Ye County could not hold out, and the camp in the east of the city was built smoothly, but Liu Xiang was not happy. After more than ten days, he still could not see the true strength of the defenders.
There were only a few hundred defenders on the city wall. Their uniforms were uniform, and their weapons and armor were all standard equipment. There were no young men who had been recruited. He sent people to count them carefully and rotated them four times a day. They were not in a hurry or in a hurry. The soldiers were well organized and calm and orderly, showing no signs of uneasiness in the face of the large army. They looked very confident.
Can't guess the approximate quantity.
He did not send troops to test, and there were no less than two hundred crossbows exposed on the city wall. If he wanted to test the size of the garrison in the city, a large number of lives would have to be taken.
"Increase the manpower for logging, collect more firewood and fuel, order infantry to dig trenches, build cofferdams, and build bunkers behind the cofferdams for guarding. There must be no shortage of fire pits and shooting ports for heating."
Liu Xiang's army has one hundred crossbow chariots, two hundred artillery chariots, six thousand crossbowmen, and tens of thousands of bows and arrows. If you include spear throwing, he has a long-range strike force of twenty to thirty thousand, not counting the archers in the cavalry.
The worst case scenario is a trench war.
Handan, more than a hundred miles away, was the advance base for conquering the southern part of Jizhou. It had accumulated a large amount of supplies and vehicles, and he was not afraid of a long-term siege.
It is now mid-October, ice has appeared in Zhangshui, and it is not far away from freezing. It is necessary to stock up on some food, grass, and baggage to survive the period when the ice is not thick enough to allow navigation.
"Send an order to Handan to recruit 20,000 civilians and 4,000 carts to transport 60,000 dan of grain, 30,000 bundles of fodder, 100,000 jin of coal, 300,000 arrows, and 10,000 jin of lime."
The full load of a baggage cart is thirty-five dan, and the carrying capacity of 4,000 carts is 140,000 dan. There are less than 2,000 grain trucks, more than 1,000 fodder, and 500 coal.
Three hundred thousand arrows may seem like a lot, but the weight of the arrows, due to their different shapes, is basically between half and half to one and a half. The weight is not large, they are neatly stacked, and the volume is not large. It is more than a hundred large carts. That's enough.
Four thousand carts are more than enough to transport these things, and there is still room for loading rations for the people.
This batch of grain and grass sent was enough to consume the army besieging Ye County for a month. After a month, the Zhangshui was frozen solid, making it easier to transport and saving the effort of loading boats to cross the river.
Liu Xiang calculated his transport capacity, turned to Yan Gang and said:
"The Yueqi battalion did not show up at the city. You cross the river quietly to the north and closely monitor Wuwei's movements. I will order the Jizhou Army over Handan to send 8,000 troops, 3,000 as guards in the Ming Dynasty, and 5,000 as civilians and hidden troops. In the middle, the transport team will head towards the west road to lure Wuwei to send troops to rob the grain. If it succeeds, it will attack from both sides. If it fails, it will be used to transport supplies."
"The general will obey the order." Yan Gang took the order and left. He rode out of the camp at night, quietly walked around for more than thirty miles, secretly crossed the Zhang River, and lurked in the northeast of Wuwei. He sent many scouts to wait for the opportunity to fight.
Under the city of Ye County, the civilians and infantry no longer pretended to build siege equipment, but dug trenches with great fanfare, piled earth behind them, and built cofferdams and bunkers like large underground vaults.
Li Wen went to the city every day to observe and did not comment on the enemy's bold behavior, but his lieutenant could not help but complain: "Master Fu, the thieves are so unscrupulous and underestimate people. How about teaching them a lesson?"
"Unscrupulous? Not necessarily. The ditches are only half a mile long, and there are gaps at the junctions, just waiting for you to leave the city. Those are the cavalry's charge routes." He pointed to several passages on the left and right of the city gate: " Enter here, exit there, form a team behind the trench, and attack repeatedly. It looks chaotic, but in fact it is a trap hiding murderous intent."
"It's interesting." He stroked the mustache on his upper lip with his thumb and index finger, and the hatred in his eyes surged. This method of construction was definitely not something that someone who was not familiar with military strategy could think of. It seemed that his previous judgment was wrong.
The enemy has a lot of cavalry and is well equipped with armor. It must be Youzhou's army.
The enemy is coming!
"Guard the city carefully, don't be careless in the slightest, and continue to raise city defense supplies. I will destroy the enemy troops under the city." Li Wen's eyes were stern, filled with murderous intent.
Time was flowing amidst the busy construction, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.
The transport convoy coming from Handan meandered for more than 20 miles and was about to reach the north bank of Zhangshui River.
The escorting army and civilians numbered 28,000 people.
Those who observed in secret were frightened. He did not have many soldiers and horses, only 300 cavalry, so he could not defeat him.
However, if this batch of supplies is transported to the gate of Ye County, the enemy's strength will definitely increase, and they will have to find a way to burn it.
He turned around and returned to the city to persuade the captain to send troops.
The small town of Wuwei was under the jurisdiction of Ye County, and a captain was assigned to oversee the garrison. The captain's surname was Shen Yi. He was from Yin'an County, Wei County. He came from a wealthy family and had a high self-esteem. He ignored Li Wen's order to retreat to the city.
He had long wanted to plunder the enemy's supplies and force the bandits to rebel. How could a mere 400-ton captain be worthy of his talents? If it wasn't for the family's needs, he would never give in.
Now the opportunity to make meritorious deeds came, and he promised happily: "Gao Lan, you have made meritorious service in the investigation. When the enemy's food and fodder are burned, I will definitely ask for credit for you."
"Thank you Captain."
Without further ado, the two of them gathered all the soldiers and horses in the city. There were 300 cavalry and 3,000 infantry. They took extra torches and fuel and headed straight for the supply convoy.
They didn't know that there were people in the wilderness who were already freezing and impatient.
"It's finally out, let the princes wait. Are the brothers freezing? Follow them, kill them, and let's go back and eat meat!" Yan Gang finally waited for the good news reported by the scouts, and happily boosted his morale.
"Kill them and go back to camp to eat meat!"
Three thousand cavalrymen from the Yueqi battalion inspected their equipment and mounted their horses before moving forward.
Yan Gang assigned two personal guards: "Go and deliver a message to the convoy. The enemy has sent troops. Let them be careful and not destroy the supplies."
Let’s not talk about how the Jizhou Army established a defense line to protect the supply convoy, but the Wuwei garrison of more than 3,000 people hurriedly marched 20 miles and arrived near the convoy.
Seeing the gradually gathering carriages, crowds, and fleet-footed fighter planes, the examiner hurriedly ordered: "Quick, quick, quick, light the torch, rush up and burn the enemy's food and grass, don't miss the opportunity. Gao Lan, you lead
The cavalry is disrupting the enemy's ranks. Don't be reluctant to fight. The main thing is to set fire. I will completely burn the food and grass."
On a clear day and in the bright sun, more than 3,000 torches and black smoke charged towards the convoy. Gao Lan took the lead and moved forward bravely.
Thousands of people also rushed out of the convoy, ready to fight. The leader was Zhou Cang's general Tao Sheng. He looked surprised, are the people of Wei Jun so trustworthy? After all, you can kill us before lighting the torch.
, occupying one hand, are you holding a knife or a shield?
Look down on people!
"Archers prepare, release!"
Although the location of the enemy's attack was quite tricky and they had no time to form a formation, many of the archers in the army had already rushed over.
Hundreds of feather arrows flew into the air, but they could not stop the charging speed of Gao Lan's cavalry.
However, there were 8,000 Jizhou regiments escorting the convoy, and there were 3,000 or 4,000 people rushing out to meet the enemy. There were still people coming from behind. They lacked bows and crossbows, so shuttles were the main long-range means.
"Shuttle ready, release!"
The flying shuttle, which was more than six feet long and weighed about a kilogram, with the assistance of a spear thrower, headed straight for the cavalry fifty steps away.
The flying shuttles, which were ten times denser than the feathered arrows, shocked Gao Lan like an old cat with exploded hair. He slithered and hid under the belly of the war horse. However, the lethality of the flying shuttles was much greater than that of the feathered arrows. The war horse was hanging on
The arrow can travel ten miles, but it cannot be done with a flying shuttle that is one meter long and two fingers thick. Three hundred cavalrymen fell on their backs. Some were directly hit, some were tripped by their robes, half of them fell off their horses, and they screamed.
, dusty and chaotic.
Gao Lan, who was lucky enough not to be hit, continued to charge with half of the cavalry. The enemy's infantry were not in a tight formation, and the distance was only twenty steps. As long as they rushed in, they would just chop melons and vegetables.
"Charge with me, charge forward and kill the bandits!"
But he heard a frightening sound again.
"put!"
Another round of shuttles came towards us, more in number than the last one. This time the distance was even closer, so close that he could reach it with his hands. Gao Lan tried his best to dial, but he was too conspicuous, like a man on steel.
The magnet in the pile of needles was shot into a hedgehog in an instant.
Wuwei's cavalry suffered heavy losses. Only a few of the three hundred cavalry escaped on horseback, and most of them fell to the ground.
"Don't pursue, form up, form up!" Tao Sheng urged in a loud voice. The enemy's infantry was about to rush forward, so they had to form up quickly to meet the enemy.
Shen Yi commanded the infantry to charge forward. Seeing the cavalry being wiped out in an instant, he was so shocked that he broke into cold sweat. Why were there so many soldiers on the opposite side?
This is a trap!
Fooled!
Just as he was about to give the order to stop, the roar of a large group of cavalry could be heard from behind. He turned around and saw a group of five to six thousand horses sprinting toward him.