Chapter 230 Chapter Two

Sure enough, as the two expected, after the false news of forming an alliance with Li Zitong and borrowing food and grass came out, Yu Wenhuaji's 20,000 troops immediately marched at full speed and advanced towards the north gate of Liangdu. When they arrived five miles outside the city, they immediately built fortifications and dug trenches to build outposts. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked down from the top of a three-foot-tall cedar tree on a hill in the distance, and had a clear view of the enemy's situation. Kou Zhongdao: "When you stop, you form a camp, and when you move, you form an formation. This camp has both water sources and dangers to defend. It achieves the purpose of strangling the enemy and strengthening ourselves. It can be seen that our opponents this time are also from Yu Wenhua's bones." The generals, big and small, are all experienced military generals, and they must not be underestimated."

Xu Ziling nodded approvingly, Kou Zhong seemed to give the impression that he was careless and easy to get carried away.In fact, he is calm and cautious when encountering situations, and will not commit the taboo of underestimating the enemy. The first place to camp is to choose a place.Now the enemy is setting up camp on a high hillside, clearing the surrounding forests, and is meticulous in camp defense. It shows that they are not a mob. He casually said, "What instructions does Mr. Lu's secret book have on this?" Kou Zhongdao: "The key to setting up a stronghold is to set up a camp, rest people and animals, guard the camp, strictly control the camp gate, treat sick soldiers, inspect military weapons, prepare fire alarms, stop nuisances, control traffic, cherish water and grass, set up night calls, and set up lights. , Protecting against rain and darkness, going to a dark camp, questioning people, avoiding flood attacks, etc., is it enough?"

Xu Ziling heard him recite so many items that must be paid attention to when setting up a camp, and said in surprise: "You are quite familiar with the recitation." Kou Zhong proudly said: "This is called being diligent and meritorious, and it is also called making up for the battle. But whatever you look at, do you think that although the location of this camp is dangerous but far away, if you want to send the tools of siege to the city wall from there?" It’s not realistic at all to exhaust the mules and horses before they arrive.” While observing carefully, Xu Ziling said with a smile: "You kid is starting to be a bit wise! The Yuwen Clan has been a general for many generations, so there must be a damn reason for setting up the camp like this. Could it be that he is mainly used for food camps and sick soldiers? This can also be used as a large rear area to support the camps in front-line operations."

Kou Zhong said happily: "Again, the heroes see the same thing. This grain camp can be said to be the root of Yuwen Huagu's army coming south this time. But because it is far behind, after the siege, we will not dare to go out to attack after the siege, so the defense is inevitable. Weak. As long as we cooperate with Xuanyong and attack his mother by surprise, at least half of the victory will be in our bag, ha! This battle does not seem to be difficult to fight." Xu Ziling gathered his eyes together to see the situation of the enemy's camp at a glance, and said in a deep voice: "It's too easy for you to see, this camp is dangerously close to the mountain, with trenches on the outside and barriers on the inside, just add some traps, sharp bamboos and caltrops Such defensive measures as building fences, guarding with strong crossbows, setting up guards all around, spreading secret sentries, and many masters at Yuwenguan, do you mean that you can attack if you want to attack by force?"

Kou Zhong said with a smile: "You seem to have forgotten that Lu Miaozi's most powerful old man is not the art of war, but clever tools. He listed more than ten different methods of breaking the stronghold in detail in the book, saying that attacking a stronghold is like attacking a city. With the help of ladders, smashing trees, and crashing carts. Attacking the stronghold also requires the use of carts, as long as one or two gaps can be broken, and the enemy's troops are not strong, it is really easy to capture the stronghold." Xu Ziling frowned and said, "Where did the car come from?"

Kou Zhongdao: "Come from refitting, Xuan Yong can be responsible for this matter. My younger brother now has the true biography of Lu Miaozi, at least half of Sun Wu will come back to life. Yu Wenhua's bones are delivered to the door like this. I don't want to steal sheep, food and horses, and he is angry. Digging heart and vomiting blood, how can I live with mother? Don't worry! I understand your filial piety!" Xu Ziling told him that he couldn't laugh or cry, and at the same time, he was secretly shocked for all those who were enemies of Kou Zhong. Kou Zhong himself is a military prodigy, he has shown his talents in many wars, and now he can memorize even the war tools designed by Lu Miaozi in response to various situations.Once a group of elite fighters are gathered for him, how can there be any army in the world that can resist him?I'm afraid Li Shimin will lose the battle.

What he owes now is only a group of elite teachers and the 'Treasure House of Lord Yang'. Kou Zhong said again: "However, the top priority now is not to attack the stronghold, but to steal the arrows. You know that the arrows available in our city can be shot in less than half an hour. At that time, we only relied on boiling oil and stones, and we couldn't defend for long. .” Xu Ziling asked in astonishment, "How do you steal an arrow?" Kou Zhong smiled and said: "It's not stealing, but borrowing. This is just Kong Ming's old trick of borrowing arrows. We give him fake arrows, and they return my real arrows. Isn't it very cost-effective?"

Then he pointed to the Tongji channel flowing on the left: "The spies report that the main force of the Yuwen Culture Bone will arrive tonight. I have ordered people to hide more than a hundred ships full of dummies in the dense forest on the other side. When his army arrived, they put the speedboats into Hanoi and rushed down the current. There were only three people in each boat, one steered the boat, and two released bamboo arrows. We use it as a small snack before serving the main course." Xu Ziling sighed: "Now even I am a little bit confident that you will win this battle."

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling rode side by side on the small slope, overlooking the spectacular scene of the light moving from the torches on the grassland close to the Tongji Canal. Kou Zhong smiled and said, "I'm not wrong. In order to reduce the possibility of being attacked, the bones of Yuwenhua must travel by the river, but it is in my favor." Xu Ziling looked up at the moonless night sky, and said: "Your plan of false alliance and fake food has obviously worked, otherwise Yuhuagu would not be so anxious to urge the army to rush even at night, and give us a chance."

Kou Zhong took a deep breath and said, "It's time!" After saying that, he raised his hand upwards, and the fireworks soared into the sky, a fiery red flower exploded high in the sky, lighting up the cloudy night sky. Immediately, there were killing noises from Liangdu's side, with torches lit, they rushed towards the enemy army. On the surface, it seemed that they were menacing.In fact, it was just a trick bluffed by militiamen who had neither weapons, armour, nor bows and arrows, each holding two torches. Looking at it at a glance, it seems that nearly ten thousand people launched a surprise attack on the intruders from the hills and dense forests near the north of Liangdu City.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling galloped out nearly 200 cavalry behind them, they were all composed of the best cavalry and martial arts warriors in the Pengliang Club, they used up all the horses in Liangdu to form the only cavalry team. The enemy's torches in the distance were in chaos near the end of the team, but the front and middle sections were still orderly. Kou Zhong smiled at Xu Ziling: "Linglongjiao didn't teach this trick, it's called the torch watching method, we can see that the second batch of Yuwen Army with 5,000 soldiers here is old and new, good and bad are mixed, the tail of the team should be made up of It is composed of recruits, we will give him a tail attack, and we will take advantage of it." After the fire scattered the dragon, it stopped, showing that the enemy was forming an array to meet it. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling clamped their horses and led the two hundred and thirty-seven cavalry to follow the route planned earlier, through the forest and across the country, advancing towards the rear of the enemy's formation. "boom"! Another firework exploded high in the sky. There were shouts of killing from the other side of the canal, more than a hundred light boats and speedboats full of dummies rushed down the river, hundreds of bamboo rockets burning with tarpaulins pierced the sky on the river bank, and were setting out on the bank in the direction of Liangdu. The enemy in the formation throws it. The real soldiers on the boat hid behind the arrow shields, allowing the fake soldiers in clothes to suffer from the arrows. The wild forests and long grasses along the coast were on fire one after another. The enemy thought they were being attacked, and immediately became chaotic, especially the rear army. Kou Zhong gave an order, raised the shield with his left hand, and urged the horse to kill the enemy's rear at full speed. The two of them switched to Chang Ge, which is good for horse fighting, and led the way through the sparse forest, picked up more than a dozen arrows that seemed to be suitable for the occasion, and broke into the enemy's formation. The coast is full of flaming fires, and the light boats are everywhere, and the fires are constantly increasing. It is indeed terrifying and looks like it. Kou Zhong's and Xu Ziling's long daggers were like two dragons going out to sea, slashing and stabbing, and the enemies fell to the ground everywhere. Yu Wenhua and this army are all infantry, responsible for transporting supplies, food and other things, they were frightened by the previous bluff attack, and now they suddenly saw the enemy cavalry rushing to kill them, and they were like a rainbow, and they guessed the leader It was Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong, who were famous all over the world, lost their souls for a while, and even wanted to get the other side with only two hundred horses, but they collapsed without a fight and ran away in all directions. Everyone was overjoyed. Under Kou Zhong's instructions, those who chased people chased people, and those who burned cars burned their cars. With the sound of hooves, hundreds of enemy cavalry came along the coast. Kou Zhong's eyes were sharp, and he caught a glimpse of his old friend Yuwen Wudi who was leading the group, he laughed and said, "Brother Wudi, don't come here without any harm, brother farewell!" Leading his men, he hurried back to Liangdu. This battle not only borrowed tens of thousands of powerful arrows, but also burned a large number of enemy siege equipment, food and grass. Most importantly, it greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers and people in the city and increased their confidence in the two. However, the losses of our own side were minimal, while the enemy suffered casualties. heavy. Even the two of them didn't expect such brilliant results. When they entered the city, Ren Meimei led the army and civilians to welcome them, their voices shook the city, and they vowed to live and die together with the two of them. Who wouldn't hate the Yuwen army who looted and murdered along the way back to the north that day. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling stood on top of the north city wall, looking at the camp built by Xu Yuwen's army inside and outside. Xu Ziling said indifferently: "It will take at least two days for the bones of Yuhua to establish camps in all directions and complete the encirclement. These two days are enough for us to do a lot." Kou Zhong smiled and said: "The first thing is to grab food. Last night we burned a lot of food and grass for Yuwen Wudi's vanguard army. He has to replenish the army from the rear camp. That's a good time for me to raid with light cavalry to grab food." Then he sighed and said, "It would be ideal if I had a team of black-armored cavalry like Li Xiaozi." Xu Ziling changed his expression and said: "Do you still remember the Sui Dynasty cavalry wearing heavy horse fighting equipment that you saw in Yangzhou in the early years? Even the horses looked invulnerable to swords and arrows. They looked so mighty, but why were they exposed and poorly equipped?" , The rebel army lacking armor, weapons and horses fled at the wind, what happened?" Kou Zhong murmured: "That's because of losing popular support and morale is low!" Xu Ziling said: "Of course this is the main reason, but you can also see the heavy cavalry with horses and horses wearing armor, which is out of date. For example, if you have such a heavy cavalry under your command, how can you rush to intercept it in time after receiving the report?" Grain? Now a large number of field infantry have arisen, and it is the most flexible tactic to cooperate with light cavalry with only warriors in armor, and Li Xiaozi has brought this equipment and combat method into full play." Kou Zhongdao: "I don't know if it has something to do with my personality, but I always prefer light cavalry as the main method of combat, because cavalry can be transformed into infantry at any time, but infantry cannot be transformed into cavalry, so it is more flexible in terms of flexibility." Xu Ziling smiled and said, "You can't forget the sweetness you tasted in the battle of Yanshi! But your words are not without reason." Kou Zhong stretched his waist and said, "What do you think I will be eager to do after tidying up Yuwenhua's bones?" Xu Ziling shook his head to express that he didn't know. Kou Zhong shot a look of anticipation into his tiger eyes, and said: "I will try to gather a group of blacksmiths and craftsmen to drive out a batch of siege tools designed by Lu Miaozi day and night, so as to recover Jingling. Owning Jingling, Xiangyang will be at your fingertips." Before Xu Ziling had time to react, Ren Meimei led a slender man in his thirties, who was in the dust, to the two of them, and said: "This is Luo Qifei, the incense master of our Rentang, known as 'Ghost Shadow', he has been chasing Next to Yu Wenhua and the main force, we observed the enemy's situation along the way, so we came here now." The two of them looked at him, although his appearance was not good, he looked like a real townsman, but with his strong hands and feet, and his eyes were elves, he was obviously a person with extremely agile mind and skills. Kou Zhong asked, "Has the main force of the Yuwen Army arrived yet?" After saluting solemnly, Luo Qifei said: "We should arrive at dusk. The whole army consists of 13,000 people, led by Yu Wenhuaji and Yu Wenzhiji. They are divided into four armies: the central army, the left and right Marquis Yu and the rear army. , of which three thousand were archers and crossbowmen, one thousand cavalry, and the rest infantry." Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were moved at the same time, not because of the strength of Yu Wenjun, but because of the confidence of this man in speaking and the meticulousness of information. Luo Qifei continued: "Obviously the Yuwen army suffered heavy losses in the battle with Li Mi. We can only know from the fact that the cavalry used longbows instead of horn bows." The two looked at each other blankly. Ren Meimei said: "Qifei used to be a general of the Sui Dynasty and was in charge of equipment in the army, so he is very good at this." Luo Qifei explained: "The longbow is specially used by the infantry, mostly made of sangtuo wood. The cavalry should use a compound bow made of tendons and horns. It is longer and smaller, and it is most convenient to use on horseback. Therefore, Yuwen The cavalry of the army must use longbows, it must be a last resort due to the lack of horn bows." Kou Zhong sighed, "There should be few spies with knowledge like Brother Luo." Ren Meimei smiled and said: "Qi Fei is not only excellent in lightness kungfu, but also proficient in the art of disguise and transformation. Let him be a spy, of course he is better than anyone else." Luo Qifei said: "The two elders don't call the villain Brother Luo any more, just call me by my name. From now on Qifei will serve the two elders regardless of life or death. If there is any order, just one sentence is enough." Xu Ziling asked: "According to Qifei's opinion, what is the real strength of Yuwen Army?" Luo Qifei said: "Except for the 4,000 people in the central army, the rest should be recruits with insufficient training. If my guess is correct, they will start attacking the city before dawn tomorrow." Kou Zhong was stunned and said, "In such a hurry?" Luo Qifei said: "Because since the night before last, every time they set up camp to rest, the engineers took turns repairing the siege equipment. If they had to attack the city immediately, how could they not let the soldiers rest like this? They can wait until they have settled down in the city. It's never too late to start!" Ren Meimei asked: "Do they have all the equipment to attack the city?" Luo Qifei said: "It is quite complete. There are 20 ladder carts, 100 catapult chariots, 10 ballista chariots, more than 70 arrow guard carts, and 4 nest carts, which are more than enough to attack the city." Kou Zhong said ruthlessly: "If Yuwen Wudi wants to attack the city before dawn, then Yuwen Wudi will pretend to be a feint tonight to shake our army's morale and make us exhausted, hmph!" Xu Ziling said: "Can you describe his siege equipment in more detail?" Luo Qifei said like a few treasures: "The Feiyun ladder cart is a double-body long ladder mounted on six wheels, and there are double pulleys at the end of the ladder, which can be used by the enemy to climb up the city; the catapult cart is a huge catapult placed on the cart. The pole throws huge stones and destroys the wall; the ballista is a powerful crossbow stretched by a winch, which can shoot eight giant iron feather arrows at one time, with a range of a thousand steps, which is very powerful; Wearing thick rawhide, the soldiers hide behind, and then push the cart forward, which can block arrows and stones, so that they can reach the city directly. The nest cart is a high platform on the eight-wheeled cart, which can not only detect the enemy but also shoot arrows into the city .” Kou Zhong's eyes lit up and he said, "Can we pour oil into the fire and set a fire to burn all his mother's cowhide and boiled leather, ballista and ladder carts?" Luo Qifei shook his head and said, "Yu Wenhua and these two days just made people apply special anti-fire medicine on all the siege equipment. If this medicine is exposed to the sun and rain, its effect will fade; so it must be used after applying the medicine." Apply as soon as possible, so I guess he will attack the city as soon as he arrives." The two suddenly realized. I was confused and had a headache, the enemy's siege equipment was so powerful, but their defense tools could not be any worse, the difference was too far. Leading troops out of the city to fight hard is like sending them to death. At this moment, the light on the mountain in the distance flashed three times. Kou Zhong knew that it was his own spies who used the mirror to reflect the Sunshine news, put aside his troubles for a while, laughed and said, "It's hard work for him to fly! Sister Ren will take him to fly to settle down first, we will grab the food and grass, and then talk to you."