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Volume 1 Chapter 564 Deterring the Enemy

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    Li Jing is not his unscrupulous cousin Chen Sangliang. When he encounters a fortified city, he will only think about how to sneak around and attack the enemy. He does not think about how to deal with difficult problems head-on. For the sake of more famous cities in the Central Plains and fortresses outside the Great Wall in the future, Li Jing clearly knows that Lengquan Pass is not possible.  It was easy to fight but still faced the difficulties. After careful preparation, on May 30th, the Sui army soldiers finally launched a frontal attack on Lengquan Pass.  The biggest difficulty in attacking Lengquan Pass is that the road is narrow and the troops cannot be deployed. It is more difficult for large offensive weapons to get close to the pass wall. The Sui army soldiers can only attack the pass with a small number of troops in batches. This is the most hated tactic of the Taiyuan Army.  Then you can rely on the top of the pass wall, the sheep and horse wall, the pass tower and the highlands on both sides to occupy the local strength advantage, and give the Sui army a three-dimensional attack from both near and far.  Under normal circumstances, as long as the defenders did not make mistakes and there were no problems in the internal and rear areas, no matter which Sui army general was replaced to command this war, he would be as miserable and embarrassed as the Persian boss Xerxes I was at Thermopylae.  Fortunately, Li Jing was destined not to become an unlucky guy like Xerxes. Not to mention the huge gap in the art of command, the development and progress of weapons and equipment also determined that the Taiyuan Army could not reproduce the glory of the Spartan Three Hundred Warriors.  When the Sui army officially launched a formal attack, the first thing to appear was the bronze artillery that appeared hundreds of years in advance. The bronze artillery made the Taiyuan army suffer twice and was as fearful as a tiger.  It must be admitted that the Li brothers and the Taiyuan Army were also very good at learning from experience and lessons. Knowing that the artillery of the Sui Army was powerful, they not only prepared a large number of soil sacks in the pass to block the gate at any time, but also spent great efforts to strengthen the walls and towers of the pass.  , at the same time, the narrow terrain south of Lengquan Pass is also where the Taiyuan Army's confidence lies in dealing with the Sui Army's artillery. In order to show off his power, Chen Sangliang used artillery twice against the Taiyuan Army twice before, and both times he lined up twelve artillery pieces to occupy the width.  More than twenty feet, so the Taiyuan Army always believed that the Sui Army's artillery could only exert its power if they were lined up in a row, otherwise the artillery shells fired from behind would definitely hit the artillery in front.  Zhang Lun, Li Jiancheng's confidant who was stationed at Lengquan Pass, was soon dumbfounded. The twenty artillery pieces brought by the Sui army could not be lined up in the valley road. At most, three artillery pieces could be lined up sideways in the valley road.  It's true, but under the command of Yuan Tiangang, the Sui Army officers arranged fifteen artillery pieces crosswise on a relatively open gentle slope southeast of Lengquan Pass. In order to transport the heavy artillery pieces onto the slow cannons, the Sui Army officers also arranged  Straw and horse manure were spread on the ramp to reduce friction and facilitate transportation. The other five artillery pieces were placed by the Sui army officers on the Fenshui River southwest of Lengquan Pass, forming a shooting angle that crisscrossed Lengquan Pass, and  Not a single artillery piece was placed directly in front of the closing gate of Lengquan Pass as usual, leaving the space in front of it for the Sui soldiers to line up to protect the artillery array.  What even more stunned Zhang Lun and the Taiyuan Army officers was that the distance between the Sui army's artillery and Lengquan Pass was one mile away, and the farthest one was more than a mile and a half away. Such a distance was not only far away from the Lengquan Pass defenders who were throwing stones.  With the striking range of machine guns and strong bows and hard crossbows, even if the bed crossbow on Lengquan Pass Wall could shoot 500 steps, it could only barely hit the nearest Sui army artillery. By then, it would definitely be the end of the crossbow and its power would be gone.  Very pitifully small.  Seeing this scene, Zhang Lun couldn't help but scream in a desperate tone, "Can the rebel artillery hit that far? How is this possible?!" Without experience, there was no way to accumulate experience. In order to suppress the Sui army's formation and boost morale,  Zhang Lun decisively ordered the twenty crossbows of the Taiyuan Army to fire first, shooting at the nearest Sui Army artillery. As a result, although the giant arrows with an axe-like front end barely shot a distance of more than a mile, most of them were extremely accurate. Only  Five or six arrows barely managed to reach the Sui Army's artillery, and were lucky enough to injure a Sui Army gunner who was unable to dodge.  Everyone knows how slow the winding speed of the bed crossbow is. Before the Taiyuan Army fired the second wave of giant arrows, the Sui Army artillery was already in place. Then the Sui Army gunners who were personally trained by Yuan Tiangang quickly calculated the shooting height and aiming.  After reaching the target, Yuan Tiangang waved his flag, and the artillery of the Sui Army immediately began to roar with force. The Taiyuan Army's Fangzi Crossbow Formation never had the chance to fire together.  The target of Li Jing's artillery attack was not the repeatedly reinforced Lengquan Pass wall, nor the gate that would definitely be blocked, but the Taiyuan Army's crossbows and trebuchets in the pass, as well as the Taiyuan Army's troops on both sides of Lengquan Pass.  Fences and earthen fortifications were built on the high ground, and the first salvo hit the top of the cold spring pass wall.  The heavy solid iron bullets hit the wall with a loud roar, destroying three expensive and time-consuming Taiyuan Army bed crossbows on the spot, taking away the lives of about thirty Taiyuan Army soldiers, in addition to  One of the artillery shells crossed the wall and hit the pass directly, destroying another Taiyuan Army trebuchet.  Amid the screams of the Taiyuan Army soldiers, Sui Army artillery continued to roar like thunder, and solid artillery shells continued to hit the top, bottom and outside of the wall. Those that hit the wall left deep craters, and those that hit the arrow stacks exploded.  The choking smoke and dust hit the top of the wall and took the lives of Taiyuan Army soldiers to the top of the wall.The ones above stirred up sawdust and tiles all over the sky, and the ones that blasted into the pass were to see the unfortunate soldiers of the Taiyuan Army, or the suffering of the trebuchet.  The deafening roar of artillery continued to echo in the valley, while the Taiyuan Army soldiers lay on the wall and shivered, praying constantly that the Sui Army's artillery shells would not hit them.  Zhang Lun was also forced into the blind spot behind the arrow stack by his own soldiers. He watched his own soldiers running and screaming in front of the constantly bouncing shells, suffering casualties one after another. He also saw that the Guanlou, which had been repeatedly reinforced, still could not withstand the Sui army.  The artillery was still vulnerable to artillery shells and became riddled with holes. Zhang Lun was at a loss when he saw that the crossbows that his army had spent a lot of money and painstaking efforts to build were turned into sawdust one after another.  He simply didn¡¯t know how to crack the Sui Army¡¯s artillery tactics, and he didn¡¯t even know how to restore the confidence and fighting spirit of his soldiers in the face of these terrifying weapons. The only thing Zhang Lun could do was to pray that the Sui Army¡¯s artillery shells and gunpowder would be used as soon as possible.  It's over, or stop bombarding with artillery as soon as possible, and send troops to come up and fight with real swords and guns.  Of course, Li Jing would not let Zhang Lun get what he wanted. Not to mention that the Sui army had plenty of ammunition, and the pressure on the Sui army to attack the city was actually not very great. After taking the Cold Spring Pass, if the main force of the Taiyuan army chose to stick to other small towns, then  The Sui army did not need to use too much ammunition to hope to break the city. It would not matter if the main force of the Taiyuan army retreated to Taiyuan City, its home base. It is true that Taiyuan City has high trenches and deep trenches and is extremely strong, but Taiyuan City is located in a land surrounded by three mountains and two rivers.  The valley terrain destined the Sui army to capture the city without relying on artillery, so the Sui army's artillery kept roaring all the time, and Li Jing never had any intention of stopping the artillery tactics.  While the defenders of Lengquan Pass were shivering under the cover of the Sui army's artillery, Li Jiancheng and the two brothers Li also led an army to the north of Lengquan Pass to watch the battle. However, not only were their eardrums constantly shaken by the roar of the Sui army's artillery, but they also had not had time to get closer.  Half a mile from the north gate of Lengquan, loyal Taiyuan Army soldiers blocked their way and reminded them: "Two governors, you can't go any further. Sometimes the artillery shells of Chen's army will cross the border."  The city was in front, and a brother was almost hit just now. "Can the rebel artillery hit this far?" Li Jiancheng looked up in surprise, and by chance, a Sui army's artillery shell happened to pass through Lengquan Pass.  The hit hit Li Jiancheng more than a hundred paces in front of him. After landing, the remaining momentum was gone, and he bounced up and down for another eight or nine steps before stopping.  Seeing this scene, Li Jiancheng and Li Er couldn't help but look at each other, and they both saw the shocked expression on each other's faces.  After a while, Li Jiancheng said to himself amidst the constant sound of artillery: "I didn't expect Brother Ying Liang's artillery to be so powerful. It seems that even if he doesn't know our water attack tactics, we can't."  It is difficult to hold on until the flood season of Fenwen Ershui comes. "Brother, in fact, you and I both know that Lengquan Pass is unreliable. Lengquan Pass is a pass and not a city. It is impossible to station too many troops, let alone effectively rotate troops to assist in defense.  "We can't withstand Chen's army's frontal attack at all costs." Li Er sneered and said, "If you want to defend Queshu Valley, you must first defend Lingshi City! If you lose Lingshi City, you will lose more than half of Queshu Valley's natural barrier."  How long can one Lengquan Pass hold back the rebel army? The overall strength of the rebel army is far superior to that of our army. Even if we lose Lengquan Pass and our army still has Jiexiu to defend, the rebel army can easily lay siege to the city and divide its troops to attack Taiyuan City.  The army refuses to divide its forces. How long can a mere small town of Jiexiu be defended? " "Of course I know this. The only miscalculation I made was your brother-in-law's treacherous plot by Wang Fubao, who lost his vital soul early on.  Shicheng." Li Jiancheng frankly admitted that his second brother was right, and then said: "But your enemy tactics also have weaknesses. First of all, our cavalry is very small, and there is no chance of winning against an enemy with many cavalry.  You also know the inherent weakness of Taiyuan City. As long as the enemy comes to flood the city, we will be at our wits' end and have no choice but to surrender." "Soldiers are more valuable than others!" Li Er said confidently: "As long as you dare, brother.  Leave all the cavalry to me, I will keep the food route of Chen Zei's army in peace day and night! I don't care about the several cavalry generals under Chen Zei's command!" "As for diverting water to flood the city, it doesn't matter."  Li Er sneered again and said: "Not to mention that Chen Thief pretended to be benevolent and righteous and pretended to love the people and refused to use this poisonous trick. Even if he really diverted water to flood the city, what does it matter? In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhibo colluded with Han Kangzi and Wei Huanzi to attack Jinyang City and diverted water to Jinyang City.  When the Fen River in Jin flooded the city, Zhao Xiangzi, who was defending the city, led his troops to live in their nests and hung their cauldrons to drink. He still held on for three full years and finally got the chance to turn defeat into victory. It's amazing that the Chen thieves really wanted to flood the city!  Just follow Zhao Xiangzi's example. " "What about the people?" Li Jiancheng asked: "The main force of our army retreated to Taiyuan, and the war burned into the hinterland of our army's control area. Wouldn't the people under our army be devastated and tortured by the war?  ? Besides, Jinyang City was sparsely populated during the Spring and Autumn Period.??Zhao Xiangzi could live in a nest and drink from the cauldron. Now Taiyuan City has a population of more than 100,000. Do you want all these hundreds of thousands of people to follow us and live in a nest and drink from the cauldron?  "Brother, I really don't understand. Are you really a Bodhisattva?"  Or is it the kindness of a woman?  "Li Er said with a sarcastic smile: "Brother, if you love the people so much, then why did you follow your father in the army?  Even if you run the army strictly and do nothing wrong with Yu Minqiu, are the enemy soldiers you kill on the battlefield not human lives?  Were they not ordinary people when they were young and when they were old?  " "On the battlefield, you are fighting to the death. I kill in self-defense.  Li Jiancheng replied coldly: "I'm not like you. Do you dare to say that it wasn't you who incited your father to start the war?"  On the battlefield, besides not treating the enemy's life as human life, you also don't treat the lives of our soldiers as human life!  When have you considered the safety of your soldiers, and how often have you considered how to reduce the casualties of your soldiers as much as possible?  " The words were not speculative. When Li Er was angrily preparing to refute, the sound of the Sui army's artillery in front suddenly stopped. The ground that had been shaken by the roar of the artillery for a long time suddenly returned to calm. Li Jiancheng and Li Er knew that there must be an accident ahead, so they hurried to fight.  The horse went straight to Lengquan Pass, and rushed into Lengquan Pass, which had been devastated by Sui artillery. When they reached the north gate of Lengquan Pass, which was covered with corpses and even the gate building had completely collapsed, Li Jiancheng and Li Er first saw  When they arrived, a Sui Army envoy holding a white flag was shouting for surrender at the pass, but the Taiyuan Army soldiers were silent. No one shouted and refused to surrender. The guard Zhang Lun also had a stern expression and did not refuse the Sui Army envoy even a word.  Seeing this, Li Er, who knew his morale was low, didn't even blink. He immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow, hitting the envoy of the Sui Army who was holding a white flag in front of him. The envoy of the Sui Army screamed and fell to the ground.  There was a sudden roar from the Sui army's position in the distance. Not only did Zhang Lun and other Lengquan Pass defenders scream, but Li Jiancheng was also shocked. Then he immediately turned to Li Er and roared: "Who told you to shoot the arrow?  The two countries are at war. If you don't kill the envoy, the enemy's envoy is flying a white flag. Why do you still shoot arrows?  !  Aren't you afraid that the enemy will retaliate against our envoys in the future?  " "Of course I'm afraid, but what I'm afraid of is that the military's morale will be shaken.  "Li Er replied with a sneer, then gently nuzzled his lips towards Zhang Lun in the distance, and whispered: "Didn't you see it?  Even Zhang Lun is already a little shaken. If he doesn't do this, Lengquan Pass will not be able to be defended!  " While Li Jiancheng was gritting his teeth, Zhang Lun also hurriedly came to the front of the Li brothers. While saluting, he hurriedly explained: "The two governors, the last general just wanted to hear what Chen Thief's envoy said before driving him away. Unexpectedly, not yet.  Before you can speak, you are here.  By the way, please come down quickly. It's dangerous here. The rebels may start firing again.  " Before he finished speaking, the Sui army's artillery fired again, and more artillery shells were blasted towards the head of Lengquan Pass. The soldiers were afraid that Li Jiancheng was at fault, so they hurriedly pulled Li Jiancheng down the wall, and Li Er also hurriedly got off.  After closing the wall, Zhang Lun led the Taiyuan Army soldiers to continue struggling on the riddled Lengquan Pass wall. After withdrawing from Lengquan Pass and returning to a safe area, Li Er smiled and said to Li Jiancheng: "Brother,  How about it?  Is it time to make a decision?  It's probably not too late to adopt my little brother's strategy to defend against the enemy!  " "Don't even think about it!  " Li Jiancheng's answer surprised Li Er. At the same time, Li Er could clearly see that Li Jiancheng's eyes were blood red, and the muscles on his face were twitching as he said: "Don't even think about me handing over the military power to you!  Your heart is too cruel. If I give you the military power, I don¡¯t know how many of our soldiers will die in vain because of you!  I don¡¯t know how many innocent people will die because of your implication!  I can't take away the military power in your hands, but if you want me to give you another army, just dream!  " For the first time, Li Er was intimidated by his brother's momentum. He was a little timid for a while. But after he came to his senses, Li Er also gritted his teeth and said: "Brother, so you are my younger brother and I led my troops to leave here?  " "If you want to be a bandit and live under someone else's roof, I won't keep you.  Li Jiancheng looked extremely ferocious and said with a smile: "But don't even think about returning to Taiyuan City!"  Don't think that you and Fourth Brother can control the entire Taiyuan City by joining forces. I have already brought two of Fourth Brother's four old general managers. The remaining two general managers, do you think they are really just submissive to Fourth Brother?  from?  !  When I left them in Taiyuan City, didn't I think that they might help my fourth brother launch a mutiny and seize control of Taiyuan City?  You move forward, and I'll give them orders with the back foot, letting them do what they need to do!  After saying this with a ferocious smile, Li Jiancheng sneered and said, "Also, do you think I really don't know about the beautiful jewelry you secretly gave to Feng Li?"  Let me tell you the truth, I know the list of gifts you gave him and the names of the beauties. Feng Li took the initiative to tell me. If you think you have bribed him, just go back to Taiyuan City!  "Li Er was rarely speechless. He looked at his angry-faced brother with a smile.As if he didn't know each other, Li Jiancheng said: "I have made up my mind! No matter whether Lengquan Pass can be defended or not, I will try my best! Only when I cannot defend it, will I consider retreating to Taiyuan City! You  If you want to become a bandit and join someone else, I won¡¯t stop you!¡± After that, Li Jiancheng angrily rode away, leaving Li Er sweating profusely on the spot. He tried several times to break up with his brother and lead the army to leave.  But he also understood that his army was short of food and clothing, and its morale was low. If he really wanted to break up with his brother, few people would really follow him. By then, not only would he be like a lost dog, it would be difficult for him to have a chance to make a comeback, but he might also be able to do so at any time.  Died violently, even froze to death and starved to death!  When Li Er was upset, the Sui army's artillery roared outside Lengquan Pass all day long, until he withdrew his troops back to camp in the evening. Even though Li Jing did not launch an ant attack, the Sui army's artillery easily destroyed most of them.  The Lengquan Pass defense fortifications at the same time also defeated the Taiyuan Army without any temper, and there was not even a single counterattack.  So on the way back to the camp, Li Jing confidently told the Sui generals, "The enemy's morale has been depressed. Our army will start filling the trenches with toad trucks starting tomorrow, and we can attack the key problems the next day!" The morale of the Taiyuan army has been reduced.  There is another piece of evidence. That night, a Taiyuan Army soldier quietly came out of the pass and came to the Sui Army patrol sentry, and begged for an interview with Li Jing on behalf of the Lengquan Pass garrison.  After the meeting, the Taiyuan Army soldier truthfully reported that he was Zhang Lun's personal soldier at Lengquan Pass. He stated to Li Jing on behalf of Zhang Lun that the killing of the envoy today was not the intention of the Lengquan Pass defenders, but that the right governor Li Er personally shot him with an arrow. Li Jing begged Li Jing to kill the envoy.  Be considerate of the difficulties faced by the Lengquan Pass defenders, and do not abuse or kill the Lengquan Pass defenders who were unfortunately captured on the battlefield.  Li Jing readily accepted the plea of ??Zhang Lun's soldiers, saying that he would never bring revenge on Zhang Lun and the defenders of Lengquan Pass. He then wrote a letter to ask the soldiers to take them back, but Zhang Lun's soldiers said: "General Li  , the villain can't go back, the gate is monitored by the supervising team sent by the Zuo Governor, the young man still took the risk of beheading when he went back, and he would definitely be discovered when he went back, but he didn't expect the villain to go back.  Just let the younger one bring the message. " "Then you can stay." Li Jing did not force it, and arranged for a good reception for Zhang Lun's soldier who offered to surrender, and said in his heart: "You can write to your nephew.  , let him prepare for the pursuit. If we can catch Li Jiancheng in the pursuit, we may not need to launch a water attack in the Taiyuan battle. "
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