It's easy to think but difficult to do. The mountains, hills and flatlands of Chu Land are endless, and almost every city lies on the main road. If you want to reach Langzhou City in the north, whether it is Tanzhou City or Yiyang City that you attacked earlier, these two strong cities cannot be bypassed no matter what. Not only do they have strong city defenses, but they are also garrisoned by elite Tang troops. , thinking of this seems to return to the original problem.
However, the map attached to the letter by Xizhou Tian Hongyou gave Pan Chongche a sudden inspiration, so there was a defeat a few days ago that was not very good, and this time there was a secret. Turning westward, they rushed into Chenzhou City in the land of Dongxi, then went up the river, and finally made a surprise attack on Langzhou, the base camp of the Wuping Army.
Most of the Han troops were natives of Lingnan, and they had long been accustomed to trekking through mountains and rivers. Even though the journey was difficult and dangerous, Pan Chongche's army successfully arrived at the Yunshi Valley fifteen miles south of Chenzhou City on August 12, and the outline of the city in the distance was clearly visible. . Pan Chongche immediately ordered to occupy the highlands of Yunshi Valley, set up camps in a fan-shaped siege, and prepare for the siege.
Pan Chongche was not surprised when his subordinates reported the shortage of grain and grass stocks. The surprise attack was deployed too hastily and in order to quickly achieve results before Li Yuan's army returned, so the Han army did not have extra time to return to Chenzhou to prepare. Materials, food and grass, so this battle must end as soon as possible, otherwise it is not said that this battle is in vain, whether the lives of the soldiers can be saved is a question.
Chenzhou City, as one of the three major cities in the Dongxi Land, is located on the west side of the Yuanshui River. It faces the water on one side and is surrounded by mountains, forests and valleys on three sides. It is also the area where the barbarians of Dongxi live, but this city seems not to have been favored by the rulers, the Peng family. It still maintains the architectural style of a hundred years ago, and is still an earthen city made entirely of gravel and soil.
Perhaps it was because the population of Chenzhou was sparse when it was built, or because the barbarians liked to live in the mountains, so the scale of Chenzhou City was not large. As a state seat, it can only accommodate about 30,000 to 40,000 people, and the city is built very low.
The only advantage is that the city wall is quite strong. Since the city walls are all made of gravel and soil, and the gravel used by the craftsmen who built the city a hundred years ago was almost all local materials. The silt picked up from the Yuanshui River was mixed with the sand and then tamped. After drying, these The gravel is as hard as iron. We have to admire the wisdom of the ancients.
Of course, no matter how strong Chenzhou City is, the size and capacity of the city determines that there cannot be too many soldiers and horses stationed in it. This makes Pan Chongche emboldened and dares to expose all his troops in front of Chenzhou City. After all, on top of the city The number of those flying Wuping Army flags is indeed handful.
The Southern Han army has arrived at the city, but the imagined defenders of Chenzhou did not show any panic. While investigating the city defense of Chenzhou, what Pan Chongche saw was that Sergeant Wu Ping standing on the city wall was not disturbed at all. Various parts of the city wall are being intensively reinforced, and earth, stone, bows and arrows and other items are being transported, as if to hold on to the city.
Pan Chongche sneered in his heart, these Tang people really overestimated their own capabilities, and this was a mantis mantis act. Based on Pan Chongche's considerations, the best strategy for Wu Ping's army at this moment is to concentrate its forces to capture Xizhou as soon as possible, and then quickly return to Chu. Why divide the troops to defend the small city of Chenzhou? The Dongxi barbarians are notoriously difficult to deal with. In the past, even the 100,000-strong Chu army had difficulty conquering them. The Wuping Army’s coach, Li Yuan, was indeed too confident, young and impetuous!
August is about to pass halfway, and the autumn mood in the mountains and fields is even more intense. On the first night of garrisoning in Yunshi Valley, the Han soldiers and horses camping high up in the valley experienced the change of seasons firsthand. The cold rain kept falling all night, beating on the tent like a drum, and the temperature was so unexpectedly cold late at night that the soldiers had to use a brazier in the tent to keep out the cold.
As the coach, Pan Chongche naturally felt the power of God, but he regarded it as a warning from God that he needed to attack the city immediately without delay.
At midnight on August 13, Pan Chongche ordered an attack on Chenzhou City. Dense arrows rained down toward the city wall. Hundreds of siege chariots rushed into formation, suppressing the Wuping defenders at the city wall, so that the large group of armored infantry could quickly advance to the bottom of the city wall. Finally, they carried the ladders and began to fight fiercely. Ant possession tactics.
After the siege began, the defenders' counterattack was fierce. In the tower, several defensive crossbows of the Wuping Army roared and launched from time to time. Once the eight or nine-foot-long crossbow arrows penetrated directly into the Han Army formation, they could directly skewer several charging Han Army soldiers into meat skewers. This This terrifying lethality frightened the Han army.
At the same time, the Wuping garrison on the top of the city also braved the rain of arrows, and in turn, shot back at the charging Han army from time to time and missed arrows. When the Han army approached the city wall, a large number of boulders and earth were thrown down from the top of the city, and boiling golden soup was poured over them. The corpses of Han soldiers soon piled up in hills under various city walls.
Pan Chongche watched the battle with the Chinese army expressionlessly. After all, he had been in battle for a long time and was numb in the face of life and death. He still did not flinch at this moment. It was normal for the siege to cause a large number of casualties, but he had the capital to deal with it. Consumption.
Because the Chenzhou city in front of us is really small, and the number of defenders is at a disadvantage, the city will be destroyed by force. After the city is broken, these Tang people will not be able to escape. At that time, they can be slaughtered by the Han army, and both armies will suffer casualties. The gap will be balanced immediately.
The siege continued into the evening. The Han army launched seven large-scale charges in succession and attacked the city several times. However, the Han army failed to break through Chenzhou City, and suffered more than 3,000 casualties among soldiers and more than ten generals.
Wu Ping's army naturally suffered a lot of casualties, but these thousands of defenders stubbornly resisted the attacks again and again. They did not even clean up the corpses of their comrades who died in the battle. They always stood at the top of the city with their swords in hand, as if they were iron. Xin Yao and the Han army perished together here.
This situation was obviously beyond Pan Chongche's expectation. Seeing the unrest among the soldiers, he had no choice but to order a halt to the siege, withdraw the troops and return to the camp to rest first. But he did not forget to announce the order for the entire army to conduct a large-scale siege at Haishi. Pan Chongche clearly ordered that, except for the injured soldiers and more than a thousand support troops, all other troops, including the elephant cavalry soldiers, were also dismounted and participated in the night siege. In this night battle, Chenzhou City will be taken down in one fell swoop. Anyone who flinches will be killed without mercy.
At Haishi, it was already dark. Taking advantage of the cover of darkness, more than ten thousand Han troops followed the siege route during the day and swarmed towards Chenzhou City like a tide. This time it was surprisingly smooth. Hundreds of ladders were set up on the edge of the city wall, but they did not encounter any resistance. With almost no effort, thousands of Han troops took the lead in attacking the city.
The most bizarre thing is that when a large number of Han troops rushed to the city, the entire Wuping soldiers and horses in the city seemed to have evaporated and disappeared without a trace.
Pan Chongche received the report and entered the city. When he stood on the top of the city and looked at the dark city, he was filled with doubts. Just when he was about to order his troops to rush into the streets and alleys of the city to search for traces of Wu Ping's army, fires suddenly lit up everywhere. The mountain wind filled the air at night, and soon it turned into a sea of fire. I could vaguely see many figures setting fires everywhere in the city. It seemed that Wu Pingjun himself was setting fire to the city.
Pan Chongche seemed to shake his head contemptuously, but he couldn't help but feel amused in his heart. Wu Ping's army was too crude in using such an obvious tactic to lure the enemy. The Han army couldn't wait to light a fire before they entered the depths of the city. Then he waved the order calmly, and the entire army immediately withdrew from the city, leaving the Tang people to enjoy the pain of burning themselves in the fire.
The fire burned all night and was not extinguished until dawn. Pan Chongche waited outside the city for a long time, and finally decided to lead his troops into the city. The oncoming heat suddenly made the whole army feel uncomfortable, but he saw that the streets and alleys in the city were turned into black coal, and all the houses were completely damaged, except for the missing one. A corpse lay on the ground.
Not long after, the searching sergeant came to report that there was no trace of the Wuping Army in the city, not even the common people. Sergeant Wu Ping, who had previously defended the city, seemed to have disappeared out of thin air in the fire, leaving no trace at all. Pan Chongche was even more puzzled. Last night, he specially ordered the army to surround him on three sides outside the city, but no one escaped from the city gate. Even if he died by self-immolation, he would have to have a handful of ashes, right?
When Pan Chongche drove his horse to the east gate and saw the river bank near the east gate, he suddenly realized it. I saw dozens of small boats docked in various places on the shore, which seemed to be simple temporary boats built out of the lush vegetation on the riverside. There are even some weapons and supplies scattered here, and the footprints are messy.
"Haha, it turns out that Tang Jun escaped along the river, damn..."
Pan Chongche frowned and cursed halfway, looking north along the calm river, inexplicably turning back to the opposite direction. Suddenly, an ominous premonition instinctively surged in his heart, and he shouted: "No! Tang Jun may come around behind us." Alright, send the order back quickly..."
We provide you with the fastest update of "Ten Warring Kingdoms" by the great master Qingli. In order that you can check the fastest update of this book next time, please be sure to save the bookmarks!
Chapter 194 Self-Immolation is free to read.
