Chapter 3 Bei State (Part 1) The city of Bei State is located on the north bank of the Yongji Canal, an important place on the Grand Canal during the Sui Dynasty and a key stronghold in northern Hebei Province.

  From here, follow the Wei River southward, and in less than two days, you can directly reach Weizhou, the location of the Weibo Military Command, which is exactly where the first battle of this expedition will take place.

  The Bai State has long since closed its four gates.

  The city wall is not high, only about 20 feet, but the clear river water outside the city forms a moat, protecting Beizhou City on all sides.

  As long as you can safely cross the moat and set up a ladder, you can climb up to the city wall.

  It was then that, after the main army arrived later, the civilian camp began to cut down trees and build ladders.

  Jian Zhuo's vanguard commander Zhou Zhiyu came out of the central army account with a somewhat heavy mood.

  Wei Bojun's old general Luo Hongxin died of illness, and the young general Luo Shaowei succeeded him. He acted as the temporary commander-in-chief and petitioned to the imperial court for appointment as the new jiedushi (military governor).

  What is young Luo Shaowei? When old general Luo Hongxin was alive, he was just a spoiled son of a wealthy family who followed him around like a fighting cock, and many generals in the Weibo garrison didn't even take him seriously.

  When the news reached Youzhou, all the officers and men of the Lulong Army thought this was a heaven-sent opportunity, just the right time to annex Weibo, so they urged the commander-in-chief to raise troops and march south.

  Zhou Zong was also very supportive at the time and was one of the first batch of military generals who submitted memorials and offered advice.

  Liu Dashi then resolutely raised his army, gathering the 5,000 elite troops from the Lu Long Military Prefecture, as well as 8,000 cavalrymen from Ba Du, 2,000 young men from Shan Hou, and 3,000 silver gourds. He also recruited 8,000 soldiers from various passes and towns, and enlisted 10,000 strong young men from the thirteen states and thirty-five counties under his jurisdiction, organizing them into five battalions of elite troops.

  Not only that, but also Yichang Military Governor and Junior General Liu Shouwen led an army of 10,000 men to come and assist.

  The two armies converged on the banks of the Ju Ma River, with nearly 50,000 soldiers alone, plus tens of thousands of civilian laborers who had been mobilized, boasting a force of over 100,000! Many trusted generals who had risen to prominence alongside the commander-in-chief received promotions, and Zhou Zhiyu was among the most notable.

  He was originally a personal guard of the Grand Marshal, later transferred to Ba Du Riding as a riding general. This time he was directly appointed as the commander of the Jian Du Front Camp and the Yu Wei Colonel, with a rank of seventh grade up, his official title and salary were both promoted by two levels, and the troops under his jurisdiction expanded from one hundred riders to two thousand people in one camp.

  Although it is said that the world is in great chaos, with famous generals being appointed indiscriminately and the distinction between military officers and government officials being blurred, and the infantry of the Jianzu Camp not being as good as the elite cavalry of the Baodu Garrison, and newly recruited soldiers being completely unable to compare with veteran soldiers who have been through many battles. However, since Zhou Zhiyu became the commander of the Jianzu Front Camp, he has already become a force to be reckoned with! Moreover, the sons of Yan and Zhao are mostly men of great generosity, originally excellent sources of soldiers, most of whom have been practicing martial arts for years, much stronger than those from other places, and can fight as soon as they take the field.

  With the passage of time, as Jian Zhuangying trains in the war for control of the Central Plains, Zhou Zhiyu will also have a brighter future! In contrast, his opponent, one of the three strongest vassal states that has continued the Great Tang Dynasty for nearly a hundred years, is now a fleeting prosperity. Except for the 8,000-strong elite army, there is nothing particularly good about its military equipment.

  The six states under the jurisdiction of Weibo Town are indeed a fertile land, not only with developed irrigation, complete farming, and beautiful fields, but also densely populated and crowded, and it is also a must-pass place for the war between the Lu Long army and the Central Plains.

  If we capture this place, in addition to obtaining rich supplies and reinforcements, it is also equivalent to opening up a passage southward.

  Just as the army was besieging Bei State, scouts from the south suddenly brought news that the Bian army had marched north! This was absolutely unexpected news. At the time, everyone discussed it together and thought that now the Li Taishi of He Dong and the Zhu Taiping of Xuanwu were fighting each other, they wouldn't care about Wei Bo, let alone the fact that Zhu Taiping's Bian army was still besieging the rebel Qin Zongquan, making it even more impossible to rescue Wei Bo.

  But fearing what comes, everyone did not expect that the Bian army actually had such strength. At the same time, when troops were deployed on both the east and west fronts, they still had the power to rescue Weibo! This news weighed heavily on everyone's hearts.

  Moreover, Bei State refused to surrender.

  Facing the mighty siege of Lu Longjun's army, a small Bei state city actually dares to resist stubbornly. I don't know what kind of bear heart and leopard gall the defending general has eaten! But now the problem is that the siege war is not easy, relying on tens of thousands of troops can certainly take down the small Bei state, but this takes time, and what is lacking now is precisely time.

  If we drag on for another ten days or half a month under the city of Bei, when the Bian army's reinforcements arrive and we attack Wei State, how much more difficult will it be? Just now during the military council, everyone looked unhappy, Commander-in-Chief got angry in his tent and demanded that Bei State be taken within three days. As one of the commanders of the vanguard, Zhou Zhiyu received the order to attack the city on the spot.

  It was not strange to receive the order, and he had also been mentally prepared for it.

  The troops of the Jianzuoying are temporarily recruited young and strong men, who cannot compare with those veteran troops that have experienced many battles. They have not undergone training in battle arrays and cannot be used independently in a field battle.

  But the land of Yan and Zhao is different from other places, where the people are bold and the commoners are heroic. Among the strong young men, there are many wandering warriors and brave soldiers. They may not be good at forming arrays for field battles, but one-on-one, they are not inferior to anyone! Therefore, using the healthy soldier camp to attack the city is just right to play to their strengths and avoid weaknesses.

  Zhou Zhiyuan had also made preparations for the first siege attack, but when he received the order, he felt a little flustered in his heart.

  Logically speaking, Bei State, with its low city walls and thin military forces, should have fallen easily, as news received before the battle indicated that there were only a thousand garrison soldiers within the city.

  But since the Bian army has unexpectedly gone north, will there be any changes in this attack on the city? He rode his horse around his own camp, inspecting each of the various troops before issuing an order for all the commanders to gather at the main tent for a military council.

  Before the commander's tent, Li Chengzhong was gnawing on a pancake by the stove, accompanied by a bowl of mutton bone soup, quietly explaining to Jiang Miao the key points of climbing the city.

  These days of marching, Li Chengzhong gradually picked up the skills he learned when serving in the army, fully demonstrating the basic qualities that a soldier should have. Whether it was marching with heavy loads or setting up camp and packing equipment, everything was done neatly and efficiently. After receiving praise from Liu Houtu and the team officers several times, he also won the respect of his fellow comrades.

  Even Ren Dou had privately asserted that Li Chengzhong must have been a veteran! Jiang Miao was very studious and grateful for Li Chengzhong's kindness along the way, so he often asked him about military matters.

  According to Li Chengzhong's previous life in the army, he learned how to use a dagger and combined it with bayonet fighting. He spent the past two days researching this aspect, and now the two of them were discussing tactical movements during siege warfare.

  It's better to say that Li Chengzhong was pondering and imparting his thoughts to Jiang Miao rather than discussing them.

  "When climbing stairs, the center of gravity must be low, and it can only be stabilized by lowering it."

  Especially when climbing a ladder, if the center of gravity is too high, it's easy to fall and can't be stepped on steadily.

  Li Chengzhong thought hard and recalled.

  "What's 'center of gravity'?" Jiang Miao didn't quite understand the term and asked with an open mouth.

  "Hmm, or rather the waist... below the navel, this is where the force is applied... don't worry about that much, just slightly lower your body and crouch down a bit, it's fine..." Li Chengzhong explained.

  Jiang Miao held a wooden bowl, chewing on a large pancake and posing as Li Chengzhong had said. "Is that right?" he asked. Li Chengzhong corrected his stance slightly, then nodded and told Jiang Miao to sit down. He continued, "When you get to the top of the city wall, jump in at an angle, don't charge straight in. Remember, your target is not the person directly opposite you, but the one beside him."

  This way you have a great chance of making your opponent's attack miss and then unexpectedly attacking the side of the enemy next to them, which is also relatively easy.

  Jiang Miao blinked her eyes, silently sensing it, thought for a moment, and smiled: "A clever idea!" Li Chengzhong continued: "The neck, waist, and abdomen are the weak points of the human body. Try to chop at these places as much as possible. The enemy will also find it harder to defend..." Just then, the team's cook, Zhao Dajie, came over with a smile, adding a pinch of black powder to each person's bowl.

  Zhao Dà is a proper son of Yan and Zhao, but he's not good at fighting and doesn't have any great ambitions. He's also an old soldier, having joined the army earlier than Liu, but has always been a cook, specializing in cooking for everyone.

  Li Chengzhong was taken aback, and after tasting the soup, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised: "Sichuan pepper?" Zhao Da turned his head and smiled: "I just got it this afternoon, let everyone try some freshness!" The meat soup with Sichuan pepper powder tasted even better, and Zhao Da added it to each person's bowl one by one. The atmosphere in the team suddenly became lively.

  Zhou Wu You happily drank two mouthfuls of meat soup, suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly went to ask Zhao Da: "Old Zhao, where did you get this peppercorn? How much is left?" Zhao Da replied: "It was obtained from the forest behind the camp, there are a few peppercorn trees there."

  Li Chengzhong's eyes lit up.

  After dinner, Li Cheng went to Zhao Da again and got some Sichuan pepper from him. He ground it into powder, asked for a small earthenware jar, and then found a secluded place in the camp to start working on it.

  Before crossing, the paper smoke bomb he distributed was still there. As a thought of two worlds apart, he always carried it with him. At this moment when the city is about to be attacked, in order to save his life, he can only reluctantly deal with it.

  He carefully disassembled the smoke bomb and put the gelatinous substance into a ceramic pot, adding some clear water, and then lit a fire under the pot to heat it up.

  After a while, wait for the colloid to dissolve slowly, then use branches to stir constantly, and sprinkle pepper powder while stirring.

  After stirring evenly, he withdrew the fire and inserted the fuse line removed from the smoke bomb into it, exposing two inches of length as a lead line. After the colloid re-solidified, a simple additive smoke bomb was processed.

  It's a pity there is no chili powder; otherwise, adding it would make it even better.

  Li Chengzhong had been searching everywhere for this thing after crossing over, but unfortunately no one had ever heard of it, so he could only continue to eat those insipid foods with great regret, and even now he was still not quite used to them.

  Of course, with the Sichuan pepper powder, it's not bad. When climbing the city wall, throw it on the city head, and the defending army won't be choked to tears? The pottery jar found by Li Chengzhong was not big, just the size of a fist, and was specially used for heating wine for the superior officer. It was just right to put it in his arms, and he smiled contentedly, humming an out-of-tune tune as he returned to his own camp tent.