Three days.
It took the Marshal's Army a total of three days and nine battalions to occupy and capture 32 fortresses around Liangzhou Guard.
However, at this stage of the war, Liangzhou City, which had gathered the remaining defeated troops from all walks of life, was determined to hold on. The surrounding fortresses either surrendered or the defenders had withdrawn into the city, which could not be called martial arts.
As the entire Liangzhou Road defense system collapsed, only the lonely ancient city of Liangzhou was left standing on the Wuwei Oasis, fully armed and on guard.
Although Wuwei City in the Han Dynasty was destroyed by war, Liangzhou City, built in the Tang Dynasty, is still an important town in Hexi.
Yongchang City in the west of Liangzhou has a circumference of seven miles and 230 steps, with a height of 3.6 feet and a thickness of 2.9 feet; Gulangsuo in the south is a small castle with a circumference of only 230 steps; Zhenfan City in the north Not too big, not too small, there are three minutes and twenty-three steps in the city on a Saturday.
As for Liangzhou City, it is eleven miles and one hundred and eighty steps in circumference, with a city height of five feet and one foot; five large towers and thirty-six watchtowers; the moat is two feet deep and three feet wide, and there are four pontoon bridges. There is a moon city outside and an urn city inside. There is also a guan city built on the east wall of the city. The entire city wall was covered with bricks in the second year of Wanli.
At noon on May 28th, the sun hung overhead like a fireball, making the entire oasis smoke.
On the Wengcheng Archery Tower on the west wall of Liangzhou City, Gu Tianshouyi, the leader of the West Gate Patrol, was sitting on the second-floor window sill. On the surface, he was holding the flail tightly and observing the enemy's situation intently, but in fact, his eyes were dull and his thoughts had long been far away.
If it weren't for this war, Gu Tianshou would have taken the martial arts exam this year.
He was not from Liangzhou, but from Lintao. It was embarrassing because his father, Gu Huai, was Lintao's unofficial commander, and he was sent by the actual commander to prepare the imperial capital for Liangzhou.
This is an official position similar in size to a general garrison. Its duty is to take soldiers to and from get off work. They go to Liangzhou to work in the fall and return to Lintao after get off work in the spring.
That is to say, the squad army as the saying goes, but it belongs to the border defense squad. The ones who came to Beijing were guerrilla generals. They were to support the important border defense towns during the autumn defense. There were two such foremans on Ganzhou Road and two on Liangzhou Road. Two foremans from Liangzhou, one from Lintao and one from Gongchang.
This is inherently a very hard job, and the required abilities have little to do with force. There are three requirements: first, being strong, second, being upright, and third, being adequate.
Being able to shoot a sixty-pound bow means being able to shoot a bow of sixty pounds. Being a qualified person means that the flag soldiers must serve in person and cannot hire substitutes. Being sufficient means that they can get as many squads as are required.
There are also three difficulties in work: one is scheduling, the other is paperwork, and the third is scheduling, which is all a matter of brain.
The reason for urging the squad is that the guards' residences are scattered and they have to ensure that they gather on time and go to work on time. The paperwork is also very complicated, including the number of squad soldiers, departure date, arrival date, and the appearance and characteristics of each squad soldier.
The last route arrangement is the most likely place for trouble. In theory, troops from each town's marching squad to Beijing and as small as the border defense squad in the town should act collectively according to the duties and guards. But in fact, during the work process, the troops They walked separately, and commuting to and from get off work was at their own expense.
Therefore, it is normal for military households to forcefully buy and sell, pick fights and cause trouble, and even commit crimes on the way to work.
For the foreman and the imperial officer, all this is counted, and each year is calculated as ten points, two points will be deducted for approval, five points will be deducted for suspension, and eight points will be deducted for demotion and expulsion to the army. ….
Last year, there was a small problem. Gu Tianshou's father, Gu Huai, led the 120 squad troops to Liangzhou. They walked tremblingly on the road, but they arrived on time anyway... He led the squad army and asked for 300 people.
But the problem did not lie in the number of soldiers, because when they got off work the year before last, 180 banner troops did not return to Lintao. They simply found a job in Liangzhou and waited until the fall to go back to work, so the number of soldiers was sufficient.
This kind of operation is very common, ranging from the side shift to the Beijing shift.
Every year when Ban Jun returns to his hometown after get off work, there are many people from various towns who stay in the capital to look for work. Later, they spread to the border defense and developed this habit.
Ordinary guard posts turn a blind eye. Does the lack of soldiers matter to the guard post? It saves the military households from causing trouble on the way to work, and the flag army can also earn a little money, which is worry-free.
Qiu Fang was very successful. It was time to go home from get off work after the New Year. Gu Huai stared at Lan Lan.
Zhouzhou and Lintao were captured by Wang Wenxiu, the puppet commander-in-chief under Liu Chengzong.
This mother went out to work and her family was gone. Where could she go to reason?
Fortunately, Liangzhou has its own people. The 180 Lintao Banner Army troops who stayed in Liangzhou earlier were busy introducing their work to everyone. They were nominally off work, but in fact no one went home. They were all here. Looking for a living in Liangzhou.
Gu Tianshou didn't think much about it at first, just thinking that he was unlucky. He was not a class soldier, but a guard for his father. He was visiting relatives and friends in Liangzhou, and took this opportunity to meet the senior military attachés from Gansu. He became familiar with them and passed the exam. It is easier to carry out work when the force is lifted.
A war, all in vain.
Anyway, even if he could not perform martial arts, it would not delay his meritorious service on the battlefield. At that time, they all thought that the imperial court would definitely regain Lanzhou and recapture Lintao in just two thirty months.
I never expected that Yang Yanchang, Zhang Yingchang, He Renlong, these are all very powerful generals, the God of War of Yan'an, General Huzi, Mizhi Haoqiang, the elite troops of the three battalions stationed in Tao, and they only care about themselves and cause destruction every day, then He’s not doing anything serious at all!
So far, they have not broken a single brick of Lanzhou City.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Chengzong broke through Jiayuguan from the west. From Liu Chengzong's perspective, it was a problem for all strong generals to fortify the city. Although the eastward march was fast, it was not easy to fight.
But in the eyes of Gu Tianshou in Liangzhou City - they were all trash.
Liangzhou was at the rear of the two battlefields of this war. Its military strength was originally exhausted at the beginning of the war. All combatable soldiers were led into the Zhuanglang battlefield by the commanding envoy Ding Shaoyin. Those left behind in the city were civilians. Zhuang, Lintao, and Gong Changlai's squadron had a total strength of just over 2,000, and their guard was Deputy Commander-in-Chief Liu Shaozong.
But since the war in the west started, waves of defeated soldiers were swarming towards Liangzhou. Gu Tianshou felt that he had seen all the officials he could see in his life.
Li Hongsi, the deputy commander-in-chief who lost the melee in Ganzhou, Zhao Zhirui, the polished general who lost the battle in Suzhou, Lin Chengdong, the Ganzhou general who lost the heavy equipment of his car camp, Tang Mingshi, who suppressed the barbarians guerrillas, and countless Dusi, The generals, commanders, generals, and households... were all covered with officials, and the number of troops increased to more than 16,000.
The small 20,000 defeated soldiers were not subordinate to each other. That is to say, Hong Chengchou's official position was high enough and his authority was large enough, so he managed them obediently. They had their own places on the city wall and treated each other equally, so as to avoid possible troubles in the city. In the event of civil strife, we must be prepared to strengthen the walls and clear the country. ….
But now that Hong Chengchou had gone to Ningxia Zhongwei, Gu Tianshou couldn't help but worry about the fate of Liangzhou City.
At this moment, his thoughts were suddenly pulled back. In the shadow of rising heat in the distance, there seemed to be a tiny reflection flashing across his eyes, but if he looked carefully, he could not see anything clearly.
Only then did Gu Tianshou realize that even he himself was distracted, let alone the other defenders. Each of them could not help but feel slack after waiting for a long time.
Strictly speaking, Liangzhou City has been tense for nearly three months.
Since the seventh day of March, beacon smoke was lit at Jiayuguan. The Ban Army and Minzhuang who were stationed in Liangzhou at that time were conducting training in the military camp outside the city. As the Marshal's Mansion broke down the border wall and captured the city, it became more and more tense day by day.
It's like a bow that was drawn when Liu Chengzong broke through the barrier. With the news of Yang Jiamo's death and the fall of Gaotai and Ganzhou, fear made the bow drawn to the extreme.
In this high-pressure state, no matter what orders Hong Chengchou gave, they would be shot out like arrows, but no one could keep the bow fully stretched, leaving the bow string as stretched as it was. If the bow was broken, it would tip over.
During the half-month period when Liu Chengzong was living and drinking in Ganzhou City, the soldiers and civilians of Liangzhou City were not idle. Not to mention the complex clearing of the countryside and immigration, every battlement was written with the names of soldiers and civilians who were responsible for eating, drinking, sleeping, and sleeping. They are all in the city, and it has been a full month now.
People experience extreme tension, and gradually relax as they lose sight of the enemy in the tension. Gu Tianshou, as the patrol leader, can see this.
There are 1,400 defenders, 600 squad troops, 1,000 civilians, and 60 patrol policemen on the west city. Gu Tianshou is the leader of these 60 patrol policemen.
Patrol officer is not a permanent position, neither a battalion nor a guard nor a civilian body, but a name of duty. Patrol means patrolling, while police means guarding. It was common in the Ming Dynasty when the gentry encountered thieves and guarded the city.
out of the team.
There were fifty defenders on the city, and two patrolmen were keeping an eye on them. The defenders had to take turns day and night, and the patrolmen also patrolled day and night. Their duty was to report directly to each section of the city wall when they saw the defenders being lazy, spreading strange words, or acting strangely. The integrity report.
In the selection of candidates for appointment as patrol officers, Hong Chengchou's pamphlet emphasized two requirements: first, a strong body, a diligent and cautious character, and second, and most importantly, a good fortune.
Hong Chengchou was very targeted at the peasant army. He knew very well that people without wealth were too easy to be instigated by Liu Chengzong to rebel. Even ordinary farmers with some land were unreliable, let alone laborers, craftsmen, government officials, people, and soldiers. Those who receive salary and military pay.
Therefore, although Gu Tianshou has 60 people under his jurisdiction, who are nominally called patrol police, in fact they are all industrial and commercial owners who open shops on the west, east and south streets of Liangzhou City.
There is no North Street because the northwest of Liangzhou City is a warehouse for collecting grain and a large pasture for collecting and storing military horse grass. The people living on North Street are also military households, and the small car shop is not as wealthy as the foot trafficker.
They are all from well-to-do families, which is equal to sixty trumpet Ximen Qing if rounded up.
Slowly, the reflections in the shadow rising in the distance became clearer and more numerous, and soon horns sounded from three sides of the city at the same time. Gu Tianshou knew that he was right, but he didn't say anything, because the city The constant shouting had already said everything he wanted to say. ….
"Rebel Bocheng!"
Separated by four or five miles, let alone the people and horses in the field of vision, even the queues looked like small insects, but the dense black clouds like swarms of insects still made the entire Liangzhou City nervous.
Gu Tianshou was no exception. He quickly picked up the flail and ran down the arrow tower to look for his father Gu Huai, who was responsible for guarding the city wall.
In the northern section of the west city wall, there is a defense zone a hundred steps wide with a total of seventy-four crenels. The official guarding these crenels is Gu Huai.
When Gu Tianshou ran to his father's defense area, Gu Huai was holding a telescope in one hand and patting the crenel with the other. His face showed indescribable excitement and relief, and he murmured: "We're here, we're here."
This surprised the young patrol leader, who asked in confusion: "Sir, what are you talking about?"
"Oops." Gu Huai sighed, raised his hand and pointed at the Marshal's Mansion troops who had begun to camp four or five miles away, and said happily: "I said the enemy army, we have been waiting for a month, and he is finally here... I just I’m afraid he won’t come.”
There is almost a consensus among Gu Huai and other generals defending the city. Now that Hong Chengchou is gone, the soldiers and civilians of Liangzhou have been in a tense state of defense for a month. To be honest, they can no longer withstand the pressure of fighting against the air. .
If Liu Chengzong's army does not appear near Liangzhou in another five or six days, the city may not be able to be defended, and they will need an enemy.
The autumn grain was burned, the houses were demolished, and everything that could be transported into the city was transported into the city. The soldiers slept in the city for a whole month. The daily food rations for the people in the city were only enough to ensure that they would not die of hunger - there were no enemies. , what is the reason for doing this?
Just to torment people?
The most important thing is that when the soldiers complain and complain, the general thinks that it is not my fault, I am also the one who is being tortured; the poor people complain and complain, and the gentry thinks that the younger generation of my family cannot eat enough and lose meat all day long.
In the end, everyone unanimously looked at the city defense pamphlet in their hands, and he ran away after he tormented us.
There is indeed no rule that the governors of the three sides must stay in Liangzhou City, but if you run away at this time, you will be a bit of a dog.
The most uncomfortable thing is that the soldiers and civilians in the city know that what is written in this booklet is correct. If you want to defend the city, you must do this, but there are no enemies!
Now the enemy is coming and the problem is solved.
Gu Tianshou asked for a telescope from his father, and then he saw the appearance of the enemy's camp. Looking back and forth, he wondered: "How come there is only one camp?"
In his field of vision, he only saw one battalion, but one battalion was stationed in two separate camps. There were only a few people busy setting up camp in the camp, and most of them were riding horses to the fields.
"Don't look at it, you mob." Gu Huai glanced at his son and said, "A bandit is a bandit. If you don't have a horse or an ox, forget it. There are still people carrying hoes and pushing plows. How can you beat Mr. Yang with something like this? Died on the high platform?"
As he said this, he couldn't help but shake his head in confusion, and then asserted: "No, they are showing me weakness and openly luring the enemy. They are luring us out of the city to fight."
"I estimate that the people who are camping now are all surrendered troops. They must have ambushes nearby. Once we leave the city and leave the protection of the moat and the cannons, everything on the oasis will be flat, and the war will definitely be unfavorable to me."
After saying that, Gu Huai turned his head and said relaxedly: "But there is a little advantage. I see that they are all wearing guard robes. The ghost soldiers went out to kill them for a while tonight, which just happened to lure the ambush soldiers out so that they can kill each other. , knowing that our Liangzhou City is not a soft persimmon!"
"But big, they seem, like..."
Gu Tianshou did not listen to his father's words, and still looked out with the telescope, with a very complicated expression on his face: "They seem to have really come to farm, and they have already planted it!".
Capture the Deer Marquis
