Chapter 317 The Eight Tigers of Daizhou, as Wolves and Tigers

It was early May in the eighth year of Jiayou's reign.

It has been ten days since Wei Yuan launched a general attack on Xiangzhou, but there has been no progress.

The number of casualties on both sides has reached about 80,000, and the Zhou army accounted for at least 70%.

Such a method of siege, killing a thousand enemies and damaging a thousand and two others, does not seem to be the work of Wei Yuan at all.

In fact, Wei Yuan had only participated in city defense battles and had never fought a serious siege battle.

In the past ten days, Wei Yuan has been accumulating practical experience while exploring some of the advantages of attacking Xiangzhou City.

Except for some special reasons.

A general siege campaign, especially an attack on a large city like Xiangzhou, would take at least half a year, or three to five years or even longer, when the strength of the enemy and ourselves is relatively balanced.

Obviously, Wei Yuan did not want to fight for so long. There were too many variables in three to five years, and neither he nor the court could afford the risk.

Now, in the Zhou army's tent.

After Ye Bushou's investigation, Shen Qing obtained the latest intelligence news.

"Yeluxin led an army of more than 200,000 troops and has passed the Maling crossing. According to their marching speed, they can reach the Neihuang area in at most three days."

Neihuang is located in the southeast of Yong'an City, only two to three hundred miles away from Xiangzhou.

Wei Yuan stood in front of the sand table and said thoughtfully: "In other words, including the army that Ye Luxin first controlled, the Liao army is now fully equipped, only 400,000?"

At the beginning, the Liao army went south with more than 600,000 troops. In less than a year, it had already lost 200,000 troops.

The casualties on the Zhou army's side were even more severe, at least around three or four hundred thousand.

"That's right, as long as one of the armies of Yelu Xinxian and Yelv Renxian can be defeated, our army can take advantage of the situation to regain all the lost ground and drive the Liao army out of our territory."

Shen Qing said slowly, "Besides that, there is one more thing. Xixia has sent an additional 200,000 troops to Yanbian. Zhong E and other generals have asked the imperial court for help. I believe there will be an order from the officials in the near future."

Wei Yuan shook his head and said, "There are no more troops to send."

Nowadays, in addition to the troops stationed in various cities, Wei Yuan has an army of 600,000. It is a bit difficult to attack Xiangzhou, let alone support Yanbian?

To be honest, if the Zhou army fought with the intention of losing territory and saving people, then an army of 600,000 would be enough to conquer the world.

But this is not the case.

Every time Wei Yuan regained a town, he had to divide his troops to garrison them. In this way, his troops were dispersed.

This approach is also to eliminate all escape routes for the Liao army.

If, like them, they save their lives and lose ground, and keep chasing the main force of the Liao army, the final result will be that they will be led by the 400,000 troops of the Liao military district.

And if the existing Liao army is wiped out in the Central Plains, Wei Yuan will be confident enough to regain the sixteen states of Yanyun in one fell swoop.

After all, the Liao Kingdom was sparsely populated. If they could send 600,000 troops to march south, they could almost mobilize the entire country's troops.

"The head coach of the Xixia Army this time is Li Liangzuo. He is your old rival, Commander Wei."

"If there is a loss in Yanbian and the Xixia army advances eastward and encircles our army with the Liao army, I am afraid that our army will be imprisoned."

Xiao Yuming said worriedly.

Chen Daniu said carelessly: "Commander Wei, give me two hundred thousand soldiers. If they really dare to come, I will make sure they never come back!"

Why two hundred thousand soldiers?

Because he saw Lin Zhaoyuan leading 200,000 soldiers, he was unhappy and wanted to lead 200,000 soldiers.

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded outside the tent, "Brother Chen is still as domineering as ever. With only 200,000 soldiers, he dares to challenge the entire Xixia army alone!"

After saying that, everyone saw someone coming.

When Chen Daniu and others saw the visitor, they were immediately overjoyed and their faces were filled with excitement.

"Brother Liang, why are you here?"

"Brother Liang, I thought you would come to Zhaoyuan's wedding last time, but something went wrong in Daizhou and I couldn't get drunk with you. What a pity!"

"Brother Liang, I haven't seen you for many years, but you are getting stronger and stronger!"

"."

The visitor was none other than Liang Da, who had guarded Daizhou for many years. He was also one of the Eight Tigers of Daizhou, ranking seventh.

The second brother Xu Changzhi is one of the Eight Tigers of Daizhou. He is like a tortoise and a snake. He is the most serious person. He is extremely detail-oriented in all aspects of his life and behavior and is good at understanding people's hearts.

Among the Eight Tigers of Daizhou, who is the best at defending the city, it must be Xu Changzhi. He can turn an easy-to-attack and difficult-to-defend city gate into an impregnable fortress.

He is often laughed at by the Liao army as an old turtle who only knows how to shrink into his shell and dare not fight openly. However, if he finds the opportunity, he, the turtle, will instantly turn into a poisonous snake and bite the enemy's most powerful force. Deadly place.

The third child, Guo Hao, looks like a wolf. He looks very honest and harmless on the outside, but in fact he is extremely ambitious. He loves cultivating his direct lineage most, and he can be said to value affection and justice to those under him or around him, but his actions More arrogant and domineering.

The fourth son, Shen Qing, looks ordinary on the surface, but in fact he is full of evil and his methods are the most ruthless. During the Battle of Daizhou, he recommended to Wei Yuan more than once that he should carry out the "extermination plan" against the nomadic people near Yanmen Pass.

Wei Yuan said that he has a treacherous chest, but his methods are shady and cannot be put on the stage, and he is as cunning as a fox.

Xiao Yuming, the fifth old man, was a serious Confucian general. He had no shortcomings, but nothing outstanding. He was said to have mediocre martial arts skills, but he was at the level of a first-rate military general. He was said not to be able to lead troops and train them, but he The soldiers under his command are the most disciplined, like goats.

The sixth brother, Chen Daniu, is a tiger general.

The seventh, Lin Zhaoyuan, has a single mind and great potential, and is a loyal dog.

The eighth, Xie Wu, has more shortcomings in leading troops than the Eight Tigers of Daizhou, but it is precisely because he knows his own shortcomings very well, so he is the most cautious when marching and fighting, and would rather not make any merit than make any mistakes. It seems simple to be able to do this, but it is actually the most difficult.

Moreover, he has mastered the essence of Weiyuan's guerrilla warfare, like a mouse, firing a shot, and running away when encountering danger, hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, making the enemy army annoyed.

The ninth, Liang Da, has no close friends except for his good relationship with the old brothers in Daizhou. He is a little eccentric and is best at lying dormant. He pays attention to hitting the target in one shot during marching and fighting, and never fights a battle without confidence. He is not like the eighth, Xie Wu, who fires a shot, harasses the enemy and runs away. He disdains those petty gains.

For him, once he makes a move, he must eat meat.

Wei Yuan said that he was like a leopard. Once he attacked, he had to hold the prey in his mouth, which could be used as a killing move.

It was also because Wei Yuan said that Liang Da could be used as a trump card, a killing move or a backhand.

Therefore, among the Eight Tigers of Daizhou, no one dared to underestimate Liang Da.

At this time, Wei Yuan smiled and explained to everyone: "Some time ago, this commander transferred 100,000 soldiers from Daizhou to attack Wu'an. As for the commander-in-chief who led the troops, it was said to be Jiang Xun, but it was actually Liang Da."

"After Wu'an was recovered, this commander asked him to arrange the defense of the city and asked him to come immediately. Now the timing is just right."

Jiang Xun was one of Liang Da's trusted generals.

One day in the future, if Liang Da becomes a duke, Jiang Xun can at least become a baron.

Interestingly, during the battle of Daizhou, the general named Jiang Xun also practiced martial arts with Wei Yuan for a few days.

Wei Yuan is half of Jiang Xun's teacher.

However, it is common for comrades in the army to exchange martial arts, and Wei Yuan has no intention of accepting disciples. After Jiang Xun learns a few moves, he will let him follow Liang Da.

"I know that you will be confused as to why I ordered Liang Da to come, but I am not in a hurry to tell you about this."

At this point, Wei Yuan looked at Liang Da again, patted his shoulder, and said earnestly:

"I haven't seen you for a few years. You are indeed a lot stronger. Come, tell me about the situation in Daizhou."

Liang Da was often bullied by Xie Wu and other veterans before Wei Yuan established the Official Association.

Later, when the Official Association was established, Wei Yuan personally supported him and severely reprimanded Xie Wu and others. After that, Liang Da followed Wei Yuan wholeheartedly.

Liang Da bowed to Wei Yuan and said, "Yes."

After that, he looked at everyone and slowly said, "Since the Liao army moved south, Yanmen, Tanglin and other important towns have been attacked by the Liao army."

"The army responsible for attacking Daizhou was originally the Liao army, but later, for some reason, it was replaced by the Jurchens."

"The Jurchen leader Wanyan Agunay was even better than Yelu Yixian in terms of military tactics. The two often had conflicts over sieges."

"."

Everyone listened to Liang Da's talk about Daizhou. To sum it up, it was safe for the time being.

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel relieved.

Daizhou is their base camp.

No one wants to see Daizhou in trouble.

But when the enemy generals were suspicious of each other, General Qin Lie, who had a large army, could not defeat the Liao army?

To put it bluntly, this is too useless, right?

Chen Daniu said dissatisfiedly: "Then Mr. Qin is not as good as me in commanding troops!"

Xiao Yuming joked: "Mr. Qin will be your father-in-law in the future! How can a son-in-law say that about his father-in-law?"

Chen Daniu chuckled, "He hasn't become my father-in-law yet."

Liang Da asked curiously: "Brother Chen is going to marry a girl from the Qin family?"

Chen Daniu said: "I will tell you about this slowly when I have the chance. Now I have the eight characters, and there is only one stroke left."

Xiao Yuming frowned, "Brother Yuanzhi, you should read more books when you have time."

At this time, hearing Chen Daniu was going to marry the daughter of the Qin family, but he said with a worried look on his face:

"In fact, since General Qin came to Daizhou, I have rarely seen him."

"Some generals in the army speculated that General Qin might be seriously ill."

"Although the Qin family is a duke, the ancestors and grandchildren have made no contributions to the country. If General Qin is really seriously ill, he may not inform the court, or he wants to take this opportunity to restore the glory of the Qin family."

"But"

At this point, he looked at Chen Daniu with a heavy tone, "This is, after all, a crime of deceiving the emperor."