There is no moon on the new day, and the night sky is so dark.
Above the Xiping Gate of Luzhou, Zhao Tong and Liya Nazha stood side by side, looking down at the city.
Just at dusk, the cavalry who were outside finally returned, and there was a good killing in Luzhou City.
Even though Wang Qing ordered the city to release arrows for cover and the city gates to open the doors to respond, there were still countless casualties in the end. 10,000 cavalry went out and only 6,000 returned to the city.
Although the Song army won, they also suffered a lot of losses. In front of the east and west gates, there were countless corpses in the moat, and the water in the moat was dyed scarlet.
Horses that had lost their masters were running around, broken weapons could be seen everywhere, and arrows were scattered everywhere as if they were worthless.
The main camp of the Song Army was stationed in the north of Luzhou City, and the detective horses were constantly circling Luzhou City, not knowing what they were exploring.
Lianazha suddenly said: "Song Jun's move to lure the tiger away from the mountain is too clever."
Zhao Tong said: "What's so clever about it?"
Liyana said: "The Song army did not go to the Beicheng camp to harass, but instead went to the east and west cities. This gave people the illusion that their purpose was not in the Beicheng camp at all. People did not feel the real intention, and just thought they wanted to attack the east and west cities. The two cities used tactics, so Marshal Duan fell into the Song army's treacherous plan unintentionally."
Zhao Tong shook his head when he heard this and laughed twice.
Liana asked: "Could it be that General Li disagrees with me?"
Zhao Tong glanced at her and couldn't see clearly in the darkness, then stretched out his hand to hold Liyanaza's delicate hand.
Liyana trembled and said, "It's better to go to the tower to talk."
The two of them entered the tower. There was an oil lamp on the table inside the tower, and the light was like a bean, making shadows blurry.
Liyana said: "I just said that the Song army used it well to mobilize the tiger away from the mountain. Why is General Li laughing?"
Zhao Tong said: "Send troops to harass the east and west cities of Luzhou, attract the attention of Beicheng Camp, and lure Beicheng Camp to send troops to pursue them. Is this what you mean?"
Liana said: "Isn't it?"
Zhao Tong touched his chin and said, "Why do I feel like you are leading a snake out of its hole?"
Liyanaza asked in confusion: "What lures the snake out of its hole?"
Zhao Tong said: "lay an ambush in advance, and then harass them repeatedly, annoying the people in the Beicheng camp and send troops to chase them, and then lead them to the place of ambush and catch them by surprise."
Liyanaza was stunned when she heard this: "I'm afraid it can't be that simple... The Song army has used so many ambushes in front of Shouzhou City, and they still used ambushes in Luzhou. How could anyone fall into the trap?"
Zhao Tong shook his head and said: "It's just that there is no suitable place for an ambush around Luzhou City. As for the later plan to evacuate the tiger from the mountain, it was probably a plan to make a living after it failed. There was no place for an ambush, so I thought of evacuating the tiger from the mountain."
Liyanaza looked at Zhao Tong and said, "I don't believe it..."
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "If you don't believe it, you don't believe it. I'm just making random guesses, but the King of Qi of the Song Dynasty really used his troops like a god, which is admirable."
Liyana's bright eyes flashed and she looked at him with a half-smile. Looking at her beauty under the lamp, Zhao Zi couldn't help but put her arms into his arms and whispered: "Then King Zhao Zi of Qi has a clever plan. Could it be that General Shangguan has fallen in love with her?"
Liyanaza looked up at him, smiled again, and said nothing. Zhao Tao asked strangely: "Which one do you always laugh at?"
Liyanaza whispered: "What General Li said is true. I have fallen in love with King Qi. How do you treat him?"
Zhao Tong was shocked when he heard this and said with a smile: "But when did it happen? How could I not know."
Liyana said: "This cannot be said. General Li, please don't ask."
Zhao Tong thought deeply: "I just remembered something. What happened to the royal seal of Fang Jingjue Kingdom in the Longyou Stone Forest at that time?"
Liyana asked: "General Li actually still remembers this?"
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "Of course I remember, I have always been curious about the purpose of that seal. I originally thought that the seal contained some secret of the ancient country, but then I thought about it and it was unlikely. But the thing itself can sell some silver."
Liyanaza whispered: "It has nothing to do with any secret. It is a tradition of our Uighur royal family. I can't tell you at the moment. I will tell you carefully when I have time."
Zhao Tao nodded. He really didn't know much about the Uighurs. Even in later generations, there were very few records about the Uighurs. Most of them were just superficial things.
At this time, Zhao Tong's official position was restored to Luzhou Defense Envoy. However, because the Song army was approaching the city, there was no longer a distinction between left and right envoys. Instead, five Luzhou Defense Envoys were directly appointed, with an additional five-city military and horse steward. Qiu Xiang was in charge and inspected Luzhou's defense together.
Zhao Tong has not yet contacted anyone outside the city. After all, the Song army needs repairs after successive battles. Especially for lazy soldiers like the Gyeonggi Forbidden Army, it is a miracle to win the battle. Therefore, even if he is contacted at this moment, he may not be able to act on the secret message immediately.
The content of the secret message Huang Gu brought was actually very simple. It was to wait for an opportunity, agree on a time, and then secretly open the Xiping Gate to defeat Luzhou together.
It's easy to wait for this opportunity. The main reason is that the Song Army must be prepared. The daily situation in Luzhou City is similar, so there is no need to wait for any special opportunity.
As for the agreed time, it was naturally the time agreed upon for a sneak attack to open the Xiping Gate. As long as Zhao Tong could contact the other party, the time could be determined through semaphores.
The two then chatted for a while, and Zhao Tan went downstairs to leave. Now, the five defense envoys in Luzhou City do not need to patrol day and night as before. They all come in rotation, and they can repair after a fixed hour.
When he went to court the next day, Wang Qing roared again in the palace, but the ministers could not think of any quick way to retreat from the enemy, so they had to disperse hastily.
In the evening, Zhao Tong went to the neighboring house to explain thirty-six strategies to Liyanaza. Liyanaza was extremely talented in military affairs, learned very quickly, and could almost draw inferences from one instance to other cases.
A few days passed like this, and the Song army outside the city neither attacked the city nor attacked the formation, and just faced off like this.
The Song Army's scouting horses were still circling around the city. Once the city gate opened and wanted to pursue them, they turned around and ran away.
At noon that day, Zhao Tong inspected Beicheng. The general of Beicheng was still Lu Cheng, but there were two additional generals and three lieutenants. Three chief generals and five lieutenants guarded the city every day and night.
Zhao Tong stood at the top of the city and looked into the distance. He could see the Song Army camp in the distance.
The Song army was not dormant in the camp, but there were a few sentries wandering outside. One of them looked like he was going to Luzhou City.
Lu Cheng said with a tangled look on his face: "These Song soldiers come here every day to provoke them. They can't shoot, but can't catch up. It's abominable."
Zhao Tong sighed: "Now the government can't come up with a charter. It's not a good idea to just defend it. We have to fight it out."
Lu Chengdao: "Who says it's not the case? We are guarding like this... General Li, look at this Song army coming to provoke again!"
Zhao Tong looked around and saw a Song army of about seven or eight hundred men marching towards Luzhou City at an unhurried pace.
Two generals were vaguely visible in front of these cavalry, both wearing military command armor. One seemed to have a gun in his hand, and the other had a weapon hanging next to the horse.
The cavalry stopped a stone's throw away from Luzhou City. It was quite close, and they could vaguely see the outline of the face on the other side. Zhao Tong glanced at it for a few times, and raised his eyebrows. One of the two generals was looking at him. It's Huang Gu.
If you are not a familiar person, you may not be able to recognize each other just by looking at the outline of the face from such a distance. However, since the two have known each other since childhood, they can identify each other just by looking at their backs. Zhao Tong naturally recognized Huang Gu at a glance. .
He leaned forward slightly at the top of the city and said, "General Lu, does the Song Army send these soldiers and horses here every day?"
Lu Cheng nodded and looked down at the city with a look of resentment on his face: "These Song soldiers are different from those who harassed the east and west cities before. They neither shoot arrows nor curse. They just stand there chatting with loud voices and laughing wildly from time to time. They just treat me like I’m nothing.”
"That's it..." Zhao Tong continued to look down the city, and saw those Song soldiers looking up. After he was sure that Huang Gu could see his house, he couldn't help but smile: "General Lu, in fact, they are helpless against Luzhou. , otherwise we would have attacked the city long ago, so why use these useless tricks."
Lu Chengdao: "The city of Luzhou is tall and strong, and there is plenty of food and grass at the moment. Although we have suffered some losses in several defeats, our troops and horses are not much less than the Song army, so it will not be easy to attack."
Zhao Tong nodded and said: "If the city is united, with Luzhou's food, grass and troops, if the Song army wants to attack by force, I am afraid it will not be possible without an additional 50% of the troops!"
Lu Cheng shook his head and said: "General Li overestimated these Song troops. Although Lu is not very familiar with military affairs, he also knows that it is difficult to attack the city. For a high city like Luzhou, even if the Song army is given twice as many troops, I am afraid that It won’t work, unless we use some conspiracy and trickery to defeat Luzhou.”
Zhao Tong laughed twice when he heard this and said, "General Lu is right."
He knew that what Lu Cheng said was right. According to records in "Historical Records", "Zuo Zhuan" and other books, if an army wants to attack a city by force, it needs at least five times the enemy's strength. The number of troops required is more than ten times, and it is unclear whether it can be broken.
However, there are not many who actually deployed several times the army and attacked the city to the end. Most of them were after the troops came to the city. The people in the city were either frightened and fled, or they directly opened the city and surrendered, or they were trapped for a period of time, without food and grass. Finally, there was no choice but to surrender.
There are some who are unable to defend themselves against several or even ten times more troops and insist on fighting to the end, but very few.
There is actually a question here, which is why we must attack the city during the battle.
If you can easily bypass the city and directly attack the enemy's capital, if you can break the capital, the country will naturally be in chaos, and the remaining cities will be more likely to fall. Wouldn't it be more seconds?
The Battle of Baiju between Wu and Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period was like this.
Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley Strategy also had the same idea, but it failed to succeed. Instead, Deng Ai's battle to destroy Shu did it.
Even the battle of Jingnan in later generations went deep into Yingtian Mansion and succeeded in one fell swoop.
But why this is rarely done is because many cities and passes are often built according to the terrain and fit in with the natural dangers. Even if there are roads outside the city that can be bypassed, many of them are not official roads, which only increases the risk of enemy attack.
Since the city has not been captured, there are also great hidden dangers in terms of logistics and food supplies. Once surrounded by enemy troops, it will be doomed.
Therefore, most of the time, the city must be attacked. After capturing the city, you will have a reliable rear area for collecting supplies, transporting troops, and recuperating. This is very important.
In addition, the battle of Baiju, the battle of Wei's destruction of Ji and Han, and Jingnan's penetration into Yingtian Mansion were because not all cities had reliable natural hazards, so it was actually possible to break into the enemy's rear.
But if you want to accomplish such a feat, it is difficult to do it with infantry alone. You need a strong cavalry team to have the opportunity to make a quick surprise attack.
However, the cost of setting up a cavalry is very high, and commanding such a cavalry is even more difficult.
"Sun Tzu's Art of War" says: The first step is to attack the enemy, the second step is to attack the enemy, the second step is to attack the enemy, and the third step is to attack the city.
Forcibly sieging a city often involves great losses, so other methods are usually chosen.
A common one is to besiege a city. You only need to encircle the city, cut off the defender's material supplies, consume the defender's morale, undermine the defender's will to defend the city, force the opponent to surrender, or use some strategies during this period, such as counterinsurgency Tricks and the like, causing chaos in the city, and then plotting against them.
The military strength of the Song soldiers was about the same as that of the rebels in the city, and they could not surround the city at all. Attacking the city could only be regarded as a last resort, but the loss was really unbearable, so strategies were probably still needed.
Zhao Tong was not surprised that Lu Cheng could see this. It was not too difficult to understand. He looked down at the city and saw the Song army suddenly raised its flag and waved it twice in the wind.
Zhao Tong's pupils suddenly shrank. Huang Gu recognized him and was signaling.
Waving the flag twice in the wind, in the flag language agreed by Zhao Tong and Huang Gu, was to ask whether it was feasible to attack the city in two days.
Zhao Tong secretly calculated that two days later would not be the time for Liyanaza to guard the Xiping Gate, so he couldn't help but turn around on the top of the city.
Turning around means no.
He turned around again after a while, but Lu Cheng didn't notice these movements. Even if he did, he wouldn't notice anything.
At this time, the Song army under the city waved the flag three times in succession. This time, Zhao Tong did not move, and just squinted his eyes.
Lu Cheng said from the side: "Look, General Li. He no longer shoots arrows. He waves the flag to provoke every day. It will be time to shout after a while."
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "General Lu, I think this Song army has nothing to do, so let's just treat it like a clown."
Lu Cheng nodded, looking helpless.
At this time, the flag soldiers of the Song Army below the city seemed to be shaking. The flag suddenly fell down and hit the horse, and then was raised again by the flag soldiers.
Zhao Tong stood still at the top of the city. The flag he raised just now meant a midnight attack.
Lu Cheng laughed at this time and said: "The Song army can't even hold the flag, which shows that it is really bad. The previous battles were just good luck. As for attacking the city, don't even think about it. I'm afraid that even if all the people are gone, they won't be able to get on the city wall. "
Zhao Tong said: "General Lu's words are reasonable."
When the Song army saw that Zhao Tong still did not move on the city, they tilted the flag head to the west and made no move for a long time.
This time it means attacking from the West City, and West City naturally refers to the Xiping Gate. The secret message Zhao Tan asked Huang Gu to bring mentioned that the Xiping Gate can be opened.
Zhao Tong continued not to move, and then saw the flag soldiers starting to raise and lower the flag, and then all the Song soldiers began to shout loudly, meaning that it was settled like this.
Three days later at midnight, Xipingmen sneaked into the city.
Zhao Tong stretched out his left hand at this moment, nodded at the Song troops outside the city, shook his head and said: "General Lu, these Song troops are really arrogant!"
Lu Cheng said: "I wish I could go out to the city to fight, but the prime minister won't allow it."
Zhao Tong's gesture of reaching out and pointing also means that the matter has been settled as it is, and there is no need to change it.
Seeing this, the Song troops under the city turned their horses and began to walk back.
Lu Chengdao: "These Song troops returned early today, and they have to spend more time every day."
Zhao Tong smiled and said, "I can't make any money, I just know it's boring."
Lu Cheng said: "I'm afraid that's the case."
After saying that, Zhao Tong looked at it for a while, then turned to say goodbye and left the city.
(End of chapter)
