In the first trial attack, the Song army suffered more than 1,500 casualties, seven heavy siege ladders were burned, and two pontoon bridges were also burned. The attacking Song army retreated in embarrassment, and the defenders at the top of the city cheered.
Although it was just a tentative attack, he was defeated in such an embarrassing manner. Li Gang's face was also very ugly. He snorted in dissatisfaction and turned around to return to the camp.
At this time, a soldier ran up to Chen Qing and said: "Chen Dutong, the Xuanfu envoy invites you to go to the commander's tent!"
Chen Qing nodded and said to his subordinates: "You go back to the camp first and be careful. I'll go see the Xuanfu envoy!"
The generals bowed and left, and Chen Qing followed the soldiers to the main camp.
In the commander's tent, Li Gang was pacing back and forth distractedly when a sergeant reported, "Chen Dutong is here!"
"Let him in!"
Li Gang sighed in his heart. He found that he was becoming more and more dependent on Chen Qing. The success or failure of this battle to attack Xiangyang depended on Chen Qing.
After a while, Chen Qing opened the curtain and walked in, bowed and said: "See the Xuanfu Envoy!"
Li Gang waved his hand and said helplessly: "How is Chen Dutong doing in today's battle?"
"Today's battle situation was as expected by the humble officer. The Song army showed tenacity, but tenacity alone cannot capture Xiangyang. The opponent is equally tenacious and good at fighting. Relying on a tall and solid city and advanced weapons, if more powerful siege weapons are not used,
, it is impossible to capture Xiangyang City."
At this time, Zhe Yanzhi and Xie Qian also walked into the commander's tent. They did not disturb the conversation between Chen Qing and Li Gang, but stood aside and listened carefully.
"What is the most powerful siege weapon?" Li Gang asked.
Chen Qing said calmly: "The siege weapon that impressed me the most is the chariot. It is by far the most powerful siege weapon. Even if you use kerosene, you can't do anything with it."
Jie Qian beside him couldn't help but said: "But with such a wide moat, what's the point of talking about a nest car?"
Chen Qing smiled slightly, "The chariot does not have to walk on land!"
Zhe Yanzhi immediately realized, "Chen Dutong refers to the boat?"
Chen Qing nodded, "If the ship is built into a nest ship, it can also be a weapon for siege. I transferred twenty large ships from Baling County and with some modifications, they can be used as nest ships for siege."
Li Gang, who was originally depressed, became full of emotions again. He stroked his beard and said with a smile: "How long does it take for Chen Dutong to reform?"
Chen Qing raised three fingers and said, "The humble job will take three days!"
"Okay! We will wait and see in three days."
Chen Qing resigned and left. Li Gang asked Jie Qian and Zheyan: "Chen Dutong said that Xiangyang can be captured in three days. What do you think?"
Jie Qian shook his head, "The nest car is not omnipotent, and the same is true for the nest ship. Not to mention that the Xiangyang city wall is still ten feet away from the moat. The soldiers must rush across the ten-foot-long overpass. As long as the opponent uses a powerful crossbow to block it, this will
It is difficult to rush across a ten-foot-long overpass, even with a shield, not to mention that the opponent also has strong fire oil and firearms, so I am not optimistic about Chen Dutong's Chao Che battle."
"Where is Deputy Envoy Zhe?" Li Gang turned to Zhe Yanzhi again.
Zhe Yanzhi pondered for a while and said: "There are not many examples of using ships to attack a city in history. This is also because few cities have a moat as wide as Xiangyang. Chen Qing successfully used ships to attack the city in Changde Mansion before. This is a
There is a precedent, but there is no comparison between Xiangyang and Changde County. Once Xiangyang is fully prepared, it will not be easy to attack the city with warships."
"Will the defenders of Xiangyang guess that we will use warships to attack the city?" Li Gang asked in confusion.
Zhe Yanzhi nodded, "Kong Yanzhou also followed suit when attacking Jiangling before, using warships to siege the city. Although he failed, it at least shows that the puppet Qi army knew about Chen Qinghui's strategy of using warships to siege the city. Xiangyang's moat is similar to Jiangling. Dong
How can we not take precautions first?"
Li Gang's confidence was a little low. He stood blankly for a long time and said: "No matter what, let Chen Qing give it a try first!"
.........
On the top of Beicheng, Dong Xian led his generals to observe the situation behind the baffle. The Song army had already revealed clues. Four thick pillars appeared above the baffle. Dong Xian said to the generals: "As expected, the opponent
Either they are building a large observatory, or they are assembling a very large trebuchet."
"If it's a super-large trebuchet, wouldn't it be better to place it outside the south city?" a general asked in confusion.
"Then you don't understand. How do you think Chen Qing will attack the city? He will definitely use ships to attack the city just like he attacked Changde City."
Speaking of this, Dong Xian pointed to a row of large ships on the river in the west: "There are dozens of three-thousand-stone ships over there. If I guessed correctly, they are Chen Qing's siege weapons."
The faces of several generals became solemn, and they all commanded Wang Feng and said: "Marshal, if the opponent uses warships to attack the city, it is no less powerful than a chariot. The opponent's soldiers can easily attack the city, and Xiangyang City will be in danger of being lost. We
There must be countermeasures.”
Dong Xian nodded, "I have thought of this problem a long time ago. I didn't take out the bed crossbow before, just to keep it to deal with Chen Qing. Not only the bed crossbow, I also wanted to let him taste the power of the fire oil ball.
...........
At night, Chen Qing came to the construction site outside Beicheng. A high barrier blocked his figure. It had been really busy here for the past few days. A thousand soldiers were digging three tunnels here day and night.
Behind the baffle are piled dozens of thick giant trees, and even four tall wooden pillars. It looks like several super trebuchets are being installed. In fact, this is just a deception tactic. For Chen
Qing's real purpose was to dig a hundred-foot-long river, but digging the river would make Dong Xian see his intention at a glance.
Therefore, Chen Qing first dug three tunnels, completed most of the work of digging the river, and then dug the three tunnels into rivers on the last night. This could be completed overnight, and even if the enemy discovered his intention, it would be too late.
The commander, Wang Tai, stepped forward to greet him and said, "For this humble position, please see the commander-in-chief!"
"How's the excavation going?"
"Reporting to the capital, most of it has been completed. The three tunnels will be dug tomorrow afternoon!"
"Is the direction accurate?" Chen Qing asked again.
"Absolutely no problem, aim at the Caohe River entering the city!"
Chen Qing nodded and said with a smile: "Put a few throwing poles on the baffle tomorrow. Don't let Chengtou always guess what we are doing? Give them reassurance!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Chen Qing looked at the river in the distance again and thought to himself: 'I'm afraid no one would have thought that straightening the river is the key to destroying the city!'
...........
Three days passed in a blink of an eye. The soldiers in Beicheng had already seen the prototypes of several large trebuchets. They were already used to it. However, the soldiers did not notice that the baffles were unknowingly raised by at least one foot.
, beyond the baffle, you can only see the river in the distance.
In the general's tent of the West Camp, more than a dozen generals gathered together, and the general Chen Qing was making the final arrangements.
The carpenter made a simple model of Xiangyang City out of wood, and Hu Yanlei was telling everyone about the layout of the city.
Some time ago, when the puppet Qi army launched a large-scale attack on Hanyang, Xiangyang had no external threats and was relaxed for a while. Hu Yanlei and his men were recruited as civilian husbands and went to quarry stone and wood outside the city, taking the opportunity to escape.
"The military camp is in the southeast corner. Together with Cangcheng, it occupies 30% of the area of Xiangyang City. There is a corridor to the upper city in the military camp. Once the alarm bell rings at the top of the city, the alarm bell in the military camp will also ring together, and the soldiers will go directly from the military camp.
City, there are about 30,000 troops in the city. I have seen this army train. Frankly speaking, it is much stronger than the Forbidden Army in Bianliang, Tokyo. The morale is relatively high, and the training is very serious. Unlike the Forbidden Army in Tokyo, which looks lazy all day long.
Looks lazy."
Hu Yanlei is from Bianliang, Tokyo. He was a street gangster in Bianliang when he was young, and later joined Huyan Prefecture and became a servant, so he knows the imperial army in Tokyo very well.
"Talk about Caohe and Shuimen!" Chen Qing reminded again.
Hu Yanlei pointed at the water gate with a wooden pole and said: "The water gate is two feet high and one foot and five feet wide. There are two water gates in the front and back, both controlled by the city head. The water gate is relatively wide. If it is not a building ship, the mast can also be lowered.
Basically, ships worth two thousand stones can sail in. There are two Cao rivers coming out from Shuicheng gate. One leads directly to Cangcheng in the southeast corner. This Cao river can only be used for military purposes. The other Cao river goes west and is mainly used for civilian ships and water.
There are basically no troops stationed at the city gate, and there are no ships in the city, so it is basically in a state of abandonment."
Chen Qing nodded and said to the generals: "The attack will be launched at the fourth watch tonight. It will be divided into two lines: light and dark. We will build the plank road in the open and cross Chencang secretly. We must capture Xiangyang City before dawn."