Chapter 1098: Attack the City
At Fu Mengcha's command, thousands of people were sent from each of the three walls to attack the wall. The first wave of slaves were filling the trenches, and behind them were Xianbei infantrymen holding swords and shields. These infantrymen were divided into teams of dozens of people, carrying a siege ladder more than two meters long, and behind them were thousands of archers. This arrangement was the best attack sequence that Suli and his men could think of based on their own experience of sieges and what they heard from the Han people. Moreover, this offensive arrangement was very effective in their own practice, so both Suli and Fu Mengcha were confident about it.
However, what they didn't know was that the perfect offensive arrangement in their eyes was like a child's play in the eyes of Zheng Xiong and his generals, and it was not worth mentioning at all.
An hour later, the attacking Xianbei people left nearly a thousand corpses under the city wall, and the others fled back to the front in a panic. Fu Mengcha stood in front of Suli with a face full of shame, waiting for Suli's attack. Suli's face was also livid. He did not expect that the attack he had been looking forward to for a long time would have such a result. It can be said that Suli's face was slapped in public. Suppressing the anger in his heart, Suli said to Wu Mengcha: "Isn't it good during the usual drills? Why did this happen today?"
When Fu Mengcha was about to speak, someone next to him suddenly said: "Sir, General Fu Meng's attack this time is actually no problem."
Everyone turned around and saw that it was Murong Hong of the Murong tribe who spoke. He was known as the wise man of the Murong tribe and was one of the few generals in the Murong tribe who was good at fighting. It is said that he is proficient in Chinese studies and highly respects the culture of the Han people.
"Why does General Murong say that?"
"You know, I like Han culture very much. A few years ago, I got a Han military book. The method of attacking a city described in the book is basically the same as what General Fu Meng did. So I think there is nothing wrong with General Fu Meng's method. As for not attacking the top of the city, in my opinion, this is as it should be. You know, the military book says that even in a war between Han people, it is impossible to attack the top of the city in one go. The fastest may take three to five days, and the slowest may take half a year or even several years."
Murong Hong's words made the Xianbei generals look incredible. The battle on the grassland is very simple, and it only takes three or two days. If it is faster, it will take one or two hours. If it really takes a year and a half, what will the army eat?
Seeing the incredulous looks of the others, Murong Hong ignored them and continued, "My Lord, generals, think about it. In the past, when the great Xianbei warriors attacked such a city, how many lives of warriors had to be sacrificed in the first round of attack to achieve the result of General Fu Meng this time? And this time, how much did General Fu Meng pay?"
When everyone heard this, they all realized that the generals present were all generals who had followed Suli in battles for many years, or generals from various tribes who had experienced wars. They all understood the price to pay for attacking Han cities. Thinking about Fu Mengcha's first round of attack, although he failed to attack the city wall, he successfully filled the moat outside the city, and the soldiers also launched an attack. Although it failed, it only cost a thousand people.
If it were in the past, the Xianbei army would have to pay at least three to five thousand people to attack such a city wall, but Fu Mengcha only had more than one or two thousand casualties, which can be said to have made great progress.
"That's right," Yuwen Zhi, the young patriarch of the Yuwen tribe, stepped forward and said, "General Fumeng did not try his best, but our soldiers are not used to the Han people's tactics. My lord, the Yuwen tribe requests the next round of attack, but General Fumeng needs to send people to teach the soldiers of the Yuwen tribe how to cooperate."
Yuwen Zhi is the eldest son of Yuwen Cheng, the patriarch of the Yuwen tribe under Suli, and the eldest brother of Yuwen Sheng who was killed by Huang Xu a few years ago. It was also because Huang Xu killed Yuwen Sheng, the most promising Yuwen tribe, and Yuwen Cheng personally led the army to follow Suli to seek revenge but ended up in a great defeat.
So in the end, Yuwen Cheng once again set his sights on training his eldest son. After several years of careful teaching, the eldest son Yuwen Zhi was finally able to let Ding Wencheng lead an army alone, so this time, Yuwen Cheng took him to the south together so that he could learn more.
After hearing Murong Hong's words, Yuwen Cheng felt that this was a great opportunity, so he immediately winked at his son and asked him to come forward and fight, so Yuwen Zhi spoke up. Otherwise, with his father present, how could Yuwen Zhi dare to do such a thing?
Murong Hong knew Yuwen Cheng's little thoughts, but he did not stop him. Since you, the Yuwen tribe, are looking for death, I will not stop you. Do you really think that training soldiers for siege is such a simple thing?
Others didn't understand, but Suli understood the key point very well. He shook his head and said, "General Murong's words make sense. We are impatient. The Yuwen tribe doesn't need to rush to participate in the attack. The soldiers of our tribe can't even attack the city wall, and it will be even more difficult for other tribes that have not been trained. So in the next few days, Fu Mengcha will still lead the attack. The other generals will carefully observe his tactics and teach them to their subordinates and soldiers after returning to their respective armies. Anyway, it's only September now, and there's no rush. Besides, the rear camp has already been stationed in the two Han towns in the north. We will use this town to practice the soldiers first, so that the army can be more familiar with how to attack the city, so as to lose fewer troops in the subsequent siege battles."
When everyone heard this, they all understood what Suli meant. For a moment, there was a wave of praise, saying that Lord Suli was compassionate to his people and was worthy of being a Lord.
On the top of the city wall, the Tang soldiers saw the Xianbei people retreating like a tide, leaving a field of corpses. The soldiers all cheered loudly. Unlike the joy of ordinary soldiers, Zheng Xiong's face flashed with a trace of worry. He had been on the battlefield for a long time and had seen something unusual in this round of attack by the Xianbei people, because this attack was completely different from the previous Xianbei people's tactics, and it was faintly accompanied by the attack methods of the Han army.
Ordinary soldiers only saw the Xianbei people being repelled by their own army, but Zheng Xiong knew that the Xianbei people were no longer as easy to deal with as before. If he guessed correctly, the next attack of the Xianbei people should come soon, and the further they go, the smoother their attacks will be, which means that the pressure on their own defenders will be greater and greater.