Chapter 913 Seizing the City on a Snowy Night

In the cold winter months, how to keep warm is a very important issue. Especially on the current front line of Yique, because it was widely rumored among the Western Wei army that his country's general Li Boshan would soon lead his army north along the Sanya Road to Heluo to fight the Northern Qi army, and Yique was the only way for him to pass through.

Although the name Li Boshan could not stop children from crying at night in the Northern Qi Dynasty, it would definitely make the generals who were about to fight against him restless.

Therefore, when the main force of the Qi army, Ma Xi, went to pursue the defeated army of the Western Wei Dynasty to expand the victory, Hulu Jin, who stayed behind in Jinyong City, did not ignore the threat from the south because of his recent victory. He still arranged for many troops to be stationed along the Yique line to wait for the enemy. .

Under Hu Lujin's strict order, and the garrison soldiers' fear of Li Boshan, the garrison here was also very vigilant and spent a lot of time patrolling the Yichuan line every day.

This winter is particularly cold. Excessive outdoor activities are a huge burden on people and horses. Cold protection and heating have become a top priority. However, since the two countries had not engaged in high-intensity battles on the Yichuan front line for several years, the material reserves were inevitably somewhat inadequate. With nearly 10,000 additional troops temporarily stationed here, the reserves of firewood and other materials were quickly exhausted. All.

If you want to replenish these urgent supplies, the most direct and effective way is to collect and distribute them on the spot. Therefore, the barbarian tribes living in the mountains south of Heluo became the main targets of the conscription. Not only the winter supplies they had stored up were forcibly collected to supply military supplies, but the young men of those tribes were also organized to support the army. Soldier slaves carried out various repairs, maintenance and reinforcements to prevent disasters. Of course, the most important thing was to chop wood and burn charcoal.

In order to guard against enemies coming from the south of Yichuan, the Qi army centered on the new city and deployed a dozen large and small forts along the perimeter of Yique. These forts were garrisoned with dozens or hundreds of troops, and together they formed a tight defense line. The defense against the people and horses coming from Xiangyang is not lax.

If nothing unexpected happens, even if Li Boshan leads tens of thousands of troops to march north, it will be impossible to break through the Yique blockade and enter the Heluo area in a short time. He will be blocked from advancing in Yichuan.

But no matter how good the plan is, it still needs people to implement it, and when people do things, it is difficult to avoid negligence and mistakes. As for whether the consequences of this mistake are big or small, it depends on the person and the situation. It may be trivial or it may be fatal.

A small Qi army team inspected ten miles to the south and found nothing unusual, then hurriedly returned to the garrison.

"It's weird! Why does it smell like blood?"

When they arrived outside the fort, the captain of the team suddenly frowned and said, and the other sergeants who accompanied the team also took a few deep breaths of the cold air, and then nodded repeatedly: "The smell is coming from the fort! "

While talking, everyone exposed the sharp edges of their put away swords and guns and rushed towards the fort. When they came to the gate of the garrison, they saw several barbarians slaughtering and skinning several sheep inside the gate of the garrison. The skinned sheep were thrown directly on the snowdrift, and sheep blood was scattered everywhere on the ground.

"These thieves are really careless and clumsy in their work. How can they slaughter animals in front of the door?"

Seeing this scene, the soldier commander couldn't help frowning and yelling angrily: "There are still these thieves left behind, why are they so gluttonous! We only had extra meals the day before yesterday, and today we have to slaughter sheep again. How many animals are forbidden to consume like this?" !”

These forts in the south bear greater risks. In order to ensure that the soldiers can hold on here, the rations are also very rich. Each soldier was provided with wine and meat. In addition to dried meat, the meat also included cattle and sheep raised in the fort. Therefore, the sergeants who saw this scene naturally took it as a sign that the people left behind in the fort were infested with gluttons, and arranged for these barbarians to kill sheep for food.

Since it was not a special situation, the dozens of Qi soldiers in this group also relaxed their vigilance, put away their swords and guns, and headed towards the fort. When they came to the door, the soldier commander whipped several of them with the back of his sword. The barbarians angrily scolded them to clean up the blood and filth in the room, and also to clean up the snow outside the fortress.

Several barbarians only responded, but when the soldier commander put away his saber and passed by them, the expressions on the faces of the originally cowardly and respectful barbarians suddenly turned ferocious, and the sharp knife in his hand was originally used to slaughter lambs. He stabbed straight at the soldier commander.

"How dare you, the dog thief?"

The soldier commander was also a veteran with combat experience. He reacted very quickly. After noticing something strange, he hurriedly swung his sword to block it. However, his frozen body, which had been outside for a long time, could not keep up with this reaction. Halfway through the move of the sword, the back of his hand was already touched by the knife. The blade cut hard, and a large mass of muscles on the back of the hand was lifted, and immediately the back of the hand began to bleed.

At the same time, a sharp knife came from the side and pierced directly into the soldier commander's neck, which was exposed behind his ears when he turned his head. The soldier commander felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his body was shaking like a sieve, he quickly lost blood and strength, and collapsed to the ground.

At this time, many soldiers with swords and guns rushed out of the fortress and attacked the panicked Qi soldiers. These Qi troops were caught off guard and soon suffered heavy casualties and were killed and dispersed. However, the armored soldiers ambushing in the garrison did not give up. Under a pursuit, they quickly slaughtered all the Qi soldiers and no one escaped.

After a bloody killing, some of the lambs that had just been slaughtered in front of the city gate were thrown into boiling pottery urns for cooking, and some were roasted on bonfires. The aroma of the meat overflowed, covering up the fort. The smell of blood.

A barbarian chief came forward and cut off a roasted leg of lamb with a knife. He respectfully presented it to the phoenixes who had just killed the enemy side by side. At the same time, he said with an excited face: "Since we said goodbye in the old year, we, the grassroots people in the mountains, have all looked forward to it." General Li is able to return to Luonan and drive back the Qi garrison! Now Master Wang is finally back to rescue us commoners who were treated as cattle and horses by the Qi thieves..."

Shuofeng took the leg of lamb and cut it with a knife, while saying to the barbarians around the campfire who were looking at him eagerly: "Now my lord is no longer a general, but the King of Taiyuan! The king has returned with the army this time. Heluo must defeat the thieves. I am a pioneer, and my job is to open up the Yiluo Pass so that our division and brigade can advance smoothly. If you can cooperate well, the reward after the war will be indispensable!"

General Li, no, the prestige of King Taiyuan among the barbarians in Yiluo was not gained out of thin air, but was established through more than one generous reward. Every time he came to Heluo, he would lead them to a battle. A grand division of the spoils. The Qi army was strong, but cruel and mean, and was even more cruel to these barbarians.

Therefore, when it was learned that the Taiyuan King's army was about to return to Yiluo, there was no need for the vanguard to contact the barbarians. The barbarians themselves were also watching the arrival of the Shannan Dao people with the Qi army.

Of course, the goals of both sides are completely different, and as natives and widely distributed among Yiluo, the ears and eyes of the Man tribe are much more sensitive than these Qi army officers and soldiers temporarily stationed here. Within the territory, these barbarians took the initiative to contact us immediately.

When they heard that General Li's rank had increased, the barbarians felt quite honored. However, some barbarians were dissatisfied and said: "The Emperor of Wei is too weak in governing affairs. Since General Li is going to be crowned king, Why not just grant him the title of King of Luoyang!"

Not to mention that the barbarians clapped their hands and applauded after hearing this, and several phoenixes and others began to discuss the follow-up action plan with the leaders of the barbarians. At present, the barbarians are mainly responsible for the logistical support of the garrison here. The success rate of seizing the garrison by using tactics like today is not low. However, as the number of operations increases, the news will inevitably spread, thus arousing the vigilance of the troops stationed here.

So after some discussion and understanding, several phoenixes simply decided to set the next target of action as Xincheng. Xincheng is the largest city around Yique and has the largest garrison. There are five to six thousand soldiers of the Qi army. If Xincheng is captured, the surrounding fortresses, large and small, will not be a threat and can be easily removed.

It's just that if you want to capture such a city that is heavily defended by Qi people, it is obviously impossible to capture a garrison stronghold. Moreover, to be honest, the barbarians have relatively low combat effectiveness and armament levels. When seizing the garrison, they were also led by several phoenixes. The fifty elite soldiers are the main force. If they want to seize the new city, even a surprise attack is not something the barbarians can do.

Therefore, Shuofeng informed the forward commander Gao Le of this plan. Gao Le also agreed after learning about it, and sent an additional 500 elite soldiers in light armor to coordinate with Shuofeng's actions. At the same time, he also ordered his troops to speed up Marching speed, giving up the capture of strongholds along the line, the goal is to take the new city directly.

Every day, the barbarians dispersed in the surrounding mountains to cut firewood and then transported it back to the new city, which also provided an excellent way for Shuofeng and his party to cover up.

On a snowy evening, when it was almost dark, more than 500 of their soldiers hid their swords and weapons among bundles of firewood, and dispersed into several large and small teams for collecting firewood. Under the cover of the barbarians, , all the way smoothly to the foot of Xincheng.

At this time, most of the city gate defenders were huddled in the tents inside the city gate to warm themselves by the fire. Only a dozen soldiers huddled listlessly in the door opening to avoid the wind and snow. As the distance between them became closer, just as the two soldiers When they entered to inspect the firewood, several people in the team immediately shouted: "Kill the thief and seize the door!"

Swords, guns, ordnance were extracted from the firewood, and all the soldiers guarding the city gate were killed in a very short period of time. Immediately, all the soldiers were dressed in armor inside the gate, and charged towards the enemy camp not far away. And go.

As the battle started, some barbarians who had already had a tacit understanding began to shout and create chaos. Although they did not dare to fight directly with Qi soldiers, the commotion they caused also created the illusion of a large army attacking the city. , causing the defenders everywhere in the city to become panicked. They didn't know where the enemy came from, nor how many enemies had entered the city.