Xiangyang City is three zhang high, the city wall is tall and strong, the moat is three zhang wide on average, mainly because the north is close to the Han River, and a tributary is led from the Han River to enter the city from the north, so that the moat of the North City is extraordinarily wide, up to four zhang, and the moat on the other three sides is not very wide, the terrain outside the city is flat, mainly the fields, but Yang Shilin implemented the policy of clearing the wilderness with a strong wall, and all the people within 30 miles outside the city moved into the city, and the food at home was not left, the wheat in the field was cut away, and the melons and beans were picked up, so that Xiangyang was empty all around. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Amid the rumbling drums of the offensive war, 20,000 Zheng troops launched a fierce attack on Xiangyang City from the east, west, and south at the same time, but the attack on the east and west was unexpectedly frustrated.

Outside the western city, two thousand crossbowmen were getting closer and closer to the city wall, and they had to establish a crossbow attack line about fifty paces away from the city wall to suppress the bow and arrow fire on the city.

But just after the two thousand crossbowmen rushed into the two hundred paces, the accident happened, hundreds of soldiers who ran to the front fell down one after another, holding their feet and screaming, they were sprinkled on the ground with tribulus poison needles pierced the soles of their boots, this is the Sui army threw the tribulus needles last night, which were quenched with poison, and tens of thousands of pieces were thrown in the east and west, which made Zhu Kuan able to defend the city.

The crossbowmen in the back were so frightened that they retreated, and the Zheng soldiers who were stabbed by the poisonous needles got up with difficulty, limped and retreated, but after walking only dozens of steps, the poison began to attack, and the soldiers continued to fall to the ground and howl, their legs began to be black and swollen, and they were no longer able to walk, and in just a moment, more than 400 soldiers who were stabbed all fell, desperately calling for help to Zhao Heiquan.

The thousands of militia soldiers in the city were very nervous at first, and then they were deeply surprised, and when they saw hundreds of enemy soldiers falling to the ground and shouting, the city was immediately cheered, and Yang Shilin was also dumbfounded, not knowing what was happening.

At this time, Sui Junying Yang Lang Ma Yuanzhe whispered to him: "Last night, at the third watch, we sprinkled more than 50,000 tribulus stingers outside the east city and the west city, and unless they find a way to eliminate them, they can't attack the city. ”

Yang Shilin was overjoyed, it turned out to be like this, although the tribulus terrestris stinger would cause trouble to the people later, but at this time, he didn't care about the future, and praised loudly, "It's really a good way!" ”

Ma Yuanzhe smiled slightly, "The other party will definitely use a raft to pave the road, but we also have a way to deal with it." ”

"What is it?" Yang Shilin hurriedly asked.

Ma Yuanzhe smiled: "It's a strong bow and a hard crossbow!" ”

He turned his head and waved his hand, a thousand Sui soldiers with big yellow crossbows quickly stepped forward, the militia soldiers retreated one after another, leaving them with a favorable position at the head of the city, the militia soldiers looked at the big crossbow in the hands of the Sui soldiers in surprise, many people saw this kind of large heavy crossbow for the first time.

Yang Shilin stepped forward and gently stroked the heavy crossbow, Ma Yuanzhe introduced lightly: "This is a seven-stone rhubarb crossbow, it needs two people to open the string, the range is four hundred steps, and two hundred and fifty steps away can shoot through the enemy's shield and armor, as long as the enemy comes along a fixed line, five hundred big yellow crossbows will inevitably cause them heavy casualties." ”

"Good, I'll see!"

........

Under the city, the defeat of the Zheng army's first attack made the enemy general Zhao Heiquan furious, but he was experienced and immediately thought of countermeasures, and shouted: "Pave the road with a raft!" ”

The raft was originally used to pave the moat, but now it is used to pave an offensive path, Zheng soldiers work together, two raft paved paths soon appeared in front of the west city, the second attack began, thousands of Zheng soldiers along the two five-foot-wide raft paths cautiously forward, still holding their shields in their hands.

When there were still one hundred and fifty steps away from the city wall, there was a banging sound on the city, five hundred large yellow crossbows were fired in five sections, and a dense and powerful hundred arrows shot at the Zheng soldiers on the two paths, and the powerful arrows pierced the soldiers' shields and leather armor, and the soldiers fell to the ground with screams, and then the second row of 100 arrows shot at the Zheng soldiers on the raft path, and then the third, fourth, and fifth rows.......

This was a point-and-shoot tactic of the Sui army, which was an effective means of killing and killing nearly 400 Zheng soldiers in the first round with only 500 yellow crossbow arrows.

The second round of arrow formations began immediately, completely blocking the two raft paths, and thousands of Zheng soldiers fled back to the main formation in a hurry after dropping more than 700 corpses, and cheers resounded from the top of the city again.

In just half an hour, more than 1,000 soldiers were lost, and the Zheng army besieging the city could not even enter within a hundred steps, although Zhao Heiquan was experienced, but this situation was also unheard of, he was extremely angry in his heart, threw the battle flag to the ground, and hated to a personal soldier and said: "Go and report to Your Highness, just say that the siege of the west cannot be fought." ”

"Obey!"

The soldiers turned around and urged their horses to run towards the southern city........

Zhao Heiquan immediately ordered: "Stop the attack for the time being, wait for the boss's order!" ”

.........

Not only was Xicheng ambushed by Tribulus Poison Needle and Rhubarb Crossbow, but Dongcheng also encountered this situation, and Dongcheng suffered even more heavy losses, with more than 1,500 people dying under Tribulus Poison Needle and the random arrows at the head of the city.

The east and west roads could no longer continue to attack, and the two main generals kicked the problem to Wang Renze.

The first attack on Nancheng was also defeated because he couldn't withstand the dense arrows at the head of the city, and Wang Ren was so angry that his eyes almost burst into flames, he had already seen that there were not many Sui troops at the head of the city, and most of the others were people wearing armor, and many people didn't even know how to use bows and arrows, and shot arrows down indiscriminately.

But that's it, his army still can't enter the city within fifty steps, not so much because the Sui army's bow and crossbow are strong, but because his soldiers have a life-saving mood, ** loot one by one, but everyone spares their lives in the war, thinking about the gold, silver and jewelry they have robbed.

At this moment, the east and west city walls sent people to report at the same time, and the attack was hindered, and the Sui army sprinkled a large number of poisonous needles and tribulus terrestris under the city wall, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

This news made Wang Renze speechless for a long time, and finally he said slowly: "Since the east and west sides cannot attack, then concentrate on attacking Nancheng, pass on my order, and reassemble the army!" ”

'Knock-knock-knock!' ’

With the dreary drums beating, the Zheng army outside the three walls began to quickly assemble towards the southern city, and after losing thousands of soldiers, Wang Ren changed his tactics and no longer carried out a three-sided attack, but concentrated his forces to storm the southern city.

Wang Ren stood on a high platform and shouted hysterically to the soldiers: "Don't you want money? Don't you want a woman? I promise you that the first brother to attack the city will be the marquis of ten thousand households, and he can choose ten wealthy families in the city at will, and all the wealth and women of the ten wealthy families will belong to him, and if they cannot be transported away, I will use a boat to help him transport them back to Luoyang, this is my Wang Renze's promise, I swear to heaven! ”

The soldiers of the Zheng army cheered, and their morale was boosted again, while Wang Ren drew his war knife, looked at the city and gritted his teeth and ordered: "Siege the city!" ”

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

The drums of war beat rapidly, and 17,000 soldiers launched a powerful offensive against Nancheng from three directions at the same time, and the situation in Xiangyang City began to be critical.

At this time, Laihu'er, who had been paying attention to the battle of Xiangyang on the Hanshui River, also received a request for additional troops sent by Zhu Kuan, and he immediately ordered another 5,000 soldiers to Xiangyang City, which had already been prepared for the record, and the 5,000 soldiers had already been assembled on ten ships of 3,000 stones, and once the situation in defending the city required it, the army would immediately enter the city to support.

The north gate of Xiangyang slowly opened, and 5,000 Sui soldiers entered Xiangyang City from the north city, and quickly rushed to the south city, increasing the number of Sui soldiers in Xiangyang City to 10,000.

On the one hand, it can increase the goodwill of the people of Xiangyang towards the Sui army, and on the other hand, it can also confuse the Zheng army besieging the city, drag them under Xiangyang City to the maximum extent, buy time for the reinforcements that are coming from Jiangxia, and completely annihilate Wang Renze's army under Xiangyang City.

At the same time, dozens of warships of 500 stone also entered Xiangyang City from the waterway through the Beicheng Water Gate, sending a large number of defensive materials to the defenders of Xiangyang City, including Gaonu fire oil, and the offensive and defensive battles of Xiangyang City were escalating step by step.

.........

The Tang army, which had been pursued from the south, was only two hours slower than the Zheng army, and the 35,000 Tang army crossed the Han River in Shanghong County and continued to pursue it north along the Han River, but stopped at the small town of Da Xian, about 80 miles from Xiangyang County.

At this time, Wu Shi Tong and Li Xiaogong had received the news that the Sui army had entered Xiangyang City, and the two thousand Tang troops originally stationed in Xiangyang City had withdrawn to Xiyang County, this news made the two both relieved and at the same time feel lost, relieved that they were worried that the two thousand Tang troops would not be able to resist the attack of the 20,000 Zheng army like wolves and tigers, Xiangyang City had fallen and become a hell on earth, and they could not explain to the Son of Heaven.

And the feeling of loss is because the change of flag in Xiangyang City means that the Tang army is completely locked out of the gate of Jingzhou, and they cannot gain a foothold in Jingzhou, so they can only withdraw from Jingzhou as soon as possible.

Just when the Tang army was watching the Zheng army attack the city, Li Xiaogong received a report that a Sui army of tens of thousands had arrived in the south of Yiqing County, only fifty miles away from them, and was rushing to this side. (To be continued.) )