Chapter 688: Encirclement and Attack
Outside Yanmen
Qin Sheng divided the Jintai army into four parts. Qin Sheng led one team, and the other three teams were led by Zhou Da, Chen Jinlong, and Meng Jingfeng respectively.
These three teams each carried out different tasks, and the one led by Qin Sheng acted flexibly.
In Zhou Da’s team, Xiao Kun and Zhu Dazhuang assist Zhou Da.
The Jintai Army internally called it the Imperial Guards, because this was the branch that had followed the Qin family the longest.
Meng Jingfeng's team is assisted by Lu Dayou and Feng Shuo, and is internally known as the Xuantu Sect.
Chen Jinlong's team, assisted by Gao Lei, Ding Han, Yan Tianqing and others, belongs to the Liaodong faction.
Zhu Peng looked left and right. He was the former leader of the Youbeiping group's stronghold, and people like him all ended up in Liu Ye's team.
"Come, let's assign tasks." Qin Sheng summoned his subordinates and assigned tasks.
Zhou Da, Chen Jinlong, Meng Jingfeng, and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. What mission? Didn't the Sixth Master divide them into four teams so that they could take turns attacking the city day and night, striving to capture Yanmen Pass as soon as possible?
They had just started attacking the city and were testing the strength of the Xianbei army stationed at Yanmen, but they hadn't started to exert their strength yet.
Their support in Pingzhou is very strong. With such strong support, they are confident that they can capture Yanmen as soon as possible.
Qin Sheng said, "There are two tasks, one is to attack the city, and the other is to ambush the reinforcements."
"Currently, the main force of the Xianbei is in Leping. Yanmen and Xinxing are under attack. They will definitely send troops back to support them."
Zhou Da, Chen Jinlong, Meng Jingfeng and others nodded, agreeing with his speculation.
Zhou Da thought for a moment and said, "Sixth Master, we can increase the intensity of the siege and capture Yanmen before the reinforcements arrive. Then the entire army can enter Yanmen, with the city as a refuge, and wait for the reinforcements to arrive. This is also a good idea."
Currently, their personal guards are in charge of the siege. They have already tested the strength of the guards at Yanmen. He is confident that he can take Yanmen as soon as possible.
"The art of war is to surround them if they are ten times your strength, attack them if they are five times your strength, and fight them if they are twice your strength. You've learned the art of war well." Qin Sheng first affirmed his advice, then calmly pointed out, "However, those who are good at using troops can defeat the enemy without fighting and capture their cities without attacking."
"If the Jintai Army put all its forces into the siege, it would certainly be possible to capture Yanmen as quickly as possible, but this is too rigid."
"Furthermore, with Yanmen under siege, the defending generals will undoubtedly seek help from the Xianbei royal court. The defending Xianbei army will undoubtedly put up a desperate resistance, as they are counting on reinforcements."
"This will make it very difficult for our Jintai army to attack the city. Only by shattering their hopes will it be easy to capture Yanmen."
In this battle, Qin Sheng adopted the tactic of besieging a point and attacking the reinforcements. By besieging Yanmen, he lured the Xianbei to reinforce Yanmen. They ambushed and killed the enemy reinforcements halfway.
Qin Sheng knew very well that recovering lost territory was important, but at the same time, it was also important to eliminate the Xianbei's fighting force. This would ensure that the Xianbei would not be able to retaliate against them in Pingzhou.
It would be a shame to miss this opportunity for an ambush.
Now they have powerful weapons such as explosives, which are very suitable for tactics such as besieging a point and attacking reinforcements.
This explosive still has flaws. It would be great if it could be thrown with external force like a Molotov cocktail. This thought flashed through Qin Sheng's mind.
"Sixth Master's method is brilliant."
"This method is a bit more clever than besieging Wei to save Zhao."
If they first took Yanmen Pass and stationed themselves inside the city, they would be leaving the Xianbei reinforcements outside, making them uncontrollable. Only by using Sixth Master's method, cutting the grass at its roots, could they permanently eliminate the trouble.
In short, if they want Yanmen, the reinforcements will die for them.
Under Qin Sheng's arrangement, the personal guards led by Zhou Da were responsible for continuing the siege, while Meng Jingfeng's Xuantu squad and Chen Jinlong's Liaodong squad were responsible for ambushing and eliminating the reinforcements.
After the two teams set off, the siege on Yanmen continued.
"Attack the city, don't stop." Zhou Da shouted loudly.
"Use the trebuchet!"
"Use even Molotov cocktails!"
The catapults in Pingzhou were modified by the Seventh Institute of Engineering, as were other siege weapons.
"Use all the long-range siege weapons!"
"Don't feel bad if the Yanmen city wall is broken. We can tear it down and rebuild it!"
They no longer care about these short and dilapidated city defenses.
Zhongshan City
Yang Yingqin decided to evacuate, but before evacuating, they decided to implement the strategy of fortifying Zhongshan City and clearing the countryside, intending to leave Pingzhou with a ruined Zhongshan City.
"Hurry up!" The soldiers of Dali drove the people away.
Some brave people begged the soldiers, "Sir, can we not leave?"
"Stop talking nonsense, pack up and go!"
Faced with the eviction, the faces of the people in Zhongshan City were full of sorrow, and there was even a hint of anger on the faces of the young people.
Now the Dali army is driving the people towards Julu.
Not only that, they were also ordered to harvest or burn the crops in the fields.
The reason why Dali and Pingzhou were still fighting was because the autumn harvest was approaching and they were reluctant to leave the crops in the fields!
The price of grain is so high now, they are counting on the autumn harvest to get enough grain to survive the winter and last until next year.
The crops in the fields will take some time to fully mature, so if we harvest them now, we'll be lucky if we can get 10% or 20%. Isn't that a waste?
The common people were very resentful, and many people were privately asking, "Can't the Dali military commanders just leave them alone? Can't they just let them stay in Zhongshan?"
If they stay, they will have food and will be treated well by Pingzhou.
Can't we let them return to Pingzhou?
They didn't surrender to the Xianbei!
They were indeed the people of Dali, and they had worked diligently, paying taxes and performing labor service. But when the time came, why couldn't Dali consider the interests of the common people?
When they arrived in Julu, they found that the people had no land, no houses, and no food. How could they survive?
An officer walked by and ordered the soldiers, "Prepare to light the fire. This whole field will burn."
The common people couldn't bring themselves to do it, and they all looked away in pain.
"Burn your mother!" A young man couldn't help but rush towards the soldier holding the torch. "This is food, this is life! Damn it, have you never been hungry?"
One person moved, and the other young men also moved, rushing forward one by one, grabbing the torches, "Yes, we burned our food, went to Julu, and starved. What do you care?"
"What does it have to do with us ordinary people if you lose the battle and want to evacuate? Why are you forcing us to leave?"
When a fight broke out, the people nearby couldn't help but step forward to help.
The Dali officers were shocked and angry when they saw this scene. They shouted, "How dare you, you unruly people, attack soldiers? You are a rebellion!"
When the common people heard the scolding, they hesitated for a moment and became timid in their movements.
Someone in the crowd shouted at the right moment, "So what if we rebel? You won't give us a way to live. If we rebel, we'll die. If we don't rebel, we'll die too!"
Another voice echoed, "That's right, if you want to leave, just go ahead. Are we ordinary people trying to stop you? You eat and drink from us ordinary people, and you've been beaten like a stray dog by Pingzhou, and you can't bear to see us ordinary people live a peaceful life, right?"
"We worked so hard to grow our crops, and you just burn them like that. How can you be so cruel?"
Oh no, the people are rioting.
This was the scene Yang Yingqin saw when he arrived.
The crowd at the scene was outraged.
The people don't want to leave.
After suppressing the riot by force, he advised, "Fellow villagers, we are asking you to leave with us because we are worried that your lives and property will be in danger if Zhongshan City is occupied by the Pingzhou army."
Despite his earnest advice, the common people refused to listen. "General Yang, you want us to follow you to Julu, fine, but how are you going to accommodate so many of us?"
"We went to Julu and had no food. Do you care?"
"There's no place to stay in the winter, what do you care?"
Yang Yingqin was speechless.
An old man said seriously, "Without food, people will die."
Yang Yingqin continued, "I know you're reluctant to leave. Once you've reached Julu, the difficulties will only be temporary, but is there anything more precious than your life?"
"But the Pingzhou Army never harms the common people."
"We won't leave. This is our home. This is our root. Why are you trying to drive us away?"
"You Dali troops, if you want to leave, leave now! You dare to order the burning of crops and attack civilians? We will immediately open the city gates and let the Pingzhou army in!"
"If you don't let us live, we'll all die together!"
Faced with such one-sided public opinion favoring Pingzhou, Yang Yingqin was shocked. From this incident, it can be seen that the people of Zhongshan City are loyal to Pingzhou. This must be the work of the Pingzhou Propaganda Department, but he did not expect Pingzhou to be so popular among the people.
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