Just as Cao Xiu was writing a piece of music and preparing to send it to Chang'an, the Han army that was holding on to the city of Dao in Nan'an County finally began to march towards Longxi again after nearly two months.

This time, the handsome banner of the Han army has become the word Zhuge , and Zhuge Liang, the pseudo-prime minister of Shu, actually led the troops here, and it seems that the war in the east is a little bad.

Hao Zhao led the soldiers and horses of Liangzhou, relying on the elite of the horse army, and tried to fight against the Shu army in the field, thinking that he could take advantage of it, but he didn't expect to put on a formation on the opposite side that he had never seen before.

Not only is the end and end integrated, no matter where you attack, you will encounter the same number of Han troops, which is really strange.

What's more, even if the gap is opened, the Ma army rushes into the formation, but it does not play a role at all, and is often drowned in the siege in all directions.

There is simply no way to continue to rush forward, let alone repeatedly attack, and no matter which direction you attack from, you will be surrounded by superior forces.

If he hadn't seen the opportunity quickly, he was afraid that he would be surrounded by Shu Lu who had caught up from behind.

Fortunately, the Han army did not have a horse army, so in the end, Hao Zhao had to retreat in the direction of Xiangwu City, the county governor of Longxi County, while leaving more than 2,000 corpses and wounded soldiers.

At the end of April in Longyou, the weather has already begun to get hot.

Under the scorching sun, shoulder to shoulder, head to foot, the fallen soldiers of the Han army and the Wei army were mixed together, most of them stiff and unmoving.

But there were still some people lying there, wailing and moaning incessantly, and even mutilated bodies that were there from time to time.

Swarms of flies had already begun to crawl and buzz on the faces of the dead soldiers.

Everywhere there was blood, sweat, gore, rotten meat, and feces, and they rushed along the hot wind......

At the edge of the battlefield, a war horse neighed quietly, hovering beside its dead master and refusing to leave.

This time, the Han army is no longer as light as last time.

After cleaning up the battlefield, they continued to move forward slowly, approaching Longxi, and finally camped under Xiangwu City, cutting wood for siege equipment.

Hao Zhao, who originally wanted to take advantage of the victory of the Han army to underestimate the enemy and ambush it, could not find an opportunity and had to retreat to Xiangwu City.

At the head of Xiangwu City in Longxi County, Hao Zhao looked at the banner of the Shu army in the distance, and his brows were furrowed.

He is only over forty years old, his waist is stiff, his chin is always habitually raised, and his face is full of seriousness.

Because he has been stationed in Hexi for many years, he has been subjected to the wind and sand in the border area, and it seems that he wants others to age faster, and his forehead has weathered wrinkles.

The city gate was windy, and the gray hair was blown to the end.

Liangzhou was originally the place of rebellion of Qianghu, and now the Great Wei has to deal not only with the two kingdoms of Wu and Shu, but also with the Xianbei in the north, so the princes of the court and the central government naturally do not have too much concern for the west.

If they really paid a little attention, Tianshui County, the most important county in Longyou, would not fall into the hands of Shu so easily.

The pace behind him was hurried, and I saw Xiangwu Taishou You Chu walking over quickly with a serious expression, "General, there have been traces of Shu Lu in the north of the city, it seems that they are preparing to cross Weishui and surround the city." ”

Hao Zhao shook his head, "It's okay, I have already expected this, and I have already sent people to block the south bank of Weishui to prevent them from crossing the river." ”

"And I look at the Shu captives camp, and judging from the news obtained by the sentry cavalry, the Shu captives should not exceed 50,000 people. Now there are more than 20,000 soldiers in Xiangwu City, and the people in the city are united and fearless. ”

You Chu, as the Taishou of Longyou, naturally knows where his weaknesses are, "It's just that Longxi is located in a remote area, and the small walls of Xiangwu City are low, so it is not good to defend it." ”

This is also the reason why he will say to Shu Lu that as long as the other party can block Longdao for a month, he will surrender.

A city like Xiangwu, if the other party has enough troops, it won't be able to hold it for a month.

The four counties of Longyou, the largest city is the Jicheng of Tianshui County, but unfortunately, I heard that Tianshui County heard that Shu was coming, so I raised the flag and surrendered.

"It's not a big problem that the city is small," Hao Zhao glanced at You Chu, his eyes sharp, "Our army is elite, half of them can defend the city, and half swim outside the city, waiting for an opportunity to attack and disturb, so that they can't concentrate on attacking the city." ”

Xiangwu City was built on the edge of Weishui, which could have been crossed by the river, so that Shu Lu could not besiege the city to death and cut off the connection between the city and the outside of the city.

More than 20 percent of the people defend the city, Shu captives are only 50,000 siege cities, how to defend is not a problem, their biggest problem is not in the city, not in the army, but in the grain and grass.

With 20,000 horse troops, the amount of grain and grass consumed in a day is not a small amount.

However, Longxi County is the most remote county in Longyou, which is desolate, there is not much grain and grass, and not to mention that Nan'an is in the hands of Shulu, it is not easy for Liangzhou to transport grain.

Even if it can be transported, Liangzhou, which has been rebelling against Qianghu for many years, may not have enough grain and grass supply.

Presumably, Shu Yu had also thought of this a long time ago, so he first stabilized the eastern front and did not rush to attack Xiangwu City.

Thinking of this, Hao Zhao regretted it in his heart, "It was my mistake." If you take advantage of Shu Lu to deal with the east and capture the Dao City of Nan'an County, you will not be so passive. ”

When You Chu heard this, he shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Why should the general blame himself so much? The defender of Dao City is Wei Yan, the general of Shulu, with more than 10,000 people and the assistance of the rebels of Nan'an County, how can the general's 20,000 horse army be captured? ”

"This is also a certain doubt," Hao Zhao looked at the Shu army in the distance, with a look of worry in his eyes, "20,000 horses can't capture the Dao City guarded by more than 10,000 people in Shu, how can these 50,000 people in Shu be sure to capture Xiangwu City, which is guarded by more than 20,000 people?" ”

Hearing Hao Zhao's words, You Chu was also a little puzzled, "Although Shu Lu claims to be hundreds of thousands, after more than two months of investigation, it seems that they are more than 100,000 at most. ”

"These 50,000 horses are already half of the strength of Shu Lu, plus the pseudo Zhuge Liang personally led the troops, it seems that they are the main force of Shu Lu."

Hao Zhao nodded, "So, if we can hold Xiangwu City this time, they may not be able to send more soldiers and horses over." And from Hanzhong to Xiangwu, there are more than 1,000 miles. ”

"We are short of grain and grass, according to a certain point of view, the grain and grass of this Shu may not be able to supply, this time it is just to see who consumes more energy."

"Moreover, the counties of Longyou have suffered from war this time, and at least half of the grain harvest will be lost this year. If Shu wants to appease the people of Longyou, food must be indispensable. No, they are more scarce than we are. ”

You Chu has been in Longyou for a long time, and he knows Longyou better than Hao Zhao, I heard that in the past two years, the Longyou family has bought a lot of food from Guanzhong, if they are willing to help, I am afraid that Shu Yu will not have to worry about lack of food.

What's more, his friend Gongsun Zheng had personally been to Hanzhong, and he knew that Shu Yu had made many preparations in order to plot against Longyou.

Zhuge Liang has been in Hanzhong for more than a year, but the princes of the court have never thought of strengthening Longyou's defense, which makes You Chu helpless.

The two were discussing at the head of the city, and they saw a person riding from the direction of the Shulu camp.

"Who's that?"

Hao Zhao was a little strange.

"Could it be that you are here to write a war letter?"

You Chu said guessingly.

Hao Zhao saw that the person was getting closer and closer, his face changed slightly, and he said, "It is also possible that he is here to persuade him to surrender." ”

I saw that the man came to the city and shouted loudly, "Hao Bodao (Hao Zhaozi), the old man Jin Shen came to see him." ”

When You Chu heard this, he understood.

Hao Zhao leaned on the city and responded, "Although you and I are old friends, but I am a Wei general, you have thrown yourself into Shu, and now the army is facing each other, in order to avoid misunderstanding by others, Mr. Please go back." Just wait for the soldiers to subside, if Mr. is interested, I will renew the old friendship with Mr. ”

Jin Shen sighed and said, "Why is Bo Dao so unkind? ”

"Even if Mr. doesn't say what he means, he knows it!" Hao Zhao said angrily, "Mr. was also a native of the Great Wei, so he should be familiar with the laws and regulations of the Wei State. ”

"But whoever fails to defend the city and surrenders to the enemy for no reason, his family will be affected, does Sir want me to do something that is not a son of man?"

"And Hao Zhao is a person, and Mr. is also clear. I have received the deep grace of the Wei State and have been prominent, and I have long been determined to die. Sir doesn't have to talk too much here, please go back quickly and tell Zhuge Liang to let him lead his troops to attack the city. ”

Before Jin Shen could say anything, he was blocked back by Hao Zhao, and in desperation, he had to turn his horse's head, return to the camp, and relay it to the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.

Zhuge Liang heard Jin Shen's relay, looked at Xiangwu City in the distance, and frowned, "If you try your best, I'm afraid that there will be heavy casualties, and if you go again, tell him that now there is a huge disparity in strength, and Guanzhong is unable to help, so why do you have to resist uselessly?" ”

Jin Shen came to Chen Cangcheng again, Hao Zhao's attitude was still firm, and he could only hear him shouting loudly, "I have already said it to death before, Mr. does not need to say more." I know Mr., but I don't know Mr. with bows and arrows, so you better go back to camp quickly. ”

When Jin heard this, he knew that his mind was unshakable, so he had no choice but to retreat.

"Prime Minister, this person has rejected the Prime Minister's kindness several times, he really doesn't know what to do, and let the last general lead the army to attack the city, let him know that it is powerful!"

Wei Yan saw that Jin Shen couldn't persuade him to surrender again, and his face was angry at the moment, and he volunteered.

Zhuge Liang glanced at Wei Yan, his eyes flashed with fine light, and he groaned, "It's okay, you can try to attack the city tomorrow." ”

Although the new type of stone-throwing vehicle is powerful, it seems from the results of Shangtai's attempt that even if the city is to be broken, it will have to be thrown for several days or even more than ten days, and the city is high and the pool is strong, or even more than that.

There are a lot of stones needed, and they have to be polished by a craftsman in advance to be even more powerful.

What's more, the team that controls the stone-throwing cart is not here, it is far away in Guangwei County, so if you want to capture Xiangwu at this time, you can only attack the city according to the old method.

The next day, Wei Yan led his army to the city of Xiangwu, but saw that the moat of Xiangwu City was very wide, and the water was deep, so it was difficult to approach the city.

It turned out that in the past two months, Hao Zhaoyouchu and others have dug the moat deep and wide, and it is no longer what it used to be.

Wei Yan had no choice but to order the sergeants to carry soil to fill the trench, and then use burlap bags to fill the stone and soil, and then let people chop wood and weeds and throw them inside, preparing to fill the moat.

At this time, I saw a drum on the city, and the Wei army, which had long been hiding in the city, shouted in unison, raised bows and crossbows to shoot volleys, and arrows rained down.

"Raise the shield!"

Wei Yan asked people to raise a big shield to protect the soldiers who filled the river, but in this way, the speed of filling the river was much lower.

At this time, I saw another shouting sound from the right, it turned out that Hao Zhao had a group of men there, and was about to rush over.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang came behind him and hurriedly sent someone to block it.