"Look at this, look at this! I was wondering why the rebel army's combat power was suddenly reduced and they were forced to retreat. So it's because their backyard is on fire! Hahahahaha! Ma Gui! Xiao Ruxun! Daming, we have a general! "
The generals in the tent did not know what was going on. Wei Xuezeng then showed them the battle report from Ma Gui and told them that Xiao Ruxun had defeated the rebel army at Pinglu City. He and Xiao Ruxun had worked together to attack Ningxia Town and destroyed 15 strongholds of the rebel army. They were also very strategic and had now occupied all the strongholds to the north of Ningxia Town. They had cut off the connection between Bo Bai and the Mongolian invaders and completely trapped Bo Bai. Bo Bai's backyard was on fire and he was forced to pull back his troops, which gave everyone the chance to besiege Ningxia Town as soon as possible.
The generals were shocked, especially when they heard Wei Xuezeng talk about how Xiao Ruxun defeated the rebel army, killed Bo Yun and Mighty Rabbit, beheaded three thousand soldiers, and three thousand rebel soldiers, a total of six thousand. The generals were so scared that their faces turned pale. When did the Nine Regions of Generals have such a beast? Wasn't Xiao Ruxun the pretty boy who could write poems and essays and even married the daughter of the Minister of War? That pretty boy was so good at fighting? Beheaded six thousand soldiers?
Did he want to go to heaven?
They did not think that Xiao Ruxun was bragging. If he was bragging, he would definitely die if he was discovered.
Wei Xuezeng was overjoyed. He immediately wrote a memorial to the throne for Xiao Ruxun, Ma Gui, and the other generals. He then ordered the entire army to immediately break camp and go to battle. They had to reach Ningxia Town as fast as possible. They could not give the rebel army a chance to pull back their troops and attack Xiao Ruxun and Ma Gui's troops. They could not waste the great opportunity that the loyal generals had painstakingly created!
The generals suppressed the shock in their hearts. With a trace of longing and curiosity, they set camp and prepared to fight.
On the afternoon of the 26th, Ma Gui and Xiao Ruxun, who had repelled the third ambush of the rebel army, met with the messenger sent by Wei Xuezeng at the military camp. The messenger informed Ma Gui and Xiao Ruxun that Governor Wei Xuezeng had already led the main force of the army to the south of Ningxia Town. He asked the two generals to try their best to control the northern stronghold and not let the Taowu come to their aid. They could take advantage of the opportunity to attack Ningxia Town. The rebel army in Ningxia Town would naturally be taken care of by the army for the two generals. Ningxia Town had been breached and the rebellion had been quelled.
Ma Gui was overjoyed. Xiao Ruxun also revealed a happy expression. After leaving with the messenger, Ma Gui excitedly hugged Xiao Ruxun and almost kissed him a few times to express his joy. He repeatedly thanked Ji Xin for giving him such a great merit and said that he would definitely repay her in the future.
On the other hand, Xiao Ruxun was already planning on how to attack Ningxia Town. In his memory, Wei Xuezeng didn't spend much effort to wipe out the 47 castles. It was just that he had repeatedly bumped his head against the walls of Ningxia Town. Even if he tried to attack Ning Xia Town, it wouldn't be effective. In order to survive, Bo Bai and Liu Dongyang had reached the peak of their intelligence. They risked their lives to spar with Wei Xuezeng. Wei Xuezeng's character had a weakness of being resourceful and indecisive, so he couldn't open up the situation for a long time.
These days, Xiao Ruxun had repeatedly observed Ningxia Town's walls. He clearly understood that Ningxia Town's walls were quite majestic and tall. They were at least twice the size of Ping Lu City. In the previous post-apocalyptic era, Xiao Ruxun had never attacked such a tall wall. Even when he attacked Ma Han's nest, he had used a psychological attack.
There was a saying in the art of war: attack the city, attack the heart. Obviously, Wei Xuezeng also understood this, so he tried his best to attack the heart. However, he didn't expect that Bo Bai and Liu Dongyang were like tortoises that had lost their hearts. No matter how hard he attacked, he couldn't break their hearts.
Therefore, in April, Emperor Wanli, who was anxious to quell the rebellion, ordered the Zhejiang Imperial Censor, Mei Guozhen, to be the Military Supervisor. He transferred the eldest son of Liaodong's famous general, Li Chengliang, to be the Military Commander of Ningxia. Later, the inventor of Duke Ye's Godly Gun, Ye Mengxiong, was replaced by the Governor of the Three Frontiers. Everyone was mentally and physically exhausted. In the end, Ye Mengxiong bravely retreated and gave part of the credit to Wei Xuezeng, thus preserving Wei Xuezeng's identity and position.
It couldn't be said that Wei Xuezeng couldn't fight. A scholar who had been stationed at the border for a long time was different from a scholar who quarreled every day in the capital. Although he was a scholar, and thought that he was a scholar, he would unknowingly gradually acquire the temperament and way of thinking of a general. He would be very different from his previous self. For example, he would act swiftly and decisively, make arbitrary decisions, hate quarrels, and push the blame to each other. His level of political struggle would drop. These were not liked by the scholars and high-ranking officials who lived like princes in the capital.
In the end, the scholars were not scholars, and the generals were not generals. They were neither recognized by the scholars nor accepted by the generals, and the death rate of leaving their posts was very high. After all, only a few outstanding people could become a general and become a Prime Minister.
Xiao Ruxun didn't want the situation to be dragged to this stage. He had to participate in the battle of Korea and couldn't be delayed here for too long.
Ning Xia's city wall first had a barbican. First, there was a moat and a suspension bridge outside, which could be ignored. However, the circular barbican was very troublesome. What was even more outrageous was that there were three gates. Even if the Ming Army broke into the barbican, they would immediately have to endure the defense and counterattack from the other three gates and three walls. They could die in the inner city at any time.
Anyone who tried it would know. Attacking a city was a very risky move. The ancient art of war said that to besiege a city, ten times the number of soldiers was needed. In practice, it naturally didn't need that. However, it still needed six times the number of soldiers to have a chance of success. The Ming Army only had forty thousand people. After the rebel army was beaten to a pulp, there were at least twenty thousand people left. In terms of defending the city, the Ming Army didn't have the slightest advantage.
Moreover, when the rebel army knew that their retreat route was blocked, they would be inspired to fight to the death. In order to survive, people would often explode with great strength or intelligence. In any case, Xiao Ruxun knew that Bo Bai and Liu Dongyang had reached the peak of their intelligence in this lifetime. In order to survive, they desperately used their rusty brains and came up with one strategy after another to deal with the Ming Army outside the city.
The city wall of Ningxia was built to deal with foreign enemies. It was originally tall and strong. Moreover, there lived a Prince Qing who used to have great power but could only live like a prince. Therefore, the defense of the city could be imagined. Later, whether it was Ye Mengxiong or Li Rusong, they all flinched at the sight of such a city wall. They used all kinds of methods, from sowing discord to water attacks, but they rarely attacked by force.
Once, when Cao Cao attacked Ye City, faced with the strong defense of Shen Pei, it took him half a year to take down Ye City. That was when the city was flooded and Ye City could no longer be defended. Shen Pei's son opened the city and surrendered. From the beginning to the end, Cao Cao had never been able to break into Ye City. When water was needed to attack a city, it meant that it must be a very strong city. It would take a lot of time to take it down.
Now, the Ming Army seemed to be in the same predicament.
From the 26th until the morning of the 28th, there was no movement from the Ming Army attacking the city. The earth-shaking battle cries and the sound of cannons, and the thick black smoke rising into the sky, all told of the fierceness of the battle. Out of the idea of reducing the pressure on his allies, Ma Gui personally led a group of soldiers and horses to pretend to attack Ningxia City without using cannons.
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