Chapter 551 The three armies are mighty and brave, besieging the remnants of the enemy
"My lord, could it be that..." Zhang Song, who looked surprised, seemed to have guessed Yan Liang's intention, but he was not sure.
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Cang rushed in excitedly and handed over a piece of paper, "Lord, this is our elaborate plan to sneak into Fucheng. The latest information shot out of Fucheng this morning."
Judging from Zhou Cang's expression, I thought this information was good news.
While Yan Liang was eating breakfast, he motioned to Zhou Cang to read it out directly.
Zhou Cang then read out the information in front of Zhang Song, but the more Zhang Song heard the information, the more surprised he looked on his face.
The intelligence said that last night, Zhang Ren and Wu Yi broke into Ma Chao's big tent at night and took away his brother Ma Dai for questioning and investigation in the name of censorship.
Therefore, Ma Dai has considerable prestige in the Xiliang army. When the news came out, the more than 5,000 Xiliang soldiers were extremely angry and extremely dissatisfied. From last night to this morning, there have been several conflicts with soldiers from Shu.
Although the conflict between the soldiers of the two sides was quickly subsided under the strong suppression of Zhang Ren and Ma Chao, the soldiers of the two sides were deeply hostile to each other, and the entire Fucheng was in an atmosphere of constant tension.
This is the information read out by Zhou Cang, and it is indeed a refreshing piece of information.
"It turns out that my lord sent Ma Ziyue to persuade Ma Chao to surrender, and he actually had such an intention. Now my lord has provoked the Shu army to fight among themselves without any effort. My lord's method is really brilliant."
Suddenly enlightened, Zhang Song's face was full of surprise and he couldn't help but admire loudly.
Yan Liang only smiled at Zhang Song's praise.
In fact, Ma Dai's move was not deliberately planned by him, he was just following the trend.
Ma Chao and Zhang Ren were both arrogant men. When Ma Chao surrendered to Liu Zhang, Yan Liang suspected that it would be difficult for the two of them to get along.
Now Ma Chao took the initiative to propose a decisive battle and ordered the withdrawal of troops. The person who caused the big defeat was Shu general Wu Yi. Yan Liang thought that after the big defeat, the two sides would blame each other.
Last night, Ma Dai took the initiative to persuade Ma Chao to surrender. Yan Liang wanted to use Ma Dai as a prisoner. If he returned to Fucheng unharmed, Zhang Ren's side would definitely become suspicious and take necessary actions to prevent Ma Dai from becoming his Yan Liang's slave. "Internal response".
So, if this happens, the suspicion and distrust between the Xiliang soldiers and the Shu soldiers will most likely be ignited because of Ma Dai.
The current intelligence proves that Yan Liang's suspicions are completely correct, and the situation of internal fighting among the Shu army has come earlier than Yan Liang imagined.
"My lord has a clever plan. The Shu soldiers and the Xiliang soldiers are now fighting among themselves. Zhang Ren and Ma Chao also have a deep grudge. We will not take advantage of the situation to attack the city at this time. Please give me the order to attack the city when the time comes."
Zhang Song's expression was generous and excited, and he generously asked for a fight.
Yan Liang's blood was also agitated, and he stood up so much that he waved his hands and said: "What Yongnian said is the right time, it is time to deal the last blow to that group of miscellaneous soldiers. According to Gu's order, in the afternoon, the whole army will Besieged from all sides, I want to defeat Fucheng in one fell swoop."
When the order for the general attack was given, the soldiers in the army, who were already eager to try, immediately became excited.
After a feast of wine and meat before noon, more than 40,000 soldiers came out of the camp in the afternoon. Under the leadership of Huang Zhong, Gan Ning, Yan Yan and other fierce generals, they began to launch a crazy attack on the east, north and south gates of Fucheng. .
The Thunderbolt vehicles that arrived at the front line once again exerted the threat of long-range bombardment. More than two hundred Thunderbolt vehicles launched a non-stop bombardment of Fucheng.
The more than 40 newly arrived crossbow vehicles carried out long-distance precise strikes against the Shu army on Fucheng at an extremely long distance.
Under the attack of sophisticated weapons, the three gates of Fucheng were bombarded to pieces before the Yan army could attack the city.
And the iron cluster, which was half a man long and could penetrate directly through the female wall, inflicted horrific damage on the Shu army huddled under the wall.
After several hours of long-range strikes, the heroic Yan Jun soldiers began to launch a full-scale assault on the enemy city.
Hundreds of ladders, dozens of towers, more than a dozen rams, and all kinds of siege equipment from light to heavy were all mobilized to the front line.
The warriors who dared to ascend the city braved the stray arrows on the city to climb up the city. The crossbowmen in front of the moat kept firing arrows, trying their best to suppress the enemy's counterattack at the top of the city.
Huang Zhong, Gan Ning and other senior generals galloped along the city line, commanding their men to attack the enemy city one after another.
From afternoon to dusk, for half a day, Yan Jun's attacks never stopped for a moment.
After several hours of strong attack, Fucheng was completely devastated. The most tragic part was the south gate, where most of the city gate had been burned down by Yan Liang.
On the front line of the city wall, Yan Jun suffered nearly 3,000 casualties. The corpses piled up in layers under the city wall, and the blood flowing out even dyed the water of the moat bright red.
Yan Liang, who was stationed more than a hundred paces away from his horse, faced this tragic sacrifice, but did not issue an order to temporarily withdraw his troops.
Although our own troops suffered heavy casualties, the enemy troops at the top of the city suffered heavy casualties under the attack of their own arrows and crossbows.
Moreover, it was the suspicion between the Xiliang soldiers and the Shu soldiers that led to their incoordination and failure to rescue each other, which greatly weakened the Shu army's already insufficient combat effectiveness.
Ma Chao personally directed the defense of the east gate line, but because there were too few troops, the defense was already in danger until now.
How could Yan Liang miss such a great opportunity so easily and give the Shu army a chance to breathe?
His eyes were as cold as a blade, bursting with determination and confidence. If Fucheng was not captured today, he would not withdraw his troops.
"Where is Zhou Zifeng!" Yan Liang shouted after watching the battle for a long time.
"The end is here!"
Yan Liang pointed his horse whip at the enemy city in the distance and said sternly: "I order you to lead four thousand Tiger Guard troops to reinforce Gan Xingba at the east gate. If you don't capture the east gate before dark, you will come to see me."
"No!" Zhou Cang accepted the order and rode away.
Four thousand Tiger Guard soldiers, moving like the wind, followed Zhou Cang and rushed towards the east gate.
At this point in the battle, only the last straw was left to break the enemy's overburdened camel. At this point, Yan Liang had nothing to hesitate. Naturally, he devoted his pro-military camp to the battle.
Go into battle.
Zhou Cang led four thousand troops and rushed to the front line of the east city in a blink of an eye. They joined Gan Ning's siege army.
At this time, the Yan army's siege army gathered in the east city had reached an army of 20,000. However, at the head of the city, Ma Chao's troops, who were struggling to support themselves, only had 4,000 remaining soldiers.
Just as Yan Liang expected, the addition of Zhou Cang's 4,000 Tiger Guard troops really became the last straw that broke the Xiliang army's back.
During the almost frenzied attack by Yan's army, the demoralized Xiliang soldiers on the Dongcheng front line were finally unable to stop them.
Several city walls were breached, and hundreds of Yan troops were promoted to city soldiers. They rushed to the top of the city regardless of their own safety.
A fire had already started at the city gate, and Yan Jun had used fish oil to ignite the thick city gate, which was burning fiercely.
"General, the enemy's attack is too fierce. There are too many people, and we can't hold it any longer." Pang De, who was running towards us, shouted.
Ma Chao glanced at the embarrassing battle situation, hesitated for a moment, and gritted his teeth and said: "If we can't hold it, we don't have to hold it anymore. We can't sacrifice our Xiliang athletes in vain anymore. Send the order, and the whole army will quickly leave the city towards the west gate and retreat south to Mianzhu."
Before he finished speaking, Ma Chao had already raised his gun and hurried away towards the city.
Pang De had no choice but to order the entire army to abandon the defense of the city, and more than 3,000 remaining soldiers rushed towards the west gate.
Not long after fleeing, Pang De caught up with Ma Chao and shouted: "General, let's retreat first. Once Yan's army enters the city, won't Zhang Renjun and Wu Yi's army be trapped in a situation where they are attacked from both sides? Otherwise, we will send Pegasus to convey them and order them to do so."
Let’s withdraw our troops together.”
"I just want them to be attacked from both sides. It would be best for those two guys to die in Fucheng. Then Liu Zhang will have no one to use. He can only rely on us. The military power of Yizhou will be easily obtained." Ma Chao said with a cold tone.
A chill ran down Pound's back.
After running for a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly: "General Ziyue is still locked up in the Shu barracks. What if Zhang Ren and the others killed General Ziyue in a rage?"
Ma Chao frowned, paused for a moment, and shouted: "At this point, we should focus on the overall situation and don't care about much. The most important thing is to withdraw from Fucheng first and preserve our strength."
At this point, Ma Chao actually had no time to care about his cousin's life or death.
Pang De's heart was shaken, and a chilling feeling rose from the soles of his feet in an instant, making his whole body shiver.
As his thoughts rolled around, Pound gritted his teeth secretly, turned his horse sharply, and headed toward the southwest.
"Pang Lingming, what are you going to do?" Ma Chao shouted.
"I will save General Ziyue, and then I will go to the west of the city to meet up with the general." Pang De replied without looking back, riding his horse like the wind.
In the blink of an eye, Pang De's man had gone far away, and Ma Chao could not stop him, so he had to let him go, but he whipped his horse whip and ran towards the west gate.
Pang De, who left the main force, led only a dozen cavalry troops and headed straight for Wu Yi's camp in the southwest of the city.
At this time, all the Shu soldiers were guarding the city, and there were only a few hundred old, weak, sick and disabled people left in the camp. Pang De rode straight in. The remaining soldiers were afraid of his power and were unstoppable.
Pound then caught an enemy soldier, found out that Ma Dai was locked in a cage in the rear camp, and galloped away on horseback.
At this time, Ma Dai was locked in a small cage, listening uneasily to the loud shouts of death outside.
Ma Dai knew that the lord Yan Liang was launching a fierce attack on Fucheng, and the lord of Fucheng would definitely change hands before tonight.
While he was listening, he saw Pound coming on horseback and slashing through the prison cage with his sword.
"Ling Ming, why are you here? How is the war going?" Ma Dai jumped out of the prison car with a look of surprise on his face.
Pang De grimaced and said helplessly: "The Yan army's offensive is too fierce and we cannot defend it. General Meng Qi has already withdrawn his troops and retreated through the west gate. I came here specially to rescue General Ziyue. It's not too late. General Ziyue will follow me to the west city immediately."
retreat."
With that said, Pound asked the soldiers to bring in a war horse and found a sword for Ma Dai.
Ma Dai, with the war horse on his hip, shook his head: "Brother, for his own selfish interests, he has reached the point where he doesn't even care about the life and death of his brothers. What's the point of following such a eldest brother?"
Pang De looked shocked and wanted to say something, but fell silent.
Obviously, although Pang De did not say it explicitly, he was also dissatisfied with Ma Chao's decision to let Zhang and others take away Ma Dai in the tent yesterday.
Ma Dai rode his horse forward, stroked Pang De's shoulder and said: "Ling Ming, brother, he has gone crazy. If you continue to blindly follow him, you will be sacrificed by him sooner or later. Why don't you stay with me and join Da Sima Yan?"
