Liu Xiang frowned. He had looked at the east, north, and south sides of Zhuo County and found no flaws. There were defenders on the city wall. Their clothes were in disorder. They should be private soldiers of powerful families and young men recruited temporarily.
They were large in number and had made defensive preparations in advance, so there was no chance of a surprise attack.
I didn't dare to go to the west of Zhuoxian County. The river was only a hundred steps away from the city. If I went there rashly, I would be shot to death. This distance also did not allow the army to deploy, and there was no condition for attacking the city.
Liu Xiang drove his horse back to camp.
The army was still cutting down trees and setting up strongholds, Zhuoxian did not dare to send people out of the city to harass, and the two sides spent the first day peacefully.
The next day, the militiamen were left to guard the camp, and Liu Xiang led the regular troops to attack Zhuoxian.
The entire Zhuojun army was wiped out, with only a few defeated soldiers escaping back. The defenders in the city must have become distraught, and Liu Xiang was ready to test it out to see if there was any chance of seizing the city.
One thousand soldiers and two thousand civilians were divided into two, and they followed the left army to feint attack at the north and south gates. The Chinese army formed a formation at the east gate and first sent people to persuade them to surrender.
A group of people held trumpets and shouted at the city gates about abolishing the tyranny and dividing the land, in an attempt to use spiritual attacks to disrupt the morale of the defenders.
Although the faces of the defenders on the city were strange, they remained unmoved. Liu Xiang was a little surprised. The defenders of Zhuo County were too stable. What was the reason for this?
There is no time to think about it carefully on the battlefield. No matter what the reason is, you will know the truth after a fight.
Liu Xiang waved his hand and gave the order: "Shoot the sound, light the chariots out of the formation, and suppress the city head."
The crossbowmen of the shooting camp pushed the oars forward to a hundred paces away from the city wall, and fired their crossbows to kill the archers on the city.
The light truck battalion advanced to a distance of 120 steps from the city wall, hurled stone bombs to suppress the city head, and erected shields on the side walls of the supply trucks to defend against arrows flowing up the city.
The defenders of Zhuo County did not have strong crossbows, but they were equipped with a lot of bows and arrows. The archers hid behind the female wall and fired at the crossbowmen below the city. There were also crossbows on the city wall to shoot at the rowboats below the city, killing and injuring the crossbowmen.
Fortunately, there were not many bed crossbows in Zhuo County, and the Shesheng Battalion had artillery carts to help, and they were quickly suppressed. The light truck battalion fired five kilograms of stone bullets and repeatedly hit the bed crossbow area. Only after all the bed crossbows were destroyed did they switch to small stone bombs.
bomb.
When Liu Xiang saw that he had suppressed the defenders at the top of the city, he ordered the river to be filled in. The civilian team transported sand and gravel to fill the moat. Unexpectedly, a large number of wooden guns were suddenly thrown from the city, killing and injuring many civilians on the edge of the moat.
There were too many defenders firing wooden spears, and they couldn't be suppressed at all. There were five to six thousand people at the east gate alone, and I don't know how many there were at the north and south gates. We couldn't use our lives to waste them.
This test has produced results, and the morale of the defenders is not low.
"Mingjin withdraws the troops."
At the sound of shooting, the two battalions of light vehicles retreated slowly, and the soldiers of the guard camp stepped forward to respond. The defenders of Zhuoxian County did not open the city to pursue them, but cheered on the city walls, and their morale was even higher.
After returning in vain, everyone in the Anping Army was a little suffocated. Several military princes came to ask for a fight: "General, someone is willing to attack the city and take the city of Zhuoxian County!"
"Stop talking nonsense, you have only had a few good days? You don't even want your life anymore. Retreat your troops and go back to camp!" Liu Xiang couldn't bear to part with how many people would die during the siege of the city.
This test only lasted for an hour, and the sound of fire caused hundreds of casualties to the two battalions of light vehicles and four to five hundred civilians.
We can't fight like this. There are at least 20,000 Zhuoxian defenders who have boarded the city. We don't know how many reserve troops there are without going to the city. Even if the Anping army is exhausted, we still can't attack Zhuoxian.
If you want to attack a city, you still have to build large siege equipment.
Liu Xiang wanted to make a seven-shooter cannon, a well railing, a ladder, a ram chariot, a fenyun chariot, and a trench bridge. He also wanted to build Lu Gong's chariot, but the Lu Gong chariot was too difficult and the craftsmen in the army did not know how to do it, so he had to give up.
This thought.
It takes time to make equipment, and the damage caused by siege must be extremely heavy. It is not a good idea to waste money here.
Moreover, with the army outside, it is inconvenient to transport food and consumption on the road is huge. There are still many hungry people in Guangyang County who need relief, so food must be saved and military food supplies must be provided locally.
The army cannot stay in Zhuoxian City.
He planned to lead his troops to attack the manors and forts of the surrounding powerful landowners, and plunder their grain, grass and baggage to supplement the military.
The speed of his advance was not slow, and the people of Zhuojun had not had time to fortify the walls and clear the country. This opportunity could not be missed.
Wang Xing was left to guard the camp with his left army, supported by the light chariot battalion, and arranged for army craftsmen to lead 3,000 militiamen and 7,000 civilians to build siege equipment.
Liu Xiang set out in the afternoon with the four battalions of Yueqi, Xiaoqi, Guards and Shesheng.
A detachment of eight thousand infantry and cavalry detachments took three days to sweep through, and all the manor and forts around Zhuoxian County were breached.
Liu Xiang specially visited the families of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei.
Liu Bei was a well-known Renxia man in Zhuo County and the boss of a gang involved in gangs. Many people knew him. After being given directions, he found Lintun Township, twenty miles south of the city, and saw the legendary giant trees.
mulberry.
It's a pity that Liu Bei's uncle moved away with his family, probably to escape the war? Naturally, Liu Bei's mother couldn't be caught either.
Zhang Fei's family's manor was also found. It was more than ten miles southwest of the county. It was called Zhang's Manor. There was no Taoyuan. His family was not at home, and the servants who stayed behind did not know where they had gone. Liu Xiang returned in despair.
.
Although he had some small thoughts, he wanted to capture Liu Bei and Zhang Fei's family members in order to tie up Guan Yu, but he didn't catch them. Now, the most important thing is to grab food.
It has to be said that the powerful people in Zhuo County are rich. It is indeed the richest county in Youzhou. The powerful people from aristocratic families here either hid in the city or ran away. Few of the principals were caught, and their money, food and property were also
A large number were shipped away.
Even so, Liu Xiang also obtained 120,000 shi of grain, 50,000 bunches of fodder, tens of thousands of linen cloth, more than 20 million yuan and more than 30 taels of gold, thousands of cattle and sheep, more than 200 pack horses, and five
There are more than a hundred large vehicles and a lot of other miscellaneous items.
This food and grass is enough for the army to last for three months.
They also captured more than a thousand private soldiers guarding the manor and fort. In order to transport supplies, they also brought back more than 10,000 refugees and more than 5,000 young men.
After returning to the camp to rest for a day, in order to put pressure on the Zhuoxian defenders, Liu Xiang led his cavalry and galloped under the city, turning around all three walls.
Looking at the city, Liu Xiang had no idea how many people would have to die to capture it? If the damage was too great, how could he deal with Huangfu Song's army?
Although he was showing off his power, Liu Xiang was filled with worries.
The siege equipment was still being built, and the camp was still being expanded and reinforced. Liu Xiang took his troops to Yangxiang, Linxiang and Fangcheng County for a tour.
Fangcheng County closed the city to defend itself, and Liu Xiang did not attack the city. He roamed the countryside unscrupulously, plundering manors and forts, and replenishing supplies of food and supplies.
These places are not as rich as Zhuoxian County. After going around for a while, they can only harvest more than 20,000 shi of grain.
Moreover, powerful people from aristocratic families were escaping faster. Liu Xiang didn't care whether they ran or not, but it was wrong for them to transfer their assets. The army worked so hard, shouldn't they be allowed to earn more?
I don’t even understand this kind of truth, I’m not transparent.
Therefore, he left a thousand Yue cavalry behind to intercept and kill the scouts in the city, blocking Zhuo County's view.
Liu Xiang led 7,000 troops and accelerated southward. He also plundered the three counties of Qiuguo, Gu'an, and Fanyang. Not only did he plunder all the manors and forts outside the city, he also intercepted several powerful people from aristocratic families who fled south.
.
There was a lot of money harvested this time, especially gold, which amounted to more than ten thousand taels.
But the grain and grass did not meet Liu Xiang's expectations. There were only 80,000 shi of grain and less than 60,000 bundles of fodder.
In order to transport supplies, Liu Xiang recruited more than 2,000 prisoners, more than 10,000 young men, and more than 30,000 refugees.
Therefore, he felt that there was not enough food.
The money and food outside the city were either too little to take with them during the escape, or they were too late to pack up and left over.