The attack of the 40,000-strong army has not stopped. For them, time is extremely important.
We came with a hundred thousand troops, only to be stopped by this city with only twenty thousand soldiers?
"Everyone follow me."
Looking at the flames on the ground, Ma Chao said coldly: "Get up the ladder for me!"
After the soldiers hesitated for a moment, they gritted their teeth and rushed towards the city wall, knowing that there were countless Lihuos ahead.
After sacrificing several lives, the climbing ladders were finally set up on the city wall.
Ma Chao said ferociously: "Everyone come to the city!"
Looking at these people climbing the ladder, Hao Zhao's expression remained unchanged.
The hooks at the top of the climbing ladders were firmly embedded in the city wall. The soldiers on the city defense could not stop the erection of the climbing ladders at all. They could only increase the firepower and fired countless arrows without any savings.
At this moment, there were corpses everywhere in the Wengcheng, but Ma Chao had no intention of retreating.
I saw Ma Chao shouting coldly: "We will definitely break through Huaili County today."
I originally thought that after the climbing ladder was set up, the speed of breaking the city would be greatly improved. However, after a quarter of an hour, no one was able to climb the city defense.
"Zhizhizhi, bang!"
As the sound from the city defense sounded again, the huge rolling log rolled down.
A huge rolling log was covered with sharp spikes. After it completely rolled down, the huge gear shaft on the city defense recovered the rolling log again.
The two ends of the log are tied with chains. This log is extremely difficult to break.
As soon as the rolling log comes out, the soldiers on the ladder will be killed or injured.
Ma Chao's face became even more ugly. As a result, his soldiers had lost more than 10,000 people, but they did not even go up to the city gate.
Just when he was about to shout loudly and raise his troops to charge again, a man behind him came on horseback holding a black flag high.
"General, my lord has ordered us to withdraw our troops immediately."
Hearing this, Ma Chao took a deep look at Hao Zhao above, and after a moment, he reluctantly said: "Withdraw!"
The remaining 20,000 people withdrew like a tide, leaving corpses all over the ground in the barbican city.
Wei Yan, who was on the city defense, looked happy when he saw this.
"Haha, General Hao Zhao is really flawless, and the horse really retreated."
Hao Zhao exhaled and said: "Xiliang's incoming army is much more ferocious than I imagined. If there is no Wengcheng, I may not be able to defend it."
However, Wei Yan and others obviously don't think so, and it obviously doesn't matter whether there is a barbican or not now.
However, Ma Chao felt extremely unhappy about withdrawing his troops so easily.
One man rode his horse at the front and came directly to Ma Teng and said calmly: "Father, why are you withdrawing your troops? Do you think that I, Ma Mengqi, can't break this city?"
Ma Teng said calmly: "Don't be impatient. There are a lot of equipment in the city."
"Hao Zhao must have transported all the surrounding baggage and food to this last city in order to prevent us from approaching Chang'an. Although we are defeated today, there is no need to be discouraged. We can just regroup and fight again tomorrow."
After hearing this, Ma Chao's expression did not change at all, and he still said calmly: "I don't think so. I lost today."
Then he ignored Ma Teng and walked towards the military camp alone.
Looking at Ma Chao leaving, Ma Teng showed a trace of anger: "You bastard, it's so outrageous."
Sima Yi on the side looked at the unhappy couple with a thoughtful expression.
However, he was interrupted by Ma Teng.
"I made Mr. Sima laugh today."
"Zhongda, how do you think this city will be destroyed?"
Ma Teng still had great trust in Sima Yi's talents.
He bowed respectfully, looked at Ma Teng and said with a smile: "There is no way to do it. This plan will damage your reputation, but it just depends on whether the lord is willing."
Hearing this, Ma Teng frowned slightly, took a deep look at the city, and began to think deeply.
After a moment, he looked at Sima Yi again and said, "Zhongda said it doesn't matter. As long as the city can be broken, Shoucheng is willing to give it a try."
Seeing Ma Teng's attitude, Sima Yi looked satisfied.
"Then Zhongda will tell you."
"Today's Huaili County not only has many arrows, but also countless kerosene. With the wealth of Cao's army, there are countless grain, grass, baggage and even hay in the city."
Hearing this, Ma Teng's expression changed, as if he had guessed something, and he looked at Sima Yi with a hint of hesitation.
However, Sima Yi, who noticed Ma Teng's expression, continued: "We only need five thousand long archers, prepare tens of thousands of rockets, and shoot them into the city at midnight."
"There is a lot of kerosene and even dry grass in Huaili County. Once the fire starts, it will be unstoppable. When the time comes, Huaili County will be able to destroy it with just a few clicks."
Ma Teng looked horrified and exclaimed: "Zhongda, are you planning to burn the city?"
Preparing tens of thousands of rockets can completely cause a fire in the city. Among these houses, which are all made of wood, it is too easy to burn so many rockets suddenly.
The price is that Cao's army, supplies, and even the people in this city will suffer greatly.
Ma Teng watched Sima Yi sinking into deep thought and struggling with himself.
No wonder Sima Yi would say that this plan would damage his reputation. This was a massacre of the city.
He looked at Sima Yi and asked hesitantly: "How long would it take to break the city if we didn't use this strategy?"
Sima Yi looked at Ma Teng and sighed and said, "It depends on the amount of food and grass in the city. I'm afraid it will take at least seven days."
Hearing this, Ma Teng was stunned. Didn't he think that his army of 100,000 people could not defeat the city at all?
Hao Zhao actually has such ability?
He took a deep breath, Xiliang couldn't wait so long now, seven days, seven days was enough time for Cao Jun to support him.
Soon, Ma Teng made up his mind, looked at Sima Yi, nodded and said, "We absolutely cannot wait seven days. Just as you said, I will immediately order people to rectify the troops."
Sima Yi smiled lightly and said, "Then congratulations to my lord for taking Huaili County."
After hearing Sima Yi's congratulations and thinking that he could capture Huaili County, Ma Teng seemed to have less grudges in his heart.
So what about reputation? As long as we can capture this city and reach Chang'an directly, then the entire Sizhou can be included in our pocket. What reputation will we need then?
In Huaili County, Wei Yan smiled and said: "General Bo Dao, your defense is really meticulous."
Today they defended the city, and only 20,000 soldiers stopped the attack of 120,000 troops.
Everyone began to trust Hao Zhao's abilities more and more, and today's battle made everyone believe his previous words.
However, Hao Zhao waved his hand and said: "It's just a trail. If we really go into battle to kill the enemy, we will still have to trouble the generals."
Huang Zhong on the side also laughed, "General Hao is quite humble."
Although they had won a victory, they did not make any celebrations because the soldiers in Xiliang had only temporarily withdrawn their troops. The war was now serious and the city was under curfew.
There were no fewer guards on the city defense than there were during the day. Obviously, they were still wary of whether the Xiliang army would attack at night.