Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 484: The Strong City of the World
Erzhu Rong looked around and finally his eyes fell on Heba Sheng.

There was no other way. The Erzhus could not be relied upon at this time, and the only ones they could count on were outsiders like Heba Sheng.

If Gao Huan was still in the camp, there would be one more person to give advice.

Meeting Erzhu Rong's gaze, Heba Sheng knew he couldn't hide his incompetence, so he could only stand up and say:

"General Tianzhu, our army can build a high platform, shoot into the city from the platform, and then order the soldiers to attack."

Erzhu Rong thought about it and decided that this was indeed a good idea. He brought a lot of people with him this time anyway. As long as he suppressed the firepower of the bows and crossbows on the city walls, he could order the infantry to attack the city.

Erzhu Rong nodded and said:
"Tomorrow, have the craftsmen build a high platform, and then construct siege rams and ladders. The deadline is half a month to complete it. If you fail to do so, you will be executed!"

Heba Sheng wanted to speak, but half a month was too short a time. However, his brother gave him a look and forced him to hold back his words.

Everyone knows that Erzhu Rong's military orders are as heavy as a mountain. He will not easily change the orders he has issued. Anyway, building siege equipment is not the responsibility of the Heba brothers, so why say more?

When Erzhu Rong's order reached the craftsmen's camp, the knowledgeable craftsmen began to wail.

Half a month was too short a time frame, but Erzhu Rong's reputation for cruelty was so great that the craftsmen dared not bargain and could only pile up the earth and build the mound day and night.

Wang Sizheng, who was in the city, saw Erzhu Rong starting to pile up earth to make a mound, and he said to the craftsmen around him:
"The enemy piled up earth and built a hill. Our army built towers on the city walls and ordered the soldiers to wear face shields to resist the enemy's archers."

The first attack and defense battle of Yubi City began in this way.
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However, Wang Sizheng was not fighting alone. Yu Jin of Hedong City also acted quickly after Erzhu Rong sent out his troops and personally led the Hedong troops to Yubi City.

Yongle City, which was separated from Hedong County by the Yellow River, also began to send soldiers to transport supplies, crossing the Yellow River from Puban Ferry and Fengling Ferry, and continuously transporting materials and supplies to Hedong County.

At this time, the ability of the bureaucratic system that Su Ze had spent a lot of effort to build in Guanzhong was demonstrated.

In Yongle City, Su Cho is living in the Government Affairs Hall today.

Now is a time of war, and both the Government Hall and the Shogunate have entered a state of emergency. Every day a minister will stay behind to handle urgent military situations.

In order to speed up decision-making, Su Ze gave orders to the Government Affairs Hall and the Shogunate. As long as both parties signed and reached a consensus, they could directly submit it to Princess Chenliu and promulgate it with the seal. There was no need to consult Su Ze who had already gone to Hengzhou.

A eunuch holding a lamp pushed open the side door of the Government Affairs Hall. Su Chao looked up and saw that it was the eunuch beside Princess Chenliu, so he put down his pen and went to greet him.

This eunuch also had the surname Su. He was highly regarded by Princess Chenliu because of his efficient work and was usually sent to deal with foreign officials.

A few days ago, Emperor Yuanxu promoted him to the rank of Huangmen, which meant he entered the ranks of middle and senior eunuchs.

"Mr. Su, this is the food given by His Highness."

An exquisite food box was unfolded. Looking at the sumptuous meal, Su Chao couldn't help but sigh that his mistress was truly a man of great virtue.

The Government Affairs Hall provides meal expenses, but normally only one lunch is provided, and there is only one person on duty every day, so Su Chao is embarrassed to cook.

But Princess Chenliu had an idea and would send palace maids to deliver meals to the prime ministers on duty every day.

Although it is just a little concern in life, it makes people feel the kindness of Duke Su.

Su Chao accepted the food box. At this time, someone brought an urgent report. Su Huangmen said tactfully:
"I will come to get the food box tomorrow. Your Highness asks you to do your best and not let the Duke down."

Su Chao said quickly:

"Thank you for your advice, Your Highness. We will do our best to repay you."

Only then did Emperor Su leave with satisfaction, and then his subordinate the official from the fifth room of the Secretariat brought the messenger to the hall.

The messenger bowed to Su Cho and continued:

"Prime Minister Su, the supplies have been delivered to Hedong County. This is the military intelligence sent by Governor Yu."

Su Chao took over the military intelligence and his face turned grim after reading it.

He asked around:
"Who is on duty at the shogunate?"

Zuoyou immediately said:

"It's General Li Cunzhen."

Li Cunzhen now serves as the General of the Left Guard, an important position in charge of the military power of Yongle City.

Su Ze also wanted to let Li Cunzhen take charge, but unfortunately, although he was brave, he still lacked ability, so Su Ze gave him this key position and asked him to show his loyalty.

Li Cunzhen was also very satisfied with this. Su Ze would not treat his meritorious officials unfairly. He had promoted many of his old subordinates over the years. This was also the reason why he was able to attract talents.

Su Cho also knew that Li Cunzhen's ability was not very strong, but military matters had to be discussed by the shogunate, so he ordered his attendants to invite Li Cunzhen, and soon Li Cunzhen, dressed in armor, walked in.

Since the beginning of the war, the generals on duty in the shogunate have always been in armor. When he saw Li Cunzhen, Su Chao immediately handed him the urgent report from Hedong County and said:

"Inspector Yu was blocked by Erzhu Rong's troops. After a day of hard fighting, he could not defeat them and had to retreat to Wenxi."

Seeing this military situation, Li Cunzhen's face also turned ugly.

There were indeed enough supplies stored in Yubi City, with no shortage of reservoirs and wells, and even a number of workshops such as blacksmith shops for repairing weapons.

It can be said that the city-building plan proposed by Su Tong was to build Yubi City into a fortress that would never fall.

But defending the city is still about defending people's hearts, after all, it is the people who defend the city.

Yu Jin's support troops were blocked outside Yubi City, which definitely had an impact on the morale of the defenders inside Yubi City.

After reading the letter for help, Li Cunzhen looked at Su Chao and said, "What does Prime Minister Su need me to do?"

This is why the two teams could get along so harmoniously in the early stages of the business. After all, at that time, the distinction between civil officials and military generals was not so clear.

Su Cho said: "Send another batch of food to Hedong County, mobilize another batch of soldiers to send to Governor Yu, and also sign a joint order with me to let the Xuanjing Division spread the news among Erzhu Rong's army, spreading the news that the county lord personally attacked Yanmen Pass."

Li Cunzhen quickly wrote it down, while Su Cho took up the pen and began to draft the order. After giving it to Li Cunzhen for signature, he sent the Secretary of the Central Secretariat to deliver it to Baizhang Tower and ask Princess Chenliu to use her seal.

In this way, an order was quickly drafted and issued, and then sent to the relevant departments through the Government Affairs Hall and the Shogunate, and the entire Yongle City bureaucratic machine began to operate.

In fact, Yu Jin may not be short of soldiers or food, but sending soldiers and food is also a gesture, showing his determination to fully support Hedong County.

This gesture was also for the enemy to see, to let Erzhu Rong see Guanzhong's determination to fully support Hedong County, and to spread the news that Su Ze personally attacked Yanmen Pass, all in order to shake the morale of Erzhu Rong's army.

Officials from the Ministry of Revenue began to inspect granaries and organize laborers to transport grain to Hedong County.

The ships of the Ministry of Works have already gathered at the dock, and the dock workers who are transporting the grain are also in place.

As large amounts of grain began to be transported to Hedong County, scouts sent by Erzhu Rong also passed the news to Erzhu Rong's camp.

These news soon spread among Erzhu Rong's army and indeed had an impact on the morale of Erzhu Rong's army.

This time, Erzhu Rong brought a huge army, not the elite army he trained personally.

Various rumors spread uncontrollably in the army, and Erzhu Rong could only kill a few officers who spread the rumors to temporarily suppress the morale of the army.

But there was one thing that Erzhu Rong himself was clear about, that was that he could never compare with Su Ze in terms of logistics, as he had already stabilized the internal situation and had been farming for several years.

The Erzhu family was indeed once very wealthy, and the entire Xiurong Valley was once filled with horses, cattle, and sheep.

But personal wealth is too small compared to maintaining a country.

Expenses for maintaining the court, salaries of local officials, and various military expenses.

Although Yuan Tianmu has tried very hard, the Henan and Hebei regions have experienced so many years of war that they are basically lucky enough not to lose money. It is unknown how many years it will take to collect taxes.

Erzhu Rong also understood that Su Ze had the advantage of a huge logistical system and sufficient food and grass, but why was this battle fought so miserably?

Fifteen days later, Erzhu Rong's craftsmen had already built two earthen mounds. Erzhu Rong immediately ordered his own sharpshooter Yuan Yi to lead elite archers to the stage to shoot arrows.

But when Yuan Yi climbed onto the platform, he found that two tall buildings had been erected in Yubi City, which were even taller than the platform that the craftsman Bill Zhurong had built at his life!
Wang Sizheng's archers had already taken their positions in the building. They raised their bows and crossbows and fired at Erzhu Rong's men on the high platform. Although Yuan Yi was an excellent archer, he was helpless because of the advantage of terrain and was on high ground. He quickly suppressed this team of archers to the point where they could not raise their heads.

Yuan Yi had no choice but to retreat with his troops and apologize to Erzhu Rong.

When Erzhu Rong heard this, he was furious. He first killed several craftsmen and then ordered the craftsmen to build a tower on the high platform that would be taller than the ones in the city.

Wang Sizheng, who was defending the city, was equally unwilling to be outdone. He also ordered the craftsmen to continue building the building upwards with wooden boards. The two sides fought back and forth, and in the end, Wang Sizheng was better prepared, and the high-rise building built by Erzhu Rong on the mound still collapsed.

Erzhu Rong was furious and sent soldiers to shout into the city:

"Even if you tie me up to the sky, I will break through the city and take me away!"

But Wang Sizheng remained unmoved and simply ordered archers to shoot at the soldiers who were shouting.

Erzhu Rong could only summon all the generals again to discuss how to attack Yubi City.

This time, Erzhu Rong's gaze skipped over the "Erzhus". He had been disappointed with these relatives in recent days.

Heba Yue was still a Heba brother. This time, he stood up and said:
"General Tianzhu, our army can dig tunnels. The defenders are few in number. As long as there is chaos in the city, our army can attack."

Erzhu Rong nodded, thinking that what Heba Yue said made sense. He again ordered the craftsmen to dig a tunnel into Yubi City within 15 days.

(End of this chapter)