Chapter 109 General Attack
The army is approaching the city.
The people in the city are still in panic.
The royal family has issued a warning order. The third prince, Halik, with the support of Queen Reguli, denounced the seventh prince Hemuti's evil deeds and the temple army for ignoring the royal family and leading the people to rebel. Loulan has been owned by the royal family since ancient times. Considering that the temple can help the world, the royal family allowed the temple to preach in Loulan. Who knew that the temple was spoiled by the favor and did all kinds of evil, and started a rebellion. Their hearts are worthy of death.
Reguli first abolished the seventh prince's status as royal heirs and convicted him of treason.
Later, it was announced that the temple was an illegal religion and should be eliminated in Loulan.
As soon as these national decrees were issued, the whole city was in an uproar.
After all, there have been many people who believe in the temple over the years, but facing the Loulan guards armed with sharp weapons, everyone still chose to stand on the side of the royal family - after all, staying alive is more important! The idea of these people is very simple, wait and see if the temple army can break through the Kucheng, if they can, they will get angry and become believers again. If not, wouldn't it be great to live with the Loulan royal family honestly?
so.
These days, the streets of Loulan Kucheng are no longer prosperous as they used to be. Most shops are closed, and the vendors are organizing their own armed forces to assist the guards in maintaining stability.
Queen Reguli and the third prince Halik appointed Reheman as the general and Xiang Zheng as the protector of the country. Although they had no real power, they had to give Liu Zheng a position to stand firm. Then, at Liu Zheng's suggestion, Loulan entered a wartime state. During the wartime state, all officials were temporarily promoted one level! If the wartime state is lifted, the upgraded official positions will remain the same. In other words, as long as this battle is won, all officials will be promoted one level!
This greatly stabilized the hearts of the people in the court and there was no need to worry about internal instability.
However, what gave Liu Zheng a headache was...
Looking at the entire Loulan Guards, the only general who could be considered outstanding was Reheman. As for the others... they were all taken away by the Seventh Prince. The Seventh Prince Hemuti was a good fighter, brave and skilled in fighting, and had great prestige in the army. Once he rebelled, many of his men followed him.
No will be available!
Fortunately, the Loulan Army has always had good military discipline, strict rules and strict hierarchy. In other words, they just follow orders, and that's enough.
Look up.
The temple army over there has already set up camp, forming an endless expanse, like a sea of people.
Reheman took a deep breath and said, "Sir, it seems that this is not just a mob!"
Liu Zheng also looked solemn and nodded: "No matter what, we must hold on for three days!"
"yes!"
At this time, Hemuti came galloping on his warhorse, followed by several generals. A hundred steps away from the city gate, he laughed loudly and said, "Master Xiang, how are you?"
Reheman said angrily: "The traitor Hemuti, everyone has the right to kill him!"
"Just you?"
Hemuti laughed coldly and said, "Today I will lead an army of 200,000 to crush your Loulan! The royal family is stupid, and the temples are everywhere. It's time for Loulan to change its dynasty!"
After saying this, he took off the longbow behind him, pulled a full pull, and with a clang, the arrow flew towards him.
"Young Master, be careful!"
Qin Changfeng, who was beside Liu Zheng, shouted angrily. The arrow came at him with such swiftness that it was too late to draw his sword. He could only push Liu Zheng. Liu Zheng was also horrified and staggered. The arrow had just hit the wall behind where he had just stood and had gone deep into the ground!
Everyone was shocked.
Hemuti laughed arrogantly: "Listen to my advice, Loulan is not a place for you to stay. Surrender as soon as possible, and I will allow you to go back to Yinzhou!"
Liu Zheng watched coldly.
As soon as Hemuti returned, the first large-scale attack began. The temple army rushed in from all directions with roars of killing. The Kucheng defenders were facing a formidable enemy and did not dare to neglect it. Under Reheman's command, arrows and rocks fell from the sky, repelling the first wave of the temple army, leaving corpses and debris all over the ground. It was the first time that Liu Zheng had seen such a huge army with corpses everywhere.
He knew that this first wave of people were cannon fodder, and what would follow would be the continuous attacks from the Temple Army.
The second wave, the third wave, and by the fourth wave, the Temple Army had already begun to touch the city wall, thanks to the cover of the bodies of the people in front. Some combat equipment, such as ladders and catapults, was also advancing in an orderly manner.
It was at this moment that Liu Zheng personally felt the cruelty of war for the first time.
Although the first day's resistance barely blocked the attack on the temple, the Loulan guards also suffered heavy casualties. In addition, they suffered heavy losses from arrows and stones. A small team of the temple army even climbed up the city wall with ladders.
The ground was filled with smoke and there were sounds of killing and screaming both inside and outside the city.
Stones and rockets from the enemy's catapults fell into the city from time to time, making the people dazed.
Throughout the city of Ku, people are rushing to and fro.
Some were rescuing the wounded, some were supplying military equipment, some were putting out fires, and some were moving in a hurry because their houses collapsed.
Rehman was extremely busy giving orders everywhere.
It was only at night that he had time to go up to the tower again. He came to Liu Zheng breathlessly and said, "Sir, the scouts have found out where the enemy's food and grass are stored, but it is heavily guarded and difficult to break through!"
Liu Zheng nodded.
This was also within his expectations. If Loulan wanted to win this time, they had to find a way to get the enemy's food and grass! An army of 200,000 people consumed a lot of food and grass every day. If they could destroy their granary, the army would naturally collapse without a fight.
But if that is not possible, the temple armies in other cities within Loulan will continue to transport food and fodder.
These 200,000 people can starve the city to death even if they besiege it!
It seems that Hemuti is indeed a good fighter and has properly protected the granary, making it impossible for the death squad prepared by Liu Zheng to make any breakthrough.
"Sir, the enemy is so powerful that I'm afraid we can't hold out for even three days!"
Reheman said anxiously.
Liu Zheng said calmly: "Let the soldiers have a good rest, but don't forget to be alert. Let me think about it!"
Although Rehman was anxious, he had no choice but to obey the order and leave.
forage……
forage……
Liu Zheng stood on the wall, looking at the continuous camps, thinking about strategies to defeat the enemy, and also thinking about classic battles in history. Burning the camps? This idea is certainly good, but it seems unrealistic at the moment.
Loulan is located in the desert, with few plants and not much combustible material, so fire attack is not very effective. Most of the military tents are independent, so it is easy to cut off the fire source.
Flood the seven armies?
Suddenly Liu Zheng's eyes lit up and he hurriedly called Reheman again.
"Sir, do you have a plan?"
Liu Zheng smiled and said, "Brother Re, how is the flood prevention in Kucheng?"
Reheman was stunned and said with a wry smile: "My lord, are you kidding? Loulan has been suffering from drought for many years, how can we talk about flood prevention?"
Liu Zheng shook his head and emphasized: "What I mean is, if the Peacock River floods, can Kucheng resist it?"
Reheman was shocked: "Sir, what do you mean?"
Liu Zheng took out the map, pointed to the north of Kucheng, and said calmly: "This is Tianshan Mountain. Kucheng is in the southern part of Tianshan Mountain. The Peacock River is the melted water of Tianshan Mountain... Then, Brother Re, have you ever thought about what the effect would be if we melted the water with a big fire, closed the gate to store water, and then opened the gate to release the water?"
Reheman's eyes widened when he heard this.
How could people in Loulan, a place with perennial drought, come up with such a strategy?
He took a deep breath and said, "We can divert the Peacock River so that the flood will rush directly to the enemy camp! Kucheng is slightly higher, and the enemy camp is in a low-lying area!"
Then he said excitedly: "In this way, even if we can't drown many people, their food and grass will definitely go moldy, and the siege can be lifted!"
Liu Zheng laughed: "That's right!"
Reheman said: "This is not difficult. Kucheng itself has its own channels. We just need to make some changes!"
Liu Zheng was overjoyed: "Go quickly, remember, you must hire someone you can trust!"
Reheman got this good idea and left in a hurry.
That night, he organized 50,000 people in the city and went to the southern part of Tianshan Mountain, which is seven miles north of Kucheng. Tianshan Mountain has always been the mother mountain of Loulan. The water consumed by the whole Loulan basically comes from Tianshan Mountain, and the mother river, Peacock River, is the water melted from the iceberg. Therefore, the people of Loulan still have deep feelings for the sky.
Fifty thousand people, divided into two waves.
Yi Bo was responsible for changing the canal to store water.
Yi Bo is responsible for boiling ice and getting water!
Although the workload was huge, it also required a lot of manpower. By dawn, the levee upstream of Kucheng had begun to rapidly store water.
At this time, the temple army's attack on the second day also arrived on time.
…
"God's envoy, good news!"
"The Temple Army is outside the city, and they are constantly attacking it. Three of the southern gates of Kucheng have been breached!"
"Did you attack the city?"
Muzad asked excitedly.
"Not yet. The guards put up strong resistance and retreated again..."
Muzad looked regretful but still very happy: "Haha, that will be soon, soon! Hahahaha, Lord Mire, did you see it? Loulan will soon be mine, and your Islam will soon become history!"
He held a glass of wine in his hand and looked at Mi Re with sarcasm.
Mire smiled faintly: "Muzad, if you were not afraid of defeat, why did you spare my life? You know that I am the one Loulan wants, so if you keep me, you can exchange your life. You have expected to lose the battle, why are you trying to be brave?"
“Bold!”
"shut up!"
A whip hit Mi Re's face hard. Mi Re was already covered in blood, but he didn't even make a sound.
Muzad chuckled and said, "Look, I invited Lord Mire to come over for a drink and to discuss the situation, but you insisted on asking for trouble. Why bother? Haha, why don't you give me your camel caravan? When I become the King of Loulan, if you are willing to submit to my religion, this envoy will be yours!"
"God's envoy, good news!"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
…
On the second day of resistance, Loulan suffered heavy losses.
The war drums roared loudly.
On this day, the temple army brought out wooden chariots that were specially designed to resist rolling stones and arrows. Behind the chariots were the temple army's crossbowmen. The chariots were tall and mighty, and if they reached the foot of the city, they could also be used as ladders.
At this time, Loulan used hot oil and fire attacks, but they could only cause very little damage to this type of chariot.
It was this kind of chariot that caused the three gates of Kucheng to almost fall into the hands of the enemy. Fortunately, Qin Changfeng and Reheman rushed out at the critical moment, fighting for the lives of thousands of Loulan guards, and finally took back the three gates and fortified them.
"Sir, can we launch a water attack now?"
Reheman was as anxious as an ant on hot pan.
Liu Zheng calmly shook his head: "At night!"
“But but…”
Reheman wanted to say that with the temple army's fearless attack, the morale of the Loulan guards had begun to become unstable, and they might not be able to hold out for even a day.
"It has to be at night!"
Liu Zheng also knew that the matter was serious, and said coldly: "Pass the order, those who are passive and lazy will be killed without mercy!"
"yes!"
at this time.
The temple's hundred thousand troops shouted in unison, their horses neighed, and the sky and earth changed color inside and outside the city.
The Temple Army is about to launch a general attack!
