Chapter 559: Empty City Strategy
As the prime minister who was the head of the Ming Dynasty's civil service, Zhang Liang certainly would not come to Hulao Pass alone. He also brought two bodyguards with him on this trip, Dian Wei and Dian Jie.
Naturally, Dian Wei is very familiar with them, and Dian Jie, a relative stranger, is Dian Wei's eldest brother.
Dianjie in the original history was good at wielding a pair of iron hammers and was as strong as an ox. He was invincible. He once fought Zhang Liao for hundreds of rounds without deciding the outcome. Later, Lu Bu led his troops to kill Dianjie, and Dianjie was forced to retreat.
During the Battle of Yangchangban, Zhao Yun was besieged by General Cao after cutting down several banners of Cao's army. Dianjie also led his infantry to help in the battle.
Later, all the generals were killed by Zhao Yun. Dianjie had no horse and was caught up by Zhao Yun. As a result, he was killed by Zhao Yun under the edge of Qingzhi Sword. He became the leader of more than fifty people who died in the battle. One of the tough warriors.
"Dian Wei, Dian Jie, I order you two to defend Hulao to the death, and never let a single Han army climb the city wall." Zhang Liang ordered with a cold face.
When the two brothers heard this, they clasped their fists together and said, "No!"
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Han army, Li Yuanba camp battle.
"Have a good rest, Yuanba."
Seeing his brother falling asleep from exhaustion, Li Shimin's eyes flashed with warmth, and he stepped forward to cover Li Yuanba with a quilt.
Although Li Yuanba failed to kill Xiang Yu, he still won the title of "No. 1 in the world", which was very good in Li Shimin's opinion.
Xiang Yu is by no means easy to kill, and being able to deprive him of his title of "No. 1 in the World" is a good start for revenge.
"Yuanba, you have done a great job. Now leave the important task of killing Xiang Yu to the second brother. The second brother swears that he will never let him go."
Li Shimin's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and then most of them walked out of the camp, preparing to command the army to attack the city overnight.
The reason why Li Shimin attacked the city overnight was only partly because the morale of the entire army had soared. It was also because some of the follow-up troops had already arrived, so it was natural to send infantry to attack the city.
Attacking the city at night is definitely not as good as during the day, but after all, the quality of the soldiers on both sides is very different. This is also where Li Shimin's confidence lies. He believes in the combat power of the Liangzhou Army.
The first batch of infantry to arrive totaled only 15,000. Li Shimin personally attacked the city with 10,000 infantry, and borrowed three members of the Wu family to be the siege vanguard.
Under the secret command of Zhang Liang, the defenders, with Dian Wei Dianjie as the defender, conducted an all-out defense. With the favorable location and tenacious fighting spirit, they became as stable as a mountain in a short period of time.
After a four-hour overnight attack, both sides fought hard all night, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.
The sky gradually became brighter, and reinforcements from the Han army arrived again. Although the defenders took turns to defend and rest, they still could not prevent the situation from tilting slightly towards the Han army.
The Han army's attack during the day was more violent than at night, not to mention that it was commanded by Li Shimin.
If it weren't for Zhang Liang's remote command from the rear, the two reckless men Dian and Wei Dianjie might not even be able to survive the night.
It was another four hours of continuous siege. It was now noon on the third day. Now more than half of the defenders at Hulao Pass had been killed or injured, and all the defenders were already exhausted after fighting hard all night.
If Xiang Yu can go to battle, it will also boost the morale of the defenders, but Xiang Yu has not woken up yet, which shows that yesterday's consumption has not been recovered.
In half a day, Zhang Junbao's reinforcements will arrive, but relying on this group of tired soldiers to survive for half a day under the fierce attack of tens of thousands of elite Han troops is nothing more than a dream.
"How can I do?"
Zhang Liang has been forced into a desperate situation by Li Shimin. It is now noon, and the Han army has postponed the attack to have lunch. After eating, they will immediately launch the next attack. How can Hulao Pass resist it?
A hint of determination flashed in Zhang Liang's eyes, and then he smiled bitterly and said: "Li Shimin, I didn't expect you to push me to this point. Now I can only resort to dangerous tactics."
Zhang Liang climbed up to the city and looked from a distance. He saw that the Han army camp was already preparing for the next attack, so he ordered to his left and right:
"Quickly pass the order, hide all the flags in the pass, and all the troops will guard the alleys in the city. Anyone who travels without authorization or speaks loudly will be killed."
When Dianjie heard this, he was immediately filled with doubts. The enemy was about to attack and instead of guarding the pass, he hid inside. Wouldn't he want to surrender the pass?
"Prime Minister, why is this?" Dian Jie asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"It's too late to explain. Just go and give the order."
Dianjie did not dare to disobey, so he went down to deliver the order, and then Zhang Liang said to Dian Wei: "Send someone to open the gate of Hulao Pass, and send more than ten veterans out to clean the gate."
Instead of defending the city, you take the initiative to open the city gate? This is what Zhang Liang said. If it had been anyone else, Dian Wei would have thought of surrendering, and as a general, Zhang Liang would naturally not have surrendered to the Han army.
Dian Wei scratched his scalp vigorously and said with a wry smile: "Prime Minister, what kind of trouble is this?"
"You don't have to ask any more questions, I have a great idea."
Dian Wei had no choice but to obey the order, and Zhang Liang also took off his armor and put on Confucian robes, wore a turban and held a feather fan, led two guards with a harp, climbed to the top of Hulao Pass, and sat on the railing in front of the enemy tower. , burning incense and playing the harp.
After the Han army's outpost arrived at the city, they saw that the gate of Hulao Pass was wide open and there was no one in the city. There was a scribe playing the piano upstairs.
Seeing that the situation in front of Hulao Pass was so strange, the Han army did not dare to enter the pass lightly, so they hurriedly reported to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin naturally didn't believe it when he learned about it, but when he came out of the camp and took a look, he was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth.
A Confucian scholar is sitting on the city tower, smiling brightly, burning incense and playing the piano. There is a man on the left, holding a sword in his hand, and a guard on the right, holding a mulberry tail. Outside the city gate, there are more than ten veterans, lowering their heads and sweeping as if there is no one around.
This scene is really weird.
"Second brother, look at the man on the tower." Li Xiuning reminded.
After Li Shimin took a closer look, he was shocked and said: "Zhang Liang, it's Zhang Liang."
"Zhang Liang, Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty? Why is he also in Hulao Pass?"
Li Xiuning frowned slightly, and then said to Li Shimin: "Second brother, are you still going to attack?"
"Let's take a look first and then talk."
Li Shimin frowned, and then shouted angrily to his left and right: "The enemy's reinforcements have arrived in the pass, but I haven't received any news. Could it be that all our spies are blind?"
The leader of the spies immediately knelt down in fear and shouted: "General, if the enemy's reinforcements arrive, they will never be able to hide it from our spies."
Li Shimin's angry expression dimmed slightly when he heard this, but Li Xiuning said at this time: "Second brother, do you think it's possible that Zhang Liang is playing tricks to delay time?"
After Li Shimin thought deeply for a while, he frowned and said, "The intelligence says that the enemy's reinforcements will arrive in four days. If you want to delay it for four days with just such tricks, Zhang Liang can't be so stupid, right?"
"Report... General, the spies ahead are reporting urgently that an enemy cavalry is heading towards Hulao Pass and is expected to arrive in half a day."
