It's April of this year.
Zhou, Shiya Mountain City.
A long and narrow official road passes through the high loess slopes on both sides, leading to Lingwu in the south.
The climate here has also begun to gradually warm up, and the Huangshan Mountains, which were originally desolate, now have more mottled dark green.
On the gentle slope, Podoluo Ku lay down among the weeds, staring at the official road in the distance.
There was a loud sound of horse hooves on the official road.
Badara narrowed his eyes, looked left and right, and tightened his grip on the bow in his hand.
Several knights appeared on the official road, and they ran wildly in the direction of Shiya Mountain City.
Potara immediately buried his head in the soil.
The knights gradually disappeared into the distance.
When Podoro raised his head again, he could already hear the noise in the distance.
In the distance, there was a huge group of people rushing towards the mountain city.
The leader was an unarmored officer.
Podoro estimated that there were more than 300 cavalry, many with two or three horses, but no attendants. Less than one-third of them were wearing armor. The rest were not without armor, but had not put on it.
And behind the knight was a carriage connected to one another.
There are a lot of carriages, carrying loads of goods.
There were a large number of civilians accompanying them, but these people had little fighting ability.
Flags were flying, and the transport team passed by the official road in a swaggering manner.
The leading officer wiped the sweat from his forehead at this moment. The sunlight made him unable to look straight into the distance.
He covered his eyes with his hands and complained: "Why does it feel so hot this year??"
"It's only April and it's so hot. If it's May or June, how can we march?"
The knights following him were also quite tired at the moment.
"Even this war horse can't bear it. General, when we enter the city later, do we need to change our armor?"
Yu Wenhu believed that troops should not be sent out in advance, and he had his own reasons. When sending troops in the scorching summer, the fully armed soldiers would no longer be soldiers, but would become a sizzling hotpot.
The elites of both sides are known for their heavy armor, and the food they eat in the summer is easy to spoil. If they send out troops in full armor under the scorching heat, they are afraid of many casualties. If diseases occur again, something big will happen.
The officer's face was full of disdain, "No, if General Liu asks why we don't wear armor, he will say that our armor was left in Yongfeng!"
The other knights laughed.
One person cursed displeasedly: "It's really unfathomable that a guy like Liu Yong can still sit in Shiya Mountain City and lead the front line after losing Yongfeng."
"What's so strange about this? I don't know how to fight, but I know how to give gifts. I sent piles of things to the houses of the Duke of Jin and several young masters. Not to mention losing Yongfeng, I think he lost Chang'an.
Nothing will happen!"
The officer stopped them and said, "Don't talk nonsense."
But the knight just sighed, "The Duke of Jin wants to attack Qi, but it's hard for us. I haven't been home for three months, from Longxi to Xiazhou, and then to this terrible place."
"Stop complaining. After this delivery, you can go home!"
Everyone was talking excitedly.
"kill!!!"
The next moment, shouts of killing suddenly rang out from both sides. The men and horses were frightened. The horses neighed. The officers were shocked and turned pale. They hurriedly raised their heads and looked at the gentle slopes on both sides.
I saw someone standing up on the slope, holding a crossbow.
"not good!!"
"bunker!!"
The officer hurriedly gave the order, and the next moment, all the bows and crossbows were fired.
Arrows all over the sky fell from both sides, the knights screamed and fell off their horses, with nowhere to hide, and the ground trembled slightly.
From the front, a cavalry group appeared, fully armed and waiting for a long time.
Liu Taozi rode a blue lion and held a horse spear. The knights occupied the entire official road and rushed toward them.
The knights wanted to evacuate, but behind them were those carriages, blocking the official road, and on the gentle slopes on both sides were enemy crossbowmen.
A complete dead end.
The officer looked around with despair on his face.
At this moment, he suddenly remembered the words of his colleagues who had withdrawn from Yongfeng.
"Wish to surrender!!"
He shouted loudly and jumped off his horse.
The knights on the left and right also followed.
Liu Taozi came running so wildly that the blue lion's horse's hoofs almost stepped on the officer's head, but Liu Taozi still reined in the horse. He raised the horse's stall and looked at the people who were kneeling in front of him to accept the surrender.
The crossbowmen on both sides stopped shooting at this moment. They stood on both sides, holding crossbows and aiming at these people.
The knights responsible for escorting did not dare to resist, and the civilian husbands even less dared.
Podoro rushed to Liu Taozi's side quickly. He almost flew down and walked to Liu Taozi's side with a smile on his face. Without waiting for Liu Taozi's instructions, he sent people to start tying up the prisoners and ordered the cars to
The horse turns around.
The soldiers were very busy.
Potara finally laughed out loud.
"Hahaha, there was a robbery outside the city, and another robbery outside the city. Why are they still unprepared? Yuwen escorted many good things!"
Liu Taozi said calmly: "The military system of the Puppet Zhou Dynasty is like this. Each department is clearly distinguished, and communication with each other must go through the general or Chang'an. There are advantages and disadvantages."
Potara didn't want to think about the reason. He just hoped that something like this would happen again.
The Zhou people were really rich. After robbing them several times, they got enough food to last them a long time.
Podoluo began to arrange other things, but Liu Taozi walked up the high slope and looked into the distance.
After an unknown amount of time, Podoro wiped his sweat and came to Liu Taozi's side again. He stood on tiptoes and looked into the distance.
"What are you looking at, brother?"
"This place is very close to Shiya City. It's impossible for Liu Yong not to hear it. Why didn't he send troops?"
Potaro's face was full of disdain, "Liu Yong was frightened to death by his brother in Yongfeng. Not to mention hearing the noise, his brother was killing people outside the city. He may not even dare to look outside the city."
"What do you think of Shiya Mountain City?"
Upon hearing the inquiry, Badara was stunned for a moment, then put on a serious face and said, "I feel very strong."
"In the past, Yongfeng Town was in charge, so the danger here was not obvious. But now that Yongfeng is in our hands, this city has become the first city against us. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there is only one official road and one direction.
We can attack, the city walls are strong, and Liu Yong has hoarded many soldiers. If someone else were to be the commander, maybe we wouldn't be able to come and go freely within the Zhou territory so freely."
Liu Taozi nodded slightly, "I've made some progress."
Potra laughed, "I have followed my brother for many years. If I didn't make any progress, how could I survive until now?"
Liu Taozi looked at the city in the distance again.
"I want to capture this city."
"On the more than 100 miles from Yongfeng to Lingwu, there is only such a dangerous fortress. If we can capture this place, our troops can move around freely without any threats."
Podoluo's eyes widened. He just thought he had a big appetite and wanted to eat a few more grain transport teams. But he didn't expect that his brother's appetite was several times greater than his own. Do you want to forcefully eat Shiya Mountain City?
??
Hatora frowned slightly.
Shiya Mountain City occupies a geographical advantage. Although it is not as exaggerated as Yubi City, it can definitely be regarded as a strong city. Liu Yong has more than 20,000 troops guarding here, but they only led less than 2,000 people this time.
The army is not at a disadvantage in terms of food and fodder. Instead, they have to worry about the enemy's reinforcements.
He found it extremely difficult to capture.
However, this is my brother's order.
Potara immediately raised his hands and saluted, "I want to be a pioneer!!"
Liu Taozi, however, just looked at Shiya Mountain City in the distance, seeming to be calculating gains and losses.
at the same time.
Liu Yong stood on the city wall.
The location of Shiya Mountain City is excellent. There is only one official road leading to the distance, and there are mountains on three sides. The soldiers running back and forth on the city wall look particularly uneasy at the moment.
Liu Yong hid on the tower, looking into the distance with fear in his eyes.
There were several scouts outside the city gate. They were the same people who had just passed by first. They reported the attack on the grain transport army behind them and asked Liu Yong to open the city gate.
But no matter how they begged, Liu Yong did not open the city gate. He even ordered people to block the city gate with debris and asked the people in the city to help defend the city.
The former guard of Shiyashan City looked at the frightened knights outside the city gate and said helplessly: "General, you can let them in first."
"No!" "That Liu Taozi is very cunning. Who knows if this is someone he sent."
Liu Yong's eyes were full of fear, and he was wearing heavy armor, but it couldn't make him feel at ease.
"Liu Taozi has arrived here, he must be coming to seize the city!"
"There is no way out here!"
"We must defend to the end! Defend to the end!!"
Liu Yong's face was pale and there was something wrong with his voice. The original guard had already realized the general's fear, and this fear made everyone around him feel uneasy.
It is a huge joke that someone like Liu Yong can actually serve as a general in the court.
After his defeat in Yongfeng, he took over the second line of defense. The generals, governors and other important ministers who were originally stationed here became his entourage.
Just when the original guard was about to persuade the opponent again, dust billowed in the distance and cavalry galloped towards him.
"Here they come!!!"
Liu Yong pounded the city wall fiercely, "Hold! Hold tight!!"
The guard general did not dare to dissuade him anymore. He quickly raised the command flag, and soldiers from all over the country were ordered to appear at the edge of the city wall with bows and crossbows, ready to shoot the enemy.
The few knights at the bottom of the city were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they shouted loudly.
They never imagined that one day they would be able to enjoy Gao Aocao's treatment in Dazhou.
The number of knights charging was not large, but in the distance you could still see the dust in the sky, and there were many people moving. Liu Yong stood on the tower and had the clearest view. He saw the enemy cutting down trees.
, this is to build siege equipment.
The knights continued to charge, and when they were almost shooting at each other, they stopped.
Immediately afterwards, these Qi Ren knights began to wander around the city wall. They were exploring the terrain and watching the situation of the defenders.
They were so bold, their formation was loose and unorganized, and they carelessly poked their heads out to check the enemy's situation unscrupulously.
But Liu Yong didn't have the courage to punch the opponent.
He just urged soldiers everywhere to prepare for defense.
The knights snooped openly for a long time and then left.
But Liu Yong's nightmare is not over, this is just the beginning.
Liu Taozi from a distance had been observing the enemy's situation. When he saw these hundreds of knights wandering around the city and the enemy did not dare to fight back, he knew what to do next.
No matter how strong the city is and how brave the army is, it will be of no use to the cowardly rats.
On the hillside in the distance, Qi people can still be seen moving around casually. Their number seems to be increasing, and the smoke from their cooking stoves is also increasing.
And the number of knights coming to investigate is also increasing.
From the initial number of more than a hundred people, to more than three hundred, five hundred, and more than a thousand people.
Their behavior became more and more reckless. Sometimes they came without armor, and sometimes they used arrows to shoot at the few scouts hiding outside the city.
At the most extreme time, they dismounted directly and sat outside the city to eat and drink water.
Liu Yong did not dare to go down to the tower for four days in a row. His whole body was tense, for fear that the enemy would launch an attack as soon as he went back to rest.
And this tense and desperate atmosphere enveloped the entire city. The soldiers watched the number of enemies continue to increase, and watched their behavior become more and more wanton. However, their own general just kept urging them to guard day and night, and even did not hesitate to modify their tactics.
Number of rotations.
Several generals in the city saw something.
The guard general spoke again to persuade: "General, we can't go on like this. We can lead our troops to attack while they are unprepared!!"
He widened his eyes, pointed at the resting enemy troops outside the city, and said through gritted teeth: "Even if we can't defeat them, we still have to repel them once to boost their morale!!"
"General, I am willing to be a pioneer!!"
Liu Yong was furious, "Can't General Shi see that this is Liu Taozi's plan? He is just tempting us to take the initiative!"
"He came from Yongfeng, with no more than 10,000 people at most. Our city is strong. As long as we defend it, he will definitely not be able to break it. If we attack rashly, who can defeat him?! Duke Sui can't do it, can you?
May I?"
General Shi said angrily: "General, the morale of the troops in the city is low, how can they be so passive? The enemy is obviously pretending and bluffing, and the purpose is to break our morale and make our soldiers lose their fighting spirit. Even my weakling youngest son is
If you can see the reality on the other side, why can't the general see clearly?"
Liu Yong sneered, "I know you don't like me. You follow the Duke and I don't like you either. We defeated the enemy this time. Do you want to be a guard somewhere else or a governor? I
They ignore it, but this time, if you dare to disobey my military orders, I will kill you. Don’t think that I will be afraid of him following the Duke."
General Shi took a deep breath and said helplessly: "Then please general reduce the number of guards, increase the rotation time, and allow them to fully rest. The soldiers have not rested for many days. It is very hot during the day and cold at night."
, there are already casualties on the city wall, how can we continue to defend like this?"
"We are besieged, and armies from all over the country will soon come for reinforcements! As long as we hold on, we will win! It's not time to relax yet!"
"Obey my military orders!!"
General Shi left angrily.
Liu Yong watched the other party leave, and then gently rubbed his eyes. He had not rested for many days, and tears always filled the corners of his eyes. The servants on the side hurriedly brought the honey water. Liu Yong ate several mouthfuls, and then ate again.
After drinking some cold tea, my body felt better.
The servant held a small fan and gently fanned him. Liu Yong frowned and felt very unhappy.
Even I, the general, work so hard and work so hard, and these people actually want to neglect me?
Liu Yong had won battles before, but the defeat in Yongfeng completely demoralized him. After learning that Liu Taozi was coming to kill him, his only thought was to wait for the opponent's siege to fail and then retreat.
By the fifth day, the number of enemies had increased to nearly 2,000.
Many of them were foot soldiers, holding ladders.
Liu Yong, however, was still staring at the situation in the distance. He didn't know how many Liu Taozi's troops there were at the moment, let alone where his reinforcements were.
The sun is shining brightly.
Liu Yong was sweating profusely, and everything in the distance seemed a bit unreal, as if he could see boiling heat.
"kill!!!"
The sound of war drums and shouts of death suddenly sounded.
Liu Yong's confused state also disappeared in an instant. He came to his senses and hurriedly looked towards the city. The army of less than 2,000 people had already launched a charge.
Liu Taozi, wearing heavy armor, charged forward.
"Kill!! Shoot!!"
Liu Yong yelled crazily.
The counterattack on the city wall seemed weak and weak, arrows were fired at the enemy rapidly, but the soldiers' faces were full of fear and fatigue, and they seemed to be shooting numbly, like puppets.
Liu Taozi had few soldiers, so he chose the area in the south where the enemy's defense was weakest to carry out the assault on the city.
Liu Yong was still shouting and hurling insults at the southern defenders for their incompetence, and asked for reinforcements.
On the ladder frame, heavily armored warriors held large shields and rushed up to the city wall in response to arrows. The next moment, the guards began to flee in all directions. Some collapsed and cried, some knelt down and begged for mercy, and some directly
Jump off the city wall.
The high pressure and exhaustion that lasted for five days pushed the morale of this army to the lowest level. Watching the enemy scale the city wall and drive the broken troops to flee in all directions, Liu Yong was terrified.
"Open the city gate!!"
"Guard me out!!"
"Guard me out!!"
General Shi looked at him coldly, "Shua~~"
"Pfft!!"
Everyone saw General Shi pull out his sharp blade and push him from behind. The long sword penetrated Liu Yong's body and stabbed out of his chest.
Liu Yong looked at his chest in shock. General Shi roared and actually lifted him up like this, and then fell heavily to the ground.
Liu Yong fell to the ground, motionless.
General Shi looked to the left and right, suddenly dropped the sword in his hand, "Surrender with me!!!"
The city was captured by Liu Taozi with a humiliating attack.
The generals knelt at the city gate, and Liu Yong's body was discarded aside.
The soldiers were clearing away the debris piled up at the city gate.
Podoro came with his troops. He looked at Liu Yong's body with some emotion in his eyes.
It's a pity that General Liu Yong still made great contributions to his brother. If he were caught, he wouldn't even have the heart to kill him. Such a good general should be allowed to continue to be reused by the enemy.
He looked at the general kneeling in front of him and said, "I just killed him."
"Grandma!! Let's go!!"
Suddenly there was a roar in the city. Podoro turned his head and saw a half-grown boy, riding a war horse bigger than himself, rushing out of the city and running towards him. Along the way,
The soldiers stabbed him with spears, but he easily dodged.
General Shi raised his head, dumbfounded.
"Shu Zi!!!"
ps: On the fifteenth day of the year, during the Zhou Dynasty, we all fought together at Mangshan. Wansui joined the army from his father, and the flags and drums were facing each other. Wansui ordered Qu Zhi to pretend to be anxious and go away. However, the Zhou army was defeated, and his father was surprised.
During the reign of Emperor Wu, Shi Brown served as a sergeant.——"Book of Zhou: Biography of Shi Wansui"
Chapter completed!