When the Hu army was approaching the city gate, Pei Gai was meeting the messenger sent by Guo Mo in the city.

The messenger actually arrived outside the city at dusk yesterday, but when he saw that Hu's army had entered the Seven Star Fort, the flag was fluttering, and he had sent rangers to patrol the city, he quickly hid far away and did not dare to move. However, after sleeping in the wild overnight, he went around to the east of the city this morning and finally rushed into Chenggao City.

After all, Liu Xun only brought 3,000 men and horses, which was not enough to block the four gates of Chenggao, so he could only be stationed in the Seven Star Fort in the west of the city, and sent cavalry to cruise outside the north and south gates.

When the messenger had entered the city, he was brought to Peggai. When Pei Gai saw Guo Mo's letter, he couldn't help frowning, turned his head and asked Pei Wei and Tao Kandao: "Guo Sidao has crossed north from Xiaopingjin and went to guerrilla Hanoi......"

Pei Wei immediately raised his eyebrows and asked in a deep voice: "If you don't get the order of the envoy, who taught him to act without permission?!" ”

The so-called "will be outside, the king's order is not subject to something", inherent reason, but it has always been the most taboo thing. A qualified commander-in-chief must certainly give front-line generals sufficient autonomy, but this autonomy must be built under the premise that military orders are not prohibited and within the scope of the king's orders. I can send you to a certain place to act on camera, but if you dare to disobey even the most basic orders and do your own thing, is it necessary to do so in response to the changing situation, or do you not have the commander in mind at all?

Besides, Guo Mo is in Xiaopingjin, Chenggao is far away, and the fast horse can only arrive in an hour or two, what can't you wait for, can't you get my approval before you start the action?

Even Tao Kan said: "This wind can't last long." ”

Pei Gai secretly smiled bitterly, and said in his heart that Guo Mo had been acting alone in Hanoi, and had no attachment - he was just accepting the nominal leadership of Ha Yin and Jinyang - I was probably not used to accepting orders from my superiors when I first came to me...... Although this matter is annoying, but at the moment of the great enemy, I really can't give him too much face. So he shook his head: "Ling Weishen, Shen Weiyan, my fault is also, Guo Sidao is not guilty." "Now I can only pretend to be magnanimous and show the messenger for the time being.

Then he asked Pei and Tao: "Ran Qing and the others think that Guo Sidao's plan is feasible?" ”

Tao Kan nodded: "It seems to be feasible." "Guo Mo is the head snake of Hanoi after all, he went to stir up the muddy water and cause a little trouble to Hu Jun, he must still be able to do it, but-" It's useless, so you don't have to hope. ”

Pei Wei also said: "Unless Guo can really cut off the thief's food and make his whole army collapse, it will be difficult to break the order!" ”

Pei Gai had a plan in his heart, so he turned his head and said to the messenger: "I will reply with a letter, and you will return to General Guo as soon as possible." He picked up the pen and was just about to write, when suddenly a tremor came, and his wrist couldn't help shaking, and the ink fell on the paper - it's a pity that a good piece of paper can only be cut to make a draft.

Immediately changed a piece of paper, hastily wrote a reply, first not very fiercely accusing Guo Mo of violating the order, and then asked Guo Mo: "Today, thousands of people, in Hanoi, do not kill or injure, and return in the whole division." If you lose your teacher, you will not be rewarded for your merit; If the whole teacher is in charge, the crime of violating the order may be deductible. "I don't have much hope for you, I just ask you not to take any chances, and don't fold all these thousand people into it.

After the envoy received the letter, Pei Wei began to speak, questioning Pei Gai's decision: "Is it too indulgent to treat Guo Mou? ”

Pei Gai said: "He attached himself to me at the beginning, and if he was a guest army, he should not be too demanding; And after this war, we will calmly restrain it. ”

Pei Wei said again: "I hope that Guo Mo will go to mourn his teacher - there are only a thousand people left and right, and they are all from his old department." If he returns empty, so that the king will be responsible for disobeying the order, he will not dare to accept it, and it will be easy to control. ”

Tao Kan shook his head and objected: "If you can complete the division, Guo Mo will return to ask for a reward; If he loses his teacher, I don't think he will dare to come back......"

As he was talking, Gao Le sent someone to report that the siege vertebrae of the Hu army were coming up and were storming the city gate, and Zhen Sui had already led some brave men to go down to the city to guard. Pei Cai thought about it for a while, then summoned Wen Lang in and instructed him: "Qing Ke can lead the crossbowmen to prevent Hu soldiers from entering the city." "I'm not afraid to really let Hu Bing in, if the problem is that the city gate is broken and the defenders don't collapse, I'm afraid that my own reality will soon be revealed......

——————————

Liu Xun wanted the city walls and city gates, and attacked them at the same time, making the city defenders difficult to take care of and overstretched. The idea was good, but unfortunately there was no detailed plan, and as soon as the focus of the main general's attention shifted from the city wall to the city gate, the momentum of the ladder ant immediately weakened. Zhen Sui was keenly aware that there was no danger in the city, so he left half of the people to continue to act as a "fire team", and he led the rest of the people to the city gate.

In front of the city gate, a captain led a team of more than 100 people, who were carrying stones, trees, and earth bags, ready to block the city gate at any time. Zhen Sui waved his hand and said: "Don't block it first, if the thief breaks the door, the master will ask for a good kill here!" As soon as the words fell, I saw Wen Lang straddle the tall horse and lead more than 100 people to rush over, Zhen Sui couldn't help shouting: "The governor asked me to rescue the city guards, why do you do anything?" Do you dare to come and steal the credit?! ”

Wen Lang replied with a cold face: "Zhengnai Du Governor has ordered me to lead the crossbowmen here, and strictly ordered that the thieves should not be allowed to step into the city gate. ”

Zhen Sui waved his hand again and again: "Retreat, retreat, there is me here, why expose the crossbowman?" If I can't resist the thief, it's not too late for you to go up! ”

Wen Lang is usually Pei Gai's subordinate governor, although the number of men and horses under him is not large, he always feels that he is a head higher than other battalion governors, and he is used to looking at his colleagues with white eyes, but he only dares to provoke Zhen Sui - that guy is really barbaric, he can only reason with his fists! Once there is a conflict, this is not a pre-battle fight, definitely not riding a horse, not using weapons, but in terms of empty-handed hand-to-hand combat, I really don't have the certainty of winning him......

Therefore, seeing Zhen Sui's fierce words, Wen Lang did not dare to step forward again, so he had to order the crossbowmen of the department to be a hundred steps away from the city gate, use the private house as a cover, and lie dormant for the time being.

In just a few moments, the city gate has been slammed six or seven times, and the bows and arrows, wood and stones on the city obviously have no stopping effect. Since the city wall of Chenggao is less than three zhang, the city gate is naturally smaller, the height is half a zhang (about 3.6 meters), the width is three steps (about 4.2 meters), and only allows two cars to run in parallel. Although the two city gates are complete, they have gone through wind and rain, the skin paint has faded, mottled and scattered, and I am afraid that there are a lot of cavities inside, and I am afraid that they will be broken after three or five heavy blows.

In fact, the siege vertebrae may not be able to chisel the entire city gate easily, the main force is the wooden door latch as thick as a human arm, once the latch is broken, the natural door opens. Theoretically, to prevent the city gate, it is necessary to strengthen the inside of the city gate with wood and stone, especially the door latch, and then make the soldiers firmly resist it with manpower. However, Zhen Sui ordered the captain to lead the soldiers to retreat to the side for the time being, so that there was no need to block the door first-the old man was not happy to kill in the city, so he took this opportunity to loosen his hands and feet.

He took off the big bow on his back, put on the arrow, and watched on guard. Sure enough, I heard an earth-shattering loud noise, and even the ground under my feet trembled, and then there was a "click", and the door latch broke from it, and the two doors separated from the left and right. However, the power of the siege vertebrae was half eaten by the latch of the gate, so the gate was only more than five feet wide.

Zhen Sui immediately shot with a full bow, he was less than twenty steps away from the Hu soldiers who crashed into the city, and he really didn't even need to aim, and the arrow was in the middle of the front door of a Hu army warrior - the shields raised by the soldiers next to him were all guarding the city, and did not cover the front. The man immediately fell to the sky, and in the blink of an eye, the warrior who was in the lead on the other side was also killed by an arrow.

Zhen Sui brought more than 40 people to block the door, it was he who chose the bravery, naturally everyone was good at shooting, and at the moment the arrows were fired in unison, shooting nearly half of the Hu Jun warriors. The rest of the people could no longer carry the siege vertebrae—mainly because the people in front of them had fallen and their center of gravity was unstable—and the giant tree was pointed downwards and crashed into the dust.

However, the guards next to him also reacted, some of them hurriedly pushed the city gate, and others rushed to the city gate with swords and shields. Zhen Sui abandoned the bow, shouted violently, pounced on the knife, and the knife went with him, and a Hu soldier immediately fell, and his huge head flew straight into the air with blood......

Before Zhen Sui rushed up, he didn't forget to greet him first, and the captain who was shrinking next to him got the order and hurriedly led the crowd to follow, but they didn't participate in the fight, but just worked together to firmly hold the city gate from the inside, so as not to open the city gate. The crack in the door five or six feet wide in the middle only allowed two or three people to crowd in, and Zhen Sui's warriors didn't have to step forward, watching as their own battalion governor had one person and one knife, blocking the city gate and killing Yixing Feifei.

But soon it didn't work, and the Hu soldiers who climbed the ladder next to him saw that the city gate was broken, and they flocked to it one after another, crowding people and grabbing people, and came to push the city gate together. The space inside the city gate was limited, and only half of the captain's subordinates were crowded through, and it was gradually difficult to support, and the city gate opened wider and wider, and more and more Hu soldiers tried to rush into the city. Zhen Sui's subordinates joined the battlefield one after another, and Zhen Sui took the opportunity to take a few steps back, changed the handle of the knife - the previous blade was already full of crumbles - and then stepped up again.

The drums outside the city became more and more urgent, and the corpses in front of the city gate became higher and higher, and the latecomers rushed to the city gate completely stepping on the corpses of their comrades. Zhen Sui was already covered in blood—I don't know how much of his own—but he still shouted that he would not retreat, but many of the brave people around him were already dead or wounded. Wen Lang looked at the cold sweat on his hands from behind, and hurriedly ordered the crossbowman to step forward and send a crossbow to help.

——————————

Crossbows, an ancient weapon, can be divided into three categories according to their specifications. The first is the hand crossbow, which is the same as the bow, it is all based on the arm force to stretch the string (the mechanical crossbow with the upper pulley or even the gear), compared with the bow and arrow, the rate of fire is slow, the range is short, the only advantage is that you don't have to rush to fire after pulling it away, you can aim for a long time; The second is the bed crossbow, which can be played by many people, and the power is huge, and it belongs to the battlefield in this year, but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed at all.

Between hand crossbows and bed crossbows, there are also medium-sized crossbows that still rely on the strength of a single person, but not only arm strength, such as waist tension crossbows, knee tension crossbows, and kick (open with feet) crossbows, in addition to a slower rate of fire, their power and range are already above ordinary foot bows.

The Han Dynasty was extremely heavy on crossbows, and even developed the "repeating crossbow" - it was really not Zhuge Liang's original, he was just an improver - with a strong crossbow and a chariot, and the formation was used to break the Hun cavalry, which made great contributions. However, after the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the scale of cavalry battles increased, because medium-sized crossbows were not easy to cast immediately, and this gradually declined.

The Jin Dynasty should be the last glorious period of crossbowmen, but Pei Gai rarely saw crossbows in both the Shile army and the Jin army. When he was in Xuzhou, he planned to make more powerful crossbows to break the enemy, and then he found that the cost of the Dare Medium Crossbow was almost twice as much as that of an ordinary bow, or even more...... I said how is it rare in the army, when the Western Jin Dynasty was strong, it is estimated that there were a lot of crossbows, after a long period of war, gradually destroyed, at this time, the big guys are all poor, and there is no money left to build new crossbows......

Fortunately, although there is not much money left in Xuzhou, there are still some of them, and Pei Zhijun can be allowed to waste thousands of dollars to do experiments. Pei Gai not only formed a pseudo-"armored cavalry", but also made more than 100 crossbows to equip his own troops. Today, he was afraid that once the city gate was broken, he would not dare to fire his bow and arrows in the chaos of the battle—it would be too easy to hurt his own people—so he specially sent Wen Lang out with a strong crossbow to facilitate aiming, so as to kill and injure the enemy soldiers in the melee.

Wen Lang gave the order, and the crossbowmen who had been ambushed everywhere immediately jumped forward with low bodies - in fact, even if they did not move, the range was enough, but if the distance was far, even if it was a crossbow, it was difficult to ensure the accuracy of the head - until they were about thirty paces away from the warband, they stepped on the crossbow, set up their arrows, and then each looked for their targets. In the first round of crossbow shooting, more than a dozen Hu soldiers who were fighting with Zhen Sui and others were shot like hedgehogs. It's a pity that the rate of fire is too slow, if it is divided into three rounds and fired continuously, it is estimated that Hu Bing will be able to be pressed out of the city on the spot.

After all, Wen Lang did not specialize in commanding crossbowmen, and he didn't know what a "three-stage shot" was......

Hot book recommendation: The new work of the catty god ", the new book of the god of forgetting, the new book of Chen Fengxiao, the new book of the god of taste