Chapter 1901: Consumption of Yanjing Offensive and Defensive Battle (12)
Chapter 1901: Consumption of the Yanjing Attack and Defense Battle (12)
The Qin army's siege in just one day caused nearly 7,000 casualties to the Han army, and also destroyed 150 catapults and 600 crossbows...
The Han army had more than 100,000 defenders, and they could be recruited from the common people. Naturally, 7,000 casualties were nothing. The real big gain was the destruction of a large number of the Han army's defensive equipment.
You must know that although the Han army could make their own instruments, due to limited materials, the number of self-made instruments must also be limited.
Therefore, every time the Qin army destroyed a catapult, the Han army would lose one, until finally none could be taken out.
In just one day, the Qin army caused the Han army to destroy 150 catapults and 600 crossbows. This was definitely an unbearable loss for the Han army.
Similarly, after achieving such great results, the casualties of the Qin army were naturally not small. There were a total of two thousand casualties, most of which were killed while fighting the Han army.
However, the two thousand casualties of the Qin army were different from the seven thousand of the Han army.
The Han army was a mixture of veterans, recruits, and strong men, while the Qin army was all elite soldiers who had undergone long-term training and had seen blood.
On the frontal battlefield, one Qin soldier can at least withstand five ordinary Han troops, but in a siege battle, they can only order two and a half mixed Han troops. This is naturally very worthless, but from a strategic point of view, they
However, his sacrifice resulted in the decline of Yanjing City's defense.
"Commander Su, our army suffered two thousand casualties in just one day of attacking the city. If we continue like this, the casualties will be too great." Lu Bu said seriously.
"Yes, the moat has not been filled in, and the city has not been formally sieged. Two thousand soldiers were injured or killed in just one day. If this was a formal siege, wouldn't the casualties be even greater?
If we follow this pace, after Yanjing is captured, our 70,000-strong army may not have much left," Sun Lingming said.
Lu Bu and Sun Lingming wanted to persuade Su Dingfang to postpone the offensive and reduce casualties, but Su Dingfang, who always cherished his soldiers, was not moved at all this time.
"This is not how it is calculated. Everything is difficult at the beginning. Under the full attack of our army, the resistance of the Han army will only become weaker and weaker, and it will definitely not remain at the strength it is today.
In addition, although our army is not in good condition, the same is true for the Han army. Now let’s see who can hold on. The one who can bear it will be the final winner."
Su Dingfang's eyes were full of determination, and he said in a deep voice: "We will continue to attack the city tomorrow, and we must fill up the Yanjing moat within four days."
"No." All the generals responded in unison.
Su Dingfang's expectation of filling up the moat was four days, but after the war started, it was somewhat beyond expectations because he encountered a powerful opponent, Xue Gang.
Since Su Dingfang joined the army, he has never encountered an opponent who can match him, and this is the first time that he has been as difficult as Xue Gang.
With the full power of the "Five Tigers and One Tai Sui", Xue Gang's commander reached an astonishing level of 103, which was only 1 point lower than Su Dingfang's commander of 104.
In addition, Xue Gang had the advantage of defending the city. Even Su Dingfang could not take advantage of the command, and could only attack the city with all his strength without casualties.
Su Dingfang and Xue Gang were on the offensive and the other on the defensive. It could be said that they met their opponents and met their talents. The battle between the two sides was extremely fierce. It was originally scheduled to fill the moat in four days, but in the end it took five days.
After five consecutive days of high-intensity siege, the Qin army suffered a total of 7,000 casualties, and lost 400 catapults, 200 wells, and 1,400 crossbows. This shows how fierce the war was.
The losses suffered by the Qin army were great, and naturally the losses of the Han army were also great, with total casualties reaching more than 16,000.
This is still the result of Xue Gang's presence. If other generals were to guard the area, the casualties would definitely be greater.
On the first day when Xue Gang was away, the Han army suffered 7,000 casualties and the Qin army suffered 2,000 casualties.
In the next four days, with Xue Gang personally in charge, the Han army suffered 9,000 casualties and the Qin army suffered 5,000 casualties.
It is easy to see at a glance, whether there is a famous general in charge, the gap is so big.
Under Xue Gang's command, the casualty ratio between Qin and Han was even lower than 1:2.
The Han army used a mixed force of 16,000 new and old soldiers to defeat the Qin army's 7,000 elite troops. This was naturally a huge profit.
But in addition to the casualties of the Han army, the more serious loss was actually the loss of equipment.
Now the Han army has no spare ordnance in its inventory. Although it can continue to rush out new catapults, the output will obviously not be very high.
Even if parts are scraped from damaged catapults, only thirty can be built every day, and the supply simply exceeds demand.
Even if the Qin army destroyed hundreds of catapults in one day, they could still build two hundred more and transport them from the rear to the front for replenishment.
The Qin army had the whole of Hebei as backup and had inexhaustible resources, while the Han army only had the city of Yanjing left and had limited resources. It was impossible to defeat the Qin army in terms of consumption.
Now the supply and demand of the Han army's defensive equipment are already in short supply. As long as the Qin army ensures a certain intensity of attack, sooner or later the durability of Yanjing City will be completely destroyed.
After the Qin army filled in the moat of Yanjing, the next step was naturally the most brutal siege.
"Xue Rengui, Sun Lingming, and Lu Fengxian are the three generals. In the next siege, all three of you will participate in the siege together," Su Dingfang said.
"But once the Han army adopts the crossbow-stone warfare method and uses catapults and bed crossbows to focus fire on us, we will not be able to climb the tower at all."
Sun Lingming asked in confusion, since it was destined to be impossible to climb up, why did he attack the city himself?
"Xue Gang knows how powerful you three are, so he will definitely reserve some equipment specifically to defend you three."
Su Dingfang's eyes flashed and he said with a faint smile: "If you don't personally participate in the siege, these equipment will be used to defend the city. But if you personally participate in the siege, even if you can't climb the tower, you can still contain it.
This part of the equipment will take some of the pressure off my siege army."
Sun Lingming looked astonished. It turned out that he was trying to contain the Han army's defense force even though they were not intimidated.
The next day, 50,000 Qin troops left the camp and once again surrounded the north, east and west gates. This time, without the obstruction of the moat, the Qin troops could finally launch an siege.
Following Su Dingfang's order, the three generals Xue Rengui, Sun Lingming, and Lu Bu personally led the siege team and launched the most violent offensive against the three gates.
Although Xue Gang had anticipated this, when he actually faced it, he still felt aggrieved and helpless. He could only reserve half of his firepower to deal with the three generals.
The firepower on the opposite side was reduced by half, so the pressure faced by the Qin army was naturally greatly reduced. Coupled with the suppression of their own catapults and crossbows, the fear in the hearts of the siege soldiers was reduced to a minimum.
Su Dingfang looked at Xue Gang on Yanjing City and said coldly: "The first person to climb the tower will be promoted to General and rewarded with a thousand catties."
Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men.
The soldiers of the Qin army launched a desperate attack, which also made the city of Yanjing crumbling.