Chapter 33: On the eve of the siege
Original at the same time when Li Yuanji was checking the Sui Army camp at the top of the city, Yang Yuanqing was also observing the Taiyuan city wall in the military camp two miles away. He had been watching this thick and strong tall city wall for ten days. He knew in his heart that he
I can conquer this city, but he has to pay a heavy price.
As dense as an ant colony, it was smashed into blood by a catapult. It used several ladders or nest cars to rush towards the city, and suffered thousands of casualties. That was a stupid thing that the Turks did.
Yang Yuanqing never sieges the city like this.
Yang Yuanqing has rich experience in defending the city. He knows where the weakest part of the city is? His eyes are on the city gate. Yes, for any city, the city gate is its weakest part, its cover gate.
The city guards also knew the weakness of the city gate, so they designed a moat and a high suspension bridge. The suspension bridge was like the outer armor of the city gate. If you want to attack the city gate, you must first break the suspension bridge and control the hub of the suspension bridge.
At the top of the city, there are two huge iron chain winches, and two iron chains as thick as wrists pull up the suspension bridge high.
But no matter what kind of outer armor the city gate is worn, it is never as thick as the city wall, and it is always the weakest part of the entire city.
The second is the siege opportunity. Yang Yuanqing knew very well how to choose the siege opportunity. Even if there was no time, he would create the opportunity. He let the Taiyuan defenders rest for ten days, just like a lion who also took a nap, this city
The defenders had gone from nervousness to numbness towards the Fengzhou army. When their defenses began to become a little loose, the time came.
Yang Yuanqing had already received news that Li Shimin led a 50,000 army into Hedong, but they could not pass Huoyi City, so they could only take a long way to Longquan County or Shangdang County to rescue Taiyuan. In that way, they would have to spend at least four more days, at least ten days later.
Only then can we reach Taiyuan City, and there is still plenty of time. Yang Yuanqing looked at the sky. The sky was cloudy. Tonight will be a dark night without stars and moon.
At this time, a fortification lieutenant rushed to Yang Yuanqing to report. "Report to the general manager, the tunnel has been completed and can be passed smoothly."
"very good!"
Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered: "Appoint Yang Sien and Qin Qiong to see me?"
After a moment, Yang Sien and Qin Qiong arrived, and they stepped forward to salute, "See the General Manager!"
Yang Yuanqing looked at them and said slowly: "I want to tell you two to come over. The siege will start at the first update tonight. According to my prior arrangement, the important task of attacking Taiyuan City tonight will be handed over to you.
Now.”
The two of them were excited at the same time and saluted: "I will definitely capture Taiyuan City with a humble position!"
Yang Yuanqing nodded. "If you pass on my order, the first person to enter Taiyuan City will be promoted to three levels. You will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold."
Yang Yuanqing also looked forward to the moment of siege. At this time, his eyes turned to Taiyuan City again. I wonder what surprise the Pei family could bring to him?
As the night fell, dark clouds drooped, covering the stars and the moon. The thick night saw the city of Taiyuan. Due to the attack on the Sui army in Fengzhou, a curfew was imposed in Taiyuan. Pedestrians were not allowed to take to the streets after dark.
A group of soldiers patrolled the empty streets, and the footsteps of "Click!Click!" were particularly clear in the darkness. At this time, a horseman appeared on the corner of the street, followed by five or six servants. They were obviously not in the army.
But there was a curfew on the street. I was not panicked, and I walked slowly calmly.
"stop!"
A group of patrol soldiers discovered them, rushed up and surrounded them, aiming their spears at the pedestrians who dared to appear at night.
"Your dog eyes blind!"
The man riding a horse was extremely angry and drew his sword and pointed it at the captain in the leadership. "Look at who I am?"
The captain recognized him as Wang Huan, the son of the prefect Wang Xu. He is also the eldest grandson of the Wang family in Taiyuan. He is less than 30 years old, but he is very capable. He is the representative of the Wang family's affairs. There is no one in Taiyuan City.
Know him.
"So it's the prince!"
The captain cursed inwardly, but did not dare to offend him. He waved his hand and ordered the soldiers to put down their spears, and said with a smile: "The main reason is that there is a curfew, and people are not allowed to go out at night to prevent the Fengzhou army from being in a strict manner."
"Then am I a Fengzhou Army?" Wang Huan asked coldly.
"Young Master Wang was joking, how could you be the Fengzhou military officer?"
Having said that, the lieutenant still did not order the soldiers to give way. Li Yuanji issued a strict order. All those who dared to go to the streets at night were arrested. The lieutenant hoped that Wang Huan could give him something to explain to him.
He couldn't say it, so he could only let Wang Huan understand himself. Wang Huan understood what he meant, took out a silver medal and waved it in front of the captain, "This is OK!"
The silver medal is the passive card of the prefect Wang Xu. It can be unobstructed in the city without being subject to curfew. The captain immediately smiled and said, "It turns out that the young master has a passive silver medal, so there is no problem."
He immediately ordered, "Get out of the way!"
The soldiers made way out one after another. Wang Huan snorted coldly and urged the horse to move forward. The soldiers watched their backs disappear from afar and disappeared into the night. A soldier whispered: "What's so arrogant."
!”
The captain kicked him hard, "Don't cause trouble for me, the Taiyuan Wang family is not something you can afford."
Wang Huan soon came to a mansion. His subordinates went up and knocked on the door. A small window opened on the door. When the people inside saw that it was Wang Huan, they quickly opened the door and let him in.
"Young Master, the master is waiting for you!"
Wang Huan nodded and walked quickly into the mansion. The owner of the mansion was named Xue Shen. He was a famous local tyrant in Taiyuan City. He had hundreds of servants under his command and could gather a large number of gangsters. He was a man in Taiyuan City.
A force that cannot be ignored.
Xue Shen was about forty years old and had a strong and strong waist. He and his two brothers worked step by step from the son of a blacksmith to become a powerful man in Taiyuan City.
Xue Shen knew very well that although they were powerful people, they could not afford to offend the government, and the government could not afford to offend the Wang family. Being able to do things for the Wang family was not only their honor, but also their opportunity.
Xue Shen and his brother Xue Jing welcomed Wang Huan into the secret room of Xue Mansion. The three of them sat down. Wang Huan asked: "My father wants to know, are you ready?"
"We are ready. We can gather more than a thousand people. As long as we start siege outside, we can launch a riot to cooperate."
Wang Huan nodded, "Also, how many people know that this matter is related to our Wang family?"
"What's the matter?" Xue Shen didn't understand what Wang Huan meant.
"It's the Wang family who asked you for this matter." Wang Huan said a little displeased.
Xue Shen quickly patted his chest, "Please rest assured. Only our brothers know about this. We didn't tell anyone, and even the third brother didn't know about it. We just told him that Yi assisted the Fengzhou army and would never pull the Wang family out.
.”
Wang Huan was quite satisfied with him and said, "I guess the Fengzhou army will not attack Taiyuan City for too long. You must be ready to respond at any time. If there are any difficulties, you can find the Wang family."
"Thank you, young master. There are no difficulties at the moment, we are all ready."
"that's all!"
Wang Huan's tone was quite cold. He looked down on the powerful people like the Xue family in his bones. In his eyes, these so-called local tyrants were just the leaders of rascals. The Wang family actually wanted to beg them for help. He despised him and couldn't sit still for a moment.
, stood up and said, "I just came over to confirm. My father was still waiting for me to report, so I said goodbye."
Wang Huan bowed and stood up to say goodbye. The Xue brothers kept sending him out of the door. Seeing him disappearing into the darkness, Xue Jing let out a low voice. He could feel the arrogance in Wang Huan's bones.
Xue Shen had a serious expression. He slowly walked back to the secret room, as if he had some worries. Xue Jing asked in a low voice: "Does the eldest brother think the Wang family has no sincerity?"
Xue Shen shook his head, "It's not that he has no sincerity to us, but that he has no sincerity to Yang Yuanqing. The Wang family does not allow us to disclose our relationship with him. I think they are afraid that Li Yuan will know that the Wang family helps Yang Yuanqing to seize Taiyuan, and the Wang family is quite a bit of a rat.
end."
"What should we do?"
Xue Jing said with some concern: "Then do we still want to help Yang Yuanqing?"
Xue Shen sneered, "Why not help, but we must let Yang Yuanqing understand that helping him has nothing to do with the Wang family."
Time is getting closer and closer. The lights in the study room of the left-behind mansion were bright, and Li Yuanji sat in front of the couch and stared at the ground with eyes. His confidant, Yuwen Xin, the military officer, whispered to him.
"Mr. Qin has passed Hedong. Once he settled in Taiyuan City, he will be the credit for preserving Taiyuan City. The credit for the young master's previous fight against Liu Wuzhou and other things will be wiped out by him. More importantly, he will collect various types from Taiyuan City.
If the evidence that is not conducive to the young master is reported to the prime minister, the young master's future will be over."
Yuwen Xin was trying hard to persuade Li Yuanji to abandon the city and escape. Although Li Yuanji himself wanted to abandon the city and escape, he also knew that if he did this, his father would not forgive him. He frowned and said, "But I am like this."
There is no reason to give up the city, my father can’t spare me.”
Yuwen Xin shook his head, "Young Master is wrong. The power to defend the city is in the hands of Xiahou Duan, but he cannot defend the city. The responsibility should be Xiahou Duan, and it has nothing to do with the young master. At most, the prime minister scolds the young master. He will not
I really punish you, but if the Fengzhou army enters the city and the young master is caught, what are the consequences? Have you ever thought about it? Will the Qin Gong use Yang Yuanqing's hand to kill the young master? He didn't kill Zhiyun at all
He is ruthless, won’t he take advantage of this opportunity to kill someone by using a knife?”
Although Li Yuan strictly prohibited the spread of Li Zhiyun, Li Jiancheng still wrote a letter to tell Li Yuanji, and Li Yuanji told his confidant Yu Wen Xin that this incident became a heart disease of Li Yuanji. On the one hand, he was extremely jealous of his second brother Li Shimin.
My father valued it, but on the other hand, he was afraid that his second brother would attack him at some point.
Li Yuanji was a little moved. Yuwen Xin meant to tell him that if the city was kept, the final contribution was owned by Shimin. If the city could not be kept, then he would be caught by Yang Yuanqing, and Shimin would use Yang Yuanqing's hand to kill him.
.
But even if he can't be killed, his father's position will plummet because of being captured. It doesn't matter whether Taiyuan City can be kept. What's important is that he cannot be captured.
Instead of taking advantage of his second brother Shimin, it would be better to find a way to save himself first. Li Yuanji finally made up his mind, "Okay! I'll leave Taiyuan City first."
Chapter completed!