Liu Xiang wanted to kill and injure the enemy's effective forces.
Take advantage of the gap in soldiers and the advantage of powerful crossbows to suppress the defenders on the city and undermine the enemy's morale. In order to stabilize morale, the enemy must counterattack.
There are nearly ten thousand defenders in Lu County. There should be more reserves than those on the city wall. Bao Xin is inexperienced in leading troops. This kind of person usually uses the number of people to measure combat power, so there is a high chance of leaving the city.
Attack crossbow array.
If there are few people coming out, the Anping soldiers on the scene can handle it. If there are many people coming out, the soldiers can hold on for a period of time, which is enough time for the cavalry to come over and launch a charge.
Ten miles of land is within the combat range of the cavalry.
The little idea was a good one, but unfortunately Bao Xin was not fooled, and no one in Lu County ever left the city.
The crossbowmen suppressed the east city wall for more than two hours. The defenders hid behind the battlements without making any unnecessary movements. This was Liu Xiang's most annoying tactic of defending the city, hiding in his shell like a turtle.
This tactic of defending without counterattack is not a smart way to defend the city. It will be defeated when morale collapses. However, the attacker has to sacrifice human lives.
Liu Xiang felt heartbroken and couldn't bear to leave.
If you have the guts to come out and fight, you are a coward!
Full of resentment, the Anping army withdrew its troops and returned to the camp. The crossbows were too consumed and they could not fight like this. There was no reason to attack the city with only crossbowmen.
In the next few days, the crossbowmen of the Shesheng Battalion and the soldiers of the Guard Battalion took turns going into battle. They went to work on time in the morning and afternoon. They identified the defenders of Dongcheng, suppressed them and fired a few shots before leaving, in order to lower the morale of the defenders and lure the enemy generals out of the city.
The morale of the defenders was visibly declining, but they refused to leave the city. Captain Cao Xing of the Shesheng Battalion launched several sniper tactics, but failed to catch any big fish.
Bao Xin was determined to stay in the city and not come out, so there was no room for tricks.
He knew in his heart that although he had led troops, which was only to the extent of fighting a dozen small groups of yellow turbans and suppressing bandits, the only battle he had was defeated. His younger brother died in the battle in order to cut off his rear.
Opposite is a general who is famous all over the world for being good at fighting. When fighting with such a person, don't play any tricks or strategies.
Useless.
On the contrary, the enemy will seize the opportunity to fight. He will stay in the city and wait for Cao Mengde's army to return for reinforcements.
If you can wait, God favors you. If you can't wait, you will have a miserable life.
Even if he dies, he will die in the city!
At this time, Cao Cao expelled the supervisory troops sent by Yuan Shao from the military camp and was hurriedly withdrawing his troops.
His foundation is in Yanzhou and Runan. He cannot hold it firmly. If he does not go back to defend his hometown, he will really become a vassal of Yuan Shao.
Once these 40,000 troops left, the threat from the northern front was gone. Yuan Shao, who had invaded Runan, was left alone and at a numerical disadvantage.
With the morale built up from previous victories, we still had the confidence to fight, but the situation reversed and it was difficult to continue advancing. We had to think about how to maintain the territory we had already occupied.
Yuan Shu, who was on the battlefield of Lujiang in Yangzhou, breathed a sigh of relief. If the whole territory of Runan was lost and his retreat was cut off, he would be surrounded and killed in Yangzhou. However, he was entangled by three armies and could not retreat. If he retreated at this time, he would be easily defeated.
The easiest battlefield was Nanyang County. Only the territory south of Xinye was lost. Liu Biao's army had lost its vitality. Ji Ling was confronting the enemy at the Yuyang line. The essence of the county around Wancheng was safe.
The situation in Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou and Jingzhou has almost stabilized.
Yuan Shu occupied most of Nanyang in Jingzhou, Runan in Yuzhou and Lujiang in Yangzhou, with a population of nearly four million and an army of more than 100,000.
Yuan Shao completely occupied Xuzhou, and also occupied a small part of Pei State in Yuzhou and Runan, indirectly affecting Yangzhou, with a population of more than 4 million and an army of 60,000.
Cao Cao occupied most of Yanzhou, Yingchuan of Yuzhou and part of the area east of Sili Xingyang, with a population of about two million and an army of 40,000.
Liu Biao occupies a small area of Nanjun, Jiangxia County and Nanyang County in the north of Jingzhou. He nominally occupies the four southern counties of Jingzhou. In fact, he has no influence at all, with a population of 1.5 million and an army of 50,000.
Yangzhou was semi-dependent on Yuan Shao.
Zhou Xin, the governor of Danyang, and Chen Wen, the governor, favor Yuan Shao. Liu Miao, the governor of Jiujiang, has a close relationship with Cao Cao and only sent troops at his invitation. Wu County is independent, but no one cares about Kuaiji County and Yuzhang County. There is a lot of trouble in Shanyue, and there is no time now.
Take care of them.
In addition, the states of Chen and Lu in Yuzhou became independent, headed by King Chen Liu Chong. He raised nearly 20,000 troops and called himself the General of the Han Dynasty. He had a brave temperament, but he could only survive in the cracks. The big forces were fighting, and there was no one yet.
People can take care of him.
Because Liu Xiang took back the fiefdoms of the three kings of Qingzhou, King Chen and King Lu did not want to defect to him.
The Third Assistant in Guanzhong was tightly controlled by Dong Zhuo, and the territory was in chaos, all caused by his own soldiers. They kept searching and searching, and the people tried desperately to escape.
The people who benefited the most were Sun Jian and Su Gu, whose population increased by hundreds of thousands. Hanzhong and Wudu formed an alliance and stood firm at Dashan Pass, Baoxie Road, and Ziwu Road. Dong Zhuo tried to fight once, but failed, and they were in peace for the time being.
There were rebels everywhere in Liangzhou, with Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Guo Guo being the most powerful, and there were more than a dozen smaller forces, making it a complete mess.
Old Dong's main force is in Hongnong and Hedong. He is surrounded only by Lu Bu's more than 10,000 Bingzhou soldiers, 20,000 Chang'an garrison, and Chief Shi Liu Ai's more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. The total is less than 50,000.
Not to mention conquering Liangzhou and Hanzhong, he was worried about the rebels coming over.
The situation of his main army was not good. Last year, when the Yellow River broke out, Li Jue and the others suffered heavy losses. The 30,000-strong army returned to Niu Fu's command, but less than 10,000. Including Fan Chou's troops, the total was less than 15,000. They were chased and beaten by Bai Bo's army.
, the county seat of Zhi'an County in Hedong County was also lost, and only 10,000 troops who took the lead retreated to Pubanjin in the southeast corner.
The Bai Bo army did not pursue him, otherwise he would have had to cross the river and retreat to Zuo Fengyi.
Needless to say, Duan Xuan's army was already weak and he could only look at the gate.
Dong Yue was so sad that he led 20,000 people to the front. Thinking of the hundreds of thousands of troops from the Guandong people, he really felt like crying. But he was lucky, no one came to pay attention to him.
In the late spring of the second year of Chuping, all the princes in Henan were tired from fighting and seemed a little weak.
But Liu Xiang did not feel tired. After the equipment was built, he began to attack the city in an all-out way.
There are three towers in the east, north and south. The fifty kilograms of stone bullets thrown out by the seven-tip cannon roared and hit the city wall, causing pieces of rubble to collapse. The crossbowmen on the well orchid fired with precise bursts.
The defenders who fought back cooperated with the crossbowmen behind the city's oars, suppressing the defenders so that they did not dare to raise their heads.
The moat bridge was erected, the moat was filled with more than a dozen embankments, the cloud ladders were put up on the battlements, and the soldiers were rushing up the city wall in an endless stream. The collision made the city gate roar, and the anemone car hit the root of the city wall, protecting the people below the city.
The infantry used flying ladders to ascend the city.
Large and small trebuchets began to extend the attack, throwing stone bombs into the city, trying to block the enemy's subsequent reinforcements from landing on the city.
The nine thousand crossbowmen of the Chinese Army and the Left Army had superb shooting skills. The crossbow bolts were like rain, which made it difficult to fight back on the city. The one hundred crossbow vehicles of the light vehicle battalion began to replace the siege chisels. The siege chisels were weighted crossbows with long guns.
It is about eight feet long, with a tip of more than one foot. The shaft is made of hardwood and weighs eight and a half kilograms.
The crossbow arm was fully drawn with a heart-wrenching creaking sound. The crossbow machine was smashed down. The siege chisel carried huge force and was nailed to the wall of the city wall one by one. The rammed earth wall was nailed into the city wall for nearly two meters.
Feet deep, forming a ladder that can be climbed using strength.
There are very few people who climb directly up. This is to provide space for the soldiers who climb the flying ladder to climb the city, and to prevent the defenders from pouring hot oil and gold juice along the ladder, and the soldiers can only wait to die.
The complete armor and strict training showed results. The soldiers of Anping attacked very quickly. They climbed onto the city wall and exchanged their wounds for their lives. They only attacked but not defended. Relying on the armor to protect themselves, they would rather be hit by the opponent a few times than kill them.
Enemies that surrounded them.
After rushing out of the space, they immediately formed a formation to guard the passage. With more men, they moved forward with the swords of the defenders. With the cooperation of the crossbowmen, they killed group after group of defenders and cleared section after section of the city wall.
This desperate fighting style forced the defenders, whose morale was already low, to retreat continuously.
The enemy is protected by armor, so if he cuts me with a knife, it will be fine. If he cuts me back with a knife, I will die.
The entire battlefield is like this.
The morale of the Lu County defenders dropped to the bottom, and the soldiers were filled with fear. When the wave of retreat came, the city walls were crowded.
Those in front wanted to escape, but those behind could not support them. Those who lit the fire kicked over the fire, those who poured gold juice knocked over the big urn, those who made bed crossbows collapsed the crossbow frame, and those who blocked the crenel with long soldiers were squeezed around.
Instead of firing, he simply threw down his weapon and retreated with the crowd.
How could the fierce soldiers of the Anping Army miss such an opportunity? They charged more and more fiercely, occupying more and more space. More and more people rushed to the city wall, and the defenders fled more and more panicked.
The army was defeated like a mountain!
Bao Xin looked at the soldiers who rushed into the tower, sighed, and chose to surrender.
There is no shame in losing to that one.
The Hussars General always loved the people, so there was no need to worry about him launching troops to massacre the city, and the people's willingness to resist was not high. Bao Xin ordered the surrender, and there was no disturbance in the city, let alone street fighting and resistance.
With Lu County in hand, the supply line to Yanzhou was opened.
When Cao Cao received the news that Lu County had been captured, he was heading east along the Wen River and was about to reach the border of Jibei Kingdom.
He hurriedly hurriedly hurriedly rushed, but still couldn't rescue him in time, which made him extremely depressed.