Nanming Engineer

Chapter 214

Liu Yun looked at Li Dingguo blankly and asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, should we leave or stay?"

The expression on Li Dingguo's face changed, and he was obviously hesitating and undecided. He stared at the charcoal fire in front of him with a thoughtful look on his face. He pondered for a long time without saying a word and did not answer for a long time.

The big tent fell silent, no one spoke, only the occasional crackling of the charcoal fire in the furnace, exploding little sparks, dotted the dull air.

After all, Liu Yun was younger and couldn't help himself. He glanced at Li Dingguo several times before hesitantly said softly: "My lord, no, I mean, can we follow the usual method of King Pingdong and the others tomorrow? Attacking a mountain once may have a miraculous effect?"

Li Dingguo's heart skipped a beat, and he understood what Liu Yun was talking about. Before Daxi established the country, when he was in the north and south, there were no more than two methods. , Disturb the guards in the city, and even take away the city gate directly; the second is to drive the people as the vanguard, using the captured women, children, old and weak as a hammer for breaking the door, and the healthy soldiers follow behind. If you don't dare to shoot arrows to defend against the law of etiquette, if the healthy soldiers roar and ascend the city, all the cities will be destroyed.

These two methods are the only way that the thieves can make good use of. Even many Ming soldiers found it very effective and learned it. For example, Zuo Liangyu and others are more familiar with these cruel methods than the thieves.

In the Longquan Mountain in front of us, it is impossible to sneak into the inner city at this moment, and the city gates will not be opened.Then there is only the second way.

Li Dingguo denied this method once when he first came to the city. Although he did the same thing when he was with Zhang Xianzhong before, every time he thought of those women and children who were crying while walking, Li Dingguo thought of his mother. When the army took him away, he cried and looked at himself when he was a child, and the stern voice of "Dingguo, Dingguo" was still in his ears. Even now, as a murderous general, Li Dingguo couldn't help it from the subconscious. Go to this command.

"No! This method is too vicious. As a man, I, Li Dingguo, can use these despicable methods. I can't mention it again in the future!" Li Dingguo shouted with a dark face, almost roaring.

Liu Yun trembled all over, knelt down on one knee and said hurriedly: "Yes! The general obeys orders!"

As soon as Li Dingguo said that, he realized that he had lost his composure. He let out a long breath and said slowly: "Get up, I don't blame you. We are different today. We were thieves back then, and it was helpless to use some methods. Now If you are a Daxi official army, you should look like an official army. If you still call yourself a thief and do those illegal and ridiculous things, you will never achieve great things. You are still young, and I have the intention to cultivate you. You should bear in mind. "

Liu Yun bowed his head and agreed, but he was very confused. What should the officers and soldiers look like?Is there a difference between officers and thieves?The Ming army is an official army, right?Murder and arson are more powerful than us thieves, and we don't even leave scum when we rob things.The Daxi Army wants to be an official army, but King Pingdong and the others are still doing the same thing as before. Even the emperor said to slaughter the city when he was happy, without hesitation at all. Only King Anxi, a heretic, has a very different style of doing things. Be kind to the people, protect the interests of the people, and often teach yourself that the people are the root, and the people live well to make Daxi stable. Although I don't understand it, Liu Yun likes it very much, and because of this, he followed Li Dingguo wholeheartedly. That's seven or eight years.

However, if this method is denied, what other method is there to break open the city of Longquan Mountain?
Silence was restored in the tent, and both of them became mute, thinking about their own thoughts.

After a while, Li Dingguo stood up abruptly, and shouted resolutely: "Forget it, I have made up my mind. Tomorrow you will lead the Zhan barracks to the north, from Chengdu to Hanzhong. This king will stay with the other camp leaders, attack again, and then retreat to defend." Shoot Hong and confront the Ming army."

Liu Yun said hurriedly: "My lord, you are the backbone of the army. You cannot leave. Why don't you stay as the last general? Please lead the army north."

Li Dingguo smiled, shook his head and said: "The Ming army is not an idiot. Once Wang Qi leaves, he will infer that our army will leave and will definitely descend to attack my city. The elite Ming army on Longquan Mountain is very difficult. You can't stop it. By staying with me, this king will make them a bit more cautious and dare not move rashly, and after a few days, this king will chase you quickly in the dark of night."

Liu Yun wanted to say more, but Li Dingguo waved his hand and said: "Only this method is safe, and the front line of the flood can be safe. You don't need to say any more, go and prepare quickly. Tomorrow night, you will take the soldiers and horses away."

He stood up, came in front of Liu Yun, and said with emphasis: "All the generals in the army, you are the only one who understands the essentials of my art of war and acts in a prudent and proper manner. I will entrust the battle camp to you. Don't worry, my king. Just work hard!" ,Do not disappoint me."

Liu Yun suddenly felt a rush of blood rushing straight into his head, full of pride, and clasped his fists at the top of his voice and said: "Please rest assured, my lord, I will wait for my lord on the road in the end, please take care of my lord."

Li Dingguo smiled and patted Liu Yun on the shoulder.

The next day, the people in the Daxi Army screamed and the barracks were busy. They bundled up their weapons, food and grass and loaded them into cars. When it was dark, they quietly left Shehong City and followed the road go.

Li Dingguo sent out all the scouts and scattered them all the way to the foot of Longquan Mountain, in case the Ming army had spies to investigate. Fortunately, the Ming army did not have the habit of going out at night, and the soldiers left the camp without anyone noticing.

Another day later, Li Dingguo took the remaining 4000 or so soldiers from the mixed barracks and drove to the foot of Longquan Mountain with great noise. Following the routine he had been doing for more than a month, he set up his posture and began to scold the formation.

Of course, no one paid any attention to them on the mountain. After scolding for a while, they felt bored, and the Great Western Army sent troops to attack the mountain with shouts.

Li Dingguo carried out [-] large cowhide drums and nearly [-] horn horns, beating with great power, the sound of the drums and horns could be heard from the bottom of the mountain to Shehong, and the turbulent sound waves shook people standing close to him. The sergeant at the point is going to be deaf.

To the sound of the drums, the generals of the Great Western Army carried long ladders and pushed the shield carts, rushing towards the hillside like waves, walking slowly and steadily, trying to hide their figures behind the shield carts as much as possible, while the archers behind them pulled away vigorously. Bow, shoot arrows like migratory locusts towards the head of the city, covering the charge of the same robe.

However, the offensive thunder was loud, but the rain was light. When the first shield chariot was blown up by a bed crossbow spear tied with a bamboo tube, the other shield chariots that followed immediately stopped, and the sergeants hiding behind stopped. He didn't move forward, and after yelling and cursing for a while, he retreated angrily, causing laughter from the city.

"Hahaha, the thieves are scared. Such a coward is worthy of fighting against our Kuizhou Army. Go back and take your child as soon as possible!" Zu Bian stood at the top of the city and laughed loudly, with the flag of the Daxi Army in his smile. The sound wavered.

Wang Huan, Li Tingyu, Ma Long and other generals of the Kuizhou army stood together on the top of the city wall, watching the retreating Daxi Army below the city wall, laughing.

Only Wang Huan frowned, as if he had found something wrong.

Li Tingyu noticed it, and hurriedly asked: "My lord, is there something wrong?"

Wang Huan stared intently at the Daxi army who was still lingering in the distance below the city for a while, and said in a deep voice, "Didn't you find out that the bandit army who came to attack the city today is different in any way?"

"Yes, they have become less courageous." Zu Bian shouted: "We are afraid of being beaten!"

"It's not that they're afraid, it's that they don't want to waste their lives in vain." Li Tingyu shook his head and said, "The rebel army regards human life as nothing, except for soldiers. There are thousands of rebel troops who have died in the city these days. , They probably can't afford it, and although the terrain of Longquan Mountain is critical, it is not absolutely necessary to take it down."

Everyone thought it was reasonable, but Wang Huan said: "The general is right. Actually, there is one more point. Have you noticed that the number of soldiers and horses of the bandit army today is much less?"

When he said this, all the generals turned to look and realized that the formation of the Daxi Army gathered under the city had indeed shrunk a lot. In the past, it could have been a dozen large formations, but today it was more than half smaller.

"One more thing." Wang Huan continued: "The soldiers who attacked the city are no longer well-armored. It seems that I haven't seen the armored soldiers who fought the main force in the past few times. They are only some soldiers who come up. stream."

"That's right, my lord, that's true." Zu Bian was the first to talk again, his personality was like a fire burning, and he would never be able to contain his words: "Could it be that they keep the soldiers and wait until the miscellaneous soldiers are exhausted first?" ?”

Li Tingyu looked at Wang Huan, and said thoughtfully: "No, Li Dingguo's king's flag is at the foot of the mountain. He can't just bring his soldiers along. If you're not here now, where will you go?"

Everyone has their eyes on it, but they don't know what it is.

"They must have withdrawn their troops." Wang Huan said lightly, "Li Dingguo stayed here to perfuse us."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was shocked, and then overjoyed, Li Tingyu said happily: "Is that true? Great kindness, my Kuizhou army can easily win the battle with the thousands of miscellaneous fish under the city. If Li Dingguo can be captured alive, there will be no general in Sichuan that can resist me, and it will only be a matter of time before we regain Chengdu, a great event can be expected!"

Zu Bian and the others beamed with joy and became excited, rolling up their sleeves and yelling that they should rush out of the city.

Wang Huan, however, kept a cold face and ruthlessly dampened their enthusiasm for fighting: "No!"

He looked around and said with his hands behind his back: "It's easy to defeat Li Dingguo, only Feng Ziying is enough, but what about after defeating him? Chengdu is not stable, and he will definitely ask Zhang Xianzhong for help. Chengdu is his foundation. No matter how urgent Hanzhong is, he will inevitably divide his troops. Returning to the division, sending a general and even Zhang Xianzhong himself to lead troops back to fight against us, this is contrary to our intention to let the rebel army and the Tartars fight each other, and instead pushes us to a frontal confrontation with the elite rebel army. Let the Tartars take advantage of it."

Wang Huan spoke eloquently, and further explained: "When the rebel army returns to the army, Hanzhong's strength will weaken, and the chances of victory for the Tartars will increase. Enter Chuan Yier! And after we have exhausted the elite of the rebel army, we will face the Tartars who are waiting for work. , the difficulty has doubled, and we must not do such a detrimental thing! Therefore, not only can we not go out of the city to attack Li Dingguo, but we must also cooperate with him, pretend that we have not seen through his scheme, stay on the mountain, and pretend to be afraid. It is the best policy to not dare to move lightly."

"Oh!" Li Tingyu and others were enlightened, and they all cried out together.

"Next, let the sergeants recharge their batteries and muster their strength. Li Dingguo will not stay here for long. When Hanzhong starts fighting, we will go north quickly." Wang Huan said in a deep voice: "Chengdu's internal response and Hanzhong's message transmission , are very important, taking advantage of these few days, we have to make preparations, and all success or failure will be determined in the next month or so!"

(End of this chapter)