Chapter 686 fierce battle
"It's not unreasonable. The enemy may indeed deliberately exaggerate their momentum."

Guan Yu pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "What is the follow-up troops of the Yangzhou Army, and what is the situation of the Wenpin Army? I will give you two days to find out at all costs!"

"Here!"

The captain clasped his fists, lowered his head, exited the hall, turned around and left.

"Everyone," Guan Yu said, looking around again, "We originally expected that there would be at most 6000 or [-] bandit troops attacking Jiangling, but now it may be close to [-]. at an absolute disadvantage."

"What the general said is very true. If the thieves, regardless of casualties, go all out to attack fiercely, Guo Taishou may not be able to hold on."

"That's right, how long do you think Jiangling can last?"

Another general came out and said: "According to the sentry of the friendly army, Guo Taishou is in a camp in the west of the city, forming a corner with Jinxiang City. If the total number of Yangzhou troops is thousands of horses, it should be able to deal with it; If the Yangzhou army has more than [-] people, it will be difficult to stop them."

"Based on the general's predictions, since the vanguard of the Ganning Division has stormed the West Camp for half a day today, before the next attack on the city, the enemy will definitely continue to take the West Camp to break Jiangling's arm."

"Under such circumstances, the strength of the enemy and our troops is quite different. The two cities have lost their role in containing the enemy, and it is absolutely difficult to hold the camp."

Guan Yu's tiger eyes flashed a thoughtful look: "If I were Guo Yong, I would give up the camp in time, and even Jinxiang, and immediately call the guards from the outer city to break into the city, so as to strengthen the defensive power in the city. "

"But after all, there are too many thieves and horses, and there must be many elite soldiers from the Xuzhou Army among the reinforcements, and the terrain of Jiangling is too flat." Hold on for too long, unless we also enter the city immediately."

Hearing this, Guan Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "Wait for the sentry to investigate clearly before making a decision."

"I heard that Guo Yong has been the prefect of Nanjun for nearly ten years. It is expected that he has managed Jiangling well. If the morale of the army and the people can be stabilized, even if the Xuzhou army is aggressively attacking, they should be able to hold on for three days."

From Guan Yu's point of view, if he led the army into the city, he would naturally be able to keep Jiangling intact, but the problem is that he would also lose the possibility of completely annihilating the enemy.

Especially when I heard that Xu Fang's troops seemed to be leading the army to the north, Guan Yu hesitated again and again after thinking about the words of the military advisor Xu Shu, still unwilling to give up such a good opportunity!

The night was hazy in Jiangling City, and the rain that had lasted for many days gradually diminished, but the night sky was still hazy and the clouds were still thick.

The few stars that shone among the clouds yesterday were gone tonight.The flames on the city wall with a radius of tens of miles were soaring into the sky. Against the background of the fire, it was as bright as day for several miles around.

Guo Yongzheng nervously urged the soldiers to strengthen their defense overnight, because a new batch of Yangzhou troops had arrived ten miles away from the city.

If the flames of the city wall are compared to a rectangular fire snake, then ten miles outside the city, the bonfire of the Yangzhou army connects the night and the rain, almost like an endless winding fire dragon.Now it can be clearly seen that this fire dragon is scattered in all directions.
Some went to the western fortress of the city, some went to the outer city of Jinxiang in the east of the city, and some stayed in the middle of the city. They were for the Chinese army. With the dispersal of the fire dragons, there were waves of drums and horns, through the rain curtain, Far into the city.

Guo Yong stared into the distance and muttered to himself, "The thieves have already started besieging the city."

As Guan Yu said, when he heard that the enemy had new reinforcements to cross the river, Guo Yong thought of calling the guards from the outer city to enter the city, but he still hesitated.

As a result, this hesitation ruined the big deal!

No one expected that at this time, the "Wu Niu Department", which was fifty miles away from the city and had not moved for several days, suddenly exploded and launched a fierce attack on Jinxiang City that night with lightning speed. It depends on the battle, not to mention the fall of Jinxiang and the city, Hao Ji, the county lieutenant, was also beheaded by a masked general of the enemy army.

At almost the same time, the Gan Ning Department also launched an offensive against the camp in the west of the city, and the west camp was lost. Almost everyone of the remaining soldiers was injured, and about half of them lost their combat effectiveness.

After hearing the bad news, Guo Yong was very anxious, and immediately called everyone to discuss: "The outer city has been lost, and the only thing we can use to stop the enemy is the city. There is one."

Everyone asked one after another: "What is the policy that the prefect said?"

"At this time, you can't completely stick to it," Guo Yong said in a deep voice: "It is necessary to continuously send troops out of the city to harass the enemy."

what?
Everyone turned pale when they heard the words. There are not many guards in the city now, and they still need to continue to divide the troops and take the initiative to attack?
Even Huang Ye showed a look of disapproval, and couldn't help but said: "The prefect, please think twice, if you give the enemy a chance to defeat them one by one, I'm afraid Jiangling will be in danger."

"If the outer city hadn't fallen and all the guards were gathered together, I wouldn't want to take risks," Guo Yong had already guessed the reaction of the crowd, and patiently explained after hearing the words: "But it's not the case now."

"Although Jiangling is not considered a small city, it is not considered a high-walled city. In addition, the terrain is flat and there are many enemy troops. If we let them spread out and force us to attack the city, we will really be in danger!"

"So we can't let them get too close to the city calmly, then we have to take the initiative to attack and try to disrupt their deployment, defend the city first and defend the wilderness, for the current plan, if we want to keep Jiangling safe, we must first defend it with all our might The moat is not lost!"

On the day after the fall of Jinxiang and Outer Camp, at dawn, the Yangzhou army launched a general offensive. As Guo Yong expected, they tried everything possible to break into the moat!

Guo Yongzi had also been prepared for a long time. The military flag was linked with Zixia. Teams of dare-to-die men led by brave generals went out of the city one after another, and fought bloody battles with the Yangzhou army on the moat. The ground became more muddy.

Broken spears, broken knives, and broken arrows were all stumps and broken arms, scattered on the battlefield, further intensifying the tragedy on the scene.

The enemy army worked day and night and divided the army into several parts. For two consecutive days and one night, the offensive never stopped for a quarter of an hour. Although the Jiangling army still blocked them outside the moat, it was all paid for by human lives.

Several things happened, for Guo Yong, both good and bad.

The good thing is that Tanma finally found out that the total number of soldiers and horses from the third army crossing the river was not too many, in fact there were only 1000 troops, which greatly relieved everyone in the city.

Because 1000 troops and 3000 troops not only have different threats, but also show that Huang Zhong’s troops in the Tang Dynasty did not have a large army.

As for the bad news, Guo Yong wisely made the decision to "defend the city first and defend the wild" when the troops were insufficient and the lone army went deep, which made Wang Zheng's army show their true colors again.

The hideous face after so many years!
On the second day after the siege, the Yangzhou army captured many people outside the city and drove them to fill the river with sandbags on their backs, just like when they were in Linzi.

Naturally, Guo Yong would not just sit idly by, he could only scold the thieves for their cruelty while ordering that the defenders could not stop their arrows and fallen corpses even in the face of fellow countrymen. Amidst the screams and wailing, countless corpses gradually piled up , fell into the water and began to fill the moat at a very slow speed.

However, the defenders of Jiangling were as tolerant as the Linzi army back then, and could turn a deaf ear to the wailing of the people outside the city, but the people of Jingzhou were no match for the people of Qingzhou in this respect.

Although they are also living in troubled times, they have lived in peace for the past few years. After all, they have seen less miserable scenes and heard more miserable scenes.

Not to mention the fluctuating public opinion, there are even more rumors.

At the critical moment, Guo Yong was very decisive. He knew very well that when the battle came, there was a reason for killing mistakes and never letting them go. All are under house arrest.

As for some local ruffians and rascals, they didn't even find an excuse, and simply posted a notice: "Rumors confuse the public, and they should be executed for military law." They all beheaded and hung bloody all over the city wall.

After this thunderous method, everyone was shocked and did not dare to make any changes at once. However, although the civil strife was temporarily lifted, the casualties of the defenders were increasing day by day with the continuous offensive outside the city, which made Guo Yonghe Huang Ye was under a lot of pressure, for two days and one night in a row, the two of them couldn't sleep without eyelids, and they slept for less than two hours in total.

Guo Yong was fine, he was born as a general, so he could endure it as much as possible, but Huang Ye was not.

On the one hand, he is getting old and his body can't bear it anymore. On the other hand, he has always been pampered and has never been on the battlefield himself. Seeing the enemy's attack so fiercely that the city will be destroyed at any time, he is really worried all the time, and he is haggard in just a few days. out of shape.

He has been well maintained, although he is about fifty years old, his beard is still black and shiny, without half of the white, and his appearance is well-proportioned, coupled with his steady demeanor, he is dignified and dignified.

But now, if acquaintances are asked to see Huang Ye, they will definitely be shocked. Needless to say, their eyes are bloodshot and their face is haggard, the beard under their lips is mostly gray.

His clean and tidy attire, like his bun and beard, has become messy. When he walks, his feet are floating. If he doesn't work hard, he may fall down at any time.Because it was raining on the top of the city for several days to supervise the battle, the robe draped over the armor was covered with mud, water, and blood. From four or five steps away, one could smell a rotten and foul smell.

Not only that, even the voice is hoarse.

"Have the Sentinels left the city for three days?" He asked Guo Yongdao.

"That's right," Guo Yong nodded, "General Guan is close to him. Needless to say, Junshi Cai also received the news. Maybe the reinforcements have already set off and are on their way to Jiangling."

"Then what's Guan Yu's reaction?" Huang Ye asked: "Even if Xiangyang sends reinforcements, it's impossible to be so fast, but his trilogy is not far from the city, so why hasn't he made any moves?"

Guo Yong was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "Maybe General Guan still wants to continue with the previous plan?"

"This"

Huang Ye was speechless, and was about to speak, when a sentry came running over and said urgently: "Prefect, the west city wall is very difficult to deal with, Captain Ji came to report, the casualties of the soldiers are extremely high, four of them have been killed so far. More than a hundred people, at this speed, the reserve team will have to join the team before the day after tomorrow!"

"I see." Guo Yongdao: "Where is the moat?"

"Fortunately, it is still in the hands of our army." The sentry cavalry said: "But the thieves are constantly attacking day and night, and this continues."

"The thieves also know that Xiangyang will definitely not sit idly by and wait for help, but they want to break through Jiangling before our reinforcements arrive. In this way, how can they not continue to attack?"

Guo Yong said indifferently, he turned his head and looked to the west. After such a long distance, the sound of shouting and killing could still be faintly heard, and sometimes he felt his feet tremble, but it was hit by the Yangzhou army's rushing chariot and catapult city ​​walls.

Compared with the west city wall, the east city wall is relatively quiet.

The "Wu Niu tribe" who were the first to approach the city did not know if it was because they were afraid of Guan Yu. Compared with the Ganning tribe, the offensive was not violent, but they deployed three or four thousand troops seven or eight miles away from the city. In half an hour, or an hour, the catapult and other objects will be pulled out and left for a while.Occasionally, thousands of people will be sent to wave the flag and shout, and they will retreat after attacking for a while.

But even so, Guo Yong did not dare to take it lightly, and he must not ignore the defense just because it seems "no danger", and divide the troops from the east to help the west city. "Will it suddenly "change from fiction to reality" again?"

If the army and horses from the east city were sent to the west city just now, and the Yangzhou army suddenly changed direction and stormed the east city, wouldn't it just happen to be hit by the enemy's attack from the east to the west?

Thinking of this, he said to Huang Ye who was beside him: "Mr. Huang, you have only slept for less than an hour since last night. Why don't you go back to your residence and rest for a while while the bandits are not attacking the city?"

"Even if I go back home, I can't sleep peacefully."

Huang Ye sighed, and said: "Success or failure is only a few days away, and I don't know when the reinforcements from Xiangyang will arrive. How can I sleep at such an urgent and critical juncture?"

After saying a few more words, I felt my throat hurt, and told my followers, "Go and get me some water, so I don't need to start a fire, just take a spoonful of cold water from the crenel over there."

"Gudongdong" drank the water in one go, Huang Ye wiped his mouth, and the attendant grabbed his sleeve, trying to wipe the water dripping on his chest for him.He waved his hand without hesitation, "What's a little water stain?"

"The bandits' flag has moved!" At this moment, Guo Yong suddenly shouted, "Beat the drum quickly!"

(End of this chapter)

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