"No, you can't leave!" Tian He's voice rose an octave.
Lin Zibiao sneered and said, "Why, does General Tian think he has the ability to keep me and my tens of thousands of people here?"
There was a sense of tension in the military tent. Tian He was stunned for a moment and said quickly: "That's not what I meant. It's not like you don't know. Ji Jie has occupied Xiao Nancheng. There is a line from Xiao Nancheng to Nan Lu City, all under Ji Jie's command. How can you return to Chu State when it is under its control?"
"What do you mean, General Tian?" Lin Zibiao's tone softened a lot.
Tian He said: "What I mean is that we work together to defeat Ji Jie. I can make up for it without delaying your return to help Da Chu. Since there is such a good thing, why not do it?"
Lin Zibiao's expression changed again, becoming colder than before, and said: "Besides, I have a better way to leave, so I don't need to worry about General Tian. Goodbye!"
Tian He wanted to stop Lin Zibiao, but before his outstretched hand touched him, he was frightened by Lin Zibiao's sharp eyes. Until he left here, Tian He didn't take back his hand.
"I don't believe it. Even if they work together, they are no match for Ji Jie. You can cross the Zhou army's defense line and return to Chu alone!" Tian He said angrily: "Whenever you regret it, just wait and cry. Please beg me to join forces with you again!"
In fact, this guy Lin Zibiao is also a bit crooked. Why is he so sure that he can lead the Chu army back to Chu State? Because he has already sent someone to contact Ji Jie.
Ji Jie agreed that as long as Lin Zibiao really wanted to withdraw to Chu, he would not stop him.
Facts have proved that this is indeed the case. The Chu army could not resist the Qin army's attack at all. They lost several battles in succession and lost several cities, not to mention the loss of troops. Meng Ao regained his fierce fighting power and took down the soldiers in his nest when fighting Ji Jie. All the anger was directed at the Chu people.
Just when Tian He thought that Lin Zibiao must turn back, the scouts reported that 80,000 Chu troops had crossed the Zhou army's defense line. They were passing through Xiao Nancheng and Nan Lu City. Ji Jie ignored this.
"How could this happen?" Tian He exclaimed.
How could it not be like this? Ji Jie weighed the pros and cons. Although he would definitely win if he fought against the Chu people, as the old saying goes, if you lose a thousand enemies, you will hurt yourself eight hundred. If you want to eat a hundred thousand Chu troops, your side How much does it cost?
God knows whether it was ten thousand or twenty thousand!
Let them go back, and they will soon fight against the Qin army. Qin is the biggest obstacle to the unification of the world in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Let the Chu army go back and fight with the Qin army. The more people will die, the better!
Several counselors in the Qi army thought of this, and Tian He was so angry that he blew his beard and stared. He never thought that Ji Jie would let Lin Zibiao go.
"Damn it, the Chu people are unreliable!" Tian He slapped the desk and said bitterly: "The military expenses for the expedition, the pensions for the dead soldiers, and the bribes to Li Yuan totaled more than 500,000 taels of gold. , only then we got 100,000 Chu troops! It’s good for them, as soon as they heard that their country was in trouble, they turned around and left, and our Qi country suffered a big loss!”
A counselor reminded: "General, I think it is not time to investigate the Chu people for being unkind, but how to fight the next battle. The combat effectiveness of both sides is not at the same level at all. The weaker side has to fight a tough battle. There must be A good strategy will lead to victory!"
Of course Tian He knew this, and he tried to mount the remaining trebuchet machine on a high platform, hoping that this would propel the sky-shattering shells further.
This is the huge difference between making something yourself and buying it. Although the six countries are now able to produce some new weapons, you can use the things you buy as they teach you. It is difficult to use your imagination on them. .
This is nothing to Ji Jie. For example, by reducing the amount of powder and steel balls inside the shell, it can fly farther after "slimming down". It just sacrifices a little bit of lethality, or it can reduce the number of dozens of steel balls inside the shell. Thunderbolt bombs tied together and thrown out can also cause great damage to relatively concentrated targets on the ground.
Because there was another team stationed outside Xiaonan City, Tian He did not dare to besiege the city. Last time, he was too impatient and suffered the consequences of combining inside and outside.
After choosing, he decided to attack from the west gate, because it was the farthest from the Zhou army stationed outside the city. He specially assigned 40,000 people to set up ambushes in the north and south of Xiaonan City to prevent the reinforcements from the Zhou Dynasty that came during the attack.
In order to win the first battle, Tian He ordered the withdrawal of the large camp originally located on the Qi-Han border. The 80,000 garrison troops in the four border cities were reduced to 12,000, leaving only 3,000 garrison troops in each city. In this way , the total force in his hands exceeds 120,000, excluding the 40,000 used for defense, it should not be a problem to attack the west gate of a small city with 80,000 troops!
Tian He cast a wide net, and when he learned that Ji Jie's tens of thousands of people stationed in Nanlu City showed no sign of returning to aid, he resolutely ordered an attack.
Six trebuchets were placed on a specially built high earth platform. Following Tian He's order, six trebuchets were ejected and flew in the sky for a few seconds before landing. Three landed outside the moat, and one shell landed outside the moat. One fell into the river, one hit the city wall but did not explode, and the other flew into the city and blew up a building.
"Hahaha, great, keep going, let Zhou Jun have a taste of being bombed this time!" Tian He was so happy that he almost danced with joy!
Upon seeing this, Xiong Kui, the commander of the city defense, said with disdain to the generals around him: "There are only a few trebuchets in total, but I have the nerve to show them off and order the artillery to blast them away!"
The artillerymen under the city wall took out the specially made sky-shaking cannonballs to replace the original ones. Twenty-four of them were fired rapidly. Each one hit the earth platform, and along with the trebuchet above it was blown to the ground.
And at the moment they were attacked, they didn't have time to fire a second round of shells.
"Damn it!" Tian He pulled out his long sword and waved it, shouting: "Warriors, charge at me! The first one to board the city will be rewarded with a hundred taels, and the first hundred people to charge up will be rewarded with a reward of 100 taels. Twelve, go for it!"
There must be a brave man under the heavy reward, so the Qi army rushed towards Xiaonan City without fear of their lives.
Xiong Kui still had the same calm expression and ordered: "The artillery fires intensively, and the archers are also ready!"
In order to kill more enemies, Xiong Kui decided to change the attack method of long-range artillery, from linear attack to surface attack. As a result, the coverage ability of the artillery would be greatly reduced, and the Qi army would think that their bravery was Defeated the artillery fire as they were approaching the city wall infinitely.
Xiong Kui's purpose was to bring some people closer, and then use thunderbolts and crossbow arrows to deal with them. By the time he realized this, it was too late. Going forward would mean death, and retreating would still mean death.
Tian He, who was kept in the dark, didn't know this was a trick, and thought it was the result of a heavy reward promised. The vanguard was advancing very fast, and was about to reach the moat.