Chapter 1340: Quantitative Change of Accumulation
Chapter 1340: Quantitative Change of Accumulation
The rain was heavy and the sky and the earth were covered in white.
June is a rainy season in Pingzhou.
In the pine forest, the knights of the Right Cavalry Guard brought in several earthenware jars and collected the rain water that leaked from the roof.
Tuoba Sigong was wearing a straw raincoat, standing at the door of the awning, looking out.
He came here for inspection last night, but it rained heavily, so he had to stay for the time being. After the rain stopped, he continued to inspect other ranger camps.
Today is June 20th, and it has been more than half a month since they came here.
Since the failure of the large-scale night attack on June 14, the weather has not been very good, with intermittent rain. Not only has the construction of the high platform been stopped, but even the siege of the city has become weak.
It rained heavily last night. Thousands of enemy soldiers launched a night attack from the south gate but were repelled.
The Daliang army did not attack much, and the Xianbei people became more active. But this was not a bad thing. During the night attack last night, the guards of the Heilong Left Camp and the Prince of Yan's Palace were well-organized and there was no noise at all. The soldiers of Shangbai and Feilongshan and the gardeners of Yanshan were also quite calm, and the miscellaneous soldiers were slightly agitated.
However, the King of Yan also learned it and made very good arrangements. The patrolling soldiers held bows and crossbows, and shot while walking or standing, without distinguishing between friend and foe. They quickly surrounded and annihilated the enemy between the trench wall and the camp, and only about two hundred people fled back.
Killing 800 enemy soldiers in one go was no easy feat. Moreover, those who dared to attack the city at night were not ordinary people. If they stood on the city wall to defend, it would be very difficult to kill 800 people in one go.
If we destroy more enemy troops that come out of the city to attack us, Jicheng will be soon captured.
There was a commotion outside the pine forest. The Right Cavalry Guard soldier on guard in the forest drew his sword and shouted, "Who is it?"
"From Prince Yan's Mansion." A response was faintly heard in the rain.
A moment later, two knights who looked like officers came on horseback. After some negotiation and verification of their identities, they saluted Tuoba Sigong.
"Still racing in the heavy rain?" Tuoba Sigong asked with a smile.
"I can't run. I've fallen several times in the mud." The person who answered put a flag on his back, pointed at the mud on his body, and said.
"What are you doing?" Tuoba Sigong asked again.
"Chase a few enemy messengers." The team leader said, "Let them go halfway. His Highness said there's no need to chase them too hastily."
Tuoba Sigong smiled.
Jicheng was not surrounded on all sides, so it was relatively safe to enter and exit from the east of the city. Although the Liang army's cavalry would also launch a capture operation, they would not pursue too fiercely. It was obvious that they wanted everyone in Jicheng to know what was happening outside.
When you know that the outer cities are being captured one by one, can you still be so calm? Five days ago, the Silver Spear Left Camp entered Bintu County, attacked the city for two days, captured it, and captured more than ten surrounding tribes, nobles, and tens of thousands of people.
How would you feel when you learned that your clansmen surrendered one by one without a fight? The magistrate of Changli County, Gongsun You, led the Hu and Han soldiers in the city and offered to surrender. He was a "relative" of the Murong family.
When you knew that the tribal people and livestock led by your own sons and nephews were being hunted down by the cavalry coming south from the north, would you be worried and unable to sleep? A lot of news slowly came back, and the few messengers who were just released were the ones who delivered the news.
The ancients said that attacking the city is inferior to attacking the heart, which is really a wise saying.
It was a battle of wills inside and outside the city. Tuoba Sigong did not think that Murong Huang had any chance of winning.
After the guards of Prince Yan's Mansion left, Tuoba Sigong also walked outside to check the surrounding terrain.
In the misty rain, the carriages and horses never stopped.
Some come and some go, and everything is in order.
******
On June 22, the rain was much lighter and the siege did not begin immediately.
Prince Shao Yu of Yan walked through the camp, checking the situation in each camp.
When we arrived at the camp of Yanshan Garden, we stayed there for a while.
The soldiers were eating horse meat soup. When they saw King Yan, they put down their bowls and chopsticks and saluted.
Shao Yu smiled and motioned for everyone to excuse themselves, then looked at the large cauldron in front of a barracks.
The soup in the pot had already boiled and was emitting steam. Occasionally, pieces of meat and wild vegetables could be seen rolling up and down. When he saw the row of clay pots steaming corn and rice, he nodded slightly.
After thinking for a while, he said to Lieutenant Daohua: "It's almost noon, I'll have lunch here."
After that, he pondered for a moment and said, "It's not good to take advantage of the men too much. Let's do this, pull over the horse that had its leg broken this morning, and invite the soldiers to enjoy it together."
As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers in the barracks and nearby cheered in unison.
Shao Yu laughed loudly and said, "In this horrible weather, how can we boost morale if we don't eat something good?"
"Your Highness really understands our suffering." Someone couldn't help but say. After he finished speaking, an officer glanced at him, but didn't say anything.
The man was not stupid, and he immediately lowered his head and kept silent.
Shao Yu asked his servant Guo Shi to fetch a large bag of spices, opened it carefully, poured some into the pot, and stirred it. He said, "We all came to Pingzhou from Youzhou together, so we should share good things together. These are spices. Put them into the soup, and it will be delicious. I will share them with you all."
The cheers became louder and many people couldn't help but gather around.
Shao Yu stirred it for a while and said with a smile, "Anyone who sees it can have a share, including those who have had lunch. A horse is being slaughtered outside, and there will be broth to eat later."
After saying that, he waved his hand and served the broth to everyone one by one.
The officers immediately gave orders for everyone to line up and pick up wooden bowls to receive the broth.
More and more people gathered together. Some of them had half of their bodies soaked in the rain, but they didn't care and just stood there watching with their heads raised.
Shao Yu was in high spirits and very enthusiastic towards these people.
There were 3,000 gardeners in Yanshan Garden, and he was in charge of them from the beginning. Over the years, he worked with the gardeners in Yanshan Garden to cultivate the fields and graze the livestock, while training them in military formations and martial arts, and he got to know these soldiers inside and out.
They had been pulled to Liaoxi to defend against the enemy and had a small-scale confrontation with Murong Xianbei. They had seen blood and felt the atmosphere of the battlefield. The siege of Jicheng was the first time for these people to go to the battlefield. Shao Yu had been carefully caring for them and paying close attention to the morale and status of the soldiers.
So far, so good.
He participated in two sieges, suffered the loss of some troops, and also fought against the enemy troops that came out of the city to attack, and successfully dealt with them.
After this battle, we'll recruit some new soldiers and reorganize our army, and we'll have a combat-ready army.
My father also specially equipped everyone with sophisticated equipment. The gardeners in Yanshan Garden are already standard heavy-armored infantry. From now on, as long as they are not annihilated as a whole, this is the seed. The new soldiers will grow very fast with the guidance of the veterans.
This was the army he had personally trained, just like how his father had created the Imperial Guard from scratch.
The soldiers admired him, loved him, and were willing to fight for him.
Only at this time could Shao Yu more deeply feel the difficulties his father faced and the satisfaction and joy of creating an army of his own.
Shao Yu was busy until very late. After serving soup to more than a hundred people, he took a short rest and then climbed up to the high platform to overlook the entire camp.
Up to now, the camp of the Daliang army was still very orderly, and the morale was still good. However, Murong Xianbei's attack outside the city failed, and there was unfavorable news coming from the rear. Over time, their mentality would undergo subtle changes.
At this point, the Han nobles, who were the main force defending the city, had to ask themselves a question: Is it worth it to continue to consume their own troops and fight for Murong Huang?
Things may be complicated. After all, not everyone can be so ungrateful and ungrateful. But it is also a fact that some people are loyal to the Murong family, some are hesitant, and some have not found an opportunity to betray.
As time goes by, more and more people will not want to work hard.
Shao Yu even felt that there might not be any need to attack the city, just wait patiently.
******
"Crack!" A broken door panel was removed and chopped into a pile of wood.
If you can't go out to collect firewood, don't you have to take down the door panels to make firewood for cooking? Some people may say that it is not impossible to store a large amount of firewood in advance, but there is always a limit, and now it has been used up.
As for what to do after the house is demolished, just leave it alone. It is not uncommon for the siege to last for more than a year, and in the end, there is no hot soup or hot meals, not even a grain of rice, and all you can eat is raw "meat jerky".
As for removing the door panels, of course, we start from the civilian houses first, and the high-ranking officials and nobles have to be taken care of later.
But the people of Jicheng were not so simple-minded. When they saw the soldiers coming to demolish their houses, some fierce women sat on the ground, crying and cursing: "Zhang Si, your father was almost starving to death, and it was my master who gave him a piece of Hu cake that saved his life. Otherwise, how could you survive? You thief, you have such a cruel heart. This is the only house in my family. How can we protect ourselves from the wind and rain if it is demolished?"
And the old man who kept coughing sighed heavily and said, "When the three families besieged Jicheng, I followed Lord Murong to fight, broke into the enemy camp, beheaded two of them, and was allowed to build a house in the city. Is it gone now?"
"Back then, Lord Murong issued the 'Order to Allow Building Houses'. My two sons fought for him, one died in Liaoxi and the other in Zimengchuan. I used the pensions and emptied my savings to build this house. Anyone who wants to demolish it will kill me!" The person who said this was an old Xianbei man, crying mournfully, and everyone who heard it was moved.
But it was no use. The soldiers wanted to eat hot soup and hot rice, so they ignored these people, drew their swords and guns, forced the old man and woman aside, and started to demolish the house.
The east gate not far from them suddenly opened and quickly closed, and several messengers who looked like mud monkeys rushed in, breathing heavily. When they saw the houses in the city being demolished, they were startled for a moment, and were soon taken away by officials.
That night, some news spread like wildfire in the city, with detailed details.
Murong Huang was furious. He had clearly controlled the messenger and stopped them from talking nonsense, but the news still got out. What happened?
The soldiers guarding the city had no expression on their faces. The tribe being attacked had nothing to do with them, and they were not related to them, so why should they care about their lives? It was good enough that they didn't say a few sarcastic words.
The tribal leaders were restless and no longer cared about anything else, and they all rushed into Murong Huang's mansion.
(End of this chapter)