Chapter 73 Encircling the Qin Army on the Western Front
It is said that at this time Liu Bang was taking Fan Kuai, two generals Xia Houying, Zhang Liang, and two counselors Xiao He
Leading more than 50,000 troops, they spent nearly an hour on a vigorous march before they hurriedly arrived at the Western Defense Line of Yaoguan.
Behind the Guanxi defense line is actually a vast plain, but the Qin State knew that this was the most critical point of the last line of defense in Guanzhong. The defense line was weak and there were no bunkers or mountains to block it, so it was in vain.
Therefore, one hundred and fifty years ago, the King of Qin ordered the construction of fortifications on the western line of Yaoguan, and dug a trench that was seventy or eighty miles long and nearly three meters wide starting from the place where it connected with Yaoshan.
The trench is about two and a half meters deep, and the bottom is filled with countless wooden spikes and scrap bronze and iron swords. If you want to break through the defense line, you must first allow the army to cross this trench.
If you just cross a long trench, it is not difficult. As long as you lose some vanguard troops and place large wooden boards on the trench as a bridge, the army can rush through it quickly.
But the difficulty is that the main type of Qin army stationed on this defense line is the heavy crossbowmen. More than a hundred meters away from the trench, there is a long row of heavy crossbows. Several people can operate one, and it can be fired at a time.
Multiple arrows, thousands of arrows fired at once, are so powerful that as long as they are hit by the arrows, even thick armor will be penetrated by them... The probability of survival is extremely low
Therefore, Liu Bang's army suffered considerable losses in the first two attacks on its western defense line. It is precisely because of the strength and large number of Qin Nu that the blind attack must have been extremely heavy due to the rapid depletion of troops...
And Aoguan is directly connected with this western defense line. As soon as the western defense line of Aoguan is attacked, Aoguan can immediately mobilize troops and horses to the defense line to reinforce it, which is very flexible and strange.
So it looks like there is a vast plain ahead, but it is difficult to break through.
At this time, Liu Bang had led an army of 50,000 to the western front of the Guan Pass. The army stopped more than a mile away from the long trench. If it went further, the Qin army's powerful crossbows would be launched and enter the opponent's side.
within shooting range
Liu Bang was driving behind the army in the front row. After getting off the car, he looked at the endless trench and frowned.
Zhang Liang came to Liu Bang and Liu Bang asked: "Zifang, how many Qin troops are on the opposite side now? Can we attack them?"
Zhang Liang said: "My lord, He Yutai has led 10,000 troops to the western defense line of Yaoguan, and a total of 15,000 people are defending. If our troops want to break through the trenches and break the crossbow array, we will probably suffer heavy losses and it will be difficult..."
Liu Bang looked slightly unhappy and said: "Is there no other way? Has Hu Qing, the guard of the Aoguan Pass, accepted the surrender of our army?"
Zhang Liang shook his head and said: "There is no news yet, but if the Qin army's guard Hu Qing opens the door and accepts the surrender, then the two generals Zhou Bo and Cao Shen will definitely penetrate into the hinterland of the Qin army's western defense line from Aoguan, and then our army will assist the attack.
, and Zhou Bo’s army will be the main attacker.”
Liu Bang nodded: "I don't want to see the soldiers make fearless sacrifices. In my opinion, how long do we have to wait to launch the offensive?"
Zhang Liang raised his head and glanced at the sun in the sky, calculated with his fingers for a while, and said: "My lord, no matter whether Hu Qing surrenders or not, Zhou Bo and Zhou Bo will break through the barrier in a matter of seconds. I will wait here for half an hour.
That's enough. If Zhou Bo has already captured the Pass, he will definitely arrive in half an hour to wipe out the Qin army on the opposite side..."
Liu Bang put his hands behind his back and said: "Very good, then just wait for another half hour. Regardless of whether Zhou Bo and Zhou Bo arrive in half an hour, our army will attack the Qin army and capture the western defense line!"
Zhang Liang was startled, raised his hands and said: "Yes, my lord!"
...
At this time, the position hundreds of meters away opposite the trench was filled with a long row of Qin army heavy crossbows, and black arrows like hills were also placed on the ground. It seemed that the Qin court was very interested in this line of defense.
I've spent a lot of money.
The leader of the army was He Yutai, who had just arrived. At this time, He Yutai squinted at the mighty Liu Bangjun not far away. At a glance, he saw that there were several times more troops than his own.
He Yutai waited for almost ten minutes, but he still didn't see Liu Bangjun launching an attack. He wondered if the other party was waiting for news from Aoguan.
He Yutai suddenly shouted: "Generals, listen to your orders!"
I saw twenty generals coming up and kneeling on the ground and saying: "The last general is here!"
He Yutai: "Order someone to pull the carriage carrying the goods, put the arrows on the carriage immediately, leaving only a small number of arrows, and pull it to the place where the Qin army is near Lantian!"
The generals were puzzled, and one of them said: "General He, something is wrong. Liu Bang's army is about to attack the defense line. If there are not enough crossbows, Liu Bang's army will quickly break through the defense line."
"Once his army crosses the trench, we will definitely not be able to defend him... General, please think again."
Everyone was also puzzled by the idea of transporting the most important weapon back before the battle. Didn't you cut off your arms and let others kill them? Is there such a stupid general?
He Yutai said angrily: "What do you know? This is General Li Xin's plan. You will know later. If you delay, you will be executed without mercy!"
When the generals heard that it was General Li Xin's strategy, no one dared to question it. Since it was abnormal, there must be a corresponding strategy...
This is not something that generals at their level can know.
"Here!"
The generals did not dare to hesitate any longer, and immediately went down to arrange the carriage, and loaded the bundles of black arrows onto the carriage and sent them to the direction of Lantian...
Due to the distance and being blocked by the densely packed heavy crossbows and the Qin army in front, Liu Bangjun did not see the situation behind the Qin army.
When another quarter of an hour passed, the last few carriages were equipped with arrows and ready to set off.
He Yutai looked at the crossbow arrows with less than 10% left on the ground, and nodded with satisfaction.
He smiled proudly and murmured to himself: "Hey, just leave these heavy crossbows to Liu Bang. Without suitable crossbows made by Qin, no matter how good they are, they will be useless in his hands."
While thinking about it, all the Qin soldiers suddenly felt that the ground was shaking slightly, as if thousands of troops and horses were attacking here.
But when I glanced ahead, Liu Bangjun saw no movement. After a while, the Qin troops guarding the defense line realized that the sound came from the left.
Isn't that the direction of Aoguan? Could it be that... the defenders of Aoguan are coming for reinforcements again?
The sound is getting closer and closer, and listening to the rumble of thousands of horses galloping, it seems that the garrison at Yaoguan does not have that many horses...
This momentum from far to near was also felt by Liu Bangjun not far away at this moment. Liu Bang and the generals were ecstatic when they noticed it!
He hurriedly got off the carriage and gathered with generals Fan Kuai, Xia Houying, counselors Zhang Liang and Xiao He. Liu Bang said, "Has there been news from Aoguan? Is our army coming from the other side?"
Zhang Liang frowned and said: "There is no news yet, but this is not normal. The only explanation is that Zhou Bo and Cao Shen rushed from Aoguan to the Qin army's western defense line much faster than the scouts. They are probably already on their way at this moment.
To this point..."
After hearing this, Liu Bang's eyes became sharp: "Fan Kuai, Second General Xia Houying obeys the order!"
"The end is here!"
"Lead the army immediately and break through the Qin army's defense line on the opposite side!"
Fan Kuai and Fan Kuai were overjoyed. After shouting loudly, they cupped their hands and said, "Here! My lord!"
