When it was twilight recently, walking on the battlefield in front of the wall of the Wei army, Zhou Bian had a deeper understanding of the oppressive atmosphere of this day.

This was originally a suburb of Handan City, you can go south to Fanwu, you can go to the old capital of Zhao State, and you can also go to Daliang, it is the existence of people coming and going, farmland, ancient roads and hawkers, but at this moment, it is a scene like hell on earth. Walking casually, full of broken weapons, blood-stained land, corpses, and charred corpses, there are Wei soldiers looking for the remains of their comrades, and they are also making up for the Zhao soldiers who still have a breath left and have not swallowed them, and from time to time there are seriously injured Zhao soldiers jumping up, startling Zhou Bian, but they were soon pierced by several long swords, and then the Wei soldiers who mended the knives also glanced over, as if they were despising the timidity of the nobles, or maybe they didn't understand why the young king of the Zhou family wanted to run to such a place.

However, Zhou Bian didn't care, in fact, he was only interested occasionally, and then under the layers of guards such as Fan Yu and more than 100 Wei soldiers, he walked dozens of steps away. But I have seen enough, unlike the previous cold weapon battlefield, where there was only blood and death, this time there are many more traces of burning, as well as black smoke that has not been completely extinguished, just like the battlefield of the hot weapon era, charred corpses. Although today's battle has ended, Zhao Bing's crazy scene left a deep impression on Zhou Bian.

The fire on the battlefield was naturally not for no reason, but was brought by Zhao Bing's desperate death. One by one, young faces, with a crazy expression that was not afraid of death, did not care about the interception and killing of the Wei soldiers, one by one, rushed towards the catapult, with firewood and other things tied to their bodies, and even ignited the fire-starting things on their bodies without waiting to get close to the wall, taking advantage of the stunned moments of the Wei soldiers, and using the last strength of their bodies, they rushed towards the catapults.

If there were only a few or dozens of people like this, it would be fine, but to the surprise and even horror of the Wei people, there were thousands of people. So many fire men threw their lives at the catapult, which made Zhou Bian not believe it at all, and the Wei people were also surprised, Zhou Bian noticed that Wei Hou's mouth was wide open, and his face also showed the first solemnity and nervousness since the conquest of Handan.

Fortunately, thousands of people did not rush together, but in batches, after the front hit the Wei army by surprise, the death squad behind was poked to death or stopped by spears, etc., but the tens of thousands of Zhao soldiers covering these death squads gave the Wei army great pressure, not only to deal with these people who would catch fire on their bodies, but also to deal with the fully armed Zhao soldiers behind, the Wei army was quickly overstretched, except for the craftsmen who guarded the catapults, almost all the others, even the guards were sent forward. The order for the Wei army, who had gone out in the morning, to return quickly was also sent down by Wei Hou.

In the back, Zhao Jun was even more frantic, ignoring the life and death of the members of the death squad in front of him, ignoring the regret of some of the daredevils and no longer advancing, but pouring the arrows and javelins tied to the fire-causing objects forward. The battlefield was chaotic, with fire and smoke everywhere, charred corpses hugging each other, and I don't know which one was Zhao Bing and which one was Wei Bing.

Although huge casualties were paid, from the point of view of the purpose of both sides, the Wei army won the final result, because the Wei army's catapults can be said to have been completely saved. Although the Zhao people also desperately rushed close to the catapult, they failed to burn even a single catapult.

The interception of the Wei army and the timely return of large armies were one thing, but the adequate preparation before the war played a great role. It turned out that the craftsmen of the Wei army had prepared water and guarded next to the catapults, and there were some special places for wooden barrels next to each catapult, which was designed on the first day, but Zhou Bian did not notice it in advance. Then, the lower part of each catapult, under the height of two people, was coated with a thick layer of mud, and the base was even buried in the earth, which was clearly fireproof, and also improvisedly before the war. So even if the Zhao Guo death squad touched the catapult, they also sadly found that it couldn't be burned in a short period of time. Seeing this fireproof mud, Zhou Bian was once again stunned by the wisdom of the ancient working people, and he was a little glad in his heart, fortunately he stayed in the Wei army for a while, otherwise he was afraid that he would rely on himself to be a modern person in the future, but he would suffer a big loss in front of the ancient people.

This time, the casualties on both sides were very large, perhaps reaching a ratio of one to one, but after all, the catapult was saved, and the Zhao people paid nearly 10,000 lives, but only burned some of the ropes on the catapult. After all, the rope is made of straw, but this is only a small thing, because it is still very easy to weave straw rope.

After a few hours of madness, Zhao Bing, under the impact of returning to the Wei army, had to Mingjin to collect his troops and return to the city. After that, there was the scene of cleaning the battlefield.

Later, Zhou Bian also knew why a large number of Wei soldiers sent out camps in the morning, it turned out that today was the day when Zhao Guolezuo's army returned to Handan, and the Wei army arranged 80,000 troops, wanting to give full play to the advantages of field warfare, and defeat the tired soldiers of Lezuo who had returned from a long distance outside the city, and it was best to defeat them, so that they could not enter the city.

But at this point, the Zhao army won again, because the madness of the Handan soldiers made Wei Hou have to order the withdrawal of the main force, and had to let the Lezuo army return to Handan safely, so that the ratio of Zhao soldiers to Wei soldiers exceeded one to one for the first time. So today's war is actually a win-win situation and a lose-lose situation, because both sides let the other side fail to succeed, but neither side has succeeded in its own goals.

Neither side of the table sees itself as a winner, so neither side will be satisfied, but the atmosphere is different.

In the Wei camp, there was an indignation, that was the indignation of failing to do the best, that was the indignation of the high jumper who failed to break the record. Wei Hou was naturally angry, first, he failed to stop the Lezuo army, which was inconsistent with the reputation of the Wei army as the first in the field, Wei Hou's face was gloomy, and secondly, in order to block the Zhao people's determination to destroy the catapult, the Wei soldiers suffered too many casualties, which also made Wei Hou unacceptable. So the Marquis of Wei was roaring, and the Wei generals were brewing a fierce plan against Handan City to vent their anger.

In the Zhao Palace, there was a sense of grief and indignation, a kind of depression that failed to meet the basic requirements, and that was the depression of the person who fell off the cliff and failed to grasp the tree closest to the edge of the cliff. Zhao Hou was naturally also angry, with nearly 10,000 dead and wounded, and he didn't even burn a catapult, which made Zhao Hou unbelievable and couldn't understand why. A cadre of ministers and generals knelt on the ground, it was getting late, the maids lightly lit the fire, and Zhao Hou's anger was still not extinguished.

There are two columns of His Royal Highness, each headed by Tai Wuwu and Le Zuo, who has just returned to the city. Tai Wuwu just knelt on the ground because of his age, but Le Zuo knelt on the ground, and he had already asked for a few sins for delaying too much time in Lingshou. Le Zuo also repeatedly said that after the army rested, he would definitely go out of the city to fight to the death with the Wei army to wash away the humiliation of these days.

"It's better to ask Qi Han Chu for help, most of Korea may not necessarily come, Chu is far away, and there is a big Liang city in the middle, most of them can only count on Qi State, it is better to choose a person who can speak, and the land or compensation can be discussed." Zhao Hou said this, and the atmosphere was very depressing.

After all, they still have to sleep at night, and after the two sides discussed it, Zhao Gong and Wei Ying turned off the lights one after another. The night after the battle was unusually silent, except for the lights of the guards, only the wails of the wounded.

On the way home, Tai Wuwu and Le Zuo sat in the same car, in a short period of time, the two military and political leaders of Zhao exchanged opinions on the war during this time, analyzed the prospects, and finally unanimously decided on the countermeasures of the night attack, although it may not be effective, but in addition to asking for help, maybe this is the only way.

The next day was a sunny day, the Wei people were still cleaning the battlefield and continuing to build the wall, the catapults were still wielding, it seemed to be even more crazy than the previous days, and even threw some burning fireballs on the wall of Handan, perhaps this was the first step to vent their anger.

The Zhao people are still being a shrunken turtle, but the difference is that the general Le Zuo quietly came to the city wall and experienced a legendary flying stone rain, and finally completely agreed with Tai Wuwu's description of the power of catapults.

The next days seem to be very dull, every day the southern city wall of Handan will be baptized by two or three hours of flying stone rain, in addition to continuing to build the wall, the Wei army has no more actions, and the Zhao people also seem to have been used to hiding in the shadow behind the city wall when the flying stone rain is falling, and then desperately repair the city wall at night to ensure that the city wall does not collapse, at this point, the two sides seem to be competing with the people and craftsmen. But everyone knew that the fierce offensive of the Wei army was bound to be behind.

Finally, on the first day of September, on a crisp day, the Wei army finally officially began the siege.

If the rain of flying stones in front is a prelude, the well-trained Wei soldiers attached to the city with a ladder are a formal movement for this siege battle.

In the early morning of this day, as before, the flying stone rain that Zhao Bing was accustomed to arrived on time. Unexpectedly, it stopped in half an hour, and when the recruits who risked their lives to observe the Wei army at the head of the city cautiously stretched out their heads hiding behind the battlements, and looked nervously at the opposite side, suddenly, he couldn't help shouting, "The Wei army is attacking the city!" ”

"The Wei army is attacking the city!"

Such a cry sounded at the same time in several places on the southern city wall, and it was particularly piercing in the rare silence after the rain of flying stones stopped. The Zhao army, who had gathered in a safe area behind the city wall, suddenly panicked, and a general who was hiding behind the city wall couldn't help but lean out and shouted, "Is it attacking the city with flying stones, or are the Wei soldiers rushing over?" ”

"It's Wei Bing here! It's Wei Bing coming! There are siege equipment, and they are going to attack it! ”

"Shut up!" The general immediately shouted. However, he didn't have time to reprimand this unlucky soldier, so he immediately ran to the barracks behind. "Quick, quick, quick! On the city wall, the Wei soldiers are coming! ”

When more than 10,000 Handan soldiers who had already been prepared climbed the city wall, Zhao found that the Wei soldiers were still a few hundred steps away from the city wall. Also, the range of the catapult is very long, so the Wei soldiers have to run for half a day to get close to the city wall, so the Zhao people couldn't help but wipe their sweat for the panic just now, and calmly began to arrange the city defense.

Finally returned to the normal siege mode, Zhao Ren couldn't help but think like this.

But soon they found that even in the normal mode, the Wei soldiers were as fierce, and on the first day of attacking the city, they once attacked the city wall, and it seemed that they were only a little short of breaking the city. Almost all the Zhao people were so nervous that they fought for their lives.

Generally, the defenders of the city have an advantage, and those who climbed the city wall on the first day are still very few in the era of cold weapons, and it is said that the gap between the two armies will not be so big, but if you think about it carefully, it will be clear that the southern city wall of Handan has been riddled with potholes under the washing of flying stones for more than ten days, and the female wall is naturally not, and Zhao Bing is also nervous for many days, after all, the initiative is in the Wei army, and the Wei soldiers have been recuperating for many days.

This result made Wei Hou very satisfied, but it made Zhao Hou very nervous.

And the most worrying thing happened to Taiwuwu, the next day the Wei soldiers did not dispatch, but let the catapult work for a day, and on the third day, the Wei soldiers attached themselves again, if it was really carried out alternately, day after day, Handan City was really in danger.

However, on this day, the Wei army fine-tuned its tactics, and the flying stones did not stop until the Wei soldiers who were besieging the city rushed to a hundred steps away from the city wall, although the Zhao people had already discovered the Wei soldiers who rushed over, but the flying stone rain did not stop, and the soldiers could not be deployed on the city wall, so the time left for the Zhao soldiers to prepare for the war was greatly reduced, and the arrows of the Zhao soldiers were not put a few times, and the ladder of the Wei soldiers was erected. Handan was almost broken again, and Zhao Hou's heart was raised again.

After the siege of the city was not broken on the third day, the Wei soldiers rested for another day on the fourth day, and on the fifth day, the siege began again, this time the Wei army did even more, and the flying stone rain did not stop until the Wei soldiers were fifty steps away from the city wall.

On the seventh day, the Wei army, which had accumulated a certain amount of experience, did not completely stop throwing stones, but adjusted the range of some catapults, which could ensure that while the Wei soldiers were attacking the city, the flying stones were accurately smashed behind the city wall, not on the city wall. Although there were only a dozen or so catapults working, although there were occasional hits of the Wei soldiers, the double offensive of the Wei soldiers and the flying stones gave the Zhao people a great threat, and the Zhao soldiers had to act against the flying stones, and the casualties were large.

Zhao Hou's heart is getting higher and higher day by day, his heart is about to fail, and his sleep quality is much worse. Zhao Hou finally recruited Le Zuo and gave Le Zuo an order that he must go out of the city to attack.

But as soon as Le Zuo walked out of the palace, Zhao Hou couldn't help but scold in his heart, Qi Hou, who was raised by the little maid, I am so miserable in Handan, you must have known it a long time ago, why didn't you come to save me!

Does Qi Hou know? Of course, Qi Hou knew that on the road from Handan to Linzi, no less than a hundred spies from Qi were running every day to ensure that Qi Hou could know about the affairs in the west as quickly as possible. At this time, thousands of miles away in the Linzi Qi Palace, above the palace, there was also a quarrel.

The theme of the quarrel is naturally whether to send troops to rescue Handan, and His Royal Highness's ministers are blushing and thick-necked, either for the Spring and Autumn righteousness they are pursuing, or for the sake of showing themselves in front of the monarch, or they are entrusted by others behind their backs.

Qi Hou is also having a headache, but his headache is not because the ministers are fighting, but because he really has no idea in his heart, he himself has not yet thought about whether to send troops, whether to send troops to save Zhao State, Qi Hou is really a headache, he is not only worried about the national strength, but also wants to be ashamed of the defeat of the last year, he is afraid and will be beaten by the Wei people, and he can't let go of restoring the glory of the overlord.

He hadn't thought about it himself, so he had to let the ministers quarrel.

The scouts who spilled out had already sent the matter of the catapult outside Handan City at a desperate speed, and the huge power also divided the Qi people into two factions, one faction did not believe it, thinking that the scout deliberately exaggerated, and even drew his sword to cut down the scout who was tired and paralyzed on the ground, and the other faction naturally thought it was true. Interestingly, these two factions do not coincide with the two factions of the main battle and the main non-war, that is, the main battle people also believe in the power of catapults, and this has become the reason why they must fight, that is, if the Wei people still have this kind of weapon, they are afraid that tomorrow's Linzi will be today's Handan.

The reason for Qi Hou's headache is also here, he was only going to support the weapon first, and then save Zhao Ren when he couldn't hold on, but he didn't think that Zhao Ren would be able to hold on so soon, and he was afraid of getting into trouble if he saved him, and he was afraid of dying and his teeth were cold if he didn't save him.

After the controversy in the palace ended, the Marquis of Qi invited Duan Ganpeng alone, and by the fish pond in the palace, the two monarchs and ministers walked at will.

"Duan Ganqing, the widow has always believed in your ability, last time you said to wait for Zhao to lose, and then save Zhao, the widow also thinks it is reasonable, but now the situation has changed, one is that Handan may soon be breached, and the other is that with the catapult, the Wei army has saved a lot of troops, so if Handan is broken, I am afraid that Zhao will already die. How should I deal with it, I hope Aiqing will teach me. ”

"The king summoned his ministers to come down here, and his subordinates were terrified, and in terms of talent, his subordinates couldn't compare."

"Duan Ganqing doesn't have to talk nonsense." Duan Ganpeng had just said the last sentence when he was interrupted by Qi Hou. I only heard Qi Hou wave his hand and say, "Although I was defeated by the Wei army in Puyang last time, this is not Aiqing's fault, on the contrary, there are many people in Aiqing's talent in their hearts. If Duan Ganqing refuses to teach me, does he have a grudge against the widow for not worshipping the high lord and you? ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Duan Ganpeng was really frightened at this time, and hurriedly bowed down and said, "Actually, the key to this matter depends on what the monarch thinks in his heart." ”

"The widow naturally wants to be ashamed and fight for domination of the world, but how can he not have enough troops." Qi Hou sighed, and coughed a few times in a moment of excitement.

"If you want to save Zhao State, how about sending a surprise army to attack Daliang and forcing the Wei army to come back?" Qi Hou asked.

"No." Duan Ganpeng hurriedly waved his hand, "Absolutely not." ”

"Why?" Qi Houqi said.

"In the past, the surrounding beams could save Handan, but now with catapults, it is different. The Wei people must have installed a large number of catapults on the city of Daliang, as long as the people pull it, the flying stones rain down, although the soldiers are brave and can not get close, it will be difficult to take the Liang, so why should the Marquis of Wei worry about the Liang? It is inevitable that we will not return to help, but wait until we capture Handan and then return to the division of Daliang, then our Qi army will be in danger. ”

Qi Hou slapped his forehead, "Sure enough, you can't use soldiers from one, thanks to Duan Ganqing to teach me." ”

"What about our army? Do you sit back and watch Handan be broken? ”

"You can send troops directly to Handan! If you can make a surprise to burn the catapult, then the siege of Handan will be solved, if not, it will attract the attention of the peripheral Wei army, so that it can not concentrate on the siege of the city, if not, then wait for the day of the city break, rush into the city to rescue Zhao Hou. Duan Ganpeng said affirmatively.

"Huh?" Qi Hou was silent for a moment, it seemed that his fear of Wei was not light, or maybe he couldn't accept this proposal at once.

Duan Ganpeng didn't dare to urge again, he had already come up with the best plan so far, and came up with three countermeasures, it depended on how Qi Hou chosen.

"Let the widow think about it again!"