Sun Ce and the others had never seen so many cavalry.
Zhang Biao's eyes shone, he couldn't help but swallowed, and murmured: "Oh my God, there are so many horses, it would be great if they were all ours!"
Sun Ce tensed his face, punched him hard on the chest, and said: "It's broad daylight, don't dream! Hurry up and get ready to meet the enemy. Remember, there should be enough manpower left on the south wall.
"
He was never at ease with the surrendered soldiers stationed at Yangping Pass, especially when the enemy was in front of him, so he had to be extremely vigilant. Watching Zhang Biao hurriedly walked down the city, Sun Ce turned back and looked outside the city, saying to himself
He said to himself: "If we can have so many war horses, we will wake up laughing when we fall asleep."
Li Sheng and others were startled at first when they heard Sun Ce's words, and then the muscles on their faces became distorted because they were suppressing laughter, and their expressions were extremely strange.
Zhang Biao had already ordered defense preparations and returned to the top of the city. The shock just now had been replaced by the excitement before the battle. He looked at the city, clenched his fists and said: "General Sun, let me lead a team of cavalry.
Go out for a sprint and see how much the world-famous Xiliang Iron Cavalry weighs!"
Sun Ce said without any doubt: "No! What we have to do now is to hold on with all our strength until the lord's large army arrives! Anyone who dares to speak out and fight again will be killed! Tell the brothers, whoever is imprisoned will die, and no one will die.
Don’t take a step back!”
Yangping Pass is built in the bottleneck area between two mountains. The terrain in front is not open. Li Jue's cavalry had to slow down their speed, otherwise they would trample each other without anyone else taking action. Seeing Yangping Pass
Just before his eyes, Li Jue became a little excited, but he did not lose his mind. He had only cavalry under his command, and he had no siege equipment. It was obviously unrealistic to attack by force. It was better to follow Jia Xu's plan and persuade him to surrender, so he turned around.
He ordered: "Come forward and shout!"
Upon hearing this, his nephew Li Jin galloped out of the team and rushed straight to the front of the pass. He shouted loudly: "People in the pass, listen, my general has come to Hanzhong to suppress the bandits under the strict order of the grand master. He knows the current affairs."
Open the door quickly, otherwise when the army invades Yangping, no chickens or dogs will be left behind."
Sun Ce looked at the city, held the bow and arrow in his hand, and laughed loudly: "Who is Dong Zhuo? He is just a thief. Sooner or later, he will take his dog head. Take my arrow first!"
Li Jin saw that Sun Ce refused to surrender, so he called Dong Zhuo by his first name. He opened his mouth to curse, but when he heard a "swish" sound, he felt a chill in his throat. He opened his mouth wide but could not speak, and he was shaking on his horse.
After a while, he fell down.
Li Jue was furious when he saw that Li Jin was shot to death by Sun Ce with an arrow. He turned around and ordered an attack on the city. So 50,000 cavalrymen dismounted one after another and prepared their siege equipment. At that time, due to poor roads, many siege equipment were not carried with the army.
, but use local materials and make them on site. There are dense forests on both sides of the road, and there are many dead vines and old trees. Although it is impossible to make large equipment such as ladders, well rails, and car rushes in a hurry, it is easy to build a few ladders.
Nothing more.
Soon, the Xiliang army divided into two groups. One group abandoned their horses, carried simple wooden ladders, and rushed to the city head with shouts. The other group rode horses and arrows, galloping back and forth in front of the pass, trying to
With his skillful bows and horses, he suppressed the defenders on the city.
Sun Ce saw that the enemy troops were numerous, but he was not panicked. The city wall of Yangping Pass was strong and tall, and the area in front of the pass was narrow, so large-scale troops could not be deployed. No matter how many people there were, what was the use. Sun Ce did not wait for the enemy troops to rush forward.
, then ordered the arrows to be fired. The range and power of the strong bows of the defenders were superior to those of the Xiliang army, and they were condescending. In the blink of an eye, they shot down a large area of the Xiliang army.
The Xiliang army has been fighting against the nomads in the north for a long time. Everyone is good at riding and shooting. Although they are not good at attacking cities, they have a spirit of fearlessness and fear of death. Although their comrades around them fell down one after another after being hit by arrows, none of them from Xiliang
The soldiers of the army retreated, almost stepping on the corpses of their companions, and approached the city wall step by step.
Yangping Pass is the gateway to the north of Hanzhong, and it was also an important pass for Liu Yan to cut off the connection with the imperial court. The pass was not only heavily deployed with troops, but also stocked with a huge number of arrows, rolling logs, and hammered stones. The only thing lacking was food and grass.
There is no solution for the lack of food and grass. There is not enough food and grass in Hanzhong, and the people often have no food to eat. That's why the Five Pecks of Rice religion is popular in Hanzhong. But the problem of food and grass is not within Sun Ce's consideration. There is a rich Jingzhou
As a backing, not only grain and grass, but also various other materials will be continuously transported to Hanzhong, and all difficulties will be solved. All he has to consider now is how to defend Yangping Pass.
Sun Ce knew that his troops were limited, and he had to guard against Zhang Lu's surrendered soldiers, so he had to reduce casualties as much as possible, so he used bows, arrows, wood and stone almost at any cost. What Li Jue didn't care about most was human life, and the size of his command
In any battle, every victory was not the result of human lives. Facing the rain of arrows and stones on the city, Li Jue had only one order: charge forward one after another!
The siege battle lasted from noon to the setting of the sun. The attackers were cavalry, and the defenders were also cavalry. This is probably a strange scene that has never happened since the history of human war. After half a day of fighting, the Xiliang army under the city
Seven or eight thousand corpses were left behind, but there was still no sign of retreating the troops. Liu Xin's soldiers guarding Yangping Pass had also suffered more than a thousand casualties.
Smashing logs and rocks, everyone's arms were numb and their faces looked tired, but they couldn't get the slightest rest.
Zhang Biao glanced at the Xiliang soldiers pouring under the city like a tide. The excitement on his face had been completely replaced by worry. He didn't know how long his soldiers could hold on in this situation, because no one had received any help.
After a moment's rest and two more arrows, Zhang Biao finally couldn't help but said: "General Sun, let the brothers in Nancheng come up!"
Sun Ce left a thousand soldiers on the southern city to guard against the rebellion of the surrendered soldiers behind the pass. They could be regarded as the only reserve force in his hands. They were indeed a new force. However, Sun Ce thought for a moment, and still
He shook his head firmly.
At this moment, a loud shout suddenly came from behind the pass, and a soldier hurried over and said in a panic: "General, something bad has happened! The soldiers have rebelled!"
Sun Ce was shocked. He was really afraid of what could happen. These surrendered soldiers really rebelled. But Sun Ce understood that at this time, he had to be calmer. The surrendered soldiers were unarmed. Even if they wanted to build a ladder, they did not have the tools to cut down trees.
, trying to climb a city wall several feet high with bare hands is simply a daydream.
These surrendered soldiers were driven to camp behind the pass and slept in the freezing wilderness. Naturally, they were full of complaints. At first, there were hundreds of black-armored cavalry patrolling there, but at noon, these cavalry suddenly withdrew into the city, and there was There was no special person to guard them. Some of the brave soldiers had already greased their feet and fled. The rest began to feel restless, and gradually the sound of fighting came from the door. Finally, some people couldn't hold it anymore and ran towards the door with them. .People are blindly obedient, and other people also started to make noises, rushed to the gate, and pushed the city gate desperately.
As a majestic pass, the city gate must be very strong. There is no tool such as a ram to hit it. It is impossible to push the city gate open with just your hands. But these soldiers have lost their minds. Although the city gate could not be pushed open, the shouts shook the heaven and earth.
The Xiliang Army, which was desperately attacking the city, obviously heard the shouts from the other side, and the pace of the attack obviously stopped for a moment. Sun Ce seemed to be a little condensed when he saw that the Xiliang Army's offensive under the city was not coming one after another as before. When chaos broke out, he couldn't help but hatch a plan and shouted to the soldiers around him: "Soldiers, our reinforcements have arrived. Fill up the bows in your hands, aim at the enemies below the city, and shoot hard to make them come." No reply!"
The spirits of the soldiers at the top of the city were lifted up and they shouted in unison. For a moment, arrows rained down, several times more violent than before. The Xiliang army was already a little hesitant by the sudden shouts. , vaguely heard on the top of the city that reinforcements had arrived, and suddenly they were hit head-on again. The morale that had been so high just now suddenly plummeted, and they all retreated.
Among the generals under Dong Zhuo, Li Jue was actually the most capable of fighting. Not long after he attacked the city, he keenly felt that there were not many defenders in the city, so he wanted to rely on the human sea tactics to capture the city through continuous attacks. Xia Yangping Pass. After half a day of siege fighting, Li Jue already knew that the defenders on the city were not Zhang Lu's army, and the pass had long ago fallen into Liu Xin's hands. Now that he knew that reinforcements had arrived at the pass, Li Jue suddenly He no longer had confidence in capturing Yangping Pass. Seeing that it was already getting late, he had no choice but to order Jin Jin to withdraw his troops and retreat thirty miles to the stronghold.
Seeing the Xiliang army retreating, Yangpingguan let out bursts of cheers. The half-day battle was really hard. If the Xiliang army hadn't chosen to retreat and the fight continued, the result would have been really hard to predict. At the gate, The noisy lowered soldiers heard the cheers from the city and immediately dispersed. Anyway, no one was supervising them. They were all Hanzhong natives and their legs were growing on their bodies. If they don't run away now, how long will it take?
When Sun Ce saw it from the top of the city, he could only shake his head and smile bitterly. The soldiers had fought hard all day, and now they needed the most time to rest. He couldn't spare any time to catch these surrendered soldiers, so he had to let them do it. Speaking of which, he was able to defend today. At Yangping Pass, these soldiers who were demoted were also "indispensable". If not for their loud shouts, they would not be able to scare away the Xiliang Army outside the city. But tomorrow, if the Xiliang Army comes back, this Yangping Pass may still be We really can't hold it anymore. Sun Ce looked at the exhausted soldiers around him, gritted his teeth, turned to Li Sheng and said: "General Li, take some people and place fires everywhere in the pass. If you really can't hold it tomorrow, Just set fire to Yangping Pass!"
At this time, Li Jue was already sitting in the newly built tent. Thinking that he had failed just now, he couldn't help but become a little angry. He repeatedly ordered: "Quick, go and invite Mr. Jia over."
Not long after his soldiers left, they came back and said, "General, Mr. Jia has disappeared and only left a letter."