The occasional huge stone projectile that fell not only frightened the defenders of the city, but also shrouded the people who were forced to serve as servants like strong men in a terrifying shadow that could turn into meat at any time.

The shouts of killing were deafening, but most of them were from the wolf-like Han army outside the city.

The defenders in Xiangyang City were much stronger than the loosely trained soldiers in Wudu.

But in the face of such a grim situation, such a powerful new stone cart, they can still grit their teeth, and it is not easy to defend mechanically under the supervision of the Warlords, and they can't ask for more.

The strong man laboriously carried the stone up the city wall, and on the way down, he glanced at the servants who were digging a pit behind the city gate, and those people, like him, were forcibly captured into the city by Cao's army a few days ago.

There was a short, thin half-grown boy he knew, the son of Brother Li in the village.

When Cao Jun came to relocate, he had already been stabbed to death by Cao Bing because his son was sick and had a few arguments......

Now his only son, who is about to become an adult, is lying on the edge of the pit, being whipped by a scolding Cao soldier.

"Get up! Rubbish, give me up! ”

At first, the kid struggled a few times, but now, the short, bloody body was completely still......

"Pretend to be dead! Get up! The Cao soldier was still whipping, but soon he also noticed that something seemed wrong, and stopped the whip in his hand, "Huh? ”

He stepped forward and flipped the boy over with his foot...... The other party's chest had stopped heaving.

"Tsk, bad luck! There's one less to do. Cao Bing kicked the young man into the pit he was digging, and continued to inspect the surrounding servants.

The other servants in the pit, after their expressions twitched slightly, all silently lowered their heads and continued to do the work in their hands.

No one dared to stop, not even to take a second look at the corpse that was getting cold...... Otherwise, they might be the next ones lying there.

The strong man also hurriedly turned around, retracted his gaze and hurried away with his head down.

……

The stone shells of the Jingzhou army were not unlimited, and after most of the day's offensive, the first batch of suitable boulders was exhausted.

Guan Yu decisively ordered the soldiers to start a large-scale attack, filling in ditches, building bridges when encountering water, erecting ladders, and digging holes at the base of walls...... All siege methods were used without reservation.

After all, the defenders of Xiangyang are different from Wudu, and Manzhong is not comparable to Yang Fu, Guan Yu knows that if he wants to take Xiangyang, it is impossible not to pay casualties.

There is no shortage of grain, grass and water in Xiangyang City, and it is absolutely unrealistic to rely on the siege of the city to run out of food.

Moreover, Cao Wei still has the main force in the north, and the battle of Wu in the east does not know how it was fought, and it is easy to change.

Now that there is Lei Gong's cannon to help, we should still make every effort to gnaw Xiangyang as soon as possible.

The city is full of favorites, and they are also dealing with Guan Yu's offensive one by one.

When the Lei Gong cannon was muted, the defense of the city changed back to their familiar rhythm, which reduced the pressure on the Wei army a lot.

Although the retreat was blocked in the face of the overwhelming army of the city, the enemy army's routines were familiar, and he was no longer as frightened as he was at the beginning.

Bow and crossbow shooting, throwing wooden stones, setting up empty urns under the city walls, listening to the sound to determine which direction the enemy army is digging tunnels, and digging trenches along the city walls......

Once the metal hook on the ladder grabbed the city wall, the heavy ladder was not something that one or two people could push open or knock down.

Experienced defenders simply wouldn't do this useless feat, and Cao Wei's veterans squatted under the battlements with swords and axes in hand, and waited quietly for the enemy to climb the city walls.

Hands show chop hands, head thorns!

The Han army used bows and arrows to cover the ...... Of course, there will be occasional misshoots of friendly troops, and on the battlefield, it is inevitable.

The Cao army under the city was not idle, and after they had dug the big pit behind the city gate, they made ground thorns with broken spears and sharpened wooden sticks at the bottom of the pit.

It is then covered with a large mat made of spliced mats and covered with floating soil on the surface.

After modification, there is a big pit on the ground behind the city gate, which is a trap made in advance by Man Pet in order to prevent the Jingzhou army from breaking through the city gate.

But his arrangement doesn't stop there.

Behind the traps at the gates, a second barrier was also erected.

He ordered the wooden structure of the abandoned house to be picked up, piled together to enclose the city gate and the pit, and placed next to it a urn of fire oil prepared in advance.

Once the city is breached, fire the barricades with torches, hold the enemy in front of the city gates, and then shoot at them from the walls and rooftops!

You have a good plan, I have a wall ladder.

The generals of both sides commanded their soldiers to fight hard for the ownership of Xiangyang, and did not give an inch......

After most of the fierce siege battle, Guan Yu saw that he could not take Xiangyang on the first day, so he decisively withdrew his troops, guarded the mountain road where Xiangyang fled, and camped on the road.

And set up light and dark sentry posts on the mountain to observe the movement in Xiangyang City.

Cao Ren of Fancheng, from the beginning of the blockade of the Jingzhou naval army, knew that Xiangyang would definitely be besieged, which was also expected.

The deployment of Jiangbei has long been completed, and the army is ready to deal with the enemy's landing operation.

However, the weather was good today, there was no fog above the water, and Cao Ren, who was looking into the distance, could easily see that Guan Yu's army seemed to have changed its strategy, and they were storming Xiangyang!

Cao Ren, who found this, regretted a little that if he had let Manzhong defend in the mountains outside Xiangyang City...... It's not necessarily a bad idea.

But it's too late to say anything now, and the Jingzhou Navy Boat Division seems to be connected into a giant dragon on the water.

And unlike before, now the warships of the Jingzhou Navy are of different sizes and shapes, and even huge building ships have them!

At a glance, if it weren't for the conspicuous banners with "Han" and "Guan" written on them, he almost thought that it was the elite fleet of Soochow that drove over......

Even if he had the heart to save it, it was impossible for Cao Jun to put wings on his back and fly across the river.

"For the sake of today's plan, I only hope that Your Majesty can break through the wet beard as soon as possible and attack the enemy's rear. Otherwise......" Cao Ren whispered, saying something that only he could hear, "Otherwise, Man Boning will surely die." ”

With the Guan Yu he knew, if he wanted to bite the lonely city of Xiangyang, he would be able to win it sooner or later, it was just a matter of time and cost.

"Berning, if you die, I will avenge you!"

However, even if the full favor is dead, he will definitely be able to consume a lot of Shu troops in Xiangyang.

On his own side, he will wait for work, as long as Guan Yu dares to land, he will give this old opponent a head-on blow!

Cao Ren clenched his fists tightly and secretly decided that this was not only to avenge his favor, but also to wash away his previous stigma and defeat.

"Guan Yu, don't think that I, Cao Zixiao, am really afraid of you!"

……

Although the apparent siege battle is over, the two sides are still not idle.

The Jingzhou army used the precious time before dark to set up camps, set up sentry posts, treat the wounded, and at the same time went into the mountains to collect suitable boulders for the next Lei Gong Cannon to consume.

After all, the durability of wooden structures is not strong enough, and after today's high-intensity continuous firing, some partially damaged thunder cannons also have to be repaired and maintained, or simply replace badly damaged parts.

At this time, it reflects the advantages of Zhuge Liang's rigorous madness, only to the extent that he is meticulous, and the "quality control" is done to the extreme, in order to complete Liu Chan's ideal of "standardization" and "modular" production in this era.

If it is found that it is shoddy, it will be severely punished, and the responsibility for production will be investigated, but at the same time, it will absolutely ensure that the treatment of craftsmen will not be deducted.

The most important thing is that no matter how rich or poor your family is, regardless of your background, you will be treated equally before the law.

Therefore, although after Ji Han established the country, under the auspices of Zhuge Liang, the law was solemn, but the subjects complained very little.

The new batch of officials in Jingzhou's counties, such as Hao Pu and Ma Liang, were absolutely unambiguous in carrying out the orders of the central government, so they could have such well-made equipment.

In the last Northern Expedition, if you want to have equipment and logistics of this quality, Xiangfan is afraid that it will have changed hands long ago.

The Jingzhou army was busy, and the Cao Wei defenders in the city were even busier.

They also had to hurry out of the city with earth, stone and wood, and try their best to repair the damage caused by the thunder cannon to the city wall, re-dig the filled trenches, repair the damaged sheep and horse walls, and so on.

In addition, Man Pet also arranged manpower, and even personally led people to launch a large-scale anti-intermediary movement in the city......

(End of chapter)