After entering Songzhou City, Li Yin immediately felt the tense atmosphere before the war. The people who came and went were in a hurry, with worried faces on their faces. There were not a single vendor on the street. An alley appeared, and then disappeared at another alley. The sound of heavy metal clashes replaced the usual shouts of vendors.
"Your Highness must be tired from the exhaustion of driving and horses. Let's go to Songzhou Daying first." Seeing Li Yin's face showing a trace of tiredness, Xue Rengui said.
Li Yin shook his head and said: "No, the battle is urgent, I'd better go to Ximen to see the situation of Tuyuhun's troops stationed."
When Niu Jinda heard the words, there was a hint of appreciation in his eyes, but it was also fleeting.
Songzhou is the northwest gateway of the Tang Dynasty, between the territories of Tubo and Tuyuhun, with Tubo in the southwest and Tuyuhun in the northwest, and the land of Shu is mountainous, especially on the side adjacent to the plateau. On the only road from the Tibetan plateau to Shu, it can be said that it is the throat that leads to Shu from the west.
The construction of Songzhou City is also based on its military characteristics. It sits east and faces west, and the west wall is thick and high. The Songzhou camp is stationed in the west city to defend against threats from the west at any time.
"At present, there are 1,500 archers, 500 crossbowmen, 3,000 cavalry in Songzhou's defenders, and the rest are infantry." Xue Rengui introduced the situation in Songzhou to Li Min when he went to the west city. , "Now the Tuyuhun army outside the city still has any movement, it seems to be waiting for something."
While speaking, Li Yin arrived in the west city. There were obviously more soldiers here, and they were very busy. Soldiers kept coming and going, holding arrows, and carrying stones everywhere.
Niu Jinda then added: "A dozen or so villages outside the city were burned to the ground by Tuyuhun. Hundreds of people were killed and injured. Now all the people there have moved into the city. Now Tuyuhun wants to enter the hinterland of Chengdu, and the only way is to attack the city." One way, otherwise you have to detour for more than a thousand miles from Minzhou. But there are heavy soldiers from the Tang Dynasty there, and Murong Fuyun knows this, so he plans to put all his eggs in one basket. The reason why they are still waiting is because I think they must be building an attack city equipment."
Zhu Youzhi secretly praised Niu Jinda as indeed a seasoned veteran, and at a glance he saw the reason why Tuyuhun did not attack the city for so long. He said: "What General Niu said is very true."
Li Yan thought for a while and said, "In this case, we can find a way to destroy all the siege equipment they built."
"It's not that we didn't think of this method. It's just that Tuyuhun's army surrounded Songzhou City like an iron barrel. Your Highness will understand it when you go to the city." Xue Rengui said.
The city wall of Songzhou City is not high, only about fifteen meters, and it is made of bluestone. It seemed very solid, however, as he climbed up the two-meter-wide steps to the tower, Li Yin suddenly saw a vast expanse of white tents, and he could vaguely see people walking between the tents. Li Yin estimated the distance, and the distance between those tents The city walls are at least three miles away.
Seeing this, Li Yin understood Xue Rengui's words, and he couldn't break through head-on. Both sides of Songzhou City are steep and high mountains. It is impossible to get in from the outside, and it is also impossible to get out from the inside.
"Rongda!" Li Yin called out at this moment, and Rongda immediately said, "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
Li Yin said: "Give me what you hang around your neck!"
Rongda was stunned, and took off a metal object with round holes at both ends from his neck and handed it to Li Yin. Before leaving, Li Yin specially asked him to keep it.
Li Yin asked Rongda to keep the Rioport military tactical telescope, which he sold for 60,000 yuan. In Li Yin's opinion, telescopes are especially suitable for use in ancient times. Because the clarity of the air at this time is very high, even the naked eye can see far away, but many things in far away places cannot be seen clearly, and telescopes can solve this problem.
After receiving the telescope, Li Yin picked it up and observed the Tuyuhun camp three miles away. After adjusting the magnification and viewing distance of the telescope a few times, everything in the Tuyuhun camp was clearly reflected in Li Yin's eyes in an instant, even the pockmarks on the soldiers' faces could be clearly seen.
Condescending, Li Yin could see everything in the Tuyuhun camp clearly, the dozing guards, the horses eating hay, and the soldiers roasting lamb legs around the fire.
Li Yin held this strange thing and faced Tuyuhun's camp without moving an inch. Xue Rengui and Niu Jinda had weird expressions on their faces, while Qin Huaiyu and Zhu Youzhi were very greedy. They learned about it from some modern books. This is called a telescope, which can bring things far away in the field of vision closer. It is an indispensable thing in marching and combat.
Knowing the general situation, Li Yin handed the binoculars to Zhu Youzhi, Zhu Youzhi observed it for a while and then handed it to Qin Huaiyu. At this moment, Niu Jinda couldn't help but said, "Your Highness, what are you doing?"
Li Yin explained: "This kind of thing is called a telescope. It can see things from far away. It is used to observe the enemy's situation."
Niu Jinda was still puzzled, at this time Qin Huaiyu returned the binoculars to Li Yin, and Li Yin pointed the binoculars at the Tuyuhun camp, and said to Niu Jinda, "General Niu, try to look over there through these two circular holes. "
Niu Jinda still walked up to Li Yin, leaned his head against the binoculars and looked inside, and suddenly, a soldier holding his nose appeared in front of Niu Jinda, Niu Jinda was startled, he couldn't help but leaned back, and then looked at what he found nothing.
"Your Highness, what's going on?" Niu Jinda was shocked, but Qin Huaiyu and Zhu Youzhi both laughed. Xue Rengui became more and more confused. same expression.
Li Yan knew that it was impossible for them to clarify the principle in a short time, so he said: "This is a commodity imported from Luo Anguo. Like Muliu cattle and horses, it is a kind of utensil invented by craftsmen, and its function is just like what you saw just now."
Niu Jinda calmed down a little after listening to Li Yin's words, but his heart was still ups and downs. He had fought countless battles in his life, and he instantly understood the effect of this kind of thing on war, which was inexplicably shocking.
"Your Highness, can I use it again!" Niu Jinda said.
Li Yan generously gave the telescope to Niu Jinda, "Please, General Niu."
Niu Jinda took the binoculars with both hands as if holding a sacred object, and then looked at the Tuyuhun camp opposite with the binoculars in a dignified manner. Xue Rengui on the side also looked eager, but Niu Jinda was a veteran, so he was embarrassed to ask for it. We can only wait for Niu Jinda to use it.
At this time, Li Yin was thinking about how to break Tuyuhun's attack. His eyes swept across the high mountains on both sides of Songzhou City, and said: "There may not be paths that can pass through these high mountains. Xue Rengui, let the soldiers Post a notice in the city, offering a huge reward for finding a path from the mountain to the outside of the city."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Xue Rengui responded yes, called a Captain Guo Yi, said a few words to him, and the Captain Guo Yi took the order and left.
Zhu Youzhi said: "Could it be that Your Highness wants to send elite soldiers to attack the Tuyuhun camp and burn their siege equipment?"
"That's right, their morale is high now, and it's not good for us to fight now. Why don't we just procrastinate like this and exhaust their morale before looking for opportunities to annihilate the enemy." Li Yin spoke out his thoughts.
Zhu Youzhi hesitated, "It's okay to find the path leading to the outside of the mountain, but if you can't find it, this plan will be difficult to implement, and even if you find it, it will take time to find out where the Tuyuhun siege equipment is. Only a few days are not enough. At this time, we might as well send civilian men to dig a trench one mile outside the city every night. After the trench is dug, let the infantry guard it. If Tuyuhun leads the cavalry to attack, he will inevitably fall into the trench and lose The advantage of cavalry is that we can concentrate our superior forces to attack at that time, and if the infantry of Tuyuhun is close to the trench, we can use bows and arrows to attack."
Niu Jinda was too peeping at this time, and heard Zhu Youzhi's words: "Trench? What is that?"
Li Yin couldn't help but nodded and smiled when he heard Zhu Youzhi's words. He didn't expect that Zhu Youzhi really learned and applied it flexibly. The method he used actually came from the famous war allusion in Western military history. Thousands of people and dozens of horses faced the 24,000 people and 600 cavalry of the Mecca noble coalition. Under such a disparity in strength, Muhammad listened to the suggestion and dug trenches around the outskirts of Medina. After the battle began, The cavalry of the Mecca coalition army tried to pass through the trench several times, but they were wiped out by concentrated forces, forcing them to retreat. When the infantry approached, the defenders used bows and arrows to shoot, and finally successfully blocked the coalition army.
"A trench is a deep and wide earth ditch. Yes, not only do we have to dig it, but we also need to dig a few more, so that they can fall through this hole and then another hole." Li Yin said, and then the two laughed like two foxes Similarly, Niu Jinda was even more confused.
After discussing a countermeasure, Xue Rengui immediately recruited civilian men and soldiers, and prepared to go out to dig trenches tonight and start collecting straw at the same time. This is what Li Yin asked him to do. Let the men and soldiers cover the dug trenches with straw, and cover them with old soil at that time, so that the Tuyuhun cavalry will not notice the existence of the trenches, and when they come over, they will not all fall down. The soldiers who attack are afraid that they will be disabled.