Chapter 72 Thief Aid
In ancient times, there were no electric lights, so people used to go to bed early and get up early. Is it the so-called "work at sunrise and rest at sunset"? In the north, in the summer when it gets early, people get up to work in the fields at four or five in the morning, finish work at ten o'clock and go home for "breakfast and lunch"; they have their second meal at four o'clock in the afternoon, or at the latest five or six o'clock, that is Dinner, then some chatting, then bed to have the baby. There is a saying: Don’t light a lamp when eating in summer - lamp oil is also money, so save it if you can. In winter, it gets dark early and goes to bed earlier.
It's still past midnight (a little after 2 p.m.).
As usual, according to the work and rest habits of this era, shortly after Shen Shi (3-5 pm), both sides should withdraw their troops and return to camp to fight again tomorrow. At this time, thousands of fresh troops were sent to besiege. Could it be that...the thieves actually wanted to break the city with one blow?
If we do not take into account external factors such as the opponent's command errors, Henan Prefecture or Henan Province sending large reinforcements, etc., Wang Jian is very clear based on the strength comparison between Shaanzhou Prefecture and the thieves. Although it may take even a few months, the thieves will break through the city. It's always a matter of time. But there are too many things that are uncontrollable on the battlefield. Let’s not talk about reinforcements. Let’s take Liu Shiting’s sworn “Oracle from the Immortal to destroy thieves in three days” as an example. A heavy rain, the Yellow River bursting its banks, a fire in the camp, etc., etc. Either way, the thieves without the protection of the city wall can be wiped out in an instant.
For the thieves who have an absolute advantage in military strength, since they can capture it sooner or later, it is definitely not a wise move to break the city in the evening of the first day: not only will it increase a large number of casualties pointlessly, but most people have Night blindness, for the city defenders and civilians who are more familiar with the street terrain, will take a great advantage in street fighting at night, and may lead to a counter-killing situation. Once a local collapse occurs, it is likely to affect the entire front, and the war situation will be completely reversed!
Then...why are the thieves increasing their troops now? Wang Jian was puzzled.
If you don't understand it, you still have to challenge it.
Wang Jian saw clearly that these thousands of people were still unarmored auxiliary soldiers. Most of them were holding not swords and guns, but tools such as hoes and pickaxes. He was even more convinced that the thieves wanted to use the auxiliary soldiers to consume the defensive force and kill them at the critical moment. Throw in elite soldiers and fight at night after breaking the city.
The disadvantages of blocking the city gate are now fully exposed: if the city gate is open and not protected by armored soldiers, these thousands of unarmored auxiliary soldiers are just fish on the chopping board, and only a few hundred commandos need to be gathered in the city to launch a counterattack. They were defeated and defeated. Even if the thieves' soldiers rush up from behind to respond, they will be blocked by the broken troops all over the mountains and plains. To put it ten thousand steps back, even if the battle situation is unfavorable, the counterattack team will not have to return to the city, and the long-range firepower on the city can defeat a group of chasing enemies! It's a good thing now. The thief is suppressing him and beating him with confidence, so he has no choice but to be beaten! Wang Jian is holding his breath.
A horn sounded from the bandits, and immediately, several yellow flags waved simultaneously on the watchtower. Just now when the thieves' auxiliary soldiers dragged away the crashed car that was smashed by a millstone at the city gate, the enemy formation also waved the yellow flag - Wang Jian guessed that this was a signal to replace the soldiers. Several flags waved together, probably to replace all the auxiliary soldiers who attacked in the first round.
Wang Jian guessed correctly.
The thief auxiliaries below the city did not retreat immediately, but waited for the second wave of replacements to rush towards them despite arrows and rocks before they began to retreat one after another. In order to reduce casualties when exposed to open areas, the thieves who evacuated the battlefield did not retreat directly to their own positions in a straight line, but moved to the east and west sides against the walls.
A group of auxiliary thieves holding large wooden shields surged up next to each tower. Under their cover, the thieves in the tower filed down and then ran wildly towards the blind spot at the base of the wall. Maybe he saw that there was no room under the wall, or maybe he was ordered to drag the tower back. There were still some thieves surrounding the tower and did not leave. At this time, another thing attracted Wang Jian's attention: the thieves must have seen the large stone strips blocking the city gate, and knew that the crash cars could not do anything about it. Several crash cars near the south gate also left one after another, turning around and moving to the west. . The frontal protection of the crash car was very good, but when it turned to the west, the flanks were exposed. In order to avoid the attack, the thieves concentrated on the south side and pushed hard. Wang Jian immediately organized the archers at the top of the city to interfere with shooting—— Subconsciously, I felt that the empty tower would not pose any threat, so I didn't pay much attention to it.
If the accident did not happen after dark, this would be the biggest mistake Wang Jian had ever made.
Looking at the car that was struggling to move through the rocks and the tower that was not protected by soldiers, Wang Jian suddenly had a thought in his mind: hold on until dark, move the rocks away at night, and put on a little disguise, so that the thieves can attack the next day. At this time, you can launch a counterattack unexpectedly!
However, just thinking about it, mobilizing the people must be ordered by civilian officials - the highest official, Ma Wensheng, never showed up.
At this moment, a loud baritone voice sounded in my ears: "This enemy can be hit!" Turning his head and looking around, Liu Shiting stood beside him, twirling his beard as if standing still.
I didn’t expect that this person was actually a close friend! Wang Jian asked excitedly: "Sir, do you think so too?"
What Liu Shiting was pulling in his mind was his own little plan, and he wanted to foreshadow the boasting about Haikou. Liu Shenxian's words didn't mention time - should we attack now or sooner or later in the future? When a sentence is blocked at both ends, how do you think about it and make sense? This is the basic skill of this industry. Unexpectedly, Wang Jian took the bait immediately and nodded: "How can the metaphor of an immortal be false? Why, does General Wang think so too?"
Finding out what the other person is thinking is also the trick in this business.
"Yes! Sir, please see, although there are many thieves, they are all armorless. As long as a few hundred officers and soldiers make a counterattack, they will be defeated! The armored thieves are more than a hundred feet away. If they are rushed by the defeated troops, they must be Not as good as rescue. It’s a pity..."
Liu Shiting responded: "The common people don't know how to fight, but they have a little knowledge of the art of looking at Qi. General Wang, please take a look," he pointed with his hand and continued like the real thing, "There is black Qi surging there, which is obviously a sign of defeat." Now! By the way, General Wang said it was a pity, may I ask why?"
Wang Jian stared for a long time with his eyes wide open. In the end, he seemed to realize that there was a black energy lingering in a trance, so he told him that the big stone blocked the door, and that he needed Ma Wensheng's approval for a sneak attack.
After hearing Wang Jian's thoughts, Liu Shiting clasped his fists and said, "The common people will go find Master Ma now."
Wang Jian was overjoyed: "Thank you very much, sir."
Ma Wensheng is currently in the Chenghuang Temple.
When the fighting started in the morning, Ma Wensheng didn't dare to climb the city. He ran to the Baolun Temple tower and took a look. He was shocked to see so many thieves and siege towers and other equipment pushing towards them. Seeing that the bed crossbow couldn't do anything to Gao Tengdou's watchtower, he was even more frightened. Before Wang Jian could gather fire to destroy the first tower, he ran home quickly.
I didn't know what to do when I got home. I packed up my belongings and changed my clothes before I realized that all four doors were blocked and there was no way to escape. After thinking for a while, he changed back into his official clothes and ordered his servants to find the boat - there were no thieves at the north gate. No matter how fast the Yellow River was, it couldn't compare to the fierce thieves, right? There must be an experienced boat boss who can cross the river! The servants patrolled the whole city, and all the boatmen agreed that it was impossible: Throwing a wooden board would cause the waves to roll to the bottom of the river. How could a wooden boat withstand the rapids in front of the waterfall? While he was yelling at the unruly people for trying to push the envelope, Ma Wensheng received a report: Wang Jian had blown down a tower!
At this time, I thought of the sign on the stick and Liu Shiting falling from the sky, and a burst of hope suddenly arose in my heart! It is absolutely impossible to go to the battlefield: Mencius once said, a gentleman would not build a dangerous wall! With Pan and Jing supervising the battle, all they have to do is keep an eye on Wang Jian, a warrior who kills people with all his strength. He has a bright future and should be strategizing. He has no eyesight, so he can't take risks!
Where to strategize? After much deliberation, it’s still the City God’s Temple! Relying on the City God, I have a clue in my heart - you, the old man, will never fail to keep your word, right?
After kneeling in front of the City God for a while, I heard the good news that the millstone had smashed and the thief had crashed his car. It was so wonderful! Ma Wensheng became very proud, kowtowed politely, stood up and left the palace. He was thinking about whether to climb the tower again when Liu Shiting came.
Not counting Pan and Jing, the tenacious resistance of Wang Jian and others was certainly due to the imperial officials' duty to guard the territory. More or less, they also had some psychological hope for Liu Shiting's vow. But Liu Shiting knew in his heart that those lies were just nonsense to defraud money. Seeing the thieves with his own eyes, he began to prepare a way out. It has to be said that Liu Shiting still had a good idea. He calculated that Lord Ma would probably be at the Chenghuang Temple, so he went straight to find him.
Liu Shiting wanted to persuade Ma Wensheng to launch a counterattack.
After seeing Guan Shengyun's military strength, Liu Shiting immediately came to the conclusion: Shaanzhou City cannot be defended! Judging from Wang Jian's attitude, he wants to fight them to the end, but this is not possible - with heavy casualties, anyone will be filled with anger. This anger will definitely be vented, and maybe even massacre the city to vent his anger! You officials who arrogant and domineering on weekdays are worthy of death. Soldiers deserve this fate. I can't be like you! Therefore, Liu Shiting quickly thought of a way out for himself: surrender to the thieves.
The money he got has been hidden. As long as he can find a way to sneak past, with his sharp tongue and dedication to the city, his life will definitely be saved - and then he can find a way to escape when the thief leaves, and then dig out the money when he comes back. Consider it done.
The fighting outside the city continues.
By throwing thousands of fresh troops into the battlefield, Guan Shengyun, Gao Fujidou and others had other plans besides further damaging the morale of the defenders.
The defenders on the wall don't think too much. Without the threat of car crashes and towers, ladders became the only tool for climbing the city. The defenders and young men on the city fought for most of the day, and their physical strength was a little exhausted. At this moment, Wang Jian still had the reserve team firmly in his hands, and the more than 400 people left in Liu Shiting's Liujia Formation were still doing nothing. Obviously, General Wang and Liu Shenxian had reached some kind of tacit understanding, which could not be counted on today. Fortunately, the thieves' attacks seemed a bit soft. Their main goal was to dig holes in the wall. They didn't attack the wall as violently as they did when they first arrived. At least they could still handle it. The soldiers relaxed a little.
However, experienced officers were even more worried. This group of thief auxiliary soldiers is obviously different from the group of ordinary people who rushed in extreme panic in the morning. It can be seen that most of them have battlefield experience: the frequency of attacks is well grasped, and the division of labor is also very clear. According to the observation of the adventurous probe, The news sent back by the officers was that judging from the bricks and earth thrown outside, many wall holes had been dug out enough to accommodate them!
Another new issue is the archers.
Under the premise of grasping the shooting rhythm, the field limit of an experienced archer is less than thirty rounds. If rapid shooting is used in the last few rounds when faced with a charge, it will be about twenty rounds, and that of a novice will be reduced by half. Even if the archers in the morning group still had some strength at this time, their quivers should be empty. However, there were more than a hundred new archers who came with the thief auxiliary troops - Guan Shengyun transferred all the archers from his personal guard battalion to Gao Tengdou! With the arrival of this group of people, the city suddenly felt pressure: the archers were often the elite of each battalion, not to mention Guan Shengyun's personal troops! For more than half an hour, seven or eight officers with probes on the wall had been shot, and the number of soldiers and civilians who had been hit by arrows was even fifty or sixty.
