At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Wei Xumei was thinking about the future for himself, thinking about how to enjoy the power he was about to get, but suddenly got a news that almost scared him to faint.

On the second day of September, Wei Xu received urgent information that Guo Peng had led his army into Chenliu County and conquered Jiyang County and Donghun County.

A day later, he learned that Guo Peng's army had conquered Xiaohuang County and Junyi County, directly cutting off the connection between Chenliu County and the main force of Lu Bu's army in the north, and cutting off their food roads.

Then Guo Peng's army was advancing rapidly towards Chenliu County.

Wei Xu was in a daze, completely unaware of what happened. Gao Shunzhu made a sudden advance into Lianke, Jiyin and Shanyang counties, and even entered Ren Chengguo. How could it be such a short time? Already entered Chenliu County?

What about Gao Shun? !

Wei Xu didn't react at all, but Guo Peng's army had indeed conquered several counties in the north of Chenliu County with lightning speed, cut off the food road of Lu Bu's main force, and completely separated their two troops. up.

After Guo Peng led his army into Chenliu County, he took Zhao Yun and Cao Chun as the vanguard and led the cavalry to attack the four counties of Jiyang, Donghun, Xiaohuang and Junyi counties, cutting off the grain road of Lu Bu's main force.

Then he commanded the main force behind him, then stayed in Xiaohuang County and stationed, and led the troops to advance south to Chenliu County.

Before Lu Bu knew about it, Chenliu County was captured.

Guo Peng has already learned that Wei Xu is stationed in Chenliu County, and that Lu Bu and the families of the lieutenant generals and soldiers are all in Chenliu County. As long as Chenliu County is captured, Lu Bu's morale can be directly defeated.

On the sixth day of September, Zhao Yun and Cao Chun's [-] cavalry troops had already rushed to Chenliu County ahead of schedule, swept away the military strongholds outside Chenliu County, and surrounded Chenliu County.

Wei Xu thought about running away, but before he had time to escape, Guo Peng's cavalry came rushing in starry night, and directly killed Wei Xu's idea of ​​running away.

Wei Xu was frightened out of his wits, so he had to immediately organize strong men to defend the city wall, prepare various defensive equipment and utensils, and prepare to defend the city.

On the ninth day of September, Guo Peng led an army of [-] men to Chenliu County.

At this time, Wei Xu only had less than [-] regular troops defending the city, and the rest were all forced conscripts. There was basically no force in Chenliu County that could resist Guo Peng, which made Wei Xu feel very of despair.

Chapter 291 Reappearance of the Catapult

Realizing that the responsibilities on his shoulders are very heavy, Wei Xu can be regarded as trying his best to defend the city, actively preparing, preparing to hold on, and waiting for the rescue of Lu Bu's army.

He believed that Lu Bu could come back to support him and ensure the safety of Chenliu County. Even if he couldn't, he could lead everyone to escape, at worst, he just fled back to Hanoi.

However, even such an idea cannot be satisfied.

On the tenth day of September, when Lu Bu received a report in the barracks that the rations had not been delivered on time, he frowned and didn't pay much attention, so he sent someone back to urge him to ask what was going on.

Then continue to attack Changyuan County.

And on this day, Guo Peng led his army to Chenliu County and began to attack the city without saying a word.

This battle should be the first time that the trebuchet reappeared on the battlefield after being away from the battlefield for hundreds of years.

Guo Peng was besieging the city on all sides and did not intend to give Wei Xu the possibility of escaping at all. He arranged siege troops and trebuchets on the four walls, and decided to let Wei Xu have a good taste of the demeanor of the siege king.

After owning the killer weapon of trebuchet, Guo Peng finally didn't have to adopt the tactics of raising mounds and building arrow towers to shoot at soldiers in the city.

Wei Xu climbed up the tower, and under the guidance of the soldiers, he saw a strange-looking instrument launched by Guo Peng's army in the distance outside the city. He didn't know what it was.

"Have you ever seen anything like that?"

The guards and generals around him shook their heads, saying that they had never seen such a thing before.

Pushed to the battlefield, is it a new siege machine?

Wei Xu felt a little more uneasy, so he ordered the army to guard the city without any mistakes.

Before the order was issued, the sound of rumbling battle drums sounded outside the city. Wei Xu felt uneasy, leaning on the city wall and watching Guo Peng's army line up, marching forward, and getting ready for battle.

Looking at Guo Peng's army with bright armor, excellent equipment, flying banners and high fighting spirit, the more I look at it, the more difficult it will be for me to defend the city.

Can Lu Bu really come back in time?

Is it really possible?

The regular army in his hands is only more than 2000, and he gathered a large number of strong men from all over the world to join the army, and he also gathered more than 1 people, but Wei Xu himself did not believe that they were reliable.

Is it safe to be a farmer yesterday and become a soldier today?

But who can use them without them?

Wei Xu also had no choice but to fill it with the life of cannon fodder, so that he could persist for a longer time.

Guo Peng did not order the army to attack at the beginning, but ordered the trebuchet to be pushed within range, and then prepared to attack the city wall.

The scale of stone bombs and trebuchets in the Warring States period was relatively small. A stone bomb weighing [-] catties and hitting [-] steps was of course very lethal, but in the face of a solid city, its lethality was limited.

Guo Peng demanded that the trebuchet be transformed into a more powerful direction, so that the scale of the trebuchet would be larger and could hit [-] kilograms of stone bombs, otherwise it would not be enough to pose a sufficient threat to the city wall.

The trebuchet at this time was a human-powered trebuchet that used manpower to pull the tip connected to the cross bar together at a place far away from the catapult. The tip of the gun was mounted on a wooden frame, and one end was tied with a rope to accommodate the stone projectile. The other end is tied with many ropes to be pulled manually, so that the stone bullets are thrown.

The lack of mechanical power makes the shooting range limited. It can shoot at a distance of about 200 meters. It is stronger than ordinary crossbows, but it is not impossible to compete.

As long as the vital parts of the city wall are protected with wet cowhide or the like, the power of the trebuchet can be greatly reduced.

There are not no trebuchets with greater power, and counterweight trebuchets that use mechanical principles to increase power also exist. Unfortunately, it takes time to improve and experiment before they can be used on the battlefield.

But for now, Guo Peng can be sure that Wei Xu doesn't have that brain, nor does he have the time to figure out how to deal with these trebuchets.

"Load!"

A trebuchet is a combat team. A combat team arranges 20 people to fight. Each position has a clear division of labor. Before going to battle, they have been trained very proficiently.

With an order, the soldiers immediately began to load.

"alignment!"

With another order, the soldiers immediately aimed the position and direction of the catapult at the city wall.

"Ready to launch!"

With another order, twenty soldiers came to one end of the rope together, each holding a rope.

"pull!"

The last command to fire was issued, and the twenty soldiers exerted their strength together, roared together, and ruthlessly pulled the rope in their hands, the tip of the gun was pulled up violently, and the stone bullets in the holster were thrown out.

The stone bullets danced in the air, drew a beautiful arc, and rushed towards Chenliu County not far away.

Wei Xu at the head of the city was a little puzzled by the series of actions of the trebuchet troops.

When he saw the relatively large stones next to those large equipment, he suddenly had a doubt like "they are trying to throw these stones into the city".

Soon, his doubts became reality.

Huge boulders were flying in the air, drawing a beautiful arc, and rushed straight towards where he was.

At first it looked like just a small black stone, and then the stone quickly got bigger and bigger and bigger.

It's not getting bigger, but getting closer.

Wei Xu couldn't figure out how they did it, how they could make such a big stone fly so high, and then hit the city wall.

Dozens of huge stones fell from the sky, smashed fiercely on the city tower, the city wall, and even flew over the city wall and smashed into the city pool.

The soldiers at the top of the city were caught off guard by the sudden attack of flying stones.

Some people were unlucky and were smashed to death on the top of the city, smashed into a puddle of meat sauce.

Some people were shaken off the tower by the aftermath of the shock and fell to their deaths.

Some people ran for their lives in a panic and trampled to death, or were knocked to the ground by others, and were trampled to death.

Some people hurriedly ran down the tower, trying to survive, but they stepped on the air, rolled down the tower and fell to their deaths.

Some officers also yelled loudly to tell the soldiers not to panic and to find places to hide, but none of this made much sense, because soon, the second wave of stone-throwing attacks came.

After the new round of loading was over, dozens of huge flying stones fell across the arc of death and fell on the city wall, between the towers, and in the city pool.

Violent and noisy sounds came from the city, and the defenders at the top of the city shook violently. Facing the flying stones, they felt a great sense of fear, and they could hardly stand on the top of the city.

"attack!!!"

Observing that the enemy army at the head of the city did not have such good adaptability at all, when they were shaking violently, Guo Peng drew out his saber, pointed forward, and the sound of war drums rumbled.

The army that had already formed an army array stepped on the pace of death, issued a deafening battle cry, and marched forward step by step with a large shield.

The huge siege equipment and the army array advanced simultaneously, and the crossbowmen kept firing arrows at the city. The defenders on the top of the city panicked, and the number of people who resisted was very small.

chapter 292

The trebuchet directly destroyed the will to resist of this neither elite nor resolute army.

Zhao Yunle, Cao Chun, and Xu Chu participated in the siege with a large shield, risking great dangers and attacking with the soldiers.

After boarding the tower, they beheaded the enemy troops on the top of the city, and the battle continued, destroying the defense on the top of the city in one fell swoop.

After the defense on the top of the city was destroyed, Cao Chun and Xu Chu led the army to kill the tower, killed the enemy army below the tower, captured the city gate in one fell swoop, opened the gate, and the soldiers outside the city swarmed in. Completely unable to stick to it.

From the start of the battle to the destruction of the city, it took only a little more than two hours.

After learning that the city gate was breached, Wei Xu knew that he could no longer hold on to the city, so he was protected by a group of guards on the tower.

After running down, Wei Xu ran to the prefect's mansion in the city, gathered Lu Bu and the family members of the generals together, gathered a group of soldiers, and planned to rush out of the city, flee towards Hanoi, and seek Zhang Yang's protection.

Wei Xu already knew that he would not be able to defend the city, and he couldn't guarantee how long the soldiers could last under that terrifying offensive.

The only way out now is that Guo Peng is besieged from all sides, and his forces are scattered. As long as a part of the army is gathered and rushed in one direction, there must be hope of rushing out.

Among other things, at least the family members must be kept, otherwise if they lose their family members, it will be over.

The violent shouts of killing became more and more intense, which showed that Guo Peng's siege was getting more and more intense.

The city was in chaos, there were fleeing soldiers and strong men everywhere, and some people took advantage of the chaos to set fire to looting, killing and looting property. It was completely impossible to restrain the ruler. Wei Xu knew that he had to leave at this time, and if he didn't leave, it would be too late.

Just as Wei Xu gathered hundreds of soldiers and was about to assemble to protect the generals and his family members and go out of the city together, suddenly a group of people rushed towards the prefect's mansion.

The leading general was mighty and strong, holding a pair of halberds, opening and closing, no soldiers could stop him, and they all died in battle. Wei Xu was shocked, thinking that Guo Peng had broken through the city wall and rushed into the city.

It's over, I'm going to die here...

The guards around him desperately pulled Wei Xu back into the prefect's mansion, closed the gate of the prefect's mansion, blocked it with heavy objects, and organized the assault of the troops outside.

The men and horses soon began to hit the gate of the prefect's mansion and shot arrows into the prefect's mansion. The soldiers in the mansion immediately fought back and set up wooden ladders to rely on the wall to guard the prefect's mansion.

Most of the family members are women, and many people were frightened by this tragic scene, crying and shouting. Wei Xu was shaken by his wife and asked him to protect him, but he looked dumbfounded.

Lu Bu's wife, Wei Shi, was the only one who did not shed tears. Holding her sobbing daughter who had just grown up in her arms, she watched this desperate scene with a sad face, and saw Wei Xu who was stunned, and felt very desperate.

Wielding his double halberds, Dian Wei killed several people in a row, led his brothers to break through the weak defense line outside the prefect's mansion, and then began to attack the prefect's mansion.

After the gate of the prefect's mansion was closed, he and his brothers went forward and slammed into the gate of the prefect's mansion, desperately trying to break through the gate of the prefect's mansion and enter to avenge Zhang Chao.

That day, Gao Shun led the soldiers of the trapped camp to block Zhang Chao's escape route in the city. Even with Dian Wei's escort, he failed to break through the obstacles of the trapped camp.

Later, Wei Xu came with troops, arrows rained down, and shot Zhang Chao and Dianwei's superior Zhao Chong to death with random arrows.

Dian Wei was extremely sad and indignant, and led the remaining small group of soldiers to fight back against Wei Xu, and managed to escape from Chenliu County with a bloody road, and escaped with his life.

Although he escaped with his life, Dian Wei did not intend to run away, but to avenge Zhang Chao and Zhao Chong and kill Wei Xu.

So Dian Wei led the soldiers who were willing to follow him to lurk outside the city for a few days, hiding in the daytime and going out at night. Not long after, he saw Lu Bu and Gao Shun leading the army separately, and then pretended to be civilians and mixed in with the team delivering rations to them. Inquire about the news.

Knowing that it was Wei Xu who stayed behind in Chenliu County, Dian Wei sneaked into the city again, trying to find an opportunity to kill Wei Xu.

Before this opportunity came, Guo Peng led an army to counterattack. Seeing the chaos in the city, murders, arson and looting everywhere, the complete collapse of order, it was a godsend opportunity.

So Dian Wei didn't hide anymore, and immediately put on his battle armor, took his own double halberds, and brought his old brothers to demand Wei Xu's life.

Wei Xu thought that Guo Peng had already entered the city, so he was stupefied with fright, and hid in the prefect's mansion, thinking that he was going to die, and successfully missed the last chance to escape. When Guo Peng's army really entered the city, everything was over. Doomed.

When Dian Wei was still attacking the Taishou's mansion, Le Jin had already led an army to go straight to the Taishou's mansion. Seeing that someone was attacking, he felt strange, but thought it was his own, so he went up to attack together, and asked which part the opponent was from of.

"Therefore Chenliu's eunuch Zhang Miao's old department, Chenliuji and my fellow Dianwei, are here to avenge Zhang's lord!"

Dian Wei reported his affiliation in this way, which made Le Jin stunned for a while, thinking that he had heard wrong.

Isn't Zhang Miao dead?Still have the old department fighting?

But these are not important right now, let's take down the prefect's mansion first!

"Who's in there?"