In the governance of Guzang Prefecture, when there was an endless debate over how to deal with the biggest crisis in the history of Liangzhou, Liu Zhao, the king of Zhongshan Liu Yue, who had been stationed outside Jincheng County for more than ten days, made a move.

Liu Yue, who had ordered his Han people and Qiang foot soldiers to go to the mountains and forests to cut wood and make all kinds of siege equipment, looked proudly at the various ladders, siege vehicles, huge shields, and a few rudimentary trebuchets behind the camp.

The siege of the city was not something the Huns were good at. Moreover, it is really unwise to sacrifice not many of his own people to besiege the siege city. Therefore, the Xiongnu nobles have long reached a consensus on this: to use their own people, who are valuable and powerful in combat and good at riding and shooting, to drive those lowly Han and Qiang people to climb the city wall. In this way, no matter how heavy the casualties were paid, the Huns would never feel heartache for this.

Anyway, under their rule, there are many of these Han and Qiang people. In this era of scarcity of materials and almost extravagant survival, giving them a bite to eat can often exchange these lowly ants for their lives. Of course, those who have made war exploits can also get a generous reward from the Huns. Therefore, these people who are cornered by survival are often brave in battle.

The composition of the Zhao army was too complicated, but the Huns, who were relatively small in number, were always able to control the other tribes well, not only relying on the strong combat power of their own warriors, squeezing the living space of the other tribes, and giving them a little favor in exchange for the temporary allegiance of these people who could barely survive.

In the early morning of 14 August, Liu Yue launched the first round of exploratory attacks on Jincheng County, and invested more than 5,000 mixed troops of Qiang and Han Chinese. On the edge of the river, three camps and armies gathered. Liu Yueqin led 5,000 Hun cavalry to suppress the formation, and planned to find an opportunity to provide long-range support to the soldiers in the city.

At the moment when the sun was rising, those poor Zhao army foot soldiers had already set up ladders, or a group of men and horses pushing the siege chariot, or pushing the shield chariot, under the protection of the huge oars and shields in front, they all rushed towards Jincheng County.

Although Zhang Lang had already prepared for the battle of defending the city, he was still unsure. Although today's Jincheng County is not the same as in the past, the city wall has been increased to three zhang, and the defensive facilities such as the arrow tower and the enemy female wall battlement are also readily available. Moreover, the Guangwu County Government also deliberately transported thousands of stone soybean oil, and rushed to make bows, crossbows and arrows.

According to the advice of the 100 generals in the Guangwu army, now on the city wall, dozens of cauldrons have already been erected, seeing the Zhao army attacking today, Zhang Lang ordered the soldiers to take out soybean oil from the city treasury and pour these dozens of cauldrons.

The 100 generals in the Guangwu army specially advised that after the oil in the pot was boiling, it was necessary to immediately extinguish the fire, so as not to cause the soybean oil in the pot to spontaneously combust due to the high temperature. If the soybean oil in the pot is burned to spontaneous combustion in the slightly narrow city, it is foreseeable that it will be an irreparable disaster.

Seeing that the Zhao army was menacing, Zhang Lang ordered the army to beat the trumpet and drum, reminding the army to immediately bring weapons to the city to prepare to resist the attack of the Zhao army.

The crossbowmen were armed with crossbows and quivers, and each entered the predetermined position. Or the battlements of the city wall, or the arrow tower of the city gate. Get ready. The rest of the foot soldiers were carrying a steady stream of arrows from the treasury to the bottom of the city, and then they were carried up by manpower or rope hangings for the use of crossbowmen.

Since Han Pu led his troops into Jincheng at the end of last year, the number of arrows transferred by the state and Guangwu to Jincheng County has exceeded 300,000. It's enough to last quite a long time. It was precisely because of these sufficient armaments that Zhang Lang had a little more confidence from the bottom of his heart to defend Jincheng and fight against the Zhao army, which had a huge numerical advantage.

The Zhao army will form a rather loose formation and slowly advance from the headquarters of their large camp towards Jincheng County. In the front row are those sturdy shield cars. Behind the shield car were those Qiang and Han miscellaneous soldiers who held a shield in one hand and a ladder in the other, like cannon fodder in the eyes of the generals of the Zhao army. In front of the city gate, a siege vehicle with a wooden structure and covered with cowhide was slowly approaching the city gate.

When Jincheng County was set up in the Western Han Dynasty, the city repairers actually opened eight gates for it. However, Zhang Lang took advantage of the end of last year, when the major project of heightening and strengthening the city wall was underway, and ordered the closure of four of the gates, leaving only the four gates in the east, west, north and south.

There are few city gates, which will naturally cause many inconveniences, which will also affect its prosperity and economic development. However, the merits of this move are also obvious. The lack of gates means that when bearing a military attack, the defending side needs to focus on the breakthrough points of defense, and it is easier for the defending side to dispatch and concentrate troops to defend the key points.

Therefore, Zhang Lang's move can be said to be extremely wise. After all, now Jincheng County has been increased to three zhang, and then a cloud ladder is erected to climb the city, which increases the distance that the attacking soldiers need to climb, so that the defending soldiers have more reaction time to deal with it calmly. In this way, the gates became an even weaker point of defense.

Since the end of last year, the already small number of households in Jincheng County have moved out one after another under the organization of the county government. After all, if there are a large number of households in the city during wartime, it means more food consumption. The time for which the city's existing food stocks could support it was shortened. Moreover, after the city is destroyed, a large number of households often become the target of the enemy's slaughter. Whether it is for military purposes or for people's livelihood, this city, which is destined to become a battlefield, must move out of the people's homes.

The Zhao army slowly advanced under the city. However, the oil pot on the city was not boiling at this time, and the only way to deal with the slow siege car was to use rolling wood and stones.

And those Zhao troops carrying the ladder gradually approached the place of an arrow, and the Zhao army carrying the ladder raised the shield in their hands one after another, blocking the front of themselves to prevent the rain of arrows that the defenders of Jincheng would inevitably attack.

The infantry of the brigade following behind the ladder also raised their shields one after another, preparing to deal with the incoming rain of arrows.

Zhang Lang, who was above the city tower, looked at Zhao Jun who was getting closer and closer under the city, and raised his hand with a stern expression. The drummer behind him immediately clenched the drumstick in his hand, ready to give a signal under the command of the commander.

And the crossbowmen of Jincheng County at the arrow tower and the battlement mouth are also ready to be wound. To the left of the crossbowmen at each battlement, one or two foot soldiers held long plates, providing cover for the weakly armored robes. There are still hundreds of alternate soldiers on the back of the city, ready to support the battle at the head of the city as soon as the order is given.

As the Zhao army advanced within an arrow, Zhang Lang's raised hand on the city tower immediately waved it decisively. The drummer behind him also immediately struck three times with the drumstick in his hand. The dull and long sound of drums immediately spread through the city.

Listen to the winner and give the signal. On the arrow tower, nearly a thousand crossbowmen near the battlement mouth have buckled the crossbow machine in their hands, or released the two fingers pinching the tail feathers, and the arrows rained down at the head of Jincheng City. This wave of arrows poured straight towards the Zhao army's foot soldiers who were rushing under the city.

Although the Zhao army's foot soldiers had already taken precautions against this, a considerable amount of arrow rain poured down, and many of them still drilled into the Zhao army's array through the gaps in the shields held by their foot soldiers. With a popping sound, the arrows broke through the leather armor they were wearing and then entered the flesh, and dozens of people in the Zhao army fell to the ground.

However, the fall of these dozens of people was just a drop in the ocean for the huge number of Zhao Jun. After a brief period of distraction, the rest of the infantry in Zhao's formation quickly raised their shields to fill the gap left by those fallen soldiers.

The crossbowmen of the Jincheng Army at the head of the city are all skilled in opening their bows and hanging crossbows, and then aiming and shooting. Under the continuous arrow rain offensive of the Jincheng army, in the advance of the Zhao army, there were infantry soldiers who fell to the ground one after another.

However, these Zhao soldiers seemed to be fearless of death, and some of them were shot down, and some of them would immediately come over from the side to fill the vacancy left by the fallen soldiers. In the face of this fierce charge, those Jincheng army crossbowmen in the city could only use a continuous rain of arrows to try to stop the Zhao army's offensive slightly.

However, although the rain of arrows on the city was endless, and the casualties under the city were always accumulating, it failed to make the Zhao army's offensive step retreat slightly.

These Zhao soldiers knew in their hearts that if they hesitated a little in this situation, they would end up dead, and they would also kill the rest of the robes around them. So they didn't dare to be careless, everyone was brave enough to be the first, intending to climb to the top of the city in one fell swoop.

Before the war, Liu Yue, the king of Zhongshan, had already offered high rewards for the first climbers: five catties of gold, 100 horses of brocade, 100 stones of rice grain, 5 cattle, and 20 sheep.

Under such a high reward, these cannon fodder pawns in the Zhao army have long put life and death out of the way. At this time, as the walls of Jincheng County gradually approached, they all became excited. It seems that the reward for the first to reach is within reach!

After the foot soldiers arrived at the city one after another, the Hun cavalry who pressed the formation behind the formation also galloped back and forth. Under the personal leadership and command of Liu Yue, these Hun cavalry soldiers have already pointed the arrows shining with cold light in their hands at the Jincheng soldiers who are guarding the city.

Zhao Jun has set up the ladder. The Zhao soldiers in the rear team soon rushed to the city under the ladder in front of them like a tide. Seeing that the soldiers of Zhao had entered the city one after another, the generals who guarded the head of the city ordered the crossbowmen to retreat temporarily, and then the soldiers at the head of the city carried up heavy rolling wood and stones, and put them at the top of the battlements to prepare for the battlement.

With the orders from their respective generals, the soldiers at the head of the city let go one after another, and the rolling wood and stones, which were as dense as hedgehogs, rolled down one after another.

The rolling wood and stone of the Kaneshiro Army are cylindrical in shape. It is covered with dense iron spikes. However, thick ropes are also tied to the ends of the wooden body, so that after casting, they can also be recycled.

At the same time that the Jincheng army at the head of the city threw down the rolling wood and stones, the five thousand Hun horsemen who were wandering in a place outside the city at a stone's throw bent their bows like a full moon, and then let go of the arrows in their hands and let them shoot densely towards the head of Jincheng City!