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Liu Xiu stayed in Caohan for three days, paying close attention to the movements of the Qiang people, but he was not idle, he found Lu Yi and Xiahou Yuan, and asked them to prepare for a strong attack on Caohan City. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Caohan City is not very big, and the defenders are not very many, but there are not many people under Liu Xiu who are really good at attacking the city, more than 17,000 troops, less than 5,000 foot soldiers, plus Liu Xiu's tiger battalion is only 6,000 people, it is too wasteful to use cavalry to attack the city.

"The task of besieging the city mainly falls on the two of you, Yuntian's infantry is a master of dealing with cavalry, but it doesn't seem to be very good at siege, Miaocai originally led an infantry battalion, and he is relatively familiar with siege tactics, so you two have to cooperate more."

Xiahou Yuan pursed his lips and disagreed. He had never taken this city into account, and if it weren't for the fact that there were too few soldiers under him, he wouldn't need Liyi's help at all. But Liu Xiu has said it to this point, and he can't lose face at all. He untied the belt on his body and formed a circle: "Let's treat this as a city, and briefly talk about a few ways to siege the city." ”

Koji Yi is indeed not good at attacking cities, what he is good at is dealing with cavalry, and the means of attacking the Qiang people are relatively simple, and there is no technical content, so in the defense of the city, his understanding is also limited, and when he saw Xiahou Yuan began to explain, he had to listen humbly. The task of the Northern Army is to protect the Beijing Division, so the attack and defense of the city has become their main research content, Xiahou Yuan has been an infantry captain for several years, and he has turned over the files in the infantry battalion.

Of course, Liu Xiu also understands this, but in order to let Xiahou Yuan show his face, he specially asked Xiahou Yuan to explain.

Xiahou Yuan was the commander-in-chief of the siege, under his arrangement, the army built four large mounds outside the four gates of Caohan, making a posture of attacking the city on all sides, although their infantry is seriously insufficient, it is impossible to besiege on all sides, but the people in Caohan City do not know this, which can increase their psychological pressure and disperse their defensive forces.

In addition, he also mobilized the soldiers of the baggage battalion to build some siege equipment, and the built equipment was placed on all sides, specially so that the defenders at the head of the city could see, watching the ladders come out one by one, and the broken city hammers were pushed out, although the number was not very large, but the atmosphere at the head of the city had begun to become depressed, and it was the first to enter the tension of the battle.

In addition to building siege equipment, Xiahou Yuan also arranged for his soldiers to practice siege methods under the noses of the defenders, and his more than 200 personal guards were the crystallization of his years of training, and the siege skills were proficient.

Because although Xiahou Yuan only had more than 200 people, he asked these 200 people to go back to the barracks every hour, then put on a suit of clothes, and then walked out of another barracks, practiced for another hour, and then went back, changed and undressed, and then came out from another direction, and the cycle repeatedly, as if there were countless soldiers practicing cāo, and ...... Everyone is so skilled.

After seeing this, Koji built a section of earthen wall a few steps wide far from the city, and began to train his soldiers to prepare for the siege.

Three days passed quickly, and there was no movement on the Baishi side, and Liu Xiu saw that the plan to besiege the city and send reinforcements could not be realized, so he decided to storm the city. For the sake of safety, he arranged all the cavalry except for the Chinese army around Jingjie, so as not to prevent Song Jian from suddenly coming to CHÁO on a whim and sending people to relieve the siege. Then he called Lu Yi and Xiahou Yuan to him: "I'll give you one night's time, before you see the first rays of sunshine tomorrow, if you can't break the city, give up!" ”

Lu Yi and Xiahou Yuan clasped their fists and saluted: "Please rest assured, general, we will definitely not let the traitors in Caohan City see the sun tomorrow." After finishing speaking, the two looked at each other again and bowed: "See you in the city!" ”

"See you at the head of the city!"

After nightfall, the noisy outside the city finally quieted down, but the soldiers at the head of the city of Caohan were surprised to find that the officers and soldiers outside the city did not collect their troops back to the camp, ready to rest, their camp was the smoke of cooking, one by one the stoves were lit, a pot was shelved, the soldiers of the baggage battalion came and went, from the summer water next to it brought jars of water and poured into the pot, one sheep after another was slaughtered, chopped into pieces of meat, thrown into the pot, and more soldiers began to stand outside the camp.

Although the general was illiterate, he had seen the battle formation to some extent, and when he saw this posture, he knew that the general situation was not good, and the officers and troops were afraid that they would attack the city overnight. He immediately ordered all his soldiers to go up to the city, and at the same time sent out soldiers for help, and lit a beacon of help. The official army besieged the city, and he believed that the soldiers who delivered the letter might not be able to reach Baishi City alive, and he had a greater grasp of using the beacon fire.

The soldiers of the city and the people who were forced to defend the city looked at everything outside the city in horror, waiting for their own fate.

After the formation was completed, the mutton was also cooked, and the soldiers of the baggage battalion carried a large pot and sent bowls of hot mutton soup to the hands of the soldiers in the array, the rich smell of meat permeated outside the city, the soldiers of the Han army laughed loudly, but the soldiers at the head of the city were like ashes.

When the supper was over, the fire in the back rose brighter, and the sheep were slaughtered one after another, and the bleating cries surrounded the city, as if a grand banquet was being held in the city. But at the sound of the sheep's cry, a group of crossbowmen climbed up to the mound outside the city, and their cold eyes crossed the distance of fifty or sixty paces, and the soldiers at the head of the city felt chills in their hearts.

A soldier with a small flag appeared on the mound and began to shout to the city to persuade him to surrender.

Xiahou Yuan wore his armor and held a war knife in his hand, pacing back and forth in front of the battle. He knows very well that don't look at the momentum on all sides, in fact, only he and Liyi, the five thousand people, can attack the city, and if Xu Yu's Hushi battalion is used, the face of him and Liyi will be lost. Not only that, but he also has to compete with Koji Yi, and he can't give Koji a three-day lesson, and in the end, Mr. Koji loses to the student.

Xiahou Yuan glanced at Jiang Wu and Yan Wen, with a smile in his eyes. The rear army was originally Jiang Wu as the main general, but after marching for more than half a month, Jiang Wu consciously gave up the position of the main general and became a deputy general. Jiang Wu has a good martial arts, but he lacks experience in leading troops to fight, he can recognize the gap, and willingly obey Xiahou Yuan's orders, which makes Xiahou Yuan very satisfied.

"Borou, you lead fifty people to be the vanguard." Xiahou Yuan pointed to Dian Wei, who was standing in the front with a big banner in his hand, "Everyone wears heavy armor and does not carry a shield, boarding the siege vehicle and storming the city. If there are more than ten people alive, they are not allowed to retreat, and those who violate the order will be beheaded! ”

Dian Wei punched his chest with a fist and promised loudly.

"Zifeng, you and Bojian each led a hundred people, broke the city with a hammer, took turns to fight, and supported each other. The main attack on the city gates, one broke the gate, and the other widened the gap to meet the army into the city. ”

Jiang Wu and Yan Wen hugged their fists and promised.

Xiahou Yuan stood up straight and pointed to his chest: "All the soldiers, Yuan is here, watching the battle for the monarchs." Those who die in battle will be rewarded with double portions, a thin coffin, meritorious service, rewarded according to merit, and those who are cowardly, Mo Weiyuan's knife does not recognize people. He drew his sword and drew a line in front of him: "Today, whoever crosses this line, go straight to the former, reward!" Those who retreat for no reason, slash! Please start from Xiahou Yuan, and you will wait and see. ”

Jiang Wu and Yan Wen glanced at each other, both of them showed surprise, listening to Xiahou Yuan's meaning, he still had to fight in person?

"Drumming!" Xiahou Yuan glanced at the whole army and raised his sword and shouted.

The drummer waved his strong arms and swung the cowhide drum, and the thick war drums rose to the sky, and almost at the same time, the war drums also sounded in the south of the city, and then the war drums sounded in the east and west of the city.

"Shoot the arrows! Attack! Xiahou Yuan gave the order as soon as he gave the order, and the crossbowmen who were already waiting on the mound of earth loosened the bowstring in their hands, pulled the crossbow machine, and shè out the first batch of arrows.

"Raise your shield, raise your shield!" The head of the city shouted in a big voice, and one shield after another was raised, and the arrows shè on the shield, Ding Dong rattle. Fortunately, the number of archers on the mound was limited, and the people in the border areas were mostly in battle, although they were nervous, they did not mess up, and occasionally some people were hit by arrows, but they just snorted and hid to the side, and few shouted and disturbed the morale of the army.

When the crossbowman was in a hurry, Dian Wei handed over the banner to others, pulled out two halberds from his waist, pointed forward, took a big stride, and began to run, fifty warriors in heavy armor followed him closely, like fifty roaring beasts.

"Shoot the arrows!" The guards at the head of the city shouted.

Braving the rain of arrows pouring from the mounds of earth, the archers at the head of the city leaned out and struck down the city. The feather arrows were galloping, Ding Ding was on the armor, Dian Wei and the others didn't go back at all, they didn't even bother to pay attention to it, they pushed up the siege vehicle and ran down the city.

The siege vehicle was a large wooden shelf, covered with raw cowhide on the outside, and the people were inside, and they could not see the situation outside, but only pushed forward with force. There is a lookout on it, and someone on it observes the situation, adjusts the direction, and gives orders. There was a fixed wooden ladder on the siege vehicle, and there was a wooden bridge that could be folded, and when it was pushed under the city wall, the wooden bridge could be released and erected at the head of the city for the besiegers to rush over for hand-to-hand combat.

The first task of the siege vehicle is to push it under the city walls, otherwise everything is a pipe dream.

As soon as the war drums sounded, the people hidden under the siege vehicles shouted in unison, pushing the siege vehicles forward, and the one-man high wheels creaked and gradually rolled. The head of the castle knew the power of the siege car, and concentrated a large number of archers to carry out shè strikes to prevent the siege caravan from approaching. The front of the siege vehicle is protected by cowhides, and only two sides can be effectively attacked, but after Dian Wei and others caught up, they quickly protected the flanks, reducing the casualties of the people, and the people were protected, and their morale was stronger, and the siege vehicles were pushed faster and faster.

As the siege engines approached the walls, stones began to be thrown at the head of the city, and some men raised their long iron spears, ready to stop the siege engines from approaching. But they immediately became targets for the archers on the mound, and one after another feathered arrows shuffled over, focusing on the spear-carrying soldiers.

In the land of the lying cow, several soldiers fell one after another.

The closer the siege vehicle got to the city, the more difficult it became, and the stones and various obstacles thrown down from the city seriously hindered the progress of the siege vehicle, and the people ventured forward to clean up, and more stones and wood were thrown down at the city, and from time to time someone was hit and fell to the ground screaming.

The two sides stuck together, screams came and went, echoing up and down, and from time to time someone fell from the head of the city and rolled together with the Han soldiers under the city. The siege vehicle was only a few steps away, and seventeen or eighteen people died, but they couldn't push it through.

Seeing this, Dian Wei was in a hurry, inserted the double halberd into his belt, bent down to pick up two stones the size of a human head, and smashed them back with a "whew". The stone slammed into a shield with the sound of the wind, and the shield "boomed" loudly, and the soldier holding the shield only felt that half of his body was numb, and involuntarily took half a step back. Dian Wei then threw out another stone, which smashed the other soldier unstable on his footing, and took two steps back.

There was a panic at the head of the city, and the crossbowmen on the mound immediately seized the opportunity and poured out a rain of arrows, and three or four guards at the head of the city were hit by arrows. They didn't expect that there were such powerful warriors in the official army, and they were caught off guard for a while, but they immediately reacted, and concentrated on throwing stones and shè arrows at Dian Wei, and the arrows shè onto Dian Wei's double armor, Dian Wei didn't care, but the stones that fell down were a little unbearable, and after a while, his head was hit, and he was suddenly dizzy.

Dian Wei was furious and roared: "Pick up stones for me, I'll smash his mother!" When several guards heard this, they hurriedly picked up the stones on the ground and handed them over, and Dian Wei took them in his hands and threw them towards the city one after another. The stone weighing more than a dozen pounds was as light as a feather in his hand, fast and accurate, and smashed into the city and screamed, making a mess.

The people took advantage of this opportunity to exert their strength again, and finally pushed the siege engine to the position. There was a loud bang, and as soon as the jumping bridge was set up at the head of the city, Dian Wei pulled out a pair of halberds on his waist and rushed over with a roar.

The two soldiers at the head of the city were slashing the wooden bridge with knives, and when they saw Dian Wei rushing over like a killing god, they hurriedly raised their knives to cut them. The swords and halberds were intertwined, and there was a crisp sound of "Qiang", and the heavy iron halberd knocked off the ring knife, and the halberd slammed into the neck of a soldier. The soldier didn't even snort, his neck was crooked, and the strength of his body was suddenly drained, and he fell softly from the city.

Dian Wei flew up to the city, facing the guards who rushed up, his legs apart, standing firmly, a pair of iron halberds danced vigorously, whether it was a chopping knife or a spear, all swept aside, where the sharp halberd aid and halberd thorns went, blood splashed, and in a blink of an eye, five or six guards fell in front of him, blood flowed wantonly.

Dian Wei guarded the head of the city, and the guards behind him followed closely, protecting Dian Wei's back, fighting desperately, expanding the position inch by inch, so that the companions behind could jump over. The guards at the head of the city also went crazy, and rushed forward desperately, fell one, and rushed over two, ignoring the iron halberds flying in Dian Wei's hands, and tried to squeeze them out of the city at all costs.

Dian Wei roared again and again, but it was difficult, and the defenders' desperate counterattack made him hit two spears in succession and was stabbed three times, although he was protected by heavy armor and was not injured, but this successive heavy blows also made him very difficult, and it was difficult to move forward.

Xiahou Yuan saw that Dian Wei had already attacked the city, his heart was ecstatic, but his face did not show anything, he ordered the archers to support him with all his might, and ordered Jiang Wu to attack the city gate quickly to relieve Dian Wei's pressure.

Jiang Wu admired Dian Wei's fierceness, he was the first time he saw someone who could throw stones to the city under the city, but it was more fierce than smashing down the city, this war was less than a meal, Dian Wei attacked the city, although it was still a question whether he could stand his foot, but his bravery greatly boosted morale, and also aroused Jiang Wu's competitiveness.

"Kill!" Jiang Wu raised his shield and shouted, with more than a hundred soldiers, pushing the city-breaking hammer and going straight to the city gate. When the guards in the city saw this, they shouted loudly, and sent out a part of the archers to stop Jiang Wu. Jiang Wu held the shield in his left hand, pushed the city-breaking hammer with his right hand, shouted the trumpet, and rushed towards the city gate as fast as he could.

The head of the city threw stones, shè rain of arrows, desperately blocked.

At the beginning, the two sides entered a white heat and used their maximum energy.

Xiahou Yuan stood in front of the line he had drawn, constantly observing the situation at the head of the city and the city gate, and a trace of joy passed through his heart. When Dian Wei smashed the city with a stone, he knew that he had really picked up the treasure this time, not to mention how effective Dian Wei would be in practicing the tiger shape in the future, just with his strength, this is a rare warrior, and he is definitely a sharp knife for attacking the city.

This guy is too tough.

And Jiang Wu is not bad, although he is not as burly and strong as Dian Wei, and he is still attacking the city gate, I don't see how his sword skills are, but he can still run so flexibly with the city hammer in one hand, and his skills are obviously not bad, no less than a hundred battles. This Xiliang is really a place to come out of Jingrui, if you can pick out a few thousand people here to form a Jingrui, it is much stronger than those waste baskets of the Northern Army.

No wonder General Wei would rather give up Luoyang than give up and be cool.

While thinking about his thoughts, Xiahou Yuan commanded his subordinates to support Dian Wei and Jiang Wu, but he didn't see clearly enough, so he simply ran to the mound where the archers were. This place is condescending, and even the situation at the head of the city can be seen clearly.

"Give me shè the one who wears the fish scale armor." Xiahou Yuan only glanced at it, and saw the running guard, the splitter snatched a strong bow from the crossbowman next to him, mounted an arrow, carefully aimed at the guard, and released the bowstring.

At the same time that Xiahou Yuan discovered the other party, the other party also discovered him, and as soon as he saw him draw his bow and release arrows, the guard shouted "guard" and dodged behind a pillar. The guards behind him didn't react so quickly, and were hit by Xiahou Yuan's arrow, and the power contained in the arrow caused him to take two steps back, turn over and fall.

"It's a pity!" Xiahou Yuan sighed, took another arrow, and turned over a long one, and then shouted: "People with good archery skills, give me those who are officials." ”

Before the words fell, seven or eight arrows came from the opposite city wall, all of which were rushing towards Xiahou Yuan. The guards next to him had already prepared, and three or four shields swarmed up to protect Xiahou Yuan tightly.

"Knock knock knock ......" arrow shè on the shield, like a raging storm.