Returning to the Taishou Mansion in Guantao, Guo Jia said to Han Zhan: "My lord, don't look at Yuan Shao's army stationed in the south of the city now, but if we camp the whole army in the city, he can besiege us, and then our army can only sit and wait for death." ”

Hearing Guo Jia talk about the problem of grain and grass, Han Zhan said thoughtfully: "Yuan Shao's tens of thousands of troops consume not a small amount of grain and grass every day, as long as we send a group of men and horses to attack his grain route." As long as Yuan's army is short of food, sooner or later the army's morale will be unstable, and we will take the opportunity to attack it, and we will be able to win the battle. ”

"Lord," Zhao Yun heard this, and hurriedly went out to suggest to Han Zhan, "You can send the cavalry of Han Sheng's department to attack the grain route of the Yuan army." Yuan's army was carrying grain and soldiers, and even if they were outnumbered, Hansheng's cavalry could retreat with all their bodies. ”

"General Zilong's words are very good," Guo Jia immediately expressed his support for Zhao Yun's statement, "Captain Huang's cavalry once broke the Yuan army, presumably the Yuan army's soldiers are talking about them, and they will definitely be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort." ”

Han Zhan also agreed very much with sending Huang Zhong's cavalry to attack the grain route of the Yuan army, but he considered that although Huang Zhong was a fierce general, he was still a little lacking in strategy, so it would be good if he could send a strategist to accompany him. He glanced at Guo Jia next to him, and immediately denied his idea, not to mention that Guo Jia wanted to stay by his side and help make suggestions; Even if he could be allowed to attack with Huang Zhong, his small body was probably unable to withstand the long-distance attack of the cavalry. If you are tired of three long and two short, you will lose a lot of money.

Seeing that Han Zhan didn't say anything for a long time, both Guo Jia and Zhao Yun looked a little embarrassed, both of them thought that Han Zhan didn't agree with their statement, and just as they were about to retreat to the queue, they suddenly heard Han Zhan asking: "Do you think the cavalry needs to carry dry food with them for a few days?" ”

Jia thought that he only needed to carry three to five days' dry food, but Guo Jia quickly replied: "Even if the dry food is exhausted, it can be eaten by the enemy." ”

After confirming the matter of the cavalry attack, Han Zhan continued to say: "Fengxiao, if you want to break the Yuan army, you need to attack and defend. Captain Huang led the cavalry to attack the grain road of the Yuan army, which was considered an attack; If you don't know how to abide by the law, how should you abide by the law? ”

"Lord, the Yuan army has not attacked the city today, and in Yijia's opinion, it must be to build siege equipment in the camp. As soon as the equipment is ready, it will be attacked in a big way. Guo Jia said confidently: "Our army only needs to build fortification equipment to block the offensive of Yuan's army." ”

Han Zhan still knows a little about siege equipment, but he really doesn't know what is in this city defense equipment. So he humbly asked Guo Jia for advice: "Fengxiao, I don't know what kind of equipment we need to build to defend the city?" ”

Guo Jia took out a scroll of drawings, put it on the table in front of Han Zhan, and said to him, "Lord, please see, this is the city defense equipment we want to build." ”

Just as Han Zhan looked down at the drawings, everyone in the hall also gathered around, wanting to see what kind of city defense equipment Guo Jia was going to build. Guo Jia saw that everyone was around the table, and began to explain.

The first piece, crash. It is a tool used to hit the ladder, tie a striker bar to the frame, the front end of the rod is inlaid with an iron sheet, when Yuan Jun's ladder is close to the city wall, push the striker bar can knock it out or knock it down.

The second piece, the forked rod. It can not only resist Yuan's army using flying ladders to climb the city, but also can be used to kill the enemies who climb the city. When Yuan's ladder approached the city wall, he used the horizontal blade of the front of the pole to resist the ladder and push it down; Or wait for Yuan Bing to climb halfway through the division, use a fork rod to push down the ladder and chop hard, and the horizontal blade in front of the rod can cut off Yuan Bing's arm.

The third piece, the flying hook. It is shaped like an anchor and has four sharp hooks, which are tied with iron chains and then connected to ropes. When Yuan Junant was attached to the foot of the city and was about to climb the ladder to climb the city, he was surprised and threw himself into the crowd, and he could kill several people at a time.

The fourth piece, the yakshatra. This kind of weapon is made of elm wood that is one foot thick and one foot long as the roller, and the surrounding is full of "reverse whisker nails", the nail head exposes the wood surface five inches, and the wheels with a diameter of two feet are installed at both ends of the rolling wood, which are tied to iron cables and connected to the winch, when the Yuan army gathers at the foot of the city, it is thrown into the crowd, and the winch can be crushed to death by agitating the winch.

The fifth, wolf tooth slap. It is made of elm wood into a dustpan shape, 5 feet long, 4 feet 5 inches wide, 3,200 wolf tooth iron nails are nailed on it, the nails are 5 inches long, weigh 6 taels, and the nail tip is 3 inches out of the wood surface. A knife with a sharp blade is embedded on all four sides of the shot, and the knife is 1 and a half inches into the wood. There are two iron rings in front and back of the wooden racket, tied with ropes, hanging on the pulley at the head of the city, when the Yuan army attacked the city, first hung the wolf's tooth beat, and then fell down heavily to slap, and the slap was sharp on all sides, so that the enemy soldiers could not resist.

Listening to Guo Jia talk about five kinds of city-guarding equipment in a row, Han Zhan finally found a device that he was relatively familiar with. This kind of wolf tooth slap is quite similar to the nail board of later generations. Falling from a high place was a nightmare for the soldiers besieging the city.

Sixth, plug door turning tool. It is a device used to block the city gate when it was broken by Yuan's army. There are 24 steel knives on the front knife wall, and when used, the cart can be pushed into the city gate hole, which can kill and injure the Yuan army and prevent them from rushing into the city.

The seventh type, flail sticks. A flail is a long and a short wooden stick that is connected by a chain or rope. When the Yuan soldiers climbed along the ladder to the edge of the city wall, they could be knocked out of the ladder by striking them with a flail stick.

After introducing the seven kinds of equipment for defending the city, the civil and military forces around the table case dispersed one after another, Guo Jia stood up straight and asked Han Zhan: "Lord, due to limited time, we can't make all the instruments, I don't know what you plan to build first?" ”

Han Zhan thought for a moment, and then said, "I think let's make a batch of fork rods, wolf tooth swatters, and flail sticks first." After a pause, he added: "Yuan's army is strong, and we can't ensure that the city gates are not lost, so we must also build a batch of Saimen knives, at least to ensure that there are two of them in each city gate." ”

"Yes!" Guo Jia agreed, and stepped back into the queue.

Although Guo Jia introduced himself to seven kinds of equipment for defending the city, Han Zhan felt that these weapons were far from enough to block Yuan Shao's strong attack. He stood up straight, walking back and forth behind the table with his hands behind his back, thinking about what other killer tricks Yuan Shao would use?

However, after thinking about it for a long time, he didn't come up with a reason, so he stopped and asked Gao Ran: "Captain Gao, tell me, why did Yuan Jun feel in a hurry when he was attacking the city?" ”

Regarding Han Zhan's question, Gao Ran thought about it for a while, and replied: "Back to the lord's words, when the Yuan army attacked the city yesterday, they used swords and shields to fight under the city, and their archers hid behind to shoot arrows. ”

Gao Lan's words made Han Zhan think of Yuan Shao's first battle in Guandu, and he relied on tens of thousands of strong crossbowmen to beat Cao Cao's army into a mess and fled. He also piled up mountains and built high platforms near Cao Ying, and suppressed Cao's army with a rain of arrows. Thinking of this, Han Zhan turned his head and asked Guo Jia: "Fengxiao, I remember that there is a siege machine, which is the kind that allows archers to shoot arrows on it, what is the name?" ”

"Back to the lord, it's called Jing Yan!" Guo Jia heard Han Zhan talk about this siege weapon, and his face also showed a grim expression, and he muttered: "The well is three feet high, and a pulley is installed underneath, so that you can shoot arrows at the city wall condescendingly while moving, and cover the soldiers who climb the city wall." ”

Dian Wei heard that Jing Yan could actually shoot arrows on the move, and asked Guo Jia a little impatiently: "Mr. Guo, I don't know what kind of city defense equipment our army can use to deal with it?" ”

Guo Jia looked at Dian Wei, shook his head gently, and said helplessly: "Captain Dian, Jia doesn't have any good way to deal with Yuan Jun's well. ”

"The well is a mobile arrow tower, and although archers can be deployed to shoot arrows in all directions, it also has a fatal drawback, which is that it moves slowly." Although everyone was at a loss, Han Zhan already had a countermeasure in his heart: "We can dig a pit far away from the city wall, and dig the pit more densely, so that Yuan Jun's well will not be able to pass." ”

Regarding this method proposed by Han Zhan, Guo Jia frowned and thought for a while, and then raised his own question: "Lord, if you want to dig a pit that can block Yuan Jun's well, this amount of work is not small. ”

"The main direction of Yuan's attack is in the south of the city, we only need to dig more soil pits in the south of the city." After Han Zhan told Guo Jia his thoughts, he instructed Gao Ran: "Captain Gao, I want to trouble you to organize manpower overnight to dig more earth pits in the south of the city, so that Yuan's army will not be able to use the well to deal with our army." ”

"The last general obeys!" Gao Ran hurriedly agreed: "Later, I will take the people of my headquarters and the people of the city to dig a pit outside the city." ”

When everyone dispersed, Han Zhan stopped Guo Jia and asked, "Fengxiao, although Captain Huang is brave and fierce, he is still slightly inferior in terms of strategy, I am worried that if Xin Ping, Feng Ji, and the likes of trial and match use tactics, he may suffer." ”

Regarding Han Zhan's worries, Guo Jia also agreed: "What the lord said is extremely true, Xin Ping, Feng Ji and others are very strategic, and Han Sheng is indeed not their opponent. When he said this, he stopped and thought for a moment, and then suggested to Han Zhan: "The convoy of Xun Gongda and Captain Xiahou escorting grain and grass is half a day's way behind us. The lord can send someone to take Xun Gongda here overnight and ask him to send troops with Han Sheng tomorrow, how about it? ”

"That's a good idea." After hearing this, Han Zhan nodded again and again, he turned around and shouted outside: "Someone!" ”

With the shout, Rob walked in from outside, and after saluting Han Zhan, he asked respectfully, "What does the lord command?" ”

Han Zhan instructed him: "You immediately lead twenty cavalrymen and rush to Captain Xiahou's camp overnight, and let Mr. Xun come over overnight." Make no mistake! ”

Luo Bu waited for Han Zhan to finish speaking, and hurriedly crossed his hands and saluted: "The villain obeys!" ”