After dinner, the moon gradually rose to the east. All the female guests sat upright, holding their breath and concentrating, waiting for the ceremony to begin. The queen wore a long dress with wide sleeves and looked as graceful as a fairy. She stepped onto the altar and worshiped the moon god Ye Ming under the witness of her elders and female officials! A female official recited the sacrificial rites on behalf of the queen. A fire was lit on the altar, and the sacrificial jade and silk scrolls were reduced to ashes in the fire. Baskets of sacrifices were poured into the big cauldron, and flames were rising under it, and a light fragrance soon emitted. Then, the aroma became stronger and stronger, rising straight into the sky. All the female guests bowed three times during the banquet.
The music changed to a gentle national style: "The moonrise is bright, the outstanding people are here. The gentle and graceful people are here, and the hard work is quiet..." The queen said a few words, and a female official came out and said loudly: "You have taught me, The men of the Zhao family are on an expedition to the battlefield, and I, the daughter of Zhao, are all worried about me. I would like to pray! Xing~, worship~; Xing~, worship~; Xing~, worship~."
King Zhao stood on the upper floor of the palace, looking at the women in the distance who were happy and bowing, and he couldn't tell what he felt in his heart. When he turned around, he saw a military envoy running towards him under the moonlight. King Zhao was worried about bad news, so he hurried downstairs and came to the vestibule. The military envoy was indeed sent by Zhao Kuo, but what came was good news: after the Qin army entered Shangdang, they launched an attack on Danzhu Ridge from the side and were repulsed! Zhao Jun plans to attack on all fronts on the next day!
King Zhao was very happy and sent someone to inform Lian Po. Lian Po did not come back. He only said that Zhao Jun's victory was all due to the virtue of King Zhao!
The music on the school ground changed again, turning into a generous and tragic song: "Beat the drums and boring them, and use the troops enthusiastically. I am marching south alone..." King Zhao felt that this song corresponded to his mood, so he sang it with the front yard He sang in a low voice: "The bond between life and death is broad, and I have said it to you. Holding my hand, I will grow old with you. I am sighing, but I can't live without it. I am sighing, but I don't believe it!"
When Lord Pingyuan and Lord Pingyang heard the song, their expressions changed. An ominous premonition came over them, but the two said nothing.
The news that Shicheng had been captured by the Qin army reached Handan at dusk on the 16th. But there was no sense of frustration in Zhao Kuo's battle report: "Qin's army attacked Shicheng with 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers. Xuanshi advanced alone. Please break the Qin wall, but it will collapse!" There was neither a request for help nor any instructions, as if everything It's all under control.
Lord Pingyuan did not dare to neglect, so he went to Lian Po first, and then to Le Yi. Lian Po believed that Shicheng was the last line of defense for the Zhao army. Shicheng was captured by the Qin army and the Zhao army was in danger, so he immediately sent troops to defend Handan and assist Changping. Le Yi believed that it was not necessarily a plan for the Qin army to occupy Shicheng; if the Zhao army left Danzhu Ridge and bypassed the enemy's rear, it would be an opportunity to turn defeat into victory. The best strategy for the Qin army is to fight against the Zhao army, but the worst strategy is to fight in the field! The two military strategists gave completely different answers, leaving Lord Pingyuan with no idea.
But King Zhao was more determined: "Kuo has not yet said defeat. He should be allowed to do so. Don't make any moves lightly, or you will miss the big plan! It is the autumn harvest, and if we send troops, we will not have enough for the year!"
Lord Pingyuan and Lord Pingyang both agreed with King Zhao’s opinion and chose to believe Zhao Kuo. We will only send a large number of sentinel detectives to various posts from Changping to Handan. If the war situation does not change, we will not send troops for the time being.
But from that day on, Handan never received any battle reports from Zhao Kuo. The connection between Changping and Handan was cut off by the Qin army! Handan could only frequently send various spies to Changping to gather information. Most of the spies returned without success, and a few were even captured by the Qin army.
The only thing Handan can know is that Zhao Kuo is still fighting in Changping and Changping has not been lost.
The Qin army suffered heavy casualties in the first day of field battle. Although they captured more Zhao troops, they were unable to leave the city to fight in the field on the second day. Zhao Kuo directly organized 30,000 Zhao troops and left the camp one after another.
Among the Zhao army that collapsed from Shicheng, a large number of soldiers lost their weapons and lacked physical strength. They were arranged outside the southern rampart, each received a bushel of food, and were left to fend for themselves. Last night, Zhao Kuo sent an order to the soldiers to fill baskets with soil in preparation for filling the trenches tomorrow. Anyone who retreats will be killed! Their work will be handled by a ten thousand general nearby. If any of them are afraid of moving forward, they will be killed on the spot! The ten thousand people will send three thousand people to supervise and guard these people's work.
The baskets containing soil were originally used to transport grains. After the grains were eaten, the baskets were still left and were gathered outside the south wall. The people dug all night and filled the baskets with soil. After beating the drums to signal the army, Zhao Kuo asked them to select 10,000 relatively strong soldiers from among them, and form groups of four in a basket, carrying soil to the south to gather at the attack point.
After 10,000 combat troops left the city, they saw that the Qin army did not leave the city, so they drove the troops directly in front of the barrier and lined up to cover it. Then let the soldiers who filled the trench carry the earth basket to the front.
Upon seeing this, the Qin army knew that the Zhao army was coming to attack, so they all prepared their bows and arrows and prepared to shoot.
Zhao Jun evenly distributed 2,500 baskets of soil behind the troops, sending only 100 baskets at a time, widening the distance, and running forward as hard as he could. Seeing this on the wall, he ordered to shoot. A dense rain of arrows came from the sky, but few of them actually hit. Since these 100 people didn't care about their formation and didn't need to cooperate, they just ran as hard as they could. They rushed to the trench in just three bursts of arrows, threw the basket of earth into the trench, turned around and ran back. About 70% of the soil could enter the ditch, and only half of the people could run back. The moment when they fell to the ground was the most dangerous time. They were less than ten steps away from the Qin army. The Qin army could directly aim and shoot; and such a close distance meant that as long as the arrow hit, most of the organs would be injured, and there was no way to escape!
The second team, the third team... One team after another Zhao Jun stepped forward bravely and poured earth to fill the trench; the soldiers who had been hit by arrows lay in a mess in front of the position, unable to breathe for a while, letting out screams and wailings. The Qin army gave up the arrow rain method and waited for them to get closer. Ten men shot at a basket of soil. This style of fighting increased Zhao's casualties and reduced the amount of soil that could be poured into the trenches. But baskets of soil continued to pour into the ditch.
Wang Lu had no choice but to ask swordsmen to come out to relieve the pressure of the attack. The fifth doctor had an idea and sent a thousand swordsmen with bows and arrows to sneak out of the wall and go around to the side of Zhao Jun to shoot arrows. Although there were few casualties, it caused chaos in the military formation. Zhao Kuo sent troops to drive them away. They dispersed in a hurry, but they hid in the dark and shot one or two arrows from time to time. These people are skilled in archery and have good physical strength. It is as if they are stuck to their bodies and cannot be shaken off. Zhao Kuo seemed to be interested in them and sent a second formation to fight them. On one side, individual soldiers have extraordinary abilities, while on the other side, they rely on collective strength. The two sides fought back and forth. But the first wave of threats was removed.
They persisted until all the earthen baskets were sent into the trench, and it was noon. There were no more than 3,000 people left to fill the trench. Zhao Kuo ordered the first formation to attack. Amidst the thunderous drum beats, Zhao Jun shouted and advanced. The Qin army fired arrows that filled the sky, and the Zhao army responded with arrows.
After rushing to the bottom of the barrier, Zhao Jun picked up the earthen baskets that failed to overturn in the trench, piled them under the barrier, forming a gentle slope, and attacked upwards with all his strength, and quickly reached the barrier. But the breakthrough was too narrow, and the Qin army launched blocking fire from both sides, quickly interrupting the Zhao army's offensive, and the Zhao army that entered the barrier was also wiped out.
Zhao Kuo ordered the follow-up troops to go into battle immediately. The third and fourth formations shouted and rushed forward. At the same time, all the strange soldiers rushed out of the camp fence and went into siege operations.
The Qin army adopted the tactic of taking the initiative to attack, sending spearmen up the slope and counterattacking, suppressing all the Zhao soldiers who rushed up the slope. But they were immediately attacked by Zhao Jun's bows and arrows, and suffered serious casualties.
The third group of Zhao troops arrived and took over the attack of the first group; the first group retreated dragging all the wounded they could see. They retreated behind the fourth formation and reorganized. Almost all of them were injured.
Zhao Kuo's banner pointed firmly in the direction of the Qin army, and at the same time he ordered the second batch of regular soldiers to line up out of the city.
When the fifth doctor saw that the swordsmen who went out to harass were restrained by the Zhao army, he simply sent out all five thousand swordsmen - because the battlefield could only accommodate five thousand people. The appearance of the swordsman really turned the tide of the battle, and the second formation was immediately defeated. Five thousand swordsmen rushed towards the attacking army.
Zhao Kuo showed no weakness and ordered the second batch of Zhao troops to leave the city to fight, ensuring the safety of the siege troops.
The narrowness of the battlefield limits the swordsman's personal abilities. The battle unfolds mechanically and repeatedly. Both sides have no room for change and can only fight with their lives!
Zhao Kuo ordered again to move the third batch of troops out of formation!
The first group of troops attacked the city, the second group of troops fought against the swordsmen, and the third group of troops became the reserve group. At this time, the battlefield has been completely filled up, and there is no room for any other troops. It is difficult to reinforce and retreat, and the only option is to fight to the death!
The swordsmen of the Qin Army are indeed strong. They can usually break through two of the Zhao Army's formations in one attack, and can also fight against the third formation of the Zhao Army. This caused the Zhao army's casualties to be much higher than those of the Qin army. However, limited by the narrow battlefield, this did not allow the Qin army to change the situation of the battle. The Zhao army still bit the Qin army, and the battle situation remained deadlocked.
Around the gentle slope of the attack breakthrough, there were numerous casualties and rivers of blood. Both sides invested their troops here. It was like a slaughterhouse, harvesting one life after another. Since the breach was not wide, the Qin army could attack from depth with bows and arrows, while only retaining sufficient troops at the breach. Zhao Jun does not have this convenience. Group after group of Zhao troops braved the rain of arrows and attacked crazily. Under the cover of the shield soldiers, the Zhao army's archers also shot arrows into the wall desperately, but the damage to the Qin army was completely different. After all, the Qin army was protected by barriers, which were much stronger than shields, and the Qin army's formation was far less dense than the Zhao army!
Attack up, retreat; attack up again, retreat again. After repeating this process, Zhao Jun no longer felt anything else but the thought of rushing to kill. After more than an hour of attacking, the density of arrow rain on the Qin army's position also began to decrease. The Qin army could not afford such consumption.
The blocking effect of bows and arrows decreased, and more Zhao Jun soldiers rushed to the barrier and started hand-to-hand combat. Zhao Jun's numerical advantage began to play out. Qi soldiers waved the halberds in their hands and climbed up the barrier, but were stabbed by several spears and knocked down. However, they opened up a gap for the halberdiers behind him. They were able to get up and attack the spearmen. There are even Zhao soldiers who can jump off the wall and bring temporary chaos to the Qin army.
