Chapter 2624: The bloody battle of Nanzheng Attack and Defense (Part 2) breaks the city
With the support of King Ruan and King Yue, Princess Ying Nongyu of Anyang of the Great Qin Dynasty accidentally became the leader of the Four Kingdoms Allied Forces, and then Han Shizhong also became the commander of the Four Kingdoms Allied Forces.
After Han Shizhong took over the command, he originally wanted to quickly stabilize the morale of the army and then rely on his command ability and superior strength to defeat the Chu army as soon as possible, but he did not expect that what he took over was just a mess.
In yesterday's battle, thanks to Han Shizhong's timely intervention, although Qinnan, Ruan and Yue allied forces fought back the Chu army and killed Yang Xiuqing, the governor of Jiaozhou of Chu, the Ruan and Yue forces also suffered heavy casualties, losing nearly 100,000 soldiers. More than 20,000 people.
Unlike the Qin Army, the Ruan-Vietnam Allied Forces suffered a large reduction in personnel in a short period of time, which inevitably had a great impact on the morale of the army. Many soldiers were afraid of fighting, and they were indeed exhausted. They were obviously ready to fight again with force.
In order to restore combat effectiveness and stabilize the morale of the army, Han Shizhong decisively ordered the withdrawal of troops, first returning to Rinan County to rest and then making a comeback.
Han Shizhong's order was right, but it was obviously not that easy to go back.
After Yang Xiuqing died in battle, Ma Yuan, with the support of Zeng Guofan, took over the command and became the commander-in-chief of the Chu army in Jiaozhou.
After some analysis, Ma Yuan and Zeng Guofan saw at a glance that they had fallen into Han Shizhong's bluffing scheme. Han Shizhong did not have many soldiers and horses, otherwise it would not have been so difficult to attack Yang Xiuqing's already exhausted troops.
It's a pity that it's too late to find out now, otherwise it might be possible to turn defeat into victory.
After this defeat, the Chu army not only lost Yang Xiuqing, the governor of Jiaozhou, but also lost 6,000 troops. This had never happened in the previous war with Ruan Yue.
Although the Chu army lost a lot of strength due to the disastrous defeat in this battle, the arrival of Ma Yuan and Zeng Guofan also made up for the Chu army's lack of strength.
Although the total strength of the Chu army is still smaller than that of the Ruan-Vietnam coalition, the comprehensive combat power of the Chu army in Jingnan is much stronger than that of the Chu army in Jiaozhou, otherwise it would not have been possible to almost defeat the Ruan-Vietnam coalition.
Even after a small defeat and a slight drop in morale, the Chu army's overall combat power was still superior to that of the Ruan-Vietnam coalition.
Therefore, when they learned that the Nguyen-Vietnam coalition was withdrawing, both Ma Yuan and Zeng Guofan chose to take the initiative and did not give the Nguyen-Vietnam coalition a chance to withdraw to the city to rest.
Han Shizhong also guessed that Ma Yuan would take the initiative to attack, so he set up an ambush halfway. However, Ma Yuan was not fooled at all, so the ambush turned into a large army.
Just when Han Shizhong was fighting wits with Ma Yuan in Jiaozhou and using the power of Ruan and Yue to weaken Chu, Chi You in southern Shu also learned about what was happening in Jiaozhou.
When he learned that his fiancée, Princess Ying Nongyu of Anyang of the Great Qin Dynasty, had become the leader of the Four Kingdoms Alliance, Chi You was so shocked that he spat out the tea he just drank.
It was Shi Jie who was sprayed in the face, but he was not annoyed and wiped the saliva with his sleeve expressionlessly.
Seeing this, Chi You quickly helped and said: "Prime Minister, I didn't do it on purpose, I was just a little too surprised."
Shi Jieren said: "According to the information sent back by the garrison at Qingmei Port, this Princess of Qin is really not simple. She can tell at a glance that the Ruan-Vietnam coalition has fallen into the trap, and she also used two thousand troops to rescue the Ruan-Vietnam coalition. .
Saving the Ruan-Vietnam coalition is also equivalent to saving Qingmei Port and the maritime trade route between our southern country and Daqin.
Although Han Shizhong is the one who deserves the greatest credit for this, the fact that this Princess of Qin was able to discover this and use the right person shows her extraordinary achievements. "
Hearing this, a flash of admiration flashed in Chi You's eyes. After all, even he had never had such an honor as the leader of the Four Kingdoms Alliance, but his fiancée had achieved it. Even if she was just a puppet, she was very powerful.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, Congratulations, Your Majesty, Great Qin did not cope with this marriage. It sent a wise and strange woman. Our southern country is about to get a virtuous queen." Shi Jieren said with cupped hands.
Chi You waved his hand and said with a smile: "We have to wait and see whether he is virtuous or not. As long as this Princess of Qin does not cause trouble after marrying, I will be satisfied."
Having said that, Chi You was obviously very satisfied with Nong Yu's actions in saving the Ruan-Vietnam coalition and indirectly saving the Southern Kingdom, and at the same time, he was increasingly looking forward to meeting Nong Yu after the war.
Zhu Rong recaptured Shengjing Pass, and Nong Yu saved the Ruan-Vietnam coalition, which greatly reduced the threat from Chu.
Now the Chu State's expeditionary force is blocked by Zhu Rong outside the Shengjing Pass, and the Chu army in Guangzhou and Guangzhou is restrained by the Allied Forces of the Four Kingdoms and the Wu State's Yizhou navy. Chu State's threat to the Southern Kingdom has been reduced to a minimum, allowing the Southern Kingdom to concentrate its strength. to deal with the Shu army.
Just when Chi You was preparing to launch another counterattack, the situation in Hanzhong on the northern front changed dramatically again.
The Shu army was burned in the Nanzheng grain depot, and all the grain and grass in the hands of the people were confiscated. They also abandoned part of the city and threw the old and weak to the Qin army. They continued to weaken the Qin army with the strength of the fallen. It did cause considerable losses to the Qin army.
After Chenggu County, the Shu army abandoned Xixian County.
However, this time after Li Jing took over the city, he did not plan another suicide attack for the Shu Han. Instead, he waited for Shangyong's catapults to arrive, and then used a thousand catapults to launch a fierce attack on Nanzheng.
In order to prevent further losses and to prevent Hanzhong from being completely wiped out, Li Jing decided to seize Nanzheng as quickly as possible, so he adopted a strategy of surrounding three and missing one but attacking one side fiercely.
Li Jing personally led the army to attack the north gate, while Han Xin and Wu Qi surrounded the east and west gates respectively, leaving only the south gate vacant, deliberately leaving a glimmer of hope for the Shu army in the city, so that the Shu army in the city would not fight to the end.
In addition to encircling three and missing one, Li Jing also used a strategy of attacking the heart and attacking the city simultaneously to reduce the fighting spirit of the Nanzheng defenders as much as possible.
The Shu Han sent all the young and strong men in the occupied areas as cannon fodder to avoid being disintegrated from within by the Qin army in the psychological battle.
However, the total population of Hanzhong County is 450,000, and there are always people related to each other in each county. Therefore, Li Jing found people who were related to him in Nanzheng City and constantly accused the Shu army of atrocities against Hanzhong and Nanzheng. The city's defenders and Qingzhuang tried to persuade them to surrender.
If the defenders in the city were all from Hanzhong, Li Jing's plan would naturally work. However, unfortunately, the defenders in the city were all from Shu, and only Qingzhuang, who was temporarily recruited, was a native of Hanzhong.
Zhang Ren's control over Qingzhuang is extremely strict. Once he finds anyone dissatisfied with the Shu army, he will immediately capture and imprison him. Therefore, even if Qingzhuang in the city has become dissatisfied, he still cannot resist the Shu army. .
Li Jing knew this well, but he didn't care. After all, the psychological warfare had been used in Yangping Pass, and it was unrealistic to repeat the same tactics to defeat Nanzheng.
Li Jing didn't think from the beginning that he could just shout open the gates of Nanzheng with his voice. If he wanted to break Nanzheng, he would have to fight a bloody battle, and both he and Han Xin were ready to shed blood.
The fierce attack in the first three days was personally directed by Li Jing. Six hundred catapults, three thousand crossbows of various types, and a variety of other dazzling siege equipment were driven like arms under Li Jing's command, swarming south and north. The door clears the fire.
Most of the defensive materials in Hanzhong were consumed at Yangping Pass. Today, the defensive materials in Nanzheng City are only one-third of what they were in their heyday.
If the Qin army attacked from all sides, the Shu army would really not be able to afford it. But if it was just a one-sided attack, the Shu army could barely support it by demolishing the houses and using the walls as thunderstones and the beams as rolling logs.
However, the Qin army not only had powerful weapons, but also Yang Jian, Xuanyuan and other fierce generals participated in the siege, so Zhang Ren personally led Liu Er, Kong Peng and other prizes to guard the north gate.
The Shu army intended to use the young and strong as cannon fodder in the city defense battle to consume the Qin army's strength.
However, the Qin army's offensive was too fierce. Once the Qin army climbed onto the city tower, one Qin soldier could chase and kill more than a dozen Qingzhuangs. Moreover, Qingzhuang was not skilled in the operation of city defense equipment, so he used Qingzhuang to defend the city. The city will definitely not be able to bear it.
Therefore, the Shu army could only let the main force defend the city, and let Qingzhuang engage in dangerous tasks such as throwing thunder stones, rolling logs, and playing with kerosene, thereby reducing the casualties of the main force.
As a result, after a day of siege fighting, the Shu army on the defensive side suffered more casualties than the Qin army on the siege side, and the casualties of the light and strong soldiers were nearly twice that of the Shu army.
Similarly, the casualties on the Qin Army's side were not small. Even if Li Jing personally commanded and Yang Jian and other generals personally participated in the battle, they could only reduce their own casualties, but they could not avoid them.
Yang Jian, Xuanyuan and other fierce generals have long been on the Shu army's blacklist. As soon as they appear, they will be set upon by the Shu army. Even if they escape the set fire and climb to the tower, Liu Er, Kong Peng and other Shu generals will already have their men waiting for them. Either fight in groups or form formations, which also greatly reduces the role of powerful generals in siege warfare.
On the first day of the siege, Yang Jian fought hard all day, but under the constraints of Liu Er and the Shu army's formation, he could only kill a hundred people, not even two hundred heads.
Other generals, such as Xuanyuan, Yang Ren, Long Xuhu and other generals, would only behead more than Yang Jian, but not more.
Li Jing naturally knew that in this siege, the role of strong generals was not that great, but in order to increase casualties for the Shu army, he still chose to send strong generals to participate in the battle. After all, a Yang Jian killed a hundred Shu soldiers in one day, and that was a thousand people in ten days. , no matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat.
Of course, Yang Jian is not an iron man. He cannot fight for ten consecutive days. He always needs to rest and regain his strength.
Three days later, Yang Jian was no longer participating in the battle, and Han Xin also took over command from Li Jing and continued to storm the North Gate of Nanzheng.
Three days after Han Xin violently attacked Nanzheng City, Wu Qi took over the command from Han Xin and began a three-day fierce attack on the north gate of Nanzheng.
Li Jing, Han Xin, and Wu Qi took turns storming the North Gate for three days, and Zhang Ren also rotated the North Gate defenders three times to ensure the physical strength of the defenders.
Finally, on the tenth day, the Qin army no longer only focused on the north gate, but also attacked the north and east gates at the same time.
The Shu army's strength was not evenly distributed among the four gates. The main combat power was concentrated at the north gate. They were unable to react in time. One step was wrong and the other was wrong. The tight string finally broke.
Wu Qi and Xuanyuan were the first to break through the west gate, and Zhang Ren, who received the news, decisively sent out the main force and a large number of young and strong men to prepare for a street battle with the Qin army.
But without the cover of the city, they were just lambs to be slaughtered in the eyes of the Qin army. Street fighting could not cause too many casualties to the Qin army.
An hour later, the east gate was breached by Han Xin overnight.
The Shu army that Xuanyuan also killed in street fighting was frightened, and a large number of young and strong people chose to surrender. A large area of Xicheng was occupied by the Qin army.
Seeing this, Zhang Ren also knew that Nanzheng could no longer defend it.
Nanzheng can be lost, and even Hanzhong can be lost, but the Shu army cannot die in Nanzheng.
Therefore, Zhang Ren decisively decided to let Liu Er, Kong Peng and others lead the 30,000 main force to withdraw from the south gate, while he personally led the 5,000 main force and all the young and strong men to defend the Nancheng area to cut off the retreating army.
"Brother."
Zhang Hao had tears in his eyes and looked at Zhang Ren with a look of reluctance. He also knew that the fall of Yangping Pass and the fall of Hanzhong made his brother have a death wish and he wanted to die to apologize.
After Zhang Ren glanced at Zhang Hao, he said: "I, Zhang Ren, are incompetent and failed to defend Hanzhong. I have betrayed your majesty's trust. Only by dying can I atone for my sins." Then he said to Shen Shi: "Military advisor, can you? We must bring these 30,000 troops back safely."
When Shen Shiqi heard this, he clasped his fists and said solemnly: "Shen Shi will definitely live up to the governor's trust."
Shortly after Shen Shiqi, Liu Er and others led their troops to leave, generals such as Hua Xiong, Li Siben and Zhang Xiu successively led their troops to attack the south gate.
After meeting Zhang Ren, Hua Xiong was naturally excited. After all, Zhang Ren was the Commander-in-Chief of Hanzhong in Shu. Whether he captured him alive or killed him, it was a great achievement.
