When Li Shimin and others learned that Xiangyuan had also been captured by the Sui army, major differences immediately arose.
The generals represented by Fang Xuanling believed that the siege of Lion Castle should be abandoned at this time.
Instead, they concentrated their forces to attack Xiangyuan or other passes, in an attempt to open a gap in the Sui army's encirclement and avoid the annihilation of the 200,000-strong army.
However, a few generals believed that while the Tang army still had about ten days of food and grass in the camp, they could use all their strength to besiege Lion Castle.
Since Yang Guang is in the Lion's Fortress, he will naturally be killed or even captured after the Lion's Fortress is breached.
At that time, the Sui army will be defeated without an attack or even surrender without a fight.
In the big tent, everyone was noisy, but Li Shimin said nothing.
After closing his eyes and thinking for a long time, he made a gesture to silence the generals in the tent.
The scene that was noisy just now suddenly became quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Li Shimin spoke slowly: "Looking back at the previous events, this was clearly a trap that Yang Guang had carefully planned in advance.
Do you think he could let us go since he spent so much money to trap us in the Shangdang Basin?
Yesterday, under my strict orders, 25,000 cavalry fought desperately to attack Xiangyuan City, and nearly 10,000 soldiers were lost.
Almost all the siege teams were disabled, but they did not capture Xiangyuan.
Moreover, according to officials who escaped from Xiangyuan City, there were only a few thousand Sui cavalry who occupied Xiangyuan City at that time.
Today, I am afraid that more troops have been stationed in Xiangyuan City, and if there are signs of a large army gathering in Xiangyuan or other Sui army strongholds, the Sui army will definitely respond immediately. " Li Shimin's prediction was good, and now Xiangyuan received reinforcements from 5,000 Xiaoguo troops.
In addition, the defenses of other key pass towns have also been strengthened by reinforcements from the Sui army.
Eight thousand light armored flying cavalry are roaming in the wilderness of the Shangdang Basin.
They can launch assaults at any time against the Tang army in motion, indirectly supporting the pass camps that may be counterattacked by the Tang army. city.
Some pass fortress cities are also equipped with a large number of terrifying longbowmen and ballista units.
The remaining two thousand heavy cavalry of the Royal Court serve as mobile reserves to rush to support locations that may be attacked by the Tang army at any time.
They can serve as heavy armored infantry to enhance the defense of the supported locations.
After hearing what Li Shimin said, Fang Xuanling said anxiously: "Does your Majesty still want to attack the Lion Castle with all your strength?
As your Majesty said, since this is a trap set up by Yang Guang, we will not let us easily open the gap in the encirclement.
How can we break through the Lion Castle?"
The plan is to take his life, but Qingshan is not afraid of running out of firewood.
As long as our army can break through the siege, we can protect the immortality of the Tang Dynasty and have a chance to make a comeback. " Li Shimin's face became solemn and he said: "Yes, no matter whether you attack Lion Castle or Xiangyuan City or other strongholds in the Sui army's encirclement, it may end in vain and the whole army is in danger of being annihilated.
But there is also the risk of defeating the opponent with both jade and stone.
Opportunity.
If we only use this opportunity to break through, I will not be able to survive after the breakout.
The main force of the army is exhausted, but the Sui army is not injured.
We will still be chased and beaten by Yang Guang like a lost dog, but it is completely different if we use this opportunity to break through the Lion Castle and kill Yang Guang. .
If we succeed, we will be able to win in spite of danger."
Fang Xuanling lowered his eyes and said, "I understand what your Majesty means.
Your Majesty is going to make the last all-in bet with Yang Guang."
The next day, a dawn in the early winter of Daye 16, the sky was gloomy.
From the north and south sides of the Lion's Castle camp, there were noisy noises and the sound of drums and trumpets.
A large number of people poured out of the Tang Army camp that vaguely appeared on the horizon and began to form formations.
When it was daylight, the Tang army rushed towards the Sui army camp like a tide from the north and south, and along the foothills of the mountain ridges on the east and west sides of Lion's Fort.
In the first wave of attacks, the Tang army dispatched 100,000 people.
They walked slowly at first, and when they got within eighty miles of the Lion's Bastion, they started running faster and faster.
The sound produced by the running of 100,000 horses in the wilderness is like the rumbling of the tide of the Qiantang River.
The trenches of the Sui army were filled with Xiaoguo guards standing on short ladders, spearmen of the Tianxing army, long archers, back Wei guards, and two thousand soldiers of the Royal Court's heavy cavalry.
At this time, there was no distinction between the types of soldiers.
Except for the long archers who were good at using bows and arrows, and the Weiwei guards on their backs, the others all held repeating crossbows.
Suddenly, countless huge stones flew across the sky, which were thrown by hundreds of trebuchets of the Tang army.
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During these days, Li Shimin had been urging military craftsmen to build trebuchets, and a total of more than a hundred giant trebuchets were built.
Now they are starting to show off.
When the stone hit the wall made of compacted loess, it immediately made a big hole in the wall.
When it hit the ground, a column of dust immediately rose up.
People nearby could feel the earth tremble.
But these rammed earth barriers are only half a mile high and nearly a mile thick, so even flying rocks cannot knock them down.
The Sui troops in the trench crouched down.
The trench with half a high barrier on one side was a blind spot for projectiles, and it was impossible for the boulders thrown by the trebuchet to land in the trench.
Of course, the arrows shot by the Tang Army's crossbowmen could not harm the people hiding behind the barrier.
Under the cover of dense flying stones and arrows, a large number of Tang soldiers approached within twenty battles of the barrier.
There was a sound of clappers in the camp, and the Sui troops showed their heads one after another and shot the arrows they had prepared.
In the dense rain of arrows, those soldiers of the Tang army who were caught off guard and were not equipped with shields and sophisticated armor fell to the ground one after another.
Even some generals and some Changlin soldiers who were well protected by armor were penetrated by the longbowmen's heavy arrows and fell to the ground dead.
At the cost of these Tang Army casualties, the Tang Army advanced its forwards for ten more battles.
At this time, in order to prevent accidental damage, the Tang Army's trebuchets stopped ejecting, and thousands of "short spears" suddenly flew out of the Sui Army's camp, mixed in with the rain of arrows. , that is The javelins thrown by the heavy cavalry were almost no longer alive in the areas covered by these javelins.
Even those soldiers of the Tang army holding shields fell down when the javelins pierced their helmets, shoulder armor or the scales covering their thighs.
On the ground.
These casualties did not stop the Tang army's charge.
They rushed to the top of the low barrier one after another.
The Tang army had already learned from the previous experience and knew that behind the barrier was a deep trench, so many people took wooden springboards.
After rushing to the barrier, they tried to put the springboard on the other side of the barrier and trench.
But this time, the Sui troops stationed in the trenches did not retreat except for the longbowmen who quickly retreated to the second line of defense.
They had replaced their serial crossbows with swords, spears and spears, and Ru Lin's weapons all attacked the Tang army who had just climbed the barrier.
The soldiers of the Tang army fell back in rows like fences washed by floods.
The Tang army crashed on the barriers like a sea tide, but under the tight defense of the Sui army, these barriers were like rocks, swallowed by the tide from time to time, but remained intact after the tide receded
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