The soldiers of Wu who rushed into the city found that the road in front of them was completely blocked by an earthen wall. The earthen wall is tightly connected to the walls of the houses on the street without leaving a single gap, and it is clear from the degree of newness that this earthen wall was built not long ago.

The soldiers searched along the earthen walls, looking for other ways to access the inner city, but all the streets were blocked by the earthen walls. Looking around, the earthen walls of the houses are connected to each other, extending to the city gate, as if forming a dense barrier, like an urn, firmly trapping the Wu soldiers who entered the city.

A young general was shocked and exclaimed, "Retreat!" This is an inner urn city! ”

However, his voice was drowned out by the noisy shouts of killing, and the young general wanted to lead the people out of the city, but was blocked by the crowd. The soldiers in the back did not know what was going on in front of them, and they kept pouring into the city like a tidal wave. Soon, almost all of the 2,000 soldiers of the 1st Brigade poured into the city.

At this moment, a large number of boulders suddenly fell from the high wall on the inside of the city gate, and several Wu soldiers standing below were immediately smashed into pulp. The boulder re-sealed the road, and the Wu soldiers in the city had no way to escape.

Before the Wu soldiers could react, dense archers suddenly appeared on the earthen walls and roofs, followed by an overwhelming rain of arrows, and cans of fire oil were also smashed with arrows in the sky.

Ji Zheng looked at the smoke rising from the city and exclaimed, "Oh no! The fire in the city, I'm afraid it was an ambush! ”

Hearing Ji Zheng say this, Yu Lan couldn't help but be frightened in her heart, seeing that the fire was getting bigger and bigger, it was obvious that something abnormal had happened. The more Yu Lan thought about it, the more anxious she became, so she turned around and shouted: "Second Brigade, Third Brigade, follow me to attack the city!" ”

Not long after Yu Lan led his troops to kill, a teenage Wu soldier desperately ran back to the front of the battle, and when he saw Zhang Xun, he fell to the ground and cried: "General! Oh no! We are in ambush! ”

Zhang Xun was shocked, turned over and dismounted, held the little soldier and asked, "What's the matter!" ”

"City gates! The gates are blocked! ”

"Blocked by something!"

The little soldier cried and said, "Stones! Stone! As soon as the brothers entered the city, several huge stones fell from the city walls and blocked the city gates from the inside! I was young, and Captain Wu asked me to follow behind, but as soon as I entered the city gate, the boulder fell! Whining! Captain Wu shouted to me through the stone, 'Inner Urn City', 'Inner Urn City', and he told me to hurry back and report to the general! I don't know what Inner Urn City means, woo! Whining! ”

"Are all of you trapped inside?!"

"Woo, yes! Except for me, they're all trapped inside! Checkmate! Save them! Save them! ”

Zhang Xun was resentful, beat his chest and said: "I said that you will enter the city after you investigate clearly!" Why didn't they all jump in and die before they figured out the situation! Huh! Old General Yu! Make this mistake again! ”

Ji Zheng shook his head and sighed: "There is a city in the city, and the ring city recessed in the main city gate is called the inner urn city; There is a city outside the city, the ring city protruding outside the main city gate is called the outer urn city, the besiegers hurriedly enter the urn, and the defenders catch turtles in the urn, hey, it is a pity that two thousand lives were lost. ”

Zhang Xun turned over and got on his horse, intending to go to the city immediately to support, at this time, Ji Zheng grabbed Zhang Xun and said, "Don't go, General Yu Lao will bring 4,000 people, not one of you." ”

"I have to tell General Yu about the situation in Inner Urn City!"

"No need, General Yu will naturally understand when he arrives in the city. What's more, in the event of the unfortunate death of the old general Yu, you must take on the responsibility of the vanguard, and we can't lose two generals at once! ”

"Huh! Damn it! You have repeatedly emphasized, why does General Yu just not listen! Still making this kind of mistake! ”

"Hey, people are soft-spoken. In the eyes of General Yu, after all, I am just a young white person, although I saved him, he was in the way of affection and treated him politely, but for a veteran like General Yu, it is normal for him not to pay attention to my proposals, especially those that are contrary to his ideas. ”

"Don't he know the principle of using troops prudently?! If he is not careful, 2,000 lives will be wiped out! ”

"Human beings are always hard to change, and they can never make great progress without essentially changing their flaws. So he fought all his life, and he could only be a pioneer. ”

At this time, Yu Lan had already rushed to the city gate with his men and horses, and Yu Lan ordered loudly: "There are still shouts in the city, there should still be living people, hurry!" Knock the stone mill down! ”

Soldiers walked through the broken gate and into the corridor. When they came to the pile of stones, they almost didn't throw up, and even the battle-hardened soldiers couldn't help but be shocked by what they saw. The boulder was covered with blood and flesh, and two twisted arms and a thigh protruded from the cracks in the stone, making the whole stone look like a sculpture from hell.

The rescue soldiers wanted to push the boulder away, but found that the stone did not move, and there were deep abrasion marks between the boulder against the wall and the wall.

It took a while for the soldiers to find a way to remove a stone from the top, and they thought they could see the city through this gap, but the sight shocked everyone. Through the gap, they could only see the layers of corpses behind the stone mill, which were intertwined and stacked to form a mountain of corpses that was larger than the stone mill.

The soldier reported the situation to Yu Lan, although Yu Lan was heartbroken, but there was nothing he could do, the voice of the shouts in the city became weaker and weaker, he knew that it was impossible to save people anymore, and it was only in vain to continue to stay here, and his life was in vain. So, Yu Lan ordered a retreat and led people back to the camp.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the battlefield full of corpses, and a few wisps of black smoke drifted out, like oil soaked in the water surface slowly spreading in the dim sky, staining the bleak sunset.

Ji Zheng and Zhang Xun stood outside the camp, overlooking the stone city of Hongxian County, which was still standing strongly, and the dark city gate was like the huge mouth of the stone demon, chewing two thousand charred corpses.

Ji Zheng said: "The tragic situation there should be a hundred times worse than the situation in the forest a few days ago. ”

Zhang Xun lowered his head and sighed: "Hey, two thousand lives, just like that." ”

"We are the unrighteous and no one will sympathize with these lives."

"Yes, the only fault of the Chen State is its weakness, it is a stumbling block on the road to the king's struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains, so it must be destroyed."

"Forget it, don't talk about this, he is not my king after all, I just hope that when he dominates the Central Plains one day, he will still be loyal to the Son of Heaven and still think about supporting the Zhou room."

Hearing Ji Zheng's words, Zhang Xun felt very uncomfortable, "After this battle is over, the prince will definitely promote you." ”

Ji Zheng shook his head and didn't say anything.

At this time, Yu Lan walked out of the big tent of the Chinese army dejectedly, and when he saw Zhang Xun and Ji Zheng, he knelt down in shame and said: "General Zhang, Mr. Ji, the last general regrets it!" Regret it! At that time, I didn't listen to what Mr. said, and let the soldiers rush into the city, only to suffer such a big defeat! ”

Zhang Xun hurriedly helped Yu Lan up, "General Yu, please get up quickly, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and General Yu doesn't have to blame himself too much." Also, what did General Huang say? ”

"General Huang has limited me to use the remaining forces to take Hongxian within three days, and the overall casualties must not exceed half, otherwise I will see you. In today's battle, the first brigade was wiped out, and 2,000 people were wiped out, I am confused! Confused! ”

Zhang Xun sighed and said, "Old General Yu, it was not difficult to attack Hongxian with 4,000 people, but if you want to control the casualties, this battle will not be easy to fight, but it is not impossible to fight. ”

Yu Lan grabbed Zhang Xun's hand and asked excitedly, "Does General Zhang have any way?" ”

"Well, maybe."

"General Zhang, save me!" Yu Lan said that, and knelt on the ground again.

Zhang Xun helped Yu Lan up again and said, "General Yu, please get up, I also hope to reduce the loss as much as possible, so I also ask General Yu to cooperate as much as possible." ”

"Definitely! Certain! As long as there are fewer deaths, you can do anything! General Zhang has any orders, just say! ”

Zhang Xun pointed to a forest in the distance and said, "Cut down trees." ”

The next day, a large number of soldiers flocked to the forest, and in just one hour, fifty trees were cut down, and Zhang Xunzhi ordered the soldiers to process the trees into wood, dry them, and use them for later use.

The huge barracks suddenly turned into a factory, Zhang Xun selected ten soldiers who had been carpenters, and asked them to lead thirty people each, a total of ten groups, division of labor, each group is only responsible for making a part of the equipment, these carpenters have never seen a similar design, and they do not know what kind of equipment these parts will compose, but one thing they know, that is, this equipment must not be simple.

The soldiers rotated their work and did not rest until late at night.

At this time, in the big tent of the Chinese army, Huang Yun was drinking with the prince's friend, and Huang Yun smiled: "What does His Royal Highness the prince think of Zhang Xun?" ”

"Uncle, I have a good relationship with him, this person is a talent."

Huang Yun laughed when he heard this: "Haha, talent? Bullshit talent! I think he's a soft egg, I want to see what he can toss, if Yu Lan can't capture the city in three days, or the loss is too great, I'll even punish Zhang Xun together. ”

"Hehe, my uncle really wants to cut off their heads?"

"Not really, but they must be cleaned up!"

"Well, my uncle is a general, and it should be good to clean them up, not only to enhance his prestige, but also to sell personal favors. By the way, uncle, do you still have an impression of the strategist next to Zhang Xun? What's it called? Oh, by the way, Ji Zheng, that's right, it's called Ji Zheng. ”

"What's wrong, I'm a little impressed." Huang Yun took a sip of wine and said contemptuously.

"He's a talent, I think I can recommend it to my father."

"Oh, my eldest nephew, although you need to make some friends, but you don't always have to deal with these unpopular people, what Zhang Xun, Ji Zheng, how can they help you? You need to make friends with some powerful sons, I think you and Dazai-sama's son, the ruler, are not close enough, if you want to build a career like your father, you can't do without the help of Dazai-sama. Huang Yun raised his glass as he said and toasted a glass of wine to the prince.

The two drank it all, and the prince said: "I don't like this person, I don't like it, the fat head and big ears, just like his father, I think Zhang Xun and Ji Zheng are good, we are of the same age, and we can talk, it's good." ”

"Gotta gotcha, when I didn't say it, you'll understand in the future, come, nephew, drink."

"Well, uncle, respectfully."

Early in the morning of the third day, as soon as the soldiers of Wu State walked out of the barracks, they were surprised to find a huge siege machine parked in the middle of the camp, and a bunch of people surrounded this giant and praised it.

Huang Yun was woken up by the noisy sound outside, and when he walked out of the camp tent, he was also surprised. I saw that this instrument was four people high, and it was thirty steps long and ten steps wide, and four huge wheels firmly supported the chassis, and the chassis was covered with a thick bumper with two people in their arms, and the middle and tail of the bumper were wrapped in thick bronze guards, and the head of the bumper was wrapped with sharp copper horns. At the top of the apparatus are eight bronze shields that protect against arrows from above.

Zhang Xun sat on the instrument and was adjusting the angle of hitting the wood.

Huang Yun shouted loudly, "What is this? ”

"Siege engines."

"I didn't know it was a siege machine! I ask you, what's the name of this device! ”

"Oh, I don't have a name, I designed it temporarily, or General Huang will give it a name."

"Hehe, then let's call it a car."

"Okay, it's called a car." Zhang Xun jumped off the carriage and said.

"Let me ask you, how do you use this car?"

Zhang Xun pointed to the ten toothed notches on the chassis of the saddle and said: "There are ten notches on it, five on each side, each notch can enter one person, ten people push forward, the first two people control the direction, and the shield on it can play a protective role." In addition, after braking the wheels of the caravan, the ladder can be fixed on it. ”

"How do you manipulate the crashing wood?"

Zhang Xun picked up the rope at the end of the striking wood and said, "This striking wood weighs a thousand pounds, and there is a rope at the tail of it, and the rope goes around this rotating shaft, as long as several people pull together, you can pull up the striking wood." ”

"Looks good. But compared to other siege equipment, this chariot doesn't seem to be anything special? ”

Zhang Xun smiled, beckoned nine soldiers to come over, let them stand in the slot, and then stood in the front slot, Zhang Xun turned to the soldiers behind and said, "Wait a while, I will step on this mechanism, and you will push the chassis to the middle." ”

I saw Zhang Xun step on the red mechanism next to him, and the soldiers followed and pushed it to the middle, and the chassis of the carriage suddenly narrowed, and the width of the entire carriage was reduced by half.

Then Zhang Xun stepped on another black mechanism and said, "You all pull down the shield and try it." ”

The soldiers looked up and found a handle under the shield, and when they pulled it, the shield suddenly rebounded, and the height of the entire cart was reduced to more than one person.

Zhang Xun said: "General, the characteristic of this chariot is that it can be contracted, so that we can push it into the Yongdao, so that we can still use the chariot to attack the city after entering the urn city, and use it as a base for activities; In addition, this chariot can be easily disassembled and reorganized, and we can use it to attack the city when we attack Beiyang and Baji, and even when we attack Wanqiu. ”

Huang Yun stroked his beard and smiled: "Well, well, not bad, this is not bad." ”

Zhang Xun patted the carriage and said confidently: "Next, let it show its skills!" ”