With the efforts of the craftsmen of the Han army, the two counterweight trebuchets that were dismantled and transported were quickly assembled directly on the array, and then under the impetus of the Han soldiers, they came out of the formation and directly pushed them to a stop half a mile away from the north gate of Wancheng, and then immediately started to shoot at the angle and direction of shooting, and installed the boulder to prepare for bombing.

Although he had very little information about the Han army's counterweight trebuchet siege, but just by relying on intuition, Liu Laosan led Han Xin and Xiao He and others away from the city tower, hid in the distance to check the Han army's stone throwing, and at the same time tried to get as close as possible to the arrow buttress female wall, so as to hide in the shooting corner of the Han army's trebuchet when the Han army's boulder flew - in front of his precious life, Liu Laosan never minded his image as a king.

In front of everyone's eyes, the Han army trebuchet quickly completed the final preparations, and then with the wave of the command flag in the Han army's flag array, under the wave of several Han army skilled gunners, the throwing arms of the two counterweight trebuchets rose almost at the same time, and at the same time threw out two boulders weighing more than one hundred and fifty catties, and the boulders whizzed and rotated in the air, and sure enough, they all came towards the conspicuous Wancheng North Gate Tower.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Accompanied by two loud thunderous sounds, first a boulder smashed on the city wall next to the city tower, splashed more than half a person's high dust and smoke, smashed a Nanyang army soldier who could not avoid it into meat sauce, not to mention, but also left a deep pit of several feet square on the rammed earth built of the city wall, and then another boulder hit the upper end of the front of the city tower at the north gate of Wancheng, broke the wall into the building without effort, smashed through the floor after the residual momentum, and smashed through the back wall of the city tower very easily, flew into the urn city behind the city tower, and splashed a piece of dust and smoke in the urn city at the north gate of Wancheng.

Seeing this scene, the Nanyang soldiers on the city wall were of course exclaimed, all afraid of the terrifying power of the Han army's trebuchet, but Liu Laosan, Han Xin and others were expressionless, just patiently waiting for the next move of the Han army's trebuchet. Then, as expected, it didn't take long for the Han army trebuchet to throw two boulders again, and they still all smashed in the direction of the tower at the north gate of Wancheng.

The poor city tower did not escape the doom this time, the Han army threw out two boulders in the second round, only the first one hit the roof of the city tower, through the tile through the roof into the room, and directly hit the beam of the city tower, more than a foot thick beam in response to the sound and folded, the roof of the city tower also collapsed. Immediately afterward, the second boulder smashed into the building again, making a series of terrible breaking and cracking sounds, and the wooden shingle tower suddenly collapsed, completely losing the role of hiding soldiers, commanding, and covering the crossbowmen to release arrows.

It was only at this time that a burst of cheers sounded in the Han army's array, but the Han army's trebuchet still refused to give up, and soon threw two boulders, and this time, the Han army's trebuchet was throwing stones at the dense place of the Nanyang Army banner on the city wall!

Liu Laosan and Han Xin also saw with their own eyes that after a boulder hit the arrow battlement, not only was it not bounced off by the arrow buttress and the female wall, but it was like an iron hammer smashing rotten wood, easily smashing the arrow buttress and the female wall together, and smashing the two Nanyang sergeants hiding behind the female wall to the point that their brains burst out, spitting blood, and their torsos were completely deformed.

After smashing these three rounds of stones, the Han army's trebuchet immediately stopped throwing stones, and three neat shouts sounded in the Han army's array, "Surrender and don't kill!" Surrender or kill! Surrender or kill! ”

Hearing such a neat shout, and seeing with their own eyes the terrifying power of the Han army's trebuchet, countless Nanyang soldiers who had just returned from the southern front to Wancheng to participate in the battle were of course frightened, their faces changed greatly, the army's heart was panicked, and their morale fell directly to the bottom, Liu Laosan and Han Xin and others were gloomy one by one, and Xiao He, who had resolutely opposed giving up Wancheng, ignored the danger and ran to the crater left by the trebuchet early to check the situation.

At the same time, Xiang Kang said to Zhang Liang and Chen Ping next to him: "It's almost, if we continue to smash it, Liu Ji and Han Xin, these traitors, may see that our trebuchets can't actually smash their city walls, or leave them a little suspense, force them to take action, and strive to weaken them first, and wait for us to make sufficient preparations for the siege, and then it's not too late to attack the city with all our might." ”

Chen Ping, Zhang Liang and others said yes together, and Xiang Kang instructed Ding Ji, the general of the Han army who led the army to escort him: "Ding Ji, the south gate and east gate of Wancheng have Yushui blockades, our troops cannot be deployed, and it is difficult for the Nanyang thief army to flee south from these two directions. ”

Ding Ji hugged his fists and sang a promise, but Xiang Kang refused to rest assured, and admonished: "Remember, your independent camp is at the west gate of Wancheng, if the Nanyang thief army refuses to die and wants to play any tricks, your camp will definitely bear the brunt." Fortunately, the terrain in this area of Wancheng is open and difficult to be surprised, so if the Nanyang thief army wants to play any tricks, it must be done at night, you only need to remember two points, you can respond to all changes with the same and deal with all changes on the battlefield. ”

"May I ask the king, what are those two points?" Ding hurriedly asked.

"First, let your army rest during the day and be vigilant at night." Xiang Kang said: "Our troops are more than four times that of the thief army, not to mention that the Nanyang thief army will definitely not dare to go out of the city to fight during the day, even if they really go out of the city during the day, we can easily deal with it." So you can rest and refresh yourself during the day, but at night, you have to be careful! ”

Ding Ji agreed, and Xiang Kang said: "Second, at night, no matter what changes happen in our main camp or on the battlefield outside the camp, you can only close the camp to protect yourself, and you don't have to worry about other situations, unless it is confirmed that the Nanyang thief army abandoned the city and fled south, or received my handwritten warrant, you must not risk leaving the camp!" ”

Ding Ji agreed again, but Tang Bing, the old man of Shangshan next to him, was a little puzzled, and said in confusion: "King, since you are so worried about the safety of General Ding's camp, then why do you want General Ding to have an independent battalion?" Our main camp is only ten miles away from Wancheng, and we have a cavalry advantage, so there is no need to let General Ding have a separate battalion? ”

Xiang Kang smiled and said, "If I don't deliberately show a little flaw, how can Liu Ji and Han Xin, the traitors, take the risk of attacking and give us a chance to weaken them in the field?" We can't weaken their forces in the field, and even if we are sure to take Wancheng, the cost of casualties will definitely not be small. ”

After making this decision, Xiang Kang soon returned to the camp with his own personal army and two counterweight trebuchets, while Ding Ji waited for Xiang Kang and others to go far before moving west with 20,000 troops and camping alone at Bali outside the west gate of Wancheng. Liu Laosan, Han Xin and others knew that the field battle of the self-army was not the opponent of the Han army, and of course they did not dare to send troops to fight, but they all surrounded the crater left by the Han army's trebuchet and checked the damage to the city wall by the Han army's trebuchet.

"The ground that smashed directly into the city wall was more than seven feet, about nine feet long and wide, and there were six cracks, the longest of which was more than five feet long. If it is smashed on the battlement, the battlement of the arrow will be destroyed with the female wall, and the gap in the female wall will be eight feet wide at the top and five and a half feet wide at the bottom. The stone bullet smashed into the city tower could not be confirmed, and the stone bullet smashed into the urn city was six feet ...... the ground. ”

Listening to the statistics reported by the scribes, Liu Laosan's face has no expression, and he can't rely on this to confirm whether the Han army's trebuchet can directly capture Wancheng, but Han Xin found something valuable, first asked the soldiers to pry the stone bullet out with tools, and then carefully looked at the boulder smashed by the Han army's trebuchet, and then suddenly said to Liu Laosan: "King, can the Han thief use the trebuchet to directly smash our city wall, His Majesty can't confirm it, but what His Majesty can confirm is that the Han thief will definitely spend a lot of time to prepare, Only then can we launch an attack on Wancheng, and it is roughly estimated that in at least ten days, we do not have to worry about the Han thieves attacking the city in a big way. ”

"How so?" Liu Laosan raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Because of the stones." Han Xin kicked the big stone and said: "Wancheng is located in the plain, stones are rare, especially such a big stone is even more rare, if the Han thief wants to use the stone to smash Wancheng, he will definitely send a large number of people to mine the stone in the area of the Purple Mountain Sow Ridge, and the stone must be chiseled into the right size before it can be used, and the time taken will never be short." In addition, the Han thieves need to fill the river and prepare other siege weapons, so at least for ten days, even if the Han thieves prepare enough trebuchets, they will not be able to attack our Wancheng. ”

"That's right." Liu Laosan finally showed a little smile and said with a smile: "Although ten days is not a long time, it is enough for us to do a lot of things." Let's go, go back to the palace, and discuss how to clean up the thieves outside the city. ”

According to Liu Laosan's order, the important civil and military forces of the Nanyang Army soon returned to his Nanyang Palace with Liu Laosan, and after taking his seat, Han Xin, who had been thinking about countermeasures all the way, was not polite, and said directly to Liu Laosan: "King, we now have three choices, first, abandon the city and go south, and strive to bring the main force back to the front line of Hanshui to re-arm. Second, resolutely defend the city, gambling that our walls can withstand the trebuchets of the Han thieves. Third, we should actively defend, take advantage of all kinds of favorable conditions for us, take the initiative to attack, first weaken the Han thieves, reduce our pressure to defend the city, and then act at the opportune opportunity. ”

"Abandoning the city and going south is nonsense." Liu Laosan smiled and said: "The Han thieves are close at hand, and there are so many cavalry, what is the difference between abandoning the city and going south at this time, and letting the back show and let the Han thieves cut it?" It's too passive to resolutely defend the city, so let's talk about how to defend it actively. ”

"King, didn't you find out that Xiang Kang's traitors were stationed outside the West Gate of Wancheng, did they have ulterior motives?"

Han Xin didn't answer the question, and said: "The main camp of the Han thieves is not far from Wancheng, and there are many cavalry in the army, so there is not much need to separate an army to garrison the west gate of Wancheng to prevent us from fleeing south out of the city." But Xiang Kang's traitor still did this, and it was clear that he wanted to use his Ximen garrison as bait to lure us out of the city and attack his partial camp. ”

"So how do you do that?" Liu Laosan asked quietly.

"Emulate the methods of Xiang Kang's traitors." Han Xin replied: "Your Majesty has heard that Xiang Kang is a traitor who uses soldiers and likes to send a small group of men and horses to sneak outside the enemy's camp at night, and pretend to rob the camp with a trumpet to make the enemy unpeaceful all night. Now that we have a city to defend, and the soldiers can rest at ease, they might as well ....... ”

…………

It was finally the turn of the Han soldiers to be tossed by Xiang Kang's signature tactics, and it was not long before the sky was completely dark that night, more than 100 Nanyang soldiers quietly touched the door of the main camp of the Han army in the north of Wancheng, and beat the gong and drum, pretending to attack the Han army camp, and it was really frightened that the Han army team responsible for the night quickly entered the combat post, and the Han soldiers who had fallen asleep hurriedly got up to prepare for the war, but after a short time, the sound disappeared without a trace, It was always pitch black outside the camp, and not a single soldier of the Nanyang Army was seen attacking the camp.

After all, it was a tactic that he copied from Xu Da, seeing this situation, Xiang Kang was not only not afraid at all, but on the contrary, he smiled and said: "Sure enough, I can't hold my breath, okay, if you like to disturb tactics, come on, this king and you will accompany you to the end." ”

With a smile, Xiang Kang immediately called Guan Ying and asked Guan Ying to arrange a hundred cavalry at each camp gate of the Han army, and asked that after hearing the sound next time, let the Han cavalry decisively go out of the camp to assault, follow the sound to chase and kill those Nanyang soldiers who dared to break ground on Tai Sui's head, and explained: "Tell your cavalry, just say that mosquitoes are also meat, from now on, kill the enemy at night, and the beheading reward will be doubled!" ”

Guan Ying immediately hugged his fists and agreed, but Chen Ping next to him was very worried and said, "Wang, isn't it too risky?" If the enemy really arranges an ambush outside the camp and takes the opportunity to enter the camp, won't we suffer a loss? ”

"I can't ask for it." Xiang Kang replied with a sneer: "Our total strength is more than four times that of the Nanyang Bandit Army, and we have arranged for the army to keep vigil, the Nanyang Bandit Army really dares to sneak attack our camp, even if we exchange two of them for one, we will take advantage!" ”

Then naturally it was the turn of the poor Nanyang sergeant to be unlucky, just heard them outside the camp beating gongs and drums disturbed the rest of the army, in front of the camp in front of the Han cavalry immediately decisively killed, followed the sound to kill the Nanyang army's feint detachment, Nanyang sergeant never expected that the Han army would really dare to go out of the camp at night to assault, came so quickly, caught off guard and immediately suffered a big loss, was the Han cavalry brandished a saber and cut heavy casualties, discarded the gongs, drums and horns and fled in embarrassment, greedy for double the reward of the Han cavalry to chase and kill, Beheaded nearly half of the Nanyang Army squad.

The situation was reported to Han Xin, and Han Xin was not angry but happy when he heard it, and decisively ordered: "At any cost, continue to act according to the plan!" Also, send men to the garrison of the west gate of the Han thieves to disturb their rest, and clearly tell our soldiers that if they can lure the Han thieves out of the army, they will all be rewarded! ”

The first night after the Han army arrived at the Wancheng battlefield, it became a sleepless night for countless people, every once in a while, there were Nanyang army squads running to the door of the main force of the Han army and the camp of the division to disturb the noise, pretending to rob the camp, among which the Han army's partial division Ding Ji kept in mind Xiang Kang's advice, no matter how the Nanyang army tossed it was not able to defend it, but the main camp of the Han army was resolutely fighting back, as long as they heard the noise, they immediately sent cavalry to attack, and every time they brought casualties to the Nanyang army squad, Accumulate a lot and slowly eliminate the living force of the Nanyang Army.

Finally, in the daylight of the next day, exactly the same as Han Xin guessed, in order to collect the stone bullets of the trebuchet, Xiang Kang really sent a large number of people to the nearest Purple Mountain Sow Ridge to mine stone mines, the Nanyang army did not dare to send troops to stop it, so it could only seize the time to rest in the city, or the Han army, which was affected by a lot of disturbances, divided the army into two, took turns to rest and build strong camps, and also rushed to build auxiliary siege weapons such as flying ladders and cloud ladders.

The evening of the second day was still the same as the first day, but in the afternoon of the third day, the situation was different, Han Xin in addition to making the Nanyang army prepare for the night battle early, and said to the generals of the Nanyang army: "Tonight is our best opportunity to hit the Han thieves, although the Han thieves rushed to build a camp for two consecutive days, but after all, the time is in a hurry, the camp is definitely not strong enough, and the Han thieves have not had a good rest for two nights, and the soldiers must be very tired, so we must seize this opportunity, Give the thieves a heavy blow, frustrate their spirit, and also boost our military morale! ”

"General, how should we fight?" Zhou Bo asked curiously: "Is it to attack the main camp of the Han thieves with all their might, or is it their partial camp?" ”

"Of course, it's a partial camp for Han thieves, but it's ......." Han Xin, who is known for being good at micro-manipulation, dragged out the tail note.