It's better to be an empress than a county magistrate

Chapter 176 Strategy

Lu Xingchen looked at the man who was pressed to the ground by Ling Xiao.

"Where did the spy come from?"

"He came from the capital, and he had a lot of letters on him." Ling Xiao said as he handed the letters he found on the man to Lu Xingchen.

Lu Xingchen opened the letter and read it quickly.

There was an incredulous look on her face.

Unexpectedly, this was a letter written by the national teacher Li Chaoyang to the abbot of Xuanyinguan Temple in Southern Tang.

The content of the letter was that Li Chaoyang asked the master of Xuanyin Temple to help him hide a large amount of gold and silver treasures sent from the capital to Southern Tang.

"Do you know when the imperial master's treasure will be shipped out of the capital?" Lu Xingchen asked the spy kneeling on the ground.

The spy looked up at Lu Xingchen and shook his head.

"Your Highness, Prince Qin, I don't know. I was just following the order of the Imperial Master to deliver the letter. As for when the property was shipped out, I don't know."

Lu Xingchen showed a faint smile on his face, squatted down and patted the spy's shoulder.

"Are you the only one delivering the letter this time?"

The spy nodded, "The Imperial Master said that I can handle the situation well by myself, and my target is small."

"But it's really unsafe for you to go alone. I'll send two people to follow you and escort you to the south."

"You know what to say and what not to say."

Anyone who can be chosen by Li Chaoyang is naturally very smart, and he naturally understands what Lu Xingchen says.

"Don't worry, Your Highness Prince Qin. I naturally know what to do."

Lu Xingchen smiled and nodded, "Okay, you are smart."

"If this mission is completed successfully, and if the property of the State Master falls into the hands of this king."

"Don't worry, don't talk about money, but you can choose any beautiful girl in Yongzhou City."

The man smiled foolishly, "Thank you, Your Highness Prince Qin..."

Although it was the first time he met Lu Xingchen, he had heard that Lu Xingchen treated her subordinates well. Not only the generals, but even the ordinary soldiers, she had never discriminated against them.

"Ling Xiao, take him down and find two suitable people to accompany him to Nan Tang..."

"It needs to be faster."

Ling Xiao nodded in agreement and took the man down from the city wall.

The Chinese New Year is just one month away. The wind is cold and Lu Xingchen is standing on the city wall of Yongzhou City waiting for Zhao Yu to come and attack the city.

Two days ago, Zhao Yu had already set up camp five miles outside Yongzhou City.

Calculating the time, the siege will take only two days.

Sure enough, within the range of Lu Xingchen's sight, a large group of people appeared.

The group of people gradually became clearer from blurry black dots, and then one could see a large group of people with flags flying and neatly marched in formation.

Gradually, the words on the flag could be seen clearly.

There are flags with the word "Liang" on them and there are also flags with the word "Zhao" on them.

The defenders on the city wall looked increasingly nervous, as if everyone's breathing had stopped.

However, it is not time to start fighting yet.

Zhao Yu brought his personal guards to the city of Yongzhou.

"Lu Xingchen, you are a traitor. I have come here today to punish you." Zhao Yu looked up at Lu Xingchen and shouted.

Lu Xingchen sneered. "You are the traitor. I am the Prince of Qin, personally appointed by His Majesty. Who do you think you are?"

"How dare you lead troops to attack my city without permission."

"This time I will make sure you never come back."

In this era, fighting and swearing seem to be an inevitable procedure.

In China, fighting a war is actually a matter that requires a lot of etiquette and rules.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, both sides had to wait until the other side's lines were in order, greeted each other, and bowed before fighting could begin.

Now the process is much simpler.

"If you open the city gate now, come out to surrender, and kneel before me, I will still spare your life," Zhao Yu said.

Lu Xingchen said in a cold voice, "That depends on your ability. I want to see how you can climb up this five-meter-high Yongzhou city wall."

"It seems that you, little girl, have never heard of my reputation. I will let you see it for yourself."

Lu Xingchen said, "Okay, then don't worry about Mo Ji, let's start the fight."

In terms of words, Zhao Yu did not gain any advantage, but this was just a verbal declaration of war, and it was unknown when Zhao Yu would start fighting.

Lu Xingchen also didn't want the soldiers to get tired, so he established an eight-hour work system with three shifts.

Twenty-four hours a day, twelve hours, divided into three teams, must not slack off at any time and must defend the city.

Yongzhou City has four gates, one in each of the east, south, west and north. As for which gate Zhao Yu will start from, no one knows.

However, Lu Xingchen only placed two thousand men at each city gate, a total of eight thousand men, and the remaining twelve thousand men were mobile.

After determining which city gate Zhao Yu will start the main attack from, he will mobilize troops to continuously reinforce.

A few days later, the weather suddenly dropped and the temperature dropped by more than ten degrees.

The most important thing is that white snow is floating in the sky.

No one expected the temperature to suddenly drop so low.

In fact, Yongzhou City is located in the Central Plains, and it is not particularly cold even in the coldest days of winter.

But this snow fell too suddenly, the temperature dropped sharply, and the wind from the northwest was as sharp as a knife.

It was too late to make cotton-padded clothes, but fortunately there was enough cotton. Lu Xingchen asked the soldiers to tear open their clothes, stuff cotton inside, and then sew them up themselves.

Cotton can really keep you warm.

Zhao Yu's soldiers suffered a lot.

There was not enough food and fodder, not enough cotton clothes, and suddenly the temperature dropped sharply, and the soldiers were shivering with cold.

"General, let's fight. If we don't fight, the soldiers will freeze to death." said the military commander.

Zhao Yu didn't expect the temperature to suddenly drop so low.

I originally wanted to test Lu Xingchen's patience for at least ten days.

After ten days, people's patience will reach its lowest point, and then the soldiers defending the city will become slack.

The snow undoubtedly put him on the ice and took off his shoes. If he didn't take action, he would be frozen to death.

The most important thing is that the emperor has been urged several times to send cotton clothes, but there seems to be no movement at all.

Zhao Yu knew that when he led his troops out, there were countless people who were trying to make trouble for him behind his back.

What's more, Concubine Shu had long disliked him and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible.

Although the time for the attack had not yet reached the most ideal state, Zhao Yu knew that he could not wait any longer. He finally ordered an attack on Yongzhou City in advance.

Zhao Yu's attack was simple, without any feints or other strategies, and he only launched the attack from the main gate of Yongzhou City.

In the first round, Zhao Yu deployed 10,000 troops to launch a fierce attack on the main gate of Yongzhou City.

Lu Xingchen set up a catapult on the city wall.

There were already many catapults on the gates of Yongzhou City, and many more were made during this period of time due to the day and night efforts.

Yongzhou City was originally an important military town, and the city tower was very spacious, which could accommodate many catapults.

In addition, her gunpowder supply has reached a certain scale and can be supplied to Yongzhou City continuously.

Zhao Yu's soldiers shouted, carried ladders, and rushed towards Yongzhou City waving spears and swords.

At the same time, the archers behind shot arrows at the same time.

Thousands and tens of thousands of arrows fell from the sky.

The shield bearers blocked the first and second waves of arrow attacks.

Then the catapults on the city wall began to fire.

The ignited gunpowder flew out from the air with a crackling sound.

Gunpowder fell on the battlefield like raindrops, followed by a huge explosion.