There is a lake called Huangze to the southwest of Neihuang City, and Neihuang City is named after it. Although the 20,000 infantry led by Guan Yu set off earlier than the army pretending to attack Ye City, due to the obstruction of this lake, Guan Yu had to go around.
After walking for a while, by the time they arrived at Neihuang City, it was already dusk.
Guan Yu did not delay and immediately ordered the siege. The original mission of the 20,000 infantry under his command was to ambush Yuan Jun's rearguard and baggage troops in Liyang. Therefore, they did not carry special siege equipment such as trebuchets, ladders, and rams.
Ordinary long ladders are also made after arriving in Neihuang.
Without the help of siege equipment, this siege battle was very difficult. From dusk to dawn, the Han army attacked the city several times and encountered Yuan Jun's counterattacks several times. Both sides suffered heavy casualties.
The walls of the city were littered with corpses of the dead. In the whole night of fighting, Guan Yu had already paid a huge price of 3,000 casualties, while the defenders' losses were only a lot more.
Ordinarily, as the siege party, the one-to-one battle loss ratio should be something to be proud of, but Guan Yu was not satisfied with this result. Although Neihuang City is close to Huangze, there is no moat dug along the way, and the city wall is not particularly tall.
To deal with such a city, given the training level of the Han army, it should be effortless. However, after fighting for so long, they failed to capture it, which surprised Guan Yu.
In fact, it is not surprising that such a result occurred. Since Neihuang is Yuan Shao's grain farm, he will definitely be heavily guarded. There are as many as 50,000 defenders in the city. The person responsible for guarding Neihuang is also the famous general from Hebei, Jiang Qi.
Read the full text of "Being a General in Ancient Times". If it weren't for the fact that it was dark and couldn't see how many Han troops were outside the city, Jiang Qi might have led his men to fight them out.
In addition to the 50,000 defenders, there are more than 60,000 civilians in Neihuang City. These civilians were originally responsible for carrying grain and grass, but now they are attacked by the enemy, and they can still do the job of throwing logs and smashing stones.
. In this way, the number of defenders can be at least doubled.
There is another important factor that cannot be ignored. The large number of archers has always been an important feature of Yuan's army. Archers will consume a large amount of arrows when fighting. In order not to affect the combat effectiveness, they need to be replenished in time. Therefore, the archers are stored in Inner Yellow City.
There are a large number of bows and arrows, and there are even workshops specializing in the production of bows and arrows, and a large amount of materials for making bows and arrows are prepared. Bows and arrows are also powerful weapons for defending the city. Arrows in the city seem to be shot out for free. No matter who is in such a situation
Even if you attack the city, it will be difficult to get a favor.
Seeing that the casualties were getting bigger and bigger, and that after dawn, his own strength would be completely exposed, Guan Ping said worriedly: "Father, this battle cannot be fought like this!"
This is the first time Guan Ping has been on the battlefield, and it is also the first time he has faced life and death. Although Guan Ping also experienced a life-and-death fight in last year's martial arts exam, it is nothing compared to this real war scene.
.However, after this night of blood baptism, Guan Ping has grown from an ignorant boy to a qualified warrior.
Guan Yu frowned and asked, "Then how do you think this battle should be fought?"
In fact, Guan Yu was not good at siege warfare, and most of his main achievements in history were concentrated in field battles or when two armies faced off. Therefore, when faced with Aiko's doubts, Guan Yu not only did not get angry, but asked him humbly.
During his time at the training base, Guan Ping learned a lot from Wenpin, and Wenpin was a general who was good at attacking and defending cities.
However, in the absence of large-scale siege equipment, there is really no good way other than taking human lives to fill it, so Guan Ping is not considering siege methods, but other aspects.
Guan Ping cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to my father, Neihuang is Yuan Shao's important grain-gathering area. Yuan Shao will know about our attack here soon, and reinforcements will definitely be sent. By then we will inevitably be attacked from both sides."
Guan Yu waved his hand and said: "I know all these, let's just focus on the key points!"
Guan Ping hesitated and said: "I'm afraid this city won't be captured for a while. Our goal is just to cut off Yuan Jun's food and grass. I thought we could attack with fire."
Guan Yu pondered: "If the city cannot be entered, how can we attack it with fire?"
Guan Ping took off the hard bow from his waist and said: "Our crossbows can shoot farther than Yuan Jun. As long as we get close to the city and set up rockets..."
Guan Yu shook his head and said: "How can we not be vigilant in the important land of grain cultivation? Do you know where their grain and grass are piled up? Even if you know, can your rocket accurately hit there? Even if it does, how can you?
Are you sure the grain and hay piles are covered with fireproof equipment?"
Guan Yu was not angry at his son's unreliable ideas. As long as he was willing to use his brain, it would be progress.
The fire attack method was rejected by Guan Yu. Guan Ping thought for a while, then pointed at Neihuang City and said: "Father, please see, the north of Neihuang City is Dangshui, the east is Qinghe, and the west is Huangze. Since
If fire attack doesn't work, we can switch to water attack."
Guan Ping's idea was not bad. The purpose of their attack on Neihuang was not to seize the city, nor to rob the food and grass in the city, but to destroy the food and grass. In addition to burning the food and grass with a fire, destroying the food and grass could also destroy the food and grass.
Soaked in water, moldy and rotted, the effect is the same.
Guan Yu said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has repeatedly ordered that the common people must not be harmed. The two armies are facing each other and killing the civilians defending the city is a last resort. If we open the river embankment again and cause disaster to innocent people, the sins of you and my father and son will be great."
"
Guan Ping looked at Neihuang City not far away and said bitterly: "Then let's continue to use human lives to fill it up?"
"No! Let's withdraw!" Guan Yu, who had insisted on continuing to attack just now, suddenly changed his mind, waved his hand and said, "Ping'er, what you just said reminded me of the young medical fairy. As long as Yuan Jun's food route is cut off, no more
The grain and hay piled up in Inner Yellow City are equally useless!"
The Han army moved very quickly. With Guan Yu's order, they retreated without a trace in the blink of an eye, even faster than when they came. They also took away the wounded and the bodies of their fallen comrades. If it hadn't been for Nai Huang
With the stones, arrows, broken logs and bloodstains scattered under the city, no one would have thought that a fierce battle had just taken place here all night.
Jiang Qi stood on the top of the city, looked at the empty city, snorted disdainfully, and said: "If you want to fish in troubled waters, there is no way!"
A debate is taking place in the Yuan Army camp in Liyang City. Urgent messages for help from Yecheng and Neihuang have been sent, and the opinions of the Yuan Army generals on the front line are divided into two groups. The party headed by Gao Lan and Xu You advocate that the first
Relieve the siege of Neihuang. First, Neihuang is relatively close to Liyang, so rescue is convenient. Second, once the food and grass in Neihuang are lost, the 500,000 Yuan army on the front line will be unstable. But the side headed by Qu Yi and Xin Ping will
The reason for advocating saving Yecheng first is very simple. It is the base camp. Not only Yuan Shao is there, but everyone's family members are also there.
The commander of the front line was Yan Liang. He was a brave man. After listening to the arguments between the two sides, he talked about several cases and said loudly: "The general has shown great kindness to Yan. Now that the general is under attack by the enemy, how can Yan do it?"
Sit back and watch? Don't discuss it any further. Yan personally leads one hundred thousand cavalry to rescue Yecheng, and you and your infantry will come to help later!"
At this time, Wuheng leader Tadun stood up and said: "I would like to serve as a general in the front!"
Yan Liang also knew that Wu Heng's cavalry was brave, so he clapped his hands and said: "Okay! Then please ask the prince to lead the army first, and Yan will arrive soon!"
Gao Lan frowned and said, "I'll report this to General Qi. The last general thinks that the traitor must be rescued."
Yan Liang waved his hand impatiently and said: "In that case, allocate 30,000 of your troops to rescue Neihuang, and the rest of the generals will follow me back to Yecheng!"
Just when Yan Liang was dispatching his troops, the Xianbei vanguard from Taiyuan had already appeared on the outskirts of Daling City. The Xianbei people set out yesterday morning and arrived at Ganyang City south of Taiyuan at noon. They looted and continued.
They delayed their departure until evening. When the vanguard arrived in Daling, it was already three o'clock in the morning.
This time, the Xianbei forwards were still Liaodong Xianbei and those small tribes, but the leader had been replaced by Murong Xiong from Mijia. Murong Xiong had changed from the leader of a small tribe to a general in charge of ten thousand-man troops.
The spring breeze is proud. Although his tribe is a bit small, he is still the leader of it. He knows that in order to make his subordinates fight hard, they must give them a little sweetness. So all the way south, he was extremely indulgent to the soldiers, and everything he passed was a mess.
Wolf.
After entering Daling, Murong Xiong even wanted to loot. However, to his surprise, the villages he passed along the way seemed to have been encountered by bandits. Even the fields were bare, even if there were a few weeds.
They also grew so sparsely that they couldn’t even eat the war horses.
The Xianbei people did not raise food when fighting. When they were hungry, they slaughtered cattle and sheep and drank mare's milk. As for the war horses, there was plenty of pasture on the grasslands. After entering the Central Plains, their war horses gnawed the crops in the fields. They have not harvested them yet.
During the season, the crops in the fields should be enough for their horses to have a good meal. Who knew that as soon as they entered Daling, the fields were scorched black and had been burned by fire.
Murong Xiong did not believe that the Han people were willing to burn all their crops. This field was probably accidentally caught in a fire, so he ordered the soldiers to continue moving forward.
Suddenly there was a sound of people shouting and horses neighing, and a large cloud of smoke and dust rose up in front of them. Some cavalrymen came on flying horses to report that they had encountered a large pit in the front, and the five or six hundred cavalrymen who rushed at the front fell into the pit.
Murong Xiong rode his horse to the front of the pit, and couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. In the pit, countless people and horses were struggling desperately, and the screams of people and horses reached his ears, making him shudder.
This pit was set up very cleverly. More than a dozen horses stepped on it without any impact at all. It didn't collapse until hundreds of horses passed by it. There were many sharpened bamboos inserted at the bottom of the pit. The first person to fall in was killed on the spot.
Got stabbed through the heart
Toru, even if he did not die, he would only have half a life left. Not only that, the Han people also sprinkled quicklime in the pit. The people in front fell in and were stuck on the bamboo tips, but the rising lime burned the eyes of the people who fell in behind.
Even if he doesn't die, he has no fighting power.
Murong Xiong was cruel by nature. Looking at his compatriots struggling in the pit, he waved his hand coldly and said: "Fire the arrow!"