Chapter 10 Winning the Central Plains Section 74 General Li Hong urgently summoned the Left Guard General Lu Yi, the Right Guard General Zhang Yan, the Later General Yushi, the Right General Yang Feng, the Long Xiang General Zhao Yun, and the General Shi Fugan, Sima Wang Ling, the Lord Bo Jiang Ji and other civil and military ministers to discuss the matter.

Jia Xu explained his attack strategy. Luoyang City was well defended, and if it was forcibly attacked by the current method, not only the casualties of the soldiers were huge, but the manpower, material resources, financial resources and time consumed were very amazing, and neither the imperial court nor the Northern Frontier Army could afford it.

If this kind of fighting continues, it is very likely that the imperial court and the Northern Xinjiang Army will be dragged down alive by Luoyang City. There is only one way to reverse the current passive situation, that is, to give full play to one's own advantages, and at the same time use various methods to transform the enemy's advantages into disadvantages, and then change the contrast of offensive and defensive strength between the two sides, defeat the enemy, and capture Luoyang.

What are our advantages? High morale, plenty of troops, strong ordnance, plenty of food and grass, and still time.

We have enough time to surround the enemy, trap him, and drag him down. How to make the most of your strengths?

If we want to maintain high morale for a long time, we must solve the problem by relying only on the Son of Heaven's personal expedition, we must solve the problem of the vital interests of the soldiers, so that they can stay on the front line with peace of mind, and are willing to fight bravely to conquer Luoyang.

The practical interests of the soldiers included rewards and rewards from the imperial court, including the bereavement of the fallen soldiers, the restoration and maintenance of their physical strength, and most importantly, the good life of their families.

At the time of the New Year, we can ask some of the soldiers to go home to see them, so that they can bring back the news that their relatives are safe and happy, so as to motivate and encourage the soldiers to continue fighting.

As for the troops. We have an army of 230,000, which is enough. But what about the people? Whether the people can maintain sufficient physical strength and whether they can transport all kinds of materials to Luoyang is directly related to the combat effectiveness of the army.

It has been eight months since the beginning of the attack on the periphery of Luoyang, and the imperial court has requisitioned more than two million people, who have been following the army to fight and are exhausted.

Therefore, we must immediately implement a rotation system in the process of recruiting and transferring people's husbands, so that the number of people can be reduced, the physical strength of the people can be maintained, and the damage to national strength and wealth can be appropriately reduced.

At present, the number of ordnance of the large army is obviously not enough to meet the needs of attacking Luoyang, and we need more ordnance.

5,000 stone cannons, 20,000 ballistas, and 60,000 strong bows were the most basic numbers, but because we did not estimate the difficulty of attacking Luoyang in advance, the number of various types of ordnance did not meet this basic requirement.

Therefore, for a period of time in the future, we will order the ordnance workshops in various places to rush day and night, and at the same time requisition a large number of strongholds, passes, and arsenals from various places.

The army is running out of food and grass. But after the autumn harvest is over, after the spring harvest next year, grain from all over the country will be continuously transported to Luoyang, but the enemy troops in the city have not replenished, and their grain will be less and less.

The time we besiege Luoyang depends on whether we can hold on to the periphery of Luoyang. As long as we firmly hold the perimeter of Luoyang and block the rescue of the rebels, we can keep fighting, so we don't need to worry about the time.

What are the advantages of the rebels? Solid Luoyang City, impeccable defense deployment. This is their greatest strength.

How to turn the rebels' strengths into weaknesses? Destroy the rebels' defenses and leave them unsafe.

The way to destroy the rebel defenses is simple, gather all the ordnance and bombard it in groups. The rebels' defensive facilities are nothing more than Fengyuan, Wengcheng, horse faces, gatehouses, and towers, which are either rammed earth or bricks and wood, and how many consecutive impacts can they withstand?

If we can't finish bombing in ten days, we will bomb for a month. The rebels lost these defensive facilities, and they lost their reliance, and the morale and morale of the army were all bombarded to us, how could they defend Luoyang?

There are several challenges to the implementation of this policy. How long will it take to assemble 5,000 stone cannons and 20,000 ballistas?

How to solve the problem of operating 25,000 heavy weapons and requiring a staggering number of soldiers and civilians?

If 5,000 stone cannons bombard day and night, they need a large number of stone shells, where do the stone shells come from? After the bombardment, the soldiers were to go to the city to fight.

There are two problems that must be solved in the battle to the city. First, the moat needs to be filled, and second, it is necessary to create a large number of wells as high as the castle.

The well is similar to a car, with a shed and a wide gangplank on top. During the siege, the well was pushed under the city, and the assault soldiers lowered the gangplank, connected to the top of the city wall, and then opened the shack and rushed directly to the top of the city wall to fight.

After careful deliberation between the generals and the generals, the siege was set for mid-March next year, that is, five months later.

In these five months, the soldiers and people under Luoyang City need to make a lot of preparations.

First of all, it is necessary to cut off the moat on the battlefield of Xicheng, drain the water in the moat, and fill the moat. Winter is coming soon, and the dry season is conducive to damming and cutting the moat, but the moat of Luoyang City is wide and large, and it is within the range of the rebels, so it is very difficult to fill in.

For this reason, the generals and generals decided to fill in the moat in front of Yongmen, with a length of two miles. As for the way to fill the moat, it will depend on the repair of the oars and the indignation.

The top of the indignation is covered with raw cowhide, which can be pushed to the trench or the foot of the city for landfill and excavation operations.

The Turret is similar to the Angry Tree, but its duty is to cover the area of attack as the guards approach. In addition, filling the moat will definitely cause panic among the enemy troops in the city.

The soldiers and men of the Northern Xinjiang Army worked day and night, and they would shoot day and night, which could help the army get some stone bullets and arrows, killing two birds with one stone.

The height of the well was more than 100 feet (about 24 meters), and Jia Xu demanded that at least 20 soldiers be accommodated in the hut.

This is a behemoth, which can only be made under the city of Luoyang, otherwise it cannot be transported. There are more than a dozen mountains of different sizes near Luoyang, such as Bishan, Yushan, Qinglong Mountain, Jingzi Mountain, Yingshan Mountain, Shouyang Mountain, etc., which are densely wooded and can be used locally.

Of course, the stone shells used in the stone cannons also had to be excavated from these mountains. Then the crowd began to argue about the number of men.

Just now, Jia Xu has made it clear that the number of people should be reduced. But now that there are many things and time is tight, Koji and others believe that not only can the people not be reduced, but also have to be requisitioned again.

Both sides disagreed, and the voices grew louder. Li Hong waved his hand to signal the generals to calm down.

"In the past five months, we have mainly filled in the two-mile-long moat, made 500 wells, collected enough 5,000 stone cannons to bombard stone shells for a month, and it is enough to keep about 1.5 million people under Luoyang City." Li Hong said,

"There are too many people pulling the rope of the medium-sized stone cannon to deploy it intensively, which is not conducive to our concentrated bombardment, so it is immediately modified to make it like a heavy stone cannon that can be fired without human power pulling the rope. In a hurry, the imperial court invited Yin Si, Liu Ye and other adults to rush to the battlefield in Luoyang, and took the craftsmen to transform day and night. Doing so will also reduce some of the people's husbands. ”

"General, now is the armistice period, and the people are enough, but once the war starts, one and a half million people will definitely not be enough." Zhang Yan persuaded,

"In my opinion, before the war, another 500,000 must be requisitioned."

"Okay, that's it." Li Hong turned his head to look at Fu Gan.

"Can you get 5,000 stone cannons and 20,000 ballistae together in five months?"

"We can make it while we are collecting it from other places, and we will definitely be able to gather the quantity after the beginning of spring, and it may even exceed this amount." Fu Gan's face showed a worried look,

"It's just that in this way, on other battlefields, especially in Guanzhong, the city defense force will be greatly weakened." Li Hong frowned slightly.

Jia Xu smiled indifferently: "As long as Luoyang is defeated, even if there are some defeats in other battlefields, it has nothing to do with the overall situation." ”

"What about Guanzhong? If the Qiang people break through the Yicheng and Shangtai lines, wouldn't Chang'an be dangerous? Jade said worriedly,

"Now Chang'an is the capital of the Han Dynasty, and it must not be lost."

"There are four key passes in the passes, and the defenders of each department can hold out until we conquer Luoyang City by virtue of the dangers of the four passes." Jia Xu said very confidently,

"At present, the greatest threat to us are the Qiang people in Western Xinjiang, Zhang Lu in Hanzhong in Yizhou, and Liu Biao and Yuan Xi in Nanyang, Jingzhou. There is Wuguan in the southeast of Guanzhong, there is Dasanguan in the southwest, and there are Yicheng and Shangqi (today's water) in the upper reaches of Weishui River. "The general urgently ordered the generals of all departments to go to the Son of Heaven to discuss the army.

Taking advantage of the fact that Lu Yi, Zhang Yan, Fu Gan and others were planning specific attack deployments, Li Hong invited Jia Xu to Shanglin Yuan for a walk.

It was nearly dusk, and the sunset was like blood. The two of them walked side by side on the forest yin path, talking in a whisper.

"I want to thank you this time." Li Hong said with a smile,

"If it weren't for you, I would have been fighting until at least next month before I could stop, and the casualties would be very staggering." Jia Xu smiled and said nothing.

"Think about what a spectacular scene it would be to think that five months later, we bombarded Luoyang City day and night with 5,000 stone cannons, 20,000 ballistas, and 60,000 strong bows." Li Hong looked up at the sunset in the sky, suddenly stopped, raised his hand and howled,

"Five hundred wells carrying 10,000 soldiers to the city wall at the same time, who can stop its sharpness?"

"The Great General should have been able to think of such an attack." Jia Xu stood behind him and whispered,

"But the general was in too much of a hurry, and almost did not make any preparations, so he launched an attack on Luoyang." Li Hong was in a very good mood and happily accepted Jia Xu's words,

"Compared to your strategy, I am indeed underestimated, so to speak, I have not made any preparations. Although I had planned well before this, it was obviously too hasty to launch an attack a month after arriving in Luoyang City. He turned his head to look at Jia Xu and asked with a smile,

"Did you already see that? Why didn't you write to me? Jia Xu twisted his short beard and smiled slightly,

"The eldest princess and the ministers of the court have teamed up to stop you, what is the result? The general insisted on going to war, fearing that the tide of the war would turn around, but the main reason was probably to pacify the western frontier, right? Li Hong smiled with a smile on his face, and there was a hint of surprise in his eyes,

"So you didn't write to stop it?"

"After taking Luoyang, the army should take advantage of the situation to go south to quell the rebellion, sweeping across the north and south banks of the Yangtze River, as long as it is a normal person, it will adopt this steady counterinsurgency strategy." Jia Xu's eyebrows were faintly melancholy,

However, the general did the opposite, let go of the fragile rebellion, and turned west to Liangzhou to fight against the strong Qiang people, and the consequences were unimaginable. Advancing westward to pacify the Qiang, the rebellion in the south will get enough respite, and in the future, regardless of whether the general can defeat the Qiang people or not, the army will encounter stubborn resistance when it goes south to quell the rebellion. What is particularly serious is that if the Great General fails in Western Xinjiang, the time to go south to quell the rebellion will be greatly delayed, and it is very likely that the Great Han will evolve into a situation of confrontation between the north and the south. Li Hong's smile gradually narrowed, and he was silent.

"The sudden split of the forces in the northern frontier made the general feel a deep danger, so the general quickly went to war and forced the Son of Heaven to drive the expedition in person, intending to reverse the unfavorable situation in the court and force the eldest princess and the court to continue to obey your counterinsurgency strategy." Jia Xu shook his head,

"But, General, I have to say that your method not only did not reverse the unfavorable situation in the court, but made the crisis in the court even more serious." Li Hong's eyes were shocked, but he immediately regained his composure,

"You don't agree with me going west to Pingqiang?"

"Of course I agree that the general's westward march to Pingqiang is the only way to solve the crisis in the court, and the general has obviously seen this a long time ago." Jia Xuyan couldn't help but say a word of flattery.

"Since the Jizhou War, we have fought for five consecutive years, the Central Plains War, the Guanzhong War, the Luoyang Peripheral War, and now the Luoyang War. Within five years, we mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops, and even twice requisitioned Hu iron cavalry from outside the Saiwai. In five years, we have recruited tens of millions of people. In five years, the court made three successive changes to the official system. ”

"Hebei is already overwhelmed and crumbling. Whether it is the soldiers of Northern Xinjiang, the people of Hebei, or the imperial court, they have all borne an unimaginable burden in the past five years, and Hebei urgently needs to stop the war and recuperate, otherwise it is very likely to fall apart with a defeat. But Hebei can't stop now, because Luoyang has not been defeated, the Central Plains has not been occupied, and Hebei has not yet laid the cornerstone of pacifying the world. ”

"The crisis in Hebei has been covered up by one victory after another, whether it is the people, the soldiers, the eldest princess and many ministers of the DPRK and China, they are all blinded by the victory in front of them, but there is one person who is very sober." Li Hong glanced at Jia Xu, and a smile rose at the corner of his mouth,

"You mean Zhong Yuan?"

"Yes. Lord Li Wei can be said to have worked hard and painstakingly for the rise of Northern Xinjiang and the formulation and implementation of the new policies of the imperial court, but Lord Li Wei is just a wheel in the speeding carriage of Zhongxing Daye, and he cannot control the direction of the wheel. Jia Xu said,

"And the general is the horse that drags the carriage of the great cause of Zhongxing, and the direction of the great cause of Zhongxing has always been firmly controlled in your hands. However, now that the carriage was obviously out of control, Master Li Wei had to find a way to stop the runaway carriage. ”

"There are eight horses dragging this carriage." Li Hong shook his hand and smiled,

"I can't control the direction alone." Jia Xu's face changed slightly,

"General, don't you want to alleviate the crisis in the court?"

"There is always a crisis in the court." Li Hong walked with his hands in his hands and said unhurriedly,

"Although all kinds of crises in Hebei will eventually be concentrated in the court and erupt in the court, it is not yet the time to break out, and I still have enough time to save the situation." Jia Xu was even more surprised, and his footsteps couldn't help but slow down.

Li Hongxin walked with him, his vigorous back looked confident and mighty under the reflection of the setting sun. Jia Xu sighed lightly, took a hurried step, and persuaded again: "General, Lord Dong Zhuo was very good to Emperor Xiaoxian back then, and he was also extremely accommodating to the ministers in the court, and he also wanted to save the Han, but Emperor Xiaoxian could not save Lord Dong Zhuo because of this, and the ministers in the court could not give up killing Lord Dong Zhuo because of this. Li Hong stopped and looked up at the gorgeous sunset.

After a long time, he suddenly said softly: "I remember that before Bohan (Yu Peng) went north to Liaodong, he quarreled with me once, and he said that I was too anxious, too anxious to calm the world. Do you mean that too? ”

"Hebei needs to recuperate, more than 10 million people need to eat and dress, and Lord Li Wei is also forced to do so." Jia Xu bowed and said.

Li Hong sneered,

"There's more to him, you know?"

"General......" Jia Xu smiled bitterly and gave a deep salute,

"General, I must admit that he is also for the great cause of Zhongxing, otherwise why would he let the court fall into a crisis?"

"I can't tolerate it."

"If the general can't understand Lord Li Wei's hardships, it is impossible for the army to march west to Pingqiang, Liangzhou. The eldest princess and the court would not agree to the general's strategy, and the army would not want to get food and grass. Li Hong's eyes showed murderous intentions.

"General, it was you who let the people of Northern Xinjiang control the decision-making power, but why do you go back on your word now and control the decision-making power yourself?" Jia Xu said with a little excitement,

"The division of the people of Northern Xinjiang was caused by you; The crisis in the court was also caused by you; In the future, if the eldest princess refuses to return to the Son of Heaven, the reason is also caused by you. Li Hong was stunned for a moment.

"The people of Northern Xinjiang control the decision-making power, and it is not the general who controls the decision-making power alone, the two are different." Jia Xu continued,

"General, please think about it carefully, if the forces in Northern Xinjiang are split, the great cause of Zhongxing will definitely be over." Li Hong glared at Jia Xu angrily.

"General, you want to support the Son of Heaven, I understand. But if you pacify the world and finish the war before the Son of Heaven governs, what will the Son of Heaven do? Where is his exploits? How did he command the Han army? The general's achievements are high, the Son of Heaven is a cowardly child, how dare you let the eldest princess give the authority to the Son of Heaven? Li Hong Huoran thought of something, his heart was suffocated, and he didn't catch his breath for a long time.

He suddenly understood the crux of the court's crisis.

"I see." Li Hong stretched out his hand and patted Jia Xu, and said gratefully,

"Before hitting Luoyang, I will go back to the DPRK." Jump to