PS: Today's chapter involves the tedious siege of the city, and this Jiangnan is not very good at it, so I have been consulting the information to understand the various tactics of siege and defense. It's also a bit obscure, and it's really hard to write, so it's a late update, sorry!

On April 13 of the third year of the second dynasty, the banks of the Weishui River, which had been silent for a long time, were boiling. The anti-Qin coalition army finally completed the siege of Xianyang after a month, and the 600,000-strong army blocked the huge Xianyang city siege, and the dense military camp stretched from under Xianyang city to the Baqiao.

Xianyang is already close at hand, as long as the allied soldiers climb the heights, you can see the mountains and mountains in the city, the jade Yuqiong Tower, you can see the majestic Xianyang Palace.

This is the heart of Great Qin, a place that has terrified the six countries of Kwantung for hundreds of years, and every military order and every edict issued from here has brought endless disasters and fear to the six countries. Within a hundred years, the Qin people conquered the cities of the Six Kingdoms like locusts, wiped out their countries, broke their system, and forced the people of the Six Kingdoms to accept the Qin people's ideology and legal system.

And today, the blood of every citizen of the Six Kingdoms under Xianyang City can't help but boil, they have arrived at the most powerful place in the world - Xianyang, the heart of the Qin Empire, which will undoubtedly allow them to have a capital worth showing off in the second half of their lives.

If only they survived!

All the Qin people were mobilized, the young and strong went to the city, the strong women were used as carrying baggage equipment, and the old and weak took over the burden of farming and production. It is clear in the hearts of every Qin person that Xianyang has become the last line of defense that the Qin Empire can rely on.

Where the city is, then Qin is; If the city is broken, Qin will die!

Xiang Yu's reputation for killing is known to the world, and he has never been soft on any city that stubbornly resists, even Xiangyang, which used to be Chudi. His hatred of the Qin people was destined not to let go of Xianyang, who swore to resist to the death, and once the city was broken, the nearly one million Qin people in the city would usher in a tragic slaughter.

This strengthened the resistance of the Qin people, because there were only two ways in front of the Qin people, either to defend to the end, or maybe there was a chance to turn around, or the city was destroyed, and the Qin people completely withdrew from the historical stage.

Although there were nearly a million Qin people in Xianyang City, there were less than 200,000 young and strong, and Han Xin's available troops were only 150,000, excluding craftsmen and officials. However, because of the advantage of defending the city, hundreds of thousands of strong women and old soldiers in the city can still help defend, which is also the advantage of the national military system.

After the Battle of Changping in the past, the army of Qin once besieged Handan, when the elite of Zhao State was exhausted, and all men over the age of thirteen in the city were recruited to defend the city, and even women were put on armor. However, such drawbacks are also obvious, even if the defense is held, the country's national strength will be greatly damaged, and it will never recover.

Therefore, Han Xin did not intend to let these women and children go into battle. Different from the Battle of Handan that year, at that time, the armies of Wei, Chu, and Qi were rushing to support Zhao State, so as long as they resisted for a while. And Xianyang has become an isolated city today, and he must consider the long-term national fortune of Qin, that is, even if he holds Xianyang, he cannot let Qin's vitality be greatly damaged, and he will not have the power to go east from now on.

At this moment, Xiang Yu is determined to win Xianyang, he has the most powerful army in history, and he is carrying the high morale brought by the huge victory in the Battle of Julu to Xianyang City.

In the coalition army, his descendants were 200,000 Chu troops, which were the headquarters soldiers and horses in the Battle of Julu and the reinforcements brought from Pengcheng by Yu Ziqi, and the 80,000 remnants of Liu Bang, another branch of the Chu army. Zhao army of 110,000, commanded by Zhao generals Zhang Er, Sima Wei, and Shen Yang respectively; The Qi army was 90,000, divided into two branches, commanded by Tian Du and Tian An respectively; The Yan army was 70,000 and was commanded by the Yan general Zang Di; The Wei army was 50,000 and was commanded by Wei Wang Bao; The last was the more than 20,000 Qin troops recruited by Sima Xin and Dong Peng from among the remnants of the Qin who had not had time to withdraw from Guanzhong, and were also involved in the siege of Xianyang as one of the princes.

Although the coalition forces have different banners, and the commanders of various countries have their own thoughts, they are afraid of Xiang Yu's majesty, and no one dares to shirk his military orders. Xiang Yu was also quite generous, and promised everyone that they would be crowned kings after destroying Qin, which also made everyone happy.

Now that the work of clearing the stronghold outside Xianyang City has been completed, according to Xiang Yu's fiery temper, he naturally did not want to wait for a long time, and soon issued a military order to the princes, and the time for the general attack was set for the morning of April 13.

From the early hours of the morning, the camp of the coalition army was boiling, and the soldiers who got up early buried the pot and had a full meal. Soon after dawn, the army horns in the camp of the coalition army were sonorous, gongs and drums shook the sky, and countless soldiers walked in neat steps, sending out a tsunami-like cry to Xianyang and slowly approaching Xianyang, and finally the vanguard stopped at the place where the three arrows were on standby.

The defenders on the city wall of Xianyang also discovered the abnormality of the coalition army early and hurriedly reported to Han Xin in the Xianyang Palace. Compared with the previous small fights of the coalition forces to attack the city, Han Xin felt that Xiang Yu was serious this time, so he ordered the whole city to prepare for battle, and the soldiers went to the head of the city to guard, and he himself and Wang Qi, Tian Shi and other generals went to the head of the city, each responsible for a section of city defense.

Xianyang City was surrounded by water on both sides, and was guarded by the wide Wei River to the west and south, and the Qin State had a small naval army in the capital, which was not enough to launch a landing battle, but it was enough to patrol the river. Therefore, Xiang Yu personally observed, and decided to abandon Gongcheng from the west and south, and instead just blockade and prevent the Qin people from breaking through. The north of Xianyang faces the mountains, although there is no moat to obstruct it, but the terrain is very narrow and not suitable for the deployment of siege troops and equipment, while the east is a vast plain, which is very suitable for the siege of the army, Xiang Yu and Han Xin both turned their eyes here, positioning the east gate as the focus of attack and defense.

When the first rays of sunlight in the early morning imprinted on the head of Xianyang City, the southeast sky was full of red clouds, and the banners covering the sky and the sun under the city were whirring under the blowing of the morning wind, and the armies gathered in front of the array.

Xiang Yu stood tall on his horse, raised his head and looked at the majestic Xianyang City in the distance with a solemn face, raised his right hand and waved it down. The flag officer understood, the red flag flipped over, and then the low drum and horn in the distance slowly sounded, and an army of tens of thousands of people broke away from the phalanx and slowly rushed towards the Xianyang city wall.

The first to show up was not Xiang Yu's elite and warlike headquarters army, but another army that although it was under the banner of the Chu army, the soldiers showed a panicked face.

At this time, Liu Bang, who was staying behind Xiang Yu and was frowning, his face twitched, these were the old things he relied on for a living, how could he not feel distressed. But the hated Xiang Yu let his troops do the first wave of charge, and they had an extremely important mission - that is, to fill the moat outside the city, which was undoubtedly no different from sending him to death.

But Liu Bang couldn't refuse Xiang Yu's military order, so he had to grit his teeth and press all the few elites in his hands, Xiang Yu didn't just want his subordinates to die, so he was equipped with siege equipment and tens of thousands of people.

Liu Bang's 40,000 pioneers and 30,000 men lined up in a sparse procession, and at the forefront of the procession were nearly 100 tall chariots, in front of which were high erected arrow plates, made of sturdy giant wood, covered with several layers of cowhide, used to block bows and crossbows and rolling stones. Layers of sandbags and dirt were placed on the huge body of the car, and soldiers with shields held high guarded the people who were struggling to push the cars in the middle.

When the Chu army entered the firing range, the flag commander of the Qin army at the head of the city waved the red flag, and suddenly the arrows rained down, and the sassal wood and stones fell one after another. Although the huge baffle on the car could block the bow and crossbow rolling stones, the thin wooden shield in the hands of the Chu army was powerless in the face of the crossbow, and the soldiers screamed and rolled into the river. Those people who were burying and protecting did not have the protection of the shield hand, and they were suddenly exposed to the rain of arrows, and they were in chaos for a while, and they turned around and fled, and the Chu army on the side also hurriedly fled with them when they saw this.

Behind the formation of the Chu army, Fan Xu was standing there expressionlessly with an iron cone, and behind him were thousands of overseers with sharp blades, and when they saw the defeated army returning, they shouted angrily; "Those who retreat are killed." After saying that, the cone smashed the flesh and blood of several fleeing soldiers and people, and the supervising team lined up in a neat gun formation with guns, shouting loudly and moving forward in unison, driving the fleeing soldiers to turn around and move forward desperately.

Seeing that they could not retreat, the Chu army, which was in a desperate situation, mustered up the courage to turn around and rush to the city wall again, falling under the rain of arrows of the Qin people in batches, but they had to desperately throw sandbags and mud under the moat one after another. Many dead and wounded soldiers and men were also thrown into the moat, and many people who were not completely dead reached out in the river and screamed for help, but no one cared about their lives and deaths.

Liu Bang looked at Xiang Yu's indifferent eyes and didn't mean to stop, so he gritted his teeth and ordered to expel groups of soldiers forward, until the north of the moat was stained red with blood, and it was gradually filled with sand and flesh and blood. Except for Xiang Yu, every prince looked indifferently at the Chu army, which had suffered heavy casualties, and no one would show pity in the corner of their eyes.

In troubled times, human life is as cheap as mustard, and the difference is only in your life or someone else's.

Liu Bang watched his subordinates die in batches like cannon fodder, the red Shuangyang seemed to ooze blood, and his heart was already painful, but he did not order it to stop, but continued to urge the soldiers to go to death.

Because he knew that Xiang Yu was watching him and was looking for a reason to kill him, if he violated the military order, the halberd in Xiang Yu's hand would not hesitate to pierce his chest and abdomen.

Finally, seeing that the moat had almost been filled, Xiang Yu moved the corners of his eyes slightly, looked back at Liu Bang and said lightly; "Pei Gong has worked hard, you order your subordinates to retreat, and now it's up to us to perform."

At this moment, Liu Bang was almost excited to cry, and hurriedly ordered his subordinates to retreat. In less than half an hour, Liu Bang's army lost 30,000 people, and his power was greatly reduced.

After Liu Bang's subordinates retreated, Xiang Yu looked at the somewhat pale princes behind him and said; "Ladies and gentlemen, our Chu army has already filled in the moat, according to the first decision, Zhang Xiangguo and General Zang will go first, King Qi and King Wei will follow, and our Chu army will be postponed."

"No!"

Although they were a little reluctant, Zhang Er and Zang Di returned to their respective armies to arrange battles. After a while, the two huge phalanxes broke away from the coalition army, and the 100,000 Zhao army and the Yan army lined up in a neat phalanx, pushing the well and the city ladder more than ten meters high, shouting neat slogans, covering the green ground like the roar of the tide, and rushing towards Xianyang City.

Therefore, everyone was promised: the first person to attack Xianyang City, whether it was an officer or a soldier, would be named a marquis, a thousand households, and the one who took the head of Prince Qin's infant would be crowned king. This made all the coalition soldiers red-eyed, shouting, 'It's a big deal', and they all mustered up the courage to rush forward.

With the sound of shouting, the march of the army was as neat as a man, and the earth trembled with the dull sound of drums and the towering clouds, as if one mountain after another was slowly approaching the city wall. As far as the eye could see under Xianyang City, there were slowly approaching coalition phalanxes everywhere, and the piercing cries of the coalition soldiers resounded through the world: "Drink!" Drink! Drink! ”

On the highest platform in Xianyang City, Han Xin quietly watched the coalition forces attacking like a tide, and only when the coalition troops surged to 800 steps did his face move slightly, and ordered; "Stone thrower."

The red flag waved at the head of the city, and the officers in front of the catapult phalanx, who had already held their breath, shouted excitedly. Soon, more than 100 huge stone bullets flew over the city and smashed into the approaching coalition phalanx. These projectiles are carefully ground into a round shape so that they can roll around when they are smashed, so that they can kill the enemy as much as possible.

Sure enough, the coalition forces that were blinded by the secret weapons of the Qin army were suddenly in chaos, and the boulders that came from the sky were blurred with flesh and blood, and several wells and ladders were smashed and scattered by the boulders. Seeing that the situation was not good, the generals of the Zhao and Yan armies hurriedly urged their soldiers to speed up to avoid the range of the catapult.

The tide of coalition forces soon rushed to the bottom of the city, only to be greeted by an overwhelming flood of crossbows and rolling stones. The Qin people are very good at crossbow arrows, and the technology of crossbow arrows is far ahead of the six countries of Kwantung, and the advantages in this aspect in the defense of Xianyang City are even more vividly expressed.

The range within a hundred steps from top to bottom, the shield in the hands of the coalition soldiers could not stop the Qin army's crossbow at all, and the enemies under the city were so dense that the Qin army did not need to aim at all, only the mechanical Deng crossbow and arrows, just shoot down, shoot, shoot.

The rain of arrows in the sky brought huge casualties to the coalition forces, and there was a river of blood under the city wall more than ten miles long. It wasn't until the siege wells and ladders arrived that the situation changed. The four-zhang high well was higher than the Qin people's city wall, and he turned to condescendingly release arrows and shoot at the Qin army, which suddenly increased the pressure on Xianyang's city defense. Hundreds of ladders were set up on the city walls, and the carefully selected warriors of the coalition army carried broadswords on their backs, and regardless of the arrows and rolling stones that fell from their heads, they climbed up one by one.

The Qin army at the head of the city quickly rushed out of hundreds of flying hook hands, and used the hook lock to pull the cloud ladder and the well block, and then hundreds of people worked together to pull the cloud ladder and the well block, and the coalition soldiers on the ladder suddenly fell down with a scream, either falling into a meat pie, or being stabbed into a hedgehog by the dense gun forest below.

Xiang Yu continued to order the Qi army and the Wei army to press reinforcements with an expressionless face, and at the same time let Yingbu and Zhong Liwei each lead 3,000 elite soldiers to climb the city, striving to capture it in one fell swoop. His raised right hand was clenched tightly, and his gaze was full of desire to conquer.

Xianyang, you will definitely be my next trophy!