On June 5, all the armies of the Forbidden Army and the Xingjie Army commanded by Shang Hongqian, as well as more than a thousand horse troops drawn from the Guardian Army, had camped in the east of Chang'an. At this point, the main force of the imperial army to conquer Zhao Siwan has been in place under Chang'an City. They are just waiting for the troops of Guo Congyi, the commander of the camp and Zhenning Jiedushi, to arrive from Chanzhou, which is far away. By then, the Han army will have gathered nearly 40,000 troops under Chang'an City. Quite a lot of people.
On the day the army arrived at the city, Guo Xin obeyed the order and went to the newly established Chinese army tent to discuss matters. On the way, I saw soldiers everywhere in the camp who were still busy digging trenches and setting up stoves. Most of them did not show much fear or exhaustion on their faces. The Han army came a long way but their morale remained intact, and they seemed to be looking forward to capturing Chang'an in the near future.
Guo Xin also understood the atmosphere in the army. Now that Zhao Siwan was surrounded in Chang'an, there were only two places he could count on: one was Wang Jingchong or the Shu Kingdom in the west for assistance, and the other was Li Shouzhen in the north who was also trapped in Hezhong City. Among them, Wang Jingchong in the west had limited troops. The Shu army had always been weak, and it was not easy to get out of the customs. The imperial court had already dispatched Shaanzhou Jiedu envoy Zhao Hui to take precautions. Although Guo Xin had not met Zhao Hui yet, he had seen Zhao Hui's thoughtfulness and ability to outsmart Tongguan when he was in Shaanzhou, so he felt that he was very reliable in the west.
As for Li Shouzhen in the north, he was originally the focus of the situation in Kansai. In addition, Li Shouzhen himself had sufficient troops and food, and he had the advantage of Hezhong Prefecture to fortify the city. The number of Han troops transferred to Hezhong was only much larger than that of Chang'an. Hezhong The scene in the palace was probably even more magnificent than when Liu Zhiyuan personally conquered Weizhou. Although it was not impossible for Li Shouzhen to win, it would not be something he could do overnight.
Guo Xin immediately felt that Zhao Siwan, who was trapped in the city, had little chance of making a comeback under the current circumstances.
At this time, Wang Shiliang, who was following him, whispered: "Brothers in the army all regard Chang'an as their old capital. There must be countless treasures and treasures in the city. They are all waiting to enter the city and plunder them. If we can collect a treasure I spent ten thousand yuan to go back to the capital, and my trip here was not in vain."
Guo Xin sighed slightly: "Chang'an is in such a state of decline, I'm afraid there is nothing left to grab now."
"The general also thinks so," Wang Shiliang nodded, "not to mention that tens of thousands of coins are easy to get, but a single treasure is hard to find."
Guo Xin glanced at him with a smile, and then his eyes fell on a saddle bag on the side of the eight-treasure unicorn saddle beneath him, which contained the jade seal from Lingquan Temple. The saddle bag was made of cowhide. After being baptized by wind, rain and the battlefield, it had long turned into a gray color and was inconspicuous. However, it was tied to the saddle with a hard rope very tightly. Even with his strength, he could not pull it at all, and The jade seal inside was wrapped in many layers of cloth, so that no outline could be seen from the outside. Moreover, the eight-treasure unicorn was either used for him to ride when traveling, or was carefully taken care of by Guo Pu in the stable, so he could safely keep the jade seal in it. This seems like a "casual" place.
When he arrived at the central army, Shang Hongqian no longer drank and held banquets today. Instead, he wore a military uniform and gave orders to the generals. He immediately arranged the direction of the army's attack on the city, and asked each army to launch an offensive the next day. In the past few days, What he said about destroying the city in ten days was indeed not a lie.
Since artillery and aircraft had been arranged around Chang'an before, and the Fengguo First Army was not in the siege sequence for the time being, Guo Xin did not receive specific orders. Shang Hongqian only asked him to temporarily follow the Chinese generals as a formation envoy tomorrow. Watch the formation.
Early on the next morning, before Chen hour, the Chinese army was already beating drums, and each army came out of the camp one after another. Guo Xin also followed Shang Hongqian with a few personal soldiers and many tooth generals from the Chinese army, waiting for dispatch. .
The Han army's attack direction was also mainly from the east. Countless Han soldiers slowly formed a formation outside Jingfeng Gate. Countless flags fluttered freely in the morning breeze. Shang Hongqian, who was riding a tall horse, pointed in the direction of the formation: "The army is as powerful as a rainbow. Shang will definitely defeat this thief for the sake of the officials and the court officials!"
There were a lot of praises, but Guo Xin silently paid attention to the towering cannons in the formation. Although the improved cannons had already shown considerable power in Weizhou and had been tried many times in the past few days, the thought that they would be put to use again today still made Guo Xin a little nervous. He couldn't help but think wildly: Those parents who knew their children were good enough but still worried about them during exams were probably experiencing the same state of mind as themselves at the moment?
The drums of the Chinese army beat again, but this time it was no longer the drums of leaving the camp, but the war drums with dense beats and exciting blood. The trumpets were heard from all the armies one after another, and then everyone saw each other. The small flag conveying the order shuttled back and forth among the numerous weapons and the boiling sea of people.
And the situation on the city was finally no longer like the heads in twos and threes among the battlements that Guo Xin had seen before, but the same bright flags as below the city, and the cold light of swords that occasionally flashed by.
From Daizhou, Weizhou, and now Yongxing Mansion in Chang'an, this is the third siege battle that Guo Xin has experienced. The three cities bear no resemblance to each other, and the cruelty and blood on the battlefield remains unchanged. Arrows were flying like locusts above and below the city. Although there were caves, ladders, etc. as cover, Han soldiers were still hit by arrows and fell to the ground. From Guo Xin's position, those soldiers who fell to the ground instantly became a figure on the ground. The small dot was quickly submerged among more living people running around.
At this time, even Shang Hongqian became solemn and silent.
According to the pre-war plan, the artillery planes were to be activated after the first round of attack, when the defenders relaxed slightly. However, the resistance of the defenders was extremely fierce. The siege lasted for two hours. The Han army occasionally attacked the city twice and it was very difficult. About to be recaptured by the defenders, Guo Xin often observed Shang Hongqian's expression, but saw that he was silent and could not guess what he meant.
After several batches of Han soldiers and horses advanced and retreated under the city, but it was still difficult to capture the city, Shang Hongqian finally waved his hand and summoned the messenger Tangqi who was waiting aside: "Command all artillery units to attack the city until the brothers Until we occupy the city head."
Tangqi dispersed to deliver the order, and Guo Xin also quickly looked at the gunners outside Jingfengmen. He saw that the gunners received the order and quickly started moving. After the first round of calibration test firing, dozens of gunners Stone bullets weighing dozens of kilograms crossed curves and hit the city wall with loud noises, so loud that even Guo Xin could hear it.
Two of the stone bullets even hit the tower above Jingfeng Gate, destroying half of the eaves and roof. The Jingfeng Gate was suddenly filled with smoke and dust.
"Okay! Good artillery!" Seeing the power of the artillery machine, Shang Hongqian called out several times, then turned around and asked, "Where is General Guo?"
Guo Xin couldn't hide his joy. He clapped his horse and clasped his fists amidst the cheers of the crowd: "The general is here."
"General Guo's cannon shoots well, but I don't know what the name of this cannon is?"
"Back to Marquis Yu, this cannon doesn't have a name yet."
A general with teeth on the side yelled: "General Guo's artillery makes our army strong and powerful. Since we don't have a name, why don't we give it to Marquis Yu?"
Shang Hongqian suddenly became elated and asked, "What do you think, General Guo?"
Naturally, Guo Xin couldn't dissuade him and said with a smile: "I am extremely honored. I hope Marquis Yu will name this cannon."
Shang Hongqian scratched his beard and thought for a moment: "This cannon shot fiercely, and General Guo has shot at a tiger, so why not call it a tiger shooting cannon."
Someone immediately responded: "What a name! This cannon fires tens of thousands of kilograms of stone, and the sound it breaks through the air is like the roar of a tiger. This is one of them. General Guo once shot a tiger himself. This is the second reason. The Zhao thieves in the city and Li Shouzhen colluded with the tiger, and he was nothing but a jackal and a vicious tiger, the third one. It is so appropriate for Marquis Yu to give him this name!"
Guo Xin also felt that although the name Shehu sounded rough, it was really apt, and he immediately thanked Shang Hongqian.
Shang Hongqian laughed: "With the help of this tiger cannon, why worry about the rebellion?"
The generals turned their attention back to the battlefield. Under the cover of artillery and machine guns, the defenders were really affected. The Han army climbed to the top of the city along the ladders and carriages several times. Unfortunately, as noon approached, the sun became more intense, and even Guo Xin and others who were watching the formation were sweating under the sun. In addition, the Han army's offensive gradually weakened, so Shang Hongqian had no choice but to order the troops to retreat.
The Han army retreated like a tide, leaving behind several ladder carriages burning with thick smoke under the city and groups of corpses outside Jingfeng Gate.
