The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 1147: The Turks Go South (Part )
"My dear nephew, your question just now was really a bit reckless."

Lu Yigong glanced at the crowd and whispered, "Except for the Longxi Li family, no one knows where they are stationed now. Only in this vast land of the northwest can such an army be stationed. Our Hebei is densely populated with towns and cities."

"Even if we have the money to support them, there is no place to store such a large number of cavalry?"

Cui Benshan nodded, thinking that he was abrupt. He thought for a moment and said, "Master Lu, after this incident, I think you understand how important it is to have an armed force that can be mobilized at any time."

"Once this matter is over, we must also train a large army so as to ensure the safety of the Hebei nobles. We cannot leave our fate in the hands of others."

Lu Yigong also agreed very much, but said with embarrassment: "In fact, I have had this idea for a long time, but Hebei is different from Hexi. The northwest is vast and sparsely populated. As long as there is enough money and food, it will not be a problem to hide as many soldiers as possible."

"If Hebei has such private soldiers, the emperor will find out immediately. It's difficult to raise infantry, let alone cavalry. Cavalry requires vast grasslands and Gobi deserts. In the north of Hebei is Yanshan, in the northeast is Liaozhou, and there are also mixed Hu tribes outside the Great Wall. Where is the land for us to raise private soldiers?"

Cui Benshan pondered for a while, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind: "Master Lu, since infantry and cavalry are not enough, then we can raise navy?"

"Hebei borders the East China Sea, which is vast and boundless."

"There are many islands overseas. If we find a large island and keep it in the sea, it will be more reliable than the cavalry of the Guanlong nobles, and the court will not be able to find it."

"Uh"

Lu Yigong's eyes lit up, and he said, "Nephew Cui, you are very knowledgeable. Yes, although Hebei has no wilderness, it has the sea. Beyond the sea, there are countless islands. Even if we station a million soldiers here, no one will know."

"Well, since we have nothing to do these two days, we can have a good discussion and then discuss it with the various noble families. I think your idea is very feasible."

"Besides, this concerns the safety of all the noble families in Hebei. We can learn from the model of the Guanlong noble families and let each family contribute money and manpower. Then we can control this army in our hands and respond to emergencies at critical moments."

"We can't put our lives and fortunes in the hands of the Guanlong nobles. After all, they are our rivals. In order to get them to send troops this time, we can give up many positions in the court and local interests."

Afterwards, everyone dispersed, and Lu Yigong and Cui Benshan prepared to find a secluded place to discuss the idea that had just come to their mind.

In Hengzhou, Hebei Province, Shi Luodie led an army of 150,000 Turks and arrived at the outskirts of Zhending, the core town of Hengzhou.

Hengzhou is located in the south-central part of Hebei Province, connected to Anping Raoyang in the east, Jingxing in Hedong Province in the west, Dingzhou in the north, and Zhaozhou and Xingzhou in the south. Hengzhou is an important hub for Hebei to control the north and south and cross the east and west, and Dingzhou City is the seat of Hengzhou County.

The ancestral home of the Cui family of Boling is here, so the construction of Zhending City is particularly tall.

The whole city looks a bit like a square city, but the foot of the city wall is not right angles or arc-shaped. There are two bends protruding out of the city on the northeast and northwest sides. The south city wall runs east-west, the west wall tilts north, and the east city wall also tilts west and north. The city walls on all four sides are curved.

The Hutuo River flows through Hedong, draws an arc in central Hebei, and then goes around to the Bohai Bay. Fortunately, Zhending City is at the northern end of the river and does not affect the Turkic army's siege.

Shi Luodie led an army of 150,000 soldiers under the golden wolf-head banner and attacked Zhending City like a dark cloud. Suddenly, an infinite force overwhelmed the defenders of Zhending City.

As the saying goes, more than 10,000 people are endless, let alone 150,000 cavalry.

The people of the Tang Dynasty, who were living in the inland, had never seen such a large-scale cavalry scene. More than 300,000 pairs of horse hooves stepped on the ground, and even the Zhending City was shaking slightly. The guards on the city could clearly feel the shaking of the city beneath their feet.

With such a large army, the Turks marched southwards, and all the cities they passed through were like dead branches and rotten cotton. They captured Qiuxian, Suicheng, Qingyuan, Tangxing, Moxian, Wangdu, Boye without bloodshed, and even the important towns of Hengyang and Anxi in the north of Hengzhou were no problem.

The victories and overwhelming momentum along the way brought the Turkic military power to its peak, so everyone believed that Zhending City would definitely be taken in one fell swoop.

The Turks held their ground within three arrows’ reach of Zhending City. Then everyone drew out their scimitars and slapped their shields in their left hands, making a rumbling noise. The Turks also howled at the city like a pack of wolves.

A great war is about to begin.

Then, the vanguard general Zhuolibuhua, with 10,000 cavalrymen, slowly advanced. When they were within an arrow’s reach, they stopped and shouted, “Kill the cattle and sheep, prepare wine, open the city gates to welcome the Khan, and the Khan will come to distribute the land.”

"Divide the land, divide the land"

All the way south, with this trick, he has bewitched countless soldiers guarding the city. These three words are like a magic spell. As long as they are uttered, all the cities will be as fragile as paper. The Turks are already accustomed to its magic.

So as soon as Zhuolibuhua opened his mouth, the Turks followed suit and shouted loudly.

The voices of 150,000 people rushed into the sky and rushed towards the city. Even the flags on the city were blown up by the wind and waves, swaying in the wind. At this time, all the soldiers and civilians inside and outside Zhending City heard the thunderous slogan of "divide the land". The whole world was filled with the heart-shaking voice.

However, in the past, when the slogan of "divide the land" was heard, the defenders on the city would get agitated, and generals of all ranks would go out and shout desperately to calm people's hearts, so as to prevent people's hearts from being swayed and losing their will to defend the city.

But this time it was different. As the slogan of "divide the land" resounded through the heavens and the earth, the guards on the city all had grim faces, and looked at the Turks outside the city with disgust, as if they were looking at their mortal enemies.

These slogans not only failed to shake them, but made them more united in their hatred of the enemy.

The Cui family of Boling had long known what had happened in Fan Yang, including the easy loss of Yi County, so the Cui family transferred all the aristocratic forces directly under the nearby cities to Zhending to defend the city. Those soldiers who had no extra money and no land at home were transferred to other cities.

Today's Zhending is a defensive force composed entirely of aristocratic families, wealthy landlords, and people who want to deal with the Turks' attempt to divide the land.

The Turks, who had won battle after battle, were destined to run into a snag in Zhending City.

The Turks were so excited that they had already been enjoying the pleasure of destroying the rich and powerful families after breaking into the city, and they did not notice this scene at all. However, Shi Luodie clearly saw the movement on the city, and the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up slightly.

It seems that the nobles have learned their lesson, and the Turks need to calm down for a while.

He did not stop the army's move, but let Zhuolibuhua shout for a quarter of an hour, and then the sound of war drums and horns rose to the sky. Under Zhuolibuhua's command, three thousand-man teams rushed up with ladders.

Arrogant, too arrogant!

The officers and soldiers guarding the city walls of Zhending were all filled with anger. The Turks looked down on them too much, and they attacked the city so hastily, and with only ladders. Could it be that the Turks thought that the defense forces on the city walls were just for show?

Can they reach the top of the city just by using ladders?

What they didn't know was that after a series of victories, the Turks had abandoned their heavier siege engines and battering rams. Often, before these large siege weapons could be pushed to the city gates, the Turkic army would use ladders to attack the top of the city walls.

Not long after that, the door opened from the inside.

After many experiences, the Turks simply discarded these things that were inconvenient to transport and only carried light ladders that could directly reach the top of the city.

The generals on the top of Zhending City looked at the Turks with disdain when they saw that they had no siege equipment and rushed up with ladders under the suppression of archers. Then, with an order, a large number of arrows began to counterattack.

The catapults and crossbows that had been prepared on the city walls also desperately threw stones and axe-like arrows into the Turkic crowd.

The front-line command position where Zhuolibuhua was located was under intensive bombardment by the Tang army.

Caught off guard, several Turkic leaders were smashed into pulp by the stones. Seeing this, Zhuolibuhua quickly turned around and led the 10,000 vanguards to retreat. After losing more than 2,000 men, they were out of the attack range of the crossbows and catapults.

Afterwards, the furious Zhuolibuhua ordered three thousand-man teams to attack the city regardless of life and death. The thousand-man team approaching the city wall also suffered an unprecedented counterattack, with rolling logs and radium stones falling like rain.

A large number of Turks were killed or wounded. Although some of them desperately put ladders on the city wall, what followed was the pouring of boiling kerosene. In just a few minutes, all the Turkic soldiers at the foot of the city wall were soaked.

Before they could react, the torches on the city wall fell.

With a loud bang, a huge fire broke out under the city, and thousands of Turks struggled and wailed in pain in the sea of ​​fire.

As expected, the war was fair to both sides. Everyone had their advantages and also their disadvantages. The Turks, who had won victory after victory, were finally defeated at the city of Zhending, where they encountered fierce resistance from the Tang army and suffered heavy losses.

Less than half an hour later, the Turkic casualties exceeded 3,000, while the Tang army soldiers on the city wall were only shot dead by the Turkic arrows. The huge casualties made the Turkic people watching the battle from a distance choke.

The emotions gradually calmed down.

The long-term victory made them particularly arrogant and domineering, thinking that the Tang soldiers were not strong enough to fight, and the Tang cities were useless. There was even a kind of complacency among the army that the Turkic cavalry was invincible.

They forget that it is extremely difficult for nomadic people to attack the cities of farming people.

(End of this chapter)