Although this sudden branch made Yang Zhen feel a little threatened, it did not have much impact on the current situation in Guangxi after all. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

With the previous breakthroughs, the strategy of making the Guangxi Miao Zhuang rebels can only disperse was fully achieved, and the official army began an orderly counterattack. Under the leadership of Xiao Duo and other generals, Guilin's official army began to defend and attack, recaptured all the surrounding states and counties little by little, and defeated several rebels who fought alone and were not too strong.

Subsequently, the confidence of the government was more sufficient, coupled with the enthusiastic help of the local Han people, the momentum was even more prosperous, except for the few prefectures that were originally controlled by the big Tusi, all other states and counties were recovered.

During this period, Yang Zhen didn't make much effort, after all, what he was good at was not leading troops and attacking cities, but more just taking a certain city and then bringing people over to help the soldiers rectify the order in the city, and cut off the remnants of the rebels who still didn't give up one by one.

Although the situation in Guangxi is already very good, and even the officers and troops here have fought a battle with Yang Yinglong's rebels who came from Sichuan, and they have not fallen behind, but the hearts of the officials are still heavy. It is only because of the southwestern provinces, except for Guangxi, which has improved by their hard work and struggle, that the other provinces have all fallen, and the power of Yang Yinglong, the anti-thief, has continued to expand, almost controlling Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces, which is too threatening for the entire imperial court.

Of course, these are actually not the business of Guangxi officials, after all, they are only local officials here, and it can be regarded as merit if they can defend their own territory. However, everyone knows very well the truth that once the other provinces completely fall, the power of Yang Yinglong's rebels will inevitably grow, and it will be too difficult for Guangxi to protect itself.

Therefore, for the officials in Guangxi, what they have to do is to quell the internal rebellion as soon as possible, and take the initiative to attack before the rebels really invade, so as to keep the enemy out. However, with the recapture of some small states and counties one by one, and only those important states remained, the situation became a bit stalemate.

Those prefectures are different from the ordinary prefectures and counties where the Han and Miao live together, most of them are inhabited by the Miao Zhuang tribe, they are almost all soldiers, once the official army is killed, their resistance is quite fierce, and sometimes even less than the previous resistance of the Guilin official army to the rebels.

As a result, it was difficult for the officers and troops to capture these state cities, and sometimes for a few days, except for adding a large number of casualties, there was no progress at all, and even the city walls could not be touched. After such setbacks, the fighting spirit and morale accumulated by the officers and soldiers because of the previous successive victories have also dissipated most of them.

"How is this good? Continuing to storm Sicheng Prefecture is almost useless except to send the soldiers to death in vain, and this damn wall is too strong! Looking at the battle report in his hand, Tang Guangchen sighed unconsciously, and after throwing it on the case vigorously, he rubbed his eyebrows a little helplessly.

"Why is the governor so anxious?" Yang Zhen's voice came from outside the door at the right time, although he was covered with wind and dust, he was still in good spirits, not at all like he had just rushed back to Guilin after a battle.

As soon as he saw that it was him, Tang Guangchen, who was a little annoyed because he was disturbed, had a wry smile on his face: "It turned out that Lord Yang was back, presumably you have gained a lot this time." Compared with you, I, the governor, am really ashamed, it's been seven or eight days, and we have invested more than 10,000 people and horses under Sicheng Prefecture, but this city still can't be attacked. ”

"Is that so?" Only then did Yang Zhen understand. When he was in other prefectures and counties to settle down in the past, he had heard that there were several prefectures that had not only failed to take them after several days of attacks because of the fierce resistance of the local Tusi led by the local Tusi, but had injured many horses. Now, judging from Governor Tang's reaction, it is obvious that the matter is more serious than he thought.

In fact, this is also conceivable, before the government and the people in the city could resist more than 10,000 people for their own lives, and the Tusi of Sicheng Prefecture today can naturally drive the Miao Zhuang tribe and the Han officials and soldiers in the city to the end in order to protect themselves. Especially after the previous official army killed those Miao Zhuang villages scattered all over Guangxi in order to turn the situation around, they would resist at all costs.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhen's face unconsciously showed a trace of shame: "It's because I didn't think about it enough, so that the Miao Zhuang people in the territory have made up their minds to be enemies of the imperial court, so that the officials and troops will encounter greater resistance." ”

"Naturally, you can't blame Lord Yang." Tang Guangchen hurriedly shook his head and said, "If it weren't for this method proposed by Lord Yang, I'm afraid that we wouldn't be able to resist those rebels gathered at all, let alone attack from defense like today." ”

In this regard, Yang Zhen didn't say much, just frowned and thought for a while: "How many other prefectures in Guangxi are still under the control of the rebels?" ”

"Let's get around." Tang Guangchen didn't hide it, pointed to the map and pointed out the state city that he had memorized, and then shook his head and said with a wry smile: "And this Sicheng Prefecture is obviously the most difficult place to capture, because the local Cen family has been there for hundreds of years and has a very high reputation. And General Xiao originally planned to capture it with the idea of killing chickens and monkeys to make an example of it, but he hit a nail. Even if you want to withdraw now, the next battle will not be easy to fight. ”

Yang Zhen nodded clearly, the most feared thing about fighting and attacking the city is to give up halfway, which will inevitably affect the morale of the army, not to mention, but also boost the enemy's arrogance. Moreover, once the people of the other three prefectures learned of this situation, they would inevitably be greatly encouraged, and no matter which one the official army chose to attack again, they would try their best to resist, making it more difficult for the official army to conquer the city.

"So we still have to do everything we can to take down this Sicheng Prefecture now?" Yang Zhen also frowned.

"Yes, there's only one way to fight to the death. It's a pity that the artillery in my Guangxi is useless, otherwise if we can set up artillery outside the city, we will be able to capture Sicheng Prefecture by relying on this. Tang Guangchen sighed and said.

Yang Zhen could only sigh with him, although the artillery at this time was not as sharp as in later generations, and it was very cumbersome, but it was more than enough to bombard those city walls and gates that were not very strong. For the city of this era, once the city gate is broken and the city wall is collapsed, it is only a matter of time before it is captured.

But Guilin's artillery couldn't even be used for defense, let alone for attack. What's more, this kind of big guy weighing hundreds of pounds is really not suitable for taking it on a rugged and narrow mountain road like Guangxi. In addition, even the muskets brought by Huguang's support are not much to use at the moment, which makes the advantage of the official army in weapons not great, which increases the difficulty of attacking the city.

After muttering for a while, Yang Zhen suddenly looked at Tang Guangchen: "Now that the situation in other states and counties has stabilized, this Sicheng Prefecture has become a difficult point that we must overcome, then I will also take someone over to take a look, and see if I can help General Xiao and them take the city." ”

"Lord Yang, you ......" Tang Guangchen subconsciously shook his head, after all, the siege battle was much more dangerous than the defense battle, and Yang Zhen's identity was here, it was really not suitable to take this risk, not to mention that he would not be of much help with the use of soldiers. But then, Governor Tang thought of something: "Could it be that Lord Yang, do you have any ideas that you can't achieve?" ”

"It's hard to say now, but in my opinion, since we can't take it down with a frontal attack, we can go from the side, and this aspect is what we Jinyi guards are good at."

When Tang Guangchen heard this, his eyes lit up, and he nodded appreciatively: "What Lord Yang said is also reasonable, if you can't attack by force, you should take it by yourself." Yes, by you to go out, this matter can indeed add a few points, no, as long as you Lord Yang go out, this city will be broken! ”

Yang Zhen couldn't help laughing: "Lord Tang is ashamed of his words, but since he is serving the imperial court, he will do his best to help the army take this Sicheng Prefecture!" ”

"Then there is Lord Lao Yang!" Tang Guangchen arched his hand.

"Kill!" Accompanied by the earth-shattering drums and trumpets, the soldiers and horses of the Ming army trampled on the blood stains that had not yet dried up all over the ground and pounced fiercely on the city wall of Sicheng Prefecture again.

And when they ran to a place only a stone's throw away from the city wall, a dense rain of arrows came from their heads, and they immediately stopped their steps.

"Crossbowman, shoot me!" The general commanding the battle immediately howled loudly.

The crossbowmen of the official army responded with a voice, and countless arrows were thrown by them towards the city. However, the city was obviously prepared, and under the shield defense on one side, it did not cause too many casualties, nor did it interrupt their practice of blocking the advance of the Ming army with bows and arrows, and soon, many officers and soldiers who were still rushing forward fell to the ground.

However, under the loud drive of the generals behind him, the officers and soldiers still rushed to the city with certain casualties, and quickly erected a high ladder, which was much more reliable than the bamboo ladder used by the rebels to attack Guilin before, not only strong, but also protected by baffles on both sides.

It's a pity that even if the equipment is strengthened, it still can't change the natural gap between the offensive and defensive sides.

Feeling that the army's offensive was already weak, Xiao Duo, who was looking far away from the array, could only order after a long sigh: "Mingjin, I'm afraid I won't be able to take this Sicheng Prefecture today!" At this moment, he was very nostalgic for the elite he had brought with him in the north, and if they were here, they would have been able to storm the city with just one drum, so that the enemy could not stop it at all!