Chapter 544 Control

Chapter 544 Control

Chapter 544 Control

After receiving news from all sides, Shao Xun remained unmoved.

Things like thousands of Linghu Ni's troops joining up with Shi Le, Hu Yanmo harassing Anyang and Yecheng, Shi Hu advancing towards Chaoge and Linlu, and a small group of Xiongnu scouts appearing on the south bank of the Yellow River, could not divert his attention at all.

When you want to do something, the enemy will certainly try to stop you and interfere with you in every way. The best way to deal with it is to destroy the things that the enemy cares about the most, and then take the initiative.

On the tenth day of the tenth month, he led 10,000 Silver Spear Army and auxiliary troops (military farming army) to Xindu and personally supervised the battle on the front line.

When he climbed onto the high platform, he saw huge camps in the distance.

From east to west, it stretches for seven or eight miles, with layer upon layer, seemingly endless.

Fire-prevention trenches were dug between the camps.

There were earth walls in front and behind each row of camps, with only a few trench gates left for entry and exit.

Every seven, eight or ten camps were divided into an area, which was commanded and dispatched by a general.

There are also cavalry activities on the periphery to prevent people from suddenly approaching from behind - in fact, their greater role is to capture deserters.

About two miles south of the city, hundreds of people collapsed in a noisy manner.

The horn sounded, and sharp arrows flew through the air, knocking down dozens of the fastest runners.

The defeated soldiers fell to their knees, tears streaming down their faces.

They dared not resist, because if they did they would die and their families would be implicated.

So they could only kneel down and beg for mercy, begging their superiors to be kind and let them go back.

The sound of horse hooves rumbled as a team of light cavalry rushed out from behind the trench gate, slowly accelerating across the plain.

The defeated soldiers were in a commotion and stood up one after another.

The light cavalry approached quickly and unleashed a hail of arrows without any suspense.

The defeated soldiers cried for their parents and scattered in panic.

The cavalry chased after them, using horn bows, swords and spears to drive away the last 300 or so fleeing soldiers, gathering them together and then circling around them.

The defeated soldiers looked at the cavalry, then at the well-organized camp behind them, and then turned their heads to look at the Anping County City.

Some people beat their chests and stamped their feet: "My son is still young, let me go home."

Someone kept wiping away tears: "I'm only fifteen years old, I don't want to die."

Some people murmured numbly: "I have never had a full meal in my life. I have been driven around by others."

Others looked distraught and silent, apparently accepting their fate.

The cavalry fired another hail of arrows.

Drums sounded in the rear, and two thousand men came out of the camp. They were the newly arrived farmhands of the Liu family in Pingyuan. They received the order to attack the city and to kill the fleeing soldiers on the way.

The front team goes to die, and the rear team kills the front team. This is an old trick since ancient times.

Some of the defeated soldiers turned around and rushed forward in a daze.

Another group of people shouted in grief and anger, and then rushed forward as if to vent their anger.

Most people just follow the crowd, even if it means going to die. But when they think of being with hundreds of people, death doesn't seem so scary anymore.

The ladder truck had been burned.

There were more than a dozen broken-down artillery vehicles lying on the road.

A tall parapet collapsed to the ground, with several soldiers with broken bones and tendons trapped underneath.

There were even more silent corpses with various causes of death.

Some were killed by arrows, some old and some new. Some were killed many days ago and not buried yet, while others died today.

Some died from swords and spears, which is a relatively old story, because in recent days, the enemy has lost the ability to rush out of the city.

Some died in boiling water. No matter how brave you are, or how many layers of heavy armor you wear, it is difficult to survive if someone pours boiling water over your head.

Some died in the flames, especially at the base of the city walls, where they were piled up layer upon layer, almost melting together.

There are also deaths from gold juice and falling rocks...

The Han soldiers and the mixed Hu people defending the city used almost all means and tried their best to defend the city. They might have been hesitant at first, but as the casualties of the attackers increased, they really dared not surrender, fearing that the city would be massacred.

But the battle has been going on till today and they are exhausted.

All kinds of defensive equipment had been used up, and the city walls were mostly damaged, but there were not enough repair materials, so they had to demolish the houses and make rough repairs.

The soldiers who dared to fight suffered heavy casualties, and the remaining people were filled with fear and some of them have already fled.

More than half a month has passed since the attack and defense of the outer pavilion barrier began in mid-to-late September. Both sides have killed corpses all over the ground. No one is not terrified. No one is not scared.

The most despairing thing was that the outer reinforcements were never able to arrive and were repelled from a distance by the Jin army's infantry and cavalry. They had no choice but to retreat back to Boling again, relying on Shi Le for mutual support.

Reinforcements continued to arrive from the attacking side.

The first group of people who suffered heavy casualties have already retreated, and the second group of fresh troops have replaced them. They have always maintained relatively high morale and used human lives to wear down their will to resist bit by bit.

Finally, on the tenth day of October, they couldn't stand it anymore...

More than 300 defeated soldiers, with tears in their eyes and the belief that they would die, picked up the simple ladders scattered on the ground and climbed up to the top of the city wall.

Arrows fell from the top of the city from time to time, causing some casualties, but it seemed not as frequent as before.

The defeated soldiers seemed to be unaware of anything. Under the pressure of Liu's farmhands, they had no room for hesitation and climbed up the long ladder.

There was no boiling water, no golden juice, no falling rocks, and even fewer arrows. There was only the increasing noise from the top of the city. When they were still two or three steps away from the top of the city, resistance finally appeared.

Someone used a fork to push the ladder away from the top of the city wall, causing it to tilt and fall.

"Bang!" A long ladder fell down, and more than a dozen defeated soldiers fell to the ground and were unable to get up for a long time.

Liu's troops arrived at the foot of the city and shot arrows at the top of the city, killing several guards who leaned out.

"Kill!" The first defeated soldier who climbed the city wall saw the spears and axes coming towards him and knew that he had no chance of survival. In desperation, he grabbed the spear shaft that had pierced his body and pulled it hard.

The enemy soldiers stumbled and fell down the city wall with him.

The second person who climbed the city wall had half of his head chopped off by an axe.

The third person to climb the city wall brandished a dagger and injured one person before he died.

The fourth person to ascend the city...

More than 300 defeated soldiers were wiped out in almost an instant.

Liu's farmhands cleared obstacles on the road and pushed the ladder truck, and soon arrived at the foot of the city.

"Snap!" The hook firmly fixed the top of the wall.

The guards chopped wildly with axes, and the archers below the city shot arrows desperately, and people on both sides kept falling.

Liu's farmhands rushed up the ladder frantically.

Looking down from the top of the city, there were densely packed heads of people.

Their faces were ferocious and they were yelling loudly, both to intimidate the enemy and to give themselves courage.

Looking down from the city wall, there were more than a dozen ladder trucks lined up at the foot of the city wall, emitting the scent of fresh wood and carrying a strong murderous aura. Countless soldiers poured out from the belly of the trucks and rushed forward along the ladders.

What a grand scene!
When you walk in the countryside of Hebei, you often don’t see a single person for a long time. All you see are either piles of bones or dilapidated villages.

But at this moment, under the city of Anping, there was such a dense crowd of people...

The land of Hebei was devastated. Those who survived the ten-year war began a new round of elimination. Perhaps only the luckier ones were qualified to survive.

"The East City has been broken!" A shout was heard from inside the city.

The defenders who were fighting hard on the city wall were panicked after hearing this.

After a large number of Liu's farmhands were killed and wounded in the first wave, the second wave of Liu's elite troops attacked, taking advantage of the fact that the defenders had been fighting for a long time and were exhausted. Coincidentally, they also received the news that the East City had been breached, which greatly boosted their morale.

The defenders in the south city gradually couldn't hold on any longer.

"Kill!" The last surviving defeated soldier hugged the enemy and rolled down the road.

Behind him, more and more Liu clan soldiers and farmhands rushed up and drove the defenders off the city wall little by little.

The city was in chaos.

No one knew who opened the north gate, and countless infantry and cavalry rushed out in panic, fleeing to the north.

Their escape further undermined the already chaotic morale of the army.

There was almost no organized resistance in the city, and people were fighting on their own everywhere. In fact, they were fighting just to escape with their families.

"The city is under the city." The staff members following Shao Xun congratulated him one after another.

"Yang Pengzu has made new contributions." Shao Xun retracted his gaze and said, "He should be rewarded with a large and rich county."

The first ones to attack the city wall were the Nanyang soldiers brought by Yang Dan. They were really brave.

Since this group of people moved north, they have experienced many battles and have improved very quickly. Their combat effectiveness is obvious to all.

With two thousand elite troops from noble families as the backbone, supplemented by several thousand strong men, they were originally a bit disorganized, but after fighting for several months, a group of old and weak were killed and wounded, and only the good soldiers remained.

He had already decided that Yang Dan would stay in Hebei to serve as an official.

The governor of Qinghe was transferred to another place, and Qinghe County was given to Yang Dan. From now on, live a peaceful life in Hebei.

A messenger suddenly arrived, dismounted, and reported loudly: "Mingsir, the bandits have fled in large numbers, and the Yicong Army has sent troops to pursue them. Generals Yang, Zhang, You, and Bo, please punish the bandits separately to serve as a warning to others."

The words were very vague, but in fact they were requests for permission to burn, kill and loot.

Shao Xun was silent for a while.

At this time, your control over the troops will be tested.

If the Silver Spear Army or the Black Shadow Army were attacking the city, Shao Xun could refute it with just one sentence.

But the ones who requested the massacre at this time were Yang Dan, Zhang Chai, You Lun, Bo Sheng and others, who represented the Nanyang soldiers, the fortress owner, the refugee leader and the beggars respectively. They were not Shao Xun's direct troops, had no prestige and no support from the people.

You can certainly suppress it by force, and they may reluctantly accept it after weighing the pros and cons, but the dissatisfaction and resentment in their hearts are inevitable. After all, so many people were killed and injured in the siege, shouldn't they vent their anger?

Liu Xiu's troops had such poor military discipline and committed many crimes in the process of unifying the world. They were not like a royal army at all. There might be a reason for this - he didn't have any direct troops!
"The soldiers braved the arrows and stones, regardless of life and death, and finally broke the city. I also admire them." Shao Xun said, "However, how can I bear to kill so many people. Hebei has been severely damaged, and there are still tens of thousands of Hu and Han people in Anping. Killing them will harm the harmony of the world. Count the households in the city, I am willing to use my private purse to redeem them, and give each person a piece of cloth."

"The shogunate will double the reward for those who are the first to reach the summit and make contributions."

"After a long and tiring journey, we will be rewarded with additional rank for the captured cattle and sheep."

"Officers with outstanding military achievements, please report your names. I will personally review them and recommend them for promotion."

"Tell Yang Pengzu that the post of prefect of Qinghe is his."

After giving the order, Shao Xun waved his hand and asked the messenger to pass on the message.

(There will be another chapter after dinner. Hit me with your tickets. Hit me hard. It doesn’t matter if you get red.)
(End of this chapter)