The sky is slightly bright, the golden sunlight has just climbed to the top of the West Mountain, outside the Shangchun Gate of Luoyang City, the eastern capital of the Great Sui Dynasty, there has been an astonishing number of rebel troops, lined up in a neat queue, holding high the military flag waving in the wind, carrying hundreds of heavy siege weapons, like a colorful forest, slowly squirming towards the Shangchun Gate, flowing all over the mountains, the front team has arrived at the Shangchun Gate City, the back team is still surging endlessly, the momentum is very amazing, the team is even more amazing.

The alarm gong on the city of Shangchun Gate is also constantly ringing, the Sui army team defending the city rushed to the city, strode to their posts, and prepared to meet the battle in an orderly manner, compared with the last offensive and defensive battle, the defender team after the baptism of actual combat has obviously improved the quality of order, the queue can be regarded as neat, and the preparation work is also orderly, and there is no disgrace of being at a loss and the team is chaotic on its own. However, fear and timidity were still clearly written on the faces of almost every Sui army soldier, because the enemy they faced this time was no longer comparable to the number of enemies they had attacked the city last time, and the number of enemies had reached the point where there was no end in sight.

Several white figures also climbed the city wall, walked to the side of the arrow battlement to observe the enemy's situation, and a white figure simply climbed the arrow battlement, stepping on the arrow battlement to face the rising sun, standing straight, the golden sunlight shone on his thin body wearing silver bright light armor, reflecting the dazzling light of the Dao, dazzling.

Seeing these eye-catching white figures, and seeing the thin but straight figures, I don't know what the reason is, many Sui soldiers just wanted to find the backbone, and the extreme tension was relieved at once, because these Sui soldiers knew that once they faced the threat of a strong enemy, when it came to life and death, this thin figure would definitely lead a large number of fearless warriors in white robes, share the pressure for them, join forces with them to kill the enemy, and destroy all the fierce enemies who rushed to the city wall for them.

"Soldiers, I have good news for you, and I have heard it clearly, and I have heard it clearly." The thin figure shouted, "Good news, Yang rebels have brought tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers and civilians who don't even have armor, this is a good thing, cutting off the heads of these auxiliary soldiers and civilians is still a reward according to the main force of the traitor's elite, have you prepared the bags containing money?" I'm going to get rich, so get ready to get bigger! ”

Many Sui soldiers who heard the shouts laughed, and the tension was completely swept away, and at the same time, a strong arm stretched out, and pulled the thin body off the arrow stack, and pulled it back to the city, and the owner of the arm scolded: "Don't die, what should I do if I fall off the city?" Observe the enemy's situation, and use it to stand on the arrow stack? ”

"Little nephew Chen Yingliang, I have seen my uncle." Chen Yingliang hurriedly saluted Pei Hongce, who dragged him back to the city, and said with a smile: "It's okay, the little nephew has no fear of heights, and he can't fall." ”

"Be careful, if you encounter a rebel rushing to the city wall today, I will look up to you." Pei Hongce scolded again, then turned his gaze to the rebel team in the distance, and said with a melancholy expression: "There are so many comings, it seems that Yang rebels are out of the nest this time, and today's battle has to be fought." ”

"Uncle, please rest assured, it's just a rabble, don't worry." Chen Yingliang comforted confidently, then turned to Xie Zichong, who was standing next to Pei Hongce, and said quickly: "General Xie, please arrange a team of soldiers, go back to the camp immediately and get all the hats, distribute them to our defenders, if the number is not enough, give priority to our archers." ”

"Why?" Xie Zichong asked suspiciously.

"The sun is not good for us." Chen Yingliang pointed to the rising sun and said: "Shangchun Gate is the east gate, and the morning sun is just shining on our faces, which is very unfavorable for us to release arrows and avoid arrows. ”

"Ah, yes!" Xie Zichong came to his senses and said regretfully: "Why didn't I take this into account just now? It would be good to tell the soldiers to put on their hats in the barracks, but fortunately they had some time, so I arranged for the team to get the hats. ”

"Go." Pei Hongce urged, and then ordered: "If the number is not enough, immediately send someone to Beishi to find Liu Changgong and borrow the hat in his team to use." ”

Xie Zichong received the order and hurriedly went down to make arrangements, Pei Hongce turned to Chen Yingliang and said with a smile: "Yes, even such details can be noticed, no wonder all the officials in the Eastern Capital praise you as a genius in the sky, and Chen Qingzhi is reincarnated." ”

"Uncle has won awards." Chen Yingliang hurriedly humbled and said: "However, I'm afraid that our opponent this time has also taken into account this detail, the little nephew remembers that Yang rebels attacked the city several times before, and they all arrived on the battlefield after midnight, and this time they had already rushed to Luoyang City just after dawn, and it was probably Li Zixiong's old thief who wanted to make the most of the backlight advantage." ”

Pei Hongce nodded, agreeing with Chen Yingliang's analysis, and also knew that the opponent faced by the army this time was not trivial, no longer only the brave and unscrupulous Yang Xuangan and Li Mi, who did not like to attack head-on, but also added Li Zixiong, the former right martial general of the Great Sui with rich battlefield experience.

By the way, Pei Hongce and the defenders of the Eastern Capital were able to know these situations, and it was also thanks to Li Zixiong himself, in order to show off the military might and intimidate the defenders, after Li Zixiong took over the post of rebel military division, he immediately gave up Li Mi's previous strategy of attacking the defenders' scouts and reconnaissance, and deliberately indulged the defenders to reconnoiter their own military situation, and whether the result was intimidating for the time being. also let the defenders of the Eastern Capital know the news that Li Zixiong had defected to the rebels and was appointed as the rebel military division.

Moments later, the first hats were sent to the walls by the defenders, and were distributed first to the archers who needed the most to protect their sights. At the same time, on the high ground in the distance outside Shangchun Gate, relying on the backlight advantage, Yang Xuangan and Li Zixiong were inevitably surprised, and Li Zixiong, who took advantage of the sun, also directly exclaimed, "Huh! I can't imagine that Pei Hongce, a big old greed, can also find this kind of detail that only battlefield veterans will pay attention to. ”

"I can't spare this lackey!" Yang Xuangan gritted his teeth and said: "I heard that Chen Yingliang's thief is his distant nephew, and Fan Zigai's old puppet used Chen thief unusually, just because of this relationship!" ”

"Duke Chu, without further ado, we should do our best to launch a siege." "The sooner we attack the city, the longer we will be able to take advantage of the backlight, and if it drags on until the afternoon, the sun will turn against us," Li said. ”

"Okay, then I will ask the old general, please give the old general an order, from me down, all under the command of the old general." Yang Xuangan handed over all the command directly to Li Zixiong.

Li Zixiong was not polite, and directly arranged siege tactics to the rebel generals. After a while, the war drums in the rebel ranks sounded rhythmically, a thousand auxiliaries and eight hundred archers took the lead, the auxiliaries pushed the shrimp toad cart that could prevent arrows and carried a long shield in front, the archers followed, and strode together to the Shangchun Gate, which had been filled in by the rebels for more than a mile, and then the main force of the six thousand rebels carried twenty ladder carts and a large number of light flying ladders out of the battle, lined up in front of the formation of two horizontal teams and slowly advanced, slowly walking towards the Shangchun Gate city wall.

Seeing this scene, Pei Hongce, who had never encountered this situation, was a little flustered, and hurriedly asked Chen Yingliang next to him: "Virtuous nephew, what are they going to do?" Aren't those one-zhang high, one-foot-tall wooden carts used by traitors to transport soil and fill the river, why are they being pushed empty? ”

"For anti-arrows." Chen Yingliang explained: "Push these wooden carts under the city, and several of them will be lined up, so that the traitor's archers can hide behind the carts and fire arrows, suppressing and harassing our city team. ”

"How do you crack that?" Pei Hongce hurriedly asked.

"You don't need to crack it." Chen Yingliang replied with a smile: "Hiding behind the wooden cart and releasing arrows, it is not so much about shooting, it is better to rely on blindness, it will not play much role, just suppress it with a proper bow and arrow, and there is no need to be afraid." ”

"The biggest threat to us is the ladder trucks." Chen Yingliang pointed to the rebel ladder carts in the distance and said: "If these ladder trucks are allowed to lean against the city wall, the rebel team can quickly rush up the city wall in large numbers, fortunately, this kind of ladder cart is made of wood, which is most afraid of fire attacks, and it is too cumbersome to move quickly, as long as we concentrate on rocket design, we can burn them on the road." ”

Pei Hongce nodded hurriedly, gritted his teeth and said, "Virtuous nephew, why don't you take the command in place of your uncle, you give the order, and my uncle will give you the order." ”

"It's ......, isn't it?" Chen Yingliang was a little embarrassed, and said: "The little nephew is also the first time to fight this kind of orthodox city offensive and defensive battle, and the little nephew doesn't even have an official position. ”

"Brother Yingliang, don't be modest." Next to him, Xie Zichong interjected and said: "You are inexperienced, but you have read a lot of military books and know how to fight a battle, which is much better than those of us who have not even read a few military books, so I will ask you to command, and I will also listen to your orders." ”

"Well, I'll try." Chen Yingliang agreed with some hesitation - this time it was really not Chen Yingliang's false modesty, but Chen Yingliang's real uncertainty.

At this time, the rebel team pushing the shrimp toad cart had approached the city wall and entered the range of the bow and arrow, Chen Yingliang ordered three rounds of salvo fire, and then shot accurately, Xie Zichong conveyed Chen Yingliang's order, and the defenders on the city wall archers followed the order, shooting three waves of feather arrows at the rebel team one after another, covering the heads of the rebel team as much as possible, and then each looking for an opportunity to shoot accurately, not only to avoid wasting very expensive feather arrows, but also to save the body - it is not an easy errand to pull a strong bow and release arrows.

Throwing from the city to the city, the rebel archers of course need a closer range to do it, so during the defenders covering three rounds of feather arrows, the rebel archer team can only be beaten and unable to fight back, and the densely covered defender feather arrows also hit a lot of enemies, killing and wounding dozens of rebel auxiliary archers, the rebel team was shocked and the queue was chaotic, some of the shrimp toad carts continued to move forward quickly at the request of the generals, and some of the shrimp toad carts couldn't wait to stop to defend against the arrows, and the panicked rebel archers also hurriedly hid behind the car and put arrows on the city indiscriminately. At the same time, the Sui archers also began to shoot accurately at each target, and many Sui archers with good archery skills also found an opportunity to play and shot some rebel soldiers who were exposed outside the car.

Seeing this scene from a distance, Li Zixiong, who originally planned to surprise the defenders with regular siege tactics, was of course furious, scolded the archers for being incompetent, and lamented that if his old subordinates were here, they would have killed the Luoyang City Wall and captured Pei Hongce alive. But no matter how much General Li lamented that it was useless to brag, the whole of the rebel army was placed here, and Li Zixiong could only send someone to order the archery team to reorganize the team to effectively suppress the defenders of the city, and on the other hand, he sent someone to order the siege ant team to speed up and move forward, but it was important to maintain unity with the most important ladder truck.

As Chen Yingliang analyzed, although the rebel team used the most orthodox siege tactics, it is a pity that it is always difficult to aim the arrows on the city by hiding behind the car, and the rebel team is uneven, the effect of bows and arrows to suppress the defenders in the city is naturally worse, even if the frequency of arrows is slow, the arrows shot are not weak, or the accuracy is very outrageous, and the threat to the defenders of the eastern capital on the city wall is pitiful, and the defenders who are very little affected are constantly freeing arrows and shooting accurately, and the results are far greater than those of the rebels.

Confirming this, Pei Hongce and Xie Zichong and other Shangchun Gate guards were relieved, Chen Yingliang also quietly called a fluke, and then hurried to look at the rebel team in the distance, and found that the rebel ant battle team carrying the flying ladder and pushing the ladder cart seemed to be faster, but the infantry with brisk steps still maintained the same action with the ladder cart and was not in a hurry to charge. Seeing this scene, Chen Yingliang quickly came to his senses, knowing that the experienced Li Zixiong was planning to let the flying ladder and the ladder attack the city together, so that the self-army was in a hurry and did not know who to deal with first, creating chaos among the defenders, and ensuring that the ladder car could climb the city wall to the greatest extent.

Sensing the opponent's tactical intentions, Chen Yingliang sneered, and quickly instructed Xie Zichong: "General Xie, please send an order to all our archers, prepare rockets, and after receiving the order, immediately concentrate the rockets to shoot at the enemy's ladder carts, and ignore the enemy soldiers." As for those flying ladders, they are specially dealt with with rolling stones and falling trees. Xie Zichong, who had already admired Chen Yingliang, did not hesitate, and immediately sent people over to give the order.

The rockets tied to the soaked oil linen cloth have long been prepared, and during the nervous waiting, the rebels' ant-attached siege team finally approached the city wall of Shangchunmen, and after reorganizing the team outside the range of bows and arrows, Wang Zhongbo, who commanded the rebel army, waved the command flag and shouted the order, and the rebel team carrying the flying ladder immediately shouted and rushed up, and at the same time, the ten ladder cars in the front row also launched a full-speed charge, and under the impetus of dozens of rebel soldiers, they drove heavily and slowly towards the city wall, Shangchunmen, which was originally relatively quiet, suddenly shook the sky.

The drums of the charging war in the rebels' main formation also sounded at the same time, and Li Zixiong, who had achieved the siege tactics at the same time, also showed a confident smile, but the smile quickly solidified on Li Zixiong's face, because General Li suddenly found that the defenders on the city wall not only did not indiscriminately release arrows to suppress the charge of the rebel infantry and flying echelons, but also simply stopped firing arrows - as for why he suddenly stopped firing arrows, General Li, who had been on the battlefield for more than 40 years, could guess the reason even by analyzing it with his toes.

"The commander in the city is really Pei Hongce, who has never been on the battlefield?" General Li was a little dazed for a while.

Sure enough, when the heavy ladder cart slowly entered the range of the city wall, Ling Qi waved the arrow, and countless burning rockets immediately appeared on the city wall, and the Ling Qi waved again, and these rockets were immediately shot out neatly, and they all ignored the rebel soldiers, and all of them flew towards the ten tall ladder carts, the ladder carts were already heavy and slow, and there was almost no difference between them and fixed targets for the defender archers, and the hit rate was naturally quite high, so it was almost in the blink of an eye, Ten tall and bulky ladder trucks were already filled with rockets, which burned, and then gradually ignited the ladder trucks.

At the same time, the Sui army, which was not an archer, also began to attack the rebel ant team, condescendingly smashing heavy sheep's head stones and logs into the rebel team, smashing the rebel soldiers who were about to build the ladder crying wolf, bursting their brains, the queue was chaotic, and the speed of building the ladder was even slower.

In this way, the archers were responsible for shooting the ladder cart with rockets, and the knife and gunners were responsible for smashing the ant-attached rebels with stones, wood, and ash bottles, each with its own responsibilities and orderly, and the purpose of creating chaos among the defenders that General Li Lao hoped for was naturally not achieved, and at the same time, because of the tactical road, the rebel team that rushed to the city was of course dead and wounded, and the ladder cart, which was pinned on by the rebel team, quickly ignited the flames, and the speed became faster and faster, and the flames burned more and more, and gradually rose thick smoke.

Seeing this scene, the defenders on Shangchun Gate City were of course greatly boosted, and the more they fought, the more confident they became, and the more Pei Hongce and Xie Zichong laughed, the happier they became. On the side of the rebel flag array, the rebel commander Yang Xuangan's face became more and more pale, and the face of Li Zixiong and the old general Li became more and more unsightly, after gritting his teeth, Li Zixiong, who was eager to save face, simply yelled and ordered: "Order, carry out the third step in advance!" Trebuchets and rammers, strike together! ”

The order was delivered, and five trebuchets with difficulty came out of the battle, surrounded by a whole two regiments of rebels, and quickly rushed to the opposite Luoyang city wall, and the rebel soldiers had already begun to attack the city wall. On the other side, three siege rammers with iron-clad head-butting, also pushed by a thousand rebel soldiers, began to charge towards the gate of Shangchun Gate.

Because the rebel team had already attacked the city gate more than once before, the defenders of Shangchun Gate had already arranged heavy troops to protect the city gate, and the rebels' ramming vehicles also had torches and dovetail torches to restrain them, so Chen Yingliang naturally didn't need to worry too much about the safety of the city gate. What puzzled Chen Yingliang was that the rebel team had only dispatched the five trebuchets now - according to common sense, the trebuchets should have been put into use before the ant battle, so that it could suppress the defenders' bows and arrows and cause casualties to the defenders, but the battlefield veteran Li Zixiong was unreasonable, and when the rebels began to attack the city, the trebuchet was put into the battlefield, and Chen Yingliang couldn't guess Li Zixiong's tactical purpose.

"Isn't it ......?" Chen Yingliang suddenly remembered a historical celebrity, and in shock, Chen Yingliang hurriedly turned to the fourth lieutenant of the Baoguo Army, who was always standing behind him, and shouted: "Chen Zhihong, Zhao Yu, immediately go and assemble your headquarters team, take them to the city, and prepare to reinforce the ant-attached battlefield!" Guo Feng and Chen Ci's team continue to rest and wait for their lives! ”

"No!" Chen Zhihong and Zhao Yu, who were accustomed to obeying orders, didn't even blink their eyelids, clasped their fists and sang a promise, and then rushed down to the city together to organize the team.

"Virtuous nephew, there's no need to dispatch to report **** so soon, right?" Pei Hongce said in surprise: "The big war has just begun, and our other teams are also fighting very well, so we don't need to dispatch our most elite soldiers now, right?" ”

"I can't do it if I don't move." Chen Yingliang shook his head, pointed to the rebel trebuchet that was advancing rapidly, and said, "The five trebuchets of Yang Rebel's team are planning to throw stones to bombard the ant-attached battlefield and fight our defending soldiers with their siege team!" ”

"What? Yang Reverse's team is crazy? Even their soldiers to fight together? Pei Hongce and the Sui generals present were all taken aback.

"That's right! Let's fight! Doing so will hurt you by mistake, but it will demoralize our defenders and give them plenty of opportunities to get to the city! Chen Yingliang nodded and said: "So I must immediately let the army of the country go to the city, only they dare to kill the enemy bravely and seal the gap in this chaotic moment where I can't distinguish between the enemy and the enemy!" ”

While Pei Hongce, Xie Zichong and the others were stunned, Chen Yingliang gritted his teeth and snorted again, "Okay, you Li Zixiong, you really deserve to be the former right martial arts general known as Zhuge Reincarnation, you are really ruthless and poisonous enough, and even Zhukov's proud tricks can be self-taught!" ”