After October, the weather in Jianghuai became colder and colder.

Due to the sharp drop in the water level of the Huaishui River, the attacks and disturbances of the Han army's naval divisions were much less. Therefore, the Wei army had a clear advantage on the battlefield and increased the siege of Zhongli City.

Increasing the strength is increasing, but because Lu Xun is eyeing the lower reaches and wants to garrison troops in Shaoyangzhou and Huaibei, Cao Ren and Cao Xiu have 50,000 soldiers and horses, and there are 1 or 20,000 people, more than ten times Zhongli defenders.

Cao Pi supervised the war in Huaibei for several months, and his body was tired, so he would drive back to Qiaoxian by car, wanting to worship his ancestors during the lunar month.

Before leaving, Cao Pi handed over the command of the army to Cao Ren and put him in charge of attacking Zhongli City.

And Cao Pi also inspired the generals in the big tent, telling everyone that he hoped to see Zhongli City break before the first month. Then the two armies converged in Sikou and swept across the Jianghuai.

The old man Cao Ren was not old, and he was eager for revenge, so he immediately issued a military order to Cao Pi, saying that he would attack Zhongli before the first month.

Cao Pi was strong and returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors with a happy mood.

Outside the city, the trench has been filled in by the Wei army's chariots, and the siege equipment such as ladders, rushing carts, and wooden curtains have been thrown into the battlefield by the Wei army.

The Wei army was arrayed outside the city, and its momentum was huge, and the Wei army surrounded from the north gate to the west gate, and the flag fluttered in the wind.

Looking down from the city tower, it can be seen that the Wei soldiers pushed the city equipment to the city in a loose and orderly queue. For example, several wooden carts are gathered in a row, and the crossbowmen push the carts behind the wooden curtain carts to approach the city.

Chongcheng, driven by dozens of warriors, shouted a trumpet and headed straight for Zhongli's north gate. Prepare to break through the gates and then storm the city.

In addition to the conventional ladders, catapults, and nest carts, the Wei army pushed the chariots to the north of the city, preparing to use the chariots to build a mountain under the city.

With the dull horn on the tower of Zhongli City, the crossbowman operated the bed crossbow, and used the wooden hammer in his hand to hammer the crossbow machine, and the spear-like crossbow bolts ejected from the crossbow bed, and fell into the tide of Wei soldiers outside the city with the whistling wind.

"Tuk!"

A crossbow spear was driven into the cart with great force, and with its huge elastic potential energy, it pierced through the cowhide shield on the cart. The bolt shot through the sergeant's neck, and the sergeant didn't even snort, and was crucified to death on the spot by the terrifying bolt.

A few pieces of sawdust also scratched the faces of the rest, and blood ran down the faces of the rest. And they endured their fear, and continued to push the cart, only to pray that the next crossbow would not shoot them.

Although the three-bow bed crossbow is powerful, the impact is too strong, but the crossbowman is slow to load the bed crossbow, and it is difficult to shoot and damage the enemy in a large area. Although he frightened the Wei soldiers, if he wanted to cause damage, he had to use arrows.

As the Wei soldiers gradually entered the firing range, the Han soldiers on Zhongli City were condescending, directly operating the bow and crossbow to aim at the Wei soldiers under the city, and the endless sound of breaking the air sounded.

The arrows on the city fell like locusts, with a whistling sound hitting the wooden curtain, rushing to the cart, making a 'tuk-tuk' sound, even though the engineering equipment was used as cover, but there were still a few Wei soldiers who were shot to the ground.

After a period of unilateral firing, the Wei army's wooden mantle cart gradually stopped, and the Wei army's crossbowmen, under the cover of shields and wooden curtains, returned fire at the Han army on the city tower through the holes in the wooden planks.

Thousands of arrows were thrown at the Han army, sliding in an arc in the sky, and the Han and Wei once again began to attack and defend.

In addition to bows and crossbows, the Wei army also had trebuchets. After a simple calibration, hundreds of trebuchets are operated by Lux to project small stones with strange shapes.

Hundreds of stone bullets whistled violently in the air, either missed, flew over the tower, or smashed into the tower with arrows. The rammed earth wall was smashed out of a small pit by stones on the spot, and if it hit the sergeant, it would definitely kill him, and the sound was particularly terrifying.

Listening to the whistling sound on both sides, the Han soldiers couldn't help but get nervous or panicked, hid behind the female wall, and took advantage of the gap in the battlements to release arrows outside the city.

"Get up!"

Xu Sheng walked around the north gate with a bow in armor, not afraid of enemy arrows and stone bullets, and shouted loudly: "Stone bullets are useless things, although the sound is loud, but it is difficult to hit people. Now I have a bed crossbow, and the armies will fight back with bows and crossbows. ”

Saying that, Xu Sheng led by example, observing the Wei pawn outside the city, and then quickly got up, aimed outward, and then squatted down again.

Shooting one person, Xu Sheng shouted loudly: "If there are people who are squatting and afraid of war today, they will not be forgiven!" ”

"No!"

With Xu Sheng's encouragement, the soldiers used bows and arrows to return fire, and the large and small bed crossbows on the castle tower shot at the wooden curtain carts outside the city, and if they could hit the wooden curtains and shield oars, they could often shoot the enemy to death.

Huo Jun's subordinate generals have different preferences, and their subordinates have their own good things. Xu Sheng personally values archery, and Xu Sheng's subordinate sergeants have superb archery skills. Therefore, when Xu Sheng was guarding Chaisang, he shot at the soldiers and horses led by the Yellow Shooting Station, and directly shot the Jiangxia soldiers.

When Zhong left the city today, Xu Sheng and his subordinates brought into play the advantages of heavy archery, and their hit rate was slightly higher than that of the Wei army outside the city, even if the Wei army advanced in a sparse phalanx, the good shooter could always shoot.

Xu Sheng shot the Wei crossbowman with a bow and arrow again, and when he wanted to take the arrow and shoot again, he saw Zhang Gui, who was in charge of operating the Eight Bull Crossbow, and he didn't know when to take out the bow and arrow and shoot at the Wei army outside the city.

"Zhang Gui, why are you here?"

Xu Sheng pulled Zhang Gui to hide under the women's wall and scolded: "I said that the Eight Bull Crossbow has no sound, it turns out that you kid left without permission!" ”

Zhang Gui, who was hiding under the women's wall, held the bow and explained: "General, the winding of the eight-bull crossbow is too slow, and it takes dozens of people to pull it open. Now that the thief army is approaching the city, I have sent the crossbowmen to the surrounding area to act as archers, and strive to kill more enemies! ”

"Smack!"

A stone bullet smashed against the women's wall, and the dust shook and frightened the surrounding sergeants to disperse.

"Go back!"

Seeing this situation, Xu Sheng was angry and scolded: "Use the bed crossbow to aim far, you can shoot catapults, and you can't let the enemy easily operate." ”

"No!"

Seeing that Zhang Gui was leaving, Xu Sheng pulled him down and shouted, "Be careful, don't be bitten by stray arrows." I promised me to shoot the head of the thief, and I would never break the contract. ”

"Okay!"

Hearing the kindness of Xu Sheng's words, Zhang Guihan laughed and said, "I still remember the general's wine!" ”

"Get out!"

Zhang Gui hunched his waist and ran, beckoning the crossbowmen who had been dismissed by him along the way, preparing to continue operating the Eight Bull Crossbow.

The reason why Xu Sheng values Zhang Gui so much is not that Zhang Gui has a close relationship with him, but that Zhang Gui is extremely talented and has a very high talent for operating bed crossbow shooting, otherwise Xu Sheng would not let Zhang Gui be in charge of the three Eight Bull Crossbows at the North Gate.

Not long after Zhang Gui left, the voice on the city tower suddenly became enthusiastic, shouting: "Rush to the city tower." ”

"Get on the hoop!"

Xu Sheng hurried towards the gatehouse and shouted: "Get on the big iron ring, lasso the rushing car, and then let people pull it down." ”

"No!"

"Where's the hoop?"

"Here!"

"It's here, devolve!"

When the 20-meter-long rush under the city tower is about to reach the city gate, how does the big iron ring drop from the city tower, and just stuck the huge head of the rusher.

"Trapped!"

The Han sergeant who was observing saw the iron ring lassoed the rushing car and shouted happily to everyone.

"Pull!"

Xu Sheng abandoned his bow and arrows, stepped forward and grabbed the big thick rope, and hundreds of Han soldiers were behind him, pulling hard to the left side together.

The rushing car under the city tower uncontrollably made a side bend to the left side under the huge force, and Wei Zu under the rushing car was caught off guard, and shouted with some fear when he saw the rushing car tilt.

Taking advantage of the gap exposed by the tilt of the rushing car, the crossbowmen on the city tower were already prepared, raised their crossbows and shot towards the Wei soldiers exposed under the rushing car.

"Ahh

Under the dense arrows, the Wei soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and when they saw that the rushing car was in danger of rolling over, they fled backwards one after another.

"Haha!"

Xu Sheng laughed when he saw that the Wei army's plan to storm the city had failed.

"Sons, let Wei Gou know that we are powerful!"

"Shoot!"

"No!"

On the battlefield, bows and arrows shot at each other, and Wei attacked Han and defended, each showing their skills. Thou hast broken me with an iron ring, and hast stopped me from breaking the city head-on; I used the nest car to dispatch at a high level, and then asked Wei to use a ladder to climb the city tower. For example, when the Wei army climbed the city tower, the Han army greeted them with spears and bows and crossbows, and killed the Wei army that landed first.

In the Wei army, Da Xu.

Cao Ren looked at Zhongli, who had been broken for a long time, and was depressed, and ordered: "Send the rushing car up again, be careful this time, don't get caught in the iron ring." Command the archers and catapults to aim at the castle tower to see if they can break the city. ”

"No!"

Under Cao Ren's military order, a rushing car was sent out by him and tried to break down the door again. Catapults and crossbowmen aimed at the Han army on the city tower, trying to suppress the Han army's outcrop and cover the rush to the city gate.

With the rush forward, the focus of the battle between the Han and Wei armies was on the city gate and the city tower. Zhongli City is not high, and there is no urn city, and its steepness is a moat more than ten meters deep outside the city. Now that the moat has been filled, Zhongli City is no longer steep except for the city walls.

Looking at the fierce battlefield, Cao Ren spurred his horse in order to supervise the army, and said: "Daxu Banner stepped forward, beat drums and cheers, motivate the soldiers, and see if you can break the city in one battle!" ”

"Da Sima, be careful!"

Du Xun stopped Cao Ren and said, "The thief army city has a strong crossbow that can send seven or eight hundred steps. Da Sima is a thousand steps away from the city to oversee the army, why do you need to come forward to supervise the army? ”

Cao Ren held the reins and said, "A thousand steps are too far, how can the soldiers see Daxu." I walked with Daxu to 800 paces to inspire the sergeant. ”

As he spoke, Cao Ren whipped and pointed to the city, laughing and said: "As for the thief's crossbow, although it can shoot seven or eight hundred steps, it is not accurate, it is like an arrow of exhaustion, and it is not enough to be feared. ”

The eight-bull crossbow is extremely powerful, it can shoot seven or eight hundred steps, or it is difficult to say that seven or eight hundred steps are still accurate, but at least it is not as weak as Cao Ren said.

Of course, this has a lot to do with the fact that Cao Ren has never seen the Eight Bull Crossbow, and in this Zhongli battle, the Eight Bull Crossbow was used for the first time.

When Cao Ren was more than 800 paces away from the city, his dazzling Daxu was revealed on the battlefield, and the enthusiastic drums inspired the Wei soldiers to break through the city.

The changes that took place outside the city were seen by the crossbowmen who operated the three-bow bed crossbows.

"Look at the thief!"

The sharp-eyed crossbow pointed at 'Cao' Daxu and shouted, "Is there a thief down there!" ”

"It's too far!"

The older crossbowman stretched out his thumb to measure the distance, and said, "There are more than eight hundred paces, and although the crossbow spear can reach, it cannot be shot." And there are miscellaneous people on the left and right, and I don't know who is the head of the thief. ”

"Be a horse rider!"

"Brother Gui, why don't you try it!" Someone asked.

Zhang Gui did not speak, but stretched out his thumb to look, and then looked at the flag, saw that the flag was only slightly raised, and chanted: "More than eight hundred and twenty steps, no strong wind!" ”

"Yes!"

Zhang Gui said loudly: "Try it, it's not a loss anyway!" ”

"Listen to me!"

"Adjust the direction of the bed crossbow!"

"No!"

In the corner of the north of the city, the bed crossbowmen adjusted the direction of the three-bow bed crossbow, and under Zhang Gui's command, in order to pursue the ability to shoot, they adjusted the angle many times, until the crossbow spear of the three-bow bed crossbow was almost flush with the big crossbow in the distance, which made Zhang Gui satisfied.

Zhang Gui looked at the small figure watching the battle under Da Xu, and shouted suddenly: "Shoot!" ”

"Stretch!"

The crossbowman swung his hammer and struck the crossbow machine, and the crossbow spear on the bed crossbow was ejected and thrown at the 'Cao' Daxu at a rapid speed.

Under the big curt, Cao Ren didn't notice the flying crossbow spear at all, but stared at the rushing car that was about to reach the city gate.

"No~"

It seems that someone has discovered something and wants to shout something, but it is too late!

The crossbow spear flew more than 800 steps, but it still had the strength to shoot towards Cao Ren under the big sword.

"Ahh

In the next instant, Cao Ren let out a miserable scream, and the crossbow spear shot by Zhang Gui directly pierced Cao Ren's lower abdomen. And the bloody spearhead shot directly into the dirt, Cao Ren was slanted on the top, painful to the heart, and screamed miserably.

"Da Sima!"

Everyone on the left and right rushed up bravely and went up to rescue Cao Ren.

At this moment, Cao Ren's rushing car was smashed by a stone mill falling from the sky, and the sergeant under the car either died or fled.

On Zhongli City, Zhang Gui squinted and tried to see the situation, but unfortunately it was too far away to see what was happening.

"Did you shoot?"

"Look at the crowd of people, you should have shot!"

"Did that shoot the head thief?"

"I don't know!"

(End of chapter)