Chapter 1253: Each Has His Own Support

As Fazheng said, it is impossible for the Tang army to attack the city just by relying on catapults and wells. In the end, the outcome of the war must be determined by the actual fighting of the soldiers. If you can defeat the enemy without fighting, that is possible. Many prerequisites.

After half a day of fighting, the catapults finally stopped attacking. After the siege channel was filled in, the Tang soldiers who had been prepared began to attack the city head. Nearly two thousand soldiers guarded the siege ladders, battering rams, Lu Gong chariots, trench chariots, etc., and advanced towards the city wall.

"The Tang army is attacking the city!" As the soldiers on guard shouted, the city wall seemed to come alive. Xu Huang gave the order on the chariot, and another group of soldiers climbed onto the city to replace the one on duty just now. Soldiers.

Yang Laoliu was very lucky. During the last round of stone-throwing attacks, he was injured by flying stones. His body was covered in blood, so he withdrew the city wall together with the other injured soldiers. , and other soldiers who were less injured or not injured need to face the Tang army's attack together with the soldiers who climbed the city behind.

Soon, Tang soldiers attacked the city, and the soldiers from both sides fought together. However, the Tang army at the top of the city could only hold on for less than a quarter of an hour before being driven off the city by the swarming coalition soldiers.

In just a quarter of an hour of fighting, the losses of soldiers on both sides exceeded hundreds.

However, the generals on both sides did not hesitate at all. After one group of soldiers withdrew, the other group of soldiers who had been well prepared immediately jumped into the battle.

The battle did not stop until the evening. As the golden sound of the Tang Army's central army rang out, the soldiers of the Tang Army who had been fighting fiercely just now took turns to cover, and withdrew with their injured comrades, and then slowly withdrew while guarding the withdrawn equipment. Out of the attack range of the city.

Then, under the protection of ten thousand cavalry, they withdrew towards their own camp without looking back.

After retreating to the main camp and arranging the army, Tian Yu summoned the generals to discuss matters in the Chinese army's tent.

"What are the losses of the army today?"

"Reporting back to the general, 800 people were killed in the battle and over 1,500 were slightly or seriously injured."

"What about the ordnance losses?"

"Five catapults were damaged, ten wells were lost. More than ten other various equipment were lost."

"General Dugu, how is the progress of the tunnel?"

"Reporting to the general, we are now one mile outside the city wall. It will probably take two to three days to dig into the city, because the closer we get to the city wall, the more careful we must be to prevent being overheard by the defenders."

The loss of soldiers, horses and equipment was within Tian Yu's acceptable range. The loss of about two thousand people in one day was still bearable given the situation of the Tang army.

"The fighting will continue tomorrow. However, there is one thing I need to tell you. That is that the river has begun to thaw. It is estimated that the Peach Blossom Flood will be in the next few days. Now the pontoon bridge on the river has been removed, so during this period we and the domestic people All contacts will be interrupted. Fortunately, the food and grass in Hukou Town is enough for the army for three months. For safety reasons, the general decided to send a school of soldiers back to Hukou tomorrow to strengthen the defense of Hukou Town. At the same time, please ask Hua Hua. The general sent five thousand cavalry to guard the baggage convoy along the way, just in case."

Several generals named by Tian Yu quickly stood up and went out to take orders.

"Everyone, according to the usual practice in previous years, the Peach Flood usually starts at the end of March and ends at the beginning of April. However, this year's Peach Flood has been advanced by nearly ten days, so the end time should be the same. There are a total of twenty days from start to end. The general hopes that the army can break through Dingyang within these twenty days.

The army sent troops to the city. But to achieve this goal, you still need to work together. "

"We are willing to work together with the general to achieve the goal." Everyone agreed in unison;

"Well, let us work hard together!"

The war in Dingyang was carried out step by step every day. Although the battle was tragic, the generals on both sides did not have any fluctuations. They just kept changing the soldiers and horses participating in the war.

The people in Shangjun in the city thought they had figured out the Tang army's situation. In addition to attacking by force, they could only dig tunnels to attack. Tian Yu was waiting for news about the partial division. According to the intelligence of the prisoners, if they went around from the north, it should take five to six days. Tian Yu was waiting for this news.

On the third day of the siege, Dugu Ba sent someone to report to Tian Yu that the tunnel had reached between the city wall and the moat. When he asked Tian Yu about his arrangements again, Tian Yu ordered him to stop digging.

What Fazheng and Xu Huang can think of, Pang Tong and Tian Yu can also think of, so they are sure that the defenders in the city are already behind the city wall, because this is currently the only way to break the tunnel attack method. The width of Dingyang City was only less than two miles, and Dugu Ba finally selected only three tunnels. Tian Yu did not want all three tunnels to be discovered by the defenders, so he had to be more cautious as he went to the back, and he was prepared to When the partial division appeared in the west of Dingyang City, they cooperated with the massive attack from the east and finally entered the city in one fell swoop.

Just when Tian Yu ordered Dugu Ba's digging army to carefully advance the tunnel, in the ravine hundreds of steps north of the ridge north of Dingyang City, the Tang Army's partial division had arrived in the valley at the foot of the ridge, but facing The mountain ridge so close was helpless.

In a canopy bush in the ravine, several figures were staring closely at the mountain ridge hundreds of steps away. Several people had been watching here for more than a quarter of an hour, but they still could not think of a way to climb the mountain ridge. .

After a long time, the leader said dejectedly: "Let's go, let's retreat first and see the situation of the other routes."

After that, several people carefully withdrew from the crown trees, went around behind a huge rock, and then turned and walked towards a valley hundreds of steps away.

As the few people approached the valley, a soldier came out from a cluster of crown trees at the mouth of the valley, saluted and said to the few people: "Captain Liu, the other captains have returned."

Captain Liu nodded with a gloomy face, and walked into the valley without saying a word. As soon as you enter the valley, you can see that there are thousands of Tang soldiers hiding inside. This is the Tang army's detachment that left the camp and wanted to go around to the west of Dingyang City.

The leading general is the commander of the Iron Eagle Sharp Warrior, Captain Liu Shang. According to the organization of the Tang Army, the generals of the Guards are one level higher than the generals of the ordinary combat battalion, so the captain of the thousand in the ordinary combat battalion is the captain in the Guards.

This time, Tian Yu formed a detachment. In addition to the Iron Eagle Warriors and the Yuanrong Crossbowmen, he also selected a group of elite soldiers from the three camps. Their leaders were Liu Shang, the leader of the Iron Eagle Warriors, Yu Xin, the leader of the Yuanrong Crossbowmen, Ren Fang, the leader of the Yingyang Camp, Yuan Quan, the leader of the Baotao Camp, and Fang Ge, the leader of the Xiongqu Camp.

Before departure, Tian Yu had told several people that Liu Shang would be the main general and Yu Xin would be the deputy general. The other three generals all needed to obey the orders of the two. If the main and deputy generals disagreed, the five people would vote and make a decision.