Shi Xiang stood on the gate tower of Sodekawa Gate and looked to the west. The lights outside the bustling Xiguan were still bright.
But at this time, people were shouting and neighing, and the people who went out for a night out of the city rushed to the city gate and huddled together on the bridge. However, it was pitch black further away, which made Shi Xiang extremely anxious.
The dozen or so trusted officers under his command who had accompanied him to the Sodekawa Gate had already nervously surrounded him, looking around with unkind expressions and asking in low voices when they would take action.
They were obviously impatient to draw the knife inwards.
Shi Xiang could keep his composure better than others, and arranged for a few cronies to keep an eye on Mr. Qian Han Ying who came to the city together, and continued to look at the darkness outside Xiguan in the distance.
He had to see the army at the Marshal's Mansion and measure the strength of both sides before he could order a defection... Before that, even if it was just a pretense, he had to let his trusted brothers pretend to be defending the city.
Because he is a minority in this city.
Those who were determined to follow him were still the dozens of banner troops who had imitated the crime in the first time. Since taking office as the general, he had been determined to cultivate some cronies in the Lanzhou camp, but the time was too short, not to mention that before the rebellion came, it was difficult to distinguish between loyalties and loyalties. evil.
There is no way to make a big deal about collaborating with thieves.
Shi Xiang knew that he had only one chance to let the Marshal's Mansion troops outside the city enter the city while ensuring that they could defeat the defenders inside the city.
The most difficult thing in this process is to create a momentum.
Shi Xiang and his cronies each had their own agenda. General Qian Zhang Ying supported the battlements and pointed to the west, looked back and shouted: "General, the thieves have crossed the Side River!"
Earlier, the fire outside the city was still integrated with the lights, and the stars were not clear, but when the soldiers and horses were thin for ten miles, the riders on horseback held up torches and lined up into fire dragons, in the residential houses and wood factories in the western suburbs of Lanzhou. , running through the orchards, illuminating everything around them as if it were daytime.
Then the cavalry crossed the river.
Even though he was several miles away, Shi Xiang still seemed to be able to hear the sound of horses breaking through the thin ice and swimming across the water. The horse team of the Marshal's Mansion separated into dozens of fiery snakes, looking at the winding river as if it were nothing, crossing the congestion on both sides of the bridge. The people leapt into the river with their manes and horses, and in a blink of an eye the horses came out of the water again.
At this moment, two to three hundred men and horses came out of the Qianhu barracks on Longwei Mountain in the southwest of the city and rushed toward the Marshal's Mansion soldiers along the mountain road.
The horse soldiers crossing the river gathered together and split into two routes in an instant. One route went south along Longwei Mountain to fight and expel the banner army, and the other route went north along the outside of the city to expel several soldiers who were gathering outside the city.
Shi Xiang saw more than ten cavalrymen holding torches surrounding the bridge and driving the people back. He couldn't help but feel anxious. On the contrary, Han Ying, who was also on the city, saw this scene and felt relieved and said: "General , the thieves drove the people away, but there is no danger of driving the people away and breaking the city, but I am afraid it will be time to attack the city soon."
Shi Xiang glanced at him and said nothing. He would rather the Marshal's Army drive the people to the city. He would open the city gate and let the Marshal's Army in. That would be it.
Well, now that the people have been driven away, the next step is to set up artillery positions. The artillery shells at night are not very good.
It's not anyone else's fault, it was Yang Qi's idea.
The general of the army sent by the Marshal's Office to Lanzhou this time is Wang Wenxiu, who is stationed in Xigu with 3,000 Chinese troops at this time; the back-up is Liu Chengyun, who is still on the west bank of the Yellow River; the front-line vanguard officers are Luo Rucai, Li Wanqing, and Yang Chengzu, each leading more than 1,000 troops. He also brought Yang Qi to join the army.
Yang Qi was familiar with the people and land of Lanzhou, and he was a general, which allowed him to grasp Shi Xiang's thoughts more accurately.
As early as Liu Chengzong's troop deployment order had just been sent to them, according to the wishes of Luo, Li, and Yang, they should take advantage of the lantern festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to coerce the people outside the city and rush into the city. Anyway, Shi Xiang was there to do it. Internally, they are not afraid of anything.
But Yang Qi didn't think that was the case. He found that the direct generals in the Marshal's Mansion were a bit frighteningly courageous. Sometimes this habit was a good thing, but sometimes it seemed that they didn't take human life seriously.
People's hearts are constantly changing, and the battlefield is changing rapidly. The generalissimo gave them such high authority, coupled with sufficient troops and equipment, and handed over the entire Lanzhou front line to them.
If because of the entrustment, Shi Xiang in the city refused to rush in and the battle ended in a defeat, according to Yang Qi's idea, it would not be unfair at all to kill them.
Yang Qi only asked a rhetorical question to stop these three guys who were eager to rush into Lanzhou City and win a big victory: "Shi Xiang is riding on the wall. How can the three generals be sure that he must be an internal agent?"
Separated by a towering city wall, who can be sure?
"Shi Xiang will respond internally, and the three generals will naturally march straight in. If he does not respond internally, we will occupy the entire outside of Xiguan, push heavy artillery up to the bridge, and knock down the battlements day and night to attack Xiguan."
In Yang Qi's view, the way to capture Lanzhou once and for all is to storm Xiguan, because this is a Hui-character city with an inner city and an outer wall.
Inside is the square Suwang Palace City on the 6th mile of the city, and outside is the Lanzhou Waiguo with twists and turns for 18 miles around the city. Even if Shi Xiang let them in at the Sodechuan Gate, after passing through Tanshi Street, there is also Yongning, the west gate of Suwang City. The door is waiting for them.
No matter what, there is a battle to be fought by force. If it is not fought outside the city, it must be fought inside the city. In short, it must be fought until the people have no intention to fight and the soldiers have no intention to fight. Only then can Lanzhou be completely captured through the four city walls.
Yang Qi believed that to win this city, he would eventually have to fight a real battle.
At this moment, Li Wanqing has led the army to capture Daping on Longwei Mountain in the west of the city. He is overlooking the west city of Lanzhou from a mile away.
He smiled and said: "In such a good place, it would be a real loss if we don't build the castle piers... Set up the cannon in Hexi, and let's go and test whether the division generals and generals will open the city."
The troops of the Marshal's Mansion were not in a hurry at all. Shi Xiang was as anxious as fire at the top of the city. He was restlessly watching the soldiers outside the city running back and forth on both sides of the Agan River.
This distance has already entered the maximum range of the city's artillery. President Qian Han Ying asked many times to fire, but he refused to let go.
At this time, Zhang Yunqi, another general manager in the city, also sent someone over to ask if he wanted to leave the camp.
The three generals of the Lanzhou camp, Han Ying, Zhang Yunqi, and Li Zude, were not Shi Xiang's cronies, and Li Zude was particularly good at fighting.
Zhang Yunqi received an order from Shixiang before the war to gather his troops and sit in the camp. He believed that he was a reserve team to defend the city. Now the total of 1,000 troops were in the camp ready to go into battle, wearing armor.
According to Li Zude's clan, he was a remote branch of the Li family in Longxi. His uncle was General Li Chengxian who was killed in the battle of Liuhe in Liaodong in the fifth year of Tianqi. He had many veterans with rich combat experience around him.
It was because Li Zude's soldiers were very good at fighting that Shi Xiang sent an order to him to lead his troops to put out the fire before the war. After all, during the Lantern Festival, thousands of lanterns were lit up in and outside the city, so the city had already prepared plans for fighting the fire. , fire-fighting equipment is also well prepared.
Once you have the fire-fighting equipment, you cannot hold the weapons.
Axes and saws, which are used to stop the fire and demolish the house.
The most common melee weapon is called Ma Da, which looks similar to a mop. It is an eight-foot wooden pole tied with two kilograms of hemp rope, dipped in wet mud, and used to put out fires.
The long-range weapon is called a pump. It comes with two or three people. It is usually made of bamboo. It has a pull rod and a piston inside. It is a large water gun. It is equipped with a water tank and a hose. The water is pumped and stored in the tank. Push the pull rod back hard to push the water away. Spray more than 20 meters to extinguish the fire on the eaves.
The pump belongs to the Friends of Military and Civilian Talents. In the Battle of Luanzhou in the second year of Chongzhen, Yang Yanchang led the alliance of cultists to fill the trenches. Cao Wenzhao used this fire-absorbing oil to burn a city gate tower. He took the lead in ascending the city with his spear and killed five Tatars.
Shi Xiang was afraid that if he could put out the fire quickly, he asked Li Zude and his gang to get weapons and put on armor, so he might not be able to open the city gate by then.
Afraid of what might happen, Li Zude sent people to the city to report the news that King Su and his clan members had left the city. Dusi Huang Ming, who was attending the night banquet in the city, gathered the royal guards and the city's flag army, and gathered hundreds of people to help put out the fire.
This news made Shi Xiang's neck feel cold.
Huang Ming was previously the commander-in-chief of the Hezhou Battalion. When Liu Chengzong plundered Lintao Prefecture last autumn, he led 500 train soldiers to meet Zhang Tianlin outside the city. He was the only general in the city who dared to leave the city at that time. After the war, he was transferred I have been appointed to the capital department, but I have not yet been given actual teaching.
In Shi Xiang's eyes, Li Zude and Huang Ming were both fierce generals who dared to fight. If these two led troops to the city, even if he could open the city gate, his life would remain here.
At this moment, Shi Xiang finally saw cavalry approaching a hundred paces from the city. General Qian Han Ying ran over quickly, cupped his fists and said: "General, the enemy has been approaching a hundred paces. The Franchise is ready, just waiting for the attack." Give them a shot to boost their morale!”
Shi Xiang glanced behind Han Ying, shook his head slightly, and said slowly: "Mr. Han Qian, don't let our brothers lose their lives in vain. Open the city gate."
"Um?"
Han Ying was stunned for a moment, raised his head and looked at Master Xiang's expression, puzzled and asked: "What do you mean, general?"
"King Su has run away. This city cannot be defended." Shi Xiang looked at Han Ying very seriously and said, "Open the city gate."
Han Ying reacted and heard that Shi Xiang wanted to open the city and surrender, and immediately cursed angrily: "Shame on your ancestors!"
After saying that, he reached for his waist, grabbed the handle of the knife and was about to draw the knife to chop Shi Xiang. Unexpectedly, he was a step too late. He had just raised the sword, and an official-made wrist-breaking knife had been stuck from his side and behind. The bone seam penetrates into the ribs.
The torches on the city wall flickered, and Han Ying stood on the city with his sword raised as if he had been cast a restraining spell. Shi Xiang was clearly close at hand, but the sword couldn't cut it, and he could only make a futile attempt to break the sword from his throat. A whirring sound like a bellows.
He turned his head with difficulty, and felt the world spinning, and his eyes were black. In the flickering light and shadow of the torch, someone couldn't help but keep moving his hands, waving the pumpkin and knocking the cronies behind him to the ground.
There were also people who remained silent, still holding the sword in their hands as if cutting the throat of the guard in front of them, waiting for the servant to fall slowly.
Han Ying turned around, blood foam spurted out uncontrollably from his mouth as he breathed out, and he still tried his best to stab Shi Xiang with the raised knife.
Shi Xiang didn't speak, just took a step back. Han Ying stumbled to the ground, his eyes that refused to close gradually lost their luster. The last sound he heard was the chaos of the cries of killing at the top of the city. The chain twisted, and the thousand-pound iron gate was finally pulled up.
The wolf-like and tiger-like cavalry of the Marshal's Mansion immediately rushed into the city gate. Seeing that the internal strife was over, the defenders on the city put down their weapons one after another. The Sode Sichuan Gate and the west city wall were immediately occupied by Li Wanqing's troops.
Groups of Marshal's infantry and cavalry advanced into the city. The defenders who had no time to board the troops fled in all directions, spreading the news of the city's defeat into the city.
Zhang Yunqi, the commander-in-chief who was guarding the camp and preparing to attack the city, was shocked when he heard the news about the opening of the city. Before his army could set off, the horsemen of the Marshal's Mansion had already rushed into Tanshi Street and blocked them in the camp.
Before the soldiers in the camp could set up their guns and cannons, there were shouts from the commander-in-chief's sergeants outside the camp that King Su had escaped. Under the voice of persuasion to surrender, the soldiers looked at each other in confusion. Zhang Yunqi's order to fire the guns and cannons failed to receive a response.
Between killing a few gunners to establish his authority or surrendering without mercy, Zhang Yunqi saw little chance of winning at first sight, so he chose the latter... The reaction of the sergeants in the camp fully demonstrated that they were still good and well-trained warriors. They abandoned their armor and took off their scarves in neat movements. uniform.
Outside the camp, Shi Xiang, who had led the commander's horsemen to surround the camp, saw the soldiers in the camp surrender and was really relieved. At this time, Luo Rucai and Li Wanqing left Yang Chengzu to lead the troops to meet the backup troops on Longweiping. The two led all the troops into the city.
Shi Xiang didn't know Luo Rucai, but he was very familiar with Li Wanqing who was guarding Dongguan. He hurriedly stepped forward to greet him and said, "Why did you just enter the city when shooting the sky? Two thousand headquarters have surrendered in accordance with my general order, and only Li Zude and Li Zude are left. Huang Ming and his two troops are fighting the fire in the city."
Luo Rucai answered with a smile: "Your Lanzhou battalion is so powerful. His grandma has four thousand generals?"
Shi Xiang shook his head and said: "That's the Dusi. They have gathered the royal guards and flag troops who have not been evacuated from Sufan City. They are both difficult to deal with. I am not sure about persuading them to surrender."
Shi Xiang had already thought of this rhetoric when he sent Li Zude to put out the fire. He didn't know what kind of treatment Liu Chengzong would give him in the future. He guessed that he wouldn't be too stingy, but after all, no one could say for sure until he was officially appointed.
Therefore, he must first hold the troops of the two Qian Generals and stabilize the troops of the two Thousand Headquarters. At least he can retain the power of a Qian General. If he can be a general, he can continue to be a general. Zhang Yunqi formed an offensive and defensive alliance with him.
If Li Zude could also be recruited to surrender, the original members of their battalion would be saved.
"Huang Ming, I know him. He used to be in the Hezhou camp."
Li Wanqing nodded, turned to Luo Rucai and said: "The handsome man raided Lintao, and Zhang Wu surrounded Lanzhou City. Huang Ming would still be the Qian Commander of the Hezhou Camp, leading the train camp in and out under Zhang Wu's nose. Very courageous.”
Luo Rucai smiled cruelly: "I would like to see how brave he is."
Just when they were still discussing how to fight Li Zude, a fast horse came running in front. It was Li Wanqing's confidant. He bowed down and reported: General, Li Zude, the commander-in-chief of the city, has switched sides. Huang Ming ran east out of the city. Li Zude has occupied Suwang City. Please, please The general came to the city to answer. "
The three of them looked at each other, but Shi Xiang had something to say first, so Luo Rucai and Li Wanqing looked at each other and nodded lightly, thinking that this was a false surrender.
Luo Rucai said: "She Tuantian, it seems he wants to trick you into eating cannon balls."
Li Wanqing asked his cronies: "What is he going to ask in the city?"
"He said that he had two thousand defenders and occupied the fortified city. If the commander-in-chief treats him with sincerity and makes him the general of Lanzhou, he will hand over the royal city to the commander-in-chief."
Luo Rucai and Li Wanqing looked at Shi Xiang at the same time. They saw Shi Xiang's brows raised sharply, and said with a smile: "Zhongliang has also surrendered. This is destiny, and people's hearts are with the commander."
There is a villain in his heart who is yelling: Ambition! You thick eyebrows and big eyes also want my Lanzhou General!
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Good evening!
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