As the passionate drums played, soldiers from various departments of the Qin army came forward in an orderly manner.
They held sculls and shields in the front row, or pushed simple chariots in front, covering the soldiers in the rear row, carrying earth and stones, and pushing them towards the trench outside Jicheng.
The first step in siege is to fill in the trenches!
When the Yan army on the city saw the Qin people attacking, they shouted and fired arrows, hoping to inflict casualties on the Qin army who was filling the ground.
But the Qin army's oars and shields were tall, and their chariots were covered with rawhide, which could withstand arrows.
In fact, not many people will be killed in one round of shooting.
Despite the roaring of the war drums of both armies, the endless shouts and curses, and the flying arrows, in fact, at the end of the day, the casualties were limited.
"The Yan army really didn't dare to leave the city."
Zhao Tuo was currently standing on a mound outside the east city, which was the commanding heights chosen by Li Xin.
The general is located at a high place and can see the Qin army's attack on Jicheng in the distance, which allows the short soldiers who protect the general to have a glimpse of the battle.
As a battlefield veteran known for his stability, Wang Jian made various preparations for the siege.
While he ordered the craftsmen and prisoners in the camp to make ladders, carts, trebuchets and other siege equipment, he also ordered all ministries to send out troops to test the city's defense. At the same time, he also filled in the trenches outside the city to prepare for the siege equipment.
Be prepared to attack.
Do two things at the same time without delaying each other.
Of course, he also ambushed a group of soldiers and horses in each camp. If the Yan army dared to go out of the city to fight and attack the troops filling the trenches, those soldiers and horses would rush out and take advantage of the situation to seize the city gate.
But unfortunately, looking at the situation in front of him, Yan Wangxi had been frightened by Wang Jian. He had no idea of leaving the city to attack, and just looked like he was defending the city.
Over the past few days, the trenches dug outside Jicheng have been completely filled in, and the felled trees in the surrounding mountains and forests have been transformed into various siege engines in the hands of craftsmen.
Although the Qin army has not yet launched a large-scale attack, after the trebuchets and carts were made and placed at the west and south gates, their deterrence was enough to frighten the Yan army in the city.
King Xi of Yan even went up to the city wall and saw the boundless tents of the Qin army with his own eyes. He was so shocked that his head was dizzy.
"No wonder South Korea and Zhao are both dead. How can our little Yan Kingdom resist such an army of tigers and wolves?"
Yan Wangxi thought secretly in his heart, and even had the slightest idea of surrender.
But immediately, Yan Dan, who was standing beside him, seemed to see through King Yan Xi's thoughts and whispered: "Father, everyone in the Yan Kingdom can surrender, but only you and I cannot surrender."
"If we surrender, not to mention the eight hundred years of inheritance passed down by our ancestor Zhao Gong will perish in our hands. Let's see what will happen to the surrendered King of Han and King Zhao?"
"Although they were not killed, Han Wangan was imprisoned in Chen and looked like a useless person. Zhao Wangqian heard that he was exiled to Fangling. Once he entered the wilderness, he did not know life or death. Can you accept such an ending?"
Hearing this, King Yan was trembling with joy.
He has been in power for many years and has always promised to get whatever he wants in the Yan Kingdom. If he is imprisoned by the Qin people, those days would be worse than death. As for being exiled to the wilderness, with his age and body, I am afraid he will not survive in a few days.
Return to the West with one life.
Thinking of this, King Yan shook his head and said: "Don't think too much, I will not surrender."
"When Yan is here, Gu is here."
At this moment, a thunderous sound suddenly sounded.
An object passed over King Yan's head at an extremely fast speed and with terrifying force. The strong wind almost blew off the crown on his head.
"what?"
King Yan was so shocked that he spit on Yan Dan's face.
What responded to him was a series of crashes.
"Your Majesty, hide quickly!"
"It's a flying stone!"
The surrounding attendants shouted, and the soldiers held up their shields and stood in front of King Yan and the Crown Prince to cover their descent from the city.
Stones were thrown one by one from the tall trebuchet outside the city, flying in the air and hitting the city wall hard.
Although the accuracy of these trebuchets was very poor, they would either fall on the ground just after they flew out, or they would fly too far and cross the city wall and smash into the city, but there would always be a few pieces that accidentally hit the moving crowd on the wall.
boom!
King Yanxi saw with his own eyes that a servant's head exploded on the spot, and red and white things flew everywhere, even on his face.
He screamed, unable to hold on any longer, his eyes rolled, and he fainted on the spot.
There was panic and screaming on the city walls.
Although those flying stones only weighed more than ten kilograms and were not powerful enough to break through the solid city wall, they were still far beyond the ability of arrows and caused great psychological pressure on the Yan people on the wall and inside the city.
At the same time, under the cover of flying rocks.
The Qin army outside the city also began to launch a formal attack.
How can I say that I have no clothes? I share the same robe with you.
When the king raised his troops, he repaired my swords and spears, and shared the same hatred with his son.
In the exciting drums, various Qin troops marched forward while shouting ancient war songs.
The second step in siege is to capture the city!
The chariot pushed forward slowly, covering a large number of soldiers approaching the city wall.
The towering chariots also crossed the filled-in moat. The Qin soldiers under the chariots were excited and eager to try. Just waiting for the moment to reach the city, they jumped into the city head and made a great achievement of climbing first.
In addition, the ladder truck, which is always indispensable in siege battles, was also pushed towards the city wall by the Qin soldiers.
In order to avoid accidental damage to friendly troops and siege equipment, the catapults with poor accuracy have stopped firing.
The counterattack on the city wall also began at this moment.
"Fire the arrow!"
As General Yan shouted, arrows flew from the sky like rain, falling into the Qin army's battle formation and killing many people.
But more people have already approached Ji City Wall under cover.
The third step in siege is to climb the city!
The hook of the ladder truck hooked the city wall, and the ladder truck was connected to the wall.
Countless Qin soldiers howled and climbed up the ladder to the city wall, followed the carriages and jumped into the city.
The Yan soldiers guarding the city also roared like crazy. They shot arrows to kill the Qin soldiers below the city, and threw rolling logs and rocks to attack the enemies who climbed the city.
When the ladder was put up on the top of the city, they picked up instruments such as poles and poles and quickly pushed the ladder down.
When the Qin army who was climbing the city had already put up the city wall with their hands, the Yan soldiers guarding behind the battlements picked up long swords, axes and other weapons, and quickly cut off and injured the hands of the climbers.
What's more, there was boiling water on the city wall, and the Yan troops who were defending the city poured it on the climbing Qin soldiers, causing a wailing of pain.
When a brave warrior of the Qin army jumped onto the city wall to avoid all risks, what awaited him was the already flattened spear and halberd and the stabbing blade.
The battle reached a fever pitch, and the Qin soldiers seemed to be endless, like a wildly surging wave, wave after wave, constantly impacting this city that had been built for nearly a thousand years.
The sky was getting dark, and after one round of charge after another, the Qin and Yan armies had reached the time when the cattle and sheep entered (Xu hour), and the moon had already appeared in the sky.
The golden zheng sounded, and the attacking Qin army retreated like a tide.
In the dim sky, they dragged the bodies of their companions, leaving stumps and blood all over the ground, and slowly returned to the military camp...
For the steps of siege, please refer to Mr. Yuan Tingdong's "Ancient Wars·Cities"
"Fan Li's Art of War": The flying stone weighs twelve kilograms and is used as an opportunity to move two hundred steps.
Regarding the incident of Zhao Wangqian being exiled to Fangling, see "Huainanzi·Tai Clan Training"
Han Wangan was imprisoned in Chen, refer to "Sleeping Tiger Land Qin Bamboo Slips Chronicles" and "Exploration of the History of Qin, Han, Wei and Jin"