The spring breeze blows all over the plains, everything recovers, and the rivers thaw.

At the beginning of March, most of the freeze in the lower reaches of the Yellow River had melted, and the ice on Puyang City had melted for three days, and the moat that surrounded the city was only less than two zhang wide.

The number of coalition troops outside Puyang City has reached an astonishing 400,000!

The ratio of the strength of the two armies has been as high as 1 to 7!

The art of war is cloudy, ten sieges and five attacks, but this does not apply to Puyang, because there is no one to block the north gate of Puyang. Less than five miles north of Puyang City is the Yellow River! These five miles of land are completely under the long-range deterrence of the city head and the warships on the river, so it is impossible to annex the besieged city at all, and the food, grass, and ordnance in the city are sufficient, and the strength of the defenders is so strong that the world can see it!

After some fierce discussions, the coalition forces finally decided to besiege Puyang in three ways.

The Western Route Army was led by Yuan Shao, and the soldiers and horses included Yuan Shao, Wang Kuang, Cao Cao, Hedong Weijia, Jinyang Zhang Yan and Si Li Haoqiang, with a total strength of 100,000! Its cavalry is 20,000, and its overall combat power is the strongest of the coalition army, and it is also the most famous in the family.

The Southern Route Army was led by Yuan Shu, the leader of the alliance, and the soldiers and horses were mainly composed of Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Liu Biao, and the Haoqiang of Bingzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, and Yuzhou, with a total strength of 180,000!

The Eastern Route Army was led by Gongsun Zhan, and its coalition army included Gongsun Zhan's headquarters, Liu Bei, Youzhou, and Yanzhou Haoqiang, with a total strength of 120,000! Its cavalry was twenty-five thousand.

The three armies were equipped with a cavalry to guard against the surprise attack of Zhuang Shaoyou's iron cavalry.

Zhuang Shaoyou's handling of the Qingzhou rebellion made him the public enemy of all the famous families in the Han world, and in order to eliminate the heresy of Zhuang Shaoyou, these famous families finally joined forces and prepared to completely eliminate Zhuang Shaoyou, the order subversive, with the momentum of thunder!

Puyang, on the other hand, is the main battlefield of this decisive battle.

In addition to the main battlefield, there are two other secondary battlefields.

The first sub-battlefield is at the junction of the three states of Qingyan and Xu.

The counties in the south of Qingzhou were under the control of the Fourth Army Corps, and Xun You, the chief of staff of the Corps, led 10,000 horses to clean up the mess left by the rebels in Luxi, Qingzhou.

He led the first part of the Second Army to Cai in Huainan, and Zhuge Jin led the first part of the Second Army to be stationed in Jibei, and was also dealing with the rebels, and only 5,000 men and horses and 2,000 city defense troops were stationed in the hinterland of Mount Tai, which can be described as empty and abnormal!

After Xuzhou Mu Taoqian unified the internal opinions, 50,000 troops poured out, and the troops were divided into two routes, one was led by the general Zang Ba to lead 20,000 horses to attack Nanwuyang, Taishan County; On the other hand, Tao Qian personally led 30,000 horses and horses, with Chen Qi as his military advisor, to attack the key counties of Qingzhou!

Nanwuyang is the fortress that guards the hinterland of Taishan County, and the counties are the southern gate of Qingzhou, which are strategic points that must be fought for by soldiers. The defenders of Nanwuyang only have 4,000 regular troops and 1,000 city defense troops, the situation in the counties is slightly better, and the fourth army commander Guan Hai personally guards, and the defenders in the city are 10,000 regular troops, and forty miles east of the counties is the Dongwu City, the seat of Chengyang County, and there are 3,000 city defense troops in the city.

The second secondary battlefield is Youzhou, which is two thousand miles away!

After learning the news of the escalation of the Puyang War, Sun Du, the Taishou of Liaodong, immediately withdrew from Lelang County and personally led 25,000 iron cavalry to attack Youzhou! That is, the base camp of Gongsun Zhan. Gongsun Du's purpose is very clear, to carry out maximum destruction in Gongsun Zhan's territory, so he brings all the cavalry, coming and going like the wind, and always grasping the strategic initiative.

Gongsun Zhan, the commander of the East Road Coalition Army, also hated it when he heard about it, and wanted to go back to the division to teach Gongsun Du a good lesson, but he was persuaded by Liu Bei in the name of righteousness.

Gongsun Du on the Youzhou battlefield has the initiative, that is, he is in an advantage, so there is no need to worry; But the Qingxu battlefield is different, Xuzhou dispatched 50,000 troops, and now the defenders of Nanwuyang and Zhuxian are only 15,000! There is no strong person in charge, and the danger is abnormal!

Zhuang Shaoyou immediately made a decision and ordered Xun You and Zhuge Jin to return to the division to rescue as soon as possible!

On the seventh day of the third month, everything was ready, and the coalition forces began to attack the city!

The coalition army dispatched 170,000 troops to besiege Puyang at one time!

West of Puyang City.

Yuan Shao took out all his family resources at one time, and more than 200 special shield vehicles all went into battle, followed by 40 well railings and 20,000 crossbowmen protected by 20,000 shield soldiers, and these 10,000 horses were the first wave of the offensive of the Western Route Alliance!

In the south of the city, although Yuan Shao gave 100 shield cars to the south of the city and the east of the city, it was better to ask for others than for himself, and Yuan Shu, as the leader of the alliance, naturally had to come up with some genuine goods to be convincing.

Therefore, Yuan Shu sent out the most elite tiger army under his command, 20,000 heavy armored infantry, wearing heavy tower shields, under the cover of hundreds of shield vehicles, towards Puyang, followed by 30,000 Jingzhou crossbowmen, and twenty-four heavy bed crossbows in the rear formation, with a range of up to 1,000 steps, but only a single shot each time.

Yuan Shao in the west of the city didn't forget to pay attention to Yuan Shu in the south while sending troops to deploy the formation, but when he heard that Yuan Shu sent heavy infantry to attack the city, he almost didn't laugh.

In the east of the city, Gongsun Zhan, as the commander-in-chief, has no shirk responsibility, so he can only take out the iron cavalry under his command to attack the city! The hundred shield carts sent by Yuan Shao are naturally indispensable, and the shield carts, shields, and bow and crossbow phalanxes that are specially designed to restrain Zhuang Shao's military tactics are also presentable. The phalanx of 40,000 soldiers slowly moved towards Puyang, while Gongsun Zhan's 10,000 iron cavalry divided into two routes and attacked Puyang from the flanks in a loose formation, in order to minimize the losses of the headquarters of men and horses.

The three-way coalition army totaled 180,000, and they attacked Puyang City with great vigor and caution, and the momentum was so strong that it ran through Changhong! The defenders of the city were shocked when they heard this, and Huang Zhong and Sun Guan hurriedly appeased the army.

Zhuang Shaoyou is still standing on the west city gate, looking at the huge coalition army in front of him, his expression is very solemn, looking at it, the coalition army is covered with flags, and the drums of the battalion are stirring and resounding through the heavens and the earth, inspiring the morale of the siege phalanx.

Zhuang Shaoyou made a rough estimate, the West Road Coalition Army sent nearly 10,000 men and horses at one time, and the pressure to come to the south and east of the city will not be small!

His mind was spinning rapidly, Zhuang Shaoyou estimated that the coalition army besieging the city today was between fifteen and two hundred thousand, and nearly half of the men and horses were dispatched!

Seeing that the coalition forces were getting closer and closer to Puyang, Zhuang Shaoyou hesitated and weighed it again and again, and finally decided:

"Someone! The catapult camp landed in the city and put on fire bombs! Pay attention to fire prevention! ”

With Zhuang Shaoyou's order, two battalions of 200 light catapults quickly ascended to the top of the city. Somewhere in a large institution under the city, hundreds of strong men shouted neat and majestic slogans, shaking the noose in front of them.

With a creaking sound, the four lifting mechanisms in the west of the city slowly rose, and one by one large iron boxes were lifted up and sent from the city to the city wall nearly five zhang high. Inside the iron box are large iron balls, and there is a big wooden stopper on the iron balls.

The soldiers around were a little frightened, and involuntarily moved a few steps into the distance, and the slingers cautiously approached, and each of them took an iron ball and returned it to the catapult, and then gently lowered it.

Zhuang Shaoyou smiled and said loudly: "As long as there is no fire, it will be fine!" ”

Seeing that Zhuang Shaoyou was also by his side, the soldiers around him were a lot more relaxed, although it was only psychological, but the effect was still good, the general's life was not worth more than ours? This is what most soldiers think.

Zhuang Shaoyou turned his head to look at the city, the shield cart of the coalition army had advanced to a distance of seven hundred steps! This was followed by a shield array.

The heart counted silently

Seven hundred steps,

100 steps,

Five hundred steps!

"Camp Throwing Ready! Pull the plug, five hundred steps ahead, launch!! ”

Two hundred catapults were projected towards the coalition shield car array five hundred paces away, and one by one the iron balls hit the shield car array, and some of them hit the shield car, smashing the front of the shield car into a deep hole, and the iron balls also became shattered, and black oil splashed all over the ground. The rest of the iron ball crashed into the enemy formation, and a scream rang out.

Although the impact of the iron ball is fierce, the number is not much, only two hundred, and the casualties caused are not large, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the ten thousand siege troops!

The coalition striker general breathed a sigh of relief, but then scolded disdainfully: "Idiot! Use the iron ball as a stone! Can you lose again! ”

Zhuang Shaoyou in the city observed the landing point of the iron ball, frowned slightly, and felt not very satisfied, so he said: "Retreat from the catapult camp!" Fire Ballista Camp Ready! ”

The two hundred fatal iron balls had already left the city, so everyone in the city relaxed a lot, the catapult camp retreated nervously and orderly, and the fire crossbow battalion quickly followed up to fill the position.

At this time, the coalition formation had long been restored, and it had already advanced to a distance of four hundred steps from Puyang City!

Zhuang Shaoyou sneered: "Very good! The entire fire crossbow battalion has it, five hundred steps ahead, covering shooting! ”

"Sting, stinging!"

Bursts of ignition sounded intensively, and the two hundred rocket ballistas were all ignited, and then

"Whoosh!"

Fired five hundred paces ahead.

After a breath, a violent fire suddenly ignited outside Puyang City, followed by a few "Bang Bang!" There was a loud bang, and then there was a scream.

Inside and outside the city, both sides of the confrontation were stunned by the sudden fire. Yuan Shao on the command car held his breath in his chest and didn't spit it out for a long time, and those strategists and wise men must also be shocked, racking their brains and can't figure out what is going on!

Even Zhuang Shaoyou, the initiator of all this, was extremely surprised, he didn't expect that the thing he ordered the forge to make on a whim would be so amazing!

Zhuang Shaoyou muttered to himself: "Could it be that you are going to evolve into a hot weapon so soon?" That's a little too fast! ”

This kind of oil bomb, the black oil filled in it is naturally oil, something that was accidentally found in the depths of Changbai Mountain, Zhuang Shaoyou ordered someone to build a small mining station there, and then pondered how to apply this thing to the battlefield. In the end, Mo Qiao, the dean of the Academy of Science and Technology, thought of such a way, put black oil into an iron ball, stuffed it with a wooden stopper, pulled out the plug when it was used, and then threw it out with a catapult, and then ignited it with a rocket, and multiple weapons cooperated with each other to complete Zhuang Shaoyou's tactical concept.

It had only been tested a few times in the forge's proving ground, and each time it was one by one, not on such a large scale. And the first real application was in Puyang. When Puyang dug the moat before, he wanted to introduce the Yellow River water, but the Yellow River water was frozen very strongly, Zhuang Shaoyou had a wit and took out ten fire oil bombs to blow up the ice. That was at that time, there was a loud noise outside the city, and a radius of ten miles was shaken, and Puyang City was filled with the cry of a baby.

Since then, this kind of fire oil bomb has become the object of fear of the soldiers, and they no longer dare to disagree with Zhuang Shaoyou's original fire prevention instructions! A total of 1,000 of these fire oil bombs were made, all of which were in Puyang City, scattered in armament depots scattered everywhere, and strictly guarded by heavy troops.