In the middle of March of the fifteenth year of Wuyi, the Wu army attacked Weizhou, avenging the fall of Yunzhou, and at the same time showing the Jin army that Wu was not the object of bullying, but a hard bone with spikes all over his body.

In Weizhou City, Liu Renzhen took off his helmet and put it aside, looked at the excited generals below, and said coldly: "Generals, don't be happy too early, capturing Weizhou is only the first step, and it is more important to defend Weizhou next." Moreover, the main purpose of the king to send the general to capture Weizhou was to disperse the enemy's forces, and if the enemy army did not divide the troops, then the general would have to take the initiative to attack. Be prepared for a hard battle. ”

"General, rest assured, our operation has been smooth, and we have captured all the money, food, and materials stored in the city, and we have urgently transported the ordnance and baggage from the south bank, and the preparations for defending the city are extremely sufficient. As long as the king's side can win within half a year, our side will definitely have no problem. Many subordinates replied with confidence.

Liu Renzhen sneered: "Fully prepared? Not to mention anything else, our army in Weizhou has just been taken, and the hearts of the people have not yet been attached, even if the baggage reserves are sufficient, how can it be said that they are fully prepared? And we have all heard of the strength of the Jin army, so we can't underestimate the enemy! ”

"This ...... I wonder what the general is going to do? ”

"Quite simply, all the big families in the city must be strictly controlled to prevent them from making trouble; After nightfall, no one is allowed to walk in the streets, and all the money and food in the city are to be gathered together and distributed......"

Liu Renzhen immediately listed a large list of things that needed to be prohibited, and everyone looked at each other.

Although many people were a little unimpressed, thinking that Liu Renzhen was making a big fuss, but at his insistence, everyone had to obey orders.

Later, when Li Cunxian besieged the city, it was precisely because of the various measures he took that the city's defenses had no loopholes, and even a famous general like Li Cunxian could only cry out in vain.

……

In late March, after hearing that Li Cunxian led an army of 20,000 to besiege Weizhou, Yang Wu personally led an army of 120,000 to leave Kaifeng and march to Yang Liudu, and at the same time ordered Liu Xin to lead an army of 30,000 to march north from Yanzhou and besiege Yunzhou.

Although Wu can still mobilize more troops to the battlefield, considering that the various places have just been recovered, it is necessary to leave some troops to defend it; In addition, a certain reserve army is used to prevent accidents, so the actual number of troops used is 150,000.

Of course, even if there is only 150,000 troops, this scale has an absolute advantage in the face of the Jin army, and the next more important thing is how to use troops, rather than blindly piling up troops.

This time, the focus of the use of troops was to attack the fortifications, not only to attack the city of Yunzhou, but also to the city built by the Jin army on the south bank of the Yangliu Ferry, as well as the pontoon bridges and iron cables on the river.

At the end of March, Yang Wu's army arrived in Dong'e and began to build a camp to prepare for the use of troops against Yang Liudu; And Liu Xin also led the army into the siege of Yunzhou, set up a camp, and completely isolated the inside and outside of the city.

At the same time, after receiving the news of the main force of the Wu army, Li Cunmiao, the king of Jin, also led an army of 60,000 to Yang Liu, and after joining the defenders of Yang Liu, the strength reached more than 70,000 people.

For him, the main goal of this use of troops was to keep the Yangliu ferry and open the road to Yunzhou, so as to lift the siege of Yunzhou.

As long as the siege of Yunzhou can be lifted, then the Jin army will successfully establish a solid stronghold on the south bank of the Yellow River, and in the future, it will be able to use Yunzhou as a foundation and gradually capture Henan.

At the beginning of April, two armies led by the kings of Jin and Wu finally met at Yang Liu, and the two most powerful armies of the world would battle each other here for some time to come; And the victory or defeat of this battle is likely to determine which side can finally unify the world.

Outside Dong'e County, the camp tent of the Wu army stretched for more than ten miles, and in the main camp of the Chinese army, many generals had gathered together at this time.

"King, judging from the news we have just scouted, the Jin army has prepared the defense of Yang Liudu before the raid on Yunzhou, and the solidity of the southern city is no worse than that of a city like Yunzhou, so we may have to prepare for a long-term siege." Li Chengding explained the military situation with a solemn expression.

For the defense of Yang Liudu's key point, although Yang Wu and others have tried their best to overestimate it, they only found it after arriving here, and they were still a little underestimated before.

Li Siyuan has been operating in Yang Liudu for nearly half a year, and during this period, his mind must have been spent on how to defend. No wonder Li Cunqiao dared to send him to raid Yunzhou, it seems that he had been prepared! Yang Wu said.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, this is normal, Li Siyuan is not a fool, of course he knows the importance of Yang Liu Ferry to the Jin army, so he has been strengthening his defense during this period; Waiting until he felt that the ferry's defenses were strong enough to launch a surprise attack was not a reckless act.

"What about the pontoon? If the pontoon bridge can be destroyed and the enemy army can be cut off on both sides of the Yellow River, no matter how strong the Yangliu ferry is, what is the use? ”

"Back to the king, the last general has personally gone to check on it, and the enemy army has also put a lot of effort into the defense of the pontoon bridge. The first is to set up two iron locks upstream of the pontoon. Sima Fu, who was the commander of the navy, replied.

"Two iron locks?" Yang Wu's eyes froze, "Didn't the previous news say that there was only one iron lock?" ”

"There are two routes, one of which is half a step above the river, and the other is half a step below the river, and the information I got before only mentions the iron lock on the river, but not the one under the river."

"Are you sure?" Yang Wu asked.

"The last general can be sure that this is what the last general personally went into the water to check, and there can be no mistake."

"If that's the case, it's even more troublesome. Is there any hope of breaking it off with a naval warship? ”

The Wu army's warship has a sharp ramming angle at the front end, which was originally used to ram the enemy's warship during surface combat, but unfortunately, whether it is the Jin army or the Liang army, their naval army is basically the same as nothing, and there is no need for collision tactics at all.

"I'm afraid not." Sima Fu shook his head: "The two iron locks are very strong, the strength of the warship is not enough, if it is forcibly collided, the warship will be in danger of falling apart." ”

Those who can be equipped with ramming horns are all large warships, and if there is a loss because of this, Sima Fu will be distressed.

"How can you do it without giving it a try? It doesn't matter if you lose one or two ships because of this. Think of it as a test! Yang Wu ordered.

"Yes, I'll arrange it at the end of tomorrow." Sima Fu hurriedly replied.

"Aside from the collision, what about the garrison on the shore with two iron locks? Can we send troops to pull the locks off from the shore? Yang Wu then asked.

"Great King, the iron locks of the enemy army are directly tied to the cities on both sides, and if you want to pull them out from the shore, you must first capture the cities." This time, it was Li Chengding who answered.

Yang Wu frowned, if this is the case, then the warships of the Wu army will not be able to enter the pontoon bridge through the iron lock to attack, and if the pontoon bridge is not destroyed, the enemy army will be able to send reinforcements from the north bank to Yang Liu Nancheng through the pontoon bridge.

In order to break the southern city, you must first destroy the pontoon bridge, and if you want to destroy the pontoon bridge, you must first cut the iron lock, and if you want to cut the iron lock, you must first break the city, which becomes a dead circle.

"Big ships can't pass through iron locks, so what about small boats? If the boat can pass, it can use the boat to carry troops to attack the pontoon bridge. At this time, Guo Chongtao asked.

"The boat can pass, but it can't carry many troops, and it's more troublesome; And the Jin army also has an army garrison on the pontoon bridge, and it is only difficult to destroy the pontoon bridge in one fell swoop. Sima Fu hesitated.

"No matter how hard it is, you have to try. You first send a warship to ram the iron lock, and if you can't destroy it, then send a small boat to attack, and you must destroy the pontoon bridge as soon as possible! ”

Whether or not the pontoon bridge can be destroyed as soon as possible is the key to the success or failure of this battle, and Yang Wu cannot help but care.

"The last will understand." Sima Fu replied.

Yang Wu then looked at the other generals and said, "Don't be idle, other generals will launch a tentative attack on Yang Liudu from tomorrow." In order to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack, all armies must be deeply ditched and fortified and tightly sealed after entering the city of Yang Liudu! ”

"The last general will obey orders!" Everyone hurriedly answered.

The next day, the armies used their troops according to today's discussions, Li Chengding and other generals led the forbidden army to attack Yangliu Nancheng from the land, while the navy sent large warships to attack the iron lock with ramming angles.

However, whether it was a battle on the water or on land, the Wu army failed to make a breakthrough.

On land, the attack on Yang Liu Nancheng was only a containment after all, and even if it did not succeed, it was expected; However, instead of succeeding in ramming the iron locks, three ships capsized because they rushed too hard.

Fortunately, the soldiers of the navy are all southerners, familiar with the nature of the water, and it is already April, the water temperature is relatively warm, and there are no casualties.

However, the ramming tactics did not work, which still disappointed Yang Wu, because it meant that the pontoon bridge could not be destroyed quickly, and the battle would be protracted.

If the war is not won quickly, the morale of the army will gradually decline, and it is difficult to say how the war will develop at that time.

Since the collision did not work, the Wu army had to switch to small boats to load soldiers and cross the iron cable to attack the pontoon bridge.

However, although the draft of the boat is shallow, it is still not so easy to cross the iron cable, and only when the height of the river is just right, neither too high nor too low, can the two pontoon bridges be carefully crossed.

This not only limited the time for the use of troops, but also made the Jin army defenseless and unable to give full play to the advantages of small boat maneuverability.

As a result, every time the boat of the Wu army crossed the iron cable to attack the pontoon bridge, it was fiercely counterattacked by the Jin army on the pontoon bridge, which not only failed to succeed, but lost many soldiers.

This result made Yang Wu extremely dissatisfied.

Then, Wu Jun loaded small trebuchets onto the warship and tried to attack the pontoon bridge directly; However, the Jin army pulled up fishing nets on the pontoon bridge to intercept the flying stones.

After all, the trebuchet that can be mounted on the warship is not large, and although the stone projectiles fired can barely attack the pontoon, the hit rate is not high, and the second is that there are fishing nets to intercept it, and not many can finally hit the pontoon.

And because of the small size of the trebuchet, even the occasional stone projectile hitting the pontoon did not cause significant damage.

This tactic was also forced to abandon after a few days of use.

Then, the Wu army took advantage of the night to send people to swim over and attack, but the Jin army was heavily defended and also failed to achieve results.

By mid-April, Yang Wu had no choice but to find that he had no means to destroy the pontoon bridge for a while, let alone take the city.

In the face of the stalemate, Yang Wu could only choose to maintain the offensive momentum first and wait for the situation to change.

……

At the same time, Li Cunmiao, who was based in Hebei, was also worried about the war.

Although the Wu army's attacks on the pontoon bridge during this period ended in failure, the Yangliu ferry was as solid as a rock; But for him, holding the ferry is only the first step, and opening the road to Yunzhou as soon as possible is the most crucial.

If the road cannot be opened as soon as possible, the defenders of Yunzhou will be surrounded by enemy forces for a long time, and the fall is inevitable.

Just as the Wu army couldn't help the Yang-Liu ferry for a while, the Jin army couldn't lift the siege of Yang-Liu for a while.

The stalemate on the battlefield made Li Cunmiao deeply dissatisfied, because it reminded him of the confrontation with the Liang army at the beginning; And now the situation is more dangerous than at the beginning, Yunzhou is a lonely city hanging in Henan, and it is in urgent need of rescue.

Perhaps seeing his worries, Li Shaorong beside him persuaded: "The king does not need to worry, although the battle has reached a stalemate, the enemy's offensive cannot always be so fierce; As long as the enemy forces are unable to make a breakthrough after a long time, their morale will inevitably drop, and then it will be time for our army to counterattack. ”

"Exactly, please wait patiently for the fighter plane." Another black-faced general also spoke to persuade.

This man is five big and three thick, he is a taciturn man, and his reputation in the army is not very good.

But Li Cunmiao knew that this was a great general, a strong general who charged into battle and saved the battle many times.

When Li Cunmiao led his troops to fight with the Liang army, he was in distress, and it was this person who rescued him first.

This fierce general is Shi Jingjiao, who is infamous in history for ceding the sixteen states of Youyun to the Khitans.

Shi Jingjiao was originally a native of Shatuo in the Taiyuan area, the second in the family, and he has been silent since he was a child.

Such a Shatuo fierce man likes to read books on the art of war, and admires Li Mu, a famous general of Zhao during the Warring States Period, and Zhou Yafu, a famous general of the Han Dynasty, and takes them as his example.

He joined the army when he was young, and was praised by Li Siyuan for his bravery, and later Li Siyuan also called him his son-in-law, and asked him to lead his own elite cavalry "Left Shooting Army", known as the "Three Fighting Army", and regarded him as his confidant.

This time, Li Siyuan led the army to raid Yunzhou, and Shi Jingjiao also proposed to go with the army, but Li Siyuan thought that Yangliu Ferry needed to be defended by elite soldiers, so he left it.

In the face of the persuasion of the two, Li Cunmiao frowned and said: "Although the truth is so, but the enemy army is changing, and during this period of time, the attack on the pontoon bridge has changed, who can guarantee that there will be no accidents?" ”

When the large warships of the Wu army appeared on the river before, Li Cunqiao was deeply shocked after seeing them, but he did not expect that the Wu army would have so many powerful warships, which was by no means comparable to the Jin army.