Driven by the Xianbei people, five to six thousand Zahu attacked the Ice City again. They were originally warriors galloping on the grassland, but now they had to charge on the ice with their feet. With the help of fate, the arrows of the Han army were missing, and once again
Repaired them.
The most successful attack was a corpse of a barbarian lying on the antlers outside the ice wall, which was still twenty steps away from the wall.
This battle lasted a bit long, and it wasn't until the sky turned dark that the bastards were allowed to retreat. Their casualties were smaller than in the first attack, because they learned to stay out of the Han army's range.
Unless the Xianbei war team rushed up and hacked several of them to death, they would not have entered the range of the Han army.
With such excellent combat skills, they only left behind a few hundred corpses.
In one day's battle, the Hu people suffered more than 2,000 casualties, and more than 20 Han soldiers were injured by arrows, but more than 100 people suffered frostbite on their hands and feet. Such is the case in severe winter battles, and non-combat attrition is unavoidable.
Liu Xiang had tried every means, including fire pits, clothes, furs, grease, and taking turns to fight, but the laws of nature could not be violated.
The next day, Zahu continued to be driven into battle, attacking the city four times and fighting with Xianbei six times, leaving behind more than 3,000 corpses and less than 2,000 who were able to retreat to the camp.
Hundreds of thousands of arrows fired by the Han army were missed, and the Hu people made no progress.
As night fell, Liu Xiang stood at the top of the city and watched the civilians clean the battlefield and collect the corpses. The corpses of the Hu people who died in the battle would be taken to the back camp and burned.
Taking it downstream would definitely cause a plague, and he didn't want to see the plague again.
After every battle, he would pay attention to collect the corpses, bury them or burn them, otherwise he would not be able to sleep, and the guilt in his heart would drive him crazy.
He would rather take some risks.
The various departments of the Han army strengthened their vigilance to prepare for Xianbei's surprise attack. Some people did not understand. For example, Bao Hong began to advise: "General, why take risks? The corpses outside the city are just a deterrent to the barbarians."
Some people agreed very much. For example, Zhao Yun retorted: "Captain Bao's words are wrong. The stacking of corpses may cause a plague. How can a general ignore it if he is a benevolent general?"
Bao Hong snorted and did not dare to refute. In fact, he looked down on Zhao Yun. The officers of the Anping Army were all appointed by Liu Xiang himself. They were all white in the court. How could the white-bodied Guizhou leader dare to interrupt? If he was not the general's personal guard, he would
You have to be whipped by him.
"The plague is a serious matter and we must take precautions. If something goes wrong, I will be responsible for it alone." Liu Xiang's voice was a little erratic, and he didn't know whether he was answering Bao Hong or talking to himself.
This attitude frightened Bao Hong into a cold sweat, thinking that the general was dissatisfied with him. Before he could explain, Cao Cao went up to the top of the city with laughter. The two battalions were separated by more than 40 meters, and they were just a few steps away.
The boss can run eight times a day.
"Hahaha, we fought for two days and killed more than 5,000 enemies. Our army suffered less than a hundred casualties. General Zhenbei used his troops like a god, and he was truly the best Huoqi in the world."
"Brother Meng De has been praised too much. How can I compare with the champion? I don't dare to deserve such praise."
"Xianbei has been in mourning for many years, but only the general can stop him from moving forward. He occupied Longmen and built an ice city. The barbarians were killed and injured in a mess. Such use of troops is just as Yi Zhengong said. It is really unreasonable. Cao is convinced." After listening to Boss Cao.
The praise made Liu Xiang feel happy.
But if you are in a good mood, you can't delay getting down to business: "The Zahu casualties have been exhausted, and the Xianbei people will go into battle in person. If they are beaten too hard, they may turn around and run away. Brother Mengde, I want to wipe out all the Xianbei Hulu. Can you?"
Any good ideas?"
Cao Cao pondered for a moment, shook his head and sighed: "It's difficult, Xianbei has more than 50,000 people, all of them are cavalry. No matter whether they are encircling or chasing, it is difficult to annihilate them all."
"It's a rare opportunity. He Lian was short-witted and brought the army into the cage. If he doesn't annihilate all his troops, I won't be able to make sense of it."
The two of them were thinking about making a great achievement. Bao Hong next to him felt that the opportunity to make amends had come. He clasped his fists and asked for orders: "General, I would like to lead the people to take a detour, cut off the enemy's return route, and cooperate with the general."
Annihilate all the Xianbei barbarians."
It is not an easy task to cut off the return route of the 50,000-strong army. The troops blocking the enemy will be desperately counterattacked by the Xianbei people. This task is extremely dangerous. Liu Xiang did not expect Bao Hong to be so courageous and said: "I want to block the enemy and the enemy."
There are only two places for the company to retreat, one is Shimen Canyon ten miles away, and the other is Hukou Longcao eighty miles away. Does Colonel Bao have a good strategy to guard the river?"
Bao Hong answered confidently: "I want to learn from the general's method and build an ice city to block the enemy's return path."
This is nonsense. Constructing the ice city requires manpower, wood, and tools. Liu Xiang relied on Pishi County, which was thirty miles behind, to quickly build a camp at Longmen. When going around the back, he could only take a small number of soldiers to take a small road.
Building a camp quickly is a joke. If you want to lead a large group in a roundabout way, you have to make a detour of hundreds or thousands of miles, and there is no time.
"I understand Captain Bao's desire to fight. It is difficult to build a city behind enemy lines. Let's think of other ways."
Cao Cao also intervened and said: "Shimen has been occupied by Xianbei, so we can only think of a way at Hukou. If we block it with partial troops, it will be difficult to resist the counterattack of the army. If we don't hold back when we return, we will fight to the death."
Liu Xiang did have a way, but he was afraid that the Xianbei people would run away early, and he was not sure whether he could wait until that time. He boasted about Haikou in advance. If it could not be realized, it would be very shameful, so he could only say vaguely: "Our army will not be here for now."
If the attack is too severe, it is best to drag He Company here. You can pretend that the arrows are missing, and then attack when you get closer. When retreating, do not release arrows to chase him. If he attacks the wall, be prepared in advance.
The weapons are enough to defend against the enemy."
"The general will obey the order." Cao Cao and Bao Hong accepted the order and went to various ministries to arrange defense matters.
Liu Xiang ordered his guards to start chipping away at the ice, confirm the thickness of the Yellow River ice, and keep reporting daily.
The next day, the Xianbei people went into battle in person. The Han soldiers had already received the order and allowed the enemy to lay down straw and soil in the distance to destroy the ice. They waited until they were within seventy before firing arrows. The arrows missed far less than the first two.
The sky was densely packed. The Xianbei soldiers were indeed more brave than those miscellaneous soldiers. They rushed very quickly regardless of casualties. Under the rain of arrows, they began to destroy the antlers outside the wall, chopped them with knives and axes, set them on fire, and finally touched the ice wall.
The ice wall was a steep slope, and the ladder could not stand at all. They set up a shield array under the wall and began to use iron picks to chip away at the ice, trying to carve out a foothold for the flying ladder.
"fall."
Following the order, the water bucket tilted, and cold water poured down like the Tianhe River from the top of the city. The shield formation could prevent the arrows from missing, but it could not stop the flood. The Xianbei people beside the wall were poured with a chill in their hearts. In the cold winter
In the twelfth lunar month, my clothes are wet, and the taste is really refreshing.
"push."
Another order was given, and the Han troops on the city pushed the wooden pole forward. The water in the wooden box was squeezed and sprayed out along the hollow bamboo pole at the other end. The water column flew into the sky and poured down on the enemy's head more than ten steps away.
This is actually a large bellows. It is just seamed with glue and tung oil. It is filled with water. When the wooden lever at the back is pushed, the water will spurt out from the front. There are a lot of them in Dahan's Tieguan workshop.
Liu Xiang ordered craftsmen to make more than a dozen blowing equipment and placed them at the top of the two cities to cool down the enemy. In the severe winter, human body hypothermia is the most lethal weapon.
The empty water buckets and water tanks were hung down the city wall along the shelves inside the wall. The civilians who boiled the water filled it up and then hoisted it up to the top of the city with pulleys. This was the equipment used to feed the iron-making blast furnace, and was also used by Liu Xiang.
The city is defended. This is not uncommon. Many cities have them. They are used to lift supplies or the wounded and corpses.
There are watering and cooling tools, and the wind blowing will naturally not fall down.
"drive."
Horse row blasters, equipment used to heat iron-making blast furnaces, are now used to defend the city and specifically cool down the enemy.
Driven by the horses, the windbags contracted, and the cold wind climbed to the top of the city along the wind channel, rushing towards the enemies below the city from the vents on the outside of the city wall. The wet soldiers saw that their eyebrows and beards began to be covered with hoarfrost, and their robes began to
It hardened and could not stop shivering. The cold wind blew through my body like a knife, and the sword and shield in my hand hurt like thorns.
The Xianbei soldiers within a dozen steps of the wall felt like they were being shot. They were trembling all over and in unbearable pain. They couldn't hold their swords or lift their shields. They couldn't resist at all. They were shot to the ground one by one.
The following soldiers continued to rush forward, with slippery ice under their feet, cold water on their heads, bone-piercing wind around them, and finally a fatal arrow loss.
Xianbei tasted the Han army's welcome meal three times and felt he couldn't afford it, so he left angrily.
The battles in the next few days were all like this. When the Xianbei people did not reach the city, the Han army would shoot a few arrows one after another. Once they got close to the ice wall, they would start a four-company attack and quickly harvest lives.
He Lian threw his hat again, but this time he was reluctant to step on it.
"The Han army is short of arrows. They recover lost arrows every night, so they rely on blowing the wind and pouring water to defend the city. Are the warriors of Xianbei afraid of wind and water? Charge up and break the ice city!"