Chapter 421
According to Tang Yin's order, Le Tian and Ai Jia sent out all their spies to search for ambushes nearby.
After a tense and busy search, the Sky Eye and Ground Net spies did find the enemy's ambush site, but they didn't see any ambushes.
It turned out that when Zhan Wushuang saw Zhuifengjian returning with injuries, he immediately realized that the matter was exposed. He did not delay at the ambush site for long, and immediately issued an order for the entire army to retreat quietly and give up the ambush. When the Sky Eye and Ground Net spies found the ambush site of Zhan Wushuang and his group, the latter had already led his men away for a long time, leaving only some miscellaneous items.
Although the ambush was not found in the end, it was certain that there was an ambush. In addition, Tang Yin was injured again, and the Tianyuan Army became cautious and no longer dared to be careless. When marching forward, they also took every step carefully and sent out a large number of spies in advance for reconnaissance. In this way, the marching speed was slow, but it could ensure that the entire army was safe.
After Tang Yin was injured, the Tianyuan Army marched through the mountains for three days. However, during these three days, the Tianyuan Army only advanced 200 miles, which was far slower than the speed when they came. Fortunately, the whole army was cautious and did not leave any chances for the enemy. The journey was smooth.
Next, the Tianyuan Army will face Lishan City in Gaochuan County.
Gaochuan County is not small in area, but sparsely populated. There are only two counties, three cities, and four towns in the entire county, with a population of less than 300,000. Because it is located in the mountains, it is relatively closed and transportation is inconvenient. The industry and commerce of Gaochuan County are very backward, but agriculture is very prosperous. It is also a large grain-producing county in Feng State.
Lishan City is the county seat of Chuannan County in Gaochuan County. The city is located between two mountains and one water. Lishan is on the east side, and Lishan City is named after this mountain. Lishan is on the west side and Panshui is on the north. The location in Gaochuan County is unique and can be called a transportation hub.
If the Tianyuan Army wants to attack the county city of Zhangyu, it is imperative to capture Lishan City first. Only by taking Lishan City first can logistics and support be guaranteed. Now that Tang Yin is injured, Ziying is basically in charge of all military affairs. He commands the Tianyuan Army to set up camp in an open area five miles away from Lishan City.
Ziying's camp is very solid, and everything is done in a strict and comprehensive manner. Since Gaochuan County has many mountains and forests, the Tianyuan Army uses local materials and cuts down a large amount of wood to consolidate the wall of the camp. No matter how many troops the enemy has, whether they dare to sneak attack the main camp of the Tianyuan Army, it is always right to make a good defense system first.
There is strength in numbers. The Tianyuan Army only took half a day to build such a large camp. This camp is a large camp with a small camp. The North Camp, East Camp, West Camp, and South Camp guard the four directions respectively. In the middle is the Central Army Camp. No matter which side is attacked, there are reinforcements from all sides, which is as solid as a rock.
Central Army Camp, Central Army Tent.
Tang Yin and his generals Ziying, Shangguan Yuanrang, Zhanhu, Letian, Aijia, Chengjin and others gathered here. In the center of the central army tent, there was a long soft couch. Tang Yin was half lying on it in a coat, and everyone stood on both sides. On the ground in the middle was a large map, which clearly outlined the internal and external terrain of Lishan City. The markings were so detailed that even a small hill was not missed.
Tang Yin's injuries had recovered a lot, and his face was rosy, but his body was still a little weak. He lay on the couch, one hand resting his chin, the other hand gently tapping the couch, his eyes fixed on the map on the ground, turning around, and asked casually: "Have you scouted the defenders of Lishan City?" "Yes, sir." Ai Jia stood up, took a step forward, and said with a cupped hand: "According to reports, the defenders of Lishan are only a few hundred old, weak, sick and disabled." Usually, in Tang Yin's central military tent, there are no chairs, and the generals also discuss military secrets while standing, and basically things are finalized in a few words. However, now that Tang Yin is injured and can only lie on the couch, he can't ask the generals to stand, and he doesn't like to look up at others.
"Hundreds of old, weak, sick and disabled?" Tang Yin couldn't help but shook his head and laughed, turned his head to look at Ziying, and asked: "General Ziying, didn't you say that Lishan City is the key point of Gaochuan County, and if we take down Lishan City, we will be equivalent to taking down half of Gaochuan County? Why is it that Zhong Tian only arranged hundreds of old, weak, sick and disabled people to defend such a key place?" Ziying frowned secretly, thought for a moment, and said with a cupped hand: "My Lord, Lishan City is small, and the city wall is quite low, and the terrain on both sides is high, which is easy to attack but difficult to defend. Even if Zhong Tian puts all his troops in Lishan City, he may not be able to resist our army's first round of strong attack. I guess Zhong Tian has withdrawn all his troops to the county city Zhangyu, ready to defend the county city to the death." "Oh!" Tang Yin nodded thoughtfully.
At this time, Shangguan Yuanrang frowned and asked: "General Ziying, since the defense of Lishan City is so weak and within easy reach, why bother to mobilize so many troops to build such a large camp? Wouldn't it be better for our army to directly attack Lishan City and set up camp?" Ziying laughed and said, "I just said that Lishan City is easy to attack but difficult to defend, but its location is extremely important. It is related to the future logistics support of our army. With this camp, we can echo each other with Lishan City. In the future, when our army goes deep into the hinterland of Gaochuan County to fight, we don't have to worry about the Lishan City behind us being attacked by the enemy!" "So that's it!" Shangguan Yuanrang thought for a moment, nodded, bowed to Ziying and smiled, "General Ziying is really far-sighted!" "Haha, General Yuanrang, you're polite!" Ziying bowed humbly in return.
Tang Yin also secretly praised Ziying. Ziying's ability was beyond doubt. He was definitely an excellent commander. He smiled and snapped his fingers to draw everyone's attention back, and asked, "Which general is willing to lead the troops to attack Lishan City?" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhanhu threw off his battle robe, strode out of the line, took two steps forward, knelt on one knee, saluted, and said in a loud voice, "Sir, I am willing to go!" Seeing that it was Zhanhu who volunteered, Tang Yin was happy and raised his head and said, "Okay! Zhanhu, I will give you 10,000 brothers. Within two hours, take down Lishan City!" "Yes! I will be back soon. Sir, just wait for the victory report here!" After Zhanhu finished speaking, he stood up and strode out of the tent.
After Zhan Hu left, Tang Yin rolled his eyes again and said to Ziying: "General Ziying, tell the soldiers to prepare more wood! I don't think Zhong Tian will leave us boats to cross the river." Ziying smiled and replied: "My lord, I have already given instructions. Now the soldiers are rushing to build rafts for crossing the river." Tang Yin looked at Ziying with shining eyes. He felt that with him around, he didn't have to worry about anything at all, even...
He laughed and said casually as if nothing had happened: "General Ziying really thinks ahead of me in everything. With General Ziying here, I seem a little redundant in the army." This sounded like a compliment on the surface, but Ziying shuddered and immediately stood up from the chair, knelt down and said: "My lord, you want to kill me, I will never dare!" "General Ziying, what are you doing? Get up quickly." Tang Yin showed a puzzled expression on his face and waved to Ziying who was kneeling on the ground.
Ziying sighed, and seeing Tang Yin waving his hands to him again and again, he slowly stood up and sat back in his chair. Ziying was a loyal person, but he was definitely not a fool. Tang Yin's words just now made him suddenly think of the principle that merits overshadow the master. From ancient times to the present, there are countless generals in and outside the Feng Kingdom who have been defeated by these four words. At this time, he also became alert.
The situation in Lishan City was similar to the reconnaissance of Tianyan and Diwang. There were only 700 defenders in the city, and they were all old and weak soldiers. When Zhanhu led 10,000 soldiers to attack, the defenders of Lishan City did not even make a decent resistance, and raised the white flag to surrender. The people in the city welcomed the Feng Army to enter the city. Not only did they not have any hostility, but many people also took the initiative to send food and drinks.
Zhanhu did not refuse the kindness of the people, and accepted all the things. He just quietly passed down the order that the food and drinks sent by the people were not allowed to be eaten in case they were poisonous. Zhan Hu is not a reckless man with strong limbs and simple mind. Regardless of whether the people's welcome is sincere or false, if the enemy army hides among the people, the consequences will be disastrous.
After Zhan Hu led the crowd into the city, he went straight to the county governor's mansion, which was already deserted. He left a large number of soldiers to control the county capital, and then led more than a thousand soldiers to escort the prisoners and return to their own camp to hand over the order to Tang Yin.
Tang Yin did not make things difficult for these Peng troops who surrendered voluntarily. He issued some silver and directly dismissed these hundreds of old, weak and disabled people. Then he left 10,000 Feng troops to guard the camp and led other soldiers into Lishan City.
As Tang Yin and Ziying had estimated in advance, the ships of Lishan City had all been destroyed when the main force of the Peng army retreated. If they wanted to cross the Panshui River, they had to build their own ships.
Although it is relatively simple to make rafts, in order to transport the 60,000 Feng army along with the war horses, food and supplies they brought with them, the number of rafts needed must be at least hundreds. It would take a long time to make hundreds of rafts, so the Tianyuan army was forced to stay in Lishan City.
Fortunately, after the people of Lishan City learned that the Feng army needed rafts to cross the river, they spontaneously organized themselves and assisted the Feng army in building rafts, which helped Tang Yin a lot.
After five days of hard work, the Tianyuan army had built 300 rafts. At this time, Tang Yin planned to lead his army across the river.
That evening, Tang Yin sent someone to find Ziying and asked him to come to the county capital to discuss military affairs with him.
After receiving Tang Yin's summons, Ziying hurried to the county capital and met Tang Yin in the bedroom where Tang Yin stayed.
After Ziying finished his greetings and stood up, Tang Yin asked with a smile: "General Ziying, we have already made 300 rafts, right?" "Yes, sir!" "We have been delayed in Lishan City for five days. I don't want to delay any longer. Do you think... can we cross the river with these 300 rafts?"