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Fang Shao proposed a combat plan diametrically opposed to Ma Liang, and Ma Liang said with a smile: "The purpose of our army's northern expedition is to capture Xiangyang, and it is not impossible for Zhongzheng to plan this way, but Xiangyang City is familiar to you and me, and there are no more than five cities in the world that can surpass its solidity. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Fang Shao smiled secretly and said, "Shao lives in Longzhong with Mr. Kong Ming, and Xiangyang City has been to Xiangyang City no less than dozens of times. ”

Ma Liang was a little puzzled, and said: "Since this is the case, then why do you still suggest attacking Xiangyang." ”

Fang Shao said: "In Fancheng, Cao Ren personally guarded it, this person's talent must not be underestimated, and the soldiers defending the city are nearly 20,000 people, even if its city is not as strong as Xiangyang, if our army wants to attack it, it will have to pay a huge price." Moreover, Fancheng is located on the north bank of the Han River, and is connected with the enemy's rear, so the troops of Nanyang can continue to support the south, and the troops of Fancheng will form an internal and external attack on our army, so that our army will fall into an unfavorable situation. ”

Guan Yu nodded slightly, and said: "What Zhongzheng said is not unreasonable, I and that Cao Ren are also old acquaintances, and this person's ability to use troops should indeed not be underestimated." However, as Zhongzheng said, even if the main attack is Xiangyang, it is not easy to break through with the solidity of Xiangyang. ”

Fang Shao smiled and said, "General Guan, have you forgotten that we have such a sharp weapon as a divine cannon." ”

After Fang Shao's reminder, Guan Yu couldn't help but look uplifted, and said: "That's right, I almost forgot, with the benefit of the divine cannon, what is the right thing for a mere Xiangyang City." ”

Although the Shenwei cannon is powerful, but in the previous battle of Hanzhong, when attacking Yangping Pass, it proved that its attack power on the city was also limited, and it was not as powerful as Fang Shao expected. Therefore, soon after the end of the Battle of Hanzhong, Fang Shao had been researching the improved version of the Shenwei Cannon, and a few months ago he tried to create a heavy Shenwei Cannon, whose power and range were greatly improved compared to the original Shenwei Cannon. It was precisely because of this that Fang Shao dared to confidently put forward a plan to attack Xiangyang.

However, the difficulty and cost of making the heavy Shenwei cannon are naturally extremely expensive, and it is not easy to transport, and Fang Shao does not want to use it without authorization, so he is thinking about using the light Shenwei cannon to attack Xiangyang first, see how the effect is, and then make the next step.

At the end of January of the nineteenth year of Jian'an, after nearly a month of preparation, Guan Yu's army entered the front line of Xiangyang.

First of all, Guan Yu used more than 300 naval warships to cut off the connection between Fancheng and Xiangyang between the Han River. Then, with Guan Ping, Zhou Cang and Ma Liang leading 15,000 soldiers and horses, relying on the superiority of the naval army, they entered the siege of Fancheng. With Zhao Yun and Liao Hua, more than 20,000 people cleared the outlying strongholds of Xiangyang and surrounded Xiangyang City. Guan Yu himself personally led more than 5,000 sailors to and from the Han River, supporting the north and south banks at any time.

Cao Ren in Fancheng was as steady as Mount Tai, waiting for Guan Yu's army to surround him, the enemy was indeed coming, but the situation of this encirclement was a bit unexpected to him. The enemy first grabbed various crossings along the north bank, and then, five miles from the southwest and southeast of Fancheng, set up two large camps, deep ditches and high fortifications, and set up several heavy antlers.

Guan Yu's army was not so much besieging the city, but rather guarding himself behind closed doors, Cao Ren finally figured out that Guan Yu was planning to storm Xiangyang, and the troops on the north bank were just trying to prevent him from aiding Xiangyang from the south of Fancheng.

In this way, Cao Ren is not in a hurry, hum, Xiangyang Chengjian, I see how you Guan Yu can move, so Cao Ren will not move, sit and wait for Guan Yu to besiege Xiangyang, and when his spirit is exhausted, he will send troops to counterattack.

In the early morning of this day, the bright sunshine offset a lot of the late winter chill, and the abundant light provided a good view of the siege battle.

The banner at the head of Xiangyang City was still lazily waving, looking indifferently at the distance, countless Jingzhou troops drove out of the camp and looked at Xiangyang City slowly.

In a place of nearly a mile, the Jingzhou army formed dozens of military formations of different sizes, and archers, shields, and siege echelons were arranged in an orderly manner, approaching the city in an orderly manner. And in this military array, the most conspicuous thing is the tall Shenwei cannons.

Each Shenwei cannon was towed by two horses, followed by two other wagons, loaded with pre-selected stone bullets, in addition to more than five gunners. More than 100 Shenwei cannons, more than 600 gunners, and more than 400 war horses formed the most peculiar and conspicuous military formation in the Jingzhou Legion.

In the middle of the Chinese army, a heroic white-robed general, holding a silver gun, rode a horse slowly, showing a mixture of excitement and calmness in his eyebrows. And beside the white-robed general, Fang Shao was also dressed in armor and fully armed.

"Zhongzheng, can this divine cannon shake the city wall of Xiangyang?" As he approached the city, the white-robed general suddenly asked.

Fang Shao said: "Zilong doesn't have to worry, even if the city can't collapse, it will make the Cao army in the city lose fear." ”

Zhao Yun frowned slightly, and said, "It's useless to just make them lose their courage, if they don't blast through the city, how can Xiangyang City be taken." ”

Fang Shao smiled faintly and said: "It doesn't matter if you don't break it this time, I still have a backup move, Zilong, don't worry, this great achievement of breaking through Xiangyang, I will get it for you." ”

This confident colleague beside him calmed Zhao Yun's mood a lot.

Yes, after so many years of silence, it's finally time for me Zhao Yun to show his face.

The past things drifted in front of him like a cloud of smoke, he remembered the beacon smoke in Hebei, remembered the agitation in Xuzhou, remembered the heroism of Chibi, and suddenly remembered that he had followed the king of Hanzhong for so long.

From north to south, he has traveled most of the world, Yunchang, Yide, and Wenchang...... Those former colleagues, who were once famous all over the world, are now more prestigious, and those who were once unknown have now risen, and they are so inferior to them.

Zhao Yun remembered again that when the king of Hanzhong had expressed his satisfaction for his loyalty many times, and how many times he had been in danger, he had taken himself with him with great trust. He knew that although his merits were not as great as those of some and his fame was not as good as that of others, his loyalty was unique in the eyes of the King of Hanzhong.

However, although he won the trust of the king of Hanzhong, he still envied those who could make meritorious achievements and win higher official titles with their achievements, and he also wanted to enjoy that enviable moment of glory like those people.

Zhao Yun knew that in this battle of Xiangyang, the king of Hanzhong deliberately transferred him to Yun Chang's command, just to give this trusted general a chance to make meritorious contributions, so that this loyal old general who had followed him for many years could also enjoy the gift of promotion and knighthood.

"Zhao Yun, Zhao Yun, you must not live up to the king's trust in you, Xiangyang, you must take it."

Zhao Yun's ambition paused, he took a deep breath, pointed at the north with the silver spear, and shouted: "Siege!" ”

The battle begins.

The drums beat loudly, the flag waved, and according to the siege strategy rehearsed in advance, the shield soldiers and archers advanced, covering the artillery and siege echelons approaching Xiangyang City.

The besiegers approached the city step by step with arrows like flying locusts, and when they had reached a distance of a hundred paces, the artillery began to attack in reaction.

More than 100 Shenwei cannons were fired one after another, and the stone bullets attacked Xiangyang City with a sharp sound, although the momentum was terrifying, but the effect was unsatisfactory.

Attacks on land are different from those on water, when fighting on water, the Shenwei Cannon is attacking the enemy fleet that spreads out in front of you, but when attacking a city on land, the target becomes a first-line city wall that is only a few feet wide, and the target becomes smaller, and the hit rate naturally decreases.

Therefore, in the first wave of stone shells, only seven or eight hit the city wall, scratching a few pieces of wall skin, and the rest either fell outside the city or crossed the city wall, hitting the houses inside the city, causing civilian casualties.

In the Chinese army, Zhao Yun frowned and said, "Zhongzheng, the effect of your divine cannon is very average." ”

Fang Shao still had a confident face, and said with a smile: "Zilong, don't worry, the attack has just begun, take your time." ”

Of course, the attack effect of the first wave will not be much better, after all, the Shenwei cannon is still a cold weapon, and it is not an artillery missile that can be aimed with an instrument, and its hit rate is still based on the experience of the gunner.

Thus, the shelling continued, and after several rounds of tentative attacks, the gunners constantly calibrated the weight of the counterweight according to the flight trajectory and landing point of the stone projectile. Finally, after more than a dozen rounds of shooting, the hit rate began to improve.

The keeper of Xiangyang City is Li Jie Zhonglang General Lu Chang, although this person is not as famous as Cao Ren and others, but he is also an old subordinate who joined Cao Ying's camp in the early years, and he is quite trusted by Cao Ying, otherwise he would not be entrusted with the important task of Xiangyang Taishou.

This Lu Chang also participated in the Battle of Guandu back then, and once witnessed the power of the thunderbolt car built by Liu Ye, and when he first saw the giant weapon brought by the Jingzhou army under the city, he once thought that it was a copy of the thunderbolt.

Lu Chang is well aware of the power of the thunderbolt, but the outrageous shortcomings of its low hit rate, Lu Chang is also clear, and when the enemy's first few rounds of unsatisfactory shooting, he is even more convinced, and thinks in his heart: "Hmph, if you want to use a fake thunderbolt car, you want to attack my Xiangyang Jiancheng, Guan Yu, I see that you are also old and confused." ”

Just when he was disapproving, suddenly a stone bullet came towards him, as fast as lightning, Lu Chang was frightened, and instinctively flashed to the side.

only heard a boom, it seemed that the stone bullet had shattered the female wall, and Lu Chang was crushed by the collapsed rubble, and when he was pulled out of the rubble by the soldiers, he saw that the two fingers of his left hand had been smashed off by the rubble.

Lu Chang endured the severe pain, raised his eyes and looked around, but saw that on the front line of the city, countless stone bullets were like eyes, impartially bombarded the city, and hundreds of soldiers who were caught off guard were crying miserably and fell under the cracks of the rubble.

The hit rate of this thunderbolt car seems to have increased several times in a blink of an eye!

"How can this be, how is this possible!"

Looking at the stone rain coming from the sky, Lu Chang fell into horror and panic.

(To be continued)