He couldn't get around it, he couldn't get around it, and he didn't know what to do. Zhu Di felt mixed emotions for a while.
However, he is still the backbone of everyone. Everyone can express their inner emotions, but he absolutely cannot.
"Hmph! Aren't they just Geng Bingwen and Han Du? Geng Bingwen is sixty-seven this year, and I don't believe that he is still as powerful as he was back then. As for Han Du, it's not that I look down on him. He is only better at sea battles, and he is better at land battles. Have you ever had a decent battle?"
In any case, with Zhu Di's words, the morale of the generals was greatly boosted, and the gloom just now was swept away.
Qianhu Qiufu, the guard in Yanshan, immediately shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, let the last general try the strength of Geng Bingwen and Han Du."
Zhu Di glanced at him and said nothing. Shouting slogans was one thing, but doing it with real swords and guns was another.
Facing Geng Bingwen and Han Du, even Zhu Di felt very unconfident. Even if he wanted to attack the city, he had to consider the long term.
...
Xuzhou.
Xu Chengfei followed Han Du and inspected the city wall.
Suddenly asked: "Mei Yin has an army of 400,000 troops under his command, and it is stationed in Huai'an. Why don't you send someone to join forces with him to fight against the Yan bandits?"
After hearing this, Han Du paused and looked back at Xu Chengfei.
After looking at him thoughtfully for a few times, he asked, "Why did you suddenly mention him?"
Xu Chengfei was stunned and asked: "What? Is there any problem with this? I just saw that there were 400,000 troops standing beside me. Even if you don't call Mei Yin to Xuzhou to garrison together, you should let him wait for opportunities outside. .”
Although Xuzhou is a big city, it is indeed impossible to put all 700,000 troops in the city. There is no way to fight like this.
As for why he didn't contact Mei Yin, first of all, Han Du was a little worried about Mei Yin. After all, his attitude towards Zhu Di was too strange and he had to guard against it. Also, Zhu Biao didn't even order Mei Yin to assist him, so how could he mobilize him without authorization?
After thinking for a moment, Han Du said vaguely: "Although Zhu Di has an army of 600,000, we are the one with the most favorable geographical location. Are you still afraid of the Yan army?"
"How is this possible?" Xu Chengfei smiled faintly.
Han Du clapped his hands and said, "That's right. If Zhu Di can really conquer Xuzhou, it won't be too late to call in Mei Yin to support him."
Xu Chengfei was still very confused and glanced at Han Du in confusion. Perhaps in the eyes of others, Han Du wanted to grab credit, but Xu Chengfei knew very well that Han Du did not value credit at all.
There were so many opportunities back then, but Han Du didn't take the credit, and even took the initiative to share the credit with others. How could he want to take the credit now?
"How are the preparations for Shanzi Camp?" Han Du quickly changed the topic when he saw Xu Chengfei lowering his head and thinking deeply.
Sure enough, Xu Chengfei's attention immediately returned to Shanzi Camp, and he quickly replied: "After a few days of rest, I have fully recovered. And there are enough gunpowder and bullets, and I can go into battle at any time."
Han Du looked at the Yan Army camp outside the city with his hands behind his back, and smiled slightly: "Don't worry, we are the defender of the city. It is better to let Zhu Di taste the power of Marquis Changxing first, so that he can wake up."
"How dare you raise an army to rebel? I think he has stayed in Peiping for a long time, and his brain has been frozen to stone by the snowstorm. He doesn't know how high the sky is!"
...
Zhu Di finally chose to attack the city.
Although Qiu Fu's words are vulgar, they are very reasonable. You still have to fight to know who is strong and who is weak.
"Qiu Fu!"
"The last general is here!" Qiu Fu looked overjoyed. He selected his general in the first battle. Of course he was happy. This shows that he ranks first in King Yan's heart.
"Order 20,000 elite soldiers and attack the city!"
"Got the order!"
Hearing the sound of horns coming from the Yan Army camp, Han Du quickly climbed to the top of the city.
Geng Bingwen, with a gray beard, clasped his fists toward Han Du and said, "Dong Zhenguo, the Yan army is about to attack the city."
Han Du nodded: "I saw it. Defending the city depends entirely on the old general."
Geng Bingwen nodded very happily. He did not expect that Han Du could leave all the city defense matters to him.
And he still looked like he was just watching and never interfering. If it were someone else, even if he was given full authority to defend the city, he would probably occasionally step in and take command.
"The whole army is on alert!" Geng Bingwen turned around and raised the sword in his hand, shouting loudly.
"Kill~~~"
Outside Xuzhou City, there are two hills on the left and right, forming a small open space in the middle. The troops raised in this place cannot be used at all, so only infantry can be used.
Zhu Di's hundreds of thousands of troops were basically restricted by the complex terrain, and could only stay outside and be unable to play any role.
But behind the open area is the moat formed by Bianshui River and Sishui River. It is obviously impossible to pass through it by filling it up.
Therefore, if you want to attack Xuzhou City, you must first seize the only protective bridge.
You can imagine how difficult it would be to seize the only bridge under the intensive attack of the defenders in the city.
But Zhu Di was not so rigid. He did not send troops to seize the bridge by force. Instead, he built a raft and moved it a little above the Bian River, allowing the raft to go down the Bian River and directly to the foot of Xuzhou City.
When Geng Bingwen saw this move, he was also greatly impressed, which was beyond his expectation.
"Fire the artillery! Send all the Yan troops into the Bian River to feed the fish!"
At such a long distance, even the divine thunderbolt cannot attack, and can only rely on cannons.
As the Ming army fired artillery, of course the Yan army would not just watch the soldiers crossing the water being beaten, and immediately fired back.
The first large-scale artillery battle in the Ming Dynasty began.
The battle started at sunrise and lasted until sunset before both sides had to withdraw their troops.
During this period, the Yan army occupied the bridgehead many times, but was repelled by the Ming army. The position at the head of the bridge was completely exposed to the Ming army's attack, and the Yan army could not withstand the fierce firepower of the thunderbolts.
In just one day, the Yan army suffered tens of thousands of casualties.
"At the end of the day, I lost my army and lost my general. Please ask the prince to punish you."
Qiu Fu was covered in blood. He personally led his troops to attack the bridge and fought to the death, but in the end he was unable to capture the bridge. He only survived by chance when his own soldiers used their bodies as a shield for him.
Otherwise, Qiu Fu might become the first Qianhu among the Yan army to die in battle.
Zhu Di saw all the battles during the day. Qiu Fu was very brave, and the Yan army also risked their lives to fight.
But Xuzhou City was too dangerous, and despite paying such a heavy price, nothing was gained.
He helped Qiu Fu up with his own hands and comforted him: "Today's defeat is not due to war. Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qiu Fu stood up with a guilty look on his face. He had been dismissive of Geng Bingwen before, but after a day of fighting, he deeply felt how powerful he was.
】
After a day of fierce fighting, tens of thousands of troops were lost, and he didn't even get the details about Geng Bingwen. Although Xuzhou City is easy to defend and difficult to attack, this is too outrageous.
"Who is willing to be the vanguard in tomorrow's battle?" Seeing Qiu Fu's depressed expression, Zhu Di knew that he could not be relied upon tomorrow. I had no choice but to look up at the crowd, hoping that someone would take the initiative to stand up.
However, there was a moment of silence, and you could hear the drop of a needle.
Just when Zhu Di was angry, Zhang Yu took a step forward: "Your Majesty, I am willing to be the vanguard."
"Okay!" Zhu Di was overjoyed. As long as there are still people who dare to stand up at this time, morale can be maintained. Otherwise, morale will plummet and this battle will be impossible to fight.
"Count fifty thousand troops and continue to attack the city tomorrow!"
"yes."
Zhang Yu commanded the Yan army to fight for three days. Although the result was better than Qiu Fu's, it was not much better. In other words, you can barely touch the city wall.
"The final general is incompetent!" Zhang Yu had to kneel down in front of Zhu Di and beg for punishment.
Zhu Di was not so stupid that he couldn't distinguish between good and bad, so he naturally would not punish Zhang Yu. Zhu Di was even grateful because Zhang Yu took the initiative to take on the important task of being a pioneer.
However, two consecutive defeats in the siege inevitably demoralized the generals.
Just when Zhu Di was frowning, Feng Sheng stood up slowly and said in a soft voice: "It seems that Geng Bingwen's sword is still young."
Zhu Di's eyes showed surprise, and he looked at Feng Sheng expectantly.
Feng Sheng smiled faintly: "When it comes to the military war, I didn't even submit to King Kaiping. That means I wasn't brought out from Huaixi by the late emperor. Let Xu Dazhuan be more beautiful than ever before."
"My lifelong wish is to prove to the world that the number one general in the Ming Dynasty is none other than me!"
"Your Majesty, let me come and meet Geng Bingwen."
Zhu Di stood up quickly and held Feng Sheng's hand with a look of surprise: "With the help of the old general, I can rest easy!"
...
The next day, Han Du saw that the sun was high in the sky, but there was no movement at the Yan Army camp opposite.
He smiled and glanced at Geng Bingwen: "It seems that Zhu Di knows how powerful Changxing Marquis is. I'm afraid he won't attack the city again until he has figured out a countermeasure."
Geng Bingwen nodded slightly, and then reminded: "Master, please don't underestimate Zhu Di, he is also a capable general. If there was no Xuzhou City, I would not be so relaxed."
Han Du nodded lightly. Although he had never seen Zhu Di's ability with his own eyes, he had heard about it from Lan Yu.
With Lan Yu's arrogance, she was able to praise Zhu Di's ability in marching and fighting, and even reminded Zhu Biao to be careful about Zhu Di. One can only imagine Zhu Di's talents.
A few days later, the sound of horns was heard again in the Yan Army camp.
Feng Sheng stood on a high platform covered in armor. His appearance greatly boosted the morale of the Yan army.
"Come here, hang up my flag."
A huge flag with the word "Feng" was raised, fluttering in the wind and making a roaring sound.
"Feng?" Han Du saw the handsome flag fluttering in the telescope and looked at Geng Bingwen in confusion: "Is there anyone in the Yan army named Feng?"
Geng Bingwen was also very confused. Of course there are famous generals named Feng in the world, but they should not appear among the Yan army.
Before he could think about it carefully, when he saw the Yan army beginning to attack the city, Feng Sheng immediately began to command a counterattack without thinking about it further.
To Han Du's expectation, the Yan army's attack this time was completely different from the previous two. Although it was not very violent, it was a firm and steady advance.
This step-by-step, steady approach made Han Du's heart skip a beat.
"No, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold the bridge!"
Sure enough, just as Han Du was staring at the bridge nervously, the bridge that had been held for several days was occupied by the Yan army in just over two hours under the Yan army's offensive.
"All artillery, listen to the order, blow up the bridge!" Geng Bingwen ordered without hesitation.
