Yinfan waited for a long time before he met Wei Ba. Before that, he noticed some unusual details. If he didn't pay attention to observation, he might have overlooked them, but in the eyes of a caring person like him, these details could not be revealed.
Less important information.
First, he heard Wu dialect with a Langya accent. He is from Qingzhou and is no stranger to the Langya accent. Before coming to Chengdu, his original plan was to go to Wu County and he also knew Wu dialect. This strange accent
It caught his attention immediately.
In fact, he noticed that those who spoke Wu language left, and after a while, Fa Miao hurriedly appeared, still out of breath, and came back from outside again. Obviously, he should have gone to see off guests just now. From this,
It can be seen that this guest's status is not low, but not very high, so he can only be sent by Fa Miao, not Wei Ba himself.
Finally, when Yinfan entered the main hall, Wei Ba was already sitting in the hall with a solemn expression. It was not until he came in that Wei Ba showed a forced smile. Yinfan did not dare to think that Wei Ba was waiting for him. With Wei Ba's arrogance,
It is impossible to give him this face. He has been sitting here. Naturally, he has just considered important things and now needs to reflect on them. That is why he has been sitting in the hall with this look again.
While Yinfan saluted Wei Ba, he prayed that the Xizuo lurking outside the city could see the traces of these Wu people. After he entered Linyuan, the Xizuo lurking in Linyuan contacted him, so others were in the city.
There, I can still receive some messages secretly.
"How are you doing these days?" Wei Ba asked in a lukewarm tone.
"Understood some situations." Yinfan gave an overview of what he saw: "I think I should report these situations to General Hussar in time to prevent him from having too high expectations of the general. Although Jingzhou's farming has achieved results,
It is still difficult to support an army of 50,000 to 60,000 people with all the food and fodder."
Wei Ba's face brightened slightly, and he nodded slightly. "I'm very happy that Mr. Yin can be so considerate. However, although you have sharp eyesight, you still see too little, and it would be a pity to overgeneralize. So, I'll send someone
Protect Yinjun and go to Lingling again. When Yinjun reports to General Hussar, he will be able to report in more detail, so that the hard work will be worthwhile."
Yinfan secretly complained that he was going to Lingling a few days ago. Wei Ba made various excuses but refused to let him go. Now he was anxious to return to Xiangyang, but Wei Ba asked him to go to Lingling again, obviously.
No ulterior motives.
"General, the Cavalry General is fighting fiercely in Xiangyang. I'd better go back as soon as possible."
"Can you fight?" Wei Ba glanced at Yinfan with a somewhat mocking look: "I only knew that Yinjun was talented in eloquence and was familiar with Legalist techniques, but I didn't expect that he also knew how to march and fight. I would like to ask for advice if I have time.
"
Yinfan closed his mouth knowingly. Wei Ba made up his mind not to let him leave. He didn't know what his intention was, but if he insisted on leaving, it would easily make Wei Ba suspicious.
Yinfan returned to the posthouse, calm and calm on the surface, but he was very nervous in his heart. In the middle of the night, he finally received the report that the guest Wei Ba met today was Zhuge Ke. When Zhuge Ke came, he was targeted by the craftsmen.
It was just that he didn't have time to report it to Yinfan. What surprised the craftsmen was that Zhuge Ke was very calm when he came, but was very hurried when he returned, as if something had happened. What the specific matter was, I don't know.
Already.
Yinfan thought about it. Not daring to neglect, he immediately wrote the news into a secret letter and sent it out when he found an opportunity.
…
Xiangyang.
After more than half a month of hard work, Li Yan successfully piled dozens of mounds with the same height as the city wall outside Xiangyang City, and connected some of them into sections of earth walls. A large number of crossbow carts were pushed up
After reaching the mound, the Pili Chariot was pushed behind the mound, and with the help of the cover of the mound, it fired fiercely at the city's defenders from a distance of more than ten steps.
The situation of the Wei army became more and more difficult. Although the mounds were not as strong as the city walls, they could provide the Shu Han army with the greatest protection. Now the Shu Han army no longer needed to push heavy shield carts to shoot at the defenders on the city. Not only did they
There is an advantage in numbers, as well as an advantage in projectiles and arrows.
After Ma Jun's transformation, the Wei Army now also has Continuous Nut Chariots and Pili Chariots, but there are still some gaps in the technical performance of the two sides. Although the Wei Army's Continental Nut Chariots also use wheeled arrow loading, the arrow loading speed is not as fast as that of the Shu Han Army.
They need at least five people to operate a repeating crossbow cart, while the Shu Han army only needs three or four people to operate it. The Wei army's repeating crossbow cart is larger in size. Under the same size, the Wei army's repeating crossbow cart is equipped with more arrows.
The efficiency of continuous shooting is only about 70% to 80% of that of the Shu Han Army. Overall, the Wei Army's three repeating ballista vehicles can only equal the effect of the Shu Han Army's two repeating ballista vehicles.
The performance gap in the Pili chariots is even greater. All along, the Shu Han army's Liannu chariots have been hiding behind obstacles. It is difficult for the Wei army to see the true face of the Pili chariots, although some information was obtained from the sporadic confessions of the prisoners.
, but before Ma Jun had time to complete these modifications, he was transferred to Longyou to help Hao Zhao modify the ship. Therefore, Wei Jun's Thunderbolt Chariot still uses the manual pulling method of launch. The accuracy and distance of the launch,
The speed is quite different from that of the Shuhan Army's Thunderbolt Chariot.
However, the bigger gap lies in the supply of projectiles.
The projectiles used by the Shu-Han army were basically round stone projectiles of similar size and regular shape, which were fired with high accuracy and good repeatability. However, the stone projectiles used by the Wei army were either large stone balls, which were hammered by the masons.
Knocked out, the output is very limited, or they are irregular stones, large and small, which can only be roughly equal. Of course, the accuracy of firing such stone bullets will not be too high.
After the battle progressed to a certain extent, the Wei army would rather pick up the stone bullets fired by the Shu Han army than use the stone bullets they prepared themselves.
This restricted the Wei army's counterattack to a great extent and greatly shortened Li Yan's preparation time.
After all preparations were completed, Li Yan held a mobilization meeting before attacking the city.
Although the generals were a little bit critical of Li Yan's arbitrary actions, it took Li Yan just over a month to complete the siege of Xiangyang City and was about to enter the real siege battle, which greatly shortened the combat cycle and kept the battle losses under control.
It is also very outstanding. This proves that Li Yan's combat command ability is still very good. The hope of conquering Xiangyang City has been greatly increased. Everyone has temporarily put away their unhappiness and is preparing to win the starting position in the next siege battle.
opportunity.
Compared with the attitude of the general, for all soldiers, whether they can win the battle and whether they can make meritorious service and be rewarded is more important. No matter how bad a general's attitude is, as long as he can bring them victory and benefit, it will be better than
Smiling at them every day makes it more real.
So Li Yan's mobilization meeting went smoothly.
Li Yan said it very simply. The soil work for the siege has been successfully completed and all kinds of siege equipment have been prepared. Next, it depends on whether you can break the city. Those who fight bravely will be rewarded. Those who fight passively will naturally
There was also a military law attendant. He then announced the rewards. Those who climbed to the city first and killed generals of different ranks would have different rewards, which were clearly written. All of them were written clearly.
Seeing the reward, the generals and lieutenants in the tent were breathing thickly and their eyes were red, like vicious wolves. They puffed up their chests and looked at Li Yan with bright eyes, hoping that Li Yan would notice them. Here.
Their chance to fight.
Li Yan immediately announced the order of battle, waved his hand at the end, and said lightly: "Let's all get ready."
Regardless of whether they had any objections to him or not, they all agreed with a bang. Then they filed out of the tent and left carefully prepared.
The next day, Li Yan launched a fierce attack on Xiangyang City. Hundreds of continuous ballistas and thunderbolt chariots roared, and countless arrows and stone bullets flew towards Xiangyang City as if they were free. The defenders on the city were beaten.
The army could not raise its head. Aerial ladders stretched out from behind the mounds and were set up on the city wall. Groups of Shu Han soldiers in armor held up their shields and stepped on the wide and sturdy ladders to attack the city wall.
.
Although the Wei army tried their best to fight back, they were under tremendous pressure in the face of the powerful offensive of the Shu-Han army. General Lu Chang, who had been guarding Xiangyang for more than ten years, could not help but be frightened when he saw this scene. Li Yan's offensive not only exceeded any previous
An attack, even the last time Lu Xun and Wei Ba teamed up to attack the city, was no more than that, and Li Yan even exceeded it. He knew very well that Xiangyang's own strength alone was no longer enough to ensure the safety of Xiangyang. Without the arrival of reinforcements,
Xiangyang fell within a few days.
Lu Chang sent his dead men to risk crossing the Han River to seek help from Sima Yi.
…
Sima Yi sat on his horse, looking at Xiangyang City under the setting sun, his brows furrowed.
Li Yan's attack speed exceeded his expectations. He originally thought that facing a powerful city like Xiangyang, it would take Li Yan at least two to three months to complete the siege, and another month to capture Xiangyang City, back and forth.
, it can be as little as three months, as long as half a year or even more. After such a long time, the soldiers will naturally be tired and their morale will be relaxed. If they attack again at this time, the resistance will be much smaller. Unexpectedly, Li Yan only
Preparations for the siege were completed in one month.
"The defeat of the navy had a great impact on us." Sima Yi sighed with regret: "Without Fan Cheng's support, Xiangyang would have lost an arm. Without the worries of the flanks, Li Yan could concentrate on attacking the city, and the progress was faster than
It's much faster than we expected. At this rate, Xiangyang will be lost in half a month at most."
"Then what should we do?" Sima Zhao tightened the reins uneasily: "In half a month, can we break through the Shu army's naval blockade?"
Sima Yi laughed helplessly, not knowing how to answer. Master Sima responded calmly: "Xiangyang and Fancheng were originally the handover points for dismounting horses and changing boats. Now that the Shu army's navy is stronger, they can only occupy all of them."
It’s just the Han River, but when we enter Nanyang, it’s still the world of our great Wei cavalry.”
"Then we have to give up Xiangyang?"
"Xiangyang was originally a bait to lure Li Yan to bite." Master Sima glanced at Sima Yi: "Now it's just that Li Yan eats the bait faster. Why should father be so depressed?"
"Morale." Sima Yi sighed softly: "Xiangyang fell too quickly, which not only failed to achieve the purpose of consuming Li Yan's strength, but also greatly affected our morale. If we don't rescue Xiangyang, how can we explain it in front of His Majesty?"
Sima Master smiled silently and did not answer the conversation. Even though they were father and son, he also knew that there were some words that Sima Yi just said. He turned his head and looked into the distance. In the dusk, a horse was galloping towards him.
"It's my careful work." Master Sima turned his horse's head and faced him. Not long after, he came back again and said to Sima Yi with a smile: "Father, here's the reason. Wei Ba and Sun Quan are very close. Perhaps Sun Quan
Reinforcements will be sent from Wuchang, but we cannot rush deep into it and can only watch Xiangyang fall."
Sima Yi glared at him, took the secret report, read it carefully, and said in a deep voice: "No, Sun Quan wants to disrupt the situation. Even if he doesn't send troops to Xiangyang, he may still make some moves in the Jianghuai area. No, this matter
This must be reported to His Majesty immediately."
Sima Shi said with a half-smile: "Father, I'm afraid it's not just that. If Sun Quan makes any move, Wei Ba must be going north. Otherwise, he would not dare to allocate the troops defending Wei Ba to attack Jianghuai. According to me
Look, either one of them is motionless, or both of them are moving together. This is what we really have to worry about. Since Li Yan can conquer Xiangyang by himself, then Wei Ba will go north, and his goal is at least Wancheng." (To be continued)