Looking at the brutal siege battle, Cui Jianzhang was extremely shocked.
He has always looked down on the Song army's combat power. Not to mention compared with the Mongolian soldiers, even the powerful private soldiers in the north are stronger than most of the Song army.
But the bravery and tenacity shown by both the offensive and defensive sides in front of him far exceeded his expectations.
Especially the scene where Minzhuang died with the enemy just now fell into his eyes and had a too severe impact on his heart.
He couldn't help but sigh, "I originally thought that this was just a county town with low city walls and incomplete fortifications. It didn't even have a trench or a wall, and the number of soldiers it could fight was less than a thousand. Maybe it could be defeated in one go. I thought, not only were the defenders well-organized and tenacious, but the civilians were also able to put life and death at risk to defend this tiny place as solid as a rock."
Liu Xiuren frowned and said suspiciously, "The folk customs in the south of the Yangtze River have always been dark, and women are also very cunning. In the past, if there was a government conscription, these unscrupulous people would be very powerful and would give you two points at most, but today they don't even risk their lives. It’s really strange.”
"Is it because of King Yan?" Cui Jianzhang guessed, looking up at the top of the city. "It seems that King Yan is very clever in managing the army and controlling the people. It may be difficult to break the city today."
Liu Xiuli kept staring at the battlefield without turning his head, but said, "Haha, I don't know why the common people are so brave, but the defenders are certainly not so powerful because of King Yan."
"Oh? Please give me some advice from Brother Xiuli." Cui Jianzhang really admired Liu Xiuli now.
He originally thought that Liu Xiuli's thousands of soldiers were just embroidered pillows, they looked decent, and they would be very stretched in a real fight, but he didn't expect that today they were very brave and adept at fighting, and they were extremely resilient. Even if they suffered most of the casualties, they would still be able to fight. He was persevering and would not give up until he reached the top of the city.
In troubled times, only those with strong soldiers and horses can become real bosses. If nothing else happens, Liu Xiuli, who can train a strong army, will definitely achieve great things in the future.
Liu Xiuli did not answer directly, but reminded him, "Brother Jianzhang, do you still remember Jiang Huai?"
Cui Jianzhang was stunned, "Jiang Huai?... I remembered that back then, his two thousand men were clearly surrounded, but they fought to the death until the entire army was annihilated, and Wang Dechen's troops suffered more than two thousand casualties. ... Fenghua Army! ?」
"Yes, most of our soldiers were from the Fenghua Army back then. Since the Fenghua Army appeared in Wujiang City, the commander of the city defense was probably Chen Xiaokun. Otherwise, how could King Yan, a teenage boy, be so sophisticated."
"Is it him? Wasn't Jiang Huai's right-hand man and right-hand man back then just the two of you? Then I guess he has some skills. Are we going to return in vain today?"
"What qualifications does he have to compare with me? With his little ability, I haven't taken it seriously yet. Hehe, it's best if it really is him. Then we can settle old and new scores together! Look, we are about to board the board."
Upon hearing this, Cui Jianzhang immediately looked towards the city wall, and sure enough he saw that several city walls had been breached. At each place, there were three or five rebels fighting with the defenders to guard the entrance to the city. The rebels below the city gathered frantically at those few places. He set up a ladder and climbed up with all his strength. More and more rebels appeared at the top of the city.
"Haha, congratulations, Brother Xiuli, the road to becoming a Marquis is unfolding at your feet."
Cui Jianzhang was overjoyed. He brought the crown prince of the Song Dynasty back to the north. Such a great achievement would not only offset the guilt of Lin'an Xizuo being cleared, but he might also be personally commended by the Great Khan, and his life would be about to reach its peak.
Liu Xiuren was equally overjoyed, but he maintained the reserve of a scholar. He just twisted his beard and nodded and smiled, but there was a burning gaze in his eyes.
Liu Xiuli didn't have so many scruples. He supported his waist with one hand and looked up to the sky and laughed, "Hahahaha... As the saying goes, after breaking, you can build. Although my Liu family has lost hundreds of millions of wealth this time, from now on we will become a noble and aristocratic family!"
"Brother Xiuli can see clearly that without power in today's world, no matter how much money you have, it is just a cloud, just to keep money for others. The sun is still rising in the Great Mongolia. It is the time for wise people to make contributions. The Liu Jiaxian brothers are both talented people who have risen to the top with great achievements. The title of marquis is just the beginning, and the title of king is just around the corner!"
Cui Jianzhang was full of praise and praised enthusiastically.
"Thanks to Brother Jianzhang for his guidance, hahaha..."
Liu
Xiu Li's wanton laughter echoed in all directions, as if trying to cover up the sounds of fighting on the battlefield.
But he obviously laughed too early. A sudden change occurred at the top of Wujiang City. Hundreds of people suddenly shouted for death, and the defenders' counterattack suddenly became fierce.
The laughter stopped suddenly, but Liu Xiuli still stretched his neck and looked at the city head stupidly.
Liu Xiuren and Cui Jianzhang were equally dumbfounded. It was as if they had finally opened the door to the treasure house after all the hard work, and they had already seen the golden light, but suddenly a huge dragon-breaking stone fell down, isolating them from the treasure house. What a feeling. It hurts as much as it hurts, and it hurts as much as it feels like it. Junqu Pavilion
With the addition of fresh troops, the rebels were quickly suppressed. After a fierce fight, all the rebels who boarded the city turned into corpses and were thrown off the city wall. The ladders were also pushed down one by one, and all efforts were in vain.
"Commander crossbowman, shoot me hard!" Liu Xiuli was furious, "Chen Xiaokun, who is so damn stubborn, has hidden his trump card until now."
Cui Jianzhang's face was full of frustration, "They should have been mobilized from other directions. From the looks of it, there are at least two to three hundred people... The situation is not good now. With the few remaining troops and having been fighting for nearly an hour, I'm afraid there will be no How can we still attack with so much strength left?"
There are not many rebels under the city anymore. Even including minor injuries, they are estimated to be only six to seven hundred people. There are still five to six hundred crossbowmen, but they cannot be easily sent to climb the city, otherwise they will lose the suppression of the city. Climbing the city means being beaten completely passively, making it even more difficult to climb up.
"No, I still have soldiers. Send an order. Leave a dozen people in the west of the city to keep an eye on them. Send all the others over to me!"
Liu Xiuli was like a gambler who was losing his mind and planned to bet all his wealth on it.
"Brother Shuurei, even if we transfer them all, there will only be more than 500 people. I'm afraid it won't help."
Cui Jianzhang was right. The siege of the city by Ant Fu was originally a poor strategy. It was entirely done with human lives. It cost more than two thousand lives and still failed to attack. Now what difference will it make if there are five or six hundred more?
Liu Xiuli smiled solemnly, "Chen Xiaokun has a trump card, don't I have one? My two hundred or so iron guards are not just for guarding and supervising battles."
"They? How can they scale a city with such heavy armor?"
Cui Jianzhang looked at the iron guards around him who were fully equipped with infantry armor. He was puzzled. Although this type of armor was extremely defensive, it was inconvenient to move around while wearing it. He was afraid that they would not have much strength to wield their weapons after they climbed up the city.
"I have a clever plan!" Liu Xiuli was full of confidence.
Soon, Cui Jianzhang knew what Liu Xiuli's plan was.
These more than 500 soldiers first went to the lake and dismantled a lot of wood, and then pushed the useless platoon cars and artillery carts down the city.
During this time, the remaining rebels below the city were still trying to climb the city, and the ballistae and crossbowmen continued to suppress the city, so the actions of these people were not hindered too much.
"Brother Xiurei is really a genius. As long as we can build a slope, the Iron Guards don't need ants to climb the city. They can directly rush up the city wall from the slope. The city wall can't be blocked at all. Hahaha, what a brilliant idea!"
The reason why Cui Jianzhang had not thought of it before was not that no one had ever used this method, but that this stupid method was not practical enough in a serious siege battle.
Generally, the walls of more important cities are at least four to five feet high. The amount of work required to build a slope is too huge and slow. The city defenders will never let you build it stupidly. If you have the skills, you can use a movable ladder. Doesn't he enjoy flying?
But now there are such conditions. The number of defenders is too small, and it is impossible to take care of other things when dealing with the rebels who are climbing the city.
Therefore, these more than 500 soldiers successfully pushed all the platoons and artillery carts under the wall, and became busy like a group of worker ants.
Chen Xiaokun naturally discovered the rebels' intentions, and immediately concentrated all his weapons and used three crossbows to attack the beam bridge, trying to destroy the rebels' construction.
However, it immediately attracted a concentrated fire attack from the rebel crossbow vehicles and crossbowmen. Although one or two hundred worker ants were killed, it also suffered more than thirty casualties, and the only three crossbows were all scrapped.
"Haha, this Liu Xiuli really has something..."
Covered in blood again
Zhao Mengqi looked at the ramp that was slowly taking shape with a solemn expression.
In the critical moment just now, although the Ban Zhi Imperial Guard was not used, Zhao Mengqi himself rushed forward and chopped off two big swords.
"Your Highness, why not... let Ban Zhi protect you to break out of the encirclement." Chen Xiaokun weighed for a while and finally persuaded.
Zhao Mengqi looked up at the sky. The sunlight was a little dazzling, and he felt a little regretful, knowing that he had overestimated himself.
The only target of the Liu family's attack on Wujiang City was themselves. If they had chosen to escape, perhaps so many people would not have to die.
And although escaping is also very risky, there is still a good chance. If you take Zhao Jian and the others with you while the water bandits are being killed last night, and take a boat to escape along the Wusong River, you can escape unscathed.
However, he was too biased and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to deal with the rebels. He then overestimated himself and underestimated Liu Xiuli's army, which not only put him in trouble, but also brought disaster to Wujiang County.
But it would be even more unwise to escape now. Not to mention whether they can break out, once they escape, the morale of the defenders will inevitably collapse. Even if Liu Xiuli pursues him with all his strength, his red-eyed rebels will most likely continue to attack. city.
Instead of fighting one after another, it is better to go all the way to the dark side and stay and fight to the death.
"Don't talk about the breakout. Although there are many escaped officials in our Song Dynasty, there will never be an escaped King Yan!"
What Zhao Mengqi said is quite categorical. Although there were several kings of Yan in the Song Dynasty, none of them escaped. However, there was a king of Yan, Zhao Yu, who was sent to the Kingdom of Jin by his brother, Emperor Daojun, as a prisoner. This issue……
Outside the city, the rebels were working diligently despite scattered crossbows.
They dismantled the platoon of artillery carriages, used wooden frames as beams, wooden signs as bridges, excavated earth and stone to fill and strengthen, and even used corpses in robes. A slope gradually took shape and extended towards the city head.
Two hundred heavy infantry were ready to attack, and Wujiang City was in danger.
