War has always been cold, bloody, and cruel.
On July 21st, the Wei army began to attack the city. The sound of horns resounded throughout the world, arrows whistled like rain, and blood began to stain the earth.
Xuchang City is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Songshan Mountains to the northwest, Shiren Mountain and Funiu Mountain to the west, the Dabie Mountains and Boshan Mountains to the south, and only the central and northeastern parts are plains. Cao Cao built his capital here because it was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The city wall is square, about three miles on each side. The wall is six feet high and five feet thick. Under the city is a moat as deep as ten feet. The base of the city wall is not flat, but built into a steep slope, and ladders cannot be erected below.
At the cost of more than 300 casualties, the Wei army finally filled in five foot-wide avenues on the moat, and then used earth bags to level the base of the city wall so that ladders could finally be erected.
Amidst the sound of loud horns, the Wei army rushed to the city with the ladder on their shoulders. Several people held it steady while the others climbed towards the top of the city like apes with shields in one hand and knives in the other. Stones and rolling logs fell along the ladder. People kept falling from above, and screams were heard.
The Wei army launched an attack from the east gate. The guard at the east gate was Kuai En. Among the 600 soldiers under his command were 200 spearmen.
Kuai En leaned out from the battlements and saw the Wei army climbing up the ladder in dense numbers. He gently waved the steel spear in his hand and shouted loudly: "My sons, the Wei army is coming up. Guard the entrance of the ladder and kill them."
A figure poked out from outside the wall. Before Quin could see the other person's face clearly, he slammed the steel spear in his hand. There was a crisp "pop" sound, and the Wei Jun fell down with a scream.
"Kill", Kuai En's steel spear reached out again and knocked down the next Wei soldier. There were shouts of killing all around, and all the soldiers were fighting with the Wei army who had ascended the city.
Yang Anxuan came with 200 of his men for reinforcements, and the Wei army's attack was quickly suppressed.
Amidst the low sound of the trumpet, the Wei army retreated like a tide, leaving behind corpses strewn across the city and wounded soldiers groaning helplessly.
A quarter of an hour later, the attack began again, one wave after another like a rising tide, never ending. When the sun set, the Wei army retreated to the main camp. The soldiers on the city wall laughed in unison, and many of them collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Chinese website
On July 26, Zhao Tian arrived with 1,500 Runan County troops and 800 horses, pulling a long convoy. In addition to the 400 horse armors, there are also 20,000 sharp arrows, 500 iron knives and 400 spears.
Changsun Fei learned of the arrival of reinforcements from Runan and summoned the generals for discussion.
"The city of Xuchang is very strong. It has been six days since we attacked the city. We have lost nearly a thousand soldiers. We don't even have many chances to get on the city wall." Mo Tuchen sighed: "This Yang Anxuan really deserves his reputation."
A cold light flashed in Dai Mang's eyes, and he cursed: "I found that there is a place in the south of Xuchang City where the horse faces were pelted with stones and collapsed. Tonight, I will take people to touch it to see if we can seize the city."
Changsun Fei said: "Don't worry, tomorrow we will divide the ten thousand men into five teams and attack the city day and night. When the Jin army in the city is tired, you can take another try."
On July 27, from the end of Chen to Haishi, the Wei army's attack continued without interruption. They were in danger several times on the city wall and were suppressed by Yang Anxuan and Meng Longfu desperately.
Looking at the connected torches below the city, Zhao Tian said: "My lord, it seems that the Wei army is going to continue attacking the city in the dark, so beware of sneak attacks.
Yang Anxuan looked at the soldiers around him, all of them were exhausted, and said: "Let the brothers take turns to rest. A new group of young men in the city will help defend the city. Intensify patrols in the four cities. Don't let the Wei army come up in the dark."
Zhao Tian suggested: "The six hundred reserve troops should be the top ones."
Yang Anxuan shook his head and said: "Changsun Fei is brave and strategic. He must have a plan for attacking the city overnight. The reserve team will wait until later."
Looking at the soldiers staggering around holding their spears, Yang Anxuan said: "As many songs as the four families of Xun, Chen, Zhong and Yu can draw, let Ma Guang patrol the city with the songs of these four families."
When the child was approaching, the shouts of killing still resounded throughout the world. Changsun Fei said to Dai Mang beside him: "Go and try it."
There is no moon in the sky, the torches are blown around by the wind, and the black shadows are blurred.
Dai Mang and his five hundred soldiers, all wearing black leather armor, hid in the darkness and quietly moved towards the south gate. There was a lot of killing noise at the north gate,
There was no sound at the south gate.
Suddenly, a high-pitched horn sounded from the north gate, and Dai Mang knew that Mr. Lu Xiang was covering for him.
Looking at the swaying torches at the top of the city, Dai Mang and his men moved over quietly. Standing under the city wall, where the firelight could not shine at all, Dai Mang let out a soft breath.
Without looking up, Dai Mang was deeply impressed by the broken horse face. The bricks outside the city wall fell off, exposing the rammed earth inside the wall, revealing a half-foot-wide gap.
The climb from the city root to the gap is more than three feet high. Dai Mang said in a low voice to the short man beside him: "Qu Liufa, the next step is up to you. As long as you climb up, I will give you two hundred cows, five One hundred sheep."
The short man's eyes flashed and he said, "Don't worry, chief." Qu Liufa is a herb gatherer in the Yifu tribe. He has been climbing rocks and walls in search of medicinal materials for many years. This time he was recruited to go south.
He looked like an ape with his flowing hair, clinging to the small bumps on the city wall and climbing up, making almost no sound. Dai Mang's heart was raised high, and he stared at Qu Liu's hair climbing up. Success or failure depended on this one move.
After half a cup of tea, his flowing hair climbed up to the gap, and the sand fell "swissly".
The fire light came from far and near, and the sound of patrolling footsteps could be heard. Qu Liufa remained motionless, for fear of alarming the guards on the city wall.
The footsteps gradually moved away, and Qu Liufa let out a long breath, untied the rope from his waist, used the hook at one end to step into the rammed earth, and raised the rope to signal downwards.
When Dai Mang saw Qu's exile lowering the rope, he stepped forward to grab it and climbed up, and soon climbed onto the gap.
Dai Mang then untied the rope from his waist, and just like that, six ropes were lowered in just one stick of incense, and more than ten people were on board.
The gap could not accommodate so many people, so Dai Mang led the first climbers up the city wall.
The patrolling soldiers saw a dark shadow moving and shouted loudly: "Who? Who is there?"
Dai Mang took out his sword from his waist, signaled his subordinates to cover the gap behind him, and waited silently for the Jin army to come.
Soon, the sound of killing rang out, and the cry of "The Wei army has entered the city" woke up Yin Ji who was resting under the city. Yin Ji hurriedly put on his leather armor and ran towards the city wall with his machete.
At this time, the Wei army had already boarded more than fifty people, and Dai Mang led these people to kill towards the city gate.
Yin Ji rushed over and slashed at the Wei army who was charging forward with his sword. The Wei army met him with a sword, but the sword was cut off. The sword in Yin Ji's hand remained intact and struck the Wei army's chest, causing blood to fly out.
Dai Mang's heart trembled, what a fast knife. Seeing Yin Ji slashing at him with his sword, Dai Mang did not dare to take it hard, so he dodged and slashed towards Yin Ji's waist and abdomen with his sword.
Yin Ji raised his sword to block it. Dai Mang flipped his wrist and faced Yin Ji's blade with the blade. With a "ding" sound, the two knives bounced away.
Under the light of the torch, Dai Mang saw a clear mark on the blade of the sword, and shouted: "Erlang, let's do it together." The swords and guns on both sides started to kill each other.
Although there was no fighting at the south gate, there were insufficient defenders in the city. Yin Ji led his troops to reinforce the north gate three times during the day. The soldiers were exhausted. As more and more Wei troops entered the city at the gap, the Jin army had to fight and retreat.
Seeing that the situation was critical, Yin Ji shouted loudly: "Set arrows to call for help."
Three rockets took off into the sky with whistles. Someone was watching the sky above the four cities and immediately reported it to Yang Anxuan who was fighting at the north gate.
Yang Anxuan immediately ordered: "Let Zhao Tian bring the reserve army to reinforce."
Of the 3,000 garrison troops, 400 were arranged not to participate in the battle every day, specifically to deal with emergencies. The general leading the reserve army today was none other than Zhao Tian.
Zhao Tian received the order and rushed to the south gate with 400 reinforcements. From a distance, he heard the sound of killing on the city wall.
These Wei troops came out of nowhere. Zhao Tian quickened his pace and ran towards the city while giving an order: "Blow the horn."
The trumpet sounded, and the morale of the Jin army in the city was greatly boosted. Yin Ji forced Dai Mang away with a knife, and sneered: "Suonu, just wait to die."
The Jin army on the city in front of them was still resisting, and they would be able to seize the city gate in a while. Reinforcements actually arrived.
Dai Mang's eyes turned red and he roared: "My sons, Duke Lu Xiang has ordered us to capture the city of Xuchang. He will be promoted to the third level and will be rewarded with five hundred Han slaves and one thousand cattle and sheep each."
Those Wei soldiers were so stimulated by the heavy rewards that they went crazy.
Concerning his life, he rushed forward. Yin Ji was accidentally stabbed on his left shoulder, and his leather armor burst open, leaving a gash.
Yin Ji gritted his teeth and refused to retreat, slashing several times to block the advance of the Wei army. Zhao Tian's voice came from behind, "General Yin, go down and bandage your wounds. Leave this to Zhao."
A spear thrust out from the side and pierced into the lower abdomen of a Wei soldier. Zhao Tian turned his wrist and used force to lift the Wei soldier and throw him backwards. The Wei army dodged to both sides, disrupting the rhythm.
After handing over his hand, Dai Mang immediately noticed that the new Jin army was fierce and the weapons in their hands were extremely fast. More than ten people were cut down one after another. The offensive momentum was dampened and all of his subordinates were unable to move forward.
Dai Mang sighed secretly, knowing that the secret attack had failed. He brandished his sword and shouted, "The north gate is about to be broken. I will support you until Lord Lu Xiang enters the city. Everyone will be rewarded."
He signaled his guards to lead the charge forward, but Dai Mang took the opportunity to retreat. Zhao Tian recognized him as a general and shouted loudly: "General Wei has escaped. Let's take advantage of the victory to kill the enemy."
When the Wei army saw Dai Mang retreating, they all fled towards the gap. Some people couldn't retreat and simply jumped from the top of the city. As for whether they would fall to death or break their legs, it was left to God to decide. It was better than being hacked to death.
Two quarters of an hour later, Zhang Sunfei learned that Dai Mang's attack on the city had failed. He looked at the brightly lit Xuchang City and ordered: "Withdraw the troops."
The Wei army did not attack the city the next day, so Yang Anxuan took the time to repair the damage to the city wall. After leveling the gap in the south city, he filled the sand and soil with straw bags and sent someone to guard it.
The atmosphere in the Wei army camp and the central military tent was a bit solemn. No one expected that Xuchang City would be so difficult to attack.
Changsun Fei said with a smile: "I followed Long live in the north and south, defeated Liu Xian, Kumoxi, and Helan tribes, defeated Rouran, Liu Weichen, and Xue cadres, and made many military exploits."
Mo Tuchen praised sincerely: "Gong Lu Xiang takes the lead in every battle. He has made outstanding achievements and is deeply relied on by Long Live."
Dai Mang also said: "Lu Xianggong's soldiers are like gods. He will definitely be able to lead us to attack Xuchang and kill Yang Anxuan."
Seeing that the morale of the generals had returned, Changsun Fei said in a deep voice: "Xuchang is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Attacking forcefully is not the answer. The Qin State attacked Luoyang for more than a hundred days. In the end, the old soldiers of the division were exhausted and defeated by the Jin army. We must not be careless."
Dai Mang said bitterly: "These cowardly Jin people are hiding in their turtle shells. If they dare to go out of the city to fight, I can defeat them with only a thousand men."
Changsun Fei twirled his beard and thought. The siege of Zhongshan City was also unfavorable. The emperor pretended to withdraw his troops and lured the Yan army into the city to fight. He ambushed and defeated the Yan army on the way and captured Zhongshan City. Xuchang City might as well take the medicine as ordered.
After expressing their thoughts, the generals started talking about it. Some praised the clever plan, some said that the Jin army was too timid to leave the city to pursue, and some said that it would be better to move to Xiangcheng and bypass Xuchang to seize other cities.
Changsun Fei said: "I have made two arrangements. When we move to Qingzhou to capture Pengcheng, we might as well hide an ambush. If Yang Anxuan dares to pursue him, we can turn against him and destroy him, and return to seize Xuchang City. If Xuchang City is closed, we can also Go east with peace of mind and capture Qingzhou."
All the generals respectfully agreed.
