Although Liu Zongmin hesitated for a while, he did not implement the siege plan for Li Yan, and instead made the decision to defend the city. However, Li Yan did not seize the opportunity and directly advanced under the Taiyuan city wall. He was waiting for news from Qian Er, if Qian Er was in danger, he would not be able to continue attacking Taiyuan, but would go north in time to rescue Qian Er's troops.

He already knew at this time that Li Mu had crossed the Yellow River with his troops, and this was not something they had planned. Therefore, at this time, there are no extra mobile troops to make a reserve force for Qian Er, so Li Yan can only carry out rescue operations here.

It was only after late at night that he got the news that Qian Er had successfully broken through the Shiling Pass, and he did not suffer many casualties. At this time, he was finally relieved that he could continue to attack Taiyuan as planned.

Regarding Li Mou's unauthorized actions, he had not considered the pros and cons at this time. However, this move can distract Li Zicheng's attention, and it will have a lot of benefits for his subsequent actions. However, it also caused a shortage of reserve troops in the direction of Datong Xuanfu, and in case the Qing army broke through and went south, it could not carry out a powerful blow to the Qing army in time. So he gave an order to Huang Desheng in Shandong and asked him to transfer 3,000 troops to Datong. At this time, the pressure on Shandong was minimal, and troops could only be transferred from there.

Early the next morning, Li Yan saw that Liu Zongmin's arrangement was to be guarded. On the inner edge of the moat, a layer of bunker has been erected, and there are many large and small artillery and tiger squat cannons behind it. On both sides of the bridge in the moat, four guns were arranged, just as he had deployed when he was guarding Kaifeng.

Li Yan smiled bitterly and said to Chen Yongfu: "Have you seen it?" This was the method I used to guard Kaifeng back then, and Li Chuang suffered more than 40,000 casualties. Now it's for Li Chuang to use it against me, it's really unpredictable. ”

Chen Yongfu said with a smile: "Since it is the method used by the generalissimo at the beginning, then the generalissimo, you must also have a way to deal with it." I often see General Zhou and others discussing offensive and defensive methods together, so my subordinates are not worried at all. ”

Li Yan smiled and said to Zhou He: "Then tell me, how should we deal with this kind of firepower-intensive defense." ”

Zhou He thought for a moment and replied: "If you attack directly, you will definitely have heavy casualties." If it is a long-term siege, Taiyuan has been preparing for a long time, and I don't know how long the siege will take to take effect. Therefore, we should still use the method of dealing with Shanhaiguan, push the catapult into the firing range, deal with the enemy's outer defense first, and then block the city wall. As long as we can climb the city wall, we can take Taiyuan City. ”

Chen Yongfu immediately praised: "Sure enough, it is the generalissimo who brought out the generalissimo, and he will be able to figure out a way to crack it immediately." ”

"However," Zhou He continued, "the maximum range of our stone thrower is only two hundred steps, and to advance to within one hundred and eighty steps, it will also have to pay a considerable price. Humble advice is that you can prepare during the day and use the night to complete the move. ”

Li Yan nodded with satisfaction at this time: "Well, it's very comprehensive, and I'll leave it to you to command this time." ”

"Xie Dashuai trusts!" Zhou He immediately clenched his fists and took his life.

Li Yan reminded: "Send a letter to Qian Er, who is about to come, and inform me of the plan." Also, make good use of cavalry, and don't let the enemy cut off our food routes. ”

"Subordinates obey."

Liu Zongmin and others also came to the city wall in the morning, observing Li Yan's troops from a distance. However, it was too far away for them to see clearly, but they could probably see that Li Yan's troops had no intention of attacking, and it seemed that they were about to set up camp in place.

Liu Rukui said with a smile: "Ruhou is really powerful, swing this hedgehog array, and Li Yan has no tricks." ”

"How he dealt with us back then, how to deal with us now!" Liu Zongmin said proudly: "As long as he comes to attack, he will be covered with corpses." Back then, we went to 300,000 troops, but now Li Yan has only 10,000 or 20,000 people, and his people are not enough to die! ”

"It's, it's just, they're not dead enough." All the generals are also happily agreed. They finally raised their eyebrows at this time, and it was something worth boasting about if Li Yan had nowhere to speak.

Ma Chongxi asked, "But we can't help Li Yan." What if he brings in troops again and surrounds us after a while? ”

"Impossible." Liu Zongmin said categorically: "Zicheng didn't send us reinforcements, just because he wanted to take a large army north to solve a Li Yan army that had crossed the Yellow River." Although the Yellow River is still frozen, it won't be long before it can't be overloaded, and it will be a lone army. Xi'an's team, plus Li Guo and Liu Fangliang's 20,000 horses, can also be solved. If Li Yan still had enough troops, he would not have sent only one or two thousand people to fight Taiyuan. ”

After hearing this, Ma Chongxi nodded again and again: "Well, yes, what Ruhou said is reasonable." As long as we block Li Yan and wait for His Majesty to come over with the troops, Li Yan can only retreat even if he is unwilling. It would be better if he didn't retreat, our army of tens of thousands of people directly surrounded him, and see how long he could hold out! ”

Liu Zongmin instructed: "Everyone should perform their duties and pay attention to Li Yan's movements." There is also a force from the north, so don't let them take advantage of it. Although there is no pressure on the other two directions for the time being, they cannot be relaxed, and Li Yan may change direction at any time. ”

"The last general obeys!" The generals immediately clenched their fists and loudly agreed.

Liu Zongmin looked at Li Yan's military camp again, and it was indeed that there was no movement to prepare for the attack. The military tents are one after another, the horses are placed on the periphery, and the soldiers are building low walls and cutting wood to build watchtowers, all indicating that Li Yan is going to be stationed for a long time.

He sneered, this kind of hedgehog array is indeed a way to help. Moreover, Li Yan's troops are much smaller, and he is still taking the elite route, so he will definitely not easily let well-trained elite troops attack, and Taiyuan City should be free of war for the time being. As for Taiyuan City, he is confident that there will be no problem. The Jin Dynasty has all been arrested and killed, and the big officials and gentry in the city have also been killed and moved, and no one dares to take the risk of raiding the family and exterminating the clan to cooperate with Li Yan. At this time, Taiyuan City was impregnable.

He easily descended the city wall and went back to the mansion to relax. In the past few days, he has been so disturbed by Li Yan that he has not had a good life for a year. Now that everything is worry-free, he has to go back and make up for this year. He has been suffering for more than ten years, and he has finally settled down, so he naturally wants to enjoy it.

And Li Yan's soldiers were still digging around the camp and bagging it, as if they wanted to make the camp stronger.

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