Yan Zhuang raised his head in the city and shouted: "Wang Xiangguo." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoYou rushed to Yangzhou from the north to defend Yangzhou City and prevent my army from moving south. But as far as the old man knows, you came alone, and your soldiers and horses are still thousands of miles away, do you really think that relying on this little soldier and horse in Yangzhou, you can stop the footsteps of my army? ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Yan, at least so far, Yangzhou City is still in our hands. The answer to this question couldn't be clearer. ”

Yan Zhuang sneered: "Wang Xiangguo, the old man knows that you are a genius of the world, and every time you have amazing actions. You have led the army so far, and you have not tasted defeat. But there is always a first time in everything, and this time I am afraid that you Wang Yuan will not be able to return to the sky. Wang Xiangguo, don't be too confident, because it not only involves you personally, but also involves the hundreds of thousands of people in Yangzhou City. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "I don't want you to fight with each other, do you want me to give up defending the city?" That's a fantasy. ”

Yan Zhuang shook his head and said, "Wang Yuan, you are so stubborn, but you will hurt a lot of people." You know that for my Great Yan Kingdom monarchs, we have no way out. Taking Yangzhou to Jiangnan is our only chance, how can we let you take away our way of life. Do you know that your actions have made the whole of the Great Yan Kingdom extremely angry. Originally, we just wanted to take Yangzhou and go to the south of the Yangtze River by the way, and we didn't plan to do anything to the hundreds of thousands of people in Yangzhou. But if you don't come to your senses, do you know what we're going to do after the city is broken? ”

Wang Yuan frowned and said, "What do you want?" ”

Yan Zhuang said solemnly: "Slaughter the city!" ”

Wang Yuan was stunned, and the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou in the city were all frightened when they heard it. If it is true that Yangzhou is impregnable, it will also take this as a deaf ear, but unfortunately Yangzhou City is not impregnable, and no one knows whether it can be defended.

"Up to the elderly, down to the young in the total horn. Tong, we will kill all of them without leaving one. This is the price of your stubbornness. Wang Yuan, you are thinking about the hundreds of thousands of people in Yangzhou, and you shouldn't force us to do this. If such a tragedy really happens, then it is your Wang Yuan's fault, and you are the sinner who killed them. Yan Zhuang's voice echoed coldly in the night sky.

"Hahaha." Wang Yuan looked up to the sky and laughed. "Mr. Yan, what is your reasoning|? I have heard that you are also a man who reads poetry and books, but why do you blame others for the iniquities you have made? You can also say such a crooked reasoning, and you should really laugh and be generous. ”

"The old man didn't joke with you, the slaughter of the city was indeed a crime, but the cause was that you led people to resist beyond their own strength, don't blame who you blame?" Yan Zhuang shouted coldly.

Wang Yuan shook his head and sneered: "I don't have time to talk nonsense with you, I originally thought that you Yan Zhuang was also a sober and rational person, but I didn't expect you to be a madman." Have you ever wondered why you are where you are today? That is because you have never treated the people as human beings, and you have always slaughtered the people and plundered the people, and you have never won the hearts and minds of the people. But if you had been a little nicer to the people, how could you end up in the present state of exhaustion? Do you use the massacre of the city to threaten the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou? That's the stupidest form of intimidation. If we give up our resistance, will you do good to the people? Think about the tragedy when Luoyang City fell, and think about the tragedy after the fall of Chang'an. Not long ago, you captured Xuzhou on your way south, what did you do in Xuzhou City? So whether you resist or not, you are all that virtuous, stop deceiving people with rhetoric. If I, the soldiers and civilians of Yangzhou, believe your nonsense, open the city gate and let you enter the city, then it will lead the wolf into the house and kill yourself. Rather than this, it is better to fight to the death with you. Your words will scare the three-year-olds, but they won't scare us. ”

"yes, it doesn't scare us, it's all bullshit. Shoot the dog. The soldiers and generals at the head of the city roared angrily, and some of them immediately bent their bows and arrows and shot Yan Zhuang.

Wang Yuan immediately stopped: "There are rules for fighting a war, we can't ignore the rules, wouldn't that be a virtue with the rebels." ”

Yan Zhuang under the city was pushed back by Wang Yuan's number of guns and sticks, and his face suddenly turned blue. Yan Zhuang was not unaware of the rebels' mistakes. The reason why the rebels are where they are today is actually because they have lost the hearts and minds of the people. When the army was first raised, there were even many people who welcomed and expressed their support. But what the rebels did was not to win their hearts, but to burn, kill, loot and do everything, and they simply lost those small favors. After that, the rebels fled everywhere they went, leaving the rebels without a replenishment base of supplies and personnel. If it weren't for An Lushan's previous hoarding of a large amount of supplies, grain, grass, weapons, and war horses for the rebellion in Xiongwu City, what a situation would it be.

Of course, even with the ability to be dignified, this could not be stopped. At that time, An Lushan could only condone the misdeeds of those Hu soldiers and horses and his soldiers. This can boost the morale of the soldiers to attack the city and plunder the land. It's like drinking water to quench their thirst, knowing that it won't last long, but you can only connive at their misdeeds. By the time Yan Zhuang can really take over, there is actually no room for recovery. The soldiers were accustomed to burning, killing and looting, and it was already difficult to restrain them. Moreover, at this time, the supply of materials, grain and grass is actually very problematic, and at this time, this can only use such rapid and violent means to seize materials, grain and grass.

Yan Zhuang himself also felt that his threatening words just now were really dirty. But he can't help it. If you really have 100% confidence that you can capture Yangzhou, why do you want to come here and talk nonsense. I always have to make some efforts first, looking forward to being able to convince Wang Yuan. There are always dreams, what if they succeed?

"Wang Xiangguo, since this is the case, the old man has nothing to say. It's a pity, Wang Xiangguo is talented, but he is very short-sighted. You are so desperate for Datang, what will Datang give you? Although you are the Tang Dynasty Xiangguo, do you know where your future path is? Even I, an outsider, can see that you will not have a good time in the future. Even if you succeed in defending Yangzhou, in terms of taking 10,000 steps back, my Dayan Kingdom will be destroyed by you, do you think you can sit back and relax and enjoy all the courtesies that the Tang Dynasty has given you? The old man is not a lonely person, about the grievances between you and the Li family's father and son, and about the recent things that have happened in the Tang Dynasty, the old man knows clearly. Wang Xiangguo, don't you want to leave a way back for yourself? If Wang Xiangguo is willing to serve my Dayan, I can solemnly guarantee that you will receive the highest courtesy. I, the prime minister, can also give way to you. Or if you have any other requirements, even splitting the land and sealing the king, Yan can also agree to your request on behalf of my Emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom. Why do you have to guard Li Tang's world so hard that you won't have a good end in the future? Yan Zhuang sighed.

Wang Yuan admired Yan Zhuang's eyesight a little, he did have some ability. Being able to smell the trend of some things that are about to happen in the future is enough to show that Yan Zhuang is a person who understands. It's just that it's a little embarrassing to say it openly in public. Isn't this a blatant attempt to sow discord? Maybe Yan Zhuang also knew that this method of persuading himself to work for him would not work, but he was just digging a hole for himself.

"Mr. Yan, although you and I are two hostile sides, I still have a trace of respect for you. I hope you don't let this little bit of respect disappear too. No matter what you say, it can't shake my idea of sticking to Yangzhou. It is no longer wise for you to persuade me to surrender, which not only lowers your impression in my heart, but also despises me. What kind of person am I, Wang Yuan? How can they be in the same league as the Ann traitor? Mr. Yan, I have a piece of advice for you: people like you don't have to work for the An clan at all, it won't bring you any benefits, it will only make you die without a place to be buried. If you abandon the darkness and turn to the light, I can open the net. That's all I have to say, Mr. Yan, please go back. Wang Yuan said loudly.

Yan Zhuang sighed, nodded slightly, arched his hand towards the city, and shouted: "Okay, Wang Xiangguo, let's see the real chapter on the battlefield." Yan swears here that if the city is broken tonight, he will slaughter all the soldiers and civilians in Yangzhou, including your Wang Xiangguo. ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said: "I also swear here, if you fall into my hands, I will save your life and will not kill you." ”

Yan Zhuang said coldly: "You don't want to deliberately show your generosity, I Yan Zhuang wants you to spare me?" ”

Wang Yuan sneered: "I'm not showing generosity, I'm just sparing you from dying." A long time ago, you calculated against me for my life, and I have never forgotten it. Don't worry, I'll let you survive and die. ”

Yan Zhuang sneered, brushed his sleeves and turned his horse, and drove away under the escort of the cavalry.

……

Drums and trumpets sounded, and the siege began. The more than 20,000 infantry of the rebel front army began to advance in a uniform formation arranged into more than ten phalanxes. The neat formation, the footsteps of the brush, and the neat shouts all add to the majesty of this calmly advancing formation.

The formation advanced to two hundred paces away, and the rebels on the periphery of the phalanx brushed out their shields to form a shield wall, and the rebel soldiers in the rear raised the ladder they were carrying to the top of their heads, let out an earth-shattering cry, and began to step into the range of the defenders' bows and arrows.

Wang Yuan closed his lips and stood motionless on the city tower, he could feel the rapid breathing of the soldiers defending the city around him, in the face of this large-scale and large-scale siege, the soldiers defending the city had no bottom in their hearts. At this time, they must not show any timidity, otherwise it will cause them to panic greatly.

"I got closer, I took aim. When they reach the moat and start building the bamboo raft pontoon, don't waste your energy. Wang Yuan shouted in a deep voice.

The order was quickly conveyed across the city walls, and all the defenders were foaming at the mouth as they watched the wall-like rebel ranks under the city advance gradually. One hundred and fifty steps, one hundred steps, eighty steps, fifty steps. The phalanx of the rebels reached the moat. The moat of Yangzhou is a river channel dug by leading the water of the canal, and the water flow is turbulent and wide up to more than ten zhang, just like a rushing river. For such a moat, it is not easy to build a pontoon bridge. The rebels tied up the bamboo rafts and wanted to connect a dozen bamboo rafts with ropes and lay pontoon bridges on the water. This method is of course simple and practical, but the person who builds the bamboo raft needs to be free from the protection of the shield, and this is when it is most vulnerable.

Sure enough, more than a dozen pontoon bridges began to be built, and more than 100 soldiers carrying bamboo rafts in each place broke away from the phalanx and came to the river to connect ropes to build bridges. At this time, a clearly audible command came from the head of the city, "Release the arrows." ”

In an instant, a rain of arrows erupted from dozens of places at the head of the wall, and in just an instant, hundreds of rebel soldiers who were building pontoon bridges fell. It fell on the edge of the moat like a leek. Countless arrows rained down on the river, making the sound of autumn. It was clear that the defenders of the city were targeting the soldiers who had built the bridge, as they were unprotected. Killing and wounding the soldiers who built the bridge was obviously the most effective means of stopping the rebels from attacking the city.

"Shoot the arrows!" Military orders were also sounded in the rebel formations. In the middle of the phalanx were hundreds of archers, who immediately began to bend their bows and shoot arrows at the head of the city when they heard the military order. More than a dozen archers in the phalanx counterattacked the city, and the density of arrows exceeded the firepower of the city. But the bows and arrows at the head of the city were not suppressed, and they must not be suppressed. At the risk of being shot, the archers at the head of the city let the old ferocious condescending arrows unleash. For a time, arrows flew everywhere in the city, everywhere there was the sound of locusts breaking through the air, everywhere there was the sound of bowstrings vibrating, everywhere was the sorrow and shouts of those who were hit by arrows, and everywhere were the struggles and despairs of the dying people.

The number of casualties on both sides soared, the defenders at the head of the city continued to scream and fell to the ground, and the losses of the rebels under the city were even greater. The defenders of the city had lost five or six hundred dead and wounded in just a quarter of an hour, while the rebels had fallen three times that number. To the horror of the rebels, the pontoon bridge over the moat never succeeded, because the defenders at the head of the city seemed to be crazy and shot arrows at the pontoon bridge in desperation, resulting in almost all the soldiers who built the pontoon bridge being killed, and the other soldiers could not continue their mission at all.

The drum horns sounded again in the rebel formation, and Yan Zhuang, who could not stand such a slow construction of the pontoon bridge, sent all the remaining 5,000 archers. When these 5,000 archers arrived, they immediately showed a strong suppressive force. A rain of arrows like a dark cloud enveloped all areas above and below the city walls. Although it is a top-down projectile, it is able to empty all the defenders who are not in the corner.

The huge impact brought by the strong bow and iron arrows caused stone chips to fly on every section of the city wall that was attacked, and the oncoming city walls were shot out of the potholes and dense potholes. On the newly built city wall fortifications, the sandbag door panels are full of dense arrows. Almost all the defenders who dared to rise from the fortifications and battlements were shot. That's the power of the Dense Buildup.

It was by taking advantage of the forced cover of these 5,000 archers, and it was a separate cover where pontoon bridges were built everywhere, and half an hour after the battle began, the three pontoon bridges were built. The siege soldiers of the three phalanx rushed down the pontoon bridge. With the breakthrough of these three places, the pontoon bridges in the rest of the places have also been built one after another. More than 17,000 infantry rushed across the moat in a very short time. As if deliberately to pull the battle line and dilute the strength of the defenders, the rebel siege soldiers and horses set up five or six hundred ladders under the mile-long city wall and began a full-scale siege of the city.

On the ladder, the rebel soldiers rushed up and quickly climbed towards the city. The defenders at the head of the city fought desperately to defend the city, smashing them with stones, throwing them down with rolling logs, and pushing them away from the walls with long wooden poles against ladders, using all means to withstand several rounds of attacks.

At the same time, the second echelon of the rebels, 15,000 soldiers and horses, also rushed to the city, and they brought more ladders and more opportunities to break through the city walls. After adding more than 100 siege ladders, it was obvious that the number of defenders at the head of the city was seriously insufficient. Less than an hour before the siege began, the first rebel soldier climbed onto the top of the city. Although he was quickly slashed by the soldiers defending the city, his breach of the walls signaled that the defenders were no longer able to hold the walls.

Wang Yuan stood upright on the city tower from the beginning to the end, and his eyes took in all the situations above and below the city. The first soldier to storm the city was a sign that it meant that strong action should be taken immediately to repel the attack, otherwise it would not be long before more and more soldiers would storm the city and the situation would become uncontrollable. And looking at these dense soldiers climbing up the city wall like ants, this is also the time to use secret weapons.

"Order, let them taste the taste of the big stick chase." Wang Yuan ordered in a deep voice.

The herald hurriedly spread the order all over the city, but saw that Wang Yuan himself got up and came to the top of a battlement, and slowly drew the long sword at his waist. There was a flash of cold light, and a thick cable tied to a battlement was severed. At the same time, there was a loud scraping sound along the city wall, and a large wooden stake about a foot long began to sweep along the outer wall of the city wall like a pendulum, which had been hanging on the outer wall of the city wall and tied to two ropes as thick as a millstone on the two ends of the battlements.

Like a giant wooden hammer, the force of the giant wooden swing swept through all the ladders at the top of the wall in its area, sweeping away several lice-like ladders that covered the siege rebels, and the soldiers on them flew into the air screaming. Those who were directly hit by the giant tree broke their tendons in the air and lost their lives, and those who were not hit also fell heavily under the city with the slide of the ladder and fell into the crowd.

The pendulum-like giant tree was not the only one in front of Wang Yuan. Hundreds of these giant trees hung from the battlements of the outer city walls, and after Wang Yuan cut the rope of a giant log, the ropes were cut everywhere. Suddenly, hundreds of giant trees on the city wall began to fall one after another, and hundreds of hammer-like bells swept and swung across the outer walls of the city wall. What followed was a jaw-dropping moment. These giant trees flew hundreds of ladders on the city walls horizontally, turning thousands of siege soldiers into trapeze artists with no place to stay. The next moment, the screams were endless, and thousands of soldiers flew up like mud pills, falling directly from the ladder to the bottom of the city, smashing the soldiers who were attacking the city below with a roar, thousands of people broke their tendons and fractures, and hundreds of people died instantly.

In this short period of time, the wriggling and crawling siege soldiers and horses and countless ladders on the city wall seemed to have been wiped out by a big hand, instantly making the city wall refreshing and clean. Only a dozen siege soldiers on the ladder who had escaped the catastrophe sporadically stood on the ladder and watched all this tremblingly.

The casualties fell second, and the key was that at the important time when the siege was about to succeed, almost all the ladders were knocked down at once by this sudden pendulum-like wooden hammer, which made people a little overwhelmed. The defenders at the head of the city took advantage of the chaos under the city to frantically smash a round of rolling logs and stones, and the rebel soldiers who were in chaos below smashed the wolf and howled with their heads and rats. The already critical situation was eased in an instant. For the rebels to organize another siege, it will take at least half an hour to reorganize.

Due to the limited time, the power of these giant trees was not strong enough, in fact, according to Wang Yuan's idea, it was to nail iron nails on these giant trees to make the shape of a huge mace. In that case, as long as the soldiers who come into contact with the giant tree will not survive, there will be deep blood holes in their bodies. Moreover, when nailed with pointed iron nails, these giant trees can also form a thorny barrier on the outer edge of the city wall, making it difficult for the besieging soldiers to penetrate. All of these assumptions failed due to time, but even so, the terrifying effect of the giant wooden pendulum still made everyone jaw-dropping. The flames of passion that the rebels had sparked on the imminent collapse of the city walls were ruthlessly extinguished by these monsters, leaving the ground with broken soldiers and endless panic.

"Stone these dog mongrels to death." The morale of the defenders at the head of the city was greatly boosted, and they roared and shouted to smash stones and logs under the city.

The rebels under the city wall were smashed and had nowhere to stay, and some of the siege soldiers began to turn around and run back, which made the rebels' morale even more shaken. Many soldiers stood under the city at a loss, not knowing whether to run back or continue the siege.

On the other side of the moat, thousands of archers stood in formation, and in the face of some of the besieging soldiers who fled in front of them, they used their bows and arrows to tell them that no deserters would be allowed in this battle. The arrows whined, and the fleeing rebel soldiers were killed by the oncoming arrows, and they escaped the destruction of the rolling wood and stones at the head of the city, but they could not escape their own bows and arrows.

"Prime Minister Yan has an order, there is no retreat in the siege today, and those who dare to retreat will be killed." A rebel general with archers in the lead shouted.

The rebels began to understand their situation, and they knew that today's battle was either to die or to invade Yangzhou, and there was no third option. These thousands of archers are not only a powerful force to suppress the enemy, but also a retainer of war, and any opportunistic greed for life and fear of death will be punished, and they have no choice but to turn around and fight again.

In the midst of the rebels, the drums of war rumbled again. After witnessing the great defeat of the siege, Yan Zhuang made a desperate bet and ordered the last 10,000 soldiers and horses to be thrown into the siege. This was not only to strengthen the force of the all-out siege, but also to convey to everyone that the battle must be won.

10,000 rebel soldiers and horses swarmed with ladders, and there was no need to maintain any square formation to bluff people, what to do now was to rush to the city as quickly as possible, and reorganize the siege with more than 20,000 soldiers and horses under the city. More than a dozen charging vehicles were also rumbled towards the city gate, and dozens of bed crossbows also arrived at the city gate and began to shoot fiercely up and down the city tower. After being swept away by the siege soldiers by the rebels' giant wooden pendulum, the rebels managed to organize an even more ferocious attack.