On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the reign of King Wei of Wei, Meng Zhong led four generals, Le Jin, Jin Con, Lian Po, and Han Zu, and nearly 40,000 troops to attack Hangu Pass.

Around the time of Chen, the armies were ready to attack, and Jin Contemp, Lian Po, and Han Zu led an army of troops to Hangu Pass first, and then the army under the command of Le Jin.

With such a large-scale operation, it was naturally impossible to hide the eyes and ears of the Qin army's scouts, and Bai Qi soon received the relevant news.

"Is it finally coming?"

After learning the news of Meng Zhong's army, Bai Qi was also cautious, and immediately summoned all the generals in the army and ordered them to take up their defensive posts, while he himself and Sima Cuo climbed the tower of Hangu Pass to look at the Wei army coming from afar.

About half an hour later, about half of the army of Wei General Jin Contempt arrived at the Hangu Pass, standing about a mile away from the Guancheng, and arranging troops in the center.

"Hurry up!"

I saw Jin Cong patrolling in front of the formation in a chariot, urging his Wei soldiers to hurry up and line up, and at the same time, he did not forget to glance at the left and right wings with a slightly meaningful gaze - that is, the garrison area of Zhao General Lian Po and Han General Han Zu.

After a short while, Zhao General Lian Po also led half of the vanguard troops to arrive in front of the pass, and ordered his subordinates to arrange troops next to the Jin army.

During this period, Lian Po also intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Jin Contempt who was giving orders in the distance, and frowned slightly.

From the side, a guard whispered: "Sima, that Jin contempt...... It seems to have some meaning aimed at Sima. ”

"Don't talk nonsense." Lian Po said lightly.

But having said that, in fact, Lian Po also knew in his heart that that Jin Contempt did have a bit of a prejudice against him.

The reason may be that during this time, Meng Zhong has repeatedly called him Lian Po the fierce general of Zhao State, although such praise comes from the mouth of Meng Zhong and other figures, which does make Lian Po feel quite happy after hearing it, but it will inevitably cause some people to target.

No, the guy called Jin Contempt is not very convinced of him.

Speaking of this, Lian Po also felt incredible, because as far as he knew, Jin Con had a bad relationship with Meng Zhong at first, but then somehow, Jin Contempt gradually began to respect Meng Zhong, so that Meng Zhong praised him for Lian Po a few words such as fierce generals and strong generals, and Jin Contempt was full of unhappiness.

Since then, Jin Contempt has been competing with him everywhere, the soldiers have to compete with each other to cut down forests and build camps, and they have to compete with each other every day, and what is even more ridiculous is that even if they go out today, then Jin Contempt has to forcibly ask his Wei soldiers to be the first to rush to the battlefield.

Lian Po really wanted to ask that Jin Contempt in person: Is it useful for your army to be the first to rush to the battlefield? Don't you have to wait for the army to assemble, wait for the siege equipment that has been built in the Lejin Sima army? Wouldn't it be good to let the soldiers save some strength and keep it for the attack on Hangu Pass?

"Childish."

Noticing that Jin Contempt in the distance turned his head to look at him, Lian Po couldn't help but snort lightly.

At this moment, there were shouts from behind him.

"Let one go, let one let go."

"Let the building cart and the catapult pass."

During the period when the former soldiers of the three armies of Jin, Lianpo, and Hanzu gave way one after another, a building cart and a catapult were slowly pushed to the front of the formation, and they were roughly arranged in a straight line.

I have to say that this time, Meng Zhong ordered Lejin to supervise the construction of the building car, compared with the building car built by the Song State when the Song State attacked the Teng State, it is close to three zhang high, it is like a behemoth, but compared with the Guancheng of Hangu Pass, this height is still not as high.

According to Lian Po's visual measurements, the Guancheng of Hangu Pass is about five people high, and it is estimated that it is close to four zhang, which means that even if the 20 building cars are pushed under the pass and the bridge is lowered, the soldiers must also face a rather steep bridge slope. "Note: Sengoku 1 zhang is about 2.31 meters."

"It deserves to be the first heroic ...... in the world"

Staring at Hangu Pass in the distance for half a night, Lian Po couldn't help but sigh.

At this time, a guard beside him reminded Lian Po: "Sima, Yun Chengjun has arrived in front of the battle." ”

Turning his head to look in the direction pointed by the guard, Lian Po saw a handsome banner with the words "Wei Yuncheng Junmeng" written on it slowly moving forward among the countless soldiers, and it seemed to be heading towards the former Chinese army where Jin Cong was.

Seeing this, Lian Po and his lieutenant general gave a few words of advice, and then rode a war horse to the former Chinese army to see if Meng Zhong had any pre-war advice.

Some people may wonder how an arrogant person like Lian Po would take the initiative to listen to Meng Zhong's pre-war orders?

In fact, the reason is very simple, because Meng Zhong treated Lian Po with courtesy, how could Lian Po be embarrassed to put on a stinky face?

A moment later, when Lian Po came to the front of the front Chinese army, he not only saw Lian Po and the Chinese army general Le Jin, but even Han Zu on the left flank had already arrived, so he quickened his speed to catch up.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he reined in his horse, he heard Jin Yan say lightly: "I always heard Yun Chengjun praise Zhao Guo's army, and today I look at it, the Zhao army's marching speed and formation response are very ordinary, not as good as my Hedong army." ”

Lian Po's face sank when he heard this, and he said lightly: "When marching and fighting, I have always paid attention to calmness and unhurriedness, and today I am not in a hurry, so why hurry?" Some people were the first to arrive, and didn't they have to wait for the rest of the army to arrive? ”

Hearing this, Jin Contempt also sank his face and stared at Lian Po, who was not afraid.

"Here we go again......

Seeing this scene, Meng Zhong was really a little crying and laughing.

As Gongsun Jian, Dou Xing, Wei Qing and others said, Jin Con is indeed a fierce general, not only is his personal strength not inferior to Menghu, but he is also familiar with the art of war; And Lian Po is not bad at all, thinking that during the civil war in Zhao State, Lian Po's martial arts surprised Meng Zhong and others, not to mention that a few years later, it is not an exaggeration to say that in terms of personal force, Lian Po is definitely the strongest one in the coalition army at this moment.

As the so-called mountain is difficult to tolerate two tigers, it is precisely because they are both fierce generals, Jin Contempt and Lian Po do not like each other, so that the two have frequent quarrels recently, which is quite similar to the meaning of Menghu and Huahu, but the difference is that Menghu and Huahu were raised together since childhood, and most of the bickering between them is just talking and playing, but Jin Contempt and Lian Po are not.

What's even more troublesome is that Jin Contempt and Lian Po are both the kind of arrogant people, and scolding is not only useless but even counterproductive to this kind of person.

Fortunately, Meng Zhong is quite experienced in dealing with this kind of shun donkey, and lightly slapped his palm a few times and hinted: "Two, two, at this moment, not only are tens of thousands of soldiers of our army watching, but the Qin army on the opposite side is also looking at ......."

As soon as they heard this, Jin Contempt and Lian Po immediately put away their angry glances at each other, after all, they also want to save face, as long as they don't go up, they will naturally not make any jokes in public.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong smiled slightly, and then said with a straight face: "Regarding today's tactics, I have already talked about it yesterday, so I won't repeat it." In short, the purpose of today's battle is, on the one hand, to test the actual combat ability of the building car and the catapult, and on the other hand, to touch the reality of the Qin army in the pass, and by the way, to put pressure on the Qin army on the opposite side. …… If you don't have any doubts, you can get started. ”

Hearing this, the three generals Jin Cong, Lian Po, and Han Zu glanced at each other, and it seemed that there was really no doubt.

Seeing this, Meng Zhong nodded and said to Le Jin, "Ah Jin." ”

"Hmm."

Le Jin understood, rode forward on a warhorse, and commanded the soldiers of the catapult team and said: "Catapult, prepare to drop bombs!" ”

At this time, the soldiers who operated the catapult were all soldiers of the Fangcheng army, not that Meng Zhong hid it and didn't want to reveal this siege weapon to Han Zu and Lian Po, but when Le Jin was supervising the construction of catapults some time ago, he also taught some soldiers by the way - anyway, there are now a total of twenty catapults, and Meng Zhong is too lazy to give them to Han Zu and Lian Po, and he will talk about building more catapults in the future.

I saw that under the command of Le Jin, about 100 soldiers from the left and right sides of the 20 catapults at this moment neatly loaded pieces of cobblestones held by one person into the throwing basket of the catapult, and then worked hard with Tong Ze to stir the winch, using the noose on the winch to make the throwing basket continue to press down.

"Put!"

With Le Jin's order, the more than 100 Fangcheng soldiers immediately let go of the winch.

Suddenly, there was a muffled thud, and the baskets of the twenty catapults flicked almost simultaneously, throwing the cobblestones into the air.

At the same time, the Qin generals Bai Qi and Sima Cuo were standing on the Guan Tower looking at the Wei army opposite.

During this period, the two of them also exchanged in a low voice about the siege equipment in the Wei army opposite.

I have to say that when Wei Jun started to operate the catapult, whether it was Bai Qi or Sima Cuo, they didn't pay too much attention to it, after all, the catapult was so cold that they didn't even know what it was used for.

It wasn't until a moment later that a cobblestone roared and smashed against the city wall below the Guan Tower, shaking the entire Guan Tower slightly, and Bai Qi and Sima Cuo showed their expressions of disbelief.

That thing...... It was actually used to smash the city wall?!

"Smack!"

Seeing from a distance that one of the stone bullets directly hit the city wall of Hangu Pass, Meng Zhong smiled and applauded.

But Lejin was not satisfied, after all, half of the test throws of a total of twenty catapults had only reached half of the range, and it was obvious that the soldiers had problems in training.

Therefore, Lejin gathered all the soldiers who operated the catapult together again and gave guidance.

Watching Le Jin explain and guide with a straight face, Meng Zhong was secretly amused in his heart, after all, there is such a thing as a catapult, let alone Le Jin, in fact, even he is using it for the first time, how can he have any practical experience at all.

That's why he applauded when the only stone projectile hit the opposite wall.

Since you don't have any experience, let's take your time.

Compared with Meng Zhong's calmness, Bai Qi and Sima Cuo on the opposite side of Hangu Pass were not so calm.

Especially when the two of them found out that it caused the entire Guan Building to tremble slightly, and it was actually a stone bullet that was hugged one by one, Bai Qi's mood became more and more calm.

Hell, it was a round stone weighing dozens or even hundreds of catties, how did the Wei army make such a stone fly nearly a mile and hit the city wall of his Hangu Pass?

You must know that at this distance, even a bow and crossbow can't be shot.

"What the hell is that?" With wide eyes, he stared at the catapults in front of the Wei army in the distance, muttering to himself, with a ghostly expression on his face.

From the side, Sima Coo's beard was stroked in thought.

I have to say that a veteran is a veteran, and in terms of experience, it is naturally not comparable to this frizzy young man in vain, I saw Sima Cuo after pondering for a while, and said slowly: "If the old man is not mistaken, this should be the 'throwing car' invented by the ancestors hundreds of years ago." ”

"Hundreds of years ago?" Bai Qi was stunned when he heard this: "Why have I never heard of it?" ”

Sima mistakenly stroked his beard and explained: "It's just that this thing is not conducive to combat...... When the Zhou people invented the cart, it was to destroy the merchant's chariot, but because the effect was not good, it was gradually forgotten. Unexpectedly, that Meng Zhong actually knew about this thing, and even created this thing to smash the city wall of my Hangu Pass...... I see, it seems that he also knows that my Hangu Pass is impregnable, so he wants to destroy the city wall of this pass......"

"That ......" Bai Qi looked at Sima Cuo again and again.

As if he had guessed Bai Qi's thoughts, Sima Cuo shook his head slightly and said, "The old man only had a glimpse of it when he was looking at ancient books, and he didn't know ...... specifics."

While they were talking, the Wei army on the opposite side began to drop bombs again.

I only heard a muffled bang bang, and twenty more stone bullets were thrown high and flew towards Hangu Pass.

"......" Bai Qi stared at the stone bullets and didn't say a word.

"Bang!"

There was another loud bang, and it seemed that another stone projectile had hit the wall of Hangu Pass.

Without waiting for Bai Qi to scold at this, he only heard a loud bang, and the location of the side building on the left side of the building collapsed, causing a panicked exclamation from the nearby Qin soldiers.

"What's going on?" Bai Qi asked subconsciously.

In fact, when he asked this, he had already come up with the answer in his heart: it must have been those stone bullets that happened to hit the side building on the left side of the Guan Tower.

"Hooray! Banzai! ”

The Wei troops in the distance began to cheer, apparently also noticing the collapse of the building on the side of the Hangu Pass.

Seeing this, Bai Qi's face became more and more ugly, and he asked in a deep voice: "Report the loss immediately!" ”

A moment later, a Qin pawn came over to report the loss: "Of the twenty stones, six fell on the ground in front of the pass, three hit the city wall, two hit the left side of the gate, and the rest seemed to fly to the back of the pass......"

Fortunately, unlike ordinary cities, behind Hangu Pass is not the Yi Di - that is, the place where people live, but the Hangu Road, which is on the west side of the Hangu Pass Tower, so the Wei army aimed at the stone bombardment of the Hangu Pass Tower, and did not affect the Yi land in the Guannai, so the loss is not serious.

However, although the losses were not serious, the siege weapon of the catapult brought great pressure to the Qin generals on the Hangu Pass.

After all, it was a boulder that was hugged by one person, and even the houses were smashed, let alone flesh and blood?

For people, this kind of boulder is absolutely injured when it is rubbed and killed when it is hit, and it is impossible to be spared.

"That bastard......

Bai Qi gritted his teeth hatefully, and secretly scolded Meng Zhong in his heart.

Once upon a time, he thought that even if he was Meng Zhong, he would not be able to break through this Hangu Pass, after all, Hangu Pass was strong and easy to defend, and the general in charge was him Baiqi, even if Meng Zhong was witty and cunning, he could only break here.

However, he never expected that Meng Zhong would not know which ancient book hundreds of years ago he had found the creation of the ancestors such as the throwing car, and actually created this thing in an attempt to destroy this Xiongguan.

"I'm in trouble now...... Bai Qi muttered.

The trouble he said in his mouth did not only refer to the present, compared with the present, he thought that the most troublesome thing was that the countries of the Central Plains finally had a way to break through the Hangu Pass.

You must know that in recent decades and even hundreds of years, Hangu Pass has always been an important battlefield for the game between Qin and the Central Plains countries, whenever the Central Plains countries organized a coalition to crusade against Qin, Qin almost always defended against foreign enemies in Hangu Pass, and finally defeated the coalition forces of the countries with the help of the indestructibility of this Xiongguan.

Except for Tian Zhang of Qi State, who once used the small road around Hangu Pass to detour to the back of the pass, and used this to sneak attack Hangu Pass and capture this pass, Hangu Pass has never been lost.

Because of this, Hangu Pass is very famous in the Central Plains, and all countries generally believe that only famous generals like Tian Zhangna can break through the resignation, otherwise Hangu Pass is indestructible.

And now, Meng Zhong on the opposite side pointed out a clear way to the countries of the Central Plains: since Hangu Pass is impregnable, then simply use the throwing car invented by the ancients to destroy the city wall of this pass.

It is not difficult to guess that when the method of Mengzhong's attack on Hangu Pass spreads and reaches the ears of the monarchs and ministers of the Central Plains countries, all countries will definitely follow suit.

At that time, will the Qin State still be able to resist the offensive of the allied forces of the Central Plains with this pass?

"We have to find a way to fight back!"

Bai Qi thought secretly in his heart.

But the problem, although the attack interval of those catapults of the opposite Wei army is extremely long, but the problem is that it has a long range, even if it is a bow and crossbow, it cannot reach the attack distance of those catapults, how can this counterattack?

While Bai Qi was pondering, suddenly a Qin general hurriedly rushed to the side of Guan Lou, came to Bai Qi and Sima Cuo, clasped his fists and said: "Captain, Sima Lao, it can't go on like this, we must find a way to destroy the strange weapons of the Wei army." ”

Bai Qi turned his head and glanced at the person who came, it was the young general recommended by Xiang Shou, Wang Di.

"You remind me of this obviousness?"

Glancing at Wang Di, Bai Qi said coldly: "Go back to your own post, Wang Di!" ”

Seeing Bai Qi's cold attitude, Wang Yi said with some excitement: "Captain, the top priority ......"

"Enough!"

Bai Qi broke off Wang Ji and said coldly: "Do you think that only you can see the situation clearly? Do you want you to call the shots in my place?! ”

was drunk by Bai Qi, Wang Yi immediately lowered his head: "The last general...... That's not what it means. ”

From the side, Sima Cuo also knew that Bai Qi was upset at the moment, coughed as a reminder, and then when Bai Qi turned his head to look over, he shook his head slightly.

Sima Cuo's reminder made Bai Qi realize that he was too emotional, he let out a long breath, resumed his usual tone and said: "Wang Yi, you are right, at this time, you should decisively go out to meet the attack and destroy those strange weapons of the Wei army, but you look at the three armies of Wei, Zhao, and Han outside the city, look at Meng Zhong's arrangement, and see where he arranged the crossbowmen." …… Got it? He's waiting for our army to get out! ”

At the same time, as if he had a spirit in his heart, Meng Zhong, who was standing in front of the formation on horseback, looked up at the Guan Lou on the Hangu Pass opposite, and a faint smile rose at the corner of his mouth.

“…… It's not your character to defend to the death, come, come out and fight! ”

He muttered under his breath.