Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Li Tai can probably relate to what Wei Xiaokuan in Yubi City is going through right now. The difference was that Wei Xiaokuan had no way to escape, but he took the initiative to come and was severely beaten by the Jinyang defenders.

He moved back to the palace with some difficulty. Every crack in the armor that had been filled with plasma was more than twice as heavy as usual. After being dismantled by the soldiers, Li Tai's body went limp. He collapsed directly on the ground.

Even his general was so exhausted, one could only imagine what state the other soldiers were in. They have been stationed here for more than a few days since they invaded Jinyang Palace. Most of their personnel harvests have been transported out of Jinyang Palace in batches, and they have begun to survey and choose a retreat in the Western Mountains.

But it's not easy to retreat. The Jinyang soldiers outside have already gone crazy. As long as they dare to completely evacuate Jinyang Palace, these Jinyang soldiers will definitely follow them and swarm them, never giving them a chance to escape.

Moreover, they still have hundreds of war horses here. The roads in the Western Mountains are rugged and difficult for people and goods to pass through. They are not suitable for war horses at all. Li Tai would also feel very distressed if he wanted to give up these excellent Longyou war horses.

But if he continues to insist on it, he can't see the point. Is he really going to stay and eat the big brother's seat next year? I'm afraid that Big Brother will be the first to skin him when he comes back.

What we can still count on now is that the first one is Han Guo who leads the Lishi Hu tribe south to attack Fenzhou City. If he can break through a series of city defenses such as Liubi City, he can lead the Hu tribe to continue north and attack from the south with him from both inside and outside. , maybe it is really possible to capture Jinyang City.

But this is obviously a slim hope. Li Tai is deeply aware of the strength of Jinyang's soldiers. If Li Shihu can treat them like the autumn wind sweeps away fallen leaves, then it will not be their family that is destroyed by Gao Huan, but Gao Huan who is killed by them. He was beaten until he cried for his father and mother.

In addition, it had to be Luo Chao, who had previously said that he would go to recruit and persuade the prisoners of war in Mang Mountain to return. But there was no news from Luo Chao after he left, and he seemed to have completely disappeared, which made Li Tai dare not place too much hope on this guy.

He knew that Luo Chao was very toxic. Although he had been trying his best not to be his boss, he finally worked together. If he really listened to Luo Chao and stayed here until his rebellion was successful, he might really be defeated by this guy. You're going to die here, so you still have to be prepared.

Li Tai marched north from Zuoguocheng with 3,000 cavalry. After gathering with Li Yunxin at Chiji Ridge, the number of troops reached more than 5,000, including some captives.

But before that, he and Li Yunxin split their forces in the north of Jinyang City, leaving Li Yunxin with nearly a thousand men to ride on him to take advantage of him. He could either stay here and continue to harass the Jinyang city defense, or bypass the Beishan Great Wall and join forces with Liu Kuzhen who was stranded there in Yunyang. Gu Jihu raided the area outside the Beishan Great Wall to destroy the business environment here.

Li Yunxin's grandson is really capable, and Li Tai is assured of him. Even if he cannot effectively contain the Eastern Wei garrison at Beishan Great Wall, he can always safely withdraw to Suizhou.

Li Tai's current strength is more than 4,000, and most of the war horses have been handed over to Li Yunxin to lead away. After several days of fierce fighting, although he killed a lot of enemies, his own casualties also reached hundreds of people, and he can still fight now. The number of personnel is between 3,500 and 56, but they are already very depleted. If such a high-intensity confrontation continues, it may not last long.

Although he was extremely reluctant to part with it, Li Tai couldn't really end up dying for money. He had already planned to abandon the property captured here if necessary and only lure away the craftsmen and slaves of Jinyang Palace.

Although the road to the West Mountain is rugged and difficult, it is not a dead end. It is also possible to return to the western foot of Luliang Mountain through guerrilla warfare, unless Gao Huan gives up the opportunity to attack the Western Wei Dynasty and withdraws his army from Yubi City to encircle and suppress him.

Of course, this is a stratagem, and Li Tai does not believe that Jinyang's offensive can maintain such intensity.

These veterans of the six towns are indeed brave and good at fighting, but it does not mean that they are not afraid of death. If they were really brave and unafraid of death, they would not have almost left all the bosses on the battlefield during the Battle of Shayuan. Nothing could stop them from escaping.

After days of fighting, the casualties of the Jinyang soldiers were several times greater than his own. Li Tai clearly felt that the intensity of today's several waves of offensive was extremely low. It was obvious that the Jinyang soldiers were no longer responsible for the attack. It can be seen that such battle losses have caused Jinyang Bafu to also suffer. Some are too much to take.

Seeing that the walls of the palace courtyard here were already crumbling with knives and axes, and could not be used for a long time, Li Tai planned to abandon this palace courtyard and only hold a stronghold in the northwest corner to further reduce the number of people left to fight here. personnel.

But of course this palace cannot be given up. Before leaving, Li Tai has to set up a big trap. Jinyang Palace is really rich in storage, and there are still some ointments, rosin, and other materials that have not been consumed, including some coal. Taking advantage of the truce between the two sides, Li Tai smeared these ointments, rosin, and other materials on the corridors of the palace. Inside and outside, even the thick palace beams and columns had holes cut into them.

A tall shooting tower had already been erected outside the palace courtyard. Naturally, Li Tai's actions could not be concealed from the eyes and ears of the Eastern Wei Dynasty above, and they quickly reported the situation to the rear.

When Gao Yue and She Di Qian, who were supervising the battle, heard about this situation, they had a headache again. Even if they knew it was a trap, they still had to step in and explode it, and they could not continue the stalemate.

So while they ordered to clear the area around the palace and establish a fire isolation zone, they were thinking about which group of people they should choose to step on this trap.

"Why don't you choose those Mangshan prisoners of war recalled by Jinci? By the way, you can also burn these thieves together..."

After some pondering, Gao Yue spoke.

The enemy can use fire attacks unscrupulously, because the emperor of the Eastern Dynasty is not recognized by the Western Dynasty, so he has no scruples about destroying this imperial garden. But if they, the officials of the Eastern Dynasty, wreak havoc on the emperor's palace, it would always be a crime. But if this crime was framed on those Mangshan prisoners of war, and they were said to have set the palace courtyard on fire during a battle with the enemy, that would be unproven.

After hearing the words, Shedigan nodded in agreement. At this level of fighting, his patience has long been gone. It would be best if the rebels could be burned to death directly in the last palace courtyard they were guarding. Even if they could not kill them all, they would You can take advantage of it to flee and rush into the Xishan Quarry Road to kill as many people as possible.

So this combat mission was soon passed on, and the three thousand Mangshan prisoners of war were ordered to cook and eat in advance, preparing to enter Jinyang Palace tonight for a night battle.

Along with this order, two large carts of miscellaneous grains were brought into the camp. Although the camp soldiers here were worried about the upcoming war mission, when they saw the food entering the stove, their desire for food immediately overwhelmed everything else. They gathered around the stove fire, waiting for the meal to be served, while polishing it on the stone. Wearing the rusty blades of the knives and guns distributed to them.

But in this relatively peaceful atmosphere, two captains who were delivering food to the camp found Gao Le, a strong man sitting with his subordinates, and whispered in his ear. Warning to remember not to rush ahead during the night attack later.

After hearing this, Gao Le took a deep breath, and then nodded heavily to the informant.

The camp soldiers here had been hungry for a long time. When the cooked rice was still half-cooked, some couldn't help but reach out to grab it, blow on it and start chewing it. When others saw this scene and smelled the alluring aroma of grains, they couldn't help but imitate the same.

At this time, melodious and desolate singing suddenly sounded from the south bank of Jinshui River. What was sung was a Xianbei folk song spread near Baidao, Wuchuan. Although the singing tone was not exciting, it evoked melancholy.

"It's my brother, it's my brother's voice... He was thrown in Jinci before him. Could it be that he is already dead and his soul is singing goodbye?"

When some soldiers heard this song, they couldn't help but beat their chests and burst into tears. Soon, other soldiers heard the singing of their relatives one after another, and they all shed tears and cried. Some people couldn't help but go to Jinshui. He rushed over to confirm whether his loved one was really dead.

The commotion here quickly attracted the attention of the patrolling soldiers, and soon several knights rushed over on horseback, intending to stop and teach the rioting soldiers. But as soon as these people rushed forward, they were jumped off their horses by Gao Le and others who had been waiting for an opportunity.

Gao Le disarmed these people, and immediately said angrily: "Since the governor ordered us and other camp slaves to serve, why don't we have wine and meat to strengthen our courage? Go back quickly and invite them, otherwise the camp slaves will not fight!"

The soldiers did not expect the camp slaves to be so ferocious, so they hurriedly escaped and went to seek help elsewhere.

Gao Le pointed at the crying camp soldiers and growled: "Why don't you wipe your tears quickly and find out what's going on! If your family members die, crying will be useless. If they don't die, something will change!"

He had a relatively transcendent status among the camp slaves. Many soldiers had been protected and cared for by him, so he was quite prestigious. When he heard what he said, several soldiers nodded in agreement, then approached the riverside and shouted to the south.

At this time, there were also people swimming from the other side. Before they even got close to the river bank, they heard the voices calling for their relatives. Knowing that they had found the right place, they immediately shouted loudly: "Li Kaifu, Li Boshan, Guanxi, former Communist Situ Gao Zhongmi has returned." Righteous, we will fight together with others in Mang Mountain. Today, Li Kaifu's elite soldiers have captured the other city of Jinyang and rescued the Mang Mountain prisoners of war to return home. General Luo Chaoluo has already responded to the righteous act. Do you dare to respond? "

The soldiers along the river could not digest so much information at the same time, but after hearing this, Gao Le's expression suddenly changed. He jumped up, like an evil dragon, rushed straight into the Jinshui River, and rushed forward to shout. The man shouted in front of him: "Did Gao Zhongmi and Gao Situ send you to rescue him? Then Li Kaifu's name was Li Tai? Were the troops who attacked Jinyang Palace led by Li Kaifu and Gao Situ's tribe?" "

Seeing Gao Le's reaction so fiercely, the man panicked for a moment, but he nodded quickly.