Chapter 1081: Conquering Wusu

Since the two countries are currently at war, the border area is full of tense atmosphere, and personnel exchanges have completely stopped. While blocking Queshu Valley, the Wei army also blocked the news from Jinyang.

Therefore, Li Tai, who has now occupied Yining City in Qinshui River Valley, is not clear about the enemy's movements in Jinyang, but this is not important to him. The current rhythm of the war has always been in the hands of the Western Wei.

Just a few days after Yining City was captured, Han Guo, who was specially recruited to the Qinshui front, also led a 10,000-man brigade to Yining City. With him, there were also several generals from Hedong, such as Xue Shan, Liu Daiwei, etc., and Yun Bao, a general who surrendered to the Western Wei from the Eastern Wei in his early years.

The previous attempt to surrender Yining City made Li Tai taste a lot of sweetness. The different ways of attacking the city and persuading the defenders to surrender are also very different.

If you attack the enemy city, the price you pay will be greater, and the losses of the battle between the two sides will also be very shocking. However, if we can use relatively peaceful means to persuade the enemy to surrender and unite the troops, not only will the cost be lower, but the cooperation of the surrendered people will also be higher, and more human resources will be collected.

Of course, Li Tai did not insist on being able to persuade the enemy to surrender frequently. Various situations may occur during the war. It is of course good to have an additional option of uniting the troops when facing the enemy.

Hedong has a special geographical location, and many people are distributed in the two countries. It is more convenient to recruit several Hedong officials to follow the army, whether it is to persuade the opponent to surrender during the battle, or to reorganize and settle the prisoners and surrendered people after the war.

"I fought against the Eastern Bandits together with General Han before. Thinking about it, it seems like yesterday. I am so happy. Now we are fighting side by side again to defeat the bandits. General is as brave as yesterday and will surely surpass the previous achievements!"

Li Tai greeted the generals in front of Yining City. After hearing this, Han Guo also bowed and said, "Your Majesty's courage was already admirable in the past. Now the army is even more powerful. I will just follow your orders and fight bravely. I don't need to be afraid of the bandits' tenacity."

The group exchanged a brief greeting in front of the city gate, then entered the city together and sat down in the main hall. Then Li Tai personally told Han Guo and others about the current situation and the next combat goal.

"Now the enemies in Qinyuan have been defeated, and cities such as Yining and Guyuan are all ours. The bandits in Shangdang are hesitating and not daring to advance. There are still nearly 10,000 bandits in Wusu City, 200 miles east of Qinyuan. The defending general Wei Yihe and Liuhun are his old subordinates. If this city is conquered, our army's way to the east will be more accessible, and we can go south or north, and the bandits will definitely be more poor!"

At this point, Li Tai asked someone to show a topographic map of the surrounding area of ​​Wusu City in the hall. This map was drawn after asking local people and scouts visited the site, but it still looked too messy and sloppy.

Li Tai was also a little helpless about this. For an important town like Wusu City, even if the enemy had more detailed map data, they were all important military secrets and difficult to seize. The terrain around it was complex and changeable, and there were many enemy troops stationed there. Scouts might be able to take advantage of the opportunity to enter, but it was difficult to move around calmly. At present, this topographic map has been drawn with great effort during this period, but its real practical value is still relatively limited.

He looked at Han Guo and said, "Wusu City is located in the ancient Yanyu, which Zhao She, the general of Zhao State, called a rat-fighting hole. The land is full of gullies and ridges, and the terrain is changeable. If the city cannot be conquered, it will be difficult for the army to move out. General Han is good at observing the situation from afar and taking advantage of the enemy to win, so I summoned him here and led the elite troops to attack Wusu. I will lead the rest of the troops to respond to the front road. If the bandits on the left and right come to disturb, I will lead the troops to cut them off, and the general can concentrate on attacking the city."

Han Guo nodded and said, "I have never been in and out of this area before. Please follow the scouts to inspect it first, observe the uneven terrain and the straightness of the road, and then report to the lord how many troops should be sent to attack the enemy city."

Li Tai had seen Han Guo's talents and abilities with his own eyes, so he immediately arranged for the scouts who had been in and out of the area before to be the guides, leading Han Guo and others to spy on the enemy in a small group of elite troops near Wusu.

Shi Yunbao was a general. In the third year of Datong in the Western Wei Dynasty, when Dugu Xin led his army to the east to conquer Luoyang, He Ruotong, the then Yingzhou governor, and his son He Ruodun killed the Yingzhou governor in response to Dugu Xin. Ren Xiang, the acting governor of the Western Wei Dynasty, led his army to attack Yingchuan, and Shi Yunbao was in Ren Xiang's army. Later, Yuwen Gui led his army to rescue Yingchuan and defeated Ren Xiang. Shi Yunbao also surrendered to the Western Wei Dynasty at this time.

However, like other surrendered generals, Shi Yunbao was also neglected in Guanzhong and had difficulty integrating into the mainstream core. Li Tai had little understanding of him before and had little communication with him. It was only when Yuwen Gui recommended Shi Yunbao to him during the preparations for the Eastern Expedition that Li Tai summoned him into the army.

Yun Bao also attached great importance to the opportunity to go with the army this time, so he took the initiative to ask for the order: "There are many dangerous roads between Qin Valley and Shangdang. I will lead other troops to guard the flanks of the main army and monitor the enemy's movements. If the enemy goes north to rescue Wusu, it is also a plan to plunder Shangdang from the side!"

After hearing this, Li Tai nodded and said: "Many people have praised General Yun as a mighty and brave general, and today's mission will only succeed with the help of your loyalty and bravery."

There are roads along the Qin River Valley to the east that can reach Tunliu and Changzi in the western border of Shangdang. Although these roads are still difficult for the army to advance or retreat, it is also difficult to defend against a small group of elite troops sneaking in and harassing the country.

Li Tai had already deployed some spies between the various paths to monitor the movements. Since Yunbao volunteered, he added 2,000 soldiers to guard the route to ensure the safety of this direction.

Han Guo went to the enemy territory for inspection and exploration, and it took him three days to return. After returning to Yining City, he presented an attack plan to Li Tai, which required at least 15,000 soldiers to guard the dangerous places in different routes before launching an attack on Wusu City.

Wusu City is located in the angle where Taihang Mountain and Taiyue Mountain intersect. The terrain is surrounded by mountains on all sides, but the mountains in the south are relatively gentle. It is a hilly area where the mountainous area transitions to the Changzhi Basin. The city is located at the intersection of various roads. Although the terrain is also steep, it is not like Yining City, which has only the north-south passage of Qinshui River Valley. It is more like a city located in the center of a complex spider web.

In such a terrain, if you want to besiege the city, the tenacious resistance of the defenders in the city is not the most important thing. You must guard against the silent approach of reinforcements from all sides. If you are discovered by the reinforcements until they get close, you will be defeated by the internal and external attacks.

A considerable part of the 15,000 troops proposed by Han Guo is used to guard and block the reinforcements of Northern Qi. Only in this way can you attack the city with peace of mind.

After listening to Han Guo's plan, Li Tai directly sent 20,000 troops to him. In the case that the army did not go north to Queshu Valley to attack Jinyang, the war progressed to this point, and advancing to Wusu was already one of the few options.

Once Wusu City was conquered, it would make the different regions of Northern Qi more divided, and even intensify its internal contradictions. At the same time, Li Tai also wanted to test the internal combat support capabilities of the Northern Qi army through such extreme pressure. If the Northern Qi army still did not react quickly enough in the next battle, then some leaping raids and fortification operations could be carried out to make the Northern Qi defense even more stretched.

Previously, Li Tai led 20,000 troops to attack Yining City, and then Han Guo brought another 10,000 troops. After sending 20,000 divisions led by Han Guo to attack Wusu City, only 10,000 troops were left in the Qinyuan River Valley.

There were more than 90,000 troops in Jinzhou City, and before Wusu City was captured, Li Tai did not plan to send reinforcements to Yining for the time being. The Qinshui River Valley is narrow and long, which is not conducive to the long-term stationing of the army. Before the passage to Wusu City is opened, it is meaningless for too many troops to gather here, which only increases the transportation consumption of food and supplies. The road between Pingyang and Yining is unobstructed, and it does not take long for troops to arrive when the army really needs to advance.

Soon Han Guo led his army eastward out of Qinyuan. He first sent a small group of elite troops forward to sweep away the garrisons set up by the Qi army around Wusu City one by one, and then these front-line troops gathered and stationed in the northeast of Wusu City, blocking the mountain path in the direction of Taihang Mountain.

Then the main force led by Han Guo arrived at the foot of Wusu City. He did not set up any fortifications such as gullies and barriers outside Wusu City to carry out a full-scale siege of the city. He only built fortifications and piled up earthen hills in the north of Wusu City near the mountains and fields, and launched an attack on Wusu City.

The soldiers of the Wusu City garrison were not to be outdone. As early as Han Guo led his troops to the foot of the city and took advantage of the fact that they were not yet firmly established, the defending general Wei Yu personally led a group of elite soldiers to rush out of the city and charge at the Wei army.

Fortunately, Han Guo used his troops prudently and did not feel arrogant because he was the main attacker. The soldiers were well prepared and were able to meet the enemy calmly. After repelling the enemy, they established a fixed camp in the north of Wusu City. After making all kinds of siege equipment, they continued to attack Wusu City day and night.

During this period, Shangdang sent troops to reinforce several times, but they were all detected in advance by Han Guo, who was good at observing the enemy's movements. He dispatched troops to stop and repel them, making Wusu City an isolated city.

Just a few days after Han Guo launched the siege, the defenders in the city gradually couldn't stand this kind of isolation and distress. One evening, they chose to break out and fight. After a fierce battle with the attacking Wei army under the city, both sides won and lost. Because they were afraid of retreating to the city and being besieged again, Wei Yu actually chose to burn the city directly and leave.

Because the fire in the city was too fierce, Han Guo did not dare to lead his troops directly into the city. On the one hand, he sent people to inform Li Tai in Yining City in the rear of the good news. On the other hand, he ordered his men to search for water sources in nearby streams and springs to put out the fire. After the fire was under control, he led his troops into the city and set up camp, awaiting the arrival of the rear-line divisions.