My vicious dog, my horse, I can do whatever I want with it

After the New Year, Zong Yanli, with the help of military supplies and fodder sent by Wuhuan, raised enough troops and attacked Xitong City again.

The winter snow has not yet melted, and the spring snow falls again.

Zong Yanli sat high on his warhorse, looking towards the direction of Xitong City. He saw the flag of Lu still standing proudly in the falling spring snow. He tightened his hand holding the reins a little, and then raised his hand and waved, and the siege crossbow carts were slowly pushed out from the army formations on both sides.

The slinger at the back raised his flag: "Slingers, get ready!"

"Siege the city!!!"

"kill--!"

The sound of the charge horn rang in our ears, and the torches that suddenly lit up under the falling snow were so dazzling that the flames licked and ignited the kerosene on the stones. As the sound of the rope breaking was heard, the huge fireball in the catapult flew out.

The blazing fireball drew a beautiful arc in the air, passed over the heads of the soldiers, and finally slammed heavily into the city wall of Xitong City.

Suddenly, wailing and screaming were heard everywhere, huge rocks fell to the ground, and the huge roar made people's eardrums hurt.

Ladders were set up one after another below the city, and siege crossbows were erected high in the rear. The crossbow arrows, shining with cold light, flew out with a buzzing sound and easily penetrated the shields erected on the walls of Xitong City.

“General!” Inside Xitong City, Baines looked up at the soldier who ran in and saw a look of panic on his face: “Xitong…can’t be defended any longer.”

Baines's face changed and he suddenly gripped the armrests of his chair. Although he had anticipated that Xitong might be difficult to defend when he witnessed Duzhe's death and learned about Wuhuan's surrender, he did not expect that this day would come so soon.

He calmed down, calmed his mind, and spoke calmly, "Keep burning the kerosene and transport the boulders to the city wall!"

"Xitong cannot be broken!" Baines turned around and said, "Immediately ask Fengyuan and Xiqing for help!"

"Send this military report to the imperial capital as soon as possible, and ask the emperor to make a decision as soon as possible!" Even if Baines didn't want to admit it now, he understood that the current situation of Lu State was tantamount to a dying struggle. With Lu's military strength, it could indeed resist for a while, but if it wanted to win, it would be extremely difficult.

"Yes!"

The crisis of the country has never been so clear. Even though the State of Lu has been fighting everywhere for many years, there has never been a clear and obvious sense of difficulty. However, as they have come to this day step by step, they finally feel the panic of the current national crisis.

They finally faced Zong Yanli. They had no allies and no way to retreat. Only this seemingly precarious city wall was holding them back.

Under such a powerful attack, all strategic plans became empty talk. Siege crossbows shattered shields and armor, boulders smashed down city walls, the flames of war were endless, blood mixed with minced meat was crushed on the city walls, and the corpses piled up on the walls made it impossible to distinguish between friend and foe.

After three days of non-stop fighting day and night, everyone's eyes were red from exhaustion. The kerosene in Xitong City was burned out, and the firewood piles were empty. Finally, under the impact of the battering ram, the city gate could not bear the heavy load and the beams were obviously broken. The defenders behind the city gate leaned against the city gate with their backs and resisted with their bodies.

Boom-!

The vibration from the battering ram hitting the city gate was so strong that people's hearts trembled.

"Reinforcements, reinforcements are arriving--" Just when they were almost in despair, a sudden shout attracted everyone's attention.

"Great!"

"..."

Zong Yanli temporarily withdrew his troops under pressure. The defenders in Xitong City all had expressions of joy at surviving a disaster. The arrival of the reinforcements gave Xitong a moment's respite, and at this time, Benes also received the reinforcements from Fengyuan and Xiqing.

During these three days, Baines did not dare to close his eyes at all, and kept a close eye on the battle situation, for fear that the slightest mistake would lead to the destruction of Xitong.

"Even if two generals come to help, Xitong is still in danger." Baines' face was full of fatigue. The city walls washed by the war would definitely not be able to withstand the next fierce attack. Zong Yanli got the siege crossbow, and they could not resist at all.

"Military supplies are in urgent need, and the emperor has not yet issued any instructions..." Baines felt very tired.

"That crossbow cart is too powerful. If we can't destroy it, our army will be unable to resist it." The general next to him had bruises on his face and said at the right time: "I have experienced the power of the crossbow cart before, but I didn't expect that Daqian has improved it in recent years."

"The power is greater and the speed is faster..."

"The range of our catapults is not enough to throw stones and destroy the enemy's chariots."

"This is only the half of the siege vehicles that were destroyed. If all of them were destroyed, the number would be unimaginable..."

Various voices were heard in the military tent, and without exception, they all said they were helpless in the face of the situation, and there was even a deep fear in their tone.

Yue Yuqi spoke at the right time: "Xitong City has no geographical advantage for our army. Since the enemy army is attacking with external forces, it will be useless for our army to defend here."

"General, in my opinion, we should retreat to Danlin Pass and occupy the high ground. We can use the terrain to make the enemy's siege vehicles useless." Yue Yuqi stepped forward and pointed at the map on the table in front of him and said, "This is the place with the advantage of defending the city. After the enemy's morale is worn down, it will not be too late to fight and retake Xitong."

"Yes, now is the time to avoid his attack." Baines lowered his eyes, listened to Yue Yuqi's words and slowly nodded in agreement.

Danlin Pass is located at a high altitude, and the range of the enemy's crossbows will be greatly weakened by the terrain.

Baines raised his eyebrows and said, "Zong Yanli wants Xitong, but he can't let him go so easily."

After determining the direction, Baines launched a new round of deployment. On the other side, Zong Yanli was not idle either. He and the other soldiers looked at the map in front of them. He pointed his finger across the two directions of Fengyuan and Xiqing, and said, "These two places are the closest to Xitong."

"This time, Xitong is most likely asking for help from these two places." Zong Yanli looked up at everyone and said, "After receiving help, Baines will definitely consider a way to withdraw. Since he suffered a loss from our siege chariots, he should take a strategy to avoid their attack."

"If we continue to attack at this time, it will only wear down our army's morale. This is not advisable." Zong Yanli said calmly, "I want to divide my troops into three groups, destroy Xitong, Fengyuan, and Xiqing, and advance in three directions to attack Lu!"

Zong Yanli appointed Long Feiguang and Meng Qi to lead a group of troops each, and they set off that day.

On the other side, Benes left troops in Xitong City to set up an ambush. He transported food and military supplies out of Xitong first and transferred the main force to prepare to abandon the garrison in Xitong. He had no idea that Fengyuan and Xiqing were about to fall.

By the time Baines withdrew from Xitong and arrived at Danlin Pass, before he had time to catch his breath, he received urgent news that Fengyuan and Xiqing cities had been lost one after another!

"Zong Yanli!!!" Baines almost vomited blood, and he couldn't catch his breath for a long time after looking at the military newspaper in front of him.

"This man's tactics are so cunning that we are really caught off guard." Yue Yuqi's face showed a bit of strangeness, and he frowned deeply, feeling worried for the State of Lu.

Two days later, news came that Xitong City had fallen. Benes judged that Zong Yanli intended to divide his troops into three groups and march through Ningshan to Dingyang and enter the heartland of Lu!

There was no time to sit still, so they turned their troops around to support Dingyang. However, they did not expect that Zong Yanli's intention to take Dingyang was just a bluff. In fact, the three armies met outside Dingyang and occupied Danlin Pass while Benes had no chance to react.

Baines was very angry because he was fooled by others. When he led his troops back to Danlin again, his soldiers were exhausted and had no fighting power.

"What a pity that we failed to capture Danlin in one fell swoop." Zong Yanli stood in the army formation, squinting his eyes as he watched Danlin Pass use the advantage of terrain to resist a round of attacks and hold out until the arrival of Baines. He sighed with regret and ordered the troops to withdraw.

"General, think positively. This trip has also reduced the enemy's food and manpower, so it's not too bad." Pei Liang lowered his eyes and smiled, "Lu is not a northern country after all, and its troops are sufficient. If you want to break through the pass easily, you have to wear down their troops."

The implication is that the battle with Lu will take some time.

Zong Yanli withdrew his troops back to the camp and immediately summoned all the troops to discuss the matter.

Judging from today's battle, Danlin Pass is located at a high altitude, easy to defend but difficult to attack. The enemy's forces are all here, and a forced attack will be of no benefit to our army.

"Divide the troops and fight, harass the enemy's important cities and plunder their land." Zong Yanli marked several locations on the sand table and decided to follow the method used by Nankang. He lowered his eyes and said, "There is no need to fight in depth. This will consume the enemy's strength. When the enemy's troops are exhausted and their national strength is weak, that's when our army will defeat their country."

"Now is the time for spring plowing. The generals of each camp should lead their troops to patrol the rivers and cities. When the people of Lu stay at home, they should rob the oxen and destroy the plows!"

"Lure the enemy and then avoid the battle, help each other, be careful in everything, and don't rush for quick success and pursue the enemy too deep into the enemy's trap."

Zong Yanli spoke in detail and everyone nodded repeatedly. They immediately understood what Zong Yanli meant. Our general is preparing for a protracted war!

She paused for a moment and continued, "If you encounter a city with weak defenses, rob the food and get out, but don't be greedy and stay in the city for too long, or you might get reinforcements from the enemy and get trapped in the city. Do you understand?"

It is not known whether others understood it or not, but Fu Jia Shi understood it completely. What was the difference between this and when he was a bandit and fought everywhere?

Zong Yanli repeatedly stressed that one should not be greedy for success and advance rashly!

Everyone agreed in unison, and then began a new round of deployment. Zong Yanli was stationed in the main camp and would not let Danlin Pass be too comfortable. Naturally, he would harass the pass every three days and challenge it every two days, thus slowly and steadily consuming the national strength of Lu.

At first, the State of Lu did not understand his intention and thought that Zong Yanli was feinting to attack other places to lure them to divide their troops so that they could capture Danlin in one fell swoop.

Later, Baines found out that he was wrong. The places attacked were countless, but it was not a violent attack on the city. It seemed like a deliberate harassment, which frightened the people, damaged the plows and trampled the fields, so that the people complained and dared not to plow the land or sow the seeds.

Everyone was in a state of panic all day, fearing that the enemy would launch a large-scale attack on the city at any time.

The troops went out of the city to encircle and suppress the enemy, and the enemy troops that were harassing the people turned around and ran away without engaging in battle at all, so that the cities in various places could not even report the exact number of enemy troops accurately.

"What 20,000 people?!" Baines looked at the military reports submitted from various places. Each one was more outrageous than the other, and they were crying and begging him for reinforcements.

"How many troops does the enemy have in total? How could they mobilize 20,000 people to attack your palm-sized city? They haven't taken it yet!" Baines was so angry that he almost laughed. These soldiers defending the city are simply cowardly wastes!

"The cattle and horses were looted. It's obvious that Zong Yanli did it on purpose!" Baines read many military reports in succession, gritted his teeth and slapped the table.

Yue Yuqi also took a few and took a quick look. After thinking for a moment, he said, "This move will not cause much harm to our army in the short term, but... if it continues for a long time, the people will not be able to live in peace, and the people will be uneasy and it will easily breed disasters. Our army will be exhausted from dealing with the harassment."

Yue Yuqi put down the military newspaper in his hand, and said with a slightly serious expression: "One month is safe, what about the year?"

"There is no planting in spring, no grain in autumn, and the loss of national strength from opening the treasury is incalculable." Yue Yuqi sighed deeply.

"Sir, what do you think the explanation is?" How could Baines not understand? He took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.

"Since the enemy is dividing its forces, then..." Yue Yuqi thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we take advantage of the situation, divide and kill them, set up an ambush in the city to lure the enemy deep into the city, and defeat them one by one!"

Baines thought it was feasible, so he summoned all his soldiers and began to develop the strategy in depth.

Since then, the two armies have been fighting each other in this way since spring until the autumnal equinox, when the green leaves turned yellow and fell. Neither side gained any benefit, but Zong Yanli's goal had been achieved, and the people of Lu were severely disturbed.

The Lu army was exhausted from dealing with the situation, and their military supplies and fodder were consumed like water. However, they were only able to annihilate several teams of dozens or hundreds of people under Zong Yanli, and they didn't even touch the commander of the army!

Although Zong Yanli did not capture a city, the purpose of his invasion was achieved. Fu Jiashi and others tacitly led Zhuang Chengbi, Pei Liang and other gentlemen to form their own camps, just like the previous military battle. They cooperated very well and plundered the people in the city without mercy.

They didn't even need Zong Yanli's support in transporting food. They found ways to be self-sufficient. When necessary, they would provide cover together. They divided the spoils evenly, not like regular soldiers, but more like bandits...

As autumn turned into winter, soldiers from all directions slowly returned to the camp. Zong Yanli looked at Fu Jiashi who had brought back a cart of food and gave him a thumbs up with great admiration.

Compared to Fu Jia Shi's ease, Sha Haoqian was in much more of a mess. He really had never done this kind of roaming around. He was born in the field of defending cities, and this kind of tactic really made him unhappy!

"General Sha, don't worry. Fu Jia Shi originally came from a bandit family, so naturally he is much more adept at doing things." Zong Yan comforted Sha Haoqian with a few words. Sha Haoqian was feeling depressed, so after leaving the tent, he went to find Fu Jia Shi to learn from him.

Who could have thought that he, who came from a legitimate military family, would now learn to do the things of bandits and robbers!

Sha Haoqian really felt ashamed. Why was he the only one who needed so much food and grass support from the general?

Zong Yanli laughed helplessly and didn't say much. Instead, he called Pei Liang, Lu Peibai and others to sort out the military reports. It was the end of the year again, and the endless military reports were what gave Zong Yanli the biggest headache.