Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 286 Yang, Liu

Lingwu.

In front of the city wall, the craftsmen were extremely busy.

We saw giant thunder chariots appearing outside the city wall one after another. At first glance, there were about eighty of them, but they were still not satisfied and were still constantly adding more.

These were not ordinary single-legged catapults, but multi-legged carts.

The soldiers carried the stones on horse-drawn carts and brought them to the catapult. Then several burly men came forward, picked up the stones with difficulty, and put them on the cart's scoop step by step.

Liu Taozi led his troops and stood outside the catapult, squinting his eyes and staring at Lingwu City in the distance.

"My lord, do you want to continue building it?"

Liu Chengcai stood beside the green lion. He was not wearing any armor. Even in such a cold season, he was sweating profusely and his whole body was soaked with sweat.

"Unless the number exceeds 500, the effect will not become more obvious."

"These past few days, Yang Zhong has been leading the troops in the city to reinforce the city walls, and the troops from Xiazhou and Yanzhou have begun to gather. Brother, is it time to take action?"

After besieging Yang Zhong, Liu Taozi did not rush to attack the city, but spent a lot of time building siege equipment.

This time, he did not just build ladders, but ordered the military craftsmen to focus on building multi-legged catapults.

Although this era was absurd and strange as a whole, it was the period when military technology developed most rapidly.

War and usurpation of the throne became the mainstream. Hundreds of years of chaos led to the great development of many technologies such as cavalry, siege and defense, including siege technology. Compared with the chaos in the Later Han Dynasty, various tactical techniques at this moment have improved a lot.

Ladders have become more sturdy. In ancient times, ladders were carried by soldiers, but nowadays ladders are more like ladder carts, which are pushed onto the city walls to directly form a gently sloping bridge. The same is true for catapults, which have gradually developed from the original light single-tipped catapults to the current single-tipped movable catapults, multi-tipped short-arm medium-sized catapults, and immovable multi-tipped super-large catapults, and even rotating multi-directional catapults.

Liu Taozi stared at the large flag with the word "Yang" on it on the Lingwu city wall, his eyes becoming increasingly fierce.

He drew out the Gaowang Sword.

The blue lion seemed to sense its master's rising fighting spirit; it rubbed its front hooves, eager to give it a try.

"Prepare for war!!"

Liu Taozi yelled.

The army immediately changed its formation. The command flag was raised and the armies on three sides began to change their formations. The armored soldiers raised their large shields and quickly rushed to both sides of the catapults. The knights were eager to try and the crossbowmen raised their bows and crossbows high.

Yang Zhong stood on the north city tower, looked at the big flag with the word "Liu" on it opposite, and drew his sword.

"Prepare for war!!!"

The archers took aim one after another. A burly man came to the parapet holding the same stone, and several crossbow carts slowly moved in different directions.

"Kill~~~"

Liu Taozi roared.

"boom!!!!!"

"boom!!!!"

The sound of the catapult was like thunder, deafening. As the pawn released the rope, the four catapult soldiers roared and exerted force at the same time.

The huge rock flew toward the city wall with a roar.

"Boom~~"

The stones hit the battlements hard, the wall screamed, and fragments flew out. The soldiers standing there were covered in blood and fell to the ground howling.

The next moment, rocks flew all over the sky, and the city wall was in a mess and broken everywhere. Some soldiers roared, raised their large shields, rushed forward, and filled the gaps with debris.

"put!!"

"boom!!!!"

"put!!"

After being hit several times, a city wall on the west side suddenly began to shake.

Yao Xiong rode on his warhorse, looking at the gap excitedly, "That's right! That's right! That's right!"

"Boom~~"

A section of the city wall collapsed with a loud bang. Soldiers howled and fell, buried under the rocks. Yao Xiong's face flushed red. "Everyone who escapes will be rewarded! There will be a reward!!"

"kill!!!"

Yao Xiong roared and rushed towards the gap.

Some generals had already arrived at the gap, and some soldiers quickly piled up miscellaneous items to fill it.

“Swoosh~swoosh~swoosh~swoosh~”

From the top of the city wall, arrows were shot out and rained down from the sky. War horses fell down wailing, and knights fell one after another.

Yao Xiong raised his shield and led the knights towards the gap.

General Zhou roared, and lined up a row of powerful crossbows, firing at the charging knights. After the first row finished firing, they quickly squatted down and the second row fired. The powerful crossbows were like sickles, and the horse under Yao Xiong's crotch felt pain, and both the horse and the man rolled off.

The knights quickly protected Yao Xiong in the middle and began to retreat.

"put!!"

"Boom~~"

Lingwu was under fierce attacks from the north, west and east.

Yao Xiong retreated to his original position at this moment, watching the narrow gap being quickly blocked. There were powerful crossbows lined up neatly, and he pulled out a few arrows on his armor. It was difficult to attack by force, so he could only continue shooting.

"Kill~~"

The Potara on the east had stopped shooting at this moment, and the archers continued to advance under the cover of swords and shields, trying to suppress the arrows on the city wall.

Arrows continued to shoot out from both sides and fall down.

The soldiers came all the way to the top of the city wall and used large shields to build a gentle slope under the wall. The height of part of the wall had been lowered in the heavy bombardment. Potola ordered his men to beat the war drums and gallop out on horseback.

The knights came galloping, but they did not have much armor. Their horses were galloping, and the shield bearers supported each other and put up their shields. The horses stepped on the shields and used the gentle slope. Potola jumped up and jumped onto the pile of rubble. Dozens of spears stabbed at him from both sides. Before Potola could react, the horse under his crotch was stabbed to death. Potola fell into the rubble, holding a shield in one hand and a knife in the other, and he held on to the spearmen in front of him. The knights flew up one by one and landed on the stones.

Zhou Bing roared and rushed forward, and the two sides fought each other.

This place was really not suitable for cavalry. The war horses could not move freely and the knights were constantly being knocked down. Potora immediately ordered everyone to dismount and kill the enemy with swords and shields.

Potala roared and rushed forward, his whole body covered in blood.

The soldiers on the high walls on the left and right sides organized themselves at this moment and began to throw stones here frantically.

Sprinkle boiling water.

The sword and shield soldiers were defeated, and Potala led everyone to retreat.

Yang Zhong stood on the city wall, and scouts kept running over to inform him of the attack situation on three sides. The command flags on the city wall kept changing, and the scouts rushed back and forth.

The siege lasted a whole day.

When it was dark, the rumbling sound finally stopped.

The entire Lingwu city wall was like a ruin, turned into a pile of miscellaneous stones.

The cries of the wounded soldiers echoed everywhere, and the civilians kept moving forward to reinforce the gaps and dig out the buried wounded soldiers.

Some people carried food bowls and distributed them one by one on the city wall.

Yang Zhong was also walking on the city wall at this moment, passing through the soldiers on both sides, "Your team has killed the most enemies! You will all be rewarded!"

"Someone, come and prepare some more meat for them! And some wine!"

Yang Zhong issued the order, and personally took the wine cup to drink with several officers, and promoted their official positions.

After going through all of this, he had done everything he needed to do, including comforting, punishing, and encouraging.

Back on the tower, Murong Yan wrapped his face with cloth, leaving only one eye exposed, and limped to Yang Zhong's side, "Duke."

Yang Zhong looked at the other officers and asked them to sit down.

Everyone sat together, breathing softly, and no one spoke.

Yang Zhong said proudly: "What about the Hengshuo soldiers and Youyan soldiers? In my opinion, they are just so-so. They have been attacking for a whole day but have not even broken through the outer wall. If they can't do it today, they will never be able to do it in the future!"

The crowd was somewhat encouraged and started to tease the Qi people outside the city.

Murong Yan didn't smile.

He looked at Yang Zhong and asked seriously, "General, when will our reinforcements arrive?"

"Reinforcements? I'm afraid the reinforcements have already started to watch Liu Taozi's camp!!"

After hearing Yang Zhong's words, Murong Yan shook his head.

"Duke, we have all followed you for many years and are willing to die with you." "But, Duke, please tell us, when will the reinforcements arrive?"

Murong Yan took a deep breath, his voice trembling a little, "There are only 300 people left under my command. The officers are gone, and no one has retreated. But these are elite soldiers who have followed me for many years. I treat them like my own brothers."

The morale, which had been improving somewhat, now seemed to have fallen again.

Yang Zhong did not reprimand this old brother who disturbed the morale of the army. Today, if he had not fought hard against the mad dog Po Duo Luo's attack in the east, the city would have been breached.

Yang Zhong slowly looked into the distance.

"The armies of Yanzhou and Xiazhou have all been sent to Chang'an, but we can still gather more than 10,000 people."

"But they lack a brave commander, so I'm afraid they dare not attack rashly."

"I don't want them to attack either. Liu Taozi has surrounded the city on three sides, and there are at least two armies that have not been deployed. If they rush over, I'm afraid they will be defeated by Liu Taozi."

"Now all we can hope for is for the imperial court's reinforcements to arrive in time. With more than 10,000 people from Huizhou, plus the troops from Yanzhou, plus the imperial court's reinforcements, we won't be so passive."

"But I don't know who the temple sent."

"However, you don't have to worry too much. Lingwu is well connected and strategically located. Even if Yuwen Hu wants me dead, he will never watch Lingwu fall. He will definitely send a qualified general to support us. We can hold out for a while and wait for reinforcements to arrive. Liu Taozi's morale will be low, and we can attack him from both sides. Maybe we can even recapture Yongfeng."

This time, Yang Zhong did not say any empty words about boosting morale. He told the six generals in front of him his thoughts truthfully.

Among these six generals, in addition to Murong Yan, a veteran who had participated in many wars with Yang Zhong, there was also Tian Hong, who had just been promoted to general and was brave and good at fighting.

The other four are relatively young.

Those veteran generals who were close to Yang Zhong, such as Li Mu, were temporarily transferred to Chang'an to follow Yuwen Hu to attack the Pseudo-Qi.

These young men had been promoted not too long ago and had made many military achievements in the past, but this was their first time encountering such a high-intensity offensive and defensive battle.

They had never seen such a fierce offensive and defensive battle as today's, with catapults tearing through the city walls, endless rain of arrows, and those brave warriors charging forward again and again.

Yang Zhong looked at these young faces and patiently explained to them the principles of defending the city.

Under the city walls, lights shot up to the sky.

The troops from various units were resting at this moment. Shi Wansui followed behind Liu Taozi and led the knights to inspect the camps.

"Your Majesty, General Yao is injured. Why don't you let me be the first one to ascend the city tomorrow? I will definitely capture this city for you!"

Shi Wansui asked.

Liu Taozi didn't even look at him, and Shi Wansui knew that he was rejected.

He felt somewhat depressed. He had watched the siege today and he really thought he could be the first to reach the city. There were so many gaps and the number of soldiers stationed there was quite limited. Wouldn't it be possible to break the city by chopping them all down?

Liu Taozi has now arrived at Yao Xiong's camp.

Yao Xiong was seriously injured. He fell off his horse and was hit by several arrows. However, he was still in high spirits and not too depressed.

"Brother!"

"The wounded have been properly arranged."

"Tomorrow, I will capture this city for my brother!!"

Looking at the confident Yao Xiong, Liu Taozi said calmly: "Don't worry, we have enough food and grass for the time being, and the enemy's reinforcements dare not come forward."

"Weaken the enemy more and stop attacking blindly."

"only!!"

Zhou, Huizhou, Huining City.

The lights in the state government office were bright.

The musicians played softly as accompaniment, the dancers danced gracefully, and Yuwen Zhi sat in the upper seat, shaking his head and singing the song with deep emotion.

The governor of Huizhou knelt aside, without any demeanor of a minister. Holding a wine cup, he personally poured wine for Yuwen Zhi, with a flattering smile on his fat and big-eared face.

General Hou Longen sat aside with a dark face, sullen and not drinking.

The governor of Huizhou glanced at him, but did not stand up. He just knelt and crawled in front of Hou Longen. He raised the wine cup, smiled charmingly and said, "General, I offer you a cup."

"roll."

Hou Longen blurted out with a straight face.

The governor of Huizhou was scolded in person, but he was not angry. He just smiled and said, "General, please don't be angry. The wine here is really not worthy of your status."

Yuwen Zhi looked at Hou Longen and said, "General, Governor Zheng has been very polite to you, why are you insulting him?"

Hou Longen looked at Yuwen Zhi, "Duke Chongye, the Duke has ordered us to go to rescue Lingwu. We have already wasted two days here."

"so what?"

"Duke Suiguo, an enemy of ten thousand men."

"What did my father tell you before I left? Did the general forget it?"

"I haven't forgotten it, but I think Lord Chongye has forgotten it."

"Spiritual martial arts must not be lost!!"

"Yang Zhong has only 3,000 elite soldiers under his command. The Lingwu soldiers are weak and cannot be used. Liu Taozi is well prepared. If he doesn't see reinforcements, he will definitely attack Lingwu. I'm worried that Lingwu will be lost!"

Yuwen Zhi immediately threw the wine in front of him.

In fact, Yuwen Hu's personal morality was not too bad. Although he committed such evil acts as regicide, at least he did not rob women and abuse the people, so his reputation was not too bad. But his sons were indeed not very good people, and even left behind the "reputation" that "sons are greedy and cruel, officials are indulgent, and they rely on Yuwen Hu's power to undermine the government and harm the people."

However, these sons were promoted to various positions and relied on their father's support and were not afraid of anyone at all.

"General Hou, do you think I don't know anything about military affairs?!"

"The Art of War says: If there are ten of them, surround them; if there are five, attack them."

"Liu Taozi came from afar, and he has no more than 30,000 soldiers under his command. His Lingwu is tall and strong, so how could he be captured so easily?!"

Yuwen Zhi looked up and said proudly, "The Book of Han says: A weak crossbow cannot penetrate a thin silk cloth."

"Zuo Zhuan said: The first push is strong, the second is weak, the third is exhausted"

"I am now stationed in Huizhou. It only takes two days to get from Huizhou to Lingzhou. I can go to support at any time. Our army is resting here, while Liu Taozi's army is fighting hard. When they have failed to break through Lingwu three times and become a spent force, we can easily defeat them!"

"This time, my grandfather has given me 20,000 elite soldiers, and we have the troops of Hui, Yan, and Xia. With a total of nearly 40,000 soldiers, how can we not win when we are well rested?"

Listening to Yuwen Zhi's words, the governor of Huizhou couldn't help but clap his hands, "Mr. Chongye is truly a great talent! His talent is not inferior to Han Bai's, and he is the best in the world!!"

Hou Longen's face turned purple.

If it weren't for the other party's special identity
Hou Longen took a deep breath and continued, "I am a coarse-minded person who has not been good at studying since I was young. I started to join the army when I was young. I once followed the Prime Minister to fight, captured Dou Tai, broke through Shayuan, fought a fierce battle at Heqiao, and saved the Duke of Jin from tens of thousands of chaotic soldiers."

"I don't know if the last ditch effort can pierce the Lu silk, but I know that if we can't send out troops tomorrow, Lingwu will probably be lost. When I return to Chang'an, I will tell the Duke of Jin the truth about this expedition!"

When Yuwen Zhi heard the other party bring up his father, he was still angry, but he calmed down a little.

"Good, good, the general is so brave, I cannot defeat him. We will send out the troops tomorrow."

He stood up and left the place directly. The governor of Huizhou lowered his head and did not dare to speak. Hou Longen also stood up, with a gloomy face, and left the place.

Before setting out, Yuwen Hu told him a lot of things.

Lingwu must be saved and cannot be lost, but Yang Zhong must be made as miserable as possible without losing Lingwu.

Of course it would be best if he were dead, but if he is not dead, there must be a legitimate reason to deal with him so that he can no longer lead troops.

Hou Longen had some idea in his mind, but the nominal deputy general Yuwen Zhi, relying on his status, forcibly stayed in Huizhou, interrupting all Hou Longen's plans.

The next day, Yuwen Zhi got up reluctantly and made Hou Longen and the army wait for him for a long time.

The army finally set out from Huizhou.

Hou Longen was in charge of the central army, and Yuwen Zhi was arranged by him to be in the rear army.

But soon, Hou Longen discovered something was wrong. The rear army was always falling behind, and the front and central armies had to slow down from time to time to wait for the rear army. He sent scouts to inquire, but Yuwen Zhi did not explain, but just beat the scout with a horsewhip.

Hou Longen transferred him to the flank and asked him to lead the light cavalry guards.

As a result, just twenty miles out of Huizhou, the light cavalry on the flank almost got separated from the main force.

This genius, who was well-versed in the Art of War and whose talents surpassed those of Han Xin and Bai Qi, couldn't even figure out the basics of marching.

After two days of marching at a slow pace, the commander became increasingly irritable.

Fortunately, they could finally hear the shouting and killing in the distance.

Lingwu has not been lost yet.

(End of this chapter)