The characteristics of the rainy season in Xingzhou in June and July this year are not obvious, and the rainfall is significantly less than in previous years. It is a dry year.

This is not conducive to farming in Xingzhou.

Of course, except for Wuzhi, which is located east of the Jialu River, most of the areas in the east, southeast and Xinzheng of Xingyang were flooded; and to the west of Xingyang, people in Mi County either fled into the peaks at the eastern foot of Songshan Mountain. To escape the war, they either moved to Hulao Pass or Changge south of Xinzheng. Farming was almost completely abandoned, and there was no question of whether there was a drought.

And such a solar term was conducive to early June. Zhao Wuji led Feng Zhang, He Liufeng, Shen Peng, Cao Ba and other elite troops and tens of thousands of auxiliary troops to advance to the foot of Mi County City and build a fortress from the west, south and east. The camp was established and the battle to attack Mi County was officially launched.

At this time, in addition to the two naval brigades, Han Qian also transferred Su Lie's troops to Hulao Pass, under Chen Kun's control, so that he could better contain the defenders in Xingyang City.

In the early days, Liang Shixiong also sent troops from Xingyang City to the south to reinforce Mi County. However, the morale of the generals was not strong. They fought several times in the north and east of Mi County City, and they were all killed and their armor was abandoned. The casualties were heavy, and there was no way to stop them. Xuzhou Army's attack on Mi County.

After entering July, Liang Shixiong gave up reinforcements to Mi County and watched helplessly as the Xuzhou Army built camps from three sides to surround Mi County.

Mi County has a long history of city construction. Except for Fuxi, Huangdi, and Zhu Rong in the ancient mythological period, all of them were within and outside Mi County, which originated from the eastern foot of Songshan Mountain. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Mi State and Zheng Guo all had their capitals here. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, they have all been major towns in the Central Plains. The city is strong and dangerous, and together with Xingyang, it is called the second town.

At this time, in addition to Zhu Wei who led more than 6,000 soldiers to guard Yumi County, there were nearly 30,000 households in the city. Tens of thousands of young and strong men could be recruited to rush to the city to help defend the city.

However, Liang Jun's navy warships have frequently appeared in the Yu River in the north of Xingyang City since June. They have no fear in the face of several times the number of Mengzhou water camp warships, and often kill Mengzhou navy warships in panic. After retreating, the Xingyang defenders saw this scene at the top of the city, and their fighting spirit was shaken.

In the end, Liang Shixiong only ordered the generals to defend the walled city and not go out to fight. Even if the city in Mi County was strong and dangerous, how could the defenders in the city have much morale? Not to mention the young men who were tied up on the city wall.

After a post road is built south of Chenqiaozhai, the materials and people in Xuzhou can pass through Chenqiaozhai unimpeded and enter the forward camp in the south of Mi County.

Zhao Wuji took his time to construct a trebuchet position, surrounded by deep trenches and fence walls. He mounted more than 60 cyclone cannons in the south and east and west corners of Mi County, and fired tens of thousands of stone bombs and mud pellets day and night. , and threw it at the head of Mi County City.

The defenders also set up a large number of cyclone cannons on the inside of the city wall.

In order to prevent the generals operating the cyclone cannon from suffering too many casualties, Zhao Wuji also dug a large number of deep pits in the trebuchet position to allow the soldiers to avoid stone bullets, and supported wooden shelves and cloth curtains above to reduce the impact of the stone bullets. force.

Although the defenders could also follow suit, the soldiers on the city walls were young and strong, but dozens or even dozens of people were killed and injured every day by the stone bullets and mud pellets thrown by the cyclone cannon.

After a month of bombardment, the thick wall made of rammed earth in the southern city of Mi County was completely unrecognizable. In addition to the cyclone cannons on the inside of the wall, the defenders also destroyed a large number of enemy war equipment placed on the wall. .

The city lacks enough craftsmen and materials, and it is impossible to build new weapons and put them on the city.

At this time, Zhao Wuji organized elite troops and formally arrived at the foot of Mi County. Under the scorching sun and sweating profusely, he pushed up the long trench bridges with wheels and set them up on the moats to protect the city, forming six passages at the same time.

, attached the city to attack Mi County.

A spring-arm wheeled bed crossbow and a scorpion crossbow were dragged closer to the south city wall by military horses. Iron arrows that were slightly thinner than short spears were fired fiercely towards the city head. The incomplete walls were fiercely hit.

If the shot collapses, let alone the generals on the remaining wall, what will happen if they are directly shot by such iron arrows?

One after another, lit kerosene cans were thrown at the city head. As long as the defenders were touched by the splashing kerosene, the flames would be burned to pieces.

The morale of the defenders was already low, and there were no useful defensive equipment on the dilapidated city walls. Looking at Liang Jun's generals attacking the city, they were strong and thickly armored, and they were not afraid of the arrows.

It hit the armor leaf hard, but could not penetrate the armor leaf. The remaining morale of the defenders was like a candle in the wind, and it was possible to be completely extinguished at any time.

In addition to various large-scale war crossbows under the city, Zhao Wuji also pushed a cart and nest cart that were elevated above the city wall to the front of the city. There were crossbowmen standing on it, and hundreds of arms were firing crossbows together, as if

Like a swarm of locusts, they mercilessly covered the city.

Seeing this scene, the guard Zhu Weidu was shaken and filled with desolation, feeling deeply that the situation in Mi County was over.

He organized two counterattacks but failed to drive back Liang Jun who had boarded the city. He had no intention of fighting, but at this time he did not dare to directly lead his troops to escape through the north gate.

Zhu Wei refused to leave, but did not send any more troops to intercept the scattered soldiers fleeing towards the north gate, until more and more Liang troops attacked the broken south wall, and even killed more than a dozen spring-arm bed crossbows.

After being dragged to the incomplete city wall, he, surrounded by guards, fought his way through the north city gate and fled to Xingyang City in the north...

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"There is no way to fight this battle. Even if the general cuts off my head, I will still speak."

After finally getting rid of his pursuers, Zhu Wei fled into Xingyang City in a hurry with less than two thousand remaining soldiers. The blood on his body was not dry, so he took off his helmet, placed it on the long case, knelt down and faced the white-haired man, and was conferred by Zhu Rang.

Liang Shixiong, the general of the Zhu Kingdom, said excitedly,

"The year before last, the cities of Luoyang, Yanshi, Mengjin, Gongxian, and Hulaoguan were all in our hands. Although Zhu Yu attacked fiercely, as long as the Mongolian reinforcements arrived in time, there was no possibility of losing them. However, the Mongolians wanted to attack them.

Heluo was captured and no reinforcements were given, so we were forced to abandon these cities. This is nothing, but it should never be our turn to defend Xingyang."

"That's enough!" Liang Shixiong lowered his voice and shouted to Zhu Wei in a hoarse voice, "No one will hold you responsible for missing Mi County, so you should stop complaining."

In such a world, more than 10,000 elite soldiers, who depended on their livelihood, had lost their troops and generals in the past few months. In the end, less than 2,000 remnant soldiers were left and fled into Xingyang City. How could Zhu Wei not be full of complaints and resentments?

Besides, once the Mengzhou water camp is completely suppressed on the north bank by Liang Jun's navy, Xingyang will become an isolated city.

Can the 20,000 defenders really hold out until the Yu River and the floodplain area on its east side freeze again in mid-to-late November?

Even though Zhu Wei knew that Liang Shixiong had probably figured out these truths a long time ago, Liang Shixiong stopped him from continuing. He was still holding a breath in his heart and could not let it go.

"You take a rest first, arrange your generals, and then recruit two thousand strong soldiers and horses from the city. Then you will be responsible for guarding the east city..." Liang Shixiong slowed down and said to Zhu Wei.

The city of Xingyang is strong and strong, not comparable to that of Mi County. In addition to the 20,000 defenders, there are nearly 60,000 households. Some able-bodied men can be selected to supplement the shortage of soldiers.

In the early stage, Xiao Yiqing was in Mengzhou and urged all parties to transport a large amount of grain and other materials. He also arranged for hundreds of craftsmen to enter Mengzhou to help build war equipment.

Liang Shixiong is still confident that he can hold on until the cold winter comes in November.

As long as the Yu River and the floodplain area to the east are frozen solid, no matter how sharp the Liang army's front is, it will be impossible to withstand tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of reinforcements attacking from the north bank of the Yu River and east of the Jialu River.

He didn't believe that Liang Jun would be able to withdraw by then.

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Su Lie and Feng Zhang led their troops to attack Xingyang City from the west and south. Zhao Ci led a cavalry group to patrol the outside to prevent the defenders from leaving the city for counterattack. They passed through the northeastern slopes of Songshan Mountain southwest of Xingyang City, Mi County and Hulao Pass.

The passage will be completely opened.

In mid-August, Han Qian arrived at Hulao Pass again to supervise the battle. Zhao Wuji and Li Xiu, surrounded by their cavalry, rushed to Hulao Pass from the trails at the northeastern foot of Songshan Mountain to attend the military meeting.

The defenders of Mi County had little morale. They were besieged for more than a month without leaving the city to fight a counterattack. The Xuzhou Army captured Mi County and suffered less than 1,000 casualties in total. In addition to the residents of the county who live more than 30,000 miles away, they also captured 2,000 people.

Enemy soldiers.

Han Qian said that this year he plans to launch an attack on Xingyang City from two fronts. Even if this goal has been achieved by now, it is still necessary to determine how to attack Xingyang next and whether to ensure the capture of Xingyang before mid-November.

Summon the generals to discuss matters.

Zhao Wuji surrounded three towers, and the Mi County defenders were not strong in fighting spirit. They could still escape to Xingyang City, but the situation faced by the Xingyang defenders was different.

Of course Han Qian hoped that Wu Su Dashi and Xiao Yiqing would order the Mengzhou Water Camp to assist the Xingyang defenders in withdrawing to Mengzhou, so that they could send naval warships and send troops from the newly built Shuiying Dazhai on the west side of Hulaotou

, taking advantage of the enemy's crossing the river to attack the flanks, and then take over the empty Xingyang City.

However, it was obvious that the Mongolian army would not comply with his wishes and abandon Xingyang City so casually.

And Liang Shixiong, as a veteran who had been employed in Hehuai for decades, could not ignore the risk that they would be attacked when crossing the river, which would eventually lead to their hopeless escape to the north, but they would be buried in the belly of the fish.

All circumstances determined that Liang Shixiong could only defend Xingyang City.

This would actually arouse the morale of the defenders who were desperate to fight. Han Qian felt that they should not be blindly optimistic and think that Xingyang City was easy to chew.

Xingyang is one of the largest and most powerful cities in the Hehuai River and Huaihe River. Its brick-covered city wall is more than three feet high, and its moat is connected to the Yu River. It is more than ten feet deep and wide in the west and south. It faces the Yu River in the north, and the terrain outside the east city is slightly lower.

It became a flooded area.

Even if the army has a large number of sophisticated war machines, it is still extremely difficult to capture such a strong city in a short time, and it may even cost a very heavy price.

"We must be prepared for the time when the Yu River freezes in November and we are unable to capture Xingyang," Han Qian said, sitting behind the long desk. "In the early stage of the siege of Xingyang, we should focus on Daihai Temple in the south and west of the city, and attack from the west.

On the south side, build a chain of strongholds that semi-surrounds Xingyang, especially south of Xingyang, and build a few more strong camps on the east flank to prevent enemy reinforcements from attacking our army's flanks from this direction after the Yu River freezes."

"When the enemy comes to help, we may be able to annihilate them outside Xingyang..." Chen Kun clenched his fists and said loudly.

Since the sudden change in Heshuo, the Mongolian army and the Weibo rebels have taken advantage of each other. They, the old generals of Daliang, have been struggling until now and finally see the dawn of victory. At this time, they are thinking of encircling the point and calling for reinforcements, and in Xingyang City

Destroy the enemy's main reinforcements from the periphery.

"..." Han Qian shook his head with a wry smile and said to Chen Kun, "If we want to mobilize reinforcements at the Xingyang encirclement, we won't be able to win without 200,000 troops here. But if I want to mobilize 200,000 troops at this time,

The horses gathered at the northeastern foot of Songshan Mountain. Feng Liao, Zhou Daoyuan and the others will be so anxious that they will curse each other."

Han Qian did not fail to consider the possibility of encircling the point and calling for reinforcements, but after Yuhe and other areas were frozen, the enemy troops came from Mengzhou, Wuzhi, and Bianjing, which were close at hand, and they did not have the advantage of fighting with ease.

In fact, what Han Qian had to consider was whether to use Xingyang as bait to attract a large number of elite troops from the Mongolian Army and the Dongliang Army to the outside of Xingyang City for a decisive battle.

Considering the military potential that the Mongolian Army and the Dongliang Army could mobilize on the Eastern Front, Daliang had to gather 200,000 troops in advance to have a certain chance of winning.

At present, the war is still going on in all directions, but except for Li Zhigao leading the Western Expedition into Longyou, which is considered a long-distance operation, the other directions are all close-range operations, and the scale of troops and horses used is also strictly controlled. For the time being, it can be said that it has not exceeded

The limit of endurance.

If we continue to mobilize an additional 100,000 troops to the northeastern foothills of Mount Song based on the current situation, this will already exceed the capacity of Daliang's national strength at this time.

Mobilizing people and horses at the same time requires time and process. It is impossible to delay the mobilization work until the Yu River freezes in November and then let the states and counties do the mobilization work.

And if they carry out comprehensive military mobilization now, the Mongolian Army and Dongliang Army can also carry out larger-scale mobilization. In the end, the troops and horses pushed by both sides to Xingyang City will be far beyond imagination, and the final battle situation will be full of greater challenges.

variable.

At least at this time, the military potential of the Mongolian Army and Dongliang Army still exceeds theirs.

Therefore, it would be great to capture Xingyang before the Yu River freezes over. If Xingyang cannot be captured in time, we will have to look at the scale of enemy reinforcements to determine the subsequent combat strategy - if the scale of enemy reinforcements in Xingyang exceeds theirs after winter.

In their imagination, they even had to temporarily abandon the fortress outside Xingyang, retreat to Hulao Pass and Mi County in the south, and continue to prepare for internal defense.

This time, Gu Qian, Han Yuanqi and other old ministers of the Liang Dynasty who followed Han Qian to Hulao Pass to supervise the battle also saw that the situation was gradually changing for the better. However, they did not want to make more adequate preparations this year.
To be continued...