Marching eastward along the official road, Li Yuan's army galloped for two days before finally arriving in Langzhou. The army made a long circle before arriving at the western hillside and stationed there. Li Yuan led the generals to climb up and take a look, but what everyone saw was suffocating.
Standing on the south bank of Yuanshui River, Langzhou Fucheng, billowing with black smoke, is like a purgatory on earth. They were surrounded by densely packed Tang troops from all directions. Every section of the city wall and every city gate had become a fierce battlefield, and the sound of killing resounded throughout the sky. Countless soldiers of the Tang Army, under the cover of hundreds of city-charging chariots, climbed up the city walls through the ladders set up, shouting continuously, and tried their best to climb up the city wall. The Langzhou soldiers on the city wall were not to be outdone. Rolling logs and stones were rolled over one after another, and the "golden soup" produced by boiling dung water was poured down. Most of the Tang soldiers screamed and fell to the ground before they even touched the battlements. Many of them fell to the ground. As a result, he was smashed down and reduced to a pulp.
Anyone who is brave enough to jump up, slash and kill for several rounds, and then dance wildly with swords and guns, will either be stabbed down the city by the enemy troops behind them and not know whether to live or die.
This is the most direct and brutal method of siege on the ancient battlefield - "ant attack".
The hand-to-hand fighting on top of the city was extremely fierce, and the catapults of the Tang army around the city were also roaring into action. Huge stones kept roaring into the sky, drawing perfect parabolas in the air, and then fell hard on Langzhou City. After the roar of the wheel, the city walls were riddled with holes, but they still could not stop the enemy's resistance. In the gaps in the thick brick-clad city wall, there were still many Langzhou soldiers who were lucky enough to survive and tried to use their bows to fight back. The archers on both sides also continued to shoot up and down, and for a while, arrows flew and rocks scattered all over the sky.
There seemed to be a lot of slinging equipment in Langzhou City, hidden in the urn city. Li Yuan only looked up and saw soaring fireballs flying out of the city. Accompanied by the ferocious screams of Langzhou soldiers on the city wall, they hit with a "boom". Falling in the densely packed Tang army formation in the wilderness, flames and blood instantly burst out from the point of impact. The severed limbs and arms spread with flames everywhere, and the siege momentum continued one after another. Many soldiers just glanced at the corpses on the ground. Then he rushed towards the city wall without looking back.
After just watching for a while, Li Yuan felt his scalp numb. After ordering Luo Erhu and others to stay where they were, he led his soldiers to search for the Chinese army's tent.
In the Tang army commander's tent in the south of Langzhou City, Li Yuan just stepped in and saw Chen Jue and Feng Yanlu arguing loudly.
"Li Yuhou!" Chen Jue's face showed surprise when he saw Li Yuan, and he went straight to greet him.
Li Yuan quickly clasped his fists in greeting: "Mr. Prime Minister! Fortunately, the general has lived up to his command! Today happens to be the seventh day..."
Feng Yanlu on the side had been arguing for a long time, and his gloomy expression suddenly became clear. He stepped forward with a smile but not a smile: "What is the seventh day? Li Yuhou is unparalleled in wisdom and courage. He first guarded the Jiashan Road, and then took Linyuan City! Li Jianqi two I have reported here a few days ago that the fire on Jiashan Mountain burned 20,000 barbarian soldiers until they were running away! Li Yuhou can be called a good general of the country, and this battle has been widely spread among our army. It really demonstrates the power of the Tang Dynasty!"
Li Yuan was stunned for a while. Although he came up with this strategy, the person who executed it was Li Jianqi's state soldier. Li Jianqi was so honest that he took the credit for it? He hurriedly raised his hands and lowered his head and said: "Feng left behind and was over-honored! This battle is all due to the trust of the envoys, and the victory was achieved by luck with the soldiers' hard work. Besides, it was the envoy Li who defended Jiashan. How dare I take the credit!"
Chen Jue squinted his eyes and observed Feng Yanlu's expression. He seemed a little confused about his intentions. He added jokingly: "What Feng Liushou said is true! I have a good acquaintance with people and a sharp eye. I know that Li Yuhou is He has always been loyal and brave! But why did I hear that Feng Liushou had some disagreements with Li Yuhou in the past? Today, it seems that Feng Liushou’s generosity is quite admirable!"
Feng Yanlu always maintained a stiff smile and snorted softly: "Nonsense! How can you believe what you hear? There are some people who only care about merit and forget about it. Instead, they demand military rations from their subordinates and ignore loyal ministers and good generals. They don't know what they want. Why!”
"Feng Yanlu, you!" Chen Jue's face turned red instantly and he couldn't hold back his words for a moment.
Li Yuan smiled awkwardly and thought to himself, you two are the same thing, why are you working together to use me as a tool to fight with each other for a long time? After thinking for a while, he said respectfully to the two of them: "Chen Xiangxiang, Feng Liubei, both of them are your Majesty's humerus and important ministers of the country! If there is a quarrel because of this trivial merit of the general, how can the general deal with himself!"
Feng Yanlu, who had always been stoic, was stunned for a while, and suddenly said to himself, you are smart, and wanted to lead you two into a fight, but unexpectedly the conversation changed to you...
After Li Yuan spoke to relieve the siege, Chen Jue nodded and said: "Li Yuhou has made great contributions and there is no need to be humble! The truth is that the prime minister and Feng Liushou are just discussing military affairs, there will be no rift!" Feng Yanlu didn't feel bad either. He smiled and nodded in agreement.
Then Chen Jue said: "Li Yuhou, what is the situation of the Dongxi barbarians now?"
Li Yuan replied sincerely: "Your Majesty, under the attack from both sides by the general and Li Du, there are not many 20,000 barbarians left! But the Dongxi barbarians were born in the mountains and are very familiar with the terrain. Even though the general is in Linyuan City tried its best to intercept and kill most of them, but it still allowed the barbarian leader to escape from the dense forest. The leader is not dead, for fear that he will come back again in the future! In this section, the fault lies with the last general, please punish me!"
Chen Jue waved his hand disapprovingly and said: "Hey! After the brutal defeat of the barbarian soldiers, our army no longer has any worries. What is Li Yuhou's fault? Since the barbarian soldiers have been seriously injured, they will probably not come again for a while! When Langzhou is defeated Behind the city, I will go to His Majesty Shu to express his merits for Li Yuhou!"
Feng Yanlu glanced at Chen Jue, then laughed loudly and said: "How can we delay the reward for meritorious service? I am staying behind to supervise the army on this trip. I have ordered the military sergeant to prepare a merit report for Marquis Li Yu and send it to Jinling today!"
The two began to argue with each other again. Li Yuan felt helpless for a moment and had to say hurriedly: "Thank you, Ambassador Chen! Thank you Feng Liushou!"
After a while, Li Yuan returned to the topic and said: "Mr. Minister, how is the war in Langzhou?"
But Feng Yanlu grabbed the words and said coldly: "The army has been attacking for six or seven days and has injured more than 20,000 people, but Langzhou City has never fallen! The so-called quick victory of the siege is probably only increasing casualties!"
Chen Jue did not refute, but walked slowly to the map, and then sighed to Li Yuan: "Li Yuhou, our army has been surrounded on three sides. The two commanders Liu Yanzhen and Zhou Ben have also personally commanded the battle, and the truth has also been mobilized in large numbers. We have siege equipment, but the city of Langzhou is really tall and strong, and the enemy is cunning and stubborn, so it is difficult to break it for a while. I regret not listening to the words of Yuhou and Zhou Tongjun! This battle is the fault of the original!"
Li Yuangang wanted to take over the conversation, but saw Chen Jue's eyes staring at him, and quickly changed his words: "Mr. Minister, Langzhou City has always been an important town in Chu. After all, Ma Xihe has worked hard for several years. The city has high walls and deep walls." , with many soldiers and vast supplies, it is stronger than Tanzhou City, the capital of the old Chu State. No matter who goes to attack, it is the same. Minister, you don’t need to exaggerate! Minister, since our army wants to encircle, why is the north alone missing? Maybe if we attack from the north, there will be a breakthrough."
Chen Jue tapped a small dot on the map with his finger, shook his head and said: "Two hundred steps outside the north gate of Langzhou is the Yuanshui River. There is too little open space for siege equipment to be deployed, and the river has long been blocked by Liu Renzhan. The navy has cut off Langzhou's retreat route, and the Prime Minister has ordered Liu Yanzhen's troops to use archers day and night to frighten the city wall."
Li Yuan pretended to think for a moment, then raised his hands and said seriously: "Your Majesty, the last general has just led his soldiers to run around Langzhou City and found a water gate to the west of the North Gate. There are only a few defenders. This may be a breakthrough!"
Chen Jue suddenly became energetic and asked: "Shuimen? What is Li Yuhou's clever plan?"
Seeing Feng Yanlu on the side also coming forward with great interest, Li Yuan nodded, then found the north gate of Langzhou from the map, and then moved slowly to read the method of breaking the city that Peng Shiyu told himself in the previous chapter. Everything was told to the two of them.
I saw Chen Jue taking a breath, then groping on the map repeatedly, and after a moment he asked Li Yuan nervously: "Li Yuhou, according to what you said, once the water gate is broken, then the north gate will be broken." It’s a good plan for the city. But Yuhou is not familiar with Langzhou City, and the situation in the city is unclear. If it is caught in a tight siege, it will be difficult for the troops from the north gate to rush in for a while, and Yuhou will be in danger!"
Naturally, Li Yuan would not tell that Peng Shiyu and other barbarian soldiers who were familiar with Langzhou were also involved, so he smiled lightly, put on an awe-inspiring look, and said loudly: "Your Majesty! The last general has joined the army to serve the country, and has long since put his own life and death at risk. Yu Duwai! How can we, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, be afraid of death?! As the saying goes, to capture the thief first, capture the king. Once the north gate is opened, the general will lead the Qingqi into the city and find his own way to find the Langzhou government office! If he is lucky enough to capture Liu Yan If we wait for the enemy to lead, great things will be accomplished. How can the Langzhou soldiers continue to resist? As long as Langzhou City can be destroyed, even if the general dies, his body wrapped in horse leather will still smile!"
When he thought of the image of Langzhou city being defeated and having great success at his fingertips, Chen Jue felt extremely excited and clasped Li Yuan's hands tightly: "Li Yuhou is Zhongyong! If this is true, Langzhou will definitely attack! Langzhou will definitely attack!"
Even Feng Yanlu, who had some opinions about Li Yuan, couldn't help but admire: "Li Yuhou is so brave at such an age. It is a great blessing for the country!" After saying this, he shook his head. In his mind, personal grudges and court battles have long been commonplace, and the opponents he encounters are also mixed. What Li Yuan did today may only increase the measure of this person by one point. It may be a good thing for Datang, but it is also troublesome for the Feng brothers.
Is this person a rival, or is he suitable to win over... Let's see if he can come back... Feng Yanlu unconsciously had a strange idea.
"Li Yuhou, I will follow your plan! You will attack the north gate of Langzhou tonight! If the city of Langzhou is defeated, you will be the first to succeed!" Then he issued an order loudly: "Send my military order and the army will stop attacking the city! Left and right, Immediately send word to the two commanders, Liu Yanzhen and Zhou Ben, to return to the Central Army! The truth is that I have urgent military affairs to discuss!"
Seeing the guards outside the tent scattered around to deliver orders, Li Yuan suppressed the surge in his heart and smiled secretly, waiting for tonight to become famous.
