Three Kingdoms Eschatology

In terms of military affairs, Cao Pi used to obey Sima Yi's advice.But this time, he clearly expressed doubts about Sima Yi's suggestion to attack Tongguan.Cao Pi asked in front of all the ministers: "Teacher, have you forgotten what a fortress Tongguan is, and there was Zhang Liao's camp before Tongguan. Let alone Tongguan, Zhang Yan led several Wan Dajun can barely block Zhang Liao. Isn't it a daydream for him to take Tongguan now?"

But Sima Yi replied confidently: "Your Majesty, don't worry, Liang Jun's strength has been estimated repeatedly. All the soldiers they can call, that is, the so-called standing corps, even if there is no farming or mulberry, and the whole people is mobilized, at most It’s just over one hundred thousand. Now there are 5000 to 3 soldiers of the Liang Army in Nanyang alone. In addition, they still need to guard such soldiers in Huawaifan, Yuzhang, Jiangxia, Jinzhou and other border defense areas, so they are There will not be many troops in Tongguan. Even if there are a lot of people, a considerable proportion must be reclamation soldiers with weak combat effectiveness. According to the previous military situation, Hongnong's Zhang Liao army is only about [-] people. Yingchuan. Then there should be only [-] people left. And Xia Houyuan and Zhang Yan still have [-] horses, and it should not be a problem to successively capture Liang Jun’s Hongnong Camp and Tongguan.”

Seeing that Cao Pi was still hesitating, Sima Yi added: "If we don't do this, we will use all available troops to reinforce Fangcheng. When these reinforcements arrive at Fangcheng, Fangcheng has already been breached. The [-] Liang army poured into the Central Plains from Fangcheng. Didn’t our reinforcements just send them to the opponent’s sword? And the [-] Liang army alone didn’t need tens of thousands of troops to encircle and suppress them. If they stopped Under Fangcheng, a few thousand troops can defeat them."

Sima Yi's words not only convinced Cao Pi's words, but all the civil and military officials in the hall couldn't stop nodding.At this time, Cao Pi had made a decision in his heart, but he still deliberately said: "What do you think of the Taishi's proposal?"

As soon as Cao Pi finished speaking, he heard a voice immediately: "Your Majesty, I also agree with the proposal of the grand master!" Cao Pi raised his head and took a closer look, and it turned out to be his uncle Cao Hong.

"Okay, let's follow the Taishi's policy. I ordered Xia Houyuan and Zhang Yan's [-] soldiers and horses to dispatch [-] war cavalry to reinforce Fangcheng. , Capture Tongguan!"

……

Surrounded by hundreds of cavalry, Xia Houyuan rushed into Liang Jun's Hongnong camp, followed by Wei Jun's torrent of iron cavalry.When they broke into the camps of the two armies, they encountered no resistance.

Xia Houyuan was not surprised by this.Because a scout from the Wei Army came to report that after days and nights of monitoring and investigation, it seemed that there was no one in the Liang Army camp.Immediately afterwards, he received Cao Pi's edict from Yecheng and a letter from Sima Yi.Xia Houyuan didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and rushed to the Liang army's camp with all his cavalry to find out.

Xia Houyuan and his cavalry who rushed into the Liang army's camp picked up three tents in a row, but the inside was really empty, and there was no one in sight.He was immediately on the spot and said to himself: "Sure enough, what Sima Yi said was right. The Liang army indeed has not many troops in the direction of Tongguan. Withdrawing the troops but not pulling out the battalion is just playing tricks to hide the disadvantage of their already very weak troops."

Then, he suddenly thought that if the remaining Liang troops in the battalion were allowed to withdraw safely to Tongguan and join forces with the original defenders of Tongguan, wouldn't it be more difficult for him to conquer Tongguan by himself.Thinking of this, he immediately ordered the lieutenants around him to go back to the camp and wait for Zhang Yan's troops to arrive, and join forces to go straight to Tongguan.Then he ordered the soldiers: "Send the order, the whole army will continue to pursue the fleeing enemies, and try to annihilate them as much as possible before they retreat into Tongguan!"

Nearly ten thousand Wei army cavalry rode on the yellow ground, billowing yellow dust that covered the sky and the sun.They raced on and chased from early morning to sunset, and Liang Jun's figure finally appeared in Xia Houyuan's sight.The opponents were all pawns riding strange birds, and this was Wei Feng's army.Originally, Wei Feng should have gone to attack Fangcheng together with Zhang Liao.But Zhang Liao was still worried about Tongguan, so he let him stay in the camp, confused the Wei army for a day or two, and then withdrew to Tongguan.

Seeing the enemy, Xia Houyuan was like a tiger wolf seeing its prey. He shouted excitedly: "Guys, speed up, we will catch up and wipe them all out." whip.But his excitement faded immediately, and was replaced by anxiety, because the outline of Tongguan, a grand pass, also appeared in his vision.

Nearly ten thousand Xia Houyuan's cavalry charged towards Wei Feng's ostrich cavalry at extreme speed.Sitting on the ostrich and galloping, Wei Feng's palms and back were all sweaty. Tongguan was close in sight, but the billowing yellow dust rising up behind him was getting closer and closer, and the sound of thousands of horses galloping was as clear as thunder in summer. can be heard.

These ostriches of Liang Jun can only be used as a pure means of transportation, and cannot ride on them to fight.If in this wilderness, let the Wei army cavalry catch up, then they will only have one end, that is, the whole army will be wiped out.

The two sides were getting closer and closer. When Wei Feng's ostrich soldiers were still three or four miles away from Tongguan, the Wei army's cavalry behind them were less than a hundred battles away.At this critical moment, the gate of Tongguan was suddenly opened and the suspension bridge was lowered.One after another, two-wheeled chariots pulled by two horses sped out of the city. These were the nightmare of the Wei army's cavalry - longbow chariots.

Seeing it from a distance, Xia Houyuan couldn't help feeling cold, but he soon relaxed, because the number of these longbow chariots was not many, and they only ran for more than [-] times.He immediately ordered the soldiers to say: "Pass on a certain order and let the sons and gentlemen disperse as much as possible!" Then the horns representing the orders sounded one after another.

The heavy arrow came with a swishing sound, and Wei Qi, who was rushing to the front, fell down and approached 30 people. This hit rate is really amazing.Among these longbow chariots, there is also a veteran with a gray beard who rides a bow and shoots.This person is Huang Zhong, and now he and Dian Qing are the only ones who can use a longbow on horseback.I saw Huang Zhong bent his bow and fired his arrows, but the arrows didn't need to be fired.

At this time, Xia Houyuan's military order had not been fully conveyed, and the cavalry team of the Wei army had not completely dispersed.Several Wei cavalry who fell to the ground tripped the war cavalry behind who had no time to dodge.There was some confusion in the entire cavalry team, and the speed was also stopped.

Although the casualties of dozens of people are nothing compared to nearly ten thousand warriors.However, more than [-] people including Huang Zhong shot arrows at these Wei cavalry continuously. Their firing rate can reach one shot every five breaths. In just two or three miles, they can shoot five or six hundred heavy arrows, killing Killed hundreds of enemy cavalry.And shoot whoever runs ahead.In fact, the speed of Wei Jun's pursuit was greatly reduced.

Xia Houyuan watched helplessly as the ostrich soldiers and the longbow chariots retreated safely into Tongguan, and then the city gate was closed again and the drawbridge was hoisted.At this time, he was only a few dozen battles away from Tongguan.

Chapter 651: Xia Houyuan's Strategy

In front of Tongguan, Zhang Yan said hello to Xia Houyuan, and ordered his generals to follow suit.When he raised his foot and was about to leave, Xia Houyuan stopped him: "General Zhang Yan, go slowly, I have something else to ask you."

At this time, the drums and trumpets of the Wei army's formation have sounded one after another.Zhang Yan clasped his fists and asked Xia Houyuan, "What else is there for the commander?"

Xia Houyuan pointed to Wubao in the distance: "General Zhang has guarded the front line of Tongguan in Hongnong for many years. What is the purpose of Liang Jun building this Wubao? There is a river beach under the bank of the Yellow River, which seems to extend all the way to Tongguan City. Is it related to this?" related?"

Zhang Yan blurted out and replied: "The coach's guess is right. Tongguan is located at the key point between the Longyuan Canyon and the Yellow River waterway. It was originally the only way to pass through the throat from Guanzhong to the Central Plains. But the Yellow River has been eroding for a long time, making the south bank continue Moving south. As long as it is not the summer season of high water, a river bank will appear under the gully on the south bank of the river. The widest part of this river bank is dozens of feet wide, and the narrowest part is only more than a dozen feet wide. Walking along this river bank, It is indeed possible to bypass Tongguan directly and enter the Weishui Plain in the west of Tongguan. Liang Jun built this dock at the entrance to the east end of the river beach just to plug this loophole. So that people who try to enter the river beach will suffer from rolling logs in the fort. The attack of the stone and the arrow."

"Is that the only entrance to go down to the beach. Can't you go down from the rest?"

"Returning to the commander, if a small group of people, of course, they can descend to the bottom of the river beach from any place on the bank of this river bend. But if a large group of people use this method to descend to the river beach, We will definitely be discovered by scouts cruising on the river beach of Liang Jun or sentry posts on Guanchengwu Fort. Liang Jun cavalry or chariots will attack immediately. In addition, even if our army can land safely on the river beach, the risk is too great The gap between the river bank and the river bank is as high as two or three battles, and thousands of soldiers and horses are crowded on such a narrow river bank without any exit, it is no different from a turtle in a urn!"

Listening to Zhang Yan's narration, Xia Houyuan kept blinking his eyes, but a bold plan in his heart was slowly taking shape.After Zhang Yan finished speaking, Xia Houyuan said: "General Zhang, I have a strategy that can capture Tongguan in a short period of time, but without a lot of loss of troops. That is, we should first capture this Wubao, and then divide up [-] troops to fight on the shore. Escorted by leopard cavalry, they quickly ran along the riverbank to the rear of Tongguan. After leaving a small number of soldiers and horses to block the west gate of Tongguan Pass City, the remaining soldiers and horses went straight to the hinterland of Guanzhong and captured Chang'an."

Zhang Yan was stunned when he heard this plan, and stammered: "Also...that is, instead of taking Tongguan, go directly to Chang'an? Yes, but the supplies of the [-] troops..."

Xia Houyuan naturally knew what he was worried about, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, the [-] army will never become a lone army, and follow-up supplies and reinforcements will continue to come. Once you go deep into the hinterland of Guanzhong, the besieged defenders in Tongguan will definitely lose their positions You can take advantage of the weakness to break it. Even if Tongguan was not breached at the beginning, isn’t there still this river beach as a passage between you and the rear? In addition, the Holy Master and Sima Taishi both told the general, Liang Jun There are very few troops in Guanzhong. You can safely and boldly rampage on the Guanzhong Plain!"

Then Zhang Yan clasped his fists and said solemnly: "The last general will follow the commander's order, and organize troops to attack Wubao."

……

The dock outside Tongguan is called Tengyun Fort, and it was built as early as when Zhang Liao was guarding Tongguan.The south side of Tengyun Castle is close to the ramp connecting the river bank of the ridge terrain and the river beach, and the north side is close to the Yellow River.

Of course, the Tengyun Fort run by Li Jiu is not isolated from Tongguan City. In addition to a few Viking ships connected to Tongguan through the Yellow River waterway, a hot air balloon cableway was even built to connect with Tongguan City more than a hundred battles away.

Seeing Wei Jun beat the drums, blow the horn, and line up the siege army in front of Wubao.Huang Zhong came from the cableway in a hot air balloon and entered Wubao to personally direct the defensive battle.

At this time, more than [-] Liang Jun's elite infantry were already lying behind the wall, in the fort room, on the watchtower and other positions.The stone bullets fired by the ballista of the Wei army hit the hard wall of Wubao, making a huge bang.Arrows shot towards the head of Wubao City like a shower.It's just that under the strict protection of various defense facilities in Wubao, no one has been injured or killed.A burst of ballista bombardment only destroyed an empty wooden watchtower.

Outside Wubao, hundreds of Wei army infantry lined up in a phalanx, carrying hundreds of ladders, erected layers of shield walls, and marched steadily towards Wubao.According to Xia Houyuan's estimation, this small dock that doesn't even have a moat is enough to win with a thousand people.

When these Wei army infantry marched to the distance of the first fifty battles of Wubao, there was still no sign of counterattack on Wubao.Suddenly there were several rapid and continuous horn sounds in the Wei army formation, and these Wei soldiers suddenly quickened their pace and rushed down the corner of the Wubao wall.It wasn't until they were less than [-] battles away from Wubao that sparse arrows shot out from some arrow towers in Wubao, the shooting holes of watchtowers, and the air windows.

These are heavy arrows shot by longbowmen. Although they are sparse, they all skillfully pass through the gaps and hit the target.The reason why the longbowmen only started to draw their bows and release their arrows at this time was because of the limitations of the archery towers, the shooting holes of the watchtowers, and the transoms, they could only shoot directly with a limited range.But in this way, their hit rate was further improved.

Despite the casualties, Wei Jun rushed to the bottom of Wubao and erected hundreds of ladders, almost covering the three walls of Wubao.With short knives in their mouths and shields in their left hands, the Wei soldiers climbed up the ladder. In an instant, the three walls of Wubao seemed to be covered with Wei soldiers.At the same time, the rolling stones were thrown down like raindrops.The climbing soldiers of the Wei army fell down from the ladder amidst howling ghosts and howling wolves.

These rolling stones were not thrown by the Liang army at the head of the city with their bare hands. They were placed on the wooden frame at the head of the city in advance, and they would roll down as long as the mechanism was pulled.In fact, at this time, Wei Jun under the city didn't even see a figure of Liang Jun on the wall of Wubao.

As the corpses piled up under Wubao, Xia Houyuan and Zhang Yan, who were watching the battle from behind, their confident faces became serious now.

A military marquis of the Wei army, wearing three layers of armor, with a large tiger-headed shield covered with an additional layer of copper, and with a rolling wood and stone, finally climbed to the top of the Wubao wall.But before he could stand still, a Liang soldier suddenly appeared in front of him from behind the wall, and the spear in his hand pierced his abdomen mercilessly. Fall down the city.At the same time, the Liang Bing dodged behind the wall again.

From the looks of it, this Wei Jun Junhou seemed to be beheaded by an invisible ghost.Like him, none of the first Wei soldiers who climbed to the top of Wubao was spared.But Xia Houyuan didn't want to stop the attack, he wanted to strike while the iron was hot.He waved his hand, and another square formation of more than a thousand people pressed forward...

Chapter 650

Facing a strong city like Tongguan, Xia Houyuan, who only had a war cavalry, could only look forward to the city and sigh.He had to wait for Zhang Yan's troops and the infantry units still staying in Hongnong to come up before making plans to conquer Tongguan.

Inside Tongguan, Wei Feng and Huang Zhong met each other in the hall of the government office.Wei Feng said in surprise: "I didn't expect the Holy Master to send General Huang to guard Tongguan. Now Tongguan is even more impenetrable."

Huang Zhongying said: "To tell you the truth, General Wei, although the old man was transferred from the front line of Nanyang by the Holy Admiral, all the soldiers and horses of the old man's headquarters stayed in Nanyang to participate in the battle of Fangcheng. I only brought more than [-] longbow chariots to the front Come on, I just came out to welcome those longbow chariots you are waiting for. If these chariots can have hundreds of rides, I will definitely be able to defeat the Wei Qi outside the city in one fell swoop! "

Huang Zhong paused for a moment, and then continued: "Thus, with Tongguan's current strength, if the Wei army is determined to attack aggressively, Tongguan's defense should not be too optimistic."

Wei Feng suddenly asked suspiciously: "That's not right, didn't General Zhang Liao withdraw a lot of heavy soldiers and longbow chariots from the Hongnong Camp before he raided Fangcheng? How can the old general say that only the thirty-odd longbow chariots he brought with him Is the car available?"

Huang Zhong replied: "I have to ask Shen Dan, who guarded Tongguan before. When the old man came, he told the old man that he had received a letter from the flying pigeons from the Holy Majesty to transfer all the longbow chariots that were withdrawn to Tongguan. to Shangluo."

Wei Feng was even more puzzled, and said in his mouth: "Why transfer these longbow chariots to Shangluo? It is nearly two hundred miles away from the nearest Wei border, and there are mountains and mountains separated. Both Chang'an and Zhuyang can provide reinforcements in time. But now both Chang'an and Zhuyang are the rear area, so how can we keep a force here? Could it be that the Holy One wants to lure the enemy into the Guanzhong Plain to destroy them? That doesn't make sense Ah! Not to mention that this kind of force comparison is the most narrow victory, and it will not achieve the goal of annihilation. Even if it is really designed like this, the soldiers and horses should be hidden in Chang'an."

Huang Zhong shook his head and said: "This old man doesn't know. I asked Shen Yi, and he didn't know. I don't dare to presume holy meaning."

Wei Feng spread his hands and said to Huang Zhong: "Tongguan originally had about two thousand soldiers, and there were several thousand local reclamation auxiliary soldiers. The cavalry of the younger generation was temporarily handed over to General Zhang Liao. Now there are only two thousand ostrich soldiers around. From this point of view, if the Wei army really came to attack with all its strength, it would not be very easy to defend Tongguan with this little force."

At this time Shen Yi also stepped into the lobby, and after greeting the two of them, she said to Wei Feng: "General Wei, the pigeon house in Guancheng just received the latest letter from Feige. On it is an edict written by the Holy Majesty, indicating that it is to be handed over." To General Wei."

After finishing speaking, Shen Yi handed a letter to Wei Feng.Wei Feng opened it and saw that Feng Yu wanted him to take the ostrich soldiers to Shangluo.As for the reason, it was not mentioned in the letter.Wei Feng had no choice but to cup his fists at Shen Yi and Huang Zhong and said, "I'm sorry, both of you. With the Holy Order, I can only lead my troops to Shangluo. The heavy burden here can only depend on the two of you."

The two exchanged a few words of politeness with him, and then they bid farewell.After Wei Feng left, Huang Zhong said with a sad face: "Shicai, with Wei Feng's ostrich soldiers to assist in the battle, I still think there are too few soldiers. Now I have two thousand soldiers from the second-level regiment, plus thousands of knives and guns. Skilled reclamation soldiers, to confront the Wei army, which may have tens of thousands of troops, is an extremely difficult task!"

But Shen Yi clasped her fists and said, "Old General Huang, don't worry, our army has been operating this Tongguan for many years. There are a lot of defensive facilities inside and outside the pass. Even if the Wei army comes with tens of thousands of troops, it will not be a problem for us soldiers to defend Tongguan. Besides, along with the letter to Wei Feng just now, there is another letter, which is for us to guard the Tongguan Pass. If necessary, we can give up the Wubao outside the pass city..."

……

Xia Houyuan arrayed his cavalry at more than a hundred battles outside the east gate of Tongguan, which was beyond the limit range of the longbowmen of Tongguan city.Then, he took hundreds of guards and war cavalry, and wandered around the vicinity. First, he inspected the enemy's situation, and second, he checked the terrain to see if there were any loopholes to take advantage of, so that he could go around to the back of Tongguan Pass City from the small road.

A small dock near the bank of the Yellow River came into his sight and immediately caught his attention.Xia Houyuan thought to himself: "Why did Liang Jun set up a dock here?"

Under the escort of more than a hundred cavalry, he couldn't wait to get close to this dock, hoping to find out.From a distance, he saw that there seemed to be a river beach under the bank of the Yellow River, and this two-barrel-wide river beach seemed to extend all the way to the back of Tongguan.It's just that it is blocked by the river bank and the dock in the distance, so it is impossible to determine whether this is the case.

Xia Houyuan rode his horse again and walked up the winding Yellow River bank. He paid attention to this river beach, but he was very close to Wubao without knowing it.

Finally, the piercing sound of arrows piercing the sky came from the sky.Two quick-response personal guards near him quickly raised their shields to block in front of him.But there were still three other guards who were caught off guard by arrows and rolled down from their mounts.Xiahou Dun took a closer look and found that the heavy arrows that were still shaking on the bodies of the cavalrymen of the Wei Army were the heavy arrows used by the archers of Army Commander Liang.He and the rest of the Wei riders fled back in a panic, until they ran a long way before they slowed down and felt relieved.

In order to prevent the Liang army from attacking, Xia Houyuan's cavalry was divided into three groups and took turns to guard.One group held torches and swords mounted on their horses for vigilance, while the other two groups got off their horses to rest, but their formation remained the same, their armors were not removed, and their mounts docked beside them.The three Wei cavalry took turns working and resting like this, staying up for a whole night.

In the early morning of the second day, Zhang Yan finally arrived here with tens of thousands of cavalry, and joined Xia Houyuan.Zhang Yan clasped her fists at Xia Houyuan and said, "Commander, do we want to set up camp?"

Xia Houyuan shook his head and said coldly: "No need. The Holy Majesty ordered me to capture Hongnong and Tongguan in the imperial edict. Although there was no expressly limited time limit, he asked me to take it quickly. So I planned to take it within three days at most, and then I will take it." Break through this pass. Otherwise, it’s not easy to explain to the Holy One. Since a certain person only intends to break through the city in three days, it seems superfluous to set up camp. Send a certain military order, and the whole army will be formed immediately!”

Zhang Yan thought that Xiahouyuan was going to attack the city immediately, so he said with a look of embarrassment on his face: "General Xiahou, as soon as the last general received the order, he rushed from Luoyang to Hongnong. Soldiers rushed here overnight. The last general’s troops have been running around for a day and a night. It’s not that the last general is afraid of casualties, but that this exhausted army is attacking the city now, and it’s... also powerless!"

Xia Houyuan said indifferently: "Who said that we want to attack the city immediately? We just want the soldiers to line up. We don't set up camp, but we still have to line up. Otherwise, what if the Liang army suddenly burst out of Tongguan!"

Chapter 652

Under Tengyun Fort, the corpses of Wei soldiers were piled up like a mountain.But wave after wave of Wei soldiers continued to rush towards the city along the ladder.This forced Liang Jun soldiers to increase the frequency of showing up at the top of the city.

One of them, led by Liang Jun, stabbed two Wei soldiers on the top of the city with his hands in succession. More than ten arrows suddenly attacked him, and six or seven of them shot into his body, although he was protected by ring armor.But one of the arrows still hit his face, and he fell on his back on the wall and floor.At this time, Wei Jun, regardless of the possible accidental injury to his own soldiers, let the crossbowmen launch intensive attacks on the head of Tengyunwu Fort.

Huang Zhong stood up from behind the wall with his bow and arrow, and shot a Wei soldier who had just climbed onto the wall blindly.Taking advantage of this gap, he quickly scanned the entire battlefield.It was found that the Wei soldiers under the city were still climbing towards the top of the city like ants, and the rolling wood and rocks were almost consumed, and the guards of the Liang army at the top of the city also suffered more than [-] casualties.More and more enemy soldiers were able to climb the wall. Although most of them were killed by Liang Jun before they could stand still, Liang Bing also began to panic.

Xia Houyuan under the city was as anxious as Huang Zhong. He had invested 2000 troops one after another, but the battle still seemed to be making no progress.On the contrary, the large number of casualties of Wei soldiers far exceeded his imagination.Those Wei soldiers who were still attacking the city also lost their original vigor, and some of them had already begun to perfunctory. When Liang Jun rushed towards him, he quickly retracted his head and body.

Zhang Yan beside Xia Houyuan sighed and suggested: "I didn't expect a small Wubao to be so difficult to fight! Commander, in the opinion of the last general, we should withdraw the soldiers first, and use ballistas and trebuchets to blow down the city wall. Attack from one corner. Otherwise, the casualties will be immeasurable!"

Xia Houyuan snorted coldly: "In that case, it will take at least two more hours to capture this Wubao. Although Liang Jun resisted tenaciously, our army didn't seem to have made much progress. But the opponent's rolling wood and rocks are obviously much sparser, indicating that The war materials they have prepared at the top of the city are running out." Then, he loudly ordered the soldiers around him: "Send the order, and send another 2000 people to charge up! The front few have suffered a lot and lost their vigor. The part of the replacement."

With the rapid sound of drums and horns, another square formed from the huge army formation of the Wei army.This team is larger, with nearly 2000 people.

They quickly rushed to the foot of Tengyun Fort, set up more ladders, faced the arrows flying back and forth in the air, and quickly climbed up to the top of the city with a denser crowd.

Huang Zhong looked down at the densely packed human heads below the city, his expression suddenly became solemn.Those Liang Bing on the wall of Tengyun Castle looked even more serious.All the rolling stones were almost completely consumed. If these guards and Wei soldiers were entangled and wrestled on the wall, they would be submerged by the torrent in a short while.

At this time, Huang Zhong raised his voice and shouted loudly like a bell: "Get ready to release the sickle!" Then he stopped talking and watched closely the Wei soldiers who were still climbing the city wall.It wasn't until the heads of the first row of Wei soldiers emerged from the top of the four-battle high city wall that Huang Zhong shouted loudly: "Let go!".There was a clattering sound, and the people below the city saw a few huge iron sickles suddenly appearing on the city wall, and they were slashing down.

These scythes had no handles, but were fastened by ropes or chains to the blade and the other end to a beam projecting from the wall.The blade is usually hidden in a secret space protruding from the top of the wall. When the bracket that blocks it is removed, it will fall from a high altitude and make a circular motion under the traction of ropes and chains, thus causing huge damage to the attacking enemy soldiers. kill.

At that moment, there was only a series of muffled and muffled sounds of shattering of flesh and bones and the breaking of wood and bamboo.Some Wei soldiers who happened to be on the trajectory of the scythe were cut into several pieces at once, and the severed heads, limbs and bodies fell from mid-air along with the rain of blood.Even the iron ropes on the sickle blade brought down and even shattered the ladders leaning on the city wall. Many Wei soldiers fell from the sky several battles high and fell into a pile of flesh.

The noisy battlefield was suddenly silent, filled with the smell of blood.Those blood-stained sickles were still dangling.After a few breaths, Wei Bing, who was in a daze under the city, finally came to his senses, and ran back like crazy.

Xia Houyuan's lips trembled in anger.He suddenly galloped up and shouted: "Follow me!" The soldiers didn't know what he was going to do, so they rode their horses and followed him closely.

I saw Xia Houyuan galloping to a Wei Jun who was also a cook, stretched out his hand and took the sharp ax used for chopping firewood behind the cook, and shouted in his mouth: "Shield and hand guard the surrounding area!"

Immediately galloped away to Tengyun Fort.All the guards turned pale with fright, it was too late to stop him, so they whipped their horses frantically and followed him closely.In just a few breaths, Xia Houyuan rushed to the foot of Tengyun Fort.Those sickles were still dangling, but Liang Jun had already started to put them away.

More than a dozen heavy arrows shot down from the top of the city, and the soldiers around Xia Houyuan had already raised their shields to block him.With two clangs, Xia Houyuan cut off an iron chain in response, and the huge sickle fell to the ground.In this way, Xia Houyuan cut off three sickle chains and ropes in a row.The remaining two sickles were slowly hoisted by Liang Bing, and it was too late for Xia Houyuan to cut them again.

At this moment, the archers and crossbowmen of the Wei army gathered not far away made great achievements, and hundreds of arrows shot at the Liang soldiers who re-hung the sickle.Despite the shield guards, despite the excellent ring armor on his body.But with such a dense concentration of arrows, there are always a few that can hit a few people's weak defenses.Following a few screams, three or four Liang soldiers were shot and killed by arrows at the same time.

Each of these iron sickles weighing more than a thousand catties required 20 people to lift them. After losing a few people, the rest of them couldn't hold them back.The huge iron scythe sank to the city again.Xia Houyuan took the opportunity to immediately go forward with a few axes and cut off the chains of the last two iron sickles.At this time, an arrow pierced through the air at an extremely fast speed, passed through the gap between the shields of the two Wei soldiers, and penetrated into his shoulder armor with a puff, and then penetrated into his flesh.Xia Houyuan grinned his teeth in pain, hit his horse and ran towards the Wei army's formation.

This arrow was shot by Huang Zhong, and Xia Houyuan, under heavy protection, still found a fleeting gap, and hit the target with one arrow.

Gritting his teeth, Xia Houyuan ran back to the base, pulled out the bloody arrow from his shoulder, and said viciously: "Don't stop! Keep attacking this fort, let's see what tricks they can do!"

Chapter 653 A Flash of Red Light

In the bloody and disgusting air, the dark Wei Jun pressed up again.Hundreds of ladders surrounded the three walls of Tengyun Castle again.Arrows shot at the top of Wubao almost non-stop. The walls of Wubao and various watchtowers were filled with arrows, turning into a huge hedgehog.

Huang Zhong crouched behind a pile of walls, looked at the densely packed Wei army soldiers climbing upwards, and said to the soldiers beside him, "It's time to use the ultimate skill!"

Immediately there was the sound of clappers in Tengyun Fort, which was an agreed signal for battle.But those Liang soldiers didn't react immediately to this signal, they still quietly hid in their respective positions.

Wei Bing, who was the first to climb to the top of the wall, jumped onto the corridor in three steps and two steps, with the shield in his right hand protecting his vital parts, and the first knife in his palm slashed at the direction most likely to rush out of Liang Bing. Huang Zhong, who was in the distance, knocked him down with an arrow.The second Wei soldier who climbed to the top of the wall carefully crossed the stacking wall, and a spear on the right stabbed at him. The tiger's head with his right hand blocked the stab, but the knife on the left pierced his left rib.The dozen or so Wei soldiers in the back had almost the same fate as these two Wei soldiers who went up first and died first.

But immediately afterwards, another forty or fifty Wei soldiers boarded the city almost at the same time.At this time, Liang Bing at the head of the city did not stop them, but retreated to the stairs.Liang Bing retreated to the stairway and formed a simple formation to block the passageway.The swarming Wei army quickly rushed to their shield wall, and the two sides stabbed and hacked each other with guns and knives.From time to time, soldiers from both sides could be seen falling to the ground after being stabbed and shot.

More and more Wei soldiers gathered at the top of the city. There were still dense numbers of Wei soldiers climbing up the city wall, and groups of Wei soldiers gathered under the ladder.Xia Houyuan breathed a sigh of relief. If this continues, it will take only a quarter of an hour to capture this Xiaowubao.

But something unexpected happened. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed what happened before him.I saw soaring flames rising from the top of the city wall of Tengyun Castle, and a fire dragon gushing out from the wall of the city wall.When the fire started at first, Xia Houyuan thought that Liang Jun was using the old trick-hot bombs again.But he immediately realized that something was wrong, these soaring flames were not scattered, but almost connected together.Almost covered the entire city head and city wall.

It turns out that the walls of Wubao are buried with pottery and bamboo pipes.The pipe network is connected to a huge naphtha sump.When the soldiers of the Wei Army covered the city wall, a dozen Liang Jun used equipment similar to bellows to squeeze out the oil in the oil tank.Under high pressure, naphtha spewed out from hundreds of small holes reserved in the passages at the head of the city and the walls of the city walls.Huang Zhong shot a rocket without losing the opportunity, and it became the current scene.

Under the blazing flames, countless soldiers of the Wei army turned into burning men. At first they still howled and struggled a few times in the sea of ​​flames, and then they fell silent, and the ladders that had covered the city walls were also burned.The air was filled with a strong smell of burnt flesh.Those Wei soldiers who were far away from the city wall and survived the disaster all backed away in horror.The hair and eyebrows of many of them were scorched by the fire, and their faces were blackened, and they were in a state of embarrassment.

Xia Houyuan's mood at this moment is indescribable.Anger, frustration, and panic all intertwined.Zhang Yan on the side was even more stunned, and didn't recover for a long time.Neither of them expected that if they attacked a small Tengyun Fort, not to mention that they would not be able to take it down for a few hours, they would lose about two thousand soldiers back and forth.Such a large casualty was a major blow to the morale of the Wei army.

After a long while, Xia Houyuan gritted his teeth and said: "A certain military order, to quickly mobilize all ballistas and trebuchets, is to bombard this fortress in front of me for several days and nights!"

Zhang Yan thought to himself, I told you earlier to use catapults to blast away the walls of Wubao before launching an attack.If so, we would not have so many casualties now.So much time is wasted now, so many people have died, and the result is not back to the original point.But he still made a promise to Xia Houyuan respectfully.

In nearly an hour, the ballista and trebuchets were all in place and installed.They lined up next to Tengyun Castle, and followed Zhang Yan's order.Hundreds of stones and stone bullets smashed towards Tengyun Fort.Both the Liang soldiers in the city and the Wei soldiers outside the city felt the ground tremble.

On the dock, amidst the roar of huge collisions, from time to time, the walls were shattered and the watchtower was knocked down.But the main structure of Wubao is extremely strong, and it is not so easy to be destroyed.

As time passed, Wei Jun had no intention of stopping the bombardment at all, and it seemed that he would not give up until he razed the entire Wubao to the ground.

Wei Bing, who was not a ballista player or a catapult, was also shirtless, lined up in a human chain, and sent stones and projectiles to each ballista and catapult.The heavy bombardment lasted from morning to afternoon.The stone bullets had already been used up, Wei Bing took the risk of being accidentally injured by his own bullets, and recovered these stone bullets from the city to continue to make the ballista work.

Finally, when the sun was setting to the west, with a loud click, a finger-wide crack finally appeared on the main body of the Wubao city wall.And the cracks are getting wider and wider.

Although Liang Bing in Wubao had no casualties, he was completely dazed by the bombardment for several hours.Even Huang Zhong became dizzy.At this time, the soldiers reported to him that the city wall had been cracked. Huang Zhong looked at the sun that was about to set again, and said decisively, "Retreat!"

Nearly two hundred Liang soldiers then lined up and withdrew to the ships moored at the water gate.But Huang Zhong and the other two guards withdrew to the tower of the hot air balloon cableway in Wubao.The base and middle of the tower were protected by sandbags, so they were not destroyed.

While walking, Huang Zhong asked the soldiers anxiously: "Is the marker set up properly? Although the old man hits every shot, at least he must be able to see the target first."

"General, don't worry, we have opened the manhole cover, and put a red flag on the side, so that it can be seen clearly in the hanging basket."

Xia Houyuan looked up and saw the hot air balloon rising in the sky, floating along the cableway to Tongguan, which was more than a hundred battles away, with a sneer on the corner of his mouth.At the same time, there was a loud bang.A large section of Tengyunbao's city wall collapsed.Crowds of Wei soldiers rushed towards Wubao screaming, and some Wei soldiers passed the slope guarded by Wubao and rushed to the river beach.

More than a dozen soldiers of the Wei army desperately turned the winch in the cableway tower, trying to pull the hot air balloon back.Huang Zhong in the hanging basket unhurriedly raised his longbow and fired a rocket at the target marked by the red flag.