In 225 AD, the fifth year of Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty and the end of the sixth year of the early Huang Dynasty of Wei and Huang, the Northern and Southern Dynasties started a large-scale confrontation.

Liu Bei carried out the slogan of imitating Guangwu and reviving the Han Dynasty, and sent troops from Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou, Liangzhou and other places to launch a fierce attack on Cao Wei's Guanzhong, Henan, and Huainan.

Xiahou Mao, Cao Zhen, Zhong Xuan, Xu Huang, Zhu Ling and others guarded against Shen Chen in the Western Front Pass. Cao Xiu, Zhang Liao, Zang Ba, Lü Qian and others resisted Guan Yu in Huainan on the eastern front.

In the middle line of Henan, the front line was dominated by the new hussar general Xiahou Yuan, the general of Zhengnan Xiahou Shang was the deputy general, and Cao Pi personally went to the rear of Chen Du to supervise the battle.

Liu Bei adopted a steady and steady tactic, slowly attacked Henan, and then occupied large territories such as Yingchuan and Runan County, and began a protracted confrontation with the main force of Cao's army in Yanling, Changshe and other places.

The trenches on both sides were dug for dozens of miles, and the camps covered the sky and the sun, and there was no end in sight. There are hundreds of large and small camps alone, so you can know the scale of both sides.

From the end of 225 AD to the end of February 226 AD, Liu Bei's main force had covered half of Yingchuan County and confronted Cao's army head-on.

Although the main force did not start a full-scale war, the battles behind enemy lines were frequent. For example, Liu Bei called on the people in Yingchuan, Henan and other places to revive the Han dynasty and rebel against Cao Wei, so that Cao Pi's rear rebellion did not stop, and Cao's army was anxious.

The Cao army also took advantage of the mobility of a large number of cavalry, constantly harassed the Han army's grain route, and even blocked the passage of the Nanyang Basin at the most exaggerated time, and a large number of cavalry roamed nearby to attack the rear.

Fortunately, although Cao Pi's strategist group is cunning, Liu Bei's strategist group is superior, the two sides continue to fight, you come and go, and the balance of power is still maintained, even if Liu Bei's troops are 10,000 fewer than Cao's army, they are also moving forward step by step, not falling behind.

This situation lasted until April of the sixth year of Zhang Wu, and the first thing that began to change was the Huainan battlefield. Because Zhang Liao and Guan Yu corresponded many times, Cao Xiu was worried, and then Guan Yu besieged Hefei several times and almost entered the city.

Hefei is a small city, which is more conducive to defense. However, Guan Yu's number of soldiers and horses is several times that of Zhang Liao, and there are always some mistakes, which Guan Yu found flaws and almost hit the city, making Hefei City almost stormy.

Under the sense of oppression, Cao Xiu decided to give up continuing to hold on to Runan, but personally led tens of thousands of troops, plus the soldiers and horses of Zang Ba and Lu Qian and others, and galloped towards Hefei.

By the beginning of May, Cao Xiu led the army to Chengde in Shouchun, and arrived at the rear of Hefei, which was less than 100 kilometers away from Hefei City.

There are two reasons why he came, one is naturally to rush to the aid of Zhang Liao and relieve the pressure on Hefei.

Two.

He was also afraid that Zhang Liao would vote, so he asked Xue Yi to keep an eye on the situation on Liao's side, so as not something bad would happen.

Now that he has arrived in Hefei, even if something happens, he can make up for it as soon as possible.

So he violated the previous deployment and arrived in Huainan in person.

Guan Yu then asked Wei Yan to continue to surround the city of Hefei, and he himself led an army of 50,000 and began to build a camp north of Hefei to prepare to meet the enemy.

The two sides continue to be locked in a standoff.

At this time, on the battlefield of Guanzhong, on the fourth day of the fifth month, it was the height of summer, and at the end of the day, the sun hung high in the air, bringing scorching warmth to the earth.

At the end of last year, the weather was a little cold, and the soldiers were able to rely on a stream of blood to ward off the cold and bravely attack the city of Chang'an.

But with the arrival of summer, the weather is getting hotter and hotter, and the morale of both the Han army and the Wei army has dropped a lot.

Stuffiness and exhaustion have become a common feeling for all soldiers, even if Shen Chen has attacked Chang'an at least six times a month for half a year, it is difficult to mobilize everyone's emotions, and many times the soldiers attack, but it has become a routine.

In the middle of the morning and the beginning of the doomsday, with the sound of table tennis war drums and moo horns, the Han army camp a few miles south of Chang'an City suddenly woke up from the deathly silence, the gate of the camp slowly opened, and a group of soldiers began to emerge out of the camp to line up.

The Han soldiers unsheathed their bows, and everywhere there was the clatter of ironclad leaves, anxious and irritated urges, neat shouts, and the short and rapid sound of orders and shrill whistles.

In this chaos, no one paid attention to the small river that flowed around the camp on the west side, and no one could have imagined that there was now a long procession divided into three rows, quietly crouching on the gentle slope by the river in turn, and then heading towards the west of Chang'an City.

This is the first time Jiang Wei has participated in a raid, the Han army has not launched a surprise attack when it is a frontal attack for more than four months, although the Cao army at the head of the city is still patrolling, but the vigilance is obviously inferior to before, and the vigilance is much looser.

Wu Tao, as his senior, told Jiang Wei: "Shijun said that a thousand days to be a thief is today, the Wei army has been on guard for too long, and this full-scale raid must be entered into the city." You will follow me when the time comes, don't be left behind, and when you kill the city, rush to the city gate as soon as possible and open the city gate. ”

"Yes."

Jiang Wei wrote it down carefully.

Wu Tao is the captain of the stormtrooper this time, and there are old-timers such as Huo Yang and Wu Dang behind him.

They are Shen Chen's first batch of disciples, and they started earlier than Deng Ai, so their positions in the army have basically been achieved as generals, partial generals, and even Shan Yi is now a miscellaneous general because of his meritorious service in the battle.

It's just that Shan Yi's personality is relatively simple and reckless, and like Zhang Fei, he is only suitable for being a general who charges into battle, not a general who commands in battle, so this time he is commanded by Wu Tao.

The number of people he brought was not large, less than three thousand, divided into three echelons, Jiang Wei and they were now in the first echelon, lurking outside the gate of Zhangcheng.

Ma Dai had raided from this direction before, but failed.

Shen Chen played psychology with the enemy once, and the enemy felt that they had failed to raid from this direction once, and probably would not come again, but he just scored twice and continued to attack from the Zhangcheng Gate.

This is the same as the psychology of the four crossings of Chishui.

At this moment, Wu Tao told Jiang Wei about the situation of the subsequent raid, while standing by the river and looking at the direction of Nancheng, paying close attention to the actions over there.

Nancheng Shen Chen personally led the army, and had already left the camp to attack in the direction of Pingcheng Gate, that is, Xi'an Gate.

As usual, first countless wooden curtains moved forward, and then there were cloud towers and catapults, this time it was not a few hundred, but close to two thousand catapults, although not as good as the five thousand cranes of the Jin army surrounding Bianliang, but it was also magnificent.

There are about a thousand cars piled up in the Pingcheng Gate now, and the Xuanping Gate in the northeast is the main direction of Pang De and Zhao Yun's attack, and there are also eight or nine hundred cars there, and the stones within a radius of dozens of miles are almost all picked up by them.

Now the morale of the Wei army is even lower than that of the Han army, and the city is almost filled with stones every day by bombing like this, and anyone who is in this kind of fear will not be able to last long.

If it weren't for Zhong Xuan's continuous morale boost, and Xu Huang and Zhu Ling sneaking up several times to help, I'm afraid the city would have been unable to hold on for a long time.

Huang Zhong in the south also captured Lantian County, although Cao Zhen personally led the troops to recapture it, but there were Liangzhou iron cavalry ready to help, and he returned several times, and he could only continue to garrison Lantian Valley.

Soon time passed minute by minute, and when it was the end of the day, the war in the distance had entered the white heat, and the attention of the Wei army was also attracted there.

There was silence in the grass, Jiang Wei was now half-squatting and half-kneeling in the weeds, holding the straight knife blade hidden in the grass barley with one hand, and the other hand on the knee of the propped right leg, drooping his eyes, his eyes calm, quietly and patiently waiting for the order to advance.

The weeds were only knee-high, and he had to bow down his tall body to barely hide himself. Maintaining this awkward position made him feel uncomfortable, and after a little time, his neck became sore and stiff. He didn't dare to move his body, so he could only turn his neck bone slightly. He immediately heard a subtle clicking sound as the joints rubbed.

Shan Yi on his left poked his waist with his hand, and when Jiang Wei tilted his head slightly, Shan Yi pointed into the grass.

Jiang Wei glanced at the direction of Shan Yi's finger, grinned, and smiled silently, but he didn't expect that Deng Ai, the senior brother who was silent and always serious in doing things, actually had such a side - he picked out an earthworm in the mud, and now he is leading a large group of ants to move "food".

But his attention was immediately drawn to a scream.

A crossbow arrow actually left the battlefield "without authorization" and inexplicably flew towards the place where the Han army was ambushed by the river.

The originally neat procession immediately stirred, some were dumbfounded, some moved their positions in fear, and others swallowed so hard that they almost buried their heads in the ground.

At the orders of the officers at all levels to "not move," "be quiet," and "keep in formation," the seven-foot-thick crossbow bolt swept almost above the heads of the soldiers, and once pierced the slope on the other side of the river, breaking a large tree.

Most of the soldiers turned their heads to stare at the half-diagonal "stake" on the opposite bank, and breathed in the cool air in their mouths. It took a while for everyone to mutter, "Damn it", and then there was a low panting and cursing sound in the team.

Wu Tao and Deng Ai didn't turn their heads to look at the crossbow arrows, they are now veterans, not to mention the team commanders, compared to the half-cut "stake" inserted in the ground, they are more concerned about whether their team has been exposed because of this sudden crossbow arrow.

They poked their heads out of the dense woods and grass on the left bank of the river, and looked towards the head of Chang'an City, about a mile away, and saw that the head of the city in the distance occasionally popped up, but it did not look at them, but it only rose and fell, as if riding on horseback, and then went into the distance.

This is the cavalry that Zhong Xuan put on the city wall to patrol, and the east and west walls of Chang'an City are six kilometers long, which means that even if all 50,000 people are placed on the city wall, with each person accounting for a width of 1.2 meters, it is just enough to cover the city.

And now most of the Wei army is in the south and north of the main force of the Han army to fight, the east and west city walls are so long that it may take tens of hundreds of meters to have a sentry tower, it is difficult to detect clearly.

From the moment the crossbow bolts swept by, Deng Ai straightened up and began to carefully observe the situation of the city in the distance and the fighting southern city to the south.

At this moment, a loud trumpet and a sharp bone whistle suddenly sounded from the city in the distance.

At the same time, it can be seen that the cavalry raised a black banner on the head of the city.

Now there is a lot of noise on the battlefield.

All kinds of horns, drums, and whistles filled the entire field, and the sound of a large number of "bang-bang" boulders hitting the city was interfering with the progress of the enemy's military orders.

Therefore, in order to improve this situation, Zhong Xuan adopted the method of adding voice and flag.

The east and west directions are the most likely to be sneak attacked, so they are replaced by two military flag colors, the city wall is so wide Once the outside is sneak attacked, it is difficult for the infantry alone to quickly rush to the battlefield a few kilometers away, so it is necessary for thousands of cavalry at the head of the city to rush to help at any time.

Now the black flag is raised, which means one thing - the eastern part of the city has been attacked.

"Look."

Deng Ai straightened up and said to Wu Tao and Shan Yi Jiang Wei on the left and right: "The walls of Cao Wei are full of their cavalry, and they are galloping in the south direction. ”

"It was General Ma's side that launched a surprise attack, and people were attracted to them."

Wu Tao analyzed: "It seems that they are going to launch a surprise attack earlier than the original plan, is it a temporary change?" ”

"Maybe they were discovered, maybe they seized the moment."

Deng Ai got out of the grass, twisted his sore neck that had been crouching for a long time, clenched the steel knife in his hand, and said coldly: "But no matter what, now is our chance, take the Zhangcheng Gate, and we will be able to capture Chang'an City." ”

"Okay, let's go!"

Wu Tao waved his hand back, and officers at all levels immediately signaled to the squads to prepare for action.

Wu Tao and the others at the front slowly got out of the woods on the left bank, and slowly climbed down the river beach with the help of dense grass, and they also carried a ladder, which they could use to go down.

Midsummer is actually the flood season for the Guanzhong River, because the water source of large rivers in Guanzhong, such as the Yellow River and Weishui, often comes from the melting of snow-capped mountains, so the flow of water in spring and summer is relatively high, and it is more difficult to cross the river than in the dry season in winter.

But they had already had a solution, and in addition to the ladder, each team also brought a raft made of wood, borrowed water currents and oars, and rowed smoothly to the opposite bank, and then began to climb the embankment on the opposite bank.

When they climbed from the riverbed to the shore, they were faced with a second problem—it was a plain area about a mile away, and there was almost no shelter along the way.

"Rush!"

Wu Tao raised the knife in his hand and pointed forward.

This section of the road is a meadow, Zhong Xuan once sent someone to clean it up, the growth of weeds can not cover the human body, so this distance can not be lurked by any skill, only by luck and speed.

The soldiers then carried the moats and ladders and ran with their heads in their heads, trying not to make any noise so as not to be noticed by the cavalry on the ramparts.

Fortunately, most of the patrol cavalry are now attracted by Ma Dai in Dongcheng, and this place happens to be in the convex city area, and the vision on the left and right sides will be limited to a certain extent, and the people above did not find it at the first time.

When the sound of gongs, drums and trumpets suddenly came from the top of the city, Wu Tao and the others had already approached the moat, built a moat, and began to cross the river to the bottom of the city.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Dozens of moats and bridges were successfully built, and then a ladder with barbs on them was also hung at the head of the city.

Wu Tao and Shan Yi took the lead, holding steel knives and began to climb.

They crawled very fast, like eight-legged spiders climbing up at a rapid pace, reaching a height of seven or eight meters, and they actually reached the top of the city in a matter of seconds.

At this time, there were even only a few enemies on this side, because most of the cavalry had rushed to the aid of Dongcheng, and there was only such a group of reconnaissance cavalry tens or hundreds of meters away from this side, resulting in a huge hole in the defense.

This is also the disadvantage of guarding against thieves for a long time, no matter what, even if you still patrol every day, the enemy will not attack for a long time, and it is inevitable that the vigilance will decrease.

In addition, the patrol area is too long and far away, and it is almost impossible to do everything.

When Wu Tao and Shan Yi rushed to the top of the city, the soldiers behind continued to climb up, and there was only a group of Cao troops around.

Seeing this scene, Wu Tao was overjoyed and said: "Shijun's method has succeeded, quickly, first seize the city gate of Zhang, report to Shijun, and ask Shijun to send people over immediately!" ”

At that moment, 3,000 soldiers quickly occupied the head of the city, and began to seize the city gate from the stairs of the city gate, ready to open the city!