No wonder Guan Yu was shocked, he knew that building a masonry city cost a lot of people's resources.
Commander Qu built Santai in the northwest corner of Ye City, intending to build the city with bricks and stones. However, he reluctantly built one because of the advice of a number of civil servants, including Cai Yong and Zhuge Gui, who said that spring plowing was about to begin and that the people's strength should be cherished.
This is because Qu Shuai created a brick kiln for burning bricks, which greatly improved the speed of brick burning, and it is still the same.
Where did Jushu in this city get the financial resources and manpower to build such a strong city?
In fact, Guan Yu didn't know that the bricks and stones of this strong city were all the remnants of a city, and they all came from the old Xiangguo city that was destroyed by Dong Zhuo.
But no matter how this city was built, Guan Yu now has a headache.
At first, he wondered why the Han army of Xiang State did not set up a stronghold outside the city. This was because common military knowledge was that defending a city must cooperate with the defense lines of peripheral strongholds to achieve the purpose of integrating offense and defense.
But when Guan Yu inspected this small town in Xiangguo, he understood. Just because it was really not necessary, it was enough to just defend the city.
There are various obstacles on the periphery of Xiangguo City, such as Tiejili, Juma, and Luzhai. There should have been a moat, but maybe because the city was newly built, there was no time to divert water, otherwise the water would be diverted from not far away? If there is a water source, it will be even more difficult to find.
Although there is no water, there is still a trench outside Xiangguo City that is as deep as a person's height, and the trench is filled with sharpened wooden thorns.
It is conceivable that with these wooden trenches and the arrows missing from the city, Taishan's army would have lost many lives just by walking this route.
The only way through this death zone is a narrow suspension bridge on the city. But now, this suspension bridge has long been hung high, mocking all enemies indifferently.
Then there are the countless crenellations on the city, each of which can provide a shooting position for the shooter. Inside and outside the crenellations, some wooden stakes, earth bags, and cloth curtains are also erected to resist erosion.
Jushou even considered the situation of night battles and hung torches behind the battlements. As long as these torches were lit at night, they could illuminate a circle under the city, specifically to prevent night attacks.
In fact, Guan Yu didn't know what kind of help his opponent Jushou had received. The city's shape and key defense methods were all learned by Jushou from his friend Shen Ping.
And Shen Pei is one of the best city defenders in this era. In another dimension, he relied on Ye City to hold off Cao Cao's army for several months. In the end, the city was breached only after the internal forces came out.
Therefore, Guan Yu encountered a strong enemy.
Guan Yu led the guards around again and saw several Han army officials pointing at him, thinking that they might be Jushou and his group.
Originally, Guan Yu still wanted to persuade him to surrender at the foot of the city, but seeing the power of the city, he gave up the idea.
Back at the military tent, Guan Yu was still thinking.
Because of the height problem, when he visited the city before, Guan Yu could not see what was behind the city wall.
But judging from Guan Yu's experience, this city must have an urn city.
Why?
Because the enemy troops he saw at the city gate were similar to those in other places. The weakest point in the city was the city wall. Either the city gate would be knocked open by a car or it would be easy for the traitor to secretly open it.
Therefore, even if there is a hanging gate as insurance, Jushou should still deploy enough troops at the city gate, not to mention that there is only one city gate in this city, so he should pay more attention to it.
But not now? That can only mean that there is an Wengcheng in the opposite city.
And this is difficult to do.
In other words, even if the Taishan army opens the city gate and rushes into the city, they will still encounter enemy soldiers on both sides of the corridor who are not covered by arrows. Even if they rush through and are not covered by arrows and risk their lives to the end of the corridor, they will still be killed by the walls of Wengcheng. Block.
Thinking of this, Guan Yu made a decision.
He ordered to the generals:
"The whole army set up camp and ordered the Zhao Di rebels who had been accompanying the army to build a mountain of earth in the south of the city, which was higher than the city wall. Then the craftsmen camp made equipment, repaired the carriages, and rushed the carriages. Then the master craftsmen were ordered to build three nest carriages and trenches. There were twenty bridges and carriages, ten stone machines, and hundreds of ladders. During this period, the entire army surrounded and refused to attack."
This is what Guan Yu did after he visited the city.
The city could not be attacked suddenly, it could only be surrounded first. But Guan Yu never thought that he could defeat the city just by surrounding it.
There were sieges in ancient times that lasted for several years. For example, when the Zhi family besieged Taiyuan City, it lasted for many years. However, there were only three types of situations that could be broken.
One is that the people inside the city are devastated and there are no reinforcements from outside, so the people inside can open the city on their own. The other is that there is a lack of food, and finally there is a lack of water.
In terms of water shortage, Xiangguo City seems to be short of water. After all, the water in the moat is also the main source of water in the city at this time. But now that there is no water in the Xiangguo moat, doesn’t it mean that there will be a water shortage in the city?
But don't forget that Xiangguo is not far from the water in the south. If they dig wells, there must be water veins underground.
There is probably no shortage of food in the city.
Guan Yu knew that when Lu Zhi retreated from Handan last year, he emptied the corn from Juqiaocang. Now that Lu Zhi had placed Jushou in Xiang State, how could he not leave any grain behind?
So what seems to be true is that when the people in the city are unstable and I can't stand it anymore, I will dedicate the city to seek wealth.
But we can't count on this. On the contrary, Guan Yu's biggest reliance in breaking the city is the new siege equipment built by Qu Shuai and the master craftsmen of the craftsman camp.
There are three types of sharp weapons.
The first one is the well cart.
This is an improvement on the original nest car. The original nest car has been invented since the Spring and Autumn Period, but it was mostly used to observe formations for the commander, or to attack the city.
But now the well carts of the Taishan Army's Craftsman Camp not only have the first two functions, but can also be directly hung on the city wall with a hanging ladder, allowing the soldiers in the well carts to rush directly to the top of the city.
This kind of cart is several feet high, with four wheels underneath that can be pushed to the city wall. The nest cart is then wrapped in cowhide to prevent fire, and it can accommodate dozens of soldiers.
It can be said that as long as a cart is hung on the city wall, the Taishan Army below will continue to attack the city.
In addition to the well cart, the second weapon is the redistribution stone machine.
When the main force of Lu Zhi's Han army was besieging the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, they made a stone-shooting machine from old papers. At that time, the Yellow Turban soldiers were so horrified that they thought it was the wrath of heaven.
Afterwards, when Ji Sun told Zhang Chong about the matter, from Ji Sun's description of these stone-shooting machines, Zhang Chong knew that this was a very crude machine that relied on human power to pull and used the lever principle to fire stone bullets.
.
After researching with several master craftsmen, Zhang Chong created a new stone firing machine that uses gravity as the power to launch stone bullets. That is to say, a weight is added to the end, and then the rope is cut when launching, which can affect the front end.
The boulder is launched.
This improvement increased the power and range of the stone machine several times.
Finally, there is a small thing, but very useful, that is the trench bridge car.
This was specially used by Guan Yu to deal with the trenches of Xiang State. This trench bridge chariot was actually a replica of the chao chariot, which was also equipped with wheels and hung with ladders.
When the soldiers push the trench bridge cart outside the trench, they can directly flip the ladder over to set up the trench.
It can be said that Guan Yu planned to launch stone bombs from a distance, and then launch an attack from the top and bottom of the city at the same time.
Guan Yu didn't believe that Xiang Guo could stop him.
…
Once Guan Yu decided to besiege Xiang Guo, he took quick action.
First, he built two fortresses to the north of Xiang State, blocking the communication lines to the north to support Xiang State. For these two barriers, Guan Yu ordered Zhang Tai and Zhang Heizi, two generals of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban system, to receive 500 yuan each.
Qingzhou Yellow Turban warriors and armored soldiers guarded the two walls.
Then the Taishan Army built barriers at two high points in the east and west of the city, one is Jitou Mountain and the other is Xingtai Pavilion, blocking the east-west escape routes in the city.
Because the terrain of Jitou Mountain is quite high, Guan Yu arranged his camp and commander's tent here as the commander-in-chief of the siege of Xiangguo City.
As for the Xingtai Pavilion to the east, because it was necessary to defend against the possible Julu reinforcements from the east, Guan Yu deployed Li Damu, one of his generals, here.
Li Damu's five elite battalions and 2,000 troops were all deployed to the east. They were responsible for both blocking the enemy from the east and suppressing Xiangguo City from the east.
As for the south side where Xiangguo's city gate is located, it is also the direction where Guan Yu plans to attack. Guan Yu ordered Dian Wei, the bravest in the army, to lead three elite battalions and five thousand Qingzhou soldiers to set up a defense line here.
On the south side of the camp wall, watchtowers and sheds were arranged, and some people evened out the dirt road between the camp and Xiangguo City to open up a path for the siege equipment behind.
This time Guan Yu also learned the lesson he had learned from the previous battle in the water.
In order to protect the rear grain roads and provide manpower and material support to the front line of Xiangguo, Guan Yu also assigned rural officials to the settlements on the vast land between the three rivers and established grassroots organizations belonging to the Taishan Army.
These rural officials were basically selected by the Taishan Army from the native people of Zhao who had defected to Zhao. On the one hand, Guan Yu granted them grass-roots positions, and on the other hand, he asked them to promote the Taishan Army's policies in their hometowns.
Anyone who defected to the Taishan Army or provided for the Taishan Army would be given land.
It has been several months since the Taishan Army arrived in Hebei. In fact, their policies and reputation have already spread among the poor people in Zhao. Otherwise, when Guan Yu went north, there wouldn't be so many poor people coming to seek refuge.
So when Guan Yu issued such conditions, the poor people in the northern part of Zhao State, mobilized by their Xinxiang officials, came to the front line of Xiangguo to receive tasks.
Whether it's cutting down trees, leveling the land, or escorting baggage, in short, the people of Zhao are happy. As for whether the powerful people are happy or not, it doesn't matter.
Therefore, Guan Yu used the yin and yang skills to decide to engage in a long siege with Jushu under Xiangguo City.
…
Time has passed in half a month, and there has not been a single war at home or abroad in Xiang during this period.
But the atmosphere of the war became increasingly tense.
At this time, on the top of Xiangguo City, Jushou was standing on the top of the city with a group of officials, looking down.
In the distance, at the South Camp of the Taishan Army, a group of more than a hundred Guizhou civilians were coming out of the camp. They were holding all kinds of hoes and rakes in their hands, singing and dancing along the way, and were returning to their hometown.
Li Ding, who was beside Jushu, glanced at him and said to Jushu:
"Now that spring plowing is around the corner, this group should have returned to their hometown for spring plowing. Hey, these Taishan thieves should not be underestimated. After the war, they still attach so much importance to spring plowing and production. Look at these people, they were empty-handed before they came.
Now when we return, everyone is carrying iron farm tools. It seems that the people of Zhao are no longer Han."
Li Ding's exclamation annoyed a general next to him, he was Su You.
Ever since Su Renting was defeated and Su You almost fled into Xiangguo, he began to hate the Taishan Army. He didn't hate whether the Taishan Army would divide his land later, but he hated Er Er, whom he had supported for many years.
Hundreds of pavilion soldiers fell into the hands of others.
Troubled times are coming, and warriors have no soldiers, so how can they gain fame and wealth? It is better to die than to rely on others.
So Li Ding said a few nice words, which made Su You angry. He ridiculed Li Ding:
"General Li looks at the thieves in the city like this, why not lower the city and surrender."
Li Ding didn't tolerate Su You at all, so he took out the knife and cursed angrily:
"What a good dog, how dare you, a lost dog, dare to humiliate me?"
After saying that, he picked up the sword ring and prepared to build Su Youmian.
"That's enough! Do you think I'm dead?"
The one who shouted angrily was none other than Jushou, the prefect of Zhao County.
He glared at the two of them, and finally Li Ding and Su You gave up their argument and stepped aside.
Jushu was also very confused inside.
After half a month of siege, although there was no shortage of water and millet in the city, morale was obviously declining.
He now regrets that he should not have allowed Li's soldiers, Jin's soldiers and Zhao's soldiers to be placed in the city. The current low morale in the city is all caused by these local powerful people.
Since the siege of the city, Taishan's army began to divide the land, began to break the powerful power, divide the land, and recruit poverty.
The lands of the three families of Li, Jin, and Zhao were also attacked by Taishan bandits. However, the tribesmen of the three families were all in Xiangguo City, so they could not withstand the Taishan army's attack at all.
Some members of the Li, Jin, and Zhao families risked their lives and rushed into the city to tell the three generals Li Ding, Jin Zhun, and Zhao Rong about the matter. Now the three generals could not sit still, and they all threatened to leave the city and return to their homes.
The three generals had gone out of the city once before, but were almost wiped out by Taishan's army, so they had to retreat into the city in embarrassment.
But even though this man stayed in the city, his words became more and more strange. He blamed Jushu for using words to coax them into boarding the pirate ship, and the implicit meaning behind his words was that they had surrendered.
Jushou knew that the biggest reason behind this was the lack of reinforcements.
In the past half month, he had written countless letters asking for help, but there was no news. Not to mention the children of these wealthy families, even he was worried.
Yes, Xiangguo is strong and has abundant reserves. But if there are no reinforcements, no matter how strong the city is, it will be destroyed, and no matter how many reserves there are, one day it will be exhausted.
This is waiting to die in despair.
Jushuo had to keep the coach's composure outside, but when he was in his private room, he would also lament to his son Juhu:
"My father was entrusted by Commander Lu to control the Zhao territory. But what about now? From the north of Handan to the south of the Bai people, the bandits' traces stretch for hundreds of miles, and there are hundreds of thousands of thieves. And the vast land of Zhao,
I am the only one in Xiang State who is defending a city, trapped internally and externally, struggling to hold on. But the Taishan thieves have taken possession of all the land of Zhao, occupying the land, and setting up officials to govern the country. How can I use up one city to attack a country?
Get by."
After saying that, Jushou saw that his son was still confused and couldn't help but caress his cheek and burst into tears:
"As a father, I will share the dangers of the city, but Hu'er is still young, so I will definitely save you as a father."
Father's love is revealed in words, which only makes people sigh.