12dz Chapter 855 What to do
Chapter 855 What to do
Just as Lu Shengyan had predicted, the Youzhou army, which was neglected in training and not even had enough to eat, was no match for the Great Wall army.
At first, the Youzhou army was able to hold off the Great Wall army with its fortified city, but as the war dragged on, the Youzhou army quickly showed signs of weakness!
In less than seven days, the Great Wall Army breached the city defended by the Youzhou Army, defeating them head-on. They then marched south, capturing cities and strongholds, and getting closer and closer to the Lu Family Manor.
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"The enemy is at the gates! What are we going to do?!"
"The army outside the city is not besieging the city. Can we escape through other city gates?"
"I've heard that Yang Zheng of Liangzhou is a ruthless butcher. Once the city falls, we're all doomed!"
"..."
Inside Youzhou City, with its gates tightly shut, the people were filled with fear and unease!
The high-ranking officials and nobles in the city were all terrified, fearing that Yang Zheng would storm in and kill them all.
After all, ordinary people might not know Yang Zheng's reputation, but the high-ranking officials and nobles in the city had all heard of Yang Zheng's deeds.
They knew very well that, given Yang Zheng's style of doing things, the common people might not be in much danger after the city was breached, but they, the powerful and wealthy who usually preyed on the people, would have no chance of escaping Yang Zheng's butcher's knife.
Therefore, many powerful and influential people in the city have already instructed their servants to pack their belongings, so that as soon as the army outside the city begins to attack, they can immediately slip away.
On the contrary, the people inside the city did not seem to have any particular feeling about the arrival of the army outside the city.
Even though the Lu family has been manipulating public opinion to smear Yang Zheng for the past two years, portraying him as a ruthless butcher, the people of Youzhou have long been numb under the Lu family's rule. They have no land of their own and little property. Even if the army marches into the city, it will only mean a change of ruler, and things will not get much worse than they are now.
Therefore, when the army outside the city approached, most of the people inside the city were indifferent, while only the high-ranking officials and nobles inside the city were filled with fear.
To the surprise of the people in the city, the army outside the city seemed to have no intention of attacking Youzhou Prefecture. They only camped outside the city for one day, and then broke camp at dawn the next day, heading directly north.
This relieved the powerful and influential people in the city, but also puzzled them, as they couldn't understand why Yang Zheng would give up attacking Youzhou Prefecture.
However, their doubts were soon answered. The Yang family army bypassed Youzhou City and headed north, completely surrounding the Lu family manor, which resembled a city.
Yang Zheng has always been clear that the key to taking Youzhou has never been Youzhou Prefecture City. Although Youzhou Prefecture City is nominally the political center of Youzhou, the real political center of Youzhou has always been the Lu Family Manor located north of Youzhou Prefecture City!
Whether it's officials in the prefectural government or officials in the county governments, they all need to obey the Lu family's orders. Therefore, as long as the Lu family manor is breached, the entire Youzhou will fall into a state of leaderlessness, and then the entire Youzhou will be within easy reach.
Therefore, Yang Zheng, with his army at the gates, chose to abandon Youzhou Prefecture and turn north to surround the Lu Family Manor.
but……
As Yang Zheng issued orders for the army to set up camp, he gazed at the Lu family manor ahead, his brow furrowed.
Throughout history, siege warfare has always been an extremely difficult task for the attacking side, while the defending side, relying on the advantages of the city, undoubtedly holds a greater advantage in combat.
Without considering other factors, the attacking army often needs several times the strength of the defending army and suffers heavy casualties to capture a city.
When Yang Zheng led his troops to Youzhou, he commanded 50,000 soldiers and 50,000 auxiliary soldiers, making a total of 100,000 troops.
However, before arriving at the Lu Family Manor, Yang Zheng had diverted a significant number of troops to guard the cities he had captured along the way. At this time, he only had 40,000 combat soldiers and 40,000 auxiliary soldiers, for a total of 80,000 troops.
If the Lu family manor, like the previous cities, did not have much defense, it would be no problem for 80,000 troops to take it down.
But this is obviously impossible.
There may not be an army inside the Lu Family Manor, but there are certainly retainers.
And the troupe...
Even the retainers of ordinary large families are the elite of the elite, and their combat power far surpasses that of ordinary troops, let alone the retainers of the Lu family.
According to the information Yang Zheng had gathered, the Lu Family Manor contained more than three thousand warriors, each of whom was a martial artist. Although most of them were lower-rank martial artists, their combat strength was not to be underestimated.
An army of three thousand warriors, relying on the advantage of the city, should have no problem stopping Yang Zheng's army.
Moreover, the Lu family manor housed over 30,000 serfs, who were unable to disobey the Lu family's orders and could easily use them to assist in defending the city.
This means that the Lu family's defense force consists of at least three thousand martial arts soldiers, plus thirty thousand serf soldiers, as well as a considerable number of mid- and high-grade martial arts within the Lu family.
Yang Zheng was not afraid of this force in open field battles outside the city, but in siege warfare...
Yang Zheng had little confidence and had no choice but to besiege the city, waiting for the Great Wall Army to arrive and for both sides to gather their forces before discussing a strategy to attack the city.
Why is it said that Yang Zheng's choice to besiege the city was a last resort?
Because the Lu Family Manor is different from the Qingzhou Prefecture City back then. When attacking the Qingzhou Prefecture City, Yang Zheng chose to besiege the city because he understood the situation inside the city and knew that the food and fodder stored inside the city would not last long. Therefore, he only needed to besiege the city for a period of time, and the Qingzhou Prefecture City would fall without being attacked!
But the Lu Family Manor in front of us is different!
The Lu family has accumulated immense wealth over thousands of years. Furthermore, the Lu family, which secretly controls almost all of Youzhou's land, stores nearly all of Youzhou's wealth and provisions in the Lu family manor. In other words…
The Lu Family Manor is not short of food supplies. Even if Yang Zheng besieges the city for a year or two, it is impossible for him to consume all the food supplies inside the Lu Family Manor.
Obviously, Yang Zheng couldn't besiege the city for that long, so he could only hope that the Great Wall Army would arrive as soon as possible, and then the two sides would join forces to break through the Lu Family Manor.
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Just as Yang Zheng's army was besieging the city, chaos reigned inside the Lu family manor. Lu Shengyan hurriedly summoned many clan elders, who discussed strategies to repel the enemy with worried expressions.
"Elders."
Looking at the somber expressions of the clan elders inside the house, Lu Shengyan asked, "Now that cowherd's army is at the city gates, do any of you elders have a plan to repel the enemy?"