"The general's army is truly formidable. I originally thought these people, hiding in the mountains and forests, would likely delay our attack, but I didn't expect the general to disappoint us at all."
It is about 100 miles from the border line. According to Chang Sun Ze's original idea, it will take at least five or six days. After all, there is no support from the navy warships, and we have to rely on ourselves to fight our way over. However, the people under Huo Qubing made him look at them with admiration.
Before, when Li Xiang returned to the capital, he had already praised Huo Qubing's army individually, saying that his army was the strongest in mountain warfare. At that time, many people were not convinced, after all, people in the army were not convinced of each other, but now these people have become honest. Under the same circumstances, if they were asked to attack, they would probably not achieve such results.
"Your Excellency, please stop talking nonsense with them. I have spent two years training this army. If we cannot attack them at this speed, Your Highness will probably use my head as a snack."
After Huo Qubing finished saying this, everyone present laughed. Their training time should be the longest among all the Tang Dynasty troops, but after seeing the results today, everyone fell silent. They trained for a long time and spent a lot of money, but they really worked for you. If we didn't have such a mountain force, we might have to waste a lot of artillery shells and attack us bit by bit.
Now when the Vietnamese army rushed into the mountains and forests, our army rushed up directly and fought them sword to sword. If we captured a large group of their troops, the artillery outside the mountains and forests would immediately provide support. With the cooperation between inside and outside, only a few of the more than 10,000 soldiers who escaped from the border line escaped, more than 5,000 were captured, and the rest basically died in the mountains and forests.
"You should take a short break during this siege. After we capture Luocheng, the navy ships will be arriving soon. Then you can lead your army to continue advancing south. The last fierce battle just ended, so it's a good time for everyone to have a good rest."
Huo Qubing had no objection to Changsun Ze's statement. After all, siege warfare was not his soldiers' strong point. If they insisted on going forward, it was not impossible, but doing so would be like fighting with their own weaknesses, which was the most intolerable thing for a warlord.
You can do this as a last resort, but now, in addition to your army, there are other armies watching nearby. You have already made the first military achievement, so you have to give others some chance to survive.
After hearing this, the remaining generals all smiled, for they were afraid that Huo Qubing would take away all the military achievements. When fighting in the mountains and forests, many people deliberately went in to see his men and found that their combat effectiveness was indeed strong. Even if they were not in the mountains and forests, the combat effectiveness of individual soldiers outside exceeded that of the average Tang army.
Everyone followed Chang Sunze to the front of the sand table. The city wall of Luocheng was not very high. After all, Vietnam is also a small country. It was about eight or nine meters high, which is equivalent to three stories high.
This is the largest city in northern Vietnam and was once the capital. Later, due to the expansion of the Tang Dynasty, they felt that it was too close to the border of the Tang Dynasty, so they moved the capital to the south. If they encountered an ordinary city, the height would be at most about three or four meters. After all, they did not have such strong national strength to build city walls.
"There are nearly 80,000 troops surrounding Luocheng, but more than 10,000 of them retreated from the border. Their combat effectiveness is not strong enough, and they brought a sense of defeat with them. The remaining troops are the most elite troops in all of Vietnam, brought from the south by the Vietnamese general, Wu Yuanhao. They are all hunkered down in the city and have no intention of leaving."
When the staff general saw everyone coming, he quickly introduced the situation here and asked them how to fight next. In fact, Wu Yuanhao had already missed the opportunity. You have 80,000 troops under your command, and it is okay to station 20,000 or 30,000 outside. There is no need to bring all the people into the city.
This guy originally planned to set up a military camp outside the city, but he didn't expect the Tang army to advance so quickly, so he felt a little scared. If he couldn't withstand the attack, he would have to take all his troops back. Vietnam has more than just Luocheng, and there are still many lands in the south that need to be defended.
In fact, you cannot have too many concerns when fighting. If you have too many concerns, you will not be able to put all your strength into the battle at hand. Now Wu Yuanhao has such an idea. Before the battle even starts, he has already started thinking about defeat.
"How are the supplies in the city?"
This is not the first time that Chang Sunze has led troops to fight. Besieging cities is a common practice for them, so the supply reserves in the city are very important. We have more than 70 spies in this city, so it is easy to get information in this regard.
"They started stockpiling supplies two months ago. With so many civilians escaping, their supplies should last for three to four months. Furthermore, the routes from the south remain open, and a large amount of supplies are being transported into the city. Their sustained combat capability is still increasing."
The staff general had already understood the surrounding situation clearly. Because we couldn't figure out the situation in the surrounding mountains, our people had no way to besiege the entire city and could only attack the city from the north and northeast.
The staff general's words also made everyone understand that we had no way to besiege the city, so we could only attack it by force.
"If that's the case, then let's pull out our artillery and send a gift to our southern neighbors. Let them know we're here and say hello!"
The Tang army has basically formed a habit now. When we face the enemy, our artillery will definitely be pulled out to greet them. On the one hand, it boosts our morale, and on the other hand, it suppresses the enemy's morale and also lets the enemy know how powerful we are. Many people have already lost their combat effectiveness during the artillery bombardment...
