Seeing that the opponent was attacking the city with all its strength, Zhang Liao was not surprised but happy!
What he was most worried about was that Li Jue would not attack but would seize the enemy. He would seize this opportunity to encircle the enemy for reinforcements and cannibalize the surrounding troops bit by bit. Everything we did before was actually to make this battle a quick one! Zhang Liao knew in his heart that the situation in Liangzhou was treacherous at this time. Only by ending this war earlier could he have the energy to face the next opponent!
And what Zhang Liao knew, Li Jue, who had experienced hundreds of battles, naturally knew it too. He had not thought much about relying on his large number of soldiers before, but after the previous disastrous defeat of the Pioneer Battalion, Li Jue was also deeply aware of his recklessness, but now an arrow was on the string. I have to say that Li Jue’s ideas coincide with Zhang Liao’s!
If we retreat now, our troops will definitely be demoralized, and they will most likely be surrounded and annihilated by Lu Bu, Dong Yue, Xu Rong and others! At present, Lu Bu can only complete his victory in one battle. After taking Tianshui, whether he evacuated Liangzhou or ordered Hu Feng to stay in Wuwei to quickly come to support, and join forces to capture Wudu and Hanzhong, we can rely on their geographical advantages to resist the enemy. The enemy troops coming down.
It is not so much that Lu Bu's army has no time to fight a war of attrition, but it is more that it is truly unbearable for Li Jue now.
Seeing that the opponent's ladders had been set up on the city wall, Zhang Liao immediately shouted: "Defend the enemy!! Stone!" Hearing this, all the archers bent back and a group of soldiers, holding a shield in each hand, stepped forward to block the shot. When the bows and arrows came, another group of soldiers held stones and threw them down from the gap in the city wall!
At this time, a soldier dressed as a captain behind him came forward and said: "General, the trebuchet is ready, do you need to start it now?"
Zhang Liao's eyes fell on a short mountain not far away, shook his head and said: "Wait a little longer..."
A moment later, a red flag suddenly flew up from the low mountain. Zhang Liao immediately shouted: "Trebuchet, launch!"
As the words fell, dozens of people behind pulled the ropes at the same time, and bursts of howling wind sounded. At this time, due to the numerical advantage and the fact that there were no bows and arrows fired in the city, the archers of Li Jue's army were just about fifty steps away from the city wall!
Suddenly, there were whistling sounds. Looking up, I saw countless fist-sized stones falling from the sky, and suddenly there were wailing sounds! The bows and arrows under the city suddenly stagnated, but the archers on the city wall who had been prepared quickly stepped forward to shoot without needing to be reminded! Zhang Liao on the city looked back at the three trebuchets not far behind him and sighed in his heart!
This is the material provided by Xu Shu of Wudu. A few days ago, a team of craftsmen were sent to install it. Due to limited time, only six were assembled at one time. Initially, Zhang Liao did not have high hopes for this, but after a test launch Later, it was an eye-opener!
Unlike traditional trebuchets whose accuracy cannot be determined in the past, the operation provided by Xu Shu has a net pocket on the long side of the top lever to hold stones. Everyone only needs to pull the rope at the other end at the same time to make the stones fly out and attack the opponent. After several adjustments, the weight of the stone and the distance of throwing the stone were finally determined, and the shooting range was finally set at about fifty steps from the city. This is also the best attack distance for the archers under the city!
After all, time is short and the stones that can be found are limited. How to accurately grasp the timing is another problem, so there were scenes of Lu Bu luring the enemy and attacking Li Jue with fire!
Li Jue did not notice that the place where the fire broke out was the best shooting range for the archers, and the charred ground after the fire was extinguished was the best mark! The signal troops arranged by Zhang Liao in advance were ambushed in a more conspicuous place in the mountains and forests. From a distance, once the enemy archers entered the range of the catapult, they would wave their flags, thus maximizing their effectiveness.
It is said that Xu Shu got acquainted with King Hongnong when he was traveling and entrusted him with important responsibilities. This time when he went to Yizhou, he entrusted Xu Shu with full power over his foundation. Originally, all forces sneered at the news, but the previous series of commands made people look at it with admiration. What is even more amazing is that the design of this trebuchet was also made by him. Even Zhang Liao, who has a high self-esteem, also While I felt ashamed, I also admired He Sian's vision of people.
'It seems that the bets made by Marquis Wen and Mr. Li Ru are right. King Hongnong really has the appearance of a wise king! '
Half an hour later, the siege continued. At this time, Li Jue had calmed down. Every time the archers were in position, countless gravel would be thrown into the opponent's city. Li Jue also knew that the opponent could not have too many stones to use. Throwing, but he did not dare to gamble. At this moment, a scout rushed over and whispered a few words to Li Jue. Hearing this, Li Jue was shocked at first. After a while, he calmed down and made a bold decision. He called the messenger and shouted to him: "Notify the other three sides to attack the city!!"
Hearing this, Duan Yan, who joined the army next to Li Jue, was shocked and said: "My lord, you can't do this!"
Li Jue shook his head, first ordered the messenger to go down and deliver the order, and then called Duan Xuan and said helplessly: "Hey, Li knows the meaning of Zhongming (Duan Xuan's word), but now it seems that this battle is indeed a bit hasty. Not to mention that Lu Bu is good at attacking but not good at defending, he can force us into such a situation. The Hanzhong Zhang Wei and Wuwei Xu Rong we will face next have many times the strength of Lu Bu. Moreover, there is the danger of Qishan Mountain to rely on. , how to attack with such sharp weapons? Moreover, the scouts have just sent news that Cao's traitorous troops have gathered in Chang'an and may march to Liangzhou at any time! Rather than being attacked from both sides, it is better to complete the victory in one battle. Only after defeating Lu Bu can we have a chance. After a lot of maneuvering, you can be invincible!"
Duan Yan watched the soldiers attacking the city in front fall down one by one, and could only nod helplessly. At this time, Li Jue slowly spoke again and whispered: "Zhongming, I always have a bad feeling. Please lead me quickly." With your own troops, return to Wuwei to inform Hu Feng of the news here, and order him to rectify his troops and go to Lingju to meet me. If things cannot be done here, we will go to Jincheng County and go out of the game!"
Duan Xuan's pupils narrowed upon hearing this.
"What do you mean, sir... are you ready to withdraw your troops?" Duan Yan asked in a cautious voice.
Li Jue didn't answer, just nodded imperceptibly, and Duan Yan sighed inwardly! When he was about to leave to mobilize his troops, he was stopped by Li Jue and continued: "By the way, it is said that Hua Xiong is stationed in Huining. Zhongming remembers to return the same way. Go ahead and be careful along the way!"
Two days later, Duan Xuan and his party finally returned to Wuwei County. However, instead of feeling happy about returning home, everyone became more and more depressed as they went deeper. All the villages they passed were slaughtered, leaving only corpses all over the ground. Bloodstains, corpses and ruins!
After walking for another half day, I finally found a dying old man in a village and learned a shocking news from him!
From the beginning of the battle between Li Jue and Lu Bu, Hu Feng used Li Jue's name to loot the entire Wuwei County, and took all the old, young, women, and children of the entire Wuwei County hostage. Counting the soldiers and horses originally left behind, a total of about 150,000 people were gathered, and they have now arrived in Jingyuan. , the target is directly at Huining, where Hua Xiong is located.
"Hu Feng is going to do something serious!"
"That's right, even if we capture Tianshui, how can we stand on it?"
"General! General? What do we do next?"
The soldiers under his command yelled and cursed, but Duan Yan turned a deaf ear and clues flashed through his mind!
'Ma Teng was suddenly assassinated, and Han Sui and Ma Chao split and gave way to retreat. '
"Li Jue adopted Hu Feng's strategy to fight Lu Bu and seek Wudu and Hanzhong. '
The fierce battle in Liangzhou was closely related to Lu Bu, but Wudu had not dispatched the main force for a long time. '
'When Cao Cao was stationing troops in Chang'an, Hu Feng used Li Jue's name to coerce the people without receiving any orders, and his target was Huining! '
'Wait a minute... Ma Teng's death, Han Sui's unusual behavior, Hu Feng... Cao Cao? ! 'Thinking of this, Duan Xuan had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and suddenly all the connections were clear!
'Yes, all this is Cao Cao's conspiracy, and we are just a gun. No matter who wins in the end, Wudu or Cao Cao, there will be no bones left on our side. Xu Shu, who stayed behind in Wudu, should also see this. That's why he delayed sending troops to support Lu Bu, lest the casualties would be too great and Cao Cao would benefit! '
Soon, Duan Xuan told his soldiers about this. They were filled with indignation and cursed Hu Feng's shamelessness and Cao Cao's cunning and insidiousness.
"General, what should we do now? Should we return to Tianshui to inform Mr. Li?"
Duan Xuan shook his head and said: "It's too late. Judging from Hu Feng's actions, Cao Cao should have already sent troops..." There was an uproar among the soldiers. After a while, a soldier came forward and knelt down and said: "I'll wait. I have followed the general for many years. Whatever the general plans, I will naturally follow him!!"
'Take refuge in Cao Cao? 'Although Cao Cao currently seems to have an overwhelming advantage, a tall and thin figure from the same village flashed through Duan Yan's mind. It is said that that person thrived under He Sian, and it is not as good as...
