Chapter 2464: Ba Ling Attack and Defense Battle, Li Shimin VS Wang Jian
Wu Qi is a person who controls casualties to the extreme, even to the point of being perverted.
In the battle to conquer Japan, Wu Qi led his army to fight across the entire Japanese kingdom and achieved results dozens of times greater than his own, but the army he commanded never suffered large-scale casualties.
From this it can be seen that when Wu Qi leads the army to fight, he will not fight tough battles unless it is absolutely necessary.
But now Tu Xingsun failed to assassinate Li Mu. No, it cannot be said to be a failure, but he did not take action at all.
If Li Mu cannot be solved, then Wu Qi will only have the option of attacking by force.
No matter how wise Wu Qi was, he was forced by Li Mu and had to launch a forceful attack, which proved that a forceful attack on Ba Ling was unavoidable.
Wu Qi doesn't like to fight tough battles, and once he fights tough battles, corpses will litter the fields.
After discussing with generals such as Sima Cuo, Fu Cunshen, and Sun Lingming who led the cavalry to help, Wu Qi finally decided to adopt the strategy of surrounding three and missing one, and focusing on attacking one side.
The Ba Ling offensive and defensive battle officially began.
Wu Qi cherished his soldiers and was reluctant to suffer too many casualties. In order to minimize the casualties, he went all out from the beginning.
Wu Qi directly used 300 catapults, 50 well traps, 100 siege crossbows, and 10,000 powerful crossbows to storm the east gate of Baling, and at the same time ordered the surrendered Tang army to charge.
Letting the Qin army control the siege equipment and letting the surrendered army launch a charge was Wu Qi's usual method.
One fresh trick, eaten all over the world.
He did this in the Japanese country and conquered the entire Guandong Plain.
Therefore, when Wu Qi fought, it was not that he did not die, but that he diverted the casualties. Most of the dead were surrendered troops, not his own people.
After the three Qin armies in the east joined forces, Wu Qi had 50,000 troops, of which 15,000 were surrendered troops.
Don't look at these surrendered troops. When fighting the Qin army, every one of them was submissive. Their morale was so low that they didn't even dare to swing their swords. They even opened the city and surrendered.
But if they were to attack the Tang army, they would be very courageous. They would kill their former colleagues even more ruthlessly than the Qin army.
This is also the main reason why when the Yuan and Qing Dynasties took over the Central Plains, the traitors were more ruthless against the Han people than the foreigners.
After all, only with the fall of Tang can they get rid of their status as traitors and fully integrate into the Qin army.
Therefore, after Li Tang surrendered to Qin, his combat power was even stronger than before the surrender. No one wanted to bear the reputation of a traitor for the rest of his life.
Wu Qi only wanted to use the surrender to reduce battle losses, and did not take the surrender as a human being at all. However, the surrender troops were still grateful and scrambled for the main offensive task.
The first day of siege warfare began.
Jiang Shang stood on the tower of Baling City. When he saw the phalanx of catapults and crossbows below the city, he felt dizzy in front of his eyes and envious in his heart.
He was also a general of the Han Dynasty and commanded the entire northern Xinjiang army.
But the Han Dynasty was too weak at that time. Even if the entire north was concentrated, it could only barely mobilize an army of 200,000.
Unlike now, any of the surviving princes has the strength to mobilize an army of 200,000, and can easily arm tens of thousands of cavalry.
Not to mention, catapults, strong crossbows, siege crossbows, so many sophisticated ordnance.
Times are really different. Jiang Shang sighed in his heart.
Wu Qi did not directly start to attack the city, but sent fierce generals to challenge. After all, with Sun Lingming in hand, it would be foolish not to fight against generals.
The Qin army sent Sun Lingming, so Li Mu could only send Yang Jian to fight. After all, except for Yang Jian in the entire Li Tang Dynasty, even Li Yuanba, who had a broken hand, might not be Sun Lingming's opponent.
Sun Lingming and Yang Jian are old rivals. In the first Guanzhong battle, the two fought for two days and two nights without a winner. Now that they are fighting again after a year, it is naturally more intense. The fight is so dark that the sky and the earth are dark. There is no light in the moon.
The duel between Sun Lingming, who is ranked second on the general list, and Yang Jian, who is ranked third, obviously cannot be decided in a short time. If it is a protracted battle, it may even last two or three days.
Wu Qi obviously couldn't wait two or three days. Seeing that Sun Lingming and Yang Jian had not decided the winner, he immediately sent Huang Tianxiang to fight, while Li Mu sent Lei Zhenzi.
Huang Tianxiang's base strength was 105, and Lei Zhenzi's base strength was 107. However, after the fight, they were evenly matched, with Lei Zhenzi only having a slight upper hand.
And this once again revealed the characteristics of Yuqing Sect disciples who are generally strong in strength but weak in combat effectiveness.
Seeing that he could not defeat Huang Tianxiang for a long time, Lei Zhenzi relied on his profound skills and began to attack furiously without haste. After a hundred rounds, Huang Tianxiang began to lose his strength, so he took the initiative to withdraw, giving the Tang army a small victory.
Lei Zhenzi naturally did not want to let Huang Tianxiang go, so he rode his horse to chase him, but was stopped by Zhang Xiu and Luo Cheng, and the three of them started a battle.
Although Zhang Xiu is a peak general, his combat power is astonishing and he can barely display the strength of a god of war.
Luo Cheng's presence in the Qin army has never been very high, mainly because he has no outstanding achievements, and he has been active in the north and has not encountered too strong opponents, so his growth rate has been relatively slow, but his actual combat skills His strength is still very strong, very similar to Zhao Yun's type. He often defeats the strong with the weak, and is nicknamed "Cold Faced Cold Spear".
Luo Chengjiwu's 103, plus Zhang Xiu's 104, the two teamed up to block Lei Zhenzi's 107, and even had the advantage.
Both Zhang Xiu and Luo Cheng were not weak, and they could defeat the God of War together. Lei Zhenzi fought Huang Tianxiang for more than a hundred rounds, which consumed a lot of physical energy, so they had the advantage.
[Ding dong, Zhang Xiu's skill 'Golden Spear' is activated...]
[Ding dong, Luo Cheng's skill 'Silver Spear' is activated...]
Luo Cheng and Zhang Xiu became more and more courageous as they fought. They were tied in five rounds, dominant in ten rounds, and completely suppressed Lei Zhenzi in twenty rounds. The fight left Lei Zhenzi in a miserable state with injuries all over his body.
Lei Zhenzi saw that the two men were so powerful together and knew that they would definitely lose if they continued to fight, so he thought of retreating.
Twenty-six rounds later, after Lei Zhenzi forced Luo Cheng back with one shot, he was about to escape, but was blocked by Zhang Xiu, and then Luo Cheng made up for it.
Zhang Xiu and Luo Cheng cooperated so well that Lei Zhenzi, who was exhausted, could not even escape.
Seeing that Lei Zhenzi was about to be defeated or even perished, a rider rushed over from the outside and blocked Zhang Xiu, so that Lei Zhenzi was able to escape, and this person was Yang Ren.
After Yang Ren rescued Lei Zhenzi, the two of them fled back to Ba Ling together, bringing the battle to an end.
Although Lei Zhenzi defeated Huang Tianxiang, he was also defeated by the joint efforts of Zhang Xiu and Luo Cheng.
[Ding Dong, Luo Cheng defeated Lei Zhenzi and broke through his own limits. His force is permanently +1. Currently, Luo Cheng: Commander 85 (+1), Force 104 (+4), Intelligence 73, Politics 64, Charisma 97. 】
Zhang Xiu and Luo Cheng returned victorious, and the morale of the Qin army soared. Wu Qi also took advantage of the situation to launch a general offensive, but left an area for Sun Lingming and Yang Jian, because the two still had not decided the winner.
…
Chang'an, Tang Gongfu.
“...After Yuqing’s disciples Yang Ren and Lei Zhenzi retreated into the city, the Qin army launched a general attack on Ba Ling.
General Li Mu fought hard to defend Baling City. After a day and night of fierce fighting, although he repelled the first round of the Qin army's offensive, he also paid the price of nearly a thousand casualties, and the Qin army lost two thousand soldiers. "
After hearing the report from his subordinates, Li Shimin stood up directly and said with excitement: "I defended it. I actually defended it."
Since the Qin army started the war, no city has been able to survive the Qin army's fierce attack for more than a day.
Either surrendering directly or destroying the city in half a day, Li Mu was able to hold Ba Ling for a day, which was considered a first.
Although Li Shimin sent reinforcements to Ba Ling, they were just treating a dead horse as a living horse. He didn't have much confidence in Li Mu, but he didn't expect that Li Mu actually held on for a day.
The main focus of an offensive and defensive battle is the first three days. After all, if you can't attack in three days, it may turn into a war of attrition.
Since Li Mu can hold on for one day, he can definitely hold on for the second day, the third day, or even a month.
As soon as he thought of this, Li Shimin was filled with excitement. What he lacked most now was time. As long as he could delay the arrival of reinforcements from Shu and Sui Dynasties, there might be changes in the war in Guanzhong.
"My lord, Wu Qi only used rebels to attack the city on the first day. It's not surprising that General Li Mu can hold on. The main thing depends on the battle today and tomorrow." Changsun Wuji added.
Li Shimin nodded solemnly when he heard this, because Wu Qi would definitely send the main force of the Qin army to attack the city on the second and third days.
The next day, the next day's battle report was sent back to Chang'an. Even though Wu Qi dispatched the main force of the Qin army, Ba Ling was still not breached.
However, the offensive and defensive battle on the second day was much more intense than the first day.
Half of the siege troops surrendered, and the other half were Qin troops. The casualties of the Tang army immediately increased.
After a day's offensive and defensive battle, the Tang army suffered nearly two thousand casualties, while the Qin army also suffered two thousand casualties.
The casualty ratio between the offensive and defensive sides actually reached 1:1, which was simply outrageous.
Li Shimin didn't care about so many things. He only knew that Li Mu had defended. Since he could defend the second day, he would definitely be able to defend the third day, so he began to get excited in his heart.
Li Si was good at understanding people's hearts. After seeing Li Shimin's expression, he was slightly moved.
After some thought, Li Mu stood up and said: "My lord, in just a few days, our Tang army first defeated Gongsun Yan and then defeated Gongsun Xuanyuan. Now General Li Mu has defeated Wu Qi, Sima Cuo, and Fu Cunshen. The large army is blocking Ba Ling and cannot advance. This shows that the Qin army is not invincible, and our Tang army is not that weak.
Therefore, my subordinates believe that the 30,000 Qin troops outside Chang'an City should be swallowed up before the main force of the Qin army arrives. In this way, even if Li Jing's main army arrives, the pressure on our army will be much less. "
Li Si's words were said into Li Shimin's heart, and the successive victories also made him have thoughts that he shouldn't have, so Li Shimin fully agreed with Li Si's words.
After hearing this, Li Kui and Changsun Wuji changed their expressions at the same time. Li Kui directly retorted: "No, absolutely not."
Li Shimin frowned and asked, "Why?"
"Although the number of troops in Chang'an City is greater than that of the Qin army outside the city, the Qin army is powerful in combat, while our army has low morale. We can only compete with it by defending the city. If we go out to fight in the field, we will definitely lose."
What Li Kui said seemed reasonable, but Li Shimin became unhappy after hearing it.
All along, Li Kui, Li Si, and Changsun Wuji all told him how strong the Qin army was and how weak the Tang army was, so they could not fight head-on and could only fight with the advantage of defending the city.
Didn't Li Shimin know that the Tang army was weaker than the Qin army? Of course he knows, but knowing is one thing, accepting is another, and the situation is a little different now.
The Tang army had been losing battles before. Even if you say that Tang was weaker than Qin, Li Shimin couldn't refute it. After all, it was a fact that they lost.
But now that the Tang army has won the battle, you still say that Tang is weaker than Qin and will be defeated if they leave the city. Isn't that a bit too high to boost others' ambitions and destroy your own prestige?
Or do you think that I, Li Shimin, am not as good as Li Mu and Jiang Shang? Li Mu and Jiang Shang can win the battle, but I, Li Shimin, can't win the battle?
Li Shimin is a proud man. He does not think that he is worse than anyone else. He can naturally do what Jiang Shang and Li Mu can do.
Besides, the power in his hands is much stronger than that of Li Mu.
Jiang Shang and Li Mu can defeat the strong with the weak, and Li Shimin can defeat the weak with the strong. How can he not win?
At this thought, Li Shimin made up his mind and said solemnly: "I have decided to lead an army of 60,000 infantry and cavalry to go out of the city and destroy the 30,000 Qin troops outside the city."
Li Shimin actually used the word "annihilate". It was obviously the two previous small victories and Li Mu's defense of Baling City that gave him confidence.
When Li Si heard this, he seemed calm on the surface, but he couldn't help being ecstatic in his heart. At the same time, he was thinking about how to persuade Li Shimin to take all his cronies out of the city to join the war.
Li Kui and Changsun Wuji both changed their minds and advised Li Shimin to give up this idea and just hold on to Chang'an. There was no need to risk venturing out of the city.
But Li Shimin had already made up his mind and would not listen to the advice at all. He must go out of the city to 'annihilate' Wang Jian.
Seeing this, Li Si said: "My lord, what the two adults said is true. The Qin army is indeed powerful. To be cautious, it is better to bring the elites such as the Xuanjia army and the Feixiong army with us."
Li Shimin pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement. After all, without these elite battalions, the only way to defeat the Qin army was to rely on sheer numbers. Once the casualties were too great, it would not be easy to hold Chang'an in the future.
The next day, the attack and defense of Baling City reached its third day, and Li Shimin of Chang'an personally led 60,000 troops out of the city to fight to the death with the 30,000 Qin troops of Wang Jian, Gongsun Xuanyuan and Gongsun Yan.
Wang Jian was shocked after receiving the letter of challenge. He never expected that in this situation, Li Shimin would dare to take the initiative to go out of the city for a decisive battle. Is his brain broken?
But after listening to the analysis of Wen Zhong, Ji Dan and others, Wang Jian realized that Li Shimin was not out of his mind, but was under so much pressure that even a small victory caused his self-confidence to skyrocket, thinking that Li Mu He is just as good as Jiang Shangxing. With twice the strength, he will definitely defeat their 30,000 Qin army.
Li Shimin took the initiative to seek death, so Wang Jian naturally had no reason to refuse. He decisively accepted the challenge and agreed to fight to the death ten miles west of Chang'an City.
A four-thousand-word chapter, today’s guarantee, and an update to make up for Monday’s shortcomings.
(End of chapter)
