At the head of the west city of Shanyang, Han general Chen Sirang was sleeping with his sword in his arms. His beard was flamboyant and he looked tired, and his armor was stained with blood marks. After several days of attack and defense, Ximen's defense was under the greatest pressure. As the commander-in-chief, he stayed at the top of the city to command and dispatch, and even participated in the fighting himself.
Chen Sirang served as an official in the Later Tang, Later Jin and Northern Han dynasties. During his more than 20 years of military career, he served as a dozen state envoys in Hebei and the Central Plains. When he was young, he also served as the front official of Emperor Zhuangzong Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty. Every time he takes office, there are good deeds and no bad governance, and his reputation has always been good.
After the founding of the Northern Han Dynasty, he served in Zizhou and Mizhou successively. When Liu Chengyou was planning the Huainan strategy, Guo Wei recommended Chen Sirang to Liu Chengyou as the training envoy of the Yizhou regiment. Like Zhao Kuangyin of Suzhou, he was used in this southern expedition. And in the front and rear battles, he also achieved many military exploits.
The moment the killing sound rang out outside the city, Chen Sirang woke up from his sleep and rubbed his head to make the sleepiness go away. His first reaction was to think of reinforcements.
As a veteran general, Chen Sirang had rich experience, and he also knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Chu and Sihan armies. He knew that even if Guo Rong sent reinforcements, there would not be many troops.
"I wonder who led the army, but he had the courage to attack the Tang camp at night! Or did he come from the south? Where did he cross the canal?" Thinking in his mind, Chen Silang was not busy in his movements. He strictly ordered the guards to be on guard and walked quickly. Go to the south gate of Shanyang.
Arriving at the top of the city, I stared at the movement outside the city. The Tang camp was already noisy. The sound of killings was deafening, fireworks were flying everywhere, and the camp was in chaos. Under the cover of night, it was clearly visible that an army, like a sharp blade, was cutting through the Tang camp. The Nanzhai had completely collapsed and was advancing eastward.
"Okay!" His tired face was suddenly filled with joy, and Chen Sirang immediately ordered: "Gather your troops, follow me and rush out to help the reinforcements!"
"Your Majesty, would you like to take another look at the situation? If there is any fraud, I'm afraid Shan Yang will lose something!" A military academy dissuaded him.
Chen Sirang immediately shook his head, pointed at the Tang camp outside the city and said: "We have been fighting for several days, and the Tang army outside the city cannot show such a movement. There are few reinforcements and many enemy troops. If the Tang army is allowed to react, , for fear of Tuo's rebellion. The war situation is changing rapidly, and it is fleeting, and there is no room for delay! Listen to the order, dispatch two hundred soldiers from each of the four gates, gather at the east gate, and follow me to fight!"
Due to the previous attack and defense, leaving aside the servants, there were less than 2,000 capable warriors in the city, and Shanyang's defense was indeed on the verge of collapse. After gathering 800 people to fight, Chen Sirang gave it a go.
As Chen Sirang said, when Zhao Kuangyin's army attacked the South Village, the Tang troops in the East and North Villages did react, albeit slowly. When Zhao Kuangyin led his men to attack the East Village, they encountered great resistance. Even if the Tang army was inferior to the Han army in combat capability and could gather troops to defend the stronghold, it would not be possible for Zhao Kuangyin's army to break through and defeat them in a short time.
This kind of surprise attack is afraid that the offensive will slow down and fall into a fierce battle. The two thoughts of forcibly breaking the stronghold without hesitating casualties or giving up the attack and returning to attack the south camp quickly wandered in his mind. When he was gritting his teeth and preparing to lead his troops, Chen Sirang led his troops out of the east gate and attacked the Tang camp from the east gate.
Zhao Kuangyin was overjoyed by the defenders' decisive attack to assist the battle, and praised Chen Shijun as a famous general. Immediately issued a strict order, those who are afraid of war will die, and they will advance together with the party, risking arrows and stones, and attack the enemy with blood. Under attack from two sides, the Tang Army's East Village also followed in the footsteps of the South Village.
The Zhao and Chen armies gathered together and made a decision before the battle. Chen Sirang and Dang Jin led the army to drive away the defeated soldiers of the Tang army and attack Beizhai. Zhao Kuangyin, on the other hand, led his own army, turned to Nanzhai, and attacked again.
When the night attack was launched, Yao Feng, the chief general and support supervisor of the Tang army, was in the water village. He only had to send a military order to the generals of the camps to suppress the chaos and gather troops to meet the enemy. But the chaotic news came that the South Wall was broken, the defenders came out of the city, the East Wall fell, and the North Wall was attacked. For a moment, Yao Feng panicked.
He was very confused as to why the Han reinforcements were attacking from the south when they were still on the west bank. But when the change came, he didn't have much time to think carefully. When the commander's adaptability was tested, Yao Feng was obviously unqualified.
A Tang general suggested that the Han army that attacked at night was not large in number, so the city would be empty if the defenders attacked. Shanyang is already in danger of being defeated. If we take the opportunity to defeat the city, the Han army will have nothing to rely on, so we can reorganize our army in an orderly manner and attack it.
After some hesitation, Yao Feng chose to refuse, feeling that attacking the city was too risky. If the Han army were to destroy all three fortresses, the losses would be huge. So Yao Feng led a thousand soldiers from the water stronghold and headed towards the southern stronghold to gather the defeated troops and suppress the situation.
Naturally, the effect was somewhat. However, when faced with Zhao Kuangyin's return shot, he was defeated again and again, and fled back to the water village in embarrassment. Yao Feng's defeat also indicated that his efforts to reverse the defeat were completely in vain. The Tang army's infantry camp collapsed completely, and the army was defeated like a mountain.
Seeing that the defeat was certain, the general of the Tang Army had no choice but to gather thousands of defeated soldiers and then sailed directly to the south...
The rest of the night was basically spent with the Han army strangulating and capturing the defeated Tang army. It was not until dawn that calm returned outside Shanyang City. Corpses littered the fields, devastation was everywhere, and the curled-edged swords told of the cruelty of war.
After the war, Zhao Kuangyin met with Chen Sirang. They had a cheerful exchange of words and business talk. I praised you for your wisdom and strategy, and you praised me for my bravery. The atmosphere was very good.
At the head of the west city of Shanyang, I looked at the ruins of the city walls, with sword marks and smoke and fire. Many guards were sleeping with their swords on their heads, their armors were in tatters, and their bodies were injured. Looking at Chen Sirang with an old look on his face, Zhao Kuangyin bowed his hands to him and said, "I made you defend the city alone and resist ten times the enemy. You are tenacious and fearless. I am defeated!"
"More than half of the soldiers in the city were killed and wounded, and the number of young men was even more numerous. It's not easy!" Chen Sirang sighed with emotion and returned the greeting to Zhao Kuangyin: "No matter what, this time General Zhao has a favor for me and his soldiers to survive. This time Hui Ze, I took note of it!"
"The envoy's words are serious!" Zhao Kuangyin showed his communicative attributes and appeared very humble: "I came here under orders to defeat the enemy and support the enemy. This is the envoy's duty. How could I dare to accept the envoy's courtesy? Furthermore, if it were not the envoy last night, If we attack decisively, how can we defeat the Tang stronghold and drive back the enemy so quickly!"
Hearing what he said, Chen Sirang couldn't help but nodded, looked at Zhao Kuangyin, and sighed even more: "General Zhao is worthy of being a young talent valued by the emperor. He has extraordinary bravery. Since the Southern Expedition, he has made many meritorious deeds and is powerful in Huainan. He can be so open-minded. In the future, The future is bright!”
"I don't dare to take it..." Zhao Kuangyin replied with a smile: "A person like you, who is loyal, courageous, prudent and capable, can be the pillar of the country and the mainstay!"
"Haha!" Chen Sirang couldn't help laughing, pointing at Zhao Kuangyin and said: "To tell you the truth. When the imperial court appointed you as the Suzhou regiment coach, I underestimated you because you were young and penniless. But now it seems that you, Zhao Yuanlang, are more than just one state. What a talent!"
...
In the afternoon, after a morning's rest, the fatigue from the night was relieved. After inspecting and handling some military and political affairs, Chen Sirang began to inspect the city. Although the Tang army retreated and there was little pressure to break the city, he was cautious and did not dare to neglect.
In the south of Shanyang City, the army accompanying Zhao Kuangyin to aid Ji was stationed here. After a day and night of fighting, the losses were not small, with more than half of the casualties. Even though the Tang army was weak, it was not completely allowed to be slaughtered by the Han army, especially in difficult battles. They did not choose to enter the city. Although the Tang camp was in ruins, with a little tidying up, it could be used by Zhao Kuangyin to garrison, and the supplies captured were enough to replenish it.
Chen Sirang came to visit and saw that in the camp, except for the wounded soldiers, the soldiers on duty and the prisoners detained, nearly two thousand soldiers were concentrated in formation, and Zhao Kuangyin stood tall with a sword on his back. In front of the formation, there were dozens of soldiers, who had removed their armor and were bound and kneeling. Behind each of them stood a soldier holding a torture knife. The scene was extremely solemn.
"By the way, I have made it clear before that you can be punished with peace of mind. I will remember you as dead in battle and find a pension for your family. Go in peace of mind!" Staring at those people, he waved his hand indifferently, ignoring Those soldiers begged for mercy and ordered to kill them all.
Dozens of human heads fell to the ground, adding a bit of blood and solemnity to the Han army that had just won a great victory. Zhao Kuangyin took two steps forward and said loudly: "I will reiterate once again that military law is ruthless. Please be vigilant and do not violate our laws!"
"Yes!" The whole army responded in unison.
After the soldiers dispersed in an orderly manner and rested, Zhao Kuangyin changed his face when he learned that Chen Sirang was visiting. He went up to him with a spring breeze on his face and said, "I didn't come to greet you in time, so I hope you will forgive me!"
Naturally, Chen Sirang would not be too pretentious. He returned the salute and had a panoramic view of the situation of the talent. He couldn't help but curiously asked: "As soon as the victory was won, the soldiers were killed. What military law did those dozens of soldiers break?"
Looking at the corpses being packed away, Zhao Kuangyin smiled slightly and said: "Last night, I rushed to attack Dongzhai. I issued a military order. From below, those who fear to retreat will die. All the soldiers in the army moved forward enthusiastically and risked their lives to fight. .Only these dozens of people stopped in front of the battle and stayed in the rear. Those who are afraid of war and chaos and disobey my orders should be killed to show the power of the army!"
"How to identify these dozens of people?" Chen Sirang asked.
Zhao Kuangyin said: "I ordered my soldiers to make sword marks on their helmets and back armor. Today, we re-examined and found that many of the soldiers had chest wounds. Only these people are intact. There are sword marks on their armor. It can be seen from this!"
Nodding, Chen Sirang couldn't help but sigh: "Zhao Shijun, there are laws and regulations in running the army! I think the elites in this Suzhou regiment training can already serve as the Tokyo Forbidden Army!"
In fact, in Chen Sirang's heart, his evaluation of Zhao Kuangyin was really higher. This man was wise and courageous, courageous, strategic, well-organized, and had such a mature character that he would become a great weapon in the future. Therefore, Chen Sirang couldn't help but feel a bit of respect in his tone for this general who was almost two rounds younger than him.
