Just three days before Wang Zheng led his army to set off.
The Jizhou army attacked the city on the 25th day.
A large area of the southern wall of Fenggao City collapsed. Yuan Tan was ecstatic, and the morale of the entire army was also boosted. Not only did the offensive become more fierce, but all the huge rocks that had been hoarded were put to use, and they continued to attack
The southern city wall was pursued fiercely and hammered continuously.
During this period, Chang Xi did not think of taking the initiative to destroy the biggest threat to Fenggao from the Yuan Army. Unfortunately, due to the strict protection of the Jizhou Army and the fact that there was no Tianzhu Camp stationed on Fenggao's side, instead
A group of cavalry was lost.
Chang Xi was greatly distressed, but he no longer dared to rush in. He had even prepared to arrange for manpower to break out and go to Xiapi to ask for help.
After all, although only one city wall has a serious defensive vulnerability at this time, it does not mean that Fenggao City cannot be defended immediately. However, the road to Xiapi is not very close. When it comes to the point where nothing can be done, it will be too late.
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On the second day, with a shocking loud noise, Fenggao's southern city wall finally could no longer hold up. A large amount of compacted soil and bricks were shed amidst the wails, and then it completely collapsed!
Amidst the cheers and shouts of killing, countless Jizhou troops rushed in from the collapsed city wall.
However, Chang Xi and the Tianjun were well prepared. After all, this was not a sudden earthquake caused by an unprepared earthquake. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Nancheng Qiang would not be able to hold on sooner or later. Chang Xi stepped up his arrangements starting yesterday.
The moment the city wall collapsed, a large number of Heavenly Army soldiers rushed forward without fear.
At the gap of the collapse, the two armies directly faced each other!
This indicates that this offensive and defensive battle has entered the most cruel and bloody stage.
Close combat!
Hand-to-hand combat!
In the past few days, the people in Changxi Zhengfa City have temporarily built a terrain similar to an urn city in the gap, and also prepared weapons similar to knife carts. The sizes and uses are similar.
Seeing that the city wall was collapsed, the Jizhou soldiers rushed into the gap with joy. They did not expect to run into such terrain.
On the top of the urn city, there were eighty infantry archers placed on three sides, and below there were swords, chariots and fully armed heavy infantry. Under this three-dimensional attack, the Jizhou soldiers who rushed in immediately suffered a big loss.
He left behind hundreds of corpses and retreated.
However, in Yuan Tan's view, even if there is a dragon's pool and a tiger's den behind this gap, it is easier than climbing to the top of the city directly braving the enemy's arrows.
Therefore, knowing that the defender had made preparations behind and treated this place as a meat grinding ground, Yuan Tan still ordered Yuan Jun to charge towards the gap.
Although they did not make any direct achievements several times, they continued to push the battle line forward, giving Yuan Jun more room to move. Soon, with Guo Tu's advice, they finally advanced the siege vehicles directly to the
Under the city.
After all, the urn city behind the gap was temporarily built. Compared with the several walls at Fenggao, it was naturally far less solid. According to Guo Tu's idea, as long as the urn city at the gap was broken first, the defender's geographical advantage would be reduced again.
It would be even harder to completely block this place.
Even if it can't, it is still feasible to use it to knock away the enemy's sword cart, which is more cost-effective than letting the soldiers face it directly with flesh and blood.
After all, when the moat was filled in before, the people who came here have been exhausted. Now the people fighting under the city are basically veterans of the Jizhou army. Although Ci is not in charge of the army, Bai's sacrifice would be a big loss.
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As the second batch of Jizhou soldiers joined, this time Yuan Tan's general, Gao Lan, one of the Four Court Pillars of Hebei, also went into battle personally, leading the new force to engage in a more bloody fight with the Heavenly Army at the gap in the city wall.
Because of the advantage of the terrain, and with the cooperation of the archers on the barbican city, until now, the advantage held by the heavenly army is no smaller than that of the city wall.
In fact, due to the mountains of the Jizhou Army, the soldiers behind the city wall were safer than those on the city wall. In just one day, nearly a thousand people were killed or injured by the Jizhou Army!
During the most intense period, the gaps in the city wall were filled with the corpses of soldiers from both sides.
Realizing that Chang Xi was far more prepared than imagined, Yuan Tan and Guo Tu looked at each other in silence, regretting that they had underestimated the thief before, but they had no choice but to continue their attack.
In addition to the trebuchets constantly throwing boulders, the armies of the Jizhou Army were also taking turns attacking the city walls and gaps. Under this crazy attack regardless of the cost, after the daily battles, when seeing the casualties counted by his subordinates, Chang Xi also
It's the facial skin that keeps twitching.
Not only the Heavenly Army, but also the original Fenggao garrison, and even his direct troops suffered heavy casualties in the past few days.
What's even more troublesome is that since the reinforcements have not been seen until now, Chang Xi has discovered that the morale of the army is much lower than at the beginning of the defense. After all, he knows Wang Zheng's battle plan to conquer Beihai. Ordinary
The soldiers may not know this clearly, and many people think that Wang Zheng gave up on them on his own initiative.
However, whether it is "unable to rescue" or "unintentional to rescue", there is actually no difference in essence.
If the fight continues like this, everyone knows that if Yuan Tan is really ruthless and attacks like this regardless of the cost, I am afraid that in half a month at most, the outer city of Fenggao City will be completely lost!
Fenggao is not a formidable pass like Pengcheng. Once the outer city falls, it is basically impossible to hold on for long if you want to rely on the inner city to continue the stalemate with the enemy or continue fighting in the alleys.
This speed was much faster than Chang Xi had originally expected. The reason was that the large trebuchet, which could destroy the city wall, disrupted his preparation and deployment.
Half a month...
According to Chang Xi's thinking, before Yuan Tan entered the territory of Mount Tai, most of the main force of the Heavenly Army had already approached Beihai. It stands to reason that even if the war there has not been completely resolved, it should have basically come to an end.
But it is unrealistic to want a large number of people to rush directly from Beihai to Fenggao in half a month...
Therefore, the reason why he is still persisting now is not because he believes that Feng Gao can continue to defend it, but because he sent it to Yuan Tan and gave up on his own initiative.
Either he couldn't bear such a huge loss, after all, he was going deep alone now, not to mention that Linzi in the rear had just been conquered, and people's hearts were unstable.
Or, after receiving the news that the outcome was decided on the Beihai side, they were worried about being attacked from both front and rear, so they took the initiative to evacuate.
What Chang Xi didn't know was that after receiving the news that the Xuzhou Army was attacking Beihai, Yuan Tan knew very well that if the Xuzhou Army continued to advance westward, Linzi would not be able to hold it.
But if he captures Fenggao, clears Mount Tai, and immediately sends a message to the nearby Yanzhou army, he may be able to hold his own and wait until his father has dealt with Gongsun Zan in Youzhou before he comes to support him.
Under such circumstances, facing Taishan County, which can serve as a vanguard and springboard, how could Yuan Tan give up?
A great opportunity is right in front of him, and he has decided to win Fenggao completely no matter the cost!
Moreover, by this time, both sides were already fighting with real firepower. Yuan Tan also felt that the fighting strength of the Fenggao defenders was not compromised, so he considered them to be the elite of Wang Zheng's side, and even thought of breaking his arm first to weaken them in advance. The strength of this powerful enemy!
Therefore, the huge sacrifices he had made failed to deter Yuan Tan at all. On the contrary, at this time, Yuan Tan had arranged to pass the signal through lights and dark lights, notifying the internal agents who had sneaked into Fenggao in advance.
After two consecutive days of fighting at the gap in the city wall, Chang Xi and his men and horses were exhausted. They also had to prepare for the enemy's night attack. Under such circumstances, the defense in the city was inevitably reduced to a dangerous critical point. .
At midnight that day, more than a hundred Jizhou troops carried a large amount of hidden fire starters and sneaked into the granary of Fenggao City.
Due to the fatigue caused by being on high alert for days, and because these people were also elites under Yuan Tan's command, they had become very familiar with the terrain of the city through this period of time, and they chose an excellent opportunity to sneak in. They kept getting closer until When he was within a hundred steps of the granary, he was spotted by a group of sentinels.
Realizing that their whereabouts had been exposed, the Jizhou army gave up their cover-up, shot and killed the secret sentry, and then rushed over.
That night, red flames and black smoke rose into the sky from both the southeast and southeast sides of Fenggao City at the same time, and they continued until dawn.
After receiving the news, Chang Xi's expression turned livid on the spot, and he was silent for a long time. Then he ordered a city-wide manhunt. Most of the hundreds of Jizhou troops who burned two granaries in Fenggao were dead at that time, and only a dozen people escaped temporarily. , and were subsequently arrested one by one, but the bad impact and huge results they caused can never be undone.
Most of the grain and grass were turned into ashes. This incident dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the defenders again, and caused great confusion and uneasiness among the people.
Various rumors began to spread crazily in the city and the army.
Even though Miao Lin reacted quickly and immediately suggested that Changxi use some means to appease people's hearts, Changxi also followed the good advice and immediately ordered people to carry tens of thousands of stones of grain and piled it in the open under the city head. The soldiers could see it when they turned around. , still cannot eliminate all negative impacts.
This chaos inevitably reflected the intensity of the city's defense.
When he saw the first ray of fire rising into the sky, Yuan Tan had already slapped the case and laughed wildly.
And the second one soon after made Guo Tu and others celebrate!
Everyone is full of confidence, and the capture of Fenggao is just around the corner!
Early the next morning, the Jizhou army launched a full-scale attack again. As expected, they felt the weakness of the defenders. Just a day ago, they had to leave hundreds of corpses behind if they wanted to advance so close, and they couldn't even hold on. How long will it take before the enemy repulses you again?
But now, Yuan Jun has twice penetrated deep into the gap in the city wall, and even almost completely broke through the defenders' defense line!
At the critical moment, Chang Xi also risked his life. He personally led a group of soldiers to the front line, cheered and boosted morale, and then forcibly fought back the Jizhou Army's attack.
But this is undoubtedly a clear signal.
This is no longer a near miss, but a life after disaster!
That night, Chang Xi summoned the generals to discuss the breakout plan. He had no choice but to abandon the city and flee at this point. It would indeed be a failure halfway, and the credit would be completely lost, but it would not be considered a dereliction of duty. After all, there were countless enemies in the world.
They have a powerful army, their number is several times that of our own.
But if he continues to hold on, Chang Xi is worried that he will be completely trapped and will not be able to escape even if he wants to.
He is currently very optimistic about the royal government and is quite satisfied with the young monarch. He is willing to fulfill his duties loyally, but he has to risk his life...
Sorry, Chang Xi doesn't want to do that.
.....
Wang Zheng didn't know that Fenggao City's attack and defense had been fierce in the past few days.
But he guessed it.
Because just when he quietly led Yuan Jun to the foot of Tuqiu Mountain, Wu Yuan, who was left behind, brought two pieces of news.
The first news is that Yuan Jun from Tuqiu Mountain has changed his defense!
The two troops at the foot of the mountain and the mountainside could not see any obvious movements because of the small number of people. However, the two thousand troops guarding the top of the mountain were dropped to Feng Gao's front line.
It was replaced by a thousand men with a large number of wounded soldiers with low morale and took over the place.
This is the important granary area behind Yuan Tan's army!
As for the second news...
But it was the new guard general who made Wang Zheng's expression change after hearing the news.
Gao Lan, Gao Yiyuan?
Is it the Four Court Pillars of Hebei who fought with Xu Chu and Xu Huang in the Battle of Guandu without deciding the outcome, but when Liu Bei was defeated in Jingzhou, he was stabbed to death by Zhao Yun who rushed into the battle?
...
The top of Tuqiu Mountain at this time.
The wind was blowing weakly, blowing the loess. Even the tall flagpole at the entrance of the village was listless and curled up on the flagpole.
There were noisy sounds everywhere, and at a glance, there were a group of tired and listless voices everywhere.
After all, after paying so much price, the failure to capture Fenggao had already made these Jizhou soldiers very depressed.
And just when he saw the dawn of victory, he was transferred back from the frontline battlefield. This was tantamount to being deprived of the opportunity to make meritorious deeds at a critical moment. Don't even mention the dissatisfaction.
The credit is second, the key is that Yuan Tan has promised not to seal the sword for three days after entering the city!
Even though the major general had already said that after calculating the merits, even the looting after the city was broken, regardless of the woman's treasure, they would still leave a share for them, but how can this be compared?
Needless to say, the gold and silver treasures must have been left over by others...
As for women, let alone women!
At this time, there was only one person in the field who still held his head high and looked seriously in the direction to the west. There was a fire burning there, shouting to fight, and the two armies kept colliding, turning everything into ruins.
The huge movement composed of human voices could be faintly heard from a distance.
Seeing this scene, the few remaining night watchmen couldn't help but secretly admire them. It was already midnight, and they had even arrived at the rear camp, but Captain Gao was still so concerned about the battle. It was really rare.
And unlike them who are bound by military law and have no choice but to do it, this is the highest officer here now, and it is purely voluntary!
What a loyal minister!
It's just that these people thought wrong. Although Gao Lan was staring in the direction of Feng Gao at this time, the reason why he didn't go to sleep even though he was so tired was no longer Feng Gao or the battle situation, but Feng Gao.
Reluctant rage and angry roar.
"Shu Zi, you are going too far!"
In the darkness of the night, Gao Lan's eyes were wide-eyed and covered with bloodshot eyes. He spit out thick phlegm and let out a low roar with a hoarse throat.
Yuan Tan's reason for transferring him here is very simple. The Gaolan Division was severely damaged, and it would be difficult for him to stay on the front line to be of great use. It would be better to retire and rest and guard the granary, in order to free up a tribe with complete combat capabilities.
Capture Fenggao quickly.
Logically speaking, this seems reasonable and blameless.
But Gao Lan knew very well that it was all bullshit!
Damn Yuan Tan!
When attacking a difficult situation, let me lead the troops to attack. When you are first in line, let me lead the troops. When you are chewing hard bones, always call me!
As a result, when the city was about to be breached, he kicked me away?
Isn't it because I am Han Fu's old subordinate?
Thinking of this, Gao Lan's slightly cool throat began to burn and hurt again, and he couldn't help but cursed: "Han Fu, I'm the ancestor of your ancestors!"
You died so easily, but you made our subordinates suffer so much!
To insult the old master like this was an extremely unjust act in a dynasty like the Han Dynasty, which ruled the world with loyalty and filial piety. However, the few Gao Lan soldiers on the side did not feel any strange, and their eyes even flickered with recognition.
Without him, in their opinion, Han Fu is indeed to blame for the situation in Yuan Shaojun where the grandfather does not care for the grandmother and the good job has no share in the hardships!
After all, without Han Fu taking the initiative to give up Jizhou, how could Yuan Shao be as powerful as he is now?
They don’t have to be so angry anymore!
You must know that the Jizhou strong crossbow army that Yuan Shao is most proud of today was originally built by Han Fu.
Han Fu, the former Mu of Jizhou, was also the most powerful prince in Guandong at that time. The people of Jizhou were prosperous, the money and food were abundant, and the soldiers and horses were strong. This was the absolute foundation for hegemony. If Han Fu was a hero, he might have the possibility to dominate the world.
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It's a pity that this man is stupid and incompetent. He has neither the will to dominate nor the ability to control his subordinates. He clearly had the strength to fight at that time. For example, the tens of thousands of strong crossbow troops stationed in Mengjin led by Zhao Fu and Cheng Huan not only firmly opposed it, but also immediately led the way.
The army returned for reinforcements, but Han Fu couldn't stand Han Fu's timidity and surrendered without a fight, allowing Yuan Shao to use a small trick to capture Jizhou with nothing.
Han Fu was forced to seek refuge with Zhang Miao. Later, Zhang Miao met with Yuan Shao's envoy. Han Fu was frightened to death, thinking that Yuan Shao wanted to kill him, and he was terrified all day long.
If that's the case, that's fine. After all, Cao Cao also did such suspicious things.
However, Emperor Wu of Wei thought that Lu Boshe wanted to murder him, so he immediately killed the other party's family first, and left behind an eternal saying: "I would rather teach me to betray the people of the world than teach the people of the world to betray me."
Han Fu came up with a mysterious operation. If you want to kill me, I will commit suicide first!
The choice of the place to commit suicide is even more speechless and choking: the toilet!
I have to say that the two of them actually have the same idea, they both want to take the lead and not give the enemy a chance to strike.
It's just that the latter's behavior can at least be praised as decisive and ruthless without losing the heroic appearance. The former...
It can only be said that he lived a miserable life and died a useless person.
It's no wonder that Gao Lan didn't have any respect for such an old owner, and he didn't hesitate when he changed the family.
But what Gao Lan never expected was that Yuan Shao was not much better. In the past few years since he joined the Yuan family, he had worked hard and made many meritorious deeds. As a result, his official position as a captain had not changed, and his own army was getting worse and worse.
not enough.
This time when Yuan Tan led an army alone, Gao Lan took the initiative to ask for orders to follow him. He originally thought that if his father couldn't do it, he would try his son's side, but...
Yuan Tan's mind is narrower, his eyelids are shallower, and his appearance is even uglier!
"The Yuan family and his son are not wise masters. If I continue to follow them, I will never have any hope of getting married!"
Gao Lan stood in the camp, looking around, and saw that after this battle, many direct descendants from his family were reduced. Those who survived also looked gloomy, had low morale, and suddenly became desolate.
"But Jizhou already has the surname Yuan, and Youzhou sees the same thing. If I want to defect, who else can I go to?"
Gao Lan, who fell into a trance due to self-pity and self-pity, lost his usual vigilance and did not notice at all...