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"Your Majesty, now there is only one country left in 'Xinzheng', and the palace city is in the inner direction. The enemy is pretending to be stubborn and resisting. Even if the allied forces of Chu, Song, and Vietnam come back, they will be defeated."
It's the autumn of another year, and the "Battle of Xinzheng" that has lasted for more than two years has reached its most critical moment.
As the first city in the Central Plains, "Xinzheng" took nearly half a year to capture the outer city walls under the attack of the original army, and hit the first city wall at the beginning of the construction of "Xinzheng". After taking it, the attack on the palace city began.
Attacked.
In order to advance the war to the current stage, the Yuan army not only fought with the Chu army in the wilderness many times, but also fought with the Song army and the Yue army many times.
"The enemy is determined to fight to the death, so you should not be careless," Zhiyao said.
Every time the original army captured a city wall, they would persuade Zheng's monarchs and ministers to surrender, but they were rejected every time.
Half a year has passed since the Chu army withdrew its troops and the Song army and the Yue army retreated without a fight.
A month ago, Chu, Song and Yue formed an alliance again. After they stationed troops in Song's "Yongqiu", they sent envoys to see Zhiyao and gave numerous reasons, requesting the original army to withdraw from "Xinzheng".
That move may seem funny, but in fact it is a legacy of the Spring and Autumn Period. It is said to be funny only because times have changed.
In particular, Song Junluan expressed his willingness to mediate and asked Zhiyao to withdraw his troops after Zheng paid a high price. He also expressed that Chu, Yue, Song and Zheng would no longer be enemies of the original state.
If Zhiyao agreed to Song Junluan's proposal, in addition to still taking the route of domination, modern people's thinking would turn the two-year war into a game of house.
In fact, "playing house" is the understanding of modern people. According to the people's view at that time, it was called benevolence and righteousness, and it was also called "the battle of gentlemen".
As long as Zhiyao agrees, Yuan Kingdom will be able to achieve hegemony in an instant. Not surprisingly, in the next few years, Zheng State, Song State, Yue State... and even Chu State will all show their obedience to Yuan State.
But it will definitely not last too long, and new disputes will inevitably arise.
The problem is that many people want to become the overlord of the world, and Dudu Zhiyao wants to complete the change of dynasty.
In order to achieve her goal, Zhiyao not only suppressed the Han family's support for the Zhou royal family, but even expressed that the country was temporarily powerless to deal with the Zhou royal family's miserable situation after the angel appeared and asked for help.
Therefore, not only did fierce battles break out repeatedly within the territory of Zheng, but the territory of the Zhou royal family was also wreaked havoc by the Chu army, especially when the Chu army was already attacking "Luoyi".
At the current stage, there are 80,000 original troops still responsible for attacking "Xinzheng", and another 70,000 have moved to the border of Song State to confront the allied forces of Song, Vietnam and Chu.
In the days of attacking "Xinzheng", the original army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties and hundreds of scrapped siege equipment. How could they give up when the last step was about to be completed?
At this time, Zhiyao and his ministers were sitting on the city wall, holding a meeting while watching the trebuchets, crossbows and crossbow troops firing at the enemy.
Some catapults and many crossbows were assumed to be on the city walls, and rounds of stone projectiles and crossbow bolts were dropped into the city.
The arrows, like locusts, rose into the air amidst the sound of bangs one after another, and then fell after flying for a while.
All kinds of things are flying, making the scene look extremely huge!
On the ground, in just this direction, thousands of soldiers were waiting in formation. Siege towers and ladders were pulled forward by oxen, and siege vehicles were pushed toward the city gate by manpower. And they were waiting in formation.
The original soldiers, some of whom worked together to carry the ladder, would rush up to climb the city just waiting for an order.
Because of the coverage of various long-range weapon launches by the original army, the number of Zheng troops on the city wall is not too large. More Zheng troops are hiding behind the city wall. They will attack the city again when the original army stops launching long-range weapons and sends troops to attack the city.
The city wall engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the former soldiers.
At the current stage of the war, the number of Zheng's troops has not only dropped to less than 20,000, but their physical and mental conditions are also quite bad.
The kings and ministers of the State of Zheng should be grateful to the special nature of the era. People today are more loyal and accustomed to obeying their superiors. If it were any other era, either generals would rebel or soldiers would collapse on their own.
In the "Xinzheng" area that has not fallen, there is actually a Chu army...or it cannot be called a Chu army. They are an armed force headed by Zonglou.
The reason why I am not so sure whether it is still a Chu army is mainly because Zonglou no longer wants to go to the Chu State. At first he wanted to defect to the Yue State, but later he hesitated whether to go to the Yuan State.
The reason why Zonglou hesitated was simple. They had no possibility of breaking out. They would either die in the battle while guarding "Xinzheng", or they would be defeated and captured.
Of course, there is another possibility. Zonglou has been waiting for a long time and has not received any envoy or letter from the original country to persuade him to surrender. He has been dormant under the condition that he can jump back at any time.
Waves of crashing sounds reached the ears of many people.
That was when the original army's siege engines had been pushed to the city gate and were using ramming hammers to hit the city gate.
On top of the city wall, soldiers of the Zheng Army risked their lives by carrying stones and throwing them down. However, there was a protective device on the top of the siege vehicle. The stone that was thrown down collided with the shield and rolled to the side with a dull sound.
The siege vehicle came with a roof protector, which was shaped like a triangular structure that was easy to unload. The reason why a shield and a layer of skin were added later was because Zheng Jun learned to spread kerosene and then shoot rockets.
Looking at some sections of the city wall, some Zheng Army soldiers were protecting a bunch of ropes with metal hooks. They were waiting for the original army's siege tower to be pushed up, and then when they reached a suitable distance, they would throw the ropes with hooks to hook the attackers.
It’s time to try to pull the city tower over and tip it over.
Where there is a spear, there is a shield. Zheng Jun will always find ways to counterattack after learning his lesson, and some new tools for defending the city will be invented.
If Zheng Jun still doesn't think about countermeasures after learning the lessons again and again, they are simply not worthy of being the leader of the primates.
Therefore, the former army's siege vehicles hit the door again and again, breaking it into pieces. Looking inside, the city gate hole was blocked!
What's going on?
Ordinary defenders would not easily block the city gate. Not only would blocking it mean giving up the counterattack, but it would also put themselves at risk.
Now Zheng Jun actually blocked the city gates? If all the city gates are blocked, it means that the kings and ministers of Zheng State want to coexist and die with the city!
Zhiyao was speechless after receiving the report.
When attacking a city, it is of course best if you can enter through the city gate. Otherwise, if you capture certain sections of the city wall, how to get down is still a problem.
The city's defense facilities have always been designed to protect against the outside but not the inside. The original army did not have much advantage and had enough confidence to withstand the Zheng army's counterattack. The siege equipment was not suitable for being pulled into the city and then hoisted up the city wall.
, the reason is that if the strength is equal, the city wall can be easily taken back by the defenders.
In fact, many siege troops clearly occupied some sections of the city wall. Due to the design of the city wall to protect the outside but not the inside, control of the city wall sections was easily taken back by the defenders.
"Your Majesty, please order the oil tanks to be thrown out." Sima Ranju suggested.
A trebuchet can throw stones, why can't it throw other things?
Zhiyao has always exercised restraint and used conventional means to attack the city.
Why do you say that? If the original army used trebuchets to throw fire oil cans and then set them on fire by any means, or even collected corpses and kept throwing them in, etc., they were called unconventional means.
More and more ministers spoke up and seconded Sima Ranju's opinion.
"Zheng's army fought stubbornly and deserved to be punished by heaven!" Zhi Xuwu said something divine.
God's punishment? In fact, it's not man-made. What's terrible is that people always like to attach other meanings to their actions.
Zhiyao had already made up her mind that after unifying the world, she would not imitate Ji Zhou and become God's son.
It's not that feudal superstition is necessary or anything.
But getting rid of superstition can really make it easier to embark on the path of scientific evolution. This conclusion has long been confirmed.
"Just throw it locally." Zhiyao said.
"Xinzheng", located in the heart of the Central Plains, has great strategic value. If it can be preserved, efforts should be made to keep it intact, which can give the original country more strategic space options in the future.
The original army began to throw oil cans, and they still lit the cloth strips on the oil cans first, and then threw them out.
The attackers and defenders saw fire raining from the sky!
It was a scene where the oil tank was ignited and the kerosene was spilled after being thrown out. The kerosene was ignited in mid-air and continued to be thrown downwards during the flight.
Zhiyao saw some of his own soldiers being hit by fire and rain, and the queues became chaotic for a moment. Paoze around him was busy helping to put out the fire, and his cheeks twitched.
The faces of the other ministers were equally ugly.
If the kerosene can is lit in advance and then thrown out, it will definitely roll during the flight. If it rolls, the kerosene will be spilled, and the kerosene will be ignited by the burning cloth strips. This cannot be done without completely sealing it.
Secondly, it is very easy for accidents to cause explosions. It is a very basic science, right?
The original country has many kinds of advanced equipment, but some necessary knowledge is not mastered, including the "ballistics" knowledge of using long-range weapons.
Or it can’t be said that people today don’t understand ballistics knowledge, it’s just that it’s not named that way. People have been throwing lethal tools for hunting for a long time, and later they made bows and arrows, which generations of people will definitely be involved in.
The relevant knowledge cannot be summarized into a doctrine and then formally named.
Did the original army use a new siege method? When the defenders discovered this situation, they hurriedly put out the fire and reported the situation quickly.
Not many areas were attacked by fire oil tanks, and every place was quickly engulfed in flames. As a result, the defenders not only understood that the original army had shown mercy before, but also knew that they could be attacked by fire at any time.
The defenders were still deeply impressed by the fact that the Chu army that broke out of the encirclement was attacked by fire and almost completely annihilated. They were absolutely unwilling to get the same fate as the Chu army.
In addition, the news that the Chu and Song coalition armies were also defeated by the original army using fire attacks also reached the city of "Xinzheng".
Regarding the fact that the Yuan army was extremely good at using fire attacks, not only the Chu people, but also people from other countries basically knew about it.
"Your Majesty, you can throw a few more rounds." Sima Ranju suggested again.
They could not see the areas still controlled by the enemy, and by listening to the noise, they could tell that the enemy was in great panic.
Rice Ball Exploration
Zhiyao understood Sima Ranju's thoughts immediately and said with a smile: "Yes."
When attacking a city, the most important thing is to attack the heart.
The defenders had long since lost hope and were still resisting stubbornly due to the unwillingness of the higher-ups to surrender.
It seems that the defenders were frightened by the new methods used by the original army?
The original army can definitely add more strength, and while further damaging the morale of the defenders, there may be additional surprises.
Time passed bit by bit.
The original army threw four rounds of fire oil cans, which not only caused panic among the defenders, but also plunged the city into chaos. Under this situation, the original army stopped dropping long-range attack weapons and melee troops launched siege operations.
Within Zhiyao's field of vision, batch after batch of original troops climbed up using siege towers or ladders.
Despite the panic and confusion among the defenders, some troops still went up to the city wall to defend the city and launched a fierce battle with the original troops attacking the city.
"The Zichan Reform may have harmed Zheng Guo, but it still helped a lot." Sima Ranju said.
There have been several reforms in history. The most influential one was Zhou Gongdan's reform, which created a series of "etiquette standards" measures. This was followed by Guan Zhong's reform in Qi, which enabled Duke Huan of Qi to "unify the nine princes and help them."
The great achievements of "Xia"; Zichan's reform in Zheng State only changed one feudal state, so its impact was naturally smaller, and its popularity was not that high.
What Sima Ranju said was fair. The Zichan Reform severely damaged the non-public forces in Zheng State, making Zheng State a public Zheng State. However, it also caused Zheng State to lose fresh blood, and even many nobles fled.
Therefore, in the face of the current desperate situation, nobles in other vassal states may rebel. The people who gained power in Zheng are from the public clan. With fate tied to the country, the cost of betrayal by the public family is too high, and it is difficult for them to rebel.
.
Isn't it because of that that the defenders continued to persist despite knowing that continued resistance could not avoid defeat?
Zhiyao had a keen eye, and seemed to have seen something, and said in surprise: "How come the Chu army attacked the Zheng army?"
Everyone looked over and saw the Chu army attacking the Zheng army. They were extremely shocked for a moment.
They don't have "god vision", how can they know Zong Lou's thoughts?
But Zonglou really couldn't wait any longer and didn't want to be buried with "Xin Zheng". He seized the opportunity of reduced surveillance and launched an immediate attack on Zheng's army.
Surveillance? Yes, the kings and ministers of the Zheng Kingdom have always been on guard against Zong Lou. They even wanted to destroy the Chu army controlled by Zong Lou more than once, but they just failed to do so.
So if you look at it, Zong Lou is not an absolute bad guy when he attacks Zheng Jun?
Zhiyao received a report that Zonglou was willing to surrender to the original country and that a section of the city wall and part of the city had been cleared.
"If I had wanted to, I would have taken the initiative to contact you. I didn't contact you because I didn't want to win in this way." Zhiyao did not feel happy at all.
Does it mean that Zhiyao knew about the situation in Zonglou in advance? However, it was not true.
It was purely because Zhiyao could constantly seduce or persuade the nobles in the city to surrender, and wanted to capture "Xinzheng" with hard power to scare the princes, without resorting to outside tactics.
"Your Majesty?"
Suddenly something like that happened, which not only further damaged the morale of the defenders, but also broke the thread in the defenders' hearts. It was indeed a perfect opportunity to capture "Xinzheng".