The battle of Beiyuan was tragic, maybe Xiahou Yuan learned the lesson of the last attack on Jieting, and this time he came prepared.

What rushing cars, ladders, thunderbolts, everything, anyway, on the Guanzhong Plain, backed by the "base car" of Chang'an, what you need is transported from Chang'an.

It can be said that the fragile city wall of Beiyuan could not withstand the attack of Cao's army at all.

Although the power and accuracy of the thunderbolt were far inferior to the Han army's divine cannons, Xiahou Yuan mobilized more than 200 vehicles from Chang'an at one time, and bombarded them day and night. The walls of the northern plains are like old houses in disrepair, and under such a dark bombardment, almost every few hours, a city wall is blown down. And all Wang Ping can do is to command the soldiers, like firefighters, where it collapses, he will carry the earth and tiles to fill which place.

Three days later, Kitahara Castle was almost complete except for the strongest main gate tower, and none of the city walls with a radius of several hundred zhang were intact, like a pair of pants that were so torn that they could no longer be broken, and they were patched everywhere.

But what annoyed Xiahou Yuan was that it was such a city that seemed to be on the verge of falling, and his more than 10,000 elite soldiers did not capture it for three days in a row. There was no other reason, he lost not because of low morale, nor because of insufficient troops, but because of the devilish and terrifying crossbow of the Han army.

Whenever a city wall was blasted, Xiahou Yuan commanded his brave soldiers to rush forward desperately, trying to step on the Han army "migrant workers" who rushed to repair the city wall, at this time, there would be a crossbow formation of about 500 people.

They calmly and gracefully pushed and pulled, as chic and natural as eating and drinking, and then, within ten seconds, more than 5,000 crossbow arrows stained with poison flew like a flock of birds passing by in the sky, and then, there was an irrepressible retreat.

"Zhuge Repeater! Zhuge Liang, I'm your eighth-generation ancestor! Looking at the soldiers who fled from the desert, Xiahou Yuan couldn't help but scold, obviously, he thought that this Zhuge crossbow was invented by Zhuge Liang, so Zhuge Liang unfortunately replaced Fang Shao, and the eighteenth generation of his ancestors was greeted by Xiahou Yuan.

"General, the thief army's repeating crossbows are too fast and dense, and the brothers can't get close to the city at all, so it's not a way to attack it so strongly." The deputy general Gao Rou said worriedly, his mouth has been oblique when he spoke, only because when he led the army to attack before, he was scratched by the crossbow of the Han army.

Xiahou Yuan didn't want his brothers to die in vain, if in normal times, he could slowly besiege the small city in front of him, and wait until the Han army ran out of food and retreated.

But not now, Chen Cang's side has been out of grain for three days, although he is confident that with the number of grain hoarded by Chen Cang, he can definitely last until the Han army's grain and grass are exhausted, but the soldiers who stick there have learned that the grain road has been cut off, and if the grain road is not opened for a day, the morale will be lower and lower day by day.

After pondering for a long time, Xiahou Yuan glared angrily at the crumbling city, gritted his teeth and said: "Lao Tzu doesn't believe in evil sons, this Beiyuan City must be captured." Come, quickly pass on my order, transfer another 3,000 soldiers and horses from Chang'an, and transport another 50 thunderbolts by the way. ”

South Shore Gojogahara.

The Weishui River is not wide, Fang Shao stood on the shore of the camp, he could clearly see the situation of the Beiyuan City on the opposite bank, although there was the interference of the sound of the water, but Fang Shao could still faintly hear the earth-shaking shouting and killing sound from the opposite bank.

He could vaguely imagine the intensity of the battle.

A gallop came, it was the veteran Huang Zhong, the horse had not yet stopped, Huang Zhong turned over and jumped off the horse, and his skills were not similar to his age of over sixty.

Fang Shao greeted him and said with a smile: "The old general has worked hard all the way, why did he come back so quickly." ”

Huang Zhong threw the big knife to the accompanying soldiers, and gasped lightly: "The old man received your express report, and he turned back day and night, how is the battle situation in Beiyuan?" ”

According to the pre-plan, Huang Zhong led an army of 10,000 soldiers and horses to cross the Wugong River to the east, creating a situation of attacking Wugong and endangering Chang'an. Now that Wuzhang Yuan has been obtained, Beiyuan is also in his hands, and Xiahou Yuan has personally led the army as expected, so Fang Shao urgently recalled Huang Zhong's troops in order to put more troops into the defense of Beiyuan.

"In the past three days, Beiyuan has lost more than 1,000 soldiers every day, but how much I lose, I will replenish as much every day, and the old general doesn't have to worry."

Fang Shao said it very easily, but Huang Zhong was very surprised when he heard it, he was surprised that the defending city could have such a high battle loss ratio.

"There's no way, the city of Beiyuan is short and thin, Xiahou Yuan mobilized a large number of siege equipment, and attacked day and night, this number of casualties is barely acceptable." Fang Shao explained.

Huang Zhong couldn't help frowning: "Is this the way to go on, why don't you let me lead the army across the river and fight with that Xiahou Yuan to relieve the pressure on Wang Zijun." ”

Fang Shao waved his hand and said categorically: "Never, Xiahou Yuan is looking forward to us fighting with him in a field battle, although the old general is brave and unparalleled, but our army is all foot soldiers after all, and on the plain, it is not the opponent of his cavalry." ”

Huang Zhong said unhappily: "Then you are so bent on filling in Beiyuan City with the lives of the soldiers?" If this continues, within ten days and a half months, our 20,000 or 30,000 horses will have to die. ”

Fang Shaozheng said: "The old general has forgotten that the task of our army is to drag Xiahou Yuan, even if 30,000 people die, as long as we can buy enough time, it is worth exchanging the lives of tens of thousands of people for the entire Guanzhong." ”

Fang Shao's expression was full of murderous aura.

Huang Zhong and he have known him for a long time, he can be said to be the young man in front of him, who has grown into a pillar of the pillars of the king of Hanzhong, but in his eyes, this young man has always been gentle and amiable, and now this cold and resolute performance is the first time he has seen it, and this veteran can't help but feel shocked in his heart.

"Alas-" Huang Zhong sighed, stopped speaking, and looked at the injured soldiers who were constantly being transported from the other side of the river, Huang Zhong's heart hurt.

The generals love the soldiers, like Huang Zhong and other good generals, and usually regard the soldiers as sons, this kind of deep relationship between the generals and the soldiers, as a strategist, Fang Shao naturally can't understand it.

Fang Shao's gaze turned to the far east, and he muttered in his heart: "I hope these soldiers will not die in vain, you must not let me down." ”

………… Dragged by the slender men on both sides of the river, this grain fleet composed of hundreds of boats is heading up the river to Xicheng County.

Three days earlier, the fleet had arrived at Shangyong County, laden with grain and grass from Hanzhong, where nearly 30,000 warriors were preparing to sail out of the mountains to participate in the attack on Nanyang County under the full command of Guan Yu.

Guan Yu personally led the main force of the Jingzhou Army of more than 40,000 people, and attacked the southern part of Wancheng for half a month, and the Cao army Cao Zhen, Yu Ban, and Li Tong advanced to Fuyang from Suixian, Huyang, Jianyang and other places, trying to attack Guan Yu's army on three sides.

In order to alleviate the pressure from the east, Guan Yu specially ordered the troops of the three eastern counties to go out along the Han River and attack Nanxiang, threatening the flank of Cao Zhen's army and forcing it to come to the rescue.

At this moment, an army of more than 10,000 people under the command of Meng Da had almost arrived in Yunxian, and this grain transport team was ordered to return to Hanzhong and continue the next round of grain and grass supply to the three eastern counties.

"Damn, why is it so laborious, last time Lao Tzu didn't pull a fighting ship so hard, why is it so difficult to pull an empty grain ship this time." A slender man gasped and complained, his arm already scarred by the rope.

"Yes, it's really evil today, could it be that you haven't eaten enough at noon?" The other slender man was sweating like rain and complained angrily.

The rest of the slender men feel the same way.

There was a complaint on the riverbank, and on the river, on the grain boat with thick eyebrows, the general with thick eyebrows silently stared at the letter in his hand, and his eyebrows revealed a heavy heart.

"General Wei, Xicheng is almost in front of you, should we stay in Xicheng County for one night?" An adjutant general behind him asked.

"There are many people in Xicheng, and most of them will leak the news, and they will rest on the shore after Xicheng." Wei Yan gave the order without replying, and then read the letter carefully before putting it away.

When it was getting dark, Wei Yancai ordered the cabin to be opened, so as soon as the hatch opened, the soldiers who had been holding back for a whole day crowded out one after another, rushing to land to breathe fresh air.

This grain ship, which seems to have returned empty, actually hides nearly 10,000 soldiers!

Of course, the slender men who were separated on the other side of the river naturally would not see this scene. They would never have dreamed that they, who were unknown in obscurity, would unknowingly participate in a military operation that would shock the world.

When it was dark, the soldiers had eaten and drunk, and they were driven back to the cabin to sleep.

Wei Yan held a bowl of wine, stared at the dark river, and listened to the rolling river tide, his heart was like this river, and he couldn't calm down.

Half a month ago, he received this secret letter from the king of Hanzhong, claiming that Fang Shao had presented him with his previous plan for Wei Yan, and after some careful consideration, the king of Hanzhong had decided to take the risk and ordered Wei Yan to lead his troops to attack at the agreed date.

He drank a bowl of wine and muttered to himself: "Wei Yan, Wei Yan, this strategy of yours can make you famous in history, or let you die in Huangquan." ”

Just as he was sighing with emotion, the personal soldier led a person through the night to the front, Wei Yan recognized that it was Fang Shao's personal entourage Ah Shan, Wei Yan's heart immediately tightened.

"General Wei, this is a secret letter from my husband to the general." Ahsan respectfully handed over the letter.

Wei Yan took it apart and looked at it, and there were only four words on it—the time had come.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, revealing an inexplicable excitement, and then, he tore the letter to shreds, and shouted in a low voice: "Pass me general, the whole army is ready to leave." ”

(To be continued)