Chapter 790 Shouchun Offensive and Defensive Battle
This roadblock is the tall and solid Shouchun City, and the person guarding Shouchun City is Cao Cao's old subordinate Man Chong. [: Shouchun is not only the seat of Yangzhou, but also a strategic location, but Yangzhou Governor Zhang Zhao is now in Jiangnan.
Wujun, therefore, it is particularly important who will serve as the governor of Jiujiang and take charge of Shouchun.
Because Man Chong was originally a subordinate of Cao Cao and his martial arts skills were mediocre, many people objected to letting him guard Shouchun. However, Liu Xin overcame all opinions and resolutely handed over Jiujiang to Man Chong. Man Chong gained Liu Xin's trust.
, I was so excited that I woke up early and stayed up late every day, focusing on the defense of Shouchun.
Originally, Liu Xin transferred 8,000 men and horses to him from the Fifth Army, plus Shouchun's original 2,000 local troops, which was enough to make up 10,000 people. Relying on Shouchun's solid city walls, he could hold the city for ten and a half days.
Months are no problem.
Suddenly one day, Manchong received an order to mobilize the 8,000 soldiers of the Fifth Army to go north. The strength of Shouchun City suddenly became empty. Although Shouchun was still some distance away from the front line, the situation at that time was not
She was extremely nervous, but Man Chong was still keenly aware of some dangers.
Man Chong immediately sent someone to notify Kuai Qi, the governor of Runan, and asked him to step up his guard. Runan is the barrier to the northwest of Jiujiang. As long as Runan is not lost, neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shao can attack here for the time being. But Kuai Qi is
The descendants of the Kuai family in Xiangyang relied on their status and paid no attention to Man Chong's warning. As a result, they lost Runan in just one day and almost died themselves, so they fled back to Xiangyang in a hurry.
While sending people to warn Kuai Qi, Man Chong also strengthened Shouchun's defense. The first thing he did was to recruit Minzhuang. Liu Xin had always opposed recruiting Minzhuang to do city defense, transportation and other tasks. First, these Minzhuang did not have
After training, it is easy to cause large casualties. On the other hand, except during the slack farming season, if the people are recruited at other times, production will inevitably be affected. But now the situation is urgent. Just relying on two thousand local troops will definitely not be able to defend Shouchun.
Chong could only risk being punished by Liu Xin and ordered the conscription of Minzhuang.
The people in Shouchun area used to live a very difficult life. After Liu Xin came, they gradually solved the problem of food and clothing. Therefore, their love for Liu Xin came from the heart. When they heard that the prefect was calling for strong people, they all signed up enthusiastically and moved the prefect's mansion.
The front door was so crowded that more than 13,000 people were recruited in half a day.
The second thing Man Chong did was to fortify the walls and clear the country. Man Chong did this very thoroughly. Not only did he evacuate all the people in the villages around Shouchun City into the city, he even ordered the people of Xiacai County, more than fifty miles northwest of Shouchun, to
They all withdrew into Shouchun City, leaving only an empty city for Cao Cao. In this way, although there were many more people in Shouchun City, and food and accommodation were a big problem, there were also 500 more trained local army soldiers.
Everyone will become the backbone of the defense of the city.
Next, Man Chong began to integrate the defense forces. He broke up the local army and minzhuang and reorganized them. Each team was composed of eleven people. The captain was a local army soldier and the team members were ordinary minzhuang. The soldiers were equipped with bows.
Minzhuang is equipped with crossbows and swords, while Minzhuang is equipped with spears and push rods. The use of crossbows requires certain training, and Minzhuang will not be able to use them even if they are provided with them. Minzhuang's task is to throw logs, break stones, and pour gold juice under the city.
and red-hot iron sand, and the third one is to push down the enemy's long ladder with a push rod.
The weather is hot now. After the soldiers of the Fifth Army left, they left behind some winter armor and baggage. Now Man Chong has made full use of them and distributed them to the people. Although it seems very uncomfortable to wear these armors, the armor
Its protective power is first-rate, and it can protect these civilians with little combat experience and significantly reduce casualties.
Man Chong then divided the mixed formation of 1,500 local army soldiers and 10,000 civilians into three groups, one group to defend the city, one group to train, and one group to rest, changing every two hours, day and night.
Another thousand local army soldiers served as a reserve team, ready to fight to the death against the enemy troops who climbed to the top of the city.
Such highly intense war preparations began after the soldiers of the Fifth Army were transferred. Many officials in Shouchun City were very dissatisfied with Man Chong's actions. But yesterday, the news of the fall of Runan came, and the whole city suddenly became nervous.
.
Man Chong put on heavy armor and went to comfort each house in Shouchun City, mobilizing everyone and asking them to provide timely support to the defenders on the city in case of war. In fact, Man Chong did not need them to go to the city to fight, as long as
They can provide some logistical support, such as transporting supplies, cooking and delivering meals, rescuing the wounded, etc.
Because after Liu Xin captured Shouchun, he carried out a purge of the nobles here. Many nobles who supported Yuan Shu and Liu Yao had their homes confiscated. And these nobles had long-term marriages and had long been integrated with each other. Therefore,
Those surviving gentry families also adopted an attitude of obedience and disobedience to Man Chong's simple request, and some even began to collude secretly, wanting to be Cao Cao's internal collaborators.
However, the people in Shouchun City, including those who were evacuated by Man Chong, were very active, and many people offered to go to the city to defend themselves against the enemy. They had just had more than a year of good life, and they did not want to lose it like this.
Of course, Man Chong did not agree to their request. If these people without any training were allowed to rush forward, it would not only increase casualties in vain, but also disrupt the original defense. However, Man Chong also made a double plan to kill the common people.
The young and strong men were organized and asked to be responsible for transporting supplies and wounded people up and down the city. At the same time, they were also allowed to experience the atmosphere of war and could act as a reserve team when necessary.
Cao's army arrived very quickly, and the war started as soon as it was announced, without any warning in advance. The dark army appeared at the foot of Shouchun City, and attacked the city head with almost no formation. Although this elite force was in the battle to attack Hulao Pass,
They suffered a big loss, but the battle in Runan restored some confidence, and the empty city of Shangcai gave them a new view of the Han army.
Seeing Cao's army swarming like ants below the city, both the local army and the people on the city began to show timidity, and some people's calves began to tremble. Seeing this, Man Chong grabbed the crossbow and headed towards the city
Cao Jun shot out an arrow, and with a "swish" sound, a charging Cao Jun soldier fell down.
There was a burst of cheers from the top of the city. Man Chong casually threw the crossbow to the soldiers beside him and said loudly: "Look, everyone, Cao Jun is only a body of flesh and blood. He does not have three heads and six arms. There is nothing to be afraid of! One arrow will still kill you! For
Protect your family from the enemy’s bullying, kill!”
The local soldiers and civilians on the top of the city shouted in unison, shooting arrows at the enemy like locusts. From time to time, Cao's soldiers fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. However, more Cao's soldiers stepped on the bodies of their companions, risking their arrows.
The rain continues to rush forward.
Soon, Cao Jun approached the moat. Some Cao Jun soldiers jumped off the moat and braved the rain of Han army arrows to build pontoon bridges on the moat. Man Chong sneered and shouted in a deep voice: "Change the rockets!"
Rockets were fired at the pontoon, and fire dragons soon appeared on the moat. Some Cao Jun soldiers who had just rushed onto the pontoon screamed and rolled into the moat. Now the river water surged, and the moat of Shouchun City was more than two feet deep. Cao Jun
Most of the soldiers came from the north and were not used to water, so many of them sank to the bottom of the river after a few flops.
Cao Jun, who has experienced hundreds of battles, will not be stumped by a small moat. If the pontoon bridge cannot be built, it will be filled with soil. The 200,000 Cao troops took full advantage of their large numbers and strength, and filled sandbags with soil one by one.
Throw them into the moat. The water in the moat is almost stagnant, so sandbags will not be washed away if you throw them in. They pile up higher and higher and soon emerge from the water.
The Han army took advantage of the range of their bows and crossbows to continuously attack the enemy. Many soldiers of Cao's army carrying sandbags fell before they could reach the moat. Their companions behind simply pushed them and the sandbags into the moat. Who was Cao's army?
With such a large number of people, dozens of embankments made of sandbags and corpses appeared on the moat in the blink of an eye. This moat could no longer serve as a barrier outside Shouchun City.
This time, Cao Jun did not rush directly to the city wall recklessly. Instead, he lined up on the other side of the moat and pressed toward Shouchun step by step with a large shield. Although the Han army's crossbows were powerful, they could not penetrate Cao Jun's large shield.
, could only watch helplessly as the large group of Cao soldiers got closer and closer to the city wall.
Suddenly, there was a shout from Cao's army, and hundreds of long ladders were put up on the city wall. Countless Cao's soldiers held the long ladder in one hand and the Huanshou knife in the other, desperately climbing to the top of the city. Cao's soldiers climbed up the long ladder.
Immediately losing the cover of the big shield, the Han army's crossbowmen had a place to use again, and they were so close to each other that they could almost make sure the arrows were missed. However, there were too many Cao soldiers, but the crossbowmen on the city walls were not
There are only 500 soldiers. If you keep shooting, how many of Cao's troops can be killed?
At this time, Minzhuang, who had been hiding behind the crossbowmen, began to show off his power. Rolling logs and stones were thrown down the city. Cao's soldiers on the long ladder were hit with bloody heads and screamed.
Go down. What’s even worse is being doused with gold juice and iron sand, which immediately burns your skin and flesh to pieces. The gold juice and iron sand are extremely poisonous. After being poured on it, it is not only difficult to cure, but also painful, and the screams are horrifying. Cao Jun’s offensive
It also stagnates.
Suddenly, a group of Cao Jun's crossbowmen rushed across the moat and launched a counterattack from the bottom of the city towards the top of the city. Many inexperienced civilians were hit by arrows, but they were protected by thick armor, so the casualties were not very large. After all, Cao Jun's bows
The power and range of crossbows cannot be compared with that of the Han army. Moreover, Shouchun City is several feet high, and the power of the arrows is greatly reduced when they reach the city. The Han army's armor made of high-quality iron can completely defend against some injured soldiers and civilians.
He was quickly carried down to the top of the city by the people in the city and received treatment, and these people also truly felt the cruelty of the war.
The entire Shouchun offensive and defensive battle lasted for two hours. Cao Jun used various methods, but Man Chong was able to resolve them one by one. At the same time, in order to ensure that the defenders and minzhuang had sufficient physical strength, Man Chong also adjusted the rotation time to one
hour.
Cao Cao was furious when he saw that the small Shouchun City was so tenacious and beat the war drum himself. Another wave of Cao's troops rushed towards Shouchun City.