Tibet

In the large tent of the Chinese army, the generals of the Tang army also gathered to discuss the strategy of attacking the city. There was a sand table in the middle of the tent, and everyone was surrounding it.

Li Ye said to Pei Xiu: "General Pei has been stationed in Nanyang for the longest time. Please tell me first!"

"Follow the order!"

Pei Xiu picked up the wooden pole and pointed at the Nanyang City Road on the sand table: "The circumference of Nanyang City is about thirty miles, the city wall is two feet and eight feet high, the moat is three feet wide, and the three sides of the city wall are tall and solid."

"General Pei, why is it called three sides tall and strong, isn't it four sides?" General Ye Feng couldn't help but interjected and asked.

Pei Xiu smiled and said: "This is the characteristic of Nanyang City. It is fortified on three sides and decayed on one side. Anyone who has defended Nanyang City basically knows this!"

Everyone was confused and asked: "Why does this strange situation happen?"

Pei Xiu spread his hands and said, "Now we have to ask the Jiedushi!"

Everyone looked at Li Ye, who smiled and said: "This is why I suggested attacking Nancheng. It is not just to let the opponent escape, but because Nancheng has structural flaws.

The south city wall is the only city wall that has not been repaired in a hundred years. The other three city walls have been rebuilt one after another in the past thirty years. Only the south city wall has not been rebuilt. Due to order issues, sections of the city wall have been rebuilt. The south city wall was last. Application was made during the Tianbao period. The construction was delayed again and again, and the city wall was in a state of decay. "

Li Mi suddenly smiled and said: "When Jiedushi said this, I remembered it. Is it related to Yang Guozhong's empty account?"

Li Ye nodded and smiled: "That's right, it's the problem of empty accounts."

Seeing that everyone was confused, Li Ye explained with a smile: "The repair of Nanyang's city wall was finally approved the year before last. As a result, the court had no money at all, so Yang Guozhong, the wise prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, did an accounting project. The money was allocated, and the records from the Ministry of Works also showed that it was completed. Everything was transferred in the accounts according to the established procedures, except for the city wall. Of course, not only Nanyang, but all the counties in the world were the same. They were all gone. account."

Only then did everyone understand the meaning of the empty account. It was a bit unbelievable, but it was also reasonable. In the past few years, even officials could not afford to pay their salaries, so there was no need to even think about how there was money to build the city wall.

In fact, there were other reasons why the southern city wall of Nanyang was not rebuilt, but Li Ye did not mention it.

When Li Dai was appointed as the Shannan East Road Observer, he also considered repairing the Nanyang City Wall. Plans were drawn up and he was ready to use work instead of relief for the construction. However, his term was too short and he was transferred back to the capital before he could start implementation.

After Li Ye took over Jingxiang, his thinking was different. He never considered defending Nanyang. He considered the three defense lines of Luyang Pass, Hanshui and Xiangyang, and spent all his limited funds on the knife edge. In the past, Nanyang City belonged to the back of the sword, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

But by mistake, the Yan army occupied Nanyang City. They did not understand the history and defects of the city wall, and even if they discovered it, they would not have time to repair it. This gave the Tang army a chance.

So knowing that the Yan army refused to defend Nanyang instead of Rang County, Li Ye also changed his tactics and changed the large number of siege ladders he originally planned to carry into heavy trebuchets.

Li Ye added: "Our strategy for attacking Nanyang City this time is to make full use of the decay of the south city wall, use heavy trebuchets to destroy the city wall, and then rush into the city and engage in street fighting with the enemy. This is the general strategy, but inside There are still many details, and I hope everyone can brainstorm and think of all possibilities to reduce soldier casualties as much as possible."

Li Mi said slowly: "Let me mention the first detail first. We found that the southern city wall is decayed, and the other side will also find out. Especially if we attack the city wall, they will definitely guess our intentions and deploy a large number of crossbowmen, so I suggest , first use the shield troops to rush in front to meet the enemy's crossbows and crossbows."

"The military advisor said it very well, please add more!"

General Lei Wanchun raised his hand and said: "I have learned the bull-running formation and can control the cattle to attack the enemy. I suggest you use the bull-running formation to attack the enemy first."

This was a good suggestion. Li Ye smiled and asked, "How to control the Bull Run Formation?"

Lei Wanchun bowed and said: "Reporting to Jiedushi, cattle, like sheep, also have leaders. I went to see the cattle in the military camp. There was a very strong bull, and the other cattle followed it. As long as it was controlled, If you keep this bull in check and use a few tricks, the bull-running formation will basically be successful!"

Li Ye nodded, "In that case, the Bull Running Formation will be handed over to General Lei!"

Pei Xiu added: "Since the Bull Run Formation is going to be used, the wooden bridge built on the moat must be thicker."

Everyone spoke to each other, and a detailed siege plan gradually took shape.

At two o'clock the next day, the rumble of war drums sounded outside Nanyang City. The Tang Army's camp slowly opened, and trebuchets were pulled by strong oxen and slowly came out of the camp. One after another, the Tang Army lined up and walked on the trebuchets. On both sides of the machine, soon, 30,000 troops lined up on the battlefield.

Li Ye immediately stood five hundred steps away from the city wall, looking at Nanyang City coldly.

Twenty heavy trebuchets were ready. In the dark night, they looked like twenty huge beasts, squatting on the ground and looking coldly at the city wall. In front of the trebuchets was a huge triangular baffle, three hundred paces away. It's not a safe distance, many long-range weapons can shoot at it, especially from a high position, which gives you an advantage.

Eight thousand soldiers were also gathered on the south wall. Similarly, twenty medium-sized trebuchets were also lined up on the wall. They mainly threw Juntian thunder. Once the Tang army launched an attack, the Juntian thunder would explode in the Tang army's crowd.

Tian Chengsi also discovered serious problems with the city wall three days ago, but he was too late to repair it. However, Tian Chengsi was experienced and immediately ordered his soldiers to load tens of thousands of bags of soil. If there was a crisis, there would be bags of mud to block the city.

What really troubled Tian Chengsi was not the city wall, but the inability to catch the people. All the people in the city ran away, and the remaining thousands of old and weak were also angered. I, An Qingxu, ordered the massacre, leaving almost no people in the city, and no people. , all logistics had to be done by the soldiers themselves, which made the soldiers complain and miserable.

At this moment, a soldier shouted: "The opponent's trebuchet is making noise!"

The huge throwing rod of the trebuchet has been pulled back. The trebuchet is three feet high and the throwing rod is about five feet long. Four oxen pull the winch. The winch rotates rattlingly. Several soldiers lift a large stone weighing one hundred kilograms into the throwing bag. Inside.

Following the command of coach Li Ye, twenty heavy trebuchets were launched at the same time, ‘Bang! Bang! Bang! "The long throwing rod swung the boulders out, and the boulders hovered in the air and shot towards the city wall with a roar. The target of the trebuchet was the city wall.

"Bang! Bang!" A dull sound of impact sounded. Each blow weighed thousands of kilograms. The city wall shook violently, dust and stones fell, and a large black hole was smashed into a weak spot on the west side.

The boulders roared and hit, and the soldiers on the top of the city were so frightened that they squatted down, but none of the boulders hit them, and they all hit the city wall firmly.

Tian Chengsi suddenly understood that the opponent was going to smash down the city wall, and he shouted: "Launch the heavy crossbow, launch the Juntianlei!"

The fifty winch crossbows on the top of the city also fired at the same time. Each winch crossbow fired seven heavy crossbow arrows, densely shooting at the Tang army's position. The powerful heavy crossbow arrows crackled on the baffles and heavy trebuchets. At the same time, twenty medium-sized trebuchets were also launched, shooting the smoking Juntian laser towards the Tang army's position.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Jun Tianlei exploded continuously, but unfortunately the distance was not enough. The explosion was about fifty steps away from the trebuchet position. Even so, the Tang army was shocked into a cold sweat. The Tang army soldiers shouted and fell down one after another.

But an accident still happened. Two healthy cows were frightened and ran violently, dragging down a tall trebuchet. Several cows were shot through the body by heavy crossbow arrows and fell to the ground. Li Ye immediately shouted: "Drag all the cattle away!"

The soldiers quickly took away the cattle and replaced them with human labor. Each heavy trebuchet was protected by dozens of soldiers holding large shields. The soldiers pushed the winch and began to creak and wind up. The second round of boulders was launched into the sky. Go straight to the city wall and smash it.