Li Chuwen's mission went very smoothly, and Tong Guan agreed after thinking for a long time.
Tong Guan also kindly invited Li Chuwen to attend the banquet in the evening. Li Chuwen naturally knew that Tong Guan wanted to keep him as a guarantee, so he did not refuse.
"Tong Xiang, Bei Liao is about to be destroyed, why should we cooperate with them!"
When Yang Keshi saw Li Chuwen leaving, he looked at Tong Guan and said.
"Even if Bei Liao is destroyed, Yan Yun cannot fall into Sun Lei's hands!"
Tong Guan said directly.
"Tong Xiang, if you want to deal with Sun Lei, why go to Xijin Mansion? Let's attack Cangzhou directly and cut off Sun Lei's retreat. By then, Sun Lei will be a tree without roots and it will only be a matter of time before he is destroyed!"
Zhong Shidao looked at Tong Guan and suggested that in his heart, he was very pessimistic about this battle. They couldn't do anything about Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi, but Sun Lei could directly besiege Xijin Mansion. The combat power of both sides was no longer at the same level. .
"Why do you think Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi didn't leave? Why should I keep Li Chuwen?"
Tong Guan looked at Zhong Shidao coldly. This group of veterans knew how to rely on their elders and always thought that they were the smartest. Little did they know that he was the master of the power of people. Otherwise, how would he have climbed to his current position.
Tong Guan's words left everyone present speechless. They were now besieged by the Northern Liao cavalry. If they didn't go to deal with Sun Lei outside the Jijin Mansion, Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi would never retreat. If this continues, both sides would lose. Sun Lei is profitable.
…
Analysis outside Jinfu.
Under rounds of artillery bombardment, the formerly prosperous Xijin Mansion was in ruins. There were no other people except soldiers on the streets of the city. The cold wind of late autumn picked up the fallen leaves and swirled them on the streets of the city.
Sun Lei's patience was far better than Yelu Chun thought, and he kept bombarding and putting pressure on the Xijin Mansion.
"Damn it, why don't they attack the city!"
Yelu Chun gritted his teeth and said, "The city of Jinfu is tall and tall. If Sun Lei comes to attack the city, they will only need a few bloody battles to consume Sun Lei's troops and make Sun Lei retreat."
"Your Majesty, many barracks in the north of the city have been destroyed, and now the soldiers have nowhere to live..."
An official reported to Yelu Chun.
Yelu Chun didn't reply. He had heard such words in the past few days, and his ears had become calluses. Either private houses or city towers were smashed. Today, even the military camp was smashed.
"Your Majesty, if the soldiers have nowhere to live, I'm afraid there will be chaos. Why not requisition some private houses for the soldiers to live in?"
Someone spoke.
Yelu Chun just waved his hand. He felt that it was a bit laborious to breathe. Let the officials handle these matters.
"If this continues, I'm afraid the people will be dissatisfied!"
Someone immediately objected that more houses were smashed, and houses close to the city wall were damaged.
"Now the enemy is besieging the city, the soldiers are working hard to defend the city, and the people should make sacrifices!"
Yelu Guobao said, the most important thing now is to stabilize the morale of the army. This is the key to defending the city.
Yelu Chun heard the quarrel and coughed violently. The eunuch hurriedly came forward to serve him. It took a long time for Yelu Chun to feel better, but he ignored the quarrel and went down to the harem with the help of the eunuch.
After the quarrel, the solution was to expropriate private houses. As for what would happen to the people who lost their houses, no one thought about it.
Outside the city, it was getting late.
The artillery that had been bombarding the city for a day began to retreat slowly. In the past few days, the Liangshan artillery fired very regularly. During the day, the artillery was bombarding the city one mile outside the city. At night, the artillery was withdrawn two miles away to attack the defenders on the city wall.
"hateful!"
Yelu Guozhen was furious when he saw the retreating enemy artillery. One mile was beyond the reach of their long-range weapons, and at night the artillery withdrew to two miles away, making it difficult for them to make a sneak attack.
"We can't go on like this!"
Wu Yanguang looked at the retreating enemy artillery. This style of running to defeat the cavalry and not charging the infantry left them with nowhere to go. They wanted to rely on the city wall to consume the enemy, but ended up being consumed by the enemy.
The smell of food could be heard from the enemy's camp in the distance, which made the defenders' faces even more gloomy. After being beaten, they had to watch others eat hot and spicy food. No one else would be in a good mood.
Wu Yanguang had no choice about this. He could force restaurants in the city to prepare meals, but he couldn't continue like this.
A lot of houses in the city have been destroyed in the past few days. People are in panic, and no restaurants have been opened for a long time. Today, the military camp was destroyed, and some food supplies are not available.
"General, instead of being beaten like this, it's better to go out and fight. We have an army of 200,000, and Sun Lei only has 100,000!"
Qiong Yao Nayan immediately said that he had had enough of this kind of frustrating law-abiding.
"The enemy will definitely shell the city wall again after dark. Let the defenders be careful and rest for the night. Let's go out of the city tomorrow!"
Wu Yanguang ordered, if this continues, the morale of the army and the people will not be able to hold on, and they will not be able to support the return of Xiao Qian and Yelu Dashi.
"yes!"
Everyone was overjoyed and immediately followed the order.
Outside the city, Liangshan camp.
Sun Lei was having dinner with everyone.
"We've almost finished fighting in the past few days. Let's change the game tonight and get on the trebuchet. The weather is getting a bit cold. Let's put some fire in the city to keep them warm!"
Sun Lei said with a smile that the regular attacks in the past few days have probably made the Xijin defenders accustomed to it, and they thought they would still bombard the city wall tonight.
"Yes, brother!"
Ling Zhen smiled and accepted the order. He had collected a lot of data in the past few days and could improve the artillery after returning.
After dark, no soldiers could be seen on the city of Xijin Prefecture. Although Wu Yanguang strictly prohibited the soldiers from leaving their posts without authorization, the artillery bombardment had already frightened the soldiers defending the city.
During the day, generals patrolled the city, and artillery fired all over the city, but the soldiers still dared to stay on the city wall. At night, the soldiers hid behind the city wall and could not be killed.
In the dark night, Ling Zhen commanded the soldiers to push the trebuchet to the south of Xijin Prefecture. According to the rules, they should shell the north of the city tonight.
"Fire bomb, throw it!"
Ling Zhen did not take aim, and directly asked the soldiers to light the barrels filled with kerosene, and then the trebuchet began to throw.
Compared with artillery, trebuchets were almost silent. The lit barrels smashed into the city. The barrels shattered and the kerosene splashed. When the kerosene encountered an open flame, it exploded instantly, igniting everything on it.
In the night, the fire in Xijin Mansion was so bright that the flames reached into the sky and illuminated half of the city.
Ling Zhen did not stop. After a few rounds, he changed positions with the trebuchet and continued to project kerosene bombs.
The defenders who had just taken a breath were immediately awakened by the fire and hurriedly ran out to put out the fire. However, the fire ignited by kerosene was not easy to put out. Pouring water on it had little effect and would instead expand the fire.
"what happened?"
Yelu Chun, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened by the light of fire and shouts. His already bad body felt uncomfortable again, and he coughed.
Wu Yanguang and others also quickly led people to the place where the fire was burning. Seeing the huge fire, they immediately had people put out the fire with sand and earth.
But the flames were far more than just one. As the trebuchets outside the city continued to project, a ring of fire formed in the outer city of Xijin Mansion.
