After several rounds of repeating, Gongsun Chan finally ordered Ming Jin to withdraw his troops. However, only 7,000 of Gongsun Zhan's 10,000 soldiers survived, and most of the remaining soldiers were wounded, while the Yellow Turban Army was even more unbearable, with only 2,000 people surviving. After all, they were only peasants, far from regular soldiers who had been trained.

Gongsun Zan looked up at the Huguan city wall and muttered to himself: "I didn't expect that there would be such a general under Yuan Shao's command, if it can be used by me, it will definitely make our army's combat strength to a higher level." ”

Thinking of this, Gongsun Chan temporarily stopped the attack, and turned his horse to a place of three hundred paces at Huguan, but it was outside the range of the archers. Even if he is an expert in archery, he can shoot at this distance, and Gongsun Chan can dodge it in time.

"Who's closed, can I get my name known?"

"I am Zhang He Zhang Jun of the river, Gongsun Zhan, as a court official, what do you mean by invading my Jizhou territory for no reason? When my Jizhou army arrives, your 100,000 troops will turn into powder in a moment, if you know the interest, withdraw immediately, my lord may spare your life. ”

"Hahaha!"

Gongsun Zhan couldn't help laughing, this Zhang He really has the demeanor of a general, not only did he not be afraid, but persuaded him to withdraw from the army, which shows that he is a determined person. As a result, Gongsun Zhan's heart to attract is even greater.

"Now that my 100,000 troops are here, it is just a matter of backlash to take the pot pass, and I see that General Zhang is a general, so I can't bear to kill him. Yuan Shao was unkind, unrighteous, disloyal, and unfilial, and if General Zhang served him for his life, wouldn't he be spurned by the world? If General Zhang can abandon the darkness and turn to the light, I will ask the imperial court for General Zhang a high-ranking official title, glorify the ancestors, and protect the descendants. ”

"Phew, although I, Zhang He, am not a scholar, I also know the word loyalty. There was only Zhang He who died in battle, and there was no Zhang He who surrendered. ”

Zhang He scolded loudly, not at all moved by Gongsun Zhan's persuasion.

"Okay, since General Zhang is begging for death, I won't dissuade him much!"

Seeing that persuasion failed, Gongsun Chan had no choice but to turn his horse's head and return to his own military formation.

"I need to let you know how powerful my Jizhou soldiers are, eat me with an arrow!"

When Gongsun Chan was about to return, he first heard Zhang He shouting, and then heard a whistling sound from behind him. Gongsun Zhan's body hurriedly dodged to the side, and the bow and arrow slashed past Gongsun Zhan's ear, stuck on the ground, and shook non-stop. Gongsun Zhan, who was watching, was shocked, and secretly thought that Zhang He had such archery skills, but unfortunately he was not his subordinate.

Zhang He reminded him before shooting this arrow, and he didn't aim at Gongsun Zhan's vital point, obviously just with a warning in mind. Otherwise, Gongsun Chan would have been injured somewhat.

Gongsun Zhan returned to his own army and sighed to his cronies on the left and right: "Zhang Jun is really a warrior! Pass on my order, if you can capture Zhang He alive, a reward of 100 taels will be given, and the official will be promoted to one level." ”

Hearing this order issued by Gongsun Zhan, the soldiers suddenly became excited again. Gongsun Zhan has an army of 100,000 and a Yellow Turban Army of 50,000, even if he uses human lives to fill it, he is afraid that he will not be able to take Zhang He?

"Attack!"

Gongsun Chan ordered the march to be beaten with drums again, this time replaced by soldiers from the second team. There are still 10,000 soldiers of Gongsun Chan and 10,000 Yellow Turban Army.

As a result, it was naturally no different from the first round of attacks, with about 3,000 soldiers dead in Gongsun Zhan's army, and more than 7,000 dead in the Yellow Turban Army. However, after two rounds of attack, the defenders on the Huguan also suffered more than 3,000 injuries, either from the broken bow when shooting arrows, or from the blades thrown out by Gongsun Zhan's soldiers. Of course, these were only a few people, and most of the soldiers were still stoned to death by the boulders thrown by the opposing trebuchet. Judging from the proportion of casualties on both sides, the defenders of Huguan were simply abusing each other. If this development continues, maybe Gongsun Zhan's 100,000 troops and the 50,000 Yellow Turban Army will all die, and they won't be able to take the pot pass. Of course, this is not the case.

"Dong joined the army, and now our army's arrows are almost exhausted, and there are not many boulders and boiling oil left. I'm afraid that in the next round of attack, these supplies will be gone. ”

Although he repelled two rounds of attacks from the other party, Zhang He did not have the slightest joy, and discussed with Dong Zhao and Feng Ji with a frown. After all, the materials for defending the city are limited, and the enemy's number is several times that of them, and it is obvious that these materials alone cannot completely repel the enemy army. If there are 50,000 horses in Huguan, Zhang He will also have the confidence to defend it. At that time, the time dragged on for a long time, and Gongsun Zhan's soldiers and the Yellow Turban Army combined with 150,000 people, and the consumption of grain and grass was huge, and they retreated without a fight. It's a pity that all parts of Jizhou now have to send soldiers to guard it, and when Yuan Shao went to Runan, he also took 50,000 horses from Yecheng to avoid being persecuted by Yuan Shu. Otherwise, as long as there are 10,000 more horses in Yecheng, Huguan will not be so difficult to guard.

"Attack!"

After the second team retreated, Gongsun Chan let the third team continue to attack without the slightest pause.

Gongsun Zhan, who has been fighting against foreign races on the border for many years, has a lot of combat experience, and he naturally knows that the materials for defending the city in Huguan are limited. Therefore, when the 100,000 army was organized into ten teams, the first three teams were all newly recruited soldiers, or older veterans, and the seven teams behind were the real elites. Otherwise, no matter how it is said that it is an army fighting against foreign races, how can it be possible to injure more than 2,000 people just by attacking the city? As for the casualties of the Yellow Turban Army, how could Gongsun Chan care, he never regarded the other party as an ally, but regarded them as cannon fodder for the loss of materials to defend the city.

"Shoot the arrows!"

Even though the materials for defending the city were about to run out, Zhang He did not panic and calmly commanded the soldiers to defend. Finally, after the third team attacked for three rounds, the garrison materials in Huguan were exhausted.

"Spearmen, wait for the enemy to approach, and listen to my orders to attack!"

Zhang He knew that the next step would be a short-handed encounter, but Zhang He would not give up easily. Even if he fought to the last soldier, he had to fight.

"Thorn!"

When Gongsun Zhan's soldiers climbed the ladder and approached the city wall only five feet, Zhang He decisively ordered the pikemen to pierce, and the enemy soldiers at the front were immediately pierced to the core, and even the people behind them were stabbed and fell down from the ladder at the same time. Of course, there were also enemy soldiers who dodged the pikemen's attacks, grabbed the spears, and the two fell together, and they died together. Despite this, more and more enemy troops are approaching the walls, and the situation is not optimistic.

"Sword and shield soldiers, defend and mend knives!"

The sword and shield soldiers standing behind the pikemen, hearing Zhang He's order, immediately stepped forward to protect the pikemen with shields, and if the enemy broke through the pikemen's attack, they swung their swords to cut down the enemy soldiers.

After Gongsun Chan's soldiers and the Yellow Turban Army threw down nearly 7,000 corpses again, Gongsun Chan finally retreated.

However, Zhang He's face at this time was not very good-looking, and when Dong Zhao and Feng Ji saw this, they immediately stepped forward to ask.

"Jun Yi, you repelled Gongsun Zhan's attack again, why is your face so ugly?"

Zhang He looked at the direction of Gongsun Zhan's army, turned his head and sighed: "Gongsun Zhan is worthy of being a general with rich combat experience, just now when they were close to the pass, I found that the attacking soldiers were all young or old. Gongsun Chan used them to consume our fortified materials, and the next to attack was the real elite. ”

When Gongsun Zhan's army attacked for the first time, Zhang He was already a little puzzled, with Gongsun Zhan's strength, even if it was because of the weakness of the siege, he would not have killed or injured so many soldiers, although he was puzzled in his heart, Zhang He didn't think much about it. Of course, although Zhang He is familiar with the art of war, it is also the first time to command a battle, and he did not think of Gongsun Zhan's intentions, which is also reasonable, every general who can take charge of himself is experienced in a hundred battles, not a battle can become a famous general.

It's too late to regret it now, Gongsun Zhan's attack will be more fierce next, and what Zhang He has to think about now is how to defend the next attack.

Gongsun Zhan had already understood from the casualties of the third team that Huguan was running out of materials to defend the city, so he could dispatch the elite next.

"The fourth team attacks, the fifth team prepares!"

Gongsun Chan also knew in his heart that it was impossible to take Huguan today, after all, there were nearly 20,000 defenders in Huguan. However, after the first three rounds of attack, the soldiers in Huguan have basically participated in the battle, and they have also achieved Gongsun Zhan's goal, that is, to consume the physical strength of the defenders in Huguan.

"Kill!"

"Rush!"

The momentum of the soldiers of Gongsun Zhan's fourth team is obviously much stronger than the first three teams, which shows that they are more elite soldiers than the first three teams.

Zhang He held his sword in his hand and shouted: "All cheer up, it is the duty of a soldier to protect the family and defend the country." Think about it, your family is in the rear, and if the Huguan Pass is lost, your family will be humiliated by the enemy. Even if you don't fight for yourself or for others, you have to fight for your family!"

"Fight, fight, fight!"

"Defend to the death!"

After listening to Zhang He's words and thinking of his family members in the rear, the soldiers suddenly straightened up, and their eyes were full of war intent.

"The pikemen step forward, and the sword and shield soldiers defend and mend their swords!"

Perhaps because of Zhang He's encouragement, the soldiers attacked with all their might. Every time the enemy soldiers approached the juncture, they were pierced by the pikemen, and they fell down with the soldiers behind them. The shield of the sword and shield soldier gives the pikemen the best protection, so that the weapons thrown by the enemy do not damage the pikemen.

"The sixth team goes to the first team to support!"

"The eighth team is going to the third team to support!"

Zhang He carefully watched the battle situation, and whenever there was a gap in the defenders, Zhang He could let the reserve troops replenish as soon as possible. Therefore, although Gongsun Zhan's soldiers landed from time to time at the Huguan juncture, resulting in emergencies, they were all cut down by the reserve forces.

"The fifth team attacks, the sixth team prepares!"

Gongsun Chan under Huguan also commanded the soldiers to attack without hurrying, his number was several times that of Huguan, and the soldiers who retreated had enough time to rest. However, the defenders on Huguan did not have time to rest, and often repelled one round of attacks and had to defend against the next. Of the 20,000 defenders, at least each of them went through two rounds of fighting, and many even went through four or five rounds of fighting. If it continues like this, the defenders of Huguan will be tired, and they are afraid that they will not be able to take Huguan tomorrow!

"My lord, it's getting dark, and the trebuchet can't accurately throw it on the kettle. And the Huguan garrison is condescending, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to our army, why don't we withdraw our troops for the time being, and fight again tomorrow?"

Gongsun Zhan stared intently at the battle situation in Huguan, but he didn't notice that the sky was darkening, and he didn't realize it until Yan Gang came to remind him. Gongsun Chan listened to Yan Gang's words and felt that it was very reasonable, so he immediately ordered Ming Jin.

"The whole army will rest and recuperate, tomorrow the fifth watch will make food, and the sixth watch will attack!"

After Gongsun Chan gave the order, he returned to the camp to rest, surrounded by his personal guards. After this day of commanding operations, his spirit was also extremely tired.