Moreover, the battle of Jingling City is inevitable, and it is still relatively difficult to attack the city during this period, but there is an exception, that is, it is well-equipped, Li Yu looked at the moat, his eyes were solemn, so what he was worried about was not that the combat strength of the Tang Dynasty army was not good, but whether the pontoon bridge built by the Xiacheng military headquarters in the Longxiang army could reach the width of the moat.

"Listen to my orders, wrap the reins around your abdomen, go down to the river and lean against the city, and lock it into a bridge in front of the gate of Jingling City!"

After Guo Yanjun, the commander of the Xiacheng Army, gave the order, he took off his heavy armor and went down to the river to fix the rope.

"Archers, swords and shields on board! Cover the bridging soldiers. ”

Li Yuanzhen lined up the wooden boats that the Tang army had just cut wood, and then ordered the archers and shieldmen to come forward, although Li Yu was not consulted about this commanding order, but Li Yu did not stop it later, obviously Li Yu thought that this move was reasonable.

Why, then, did he swim down the river to the city by bridge, instead of crossing the moat in a boat with the shieldmen and archers who wore them?

The answer is very simple, shield and archers can not only play a role of cover, but also attract the attention of the archers in the city, so at this time, the bridge soldiers in the moat can naturally swim forward to the city without any scruples.

The pontoon bridge was called the boat bridge in ancient times, it replaced the pier with the boat boat, it belonged to the temporary bridge, because it was easy to erect, the bridge was formed quickly, it was often used in the military, so it was also called the "war bridge".

In the Han and Tang dynasties, the application of pontoon bridges in China became more and more common, and it was difficult to count the pontoon bridges built for thousands of years.

In many areas, before building a permanent bridge, it is always necessary to have a pontoon bridge in advance, so as to explore and borrow the water situation, and then seek a suitable permanent bridge type. According to rough statistics, nearly 20 large pontoon bridges have been erected on the Yangtze and Yellow rivers alone, most of which are for the military.

In 541 BC, Qin Jinggong's mother and brother were afraid of being killed by Jinggong because they had stored too much property, so they set up a pontoon bridge over the Yellow River near Linjin, Shanxi, and fled to the Jin Kingdom with the wealth of "a thousand cars weighing thousands of times", which can be regarded as the first Yellow River bridge.

The first Yangtze River bridge was in 35 A.D. Emperor Guangwu in the battle with the Sichuan separatist force Gongsun Shu, Gongsun Shu in the present-day Hubei Yidu Jingmen and Yichang Huya, between the dangerous terrain, took advantage of the dangerous terrain, set up a pontoon bridge, named Jiangguan pontoon bridge, in order to cut off Liu Xiu's waterway traffic, and was later burned by the Eastern Han Dynasty sailors using the wind.

The Tianjin Bridge, built on the Luoshui River in the first year of the Sui Dynasty, was the first pontoon bridge built with iron chains to connect ships.

Therefore, when the pontoon bridge was developed to the fifth generation, it was already a more mature siege equipment than the ladder, and the soldiers who built the bridge must also have excellent physical fitness.

The training method of the Xiacheng Army is different from that of the Chengjian Army, and the daily characters of the Xiacheng Army are not only mountaineering and long-distance running around Longqian Mountain, but also a long trip on the Zangpu River, and only those who can persist for a month can enter the Xiacheng Military Department, so when selecting and transferring the Xiacheng Military Department, soldiers with outstanding water and endurance were specially selected.

Of course, this kind of army is like Wei Wushu in the Warring States Period, it suffers a lot, and there must be brave men under the heavy reward, Li Yu will use the money plundered from the Nanping treasury, as well as half of the national wealth from the Qingyuan National Pit, to support these soldiers.

"Shengshang, this river must be more than 200 paces, if the infantry of the Song army goes out of the city to block the bridge-building soldiers, I'm afraid..."

"I'm afraid of what? If I can't even take a 200-step moat, then what use do I want this Longxiang army to? ”

Deng Qi's meaning is obviously easy to hear, that is, the Long Xiang Army is all elite, not as good as the Yuanzhou Army, the Jingzhou Army, and the Jiangzhou Army, these are all golden eggs, such a straightforward siege of the city, anyone is distressed after the loss, not to mention Guo Yanjun, the commander of the Xiacheng Army, even this Deng Qi is painful for Guo Yanjun.

"I guess that the defenders in Jingling City are empty, but I can't conclude that otherwise all the Longxiang troops will be allowed to attack the city by boat, however, once the bridge soldiers are close to the city, the number of blockers sent from the enemy army can be found out, whether the defenders in Jingling City exceed 10,000."

Then, Li Yu's mind is also clear, only through this straightforward way of attacking the city can Li Jihe take the initiative to confess, and the bridge army will swim to a hundred steps, the defenders in Jingling City must be panicked, so it is inevitable to go out of the city to intercept the bridge soldiers.

As for how many troops Li Jihe will send to intercept and kill the bridge soldiers, it depends on whether the defenders in Jingling City exceed 10,000.

"I see... The last general is dull, thank you for the teachings of the Son of Heaven..."After thinking for a moment, Deng Qi seemed to feel that there was no cavalry needed in this battle, so he asked again with a stalk in his throat, "Holy Lord, this pontoon bridge is built, and I can't cross it even if I break the cavalry... Just one armored war horse is a hundred pounds..."

"Naturally, you won't need to attack Jingling, but Murong Yanzhao is still possible to send troops from Zhong Xiang to rescue Jingling, you immediately lead a thousand cavalry, and then lead five hundred archers north to keep an eye on Zhong Xiang's rescue route..."

......

"Jihe, if you let the Tang army build a bridge and rely on the city, the role of the moat will be gone..."

"Crossbowmen can't shoot through water, and there are shieldmen on bridgemen, so it's useless to shoot a bow and arrow at a shieldman... Right now..."

Li Jihe hesitated for a long time or made a difficulty, the crossbowmen in the city did not have the power to penetrate the water, but the shield hand that shot at the ship was a waste, but the Tang army could be allowed to rely on the city, Jingling would be captured sooner or later, the crossbowmen had no effect at this time, so they could only rely on the infantry to get out of the city, so the question of how much infantry to send was still difficult.

"Can't hesitate any longer! Give me 500 elite soldiers, and I will go out of the city to intercept the bridge-building soldiers of the Tang army! Song General Wu Xingyou did not wait for Li Jihe to say anything, and then took his sword and went down to the city.

Although Li Jihe did not speak, he also acquiesced, five hundred is already the maximum range he can accept, if he takes a thousand out of the city, if the Tang army still has a backhand, then all the 1,000 troops will be annihilated, and there are only 6,000 defenders left in the city, and it will only be more difficult to defend the city.

"Stop them! Those who rely on the shore of the city will be killed on the spot! ”

After Wu Xingyou led the infantry out of the city to meet the battle, the city gate was closed again, and the drums of war in the city were listed.

"Kill!"

With a loud shout, the drums vibrate, the weather was already dry, and the dust stepped out by the infantry under the city shrouded the battlefield on the ground into dense black spots, which was also a dangerous move by Wu Xingyou.

Li Yu stared at the number of soldiers out of the city, and at this time, the soldiers stepped on the dust and smoked, and it was inevitable that they would not be able to get a glimpse of the number of infantry of the Song army out of the city.

"Listen to me, left and right!"

Wu Xingyou raised his sword, the sound of war drums in the city suddenly changed from slow to relatively slower rhythm, the five hundred infantry suddenly walked differently, the soldiers who had been indomitable stopped charging in one direction, and the well-trained sword and shield men on the periphery of the formation suddenly dispersed and divided into two teams to accelerate their movements, extending to the left and right directions.

"Keep your distance! Three steps for two! Watch out for archers! ”

Wu Xingyou is indeed a well-commanded general, first disperse the infantry and do not gather, then the Tang archers who are crossing the river will not be able to hit the Song army more, in addition, the three are divided into three steps and the interval between one person can just increase the difficulty of the Tang army archers shooting.

"Who is this person? I don't remember, there is such a character in Jingling City? Li Yu watched a general lead the infantry out of the city on the moat two hundred steps away, and deliberately stepped on the dust and smoke, so he knew that this person was plotting, and after careful examination, he was a little irritated that he could not see the number clearly, and turned to inquire about Li Yuanzhen.

"According to the military report, in addition to Li Ji's monk in Jingling City, there are also martial arts friends, Zhang Ying is a brave and good fighter in the army, and the minister guesses that this person is likely to be a martial arts friend..."

"Wu Xingyou... This person is really, not going with my heart...", a good strategy to probe the defenders in the city, was disturbed by this chicken thief's martial arts friend to see the number of troops, Li Yu was deeply annoyed, so he started to kill.

"Prepare the ship and escort Song Min up... I want to see if this martial artist wants his own life, or does he want to save the defenseless Song Min in his eyes..."

......

Song army camp, Tu cottage

"General, Li Yu sent troops to return to Fuzhou and made a move on Jingling! Will we send troops to rescue Fuzhou? Song General Wu Xingde looked at Song General Pan Mei with a worried face.

"Wonderful... It's really wonderful, the cat has been in Jingling for so long, and it is indeed in Jingling, Li Yu... You're very good at playing..."Pan Mei, the commander of the Song army, didn't show any panic, and only looked at the Qingliuguan army formation in the camp playfully.

"General, can you give 10,000 soldiers and horses to your subordinates..."

"No."

Wu Xingde, who was in a hurry, had already lost his mind, and directly asked Pan Mei for soldiers and horses, but was interrupted by Pan Mei, who had no waves.

"The defenders in Jingling City are empty..."Wu Xingde suddenly shouted.

"What will happen to Sekimoto? It's just a Jingling City, it's gone, it's gone, Qingliu Pass is right in front of you, is it with Ben General to take Qingliu Pass and drive directly to Jinling, or disobey and be beheaded, you... Take your pick! ”

"The second brother of the subordinate, Wu Xingyou..."

"Disobedient... Immediately chop, Ben will not want to say it a second time! Pan Mei didn't care about Wu Xingde, who was panicking because of his brother, and only pulled out the imperial sword and put it on Wu Xingde's shoulder again and threatened coldly.

"Zhang Yongde, immediately give an order and send troops to clear the stream!"