Chapter 84: The Siege of Guangwu (IV)

The siege had lasted for more than a month, but the Turks had never been able to accomplish the most important goal of their trip: capturing alive or killing the Yan Emperor Murong Ying.

However, the capture of more than 30 cities and the plunder of men, women, livestock, food, property, cloth, etc., made them feel that the trip was worthwhile.

But for Ashina Jieshe, the commander of the detachment, he led the detachment to besiege Gang County this time, naturally hoping to break through the city. By interrogating the prisoners, he already knew clearly that Murong Ying's son, the second prince, Prince of Liang, Murong Zan, was currently in the city.

This is a big fish.

If he could be captured, it would definitely be a huge blow to the morale of the people in Guangwu City.

But for the Turks, attacking a city was not an easy task.

Although the army cut off the communication between the inside and outside of the city, it was still unable to break through the city defense under the persistence of the Yan army, so many people considered retreating.

After all, the greatest advantage of nomadic peoples has never been to fight against the Central Plains army array, but to use their strong mobility to pursue profits.

If there is an opportunity, take it; if there is no opportunity, leave.

It has the same meaning as the great man's sixteen-character mantra.

As for Xinkou, the governor of Jizhou, King of Xia Murong Hui, the Eagle-Young General Zhao Rucai, the Fenwu General Dugu Yanqing and others arrived with their troops, and the army to support the king gradually gathered more than 100,000 people.

This also put a lot of pressure on the Turks.

Everyone wanted to nominate Prince Xia Murong Hui as the temporary commander-in-chief, but he flatly refused on the grounds that he had just arrived and was unfamiliar with the situation. They then nominated Prince Gaoyang Murong He, but Murong He also refused to serve as the temporary commander-in-chief on the grounds that he had too few men under his command.

In the end, there were only two choices left, the Governor of Bingzhou Yuwen She and the General of the Left Army Zhao Yi.

Yuwen She seems to be the best choice. After all, everyone is now in Bingzhou, and most of the civil and military officials who are loyal to the king are from Bingzhou. After the two royal family members avoided suspicion and refused to step forward, Zhao Er's previous collusion played some role.

Although Yuwen She was the governor of Bingzhou, he had just taken over and lacked prestige. Zhao Da, as the first organized army to arrive at the battlefield, had been through many battles and had a great reputation.

In addition to avoiding suspicion, the two members of the royal family were also unwilling to participate in the nomination, which brought the matter of nominating the commander-in-chief to a standstill.

At this time, Zhao Da took the initiative to step forward and offered to lead his troops as the vanguard to fight the enemy first in order to lift the siege of Gang County.

Naturally, everyone had no objection to this and asked him if he needed any support.

Zhao Da only suggested that when he went into battle, the soldiers could guard his rear.

All the generals, including Yuwen She, naturally agreed.

"Brother, are you planning to take this opportunity to win a battle? How much will the chances of winning increase after the arrival of King Wei?"

Zhao Er asked after leaving the coalition camp.

Zhao Da nodded: "Indeed, I will use this battle to show my power. When King Wei comes, he will naturally entrust me with important tasks."

Zhao Da immediately beat the drum to gather the generals when he returned to the camp. The military officer Zhao Er pointed to the map and explained the situation to the generals: "To the east of the Turkic camp, southeast of the city of Gang County, there is a high ground called Ziyuyuan. The terrain on the plain is open and the water source is also sufficient, which is enough for garrisoning troops."

After hearing this, Yingyang Langjiang Wang Yun immediately offered a suggestion: "General, you can give me a thousand men to seize Ziyuyuan, so that we can look down on the Turkic camp from a high position. General, lead your army to attack the front of the camp and lure them away. I can take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the Turkic camp and win a complete victory."

After everyone heard this, they were all silent. Then it was Zhao Er who spoke up: "General Wang's strategy is very good, but there are some problems. Ziyuyuan is only six or seven miles away from the Turkic camp. The Turks will definitely set up sentries on this plain. If our infantry takes the path behind the mountain, once they are discovered by the Turkish scouts, they can not only seize the path immediately, but also immediately outflank us with cavalry, cutting off our way down the mountain. By then, all those who go up the mountain will have no chance of survival."

Wang Yun scratched his head embarrassedly when he heard that, but Zhao Da Chong waved his hand at him, indicating that he shouldn't worry about it.

At this time, Zheng Shandao, the prefect of Chenliu, said, "General Wang's plan may not be a bad idea."

Zheng Shandao was about 23 or 24 years old, with a short beard and a slightly curly face. He was more than 7 feet tall and slightly fat. His face looked very kind, and his eyes were small but very bright. Zhao Er heard this and said, "Please give me some advice, Han Juncheng."

Zheng Shandao shook his head and said, "I don't deserve your advice."

Then he walked to the map and pointed at it, saying, "During this period, I have also checked the terrain nearby. The path behind the mountain that leads to Shangzi Yuyuan is still located east of the Hutuo River. If we send out troops, there will be mountains in front, water beside us, and the Turkic army will surround us from behind. This is a dead end. But General Wang's tactics can be defeated by a slight change."

"That is to have the team that sneak attacks Zi Yuyuan as a feint to lure the Turks to encircle them, while our main force attacks the Turks' encircling team from behind. In this way, the Turks will be faced with the dilemma of having mountains in front of them and water beside them. They will not be able to make full use of the mobility of their cavalry and the advantages of their bows and arrows, and will have to be blocked by our army in a small area."

Zheng Shandao pointed at the map and talked enthusiastically, looking quite high-spirited.

Zhao Da was very satisfied after hearing this, but Zhao Er was still confused and continued to ask: "Then what about our light troops who went up the mountain to act as a feint attack? And if the Turks go up the mountain from the west of Ziyuyuan, they will be a great threat to our army from a high position."

Zhao Dalai answered this question: "Don't worry about that. The light troops in the feint attack can fight if they can, otherwise they can go down the mountain by other routes. As for the Turkic troops coming up the mountain from the west, there is even less to worry about. The Turkic troops who have dismounted are not a concern, and the same is true for those who have come up the mountain. If they can fight us on foot, that's great."

After that, he looked at Zheng Shandao and said, "Zheng Juncheng's strategy is brilliant. If we use it, our army will surely win the first battle and boost our morale."

Zheng Shandao spoke in a very humble tone, but seemed a little lukewarm: "General, you are too kind. This battle is very important to our army, and you have to lead it yourself."

Zhao Da nodded, and then said loudly: "The emperor is in trouble, which is a shame for us, our subjects. We have rushed all the way from the Yellow River to here just to save the saint. Now the army is coming one after another. We must let them see that we have come across thousands of miles not just to fight for the first merit of serving the emperor. We can only win this battle, not lose."

All the generals said in unison: "We only obey the general's name."

"Wang Yun."

"The end will be here."

"You lead a thousand infantrymen and sneak up to Ziyuyuan from the small path behind the mountain east of the Hutuo River to lure the Turkic cavalry across the river and outflank us."

"The last general takes orders."

"Han Duo, Shi Yanchao."

"The end will be here."

"You two will follow me, lead 8,000 elite soldiers in the rear, and attack the Turkic outflanking cavalry."

"The last general takes orders."

"Li Chengxun, Liu Tingrang, you two will lead the cavalry to the rear to provide support."

"The last general takes orders."

"The rest of the troops will stay at the main camp."

Zhao Da made all the arrangements and everyone left after receiving his orders.

"Brother, be careful on the battlefield. You are the commander of an army and must not take risks personally." Zhao Er, who was helping his brother to adjust his armor, warned.

Zhao Da laughed loudly and said, "Don't worry, Erlang. This battle will surely let the Turks know how powerful I am."

However, seeing the worry in his brother's eyes, he restrained his smile and nodded slightly.

He patted his shoulder again, "Don't worry."

(End of this chapter)