The operation against Qingni Pass went more smoothly than expected, as Yang Wangqing said, the defenders of Qingni Pass did not expect that the Zhao army would take Lantian in such a short time.

Although the defenders of Qingni Pass already knew that the Zhao army had killed outside Lantian, they did not know that the Zhao army was attacking in the rain, nor did they know that the Zhao army had discovered the fatal shortcomings of the temporary heightened and thickened city of Lantian County. Moreover, the Zhao army also took advantage of this to break the city in one fell swoop.

As a result, after hearing the news that Lantian had sent reinforcements to support them as a second line of defense against the Zhao army, the guards at Qingni Pass did not pay much attention to it. Although he also inspected in detail, after seeing that among the soldiers who came to help, there were indeed Lantian garrison officers and grain and grass materials, so he was allowed to enter the pass.

Two thousand Zhao soldiers entered the city under the pretense of Lantian reinforcements, and immediately killed the defenders and seized the city gate.

After taking the Qingni Pass, Zhao Kang also sent men and horses to quickly capture Wuguan in the same way. However, the defenders of Wuguan had already received the news spread by the rout of Qingni Pass, after all, the Zhao army came from the northwest, and the rout of Qingni Pass could only retreat to Wuguan in the southwest. Therefore, Zhao Jun failed to take this checkpoint located in the southwest of Chang'an and Jingzhou in one fell swoop.

However, even if Wuguan was not taken, after occupying the Qingni Pass, the connection between Jingzhou and Xiyongzhou had been severed. The Zhao army was guarding the Qingni Pass, so even if the Wuguan was in the hands of the Han army, they would not be able to do anything to help Xiyongzhou.

"It's a pity, it almost worked!" In the Marshal's Mansion at Qingni Pass, after hearing the news that the soldiers had failed to attack Wuguan and that the former army had withdrawn according to the order, Zhao Kang sighed with pity.

Yang Wangqing said with a smile: "Wuguan is not in our hands, it doesn't matter now." As long as they occupy this place and Lantian to the north, Jingzhou's reinforcements will not be able to go north. For us, this road has lost its threat to us. ”

"Yes, it's me who is a little greedy!" Zhao Kang shook his head and smiled bitterly, "That's it, then leave a lot of people to garrison here to resist the reinforcements from the north." ”

"Hmmm! With this in hand, all of them are enough. Even if Jingzhou's reinforcements want to stalemate, Jingzhou's logistics will make them have to withdraw their troops. ”

When the results of the battle on the southwest front were reported to Zhao Xun, Zhao Xun couldn't help but be overjoyed. If the southwest is taken, then I think that the Zhao army is in the boundary of Xiyongzhou, which is no better than being affected by Jingzhou, and there is no need to worry about Jingzhou reinforcements. It can be said that in Xiyongzhou, in addition to the existing Han army, there is no need to worry about enemy reinforcements.

"King, since the Qingni Pass has been taken, then you can let General Zhao Kang's troops turn west, take the Luogu line of the northward road from Hanzhong, and join the Liangzhou army in the west to the east and Chencang and Sanguan, and completely surround Xiyongzhou."

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Is the Liangzhou army ready to act now?" ”

"The third town of the Liangzhou Town Army and the sixth town of the Forbidden Army are ready for action. Although the Liangzhou army had been confronting the Han army in Jingyang Mansion and Shangluofu to the west of Xiyongzhou, there was no move of a large army. Therefore, the Han army did not know that the army of the two towns in Liangzhou had begun to tilt westward, and was ready for a full-scale operation. ”

"In this way, he ordered Liangzhou to let the third town of the town army go south and attack the land of Tielong Mountain, Mumen, and Wudu; The sixth town of the forbidden army advanced westward and occupied Chencang, Sanguan, Yixian, and Yongxian in Jingyang Prefecture; The first town of Zhao Kang's forbidden army left part of the troops to garrison outside the southwest, and the rest marched westward, taking the first line of Luogu, and cutting off the connection between Hanzhong and Xiyongzhou. ”

"In addition, let's spread the news in Hanzhong's meticulous work and go north to support the Shu army in Xiyongzhou, in fact, its purpose is Hanzhong, not to go north sincerely. Especially after the third town of the town army captured Tielong Mountain, Mumen, and Wudu to the south, when the reinforcements of the Shu army could not advance or retreat, they could pretend to attack the reinforcements of the Shu army under the pretense of Han soldiers. ”

"The king wants to sow discord between the two?"

Zhao Xun said with a smile: "We are also giving the King of Shu a chance to attack Hanzhong, if he learns that the Han army in Hanzhong will attack his own reinforcements going north, he will have an excuse to attack Hanzhong." ”

Situ Liang said thoughtfully: "In this way, the Southern Alliance, before it even started, was already in civil strife. ”

"Next is Chang'an, how to take Chang'an City?" After the surrounding places were arranged, the problem of the center of Xiyongzhou and Chang'an City has always become the primary target. In Zhao Xun's view, with the state of Chang'an City's city defense, if the Zhao army does not attack at any cost, and then cooperate with catapults and earth-shaking thunder, there is no problem in breaking through Chang'an, the only thing needed is time, after all, Chang'an can now be said to be isolated, although there is still a Han army jurisdiction to the west of it, and the Han army, but the Zhao army has already divided it.

However, if you want to storm him, with the strength and population of Chang'an City, as well as the Han army magnates in the city, and the great Zhao Fushen who benefited from the Han army, if you want to take him down, not to mention how much the earth-shaking thunder needs to consume, even the casualties of your own soldiers are enough to make Zhao Xun feel distressed. It is true that the Zhao army has many troops, and it is not wrong to be brave in battle, but the treatment and compensation of the Zhao army for the soldiers are also amazing, which is also the root cause of the invincibility of the Zhao army. Therefore, once there are large-scale casualties, the price that needs to be paid for Zhao Jun's is too great.

Therefore, Zhao Xun did not consider a frontal attack from the beginning, and made up his mind to outwit Chang'an City and take Shouchun, the center of Xiyongzhou, the former old capital, at the lowest cost.

However, if you want to outwit Chang'an, it is easier said than done, first of all, the first point is that the prerequisites for using the strategy are extremely insufficient, since there is no one's own effective response in Chang'an City, the city wall of Chang'an City with the national capital as the standard is also the biggest obstacle to the Zhao army's siege. Secondly, Lin Shucheng in the city is also enough to make many of his own strategies unable to be implemented.

But fortunately, Zhao Jun's current advantage is also obvious. The reinforcements who threaten their own side will be blocked by their own side along the way, and the other road will be changed by the Zhao army in Liangzhou. In addition, outside Chang'an City, in addition to the west, the other three sides of the city, as well as the soldiers of the Han army and the grain and grass materials in the city have all fallen into the hands of the Zhao army, and they can worry about it for a certain period of time. In other words, Zhao Jun was in the land of Xiyongzhou, and he was no longer worried about the external situation, and there was enough time for him to arrange and prepare for the siege of the city and ponder strategies to deal with the defenders of Chang'an City.

"Great King, now that we have settled the cities around Chang'an, even to the west, they are cut off by the ninth town of our town army. In this case, why not put pressure on Chang'an City and let them know that we have settled their outer territory and begin to prepare for an armed attack on Chang'an. ”

After a pause, Situ Liang continued: "Even if the troops in the city are insufficient to defend the outside, the imperial city is enough, but as soon as we move, it will also put strong pressure on the whole city. In this way, even if Lin Shucheng, Luo Dingyuan and others have the confidence to defend Chang'an, others may not have the determination. Once the hearts of the people in the city are unstable, it will also give me Zhao Jun a chance. ”

"In addition, we will take siege operations under Chang'an City, so as to facilitate the mobilization of the Liangzhou army and General Zhao Kang's headquarters to provide an opportunity to cover up, so that spies from all sides will pay attention to the line of Chang'an."

Zhao Xun pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "It's okay, since there is no better way now, let's do it." ”

In the next two days, Zhao Xun ordered the surrounding troops to march towards the designated target, and at the same time asked the baggage team and the accompanying soldiers and civilians to cut down trees to build catapults, siege towers, ladders and other siege equipment, and it was very likely that they began to prepare for a full-scale attack on Chang'an.

However, the Zhao army did not attack on all fronts, but only pushed the catapults built outside Chang'an City, and launched a wild bombardment towards the trenches, horse rejection and other defensive offensives and moats outside Chang'an City, destroying many fortifications such as the trenches and antlers and horses that Lin Shucheng used to dig outside Chang'an City in the past.

Although the Han army in Chang'an City also had catapults, bed crossbows and other equipment to defend the city, they also occupied a favorable location. However, they did not harm Zhao Jun's catapult queue. After all, the catapults of the Zhao army attacked not the city walls, but the outer perimeter defense line outside the city. Therefore, the Han army on the city wall could only watch as the fortifications outside the city that blocked the Zhao army's attack were destroyed little by little by the Zhao army's catapults.

Of course, although the catapults of the Zhao army caused great damage to the Han army's fortifications outside the city, there was no actual harm to Chang'an City, let alone casualties to the defenders. In view of this, some generals of the Zhao army suggested to Zhao Xun to stop throwing stones and reduce the wear and tear of the catapults for future sieges, rather than keeping them for future sieges.

However, after discussing with Situ Liang, he shook his head and rejected this kind suggestion, saying: "It's not better than minding the loss of the catapult but it has no practical effect, many times, the siege battle is not necessarily to give the other party the advantage of casualties among the soldiers, in other conveniences, our actions like this also have a deep meaning." The catapult projected boulders, which not only destroyed the Han army's fortifications outside the city, but also favored and true siege warfare, and it was like this that the enemy could see the powerful military might of our army with his own eyes, and it also had an extraordinary effect. ”

"We need to let the enemy know that although their Chang'an City is strong, it may not be impregnable, so that the defenders can be timid, and then we may seize the opportunity to exploit the loopholes."

Situ Liang even explained with a smile: "This is a battle to attack the heart, just to provide a boost for our next actions." Of course, it did not explain that their actions here were also to cover the actions of Zhao Kang's department and Liangzhou's department.

As the commander of the Han army in Chang'an City, Luo Dingyuan was naturally unwilling to watch Zhao Jun so arrogant at his doorstep, and as Zhao Xun said, the continuous action of this catapult not only made the fortifications outside Chang'an lose its effect, but also dealt a blow to the morale of the defenders and the hearts of the people in the city.

Although Zhao Jun had already appeared under Chang'an City before, although Zhao Jun had also cut off the connection between Chang'an City and its surroundings. However, at that time, the contact between the armies was severed, but it did not mean that Chang'an City was completely sealed. The scouts and messengers of Chang'an City were still able to avoid the cavalry of the Zhao army appearing in various places. Of course, if Zhao Jun wants to intercept, he will also have a choice to intercept. Because the army under Zhao Xun was centered on Chang'an and attacked the surrounding Han army territories from all sides, the Zhao army could not completely block all connections between Chang'an City and the outside world. Unless the army in the city goes out of the city, it will encounter the interception and counterattack of the Zhao army.

However, since then, after the Zhao army took the southern region and the army returned to besiege Chang'an, Chang'an's contact with the outside world began to be gradually blocked by the Zhao army. The news that Zhao Kang's troops conquered Lantian, Qingni Pass and other places, and the news that these regions reported military information and asked for help from Chang'an did not reach Chang'an, and this is also because of this.

It was absolutely uncomfortable to be isolated, and the arrival of the Zhao army and the start of the attack was a great blow to the morale of the defenders. Therefore, Luo Dingyuan decided to go out of the city to fight back. If you can fight, you can't, and you must let Zhao Jun's catapults not continue to bombard the moat outside the city so recklessly. Of course, it was also to boost the morale of the defenders.

Luo Dingyuan's idea was opposed by Lin Shucheng, in his opinion, it would definitely not be good to go out of the city and launch a counterattack with the Zhao army. Maybe they won't win, but because of the defeat, the morale of the defenders will be even lowered.

Luo Dingyuan believed that as long as the catapult hit the city gate was crossed, the army would act quickly, and it would definitely be able to succeed in the surprise attack on the catapult army formation of the Zhao army, at the very least, it would be necessary to make the Zhao army stop such an action that affected people's hearts. In addition, if nothing can be done, the defenders will withdraw directly, and there are catapults and bed crossbows on the city wall to suppress the formation, which will definitely be able to stop the pursuit of the Zhao army. In addition, although the Zhao army's catapults made the temporarily dug trenches and horse rejection ineffective, they also made the Zhao cavalry unable to play a role. Therefore, if you go out of the city to raid the Zhao army, even if you don't win a big victory, you won't have much loss.

Luo Dingyuan was bent on destroying the catapult that became Zhao Jun, so Lin Shucheng's repeated obstructions still failed to dispel Luo Dingyuan's idea. Of course, Lin Shucheng also knows the harm of Zhao Jun going on like this. And Luo Dingyuan's idea is also what he wants. It's just that he thinks that Zhao Jun won't let them take advantage of it so easily.

When the Zhao army once again set up a queue of catapults outside the city and began to attack the moat, dealing a morale blow to the defenders, the Han army in the city suddenly attacked. The city gate suddenly opened, and 5,000 Han soldiers came out of the west gate, preparing to raid the catapults outside the west city, which was also the area with the most catapult divisions of the Zhao army.

The attack of the Han army really surprised the Zhao army, and on the city wall, Lin Shucheng, Luo Dingyuan and others all saw the Zhao army's foot soldiers outside the city and began to move and deploy in front of the catapult army array. In addition, the cavalry of the Zhao army also began to cross back and forth in front of the baggage team, blocking the Han army's advance with arrows so that it would not be killed in the catapult queue.

Seeing such a scene outside the city, both Luo Dingyuan and Lin Shucheng, who was a little worried, couldn't help but be secretly happy. Judging from the battlefield situation, although the Zhao army quickly mobilized infantry and cavalry to start arranging, it was difficult for them to do it in one step, and the Han army that attacked was likely to destroy a third of all the catapults, or even more.

The defenders watching the battle on the city wall raised their arms and shouted, cheering for the soldiers outside the city. So that the originally low morale suddenly recovered a lot. This also made Luo Dingyuan feel that his decision was right, even Lin Shucheng nodded secretly.

However, the next step was definitely not good news for Luo Dingyuan and the defenders, and it was definitely a nightmare for the Han soldiers who attacked. Because Zhao Jun's catapult changed weapons, they no longer only projected boulders, but added earth-shattering thunder. Especially at the beginning, Zhao Jun's large bed crossbow also cooperated with this catapult to shoot earth-shattering thunder.

Although the speed of the catapult was slow, with the addition of the bed crossbow, the Han army that attacked was attacked by earth-shattering thunder from beginning to end. Coupled with the wide range of the earth-shattering thunder explosion, the cooperation between the short-range bed crossbow and the long-range catapult suddenly covered all the ranges of the 5,000-person Han army.

Luo Dingyuan, Lin Shucheng, and the soldiers of the defending army and the soldiers of the Han army who attacked were not the first time they had heard of Zhao Jun's earth-shaking thunder, but they were basically the first time they had seen the real effect of this thing.

The deafening sound of the explosion, the black smoke rising into the air, and the corpse remnants that were scattered everywhere by the explosion suddenly made the Han soldiers who were still cheering for their soldiers on the city wall speechless. This time, they were really shocked by Zhao Jun's weapons, and many of the soldiers defending the city turned blue. With this kind of weapon of the Zhao army, they have no way to defend and dodge at all.

Luo Dingyuan and Lin Shucheng also stayed on the spot, or Lin Shucheng reacted quickly, and immediately ordered the troops to be collected and let the soldiers outside the city return to the city. However, the rumbling sound outside the city had made it impossible for them to hear the military orders clearly, and in addition, the soldiers outside the city were definitely more shocked and hurt than the soldiers watching the battle on the city walls.

It was Lin Shucheng who sent a herald to let the remnants of the rear return to the city smoothly, but of the 5,000 soldiers, less than 1,000 were able to return to the city in the end. Of the rest, half of them were directly killed by Zhao Jun's earth-shattering thunder, and the rest were also seriously injured and died slowly. You must know that the iron marbles shot out by the earth-shattering thunder are definitely not so easy to bear, and even among the soldiers who returned to the city, there were also many soldiers who were injured by this.

Looking at the battlefield outside the city, looking at the soldiers of their own side who were still wailing on the ground, the soldiers of the Han army defending the city were silent. The earth-shattering thunder had already panicked them, and they felt that the walls under their feet were no longer enough to protect them. Of course, the defenders didn't know that the walls of Chang'an City could not be forcibly blown up by the earth-shattering thunder stored in the Zhao army camp outside the city. Of course, Zhao Xun didn't want Chang'an City to be blown up by the earth-shattering thunder.

Now Luo Dingyuan's face was pale, and he knew that this attack not only did not restore the morale of the defenders, but became even more sluggish. The loss of 4,000 soldiers also made me feel extremely distressed. In just one stick of incense, thousands of people are gone.