General Li Zixiong's tactical thinking is actually very right, based on the most orthodox siege tactics, taking the overwhelming momentum of Mount Tai to attack the defenders head-on, supplemented by trebuchets This strange army, suddenly hit the morale of the defenders, and create an opportunity to quickly break through the city.

If it is replaced by other cities, General Li Lao used these means to attack the city, and six or seven of the ten have been taken, but unfortunately General Li encountered Luoyang City, the eastern capital of the Great Sui Dynasty, and the city that has been built for more than ten years is extremely strong, needless to say, the city is high and moat, the city fortifications are perfect, and the materials for defending the city are very sufficient, and what makes General Li even more depressed is that his opponent this time is the commander of the defenders of the Spring Gate. Pei Hongce also gave him a huge surprise, all kinds of means of defending the city were used properly, as if he could still predict the prophet, always expected the next move of General Li, and prepared in advance, so that the self-confident General Li was full of ambitions, but he was always helpless against the towering Luoyang city wall.

The army of serving the country in white robes also disgusted General Li with a solid hand, tightly sealed and blocked every loophole accidentally exposed by the defenders of Shangchun Gate, and also started to be particularly ruthless and poisonous, almost all the rebel soldiers who were lucky enough to rush to the city were cut into pieces, and the tactics of covering the battlefield of the city wall carefully arranged by General Li Lao did not work for them at all, and the rebel trebuchet was to throw more stone bombs on the city wall, and they could not shake a point and take a step back, It was not enough to stop them from chopping up the rebel soldiers into pieces of flesh less than a foot long and throwing them down the city wall to intimidate the rebels.

This is not over, after the corpses under the city of Shangchun Gate, seeing that the sun has gradually turned west, the old general Li who can't hang on his face is desperate, and put the last five ladder cars into the battlefield to launch the final attack, as a result, there is a ladder car with a small number of flames miraculously leaning against the city wall, and then without waiting for General Li and the rebel team to cheer, the army wearing conspicuous white robes has already cheered to seize the top of the ladder car, continue to be in a condescending position, and kill the rebel soldiers who flocked to the car to cry wolf. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and even launched a counter-charge at one point, killing all the rebel soldiers on the ladder back to the ground, and then when the Sui soldiers intensively threw torches and swallowtail torches to easily burn the last ladder car, the rebel team had paid no less than 300 lives for this ladder car.

Of course, if the extremely depressed General Li knew that the last ladder cart was deliberately indulged by a bad breed in a white robe, and ordered to stop firing arrows and let the ladder cart lean against the city wall, then General Li would definitely be even more depressed.

The twenty ladder cars were all finished, and the sun slowly reached the west of the sky that was very unfavorable to the rebel team, and the dazzling sunlight directly shone on the faces of the rebel team, making it difficult for the rebel soldiers to even see the defenders on the city wall. Yang Xuanting personally led the supervision team to go up to block, in the blink of an eye was completely overwhelmed by the tide of their own defeated soldiers, in order not to be trampled to death, they had to join the escape team, and led the relatively safe archery team and shrimp toad convoy to flee for their lives, many rebel soldiers in order to escape as much as possible, but also simply threw a lot of shrimp and toad carts that were not easy to build under the city.

There is also the rebel trebuchet team, because the technology is not skilled enough and the materials are not up to par, three of the five trebuchets of the rebels have withdrawn from the battle because of the broken throwing arm, and the remaining two are still dropping bombs, but their power has been greatly reduced, seeing that their own brigade is defeated and retreated, and is densely covered with bows and arrows by the defenders who have free their hands, the last two rebel trebuchets also obediently gave up the bombs immediately, and also joined the retreat and fled for their lives.

Seeing that the enemy's morale was depressed, Chen Yingliang hurriedly turned his head to look at the location of the city gate, and found that the rebel siege convoy in that position was also retreating, Chen Yingliang didn't think much about it, and immediately shouted: "The herald reports that all the **** regiments will go down to the city to assemble at the city gate, and prepare to go out of the city to pursue!" ”

Roaring, Chen Yingliang grabbed the horizontal knife on his waist, and was about to rush down to the city, but an arm stretched out next to him and grabbed Chen Yingliang, and a very familiar voice sounded, "Don't go, this time it's a beautiful fight, the old man is very satisfied, there is no need to chase and kill." Chen Yingliang's order does not need to be conveyed. ”

"It's a rare opportunity, it's a pity to give up." Chen Yingliang retorted smoothly only to find that something was wrong, and turned his head to see that the person who grabbed him was indeed Fan Zigai, the boss of the Eastern Capital, Chen Yingliang hurriedly saluted and said respectfully: "The villain doesn't know that Fan is coming, and he is not welcome, please forgive the sins." ”

"On the battlefield, you don't need so many courtesies, get up." Fan Zigai waved his hand magnanimously, looked at the defeated rebel team outside the city and said: "I heard that this battle was commanded by you, and you have some ability, and you can withstand the siege of the city personally commanded by the old thief Li Zixiong." But there is no need to pursue, it is too hard to report ****, they fought the tough battles of this big war, how can they not rest for a good life? Besides, there are still so many Yang rebels outside the city, what if they venture out of the city and be surrounded? ”

"The villain is not greedy for merit, he wants to retreat after a little chase, continue to provoke Yang Xuan's rebel thief, and induce him to continue to storm Luoyang City." Chen Yingliang explained.

"That's a good idea, but don't take any chances." Fan Zigai continued to shake his head and said: "Don't underestimate Li Zixiong, a traitor, long before the founding of the Great Sui, he was already a famous general of the former Zhou Dynasty, and the time spent on the battlefield was more than twice your age. ”

Seeing that Fan Zigai insisted on not being allowed to fight, Chen Yingliang didn't have much to say, so he could only honestly give up the pursuit plan. During the defeat of the rebel siege team, a rebel cavalry suddenly rushed out of the rebel army's main formation, and detoured to the main gate of Shangchun Gate to line up and set up a formation, ready to meet the pursuit team of the Luoyang defenders at any time, and Chen Yingliang, who was a little fluttering after the victory of the command to defend the city, calmed down and understood that Fan Zigai's caution was not unreasonable, and the rebels' new think tank Li Zixiong may not be as good as the future Wagang fox Li Mi in terms of tricks, In terms of strain experience on the battlefield, he is not only several times stronger than Li Mi.

While secretly vigilant, Chen Ying's conscience also began to ponder quickly, "Should you do something to lure Yang Xuangan to continue besieging Luoyang City?" With the current situation, Yang Xuangan continues to attack Luoyang City, which is the easiest and safest for me, if Yang Xuangan gives up Luoyang to fight Guanzhong, my trouble will be big, Fan Zigai will order me to go out of the city to fight in the field, and contain the slow Yang Xuangan's advance speed. ”

Chen Yingliang was still vigilant on the city wall, but Li Zixiong was already in the rebel flag array, although he had not had time to count the casualties, but Li Zixiong understood that his casualties in this battle would never be small there, because at this moment, under the Shangchun Gate City, the area where the rebel team launched an ant-attached siege to the city was already a blood red, the corpses of the rebel soldiers and the remnants of the flags and broken guns were piled up more than one person high, and the corpses and the remains of siege weapons were spread all over a mile long and half a mile wide. Mortally wounded rebel soldiers could be seen crawling through the pile of corpses, and then they were quickly killed by the defenders on the city walls with bows and arrows, and were crucified alive in the pile of corpses.

Li Zixiong looked at the city wall of Shangchunmen with a blue face, and found that the defenders on the city wall had begun to cheer and celebrate, holding high the banner of swords and guns and jumping and jumping, and the earth-shattering cheers were more than two miles away, and they could still be heard clearly, and then Li Zixiong knew that a Sui army general in a white robe was thrown into the sky by the defenders, fell and was thrown into the air, repeatedly, it is obvious that this Sui army general must have played a vital role in this war.

Li Zixiong didn't dare to look at the disappointed looks of the rebel generals next to him, but Yang Xuangan's reaction Li Zixiong had to pay attention, and carefully turned his gaze to Yang Xuangan's face, Li Zixiong found that Yang Xuangan was also looking at him, his expression was blank, obviously disappointed, Li Zixiong didn't know what to say now, but he and Yang Xuangan looked at each other speechlessly. It wasn't until a moment later that the very cultured Yang Xuangan took the initiative to speak and said, "Old general, don't care, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and we have a next time." ”

Yang Xuangan was just looking for steps for Li Zixiong and saying a symbolic word of comfort, but the face-loving old General Li took the opportunity to play the topic and said to Yang Xuangan: "Duke Chu, this battle is lost, and the old man is duty-bound, and the old man will never hide it, and he will bear the guilt he deserves." But the old man must state that the most important reason for the defeat in this battle is the lack of siege weapons, especially the most important trebuchet is too few, if the trebuchet can have more than thirty to make up for the weakness of our lack of bows and arrows, and there are ten more ladder cars, the old man has already captured Luoyang City today! ”

changed his method to shirk part of the responsibility to Li Mi, the deputy military division in charge of logistics, and the old general Li said unashamedly: "If the Duke of Chu can trust the old man, please prepare more siege weapons, the old man can guarantee that the next siege of the city, he will definitely be able to take Luoyang in one fell swoop, capture Fan Zigai alive, capture Huangfu Wuyi alive, and be the revenge of Duke Chu today!" ”

Yang Xuangan's brows were slightly furrowed, because heavy siege weapons such as trebuchets and ladder trucks did not mean that they could be prepared if they could be prepared, even if they did not consider the source of necessary materials, it was extremely time-consuming to build these weapons, and in the case that the main force of the Sui army had quickly returned to the Luoyang battlefield, the rebels dared not waste so much time to prepare for the siege, no matter how ambitious and talented Yang Xuangan was, he had to hesitate to think about it.

"Duke Chu, look, there's movement in the city!"

Maybe it was a coincidence, at this time, there was a sudden new movement on the side of Shangchun Gate, Yang Xuangan, who was reminded, hurriedly looked up, but saw that thirty or forty large wooden stakes for hitting the flying ladder were erected on the city of Shangchun Gate, and some defender soldiers were tying other defender soldiers to the stakes, and from a distance, there was also a Sui army general wearing armor who was also stripped off his armor and tied to the stake. Yang Xuan was very curious, and hurriedly arranged for a few scouts to come forward and go closer to check the situation.

The scouts were sent up, and the situation on the city wall changed again, some Sui soldiers raised their horsewhips and struggled to whip up their companions who were tied to the stakes, and at the same time, the figure of Fan Zigai appeared on the city wall, tall and snow-white, very easy to identify, and they didn't know what they were shouting, Yang Xuangan and others couldn't hear it when they were too far away, and they could only wait patiently for the scouts to return.

I don't know how many whips I drawn, and the ordinary soldiers of the Sui army who were tied to the stake and whipped were put down again, but the unlucky Sui army general continued to be whipped again, and at the same time, several scouts sent by Yang Xuangan in the past also returned to the flag formation and reported to Yang Xuangan: "Yu Chu Gong, it is some officers and soldiers who fled from the city wall in a cowardly battle, Fan Zigai asked them to be tied to the city wall and executed in public, listening to Fan Zigai's shouting, the soldiers pumped twenty lashes, and the eagle strike who quietly escaped from the city wall will draw eighty whips. ”

"Old horseman! It's so arrogant to win a small battle! Yang Xuangan scolded a dirty word, very dissatisfied with Fan Zigai's arrogant attitude of cleaning up the deserters in front of him, and didn't bother to pay attention to such trivial matters, so he shouted: "Pass the order, and the whole army will return to the camp to rest." ”

After the order was transmitted, a large number of rebel troops began to retreat slowly, Yang Xuangan, who was very good at leading the troops to govern the army, personally led the elite soldiers to the palace, led the army to return in an orderly manner, and saw this situation on the city wall, Fan Zigai and Chen Yingliang and others were also completely dead to take the opportunity to pursue, and returned to the city tower and began to arrange the aftermath of the war. After another moment, the unlucky Sui army eagle strike general finally finished the whipping, was carried into the city tower by the execution soldiers, and went to Fan Zigai to be punished.

"It's hard work, does it hurt?" Fan Zigai asked the Eagle Strike General with a bloody face all over his chest.

"Left-behind adults, can it not hurt?" The Eagle Strike General, who was already fainting in pain, asked with a crying voice, and groaned in pain: "Eighty lashes, don't let the last general put something in his clothes, the last general can come back alive, it's already fate." For the sake of the Great Sui, the last general sacrificed greatly. ”

"Since it's for the Great Sui, it won't let you suffer in vain." Fan Zigai smiled and said: "Fifty pieces of money, ten horses of colored silk, you will be given the cost of soup and medicine, go down and act according to the plan, if you can succeed, the old man will not only have a heavy reward, but also ask His Royal Highness the King of Yue to promote you to the eagle general." ”

"Thank you, Lord Liu, there will be injuries in the end, and you can't salute, please forgive me." The eagle striker groaned and said, "The last general will go back to write a letter, and send someone to Yang Rebel in the evening." ”

"Good." Fan Zigai nodded with satisfaction and advised: "Remember, you must emphasize in the letter how the old man is unpopular with the army and how he abuses you, your younger brother Captain Ma Yihao is responsible for guarding the Luoyang granary, and you must also write it, tell the rebels of Yang Rebellion, the next time they attack the city, as long as there is a chance, you two brothers will burn the granary, and the other will take advantage of the chaos to open the city gate to welcome Yang rebels into the city!" Got it? ”

"Understood, understood." The eagle struck the general with a handful of snot and tears, and begged: "My lord, please let the last general go down to heal his wounds, the last general's blood has flowed into the crotch of his pants." ”

Fan Zigai smiled heartlessly, and then waved his hand to let the eagle strike general go down to treat the injury, but Chen Yingliang next to him rushed to the front of the eagle strike general with an arrow step, and admonished: "This general, please remember, you have arranged for someone to go out of the city to deliver the letter, you must not let him know what happened, and you must also make him think that you were whipped because you quietly escaped from the city wall because of your cowardice on the battlefield, so that no matter how Yang rebel interrogated the thief, it is impossible to know the truth of the matter." ”

"Chen Ji room, the last general will ask my brother-in-law to go out of the city to deliver a letter!" The unlucky Eagle Strike General said with a crying voice: "That bastard, dare to attack the maid brought by my daughter-in-law, I have long wanted to clean him up, it just so happens that he is not a soldier and did not go to the city wall, I don't know what happened, this time I let him go out of the city to die, this is no problem, right?" Please, let me go down and heal, my crotch is soaked with blood! ”

Crying, the extremely unlucky Eagle Strike General scolded in his heart again, "Fuck it! What the hell was that bastard's bad idea for Fan Zi? Leng is to frame Lao Tzu for a crime of cowardice, for no reason to whip Lao Tzu eighty lashes, Lao Tzu is responsible for supervising the transportation of materials to defend the city, how to cowardice? If Lao Tzu is cowardly and flees for his life, the stones and trees in the city will be smashed in less than an hour! Lao Tzu is wronged! Lao Tzu is wronged! ”

In the evening of the same day, after the main force of the rebels withdrew to the camp of Kim Yong City, the decision-makers of the rebel army had a huge disagreement on whether to continue to attack the eastern capital Luoyang, and the rational faction led by Li Mi tried their best to persuade Yang Xuangan to give up attacking Luoyang and turn around to fight Guanzhong, on the grounds that Luoyang was well guarded, the city fortifications were perfect, and it was almost impossible to take it quickly without a long and repeated attack.

The hot-blooded faction led by Yang Xuanting and Yang Wanshuo opposed the change of goals, on the grounds that the defenders of the Eastern Capital owed too much blood debt to the rebels, and if they did not break through Luoyang to take revenge, the brothers of the old Yang family would have no shame to go to see the fathers and elders of Guanzhong and the villagers of Huayin. Although the old general Li Zixiong understood that Li Mi's construction was very reasonable, he was unwilling to be severely damaged by the Luoyang army, and also stood on the side of Yang Xuanting's brothers, insisting on launching another large-scale siege, striving to take Luoyang City, where a large number of important ministers of the Sui army lived, and destroying the morale of the main force of the Sui army in one fell swoop.

Each has its own reasoning, and Yang Xuangan, who is brave and unscrupulous, is of course difficult to decide, and after hesitating for a long time, he can't decide whose suggestion to adopt, so he can only put this important matter aside for the time being, and decide to let the main army rest for one night first, and then discuss this important matter carefully the next day. And because Yang Xuangan did not ask to rush to build siege weapons overnight, Li Mi was somewhat relieved, returned to the tent and stayed awake all night, thinking all night about how to persuade Yang Xuangan to adopt the correct strategy.

The next morning, when Li Mi waited for Yang Xuangan's summons in front of the Chinese army's big tent, a man with a roe head and a rat was suddenly escorted by the rebel scouts to the front of the Chinese army's big tent............