Outside Shouchun City, the Qin army camped.
On top of an arrow tower sentinel tower, Liang Cheng, whose eyebrows were as sharp as ink, had a gloomy look on his face. He looked at the city wall opposite that had fallen into the night. Fire came from more than ten miles away, illuminating Qin Qin who was on top of the sentry tower. The faces of the military generals brightened, and a sigh rang out: "It seems that there are experts guarding Shouchun City. They actually learned how to lower the brazier from the top of the city at night and hang it to the half-city wall. In this way, hundreds of people will be able to defend the city." Within one step, the lights are bright, and it is impossible for our army to dig tunnels if we want to attack at night."
The person who said this was a white-faced scholar who looked like a scribe and was fully armored. He was over fifty years old and had gray hair. He was Wang Xian, the governor of Yangzhou who was accompanying the army on the expedition. Fu Jian not only reserved high-ranking positions for Sima Yao and Xie An in Chang'an City, but also set up official positions such as Yangzhou Governor, Jingzhou Governor, and Guangzhou Governor in various armies. The staff arrangement was just like the formal state and county governors. As long as the front lines capture the corresponding states and counties, these administrative officials can take office on the spot.
Liang Cheng glanced at Wang Xian and said calmly: "There are powerful characters in the city. I knew this before I went on the expedition. In fact, there is no need to hang these braziers to prevent night attacks in half the city. Just look outside the moat. , all the residential buildings were demolished, and besides the moat, there were two ditches outside the city, which could isolate our army's underground attack. There were vaguely spiked wooden stakes in the grass. If our army wanted to attack the city, there would be no cover. , we can only attack by force."
A well-armed and muscular general is Liang Cheng's deputy general Wang Yong. He was given the official post of Yiyang Prefect for his merit in the Battle of Jingzhou. Of course, now he has not taken up the post of prefect, but has followed him. As the governor of Jingzhou, Liang Cheng, his old superior with the title of General Wei, continued to fight on the Huainan battlefield. He raised his eyebrows and said: "Since the beginning of the campaign, before attacking the city, our army has followed the commander's tactics, shouting in unison, and threatening the city. To shock the enemy, once this strategy is used, it will always succeed. Even Xiangyang City, which is said to be strong, lost morale due to our roar like this and eventually fell."
"But during the day today, when our army roared like this, the city could actually roar back at them, uniformly and murderously. Just those three simple "Hey, Hey, Huo, Huo" were able to suppress the war cry of tens of thousands of our troops, saying To be honest, I still don’t believe how they did it, what’s that hehehehuo?”
Liang Cheng shook his head: "I asked the local Jin people who were captured, and they didn't know what it meant. It seemed to be a slogan used by villagers in the countryside when they were farming. But don't look at it. This slogan is simple and easy to understand, and it can match the drum beats and strengthen the Momentum, they were at the top of the city, had a height advantage, and could follow the south wind, so they suppressed the war cry of our army. However, to do this, at least a few thousand people at the top of the city must work together, with one The tone and rhythm are roaring, and there should be no timidity. Everyone, tell me, what does this mean?"
Wang Yong gritted his teeth: "It shows that the morale of these Jin troops is high, they are very confident, and they listen to commands."
Liang Cheng nodded: "According to our intelligence, there will not be too many Jin troops in the city, definitely not more than 10,000 people. Even if civilians are temporarily recruited, it will be almost this number. The Jin army's Beifu army has not yet been dispatched on a large scale. , Hu Bin’s navy is still a few days away from here, so we’d better capture Shouchun City before Hu Bin arrives.”
A trace of surprise flashed across Wang Xian's face: "General Liang, are you sure you want to attack by force? Our army has just arrived and has not intimidated the defenders in the city. Shouchun City is now so tightly defended that reinforcements may arrive at any time. Really? Can it be captured?"
A cold and stern look flashed in Liang Cheng's eyes: "The enemy's morale is high. If we don't attack the city, their momentum will only increase. But this time our army came with light troops and brought with it the elites of our clan. We need to call other troops, especially those dissatisfied foreign soldiers, to let them know that our Di tribe soldiers and horses are extremely elite."
"But now, the enemy's fortified city is in front, and there are fierce men stationed there. They hope to use this method to scare us away. Everyone, you should all know that the Liu Yu who defends the city is the one who defended the city in the Battle of Junchuan. The leader of the Beifu army who defeated Ju Nan and Peng Chao in the middle, I heard that the Xie family intends to recruit this person as their wife."
Wang Xian nodded: "I've heard about this too. This Liu Yu has been a martial arts leader for several times in Jingkou, a city with many powerful people. It shows that he has great martial arts skills, but what I didn't expect is that this man also knows the art of war. "
Wang Yong shook his head: "I don't believe that this Liu Yu is so good. After all, Shouchun City is an important town of the Jin army. It has been operated for many years. It would not be surprising if it has a good defense system. It may not be the credit of Liu Yu. He wants to be so If you have the ability, how can you be just a small building owner now?"
"Also, I heard from Yang Qiu's men that this Liu Yu didn't bring troops to Shouchun City to take over the defense command. He escorted a woman from an aristocratic family here to marry Huan Yi's son. To put it bluntly, he was just a guard captain. , it seems that this person is more of a servant of the Xie family than a general in the army."
Liang Cheng's heart moved and he said "Oh": "General Wang, what do you mean by this? Does it mean that Liu Yu does not have this talent, or that he has no right to command?"
Wang Yong said with a smile: "How can a young man in his early twenties know so much about the art of war? Liu Yu is not a child of aristocratic family, and he has not even read military books. In the Battle of Junchuan, he was just a vanguard. It is difficult for the Huns under Peng Chao to only want to rob, and the Han soldiers have no motivation to fight. Once they are frightened by him, they will be defeated like a mountain. You see, if he is so powerful, why not be like him? Like Junchuan, why don't you go out of the city to fight our army?!"
Wang Xian also laughed: "Yes, General Wang is right. If Liu Yu is really so powerful, with nearly ten thousand men under his command, he should go out to fight instead of hiding in defense. It seems that he was just bluffing during the day. , we might as well attack the city at night and capture it in one fell swoop!"
Wang Yong's eyes flashed fiercely, he took off his helmet, struck his chest with his left hand, and said in a deep voice: "Commander, give the order, attack the city now, the general is willing to be the vanguard."
Several generals and commanders nearby were also gearing up and asking for battle.
Liang Cheng did not answer directly. On top of the arrow tower, he paced back and forth with his hands behind his hands. Finally, when he stood still, the corner of his mouth curled up and he said calmly: "No, it's getting late. There are people in the city. To be on guard, attack again at dawn. Send an order to send more auxiliary soldiers to collect nearby stones. Tomorrow, I will let the Jin army in the city know what a sky full of stones rain means!"
