On February 12, when Zhao Yu took Niu Heng and He Shun to wander around Liangcheng City to see if they could find the 'Zhao Dead Soldiers', suddenly a warning sounded from the South City Gatehouse.

"The rebels are attacking the city?"

Slightly stunned, Zhao Yu immediately led people to the South City Gatehouse.

At this time, in the open space in front of the South City Gate Tower, Xue Ao was standing beside the wall with his hands behind his back, looking out of the city with an indifferent expression, and when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind him, he glanced back, nodded towards Zhao Yu, and said hello.

And Zhao Yu naturally couldn't be so casual, so he respectfully clasped his fists and saluted: "General." ”

"Hmm."

Xue Ao nodded casually, beckoned Zhao Yu to step forward, and immediately, I saw him snorting towards the outside of the city, and said inexplicably: "Today, it seems that the rebels are going to move seriously......

At this time, Zhao Yu also set his eyes on the outside of the city, it didn't matter if he looked at it, Rao was he couldn't help but tighten his face.

I saw that looking outside the city, from about four or five miles away from the city, until the distant sky, there were rebels holding high the banner of 'righteous teacher' stationed at this moment, densely packed, like an ant tide.

And in this rebel army, which is like an ant tide, there are dozens or hundreds of siege equipment faintly visible.

Don't look at Zhao Yu, he has also encountered a lot of big scenes so far, but this is the first time he has encountered such a number of enemy troops.

Not long after, Li Meng, Tong Yan, and his subordinates, together with Zhao Yu's generals Wang Qing, Qin Yu, Jia Shu, Le Gui, Liu Tu and other generals, all gathered in the open space in front of the South City Gate Tower to look at the amazing number of rebels outside the city.

Almost everyone had a look of shock on their faces.

Just when everyone was shocked, suddenly one of the rebels on the opposite side looked like a general, riding a horse, leading a group of soldiers slowly approaching the city wall, and stopped when they came to a place a stone's throw away from the city.

Zhao Yu originally wondered what he wanted to do, but he saw the other party take out a piece of cloth from his arms and read aloud facing the city wall: "Emperor Jin is absurd and ignorant, biased towards treachery, and does not care about the ...... of the people."

What this man was reciting was a crusade against him.

"Huh." Xue Ao immediately laughed, and said with a look of disdain: "A group of rats, still trying to be famous? ”

As he spoke, he shouted in a deep voice, "Take my bow and watch me shoot that guy." ”

Not long after, one of Xue Ao's guards took his general's bow and respectfully handed it to Xue Ao.

Zhao Yu turned his head to take a look, and saw that the bow that Xue Ao took was larger than the ordinary bow, and the bow was carved with dragons and tigers, and the wood was absolutely extraordinary at a glance.

I saw that under Zhao Yu's gaze, Xue Ao took a slight breath, immediately held his breath and pulled the bowstring violently, aiming the arrow at the rebel outside the city who denounced the Jin State and watched.

Seeing his breathless appearance, Zhao Yu was slightly shocked in his heart.

He knew that Xue Ao's arm strength was chasing Niu Heng, and even Xue Ao had to hold his breath to concentrate on the bow that could be pulled out, which could be imagined.

"Medium!"

But listening to Xue Ao's deep shout, the rebel general on horseback outside the city fell off his horse in response to the sound of the bowstring, and the rebel soldiers who were shocked hurriedly dragged the body back to the army.

"Good marksmanship!"

Li Meng, Tong Yan and others praised one after another.

Seeing this, Xue Ao laughed and handed the bow in his hand to the guard.

He was proud, but Chen Miao on the other side was not happy.

A moment later, when Chen Miao learned that Xue Ao had personally shot the famous envoy he had sent to denounce the Jin Kingdom and promote the righteous teacher, Rao is Chen Miao had a good heart, and he was so angry that his face showed anger.

Seeing this, Cheng Zhou, the righteous teacher of Yuzhang from the side, said: "I said it a long time ago, why talk nonsense with him, just wait for the soldiers to prepare and attack the city immediately." ”

Hearing this, Chen Miao said in a deep voice: "My righteous teacher is a 'righteous teacher', and he is not a robber or a rogue, how can he fight without declaring it? Xue Ao killed my envoy, he was unjust! ”

Seeing this, Cheng Zhou no longer persuaded him, after all, the current righteous teachers from all walks of life are still relatively 'old-fashioned', to put it bluntly, they pay attention to the famous teachers, and there is still a significant difference from the green forest thieves.

Of course, having said that, since Xue Ao used a bow and arrow to shoot the messenger of his righteous master who was reciting the inscription, then the righteous master and Liang Cheng have nothing to say.

Chen Miao immediately ordered Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong, and Zhu Yu to lead the Jiangxia Yishi to attack the west gate of Liangcheng, and ordered Wu Yi to lead the Jiangdong Yishi to attack the east gate of Liangcheng, and as for the south gate of Liangcheng, it was handed over to Yuzhang Yishi under the command of Cheng Zhou.

Under his orders, the 160,000 righteous divisions slowly divided into three armies, and the remaining two headed towards the east and west respectively.

Seeing this, on the south gate tower of Liangcheng, Xue Ao also instructed Zhao Yu and Li Meng: "Zhou Hu, Li Meng, immediately assist in guarding the city walls on the east and west sides. ”

"Yes!"

Zhao Yu and Li Meng responded with their fists, and immediately, Zhao Yu took Wang Qing, Qin Yu, Jia Shu and other generals to the west city wall.

It turned out that Xue Ao had made arrangements for the rebels to attack the city: he and Tong Yan assisted in defending the southern city wall, Zhao Yu led the Yingchuan army to defend the western city wall, and Li Meng led the Henan army to defend the eastern city wall.

After half a pillar of incense, Zhao Yu and his entourage hurriedly came to the West City Gate Tower, and Hou Mengyang, the West City Gate Gate, hurriedly came to see: "Zhou Duwei." ”

It is no wonder that this gate marquis was very respectful to Zhao Yu, because Xue Ao had ordered Zhao Yu to be fully responsible for the defense of the western city wall, and this appointment was also supported by Tong Yan, the governor of Liangcheng.

At the same time, there were about 8,000 Liang soldiers who were temporarily handed over to Zhao Yu to assist Zhao Yu in guarding the western city wall.

After seeing Meng Yang, Zhao Yu Zhengse asked: "Marquis Mengmen, the rebels are about to attack the city, have you asked the soldiers to prepare for the enemy?" ”

"Please rest assured that Zhou Duwei." Xicheng Gate Gate Hou Mengyang hugged his fist.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu nodded and said, "In this case, the rebels attacked the city several times before, so I asked your army." ”

“…… Be. ”

Meng Yang glanced at Zhao Yu inexplicably, and immediately hurriedly agreed.

After a while, after this Meng Yang left, Wang Qing said with a smile on the side: "Isn't it too obvious?" ”

Hearing Wang Qing's words, Qin Yu and Jia Shu also looked at Zhao Yu frequently, of course they understood what Wang Qing was referring to.

In the face of Wang Qing's ridicule, Zhao Yu said with an unchanged expression: "We are originally the guest army who came to help, if the master can't do his best, how can he ask the guest army to do his best?" ”

"That makes sense." Wang Qingshen nodded approvingly.

From the side, Qin Yu, Jia Shu, Le Gui, Liu Tu and others also nodded again and again.

I have to say that all people have selfish intentions, if there is a choice, it seems that Qin Yu and others naturally hope that the soldiers under their command can have fewer casualties, even if the soldiers of the Liangcheng army have to pay corresponding sacrifices for this.

"This Captain Zhou is still very protective of his own people......

Glancing at each other, Qin Yu and Jia Shu secretly thought in their hearts.

However, they didn't know that Zhao Yu's protection of the Yingchuan army was certainly on the one hand, and on the other hand, it stemmed from his resistance to the Liang Cheng army.

Disgust may not be talked about, but there must be resistance, after all, one day eight years ago, that Tong Yan led Liangcheng's soldiers into the Luyang Township Mansion, slaughtering more than 200 people up and down the Township Mansion.

With this hatred, it was decided that Zhao Yu would never let the Yingchuan army under his command risk paying huge sacrifices to assist the Liang Cheng army, and at best, he would only let the Yingchuan army ensure that the city wall was not conquered by the rebels.

About half an hour later, the Jiangxia righteous division led by Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong, Zhu Yu and others assembled in the open space in the western suburbs outside Liangcheng.

It was a whole dozen large and small phalanxes, the small phalanx had one or two thousand people, and the large phalanx had three or five thousand people, and these phalanxes were clustered with about twenty or thirty huge ladder cars, lined up in the western suburbs of Liangcheng.

Although it was not as shocking as what Fang had just seen at the South City Gate, it was enough to make people tremble.

You must know that the soldiers under the command of Xiang Xuan and Zhou Gong are basically veterans who participated in the Battle of Yingchuan, and the soldiers under the command of Zhu Yu are also the soldiers who captured Chen County and Chen Liujun before and after, and it is not a problem to call these people elite.

Just when Zhao Yu and his entourage stood in the city gate tower and looked at the rebels outside the city, at the main position of the rebels outside the city, Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong, and Zhu Yan were making specific discussions on the attack on the city.

The three of them were discussing, Xiang Xuan's nephew Xiang Ji rode a horse and hurried from a distance, and when he got close to the three of them, he turned over and dismounted, clasped his fists and said: "The three generals of Qiqi, I have been close to confirm, and I saw the guard of the west gate of Liangcheng, erecting a banner with the words 'Yingchuan Duwei Zhou'......"

"That Zhou Hu again?" Zhou Gong couldn't help frowning.

Yingchuan Lieutenant Zhou Hu, that is his old rival with Xiang Xuan, last year in Xuchang, he and Xiang Xuan, as well as Zhong Fei and Yan Xuan, tried their best to win Xuchang.

"It's not bad luck." Xiang Xuan said lightly: "Xue Ao, Zhou Hu, Li Meng, we always have to meet a ...... Xiang Ji, have you seen that group of black scarf soldiers on the city wall. ”

"Never." Xiang Ji shook his head and said, "I took a closer look, and it seems that Zhou Hu did not send his Yingchuan army into battle. ”

Hearing this, Xiang Xuan frowned, and then chuckled and said, "It seems that Zhou Hu also has selfish intentions......

After that, he turned his head and asked Zhou Gong and Zhu Yan, "What do you two say?" ”

Hearing this, Zhu Qian also turned his head to look at Zhou Gong, after all, Chen Miao had ordered in advance that the battle on this side of the west city wall would be commanded by Xiang Xuan and Zhou Gong.

Seeing that the two colleagues were looking at him, Zhou Gong Zhengse said: "Xiang Xuan, you come to command, I am the Chinese army, Zhu Yan, and you are the front." ”

Zhu Yan hesitated when he heard this, after all, in a siege battle, the front meant heavier casualties, but considering the overall situation, he finally nodded: "Yes." ”

After the discussion, the three of them returned to the army, and during this period, Xiang Xuan sent someone to convey the news that 'the city can be attacked at any time' to Chen Miao, who was in the southern suburbs of Liangcheng.

Not long after, Chen Miao sent someone to deliver the news: "When the horn sounds, attack on three sides!" ”

Xiang Xuan nodded, and once again looked intently at Liang Cheng in the distance.

He knew very well that the victory or defeat of this battle was very important to his righteous division - if he won, his righteous division could remove the threat of the Kaifeng Jin army and his righteous division's grain route, and severely damage the sharp spirit of the Jin country; If he fails, then his more than 100,000 righteous teachers will fall into the dilemma of running out of grain and grass.

Thinking of the stakes, Rao is Xiang Xuan couldn't help but feel a little hesitant in his heart.

If the success of the righteous teachers fails this time, where should they go?

Just as he was in a trance, suddenly, a long horn sound came from the southeast direction.

Woo woo –

Woo woo –

Woo woo –

Hearing the sound of this horn, Xiang Xuan was suddenly shocked, raised his hand and shouted: "Pass my order, prepare to attack the city!" ”

At the same time as he gave the order, the front army under the command of Zhu Yuan, and the Chinese army under the command of Zhou Gong, as many as tens of thousands of rebels, neatly struck the shields with the weapons in their hands, so as to make a loud 'poof' sound.

This is a method that Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong, and Zhu Yu came up with to boost morale when they discussed, and the sound of hitting the shield with weapons to replace the sound of war drums can not only boost morale, but also deter the Jin army on the opposite side.

I saw that these tens of thousands of Jiangxia righteous soldiers, while neatly striking the shield with their weapons, shouted loudly from time to time, fueling the momentum, and in just twenty breaths, these tens of thousands of Jiangxia righteous soldiers felt the blood surging in their chests.

Seeing this, the general Zhu Yan raised his sword and pointed to the west city wall in the distance, and shouted loudly like exhaustion: "Siege!" ”

"Wow——!"

After a burst of shouts, a full four foot soldiers in front of the phalanx surrounded more than a dozen ladder trucks and launched an offensive.

"Get ready for battle! Crossbowmen prepare! ”

On the west city wall of Liangcheng, Mengyang, the marquis of the gate, walked on the city wall, and kept giving orders in his mouth.

Under the command of him and the generals of the various regions on the city wall, thousands of Liangcheng soldiers in the city were also immediately ready to engage in battle.

But compared with the momentum of the rebels outside the city, the Liangcheng soldiers in the city always felt a little timid.

It's no wonder, after all, the soldiers of Liang County have not participated in any battles with the rebels so far, even if they are not negligent in training on weekdays, they are just a new soldier with no battlefield experience, how can they compare to those veteran rebels outside the city? Those rebel veterans, those are the elite who have really fought all the way.

"You say, how long can these Liang County soldiers hold on?"

Wang Qing asked Qin Yu, Jia Shu, Le Gui and the others in a flirtatious tone, listening to his disapproving tone, it was obvious that he had also seen the weak point of Liang Cheng's soldiers.

Hearing his words, Qin Yu said expressionlessly, "An hour can always be kept, right?" ”

"Ahem."

Probably noticing that there were a few Liangcheng county guards not far away, Jia Shu hurriedly interrupted Qin Yu's words, diverted the topic and turned to Zhao Yu and said: "Captain, the rebel army is attacking fiercely, and the last general thinks that I should order my Yingchuan army to prepare and go to the city wall to support at any time." ”

"Hmm......"

Zhao Yu replied casually and looked at the city walls on both sides of the city gate tower.

How to say it, it is worthy of being the capital of Wei during the ancient Warring States Period, the scale of this Liang City, is not inferior to Xuchang, you know, the time of Liang City construction, can be far earlier than Xuchang.

According to Zhao Yu's estimate, the western city wall of Liangcheng can probably accommodate about two or three thousand Jin troops fighting at the same time, and if it rotates for half an hour, eight thousand Liangcheng troops can probably hold it for an hour and a half; But if the rebels attack fiercely, I am afraid that this time will be greatly shortened.

In other words, what Qin Yu casually said about 'an hour' is actually not outrageous.

"Let's wait and see for a while." Zhao Yu said lightly.

While the few of them were discussing privately, the first wave of the rebel offensive was already approaching the city walls.

"Shoot the arrows!"

"Shoot the arrows!"

With the sound of orders one after another on the city wall, the Liangjun crossbowmen in the city hurriedly shot a dense array of arrows outside the city, and the dense arrows, like a torrential rain, poured on the heads of the rebel soldiers outside the city.

It's a pity that any veteran soldier with battlefield experience will not be frightened by this kind of bow and arrow volley, because they know that in the face of this kind of salvo, the more afraid they are, the easier it is to die, and only by speeding up their pace and rushing to the city wall can they have a chance to live.

No, under the salvo of the Liangcheng army, the momentum of the rebels' infantry became more and more rapid, and the Liangcheng army defending the city only had time to launch two rounds of salvos, and the rebels' front infantry had already rushed to the city wall, erecting hundreds of siege ladders to the city wall.

Immediately, they began to climb up the long ladder to the city wall.

"Block them!"

Menhou Mengyang shouted loudly.

With his shout, the soldiers of Liangcheng who defended the city stepped forward one after another to block the battlements, or threw logs and rolling stones down, or stabbed them with spears to the bottom.

Then, as the rebel crossbowmen fired a volley, these Liangcheng soldiers were shot one after another, or collapsed on the city wall, or stumbled and fell to the bottom of the city, falling half to death.

To make matters worse, more and more rebel soldiers put up the long ladders used to attack the city.

At this time, looking outside the city, I saw that the towering city walls were full of siege ladders erected by rebel soldiers, and a rough count was not hundreds, but thousands of rebel soldiers were struggling to climb up the city along these siege ladders.

From a distance, it looks like countless ants clinging to the white wall.

And this is the most common tactic of siege warfare, ant possession.

In the face of the fierce offensive of the rebels, the Liangcheng soldiers in the city also collapsed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and some of the soldiers seemed to be stunned, and they actually showed that they were at a loss, and Zhao Yu was also surprised.

Zhao Yu originally thought that the Liangcheng soldiers could at least hold on for a while, but he didn't expect that the rebels' ladder carts had not yet arrived, and just some soldiers holding the siege ladder made the Liangcheng soldiers defending the city fall into a situation of chaos.

At this time, he didn't care about preserving his strength anymore, and he immediately ordered: "Qin Yu and Jia Shu, immediately lead your two soldiers to the city." ”

"Yes!" Qin Yu and Jia Shu hugged their fists and left.

Not long after, a group of Yingchuan soldiers with black scarves tied to their arms quickly climbed the city wall, replacing the Liang Cheng army as the main defensive force in the city.

The Yingchuan army under the command of Qin Yu and Jia Shu is almost all from Changsha Yishi, these former rebel veterans who have drawn a line with Yishi under Zhao Yu's discordant plan, have rich battlefield experience that Liangcheng's soldiers lack, from Qu General to Wu Chang, they all know their responsibilities, and they almost helped Liangchengjun stabilize the situation as soon as they appeared.

It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, but when I heard a loud bang, the hanging board of a ladder truck smashed heavily on the city wall, setting up an aerial walkway.

Immediately afterward, several loud bangs were heard, and three other ladder carts approached the city wall and set up aerial walkways.

This means that this siege war is about to usher in the most intense stage.

Even Zhao Yu didn't dare to take it lightly at this moment, and said to Wang Qing in a deep voice: "Go and move around and kill those ladder trucks, how about it?" ”

"Twenty ladder trucks? You really think of me......"

Wang Qing rolled his eyes, but his face was full of interest.

I saw that he took out a knife from his waist and swung it twice, and then took the lead in the direction of one of the ladder trucks.

Glancing at Wang Qing's departing back, Zhao Yu once again set his eyes on the rebels outside the city.

To his surprise, the Liangcheng army defending the city was almost defeated by the rebels' offensive, which showed that the offensive of Xiang Xuan, Zhou Gong and others was more ferocious than when they were in Yingchuan, and they were quite desperate.

But it's a pity that such an offensive is still not enough to capture Liangcheng, nor is it enough to make him change his mind.

At this moment, he had already thought of a way to catch Tong Yan without alarming anyone, and naturally he would not change his mind easily.