"Lord, the other party's reinforcements are here." Fa said solemnly: "I just saw Chen Deng's figure on the city wall. ”

"Chen Deng?" Yuan Shu frowned and said in a low voice: "This person has extraordinary strategies, far from being as easy to deal with as Cao Xiu, I'm afraid that it will not be as easy as before for us to attack Tongguan next." ”

"Hmm." Fa Zheng nodded: "Today, our army has not yet attacked but was attacked by a boulder, it is estimated that Chen Deng put the catapult on the city wall, otherwise the range cannot be so far." ”

You must know that the catapults under the command of Yuan Shu have been carefully improved by countless craftsmen in Jiangdong, and the core parts are all made of fine iron, and their range far exceeds that of the catapults under the command of Cao Jun. And Yuan Shu, for the sake of insurance, placed the catapult at the edge of the range from Tongguan every time, but this time he was beaten back by the other party.

Fa Zheng did not believe that Cao Cao, who was poor and white, could improve the catapult in the city to such a good quality in a short period of time, and the other party must have modified the catapult and placed it on the city wall. With the blessing of the height of the Tongguan city wall, the range of the catapult of the original Cao army should be barely enough to reach the catapult in front of Yuan Shu's army.

"This Chen Yuanlong is really smart, he has transformed a siege weapon into a city defense weapon." Yuan Shu sighed lightly. Although it may seem like a simple transition, few people in this era have been able to turn the corner. Just like the unilateral stirrup was invented for a long time before anyone remembered the bilateral stirrup.

"Chen Yuanlong has a strategy, not an easy person! This time, he is just a small edge, and I am afraid that there are more means waiting for us in the future. Fa Zheng sighed lightly.

"But in this way, it may be impossible for our army to use catapults to suppress the morale of Tongguan, but we have to worry about the other party's stonethrowing." Yuan Shu shook his head with a wry smile and said.

Stone-throwing does not attack the city, siege does not throw stone. Although the catapult is easy to use when attacking the city level, it can only be used for pre-war consumption, and if you continue to throw stones when your own army is attacking, with the helpless accuracy of the catapult, it is estimated that it does not hit the enemy, and your soldiers have to rest first.

But if it is used to defend the city, there are not so many scruples. Your own army is on the city wall, and the trebuchet will smash it outside the city wall at will, as long as it is not too outrageous, it will always hit the opponent's soldiers. This siege weapon is even more terrifying when used to defend the city, and Yuan Shu knows this very well.

"Chen Yuanlong's hand not only directly erased the role of our catapult, but also prevented us from participating in the war. And it will make it more difficult for us to attack the city in the future, and the losses will be even heavier. Fa Zheng frowned.

"Do you want to use the secret passage in Tongguan?" Yuan Shu thought for a moment and said.

"Lord, the opponent's hole cards have not been spread out, and there are so many Cao Jun in Tongguan for the time being, even if they are used, I am afraid it will not have much effect. Let's leave this method to our army when there is no other way to use it. Now that the other side has placed the catapult on the city wall, it is only to make our catapult useless, and the loss is a little greater. Fa Zheng said.

"Throwing stones is good for defending a city, but it's not difficult to dodge. Didn't we kill many Tongguan defenders when we bombarded the Tongguan city wall before? It is only suitable for deterring and demoralizing the opposing side. As long as our sergeants lie down and dodge when the stones fall, the losses should not be much. ”

Hearing Fa Zheng's relief, Yuan Shu nodded slightly.

"I hope this Chen Yuanlong won't make other bad moves."

......

On the Tongguan Pass, the soldiers of the Cao Army looked at the slender young man by the city wall with great admiration, as if he was weak and impassable. The other party's small arrangement directly forced the enemy to retreat, not to mention, and greatly reduced the difficulty of defending the city, which really convinced them.

"Strategist, you are really clever, so that our army not only no longer has to worry about the scourge of flying stones, but also has an extra weapon to defend the city, which is really good!" Cao Xiu said excitedly.

As soon as the expert made a move, he knew if there was one, and compared to his strict defense that would only follow the rules, Chen Deng directly reversed the situation with two strategies. Cao Xiu really admired this, and became more and more respectful to Chen Deng, and began to ask for advice in private.

"The trebuchet is just a blow to the morale of the other party, if you want to hold Tongguan, you can't rely on these dozens of trebuchets alone." Chen Deng said calmly without complacency.

"Strategist, why are you building another inner wall on top of this wall? The hasty construction of this inner wall is not very strong, and the Tongguan wall is not low! Cao Xiu asked shamelessly.

When Chen Deng heard this, he looked at Cao Xiu with hatred, shook his head lightly and said, "Don't you think that there are too many archers under Yuan Highway and the range is a little too long?" It's good that you make so many wooden shields, but it still can't solve the problem of our archers being suppressed. Build a higher inner wall, place the archers on it, and you will not be afraid of the opponent's archers suppressing them, while protecting the archers from the opponent's attack, you can also condescendingly improve the impact surface of our archers. ”

After that, Chen Deng said with some unhappiness: "If it weren't for the fact that all the wells used for the siege of the city before were taken away by Zhicai, why would I have to be so troublesome?" You don't need to build an inner wall, just place the well on top of the city wall. ”

"Wonderful!" Cao Xiu said excitedly: "Strategist, you are really resourceful, so that Yuan Shu's two biggest advantages have been knocked out by us, and it will be much easier to deal with the opponent's attack next." ”

In the face of Cao Xiu's praise, Chen Deng did not feel happy at all. These are all small paths, although the effect is not small, but in the face of Yuan and Liu's army of more than 100,000 people, it is definitely impossible to hold Tongguan by relying on these two moves. If you want to solve the dilemma of Tongguan in one fell swoop, you have to start with Yuan Liu.

"For the past two days, you have asked the patrolling soldiers to be vigilant against some conspiracy by the other side. In addition, let prepare a school of non-commissioned soldiers, let them rest well, and in two days we will go out to attack the enemy. Chen Deng said in a low voice.

"What?" Cao Xiu was surprised: "Military advisor, do you know that Yuan Shu and Liu Bei's subordinates are all elite soldiers, and we may not be able to defend the city, wouldn't it be self-defeating to go out of the city to meet the enemy?" ”

"I'm not stupid." Chen Deng rolled his eyes at Cao Xiu, who wanted to dissuade him: "Who said that I was going to have a hard fight with Yuan Liu?" Night raid, night raid, do you understand? Yuan Shu kept harassing our army at night, and Yuan Liu thought that we would not be able to defend it. Let's do the opposite, can't we attack Liu Bei at night? ”

"But I'm afraid that Liu Bei is prepared! Guan Zhang is an unworldly general, even if the night attack is successful, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to achieve too good results. was not able to be restrained by Liu Beijun, and finally asked Yuan Shu to come up and make dumplings. Cao Xiu was still very worried.

"It's okay, I didn't plan how much this night attack would achieve, so I only asked you for a school of soldiers. By the way, how many armor weapons do you have in your hands? ”

Although Cao Xiu was very puzzled by Chen Deng's inquiry, he still said honestly: "There are only two hundred sets of armor weapons, and all of them are damaged, but there are more clothes, six or seven hundred. ”

After Chen Deng heard this, he muttered in a low voice: "Six or seven hundred? That's enough. ”