Chapter 4 Section 65 Feints

"Siege the city, the poor have the poor to fight, the rich to fight, come, recall the generals, and re-determine the siege plan." Attacking the city with 600,000 arrows, with the shooting speed of the Qingzhou soldiers, is only enough for two days, and it is necessary to make progress within two days, and even, in order to deal with the subsequent street battles, it is necessary to climb the city wall within a day and a half.

According to Dian Wei, the north gate has been blocked by wood and stone, so even if the north city tower is captured, it is impossible to open the north gate in a hurry, so attack from the west gate. The north gate was only contained, and Guan Hai's Violent Bear Legion feintmed, and the Guards Infantry Army attacked the west gate. The attack was carried out a day in advance, prepared tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

In the year 397 of the Han calendar (the second year of the first peace, 191 AD), the fourth day of May, summer, sunny. In Liu Bei's military camp, all the troops raised their battle flags and began to attack Yecheng.

At first, the thunder horses roared to the west gate, and each of them threw the two bags of soil they carried with them into the city. Soon the wolf cavalry followed, and also began to throw dirt bags. In a matter of moments, 20,000 bags of dirt were piled up into one large bag.

With this small bag as the core, the Guards Infantry began to approach the bag from one side, dumping scattered pieces of earth on the bag, filling in the gaps between the bags, and piling up a large slope on the outside of the wall.

With this large earthen bag as a shield, most of the arrows shot by the defenders in the city were absorbed by the earth mountain. After the earth mountain was piled up, the soldiers continued to climb the mountain bag with their shields on their shoulders, and threw the earth bags from behind the mountain to the front of the mountain. In the evening of the same day, the front of the conical earthen bag came into contact with the city wall.

After that, it was the turn of the left cavalry of the guards led by Huang Zhong to go into battle, and the cavalry rushed up the small dirt mountain one after another and began to trample on the dirt bag. At first, the cavalry climbed shallowly to the edge of the hill, waited for the ground to be solidified, and then climbed a little higher, and finally, the higher the cavalry climbed, the more the earth on the side of the hill away from the city wall was trampled on.

In the city, Yuan Shao was frightened by Liu Bei's fierce attack on the first day, although the Qingzhou soldiers did not fire a single arrow that day, but this attitude of hard work made Yuan Shao fearful. Yuan Shao gathered all the generals overnight to discuss whether it was necessary to go out of the city to attack Liu Bei.

"The Guards Legion, the West Gate is attacking the Guards Legion, and the Thunder Horse Wolf Rider also comes to help, which shows that the West Gate is Liu Bei's main direction of attack, and the North Gate has been blocked by earth and stones, even if Liu Bei captures it, it will not be able to open the city gate for a while and a half. Liu Bei's army is mostly cavalry, he can't open the city gate, and the infantry alone can't take Yecheng, attacking the west gate can allow the cavalry to quickly enter the city, and his main direction of attack must be the west gate. "Feng Ji made a judgment.

The judge narrowed his eyes, stroked his short beard under his chin and added: "Accumulating soil mountains, he must have felt that the siege force was insufficient, and he was ready to take advantage of the wide walls of Yecheng to use the cavalry to ascend the city and sweep our army along the city walls, so there was a cavalry trampling and tamping the earth mountain." ”

The strategists gossiped and showed their strategies, and after a while, a consensus was reached that Ximen Tushan must push dao to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of it. However, how to push the hard work of tens of thousands of people in a moment, the strategists were helpless.

"Prepare to hook and scratch, the earth mountain has only been built for a short time, his core is the soil bag, and when the soil bag is opened, the hill will collapse." Xun Chen suggested.

There is only one way, but who to send out of the city?

The generals looked at each other, their faces were fearful, and they were speechless.

Yuan Shaojun can fight the most is Liyi, the most courageous is Yan Liangwen Chou, now, these three people have been killed in the hands of Liu Bei, field battles, in the face of the brave Qingzhou soldiers, who dares to say that there is a certainty of victory?

Yuan Shao was displeased, and coldly Jiang Yiqu, the general and Zhao Rong, the cavalry governor, ordered: "The two of you, each with 3,000 troops, one of you will feint to attack the small village of the west gate of the Qingzhou soldiers, and the other will destroy the soil mountain." ”

Jiang Yiqu Zhao Rong had a difficult face, and the strategist Guo Tu comforted: "The two generals don't need to worry, Liu Bei's main village is at the north gate and the south gate, and the guards of the small village at the west gate are busy all day, piling up dirt mountains, and now is the time to sleep, as long as the two generals go out quickly and return to the city before Liu Bei's reinforcements, the Qingzhou soldiers will be caught off guard." ”

As soon as he heard this, Jiang Yiqu and Zhao Rong were immediately pleased, and the general Chun Yuqiong immediately jumped out and asked to go out of the city to attack. Considering that a brave general was really needed to fight out of the city, Yuan Shao ordered: Chun Yuqiong led the army to attack the small village at the west gate of Qingzhou, and Zhao Rong and Jiang Yiqu jointly destroyed Tushan.

The three generals were ordered to leave, and everyone was uneasy in their hearts, and they all stayed in Yuan Shaozhou's pastoral mansion to wait for news.

Suddenly, the soldiers at the North Gate reported urgently: Liu Beijun took advantage of the cover of night, approached the city wall with a chariot, and was filling in the moat.

Guo Tu said happily: "Okay, the Yecheng moat is drawn from the water, it is living water, I see how he fills the moat." Liu Bei's attention is at the north gate, and our army will be able to win a complete victory when attacking the west gate this time. ”

Feng Ji frowned and said silently, and said while pondering: "Liu Bei's main camp is at the north gate, and he first attacked the west gate, and now, under the cover of night, he began to attack the north gate, could it be that his main attack direction is still the north gate." ”

As soon as these words came out, Feng Ji frowned again. Suddenly, the strategist Xu You, who had never spoken, jumped up: "Lord, immediately recall the Ximen army, Liu Bei's Ximen attack is a feint, Ximen is brazenly attacking, and the situation is dangerous." ”

Feng Ji Huoran stood up, stood for a moment, sat down slowly, and said: "Since the earth mountain of the West Gate is not Liu Bei's main direction of attack, but the presence of it is too much of a threat to the defense of our West Gate, it is best to attack it as a test." ”

The judge couldn't sit still: "Lord, please let me go to the west gate and move at the opportunity." ”

Xu You said slowly: "I'm afraid, Liu Bei chased after the defeated soldiers and took the opportunity to enter the city." ”

Feng Ji was in a cold sweat: "My lord, please send Zhengnan (trial) to the west gate immediately, command on the spot, if our army wins, we can open the city and release people, otherwise, we will close the city and hold on." ”

Guo Tu said dissatisfiedly: "If this is the case, these 6,000 soldiers, as well as the three generals, will be completely explained to Liu Bei, the defense of Yecheng still needs to rely on Chun Yuqiong's bravery, 6,000 soldiers are not a small number, the Ximen assault is not sure, it is better to recall." ”

Yuan Shao couldn't sit still: "Fu Tu (Feng Ji), if this is the case, we will recall Chun Yuqiong and the other three generals." ”

Feng Ji shook his head: "The two armies are in conflict, and we must not change the order overnight." The army has already set off, and it is too late to recover it, and if it is not able to catch up, it will affect morale, my lord, please ask Zhengnan (trial) to go to Ximen immediately."

When the sky was dark, bad news came, Liu Bei used the hillside to block the view on the city wall, and dug a hundred Tibetan pits behind the dirt mountain, and bravely led Dian Wei to hide in the pit with a hundred soldiers. Chun Yuqiong led the troops to attack, just met Dian Wei, the two fought for a round, Dian Wei smashed down with an axe, smashed Chun Yuqiong's horse backbone, and then, the sharp axe swing cut off Chun Yuqiong's head.

Jiang Yiqu and Zhao Rong came to help, and the right cavalry of the guards led by Ye Tian suddenly arrived, and drove the two into the city from afar, and the trial was closed to the city, and the two were forced to surrender to Liu Bei. At this point, the general of Yecheng was lost, and the people in the city were panicked.

Finally led out the Yecheng defenders, but failed to take the opportunity to attack the city, Liu Bei was depressed, Jiang Yiqu Zhao Rong's explanation made Liu Bei laugh: "Yecheng is empty!" A newly built small dirt slope, the soil is soft, the attack surface is narrow, and it is impossible to deploy troops, and a brave general can block the enemy from ascending the city from the earth mountain, and the Yecheng city will actually think that I want to use the dirt slope to transport cavalry. Hahaha, let Yecheng see the real purpose of the soil slope tomorrow. ”

At dawn, at the north gate of Yecheng, hundreds of pointed wooden donkey carts were launched in Liu Bei's camp, which used the carriage site as a mobile device, and its bottom was empty, and the occupants were pushing the cart forward. The roof of the car is covered with thick wooden planks, and the lap is pointed to reduce the destructive power of the rolling wood thunderstone. It is then covered with raw cowhide for fireproofing. Inside the car was a giant hand drill, which was specially designed to destroy the masonry on the city walls.

The wooden donkey cart approached the moat in a torrential rain of arrows, and began to lay steel pipes on the moat, and soon the wooden donkey cart retreated, and the cart began to erect planks on the steel pipes, and several simple wooden bridges appeared by the moat. Then, the wooden donkey cart stepped forward again, and pushed the cart that had been damaged by the rolling wood and thunder stones at the head of the city into the river, blocking the flowing water.

Subsequently, the wooden donkey cart approached the city wall and destroyed it with the giant diamond it carried. At the head of the city, the soldiers of the Yuan army kept dumping fire oil and setting the wooden donkeys on fire. The Light Cavalry Division, which belonged to the Storm Bear Legion, was composed of Samhan soldiers and immediately stepped forward and suppressed the defenders at the head of the city with bows and arrows.

The people of the Samhan area were called Yiren before the Han Dynasty. The so-called Yi is a person who bears a bow and arrow. The northeast is densely forested, and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula is all mountainous, since ancient times, the men of Samhan have been hunting in the forests to support their families, and the boys' toys since childhood are bows and arrows, so they were called "Yi" by the ancient Chinese. After the thunder oath, Qingzhou opened the bow and crossbow trade to Sanhan, and as Qingzhou's oldest ally, Sanhan also enjoyed various privileges that other tribes could not enjoy.

The trade between Samhan and Cheongju was mainly in exchange for grain for consumer goods. After successive bumper grain harvests, grain prices fell and trade gradually became unbalanced. Later, Cheongju officials developed the habit of drinking ginseng tea, and this specialty in the Samhan forest became one of their means of offsetting the trade imbalance. And another means is: go to Izumo in Qingzhou to buy a bow, become an archer as a soldier, and earn military salaries.

Many Samhan men gained military merit in Izumo in Cheongju and gained residency in both places, and some returned to their hometowns with large sums of money to move their families. Due to the mutual recognition of the military exploits of Cheongju and Samhan, these people gained enough respect from the local officials when they returned home. As for the meritorious soldiers of Samhan who are inseparable from their homeland, because of the mutual recognition of military merits and titles, they can easily get the opportunity to participate in politics after returning to their hometowns. Because of their knowledge and experience of literacy in the army, they became a bridge between the village and Izumo, Qingzhou. Through them, a large amount of Samhan's local products were sold to other places. The demonstration effect of these people made the villagers eager to try. Therefore, among the Qingzhou soldiers, there are more and more archers from the three Koreas.

Strictly speaking, this light cavalry division should be called the archery division, it is the only single-arm division under Liu Bei, which specializes in recruiting Sanhan men who are good at archery to form a cavalry division. When the light cavalry division approached the city wall, the good archers in the division shot a few arrows and landed on the city, and the soldiers at the head of the city were feeling bad, these men shouted in indistinct Chinese: "300 feet, 7 elevation angles, eight-point bow." ”

What this means is: 300 Izumo feet (or cloud rulers, that is, 300 meters) from the head of the city, shoot at an elevation angle of 70 degrees, and the bow is stretched for eight points.

"Cover the shot", one of the officers shouted the most chilling order. Covering shooting means that each person stands at a good interval and shoots indiscriminately at the target, this kind of shooting does not pay attention to speed and accuracy, but only requires that the specified area be evenly covered with a rain of arrows within the specified time, and all living animals in the place are emptied.

There was a "hum" of bowstring trembling, and the aftermath was faint. With a "boom", 3,000 arrows fell on the city wall, and the world fell silent. Later, earth-shattering screams, wails, and struggles rang out.

"Supplementary shooting", the officer coldly spat out two words, and another rain of arrows flew away, and the sound above the city suddenly fell.

"The whole formation is shifted 100 feet to the left, and the bow and arrow are ready", the officer gave the order again.

At the head of the city, the shouts of the generals of the Yuan army were hoarse: "Step forward, step forward to fill the position, and continue to throw stones." ”

At the same time, at the west gate, three large nest carts slowly pushed to the top of the dirt mountain, each nest cart had ten soldiers on board, four with shields to guard, and six with bows and crossbows to shoot accurately and suppress the city.

The small dirt hill was piled up two and a half meters high, and the nest cart was about two meters high, and it climbed the hillside, and the archers on the nest cart were just at eye level with the soldiers on the city wall. Under the pressure of bows and crossbows, the soldiers on the walls had to walk on the ground with shields.

The attack at the north gate restrained most of Yuan Shao's troops, and the Yecheng garrison could not judge the main attack direction of the Qingzhou soldiers at present, and did not dare to easily mobilize the reserves. As a result, the counterattack of the siege soldiers of the West Gate was not strong. They continued to frantically reinforce and pile up dirt bags, and in a few moments, the length of the dirt hill expanded into a causeway, which was just outside the west gate.

Several more nest carts were pushed up the earthen embankment, two of which were stone throwers instead of crossbowmen. They lassoed a small burning earthen pot with a short rope (Ethiopian throwing rope), danced in a circular motion on their heads, and when the speed was sufficient, the burning pot came out of their hands under the action of centrifugal force and was thrown onto the city wall. Some fire pots rolled a few times over the walls and continued to burn. Some of the pots shattered, and the oil was sprinkled on the walls, and the wind fueled the fire, and the masonry began to burn.

In the past, Qingzhou's oil bombs were fueled by vegetable oil, but unfortunately, the combustion effect of vegetable oil was not sufficient, and in addition, the fire oil bombs made from this were expensive. Most importantly, Liu Bei did not approve of using edible vegetable oil as a weapon and throwing it at the enemy. At this time, the large amount of coal tar produced in the steelmaking process could not be processed, and the simple dumping and burial were resolutely opposed by Zhou Yi and others. As the problem became more and more serious, Zheng Hun proposed: make coal tar into oil bombs.

This proposal addresses two difficult challenges. At this moment, the soldiers on the nest car threw the core of the fire oil bomb. In order to increase the power of this fire oil bomb (and also to dispose of garbage), a lot of iron ore slag was added to the crockpot. Zheng Hun's idea was that the burning oil bombs could burn the slag red, and then splash and shoot in all directions, scorching the enemy.

The main chemical component of coal tar is benzene, which emits a pungent odor when burned, causing the soldiers at the head of the city to cry. The yellow smoke rose, very weird, even the Qingzhou soldiers who threw were shocked by this phenomenon and slowed down their throwing speed.

"Boom" There was a loud sound of the sky falling and the earth cracking, and the earth shook and the mountains shook. The soldiers on the wall of the north gate could not stand on their heels, and rolled into a piece. Outside the city wall, the attacking Qingzhou soldiers were also frightened by this loud noise, and the cavalry and horses neighed, and the formation was chaotic. The infantry, on the other hand, panicked, looked around for the officer, asked why, and the officer was at a loss, and ordered the company to organize the ranks. The catapult that had just walked out of the camp rolled the stone bullets to the ground, and the soldiers hurriedly chased the stone bullets.

"Good luck", Liu Bei looked at the chaotic scene, his eyes slowly moved to the direction of the West Gate, and he was secretly happy in his heart.