this Tang army, which made him exhausted these days.

Bear with it.

It will take less than a month to harvest. After the harvest is over, the weather is getting hot. I have more than 200 ships of all sizes in my hand, and I can carry 10,000 troops at one time and cross the Wuhu River. At that time, I will clean up the Tang army and then turn around and slowly deal with these unruly people.

But the next day he received good news.

Approximately, the food water on the mountain was gradually used up. In the second half of yesterday, some Tang soldiers sneaked into the river and poured water with water bags. They asked the patrol fleet to shoot arrows back.

"Okay!" Salem slammed the table.

If the Tang army on the mountain is destroyed, the battle situation will become more beneficial to you.

He walked out and stared at Guaju Mountain. After a while, he actually saw a good show. Through the fence, he saw two soldiers snatching a shriveled water bag on the hillside. At the end, he raised his fists and fought each other. After a long time of fighting, his helmet fell off and his armor was messy, an officer came over and stopped the two.

After watching this good show, Salem ordered: "Dig a trench."

Dig deep and wide to prevent the trenches from jumping over the wall.

Li Wei was also watching, and after reading it, he sighed: "I heard that Salem is good at fighting, but that's not the case."

After hearing a lot of news about Dashi, the four orthodox caliphs were all good at fighting, and Aviye was not simple. In addition, there were famous generals such as Khalid, Seld, and Amur, who were no less than Li Ji, with dazzling stars and supporting Dashi's powerful expansion.

Or Ogbai, who is now expeditioning the Berbers, is also a very rare famous general. Perhaps there are other famous generals in the Great Food Army who have not been discovered by their own scouts, but Salem is not.

This time he was a little wrong. Salem was okay. But he was not prepared enough. Even some time ago, he thought that the Tang army was bluffing and would not attack Hulushan and Sestan at all, so he was at a disadvantage.

Moreover, he was fond of military force and never presided over the battle of the large corps. Li Wei was weak in his military force. Influenced by Pei Xingjian, he used strategies as the leader, which just happened to play a role in coercion. Moreover, the talent around Salem was limited. Before Li Wei left Luoyang, he made many arrangements with Pei Xingjian and Liu Rengui. When he arrived in Qinghai, he had a heart-to-heart talk with Heichi Changzhi. Then he came to the Western Regions, and the people who discussed the marching plan were Li Jinxing, Wang Fangyi, and Guo Yuanzhen who had gradually grown up to do some retrieval. It was also a serious gap.

As for Salem's own talents, they are indeed not comparable to Li Ji. They cannot even compare with Wang Fangyi, and can only be comparable to Qi Biming. However, even if they have Wang Fangyi's skills, all kinds of natural shortcomings, such as preparation, the support level of the people, the talents of subordinates, and the domestic situation, they will inevitably fall into a disadvantage.

So a big gap was created.

Anyway, Salem has indeed fallen into Li Wei's rhythm now.

After saying that, the soldiers started to blow the horn again. This was to inform Luo Wuzheng and prepare to implement the planned plan.

Then he ordered the four left and right armies to shrink to the center. Salem also noticed this situation, but no matter how you tossed, I was as stable as Mount Tai on the south bank. Can you fly by with wings? But he was also afraid of being conspired and tricked, and ordered all the swimming ships to gather in Xiangliu Du and send people to monitor the movements of the Tang army day and night.

One day later, I saw that the Tang army was moving again.

The soldiers took off their armor, took off their robes, put down their weapons, and then held an axe, saw, plane and chisel in their hands, and started making rafts again. This puzzled Salem. Could it be that Tang Jun still wanted to cross the river with a small raft?

There is no need to fight, and they can knock over these rafts with boats. They have a lifebuoy that can't swim. What will happen when they get into the river? It is possible that people can stand on the ship and stab it with a spear, and most of the Tang soldiers who cross the river can kill.

Very puzzled and curious, so he stood on the shore himself and stared at the other side.

Tens of thousands of people participated in the manufacturing, and the speed was very fast. In a short while, a small raft could be seen appearing. It was not a small raft, but this time it was a real small wooden boat. It had a bow and stern boat, which was very small and could only carry a dozen people. But it was equipped with neat ship ears and oars.

With the construction of the Tang army on the other side, the Tang army on Guazhu Mountain also echoed. Many people cut down the small trees on the mountain and followed them to make small boats.

What did the Tang Dynasty army do?

Or did they come from behind a soldier who is good at water and can control boats?

Salem did not dare to be careless and ordered all ships to be concentrated in the Xiangliudu area, always be alert and ready to attack and fight at any time.

I saw it, but the Tang army on both sides continued to work hard as if they hadn't seen it. One day, two days, and three days passed. Small wooden boats were formed, and I don't know how many small wooden boats were built, all of which filled the open space behind the camp, which looked very spectacular. On the fifth day, there was a northeast wind that night. Most of the time, the lower reaches of the Amu River were blowing in the west. However, due to the serious damage to the soil and soil, there were mountains in the east, and the wind direction was very unstable, and sometimes hurricanes could occur.

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether it is north or south wind. But it needs to be strong, the bigger the better.

Li Wei stood at the gate of the camp and looked at the sky. The clouds in the sky made the wind rush and rush. From time to time, dark clouds blowing from the north hide the setting sun that hangs west. He said, "What a wind."

As before, the soldiers were ordered to rest early.

Tang Jun got up early and went to bed early, which made Salem very nervous at first. It was this abnormal person who got up early and went to bed early, and lost the Gua egg mountain. But I got used to it and became accustomed to it. Anyway, if you don’t move, I don’t move. It’s not the kind of inaction that is inactive. Seeing the Tang Jun’s abnormal behavior, he sent some scouts to sneak into the river and inquire about information. But the true and false made Salem feel uncomfortable.

After a while, it was the third o'clock in the morning. The northeast wind blew, and some moisture came, but the raindrops did not fall. It can only be said that it was a cloudy day, and the moon filled the dark clouds, making the night dark. However, the Tang Dynasty military camp suddenly turned brightly and all the soldiers climbed up. Not only the Tang army on the other side climbed up the bed, but the Tang army on the Guaju Mountain also came out of the trenches. Then Hebei blew the horn. This understanding, the Tang army invented a horn. As for what horn, only the Tang Dynasty people could understand it, but they could not understand it themselves.

Salem had to climb out of the tent. His head was a little confused. Could it be that the Tang Dynasty army wanted to smuggle the Wuhu River under this dark night? But we can't make such a big fuss. Or we bluff and make another sound in a few days? This is possible.

I didn't guess for a while, so I had to go out to watch it.

While wearing torches, although the night was dark, it could be seen clearly. The Tang Dynasty army walked out of the barracks and pushed out the catapults, lined up with the crossbowmen, aiming at the river surface. At the same time, from the side, the Tang army on the Gua Egg Mountain was the same.

Next, the newly built boats were pushed out by soldiers. Salem was confused. Could it be that the Tang army really wanted to attack the Wuhu River or forcibly cover the Tang army that had retreated to Hebei?

Not only did he get confused, but Empress Dowager Anzhong and a group of nobles stayed in Tangying every day, they got confused and got up to watch one by one.

Salem had no choice but to order the ships parked by the river to set sail and cruise in the middle of the river together. At the same time, he gritted his teeth and thought, after a while, the wheat will be harvested and you will see how powerful I am.

In fact, without his instructions, the Tang army made such a big noise, and almost all the cannibals and Persians on the ship got up and put on clothes and prepared. One by one, the ships left the mooring place in Henan and headed to the middle of the river. Suddenly, the trumpet sounded again, and with the sound of the trumpet, the torches on both sides almost at the same time.

This visual gap made the big cannibal on the boat darken their eyes. After a while, I got used to it, but I still couldn't see the scene on the shore clearly. At this moment, a boat came and shouted: "There is something. Something has stopped the boat."

After shouting, the people on the boat took the torch to the bow and saw a thick iron chain in front of the bow gradually rising from the bottom of the river. Some of them were sharp-eyed and shouted again: "There is still in front."
To be continued...