The next day, hundreds of cowhide war drums surrounding three sides of the city wall let out deafening roars, and Zhang Ji's first wave of siege began. Hundreds of drummers took turns taking breaks, and the drums continued all night long. The beating of the giant drum is shocking, inspiring the attackers and frightening the defenders. When the drum beat started, even the floating dust on the ground shook, turning into a visible wave of golden dust in the autumn wind. Under the dust waves, dust-like soldiers began to approach the Lishi city wall.
Zhang Ji's siege arrangement was very strange. The siege on the first day was actually a feint attack on three sides. Although the city was mostly filled with temporarily recruited strong men, since Chen Chong was defending the city, he did not expect to break the city in one day, but wanted to test it first. Check out Chen Chong's arrangements in various parts of the city, especially the location of the original two thousand soldiers, and then attack by force.
Lishi City has been a county administration for many years. In the past four years, it has been repaired successively by Chen Chong and Yang Hui. It has reached a height of five feet. It is divided into an outer city and an inner city. There are also trenches and moats in front of the outer city. Therefore, Zhang Ji arranged to fill in the trenches first. Sergeant Bai Bo loaded the excavated soil into carts or packed it into sacks and carried it on the backs of horses and donkeys. The men and horses took turns rushing in, dumping all the soil into the deep ditch, as if it was overwhelming mountains and seas.
It didn't take long for the trench to be filled. Then the Liang people began to fill in the city and push up mountains of earth. Arrows were falling on the city like rain, so Zhang Jijun escorted them with platoons of shields and continued to bulldoze without taking a break. The person who was shot fell to the ground. At first, some people braved the arrows to drag him back. Later, more and more people died, so he couldn't care about it anymore. Zhang Ji simply ordered that the corpses be buried together in the mountain. Keep pouring the earth. At night, the sound of war drums did not diminish at all, and the pine and cypress torches under the city were like stars in the sky. This continued for two days, and the soil hills on three sides were filled up by two feet, reaching a height that ants could inhabit.
But Zhang Ji stopped there. In the early morning, he asked the sergeants who were filling in the soil on three sides to see which side encountered the strongest resistance. Everyone replied that the guards on the city did not shoot long-distance arrows. They waited until they were fifty steps below the city before shooting all at once. They could not tell the difference. This greatly disappointed Zhang Ji. He discussed the reason with Han Xian and Yang Feng. Han Xian said: "When Chen Chong uses his troops, he usually reserves the strongest one in case of emergencies, and only uses it in emergencies. The general feigned attacks on three sides today. I'm afraid Chen Chong is also defending on three sides and has not tried his best."
This gave Zhang Ji a big headache, so he had to give up taking tricks and instead concentrate his troops on the south, and attack the city from one place the next day. So Chen Chong accordingly concentrated his troops on the south side, and arranged the remaining strong men on the east and west sides to erect tall buildings with wood, then tied and connected the two adjacent tall buildings, built wooden platforms, and increased the height layer by layer. , and then arrange crossbowmen on it.
The vanguard who climbed the city had been attacking for half a day, but suddenly they felt that the arrow rain on the wall was decreasing, so they seized the opportunity to climb up the city wall. Unexpectedly, after they boarded the city, they discovered that the inner side of the outer city wall had been transformed into a gentle slope. The wall can accommodate nearly two thousand people. They waited for about three hundred people to climb up the wall. Crossbow arrows suddenly fired from the north and south sides, suppressing the soldiers who were following the city climb so that they could not lift their heads, while the guards on the slope swarmed up and fought with the first soldiers. The attackers fought together, and the attackers were quickly outnumbered. The corpses of those who died in battle were thrown off the city wall, causing a lot of panic.
After attacking for three consecutive days, Zhang Ji gained nothing, which made him quite annoyed. He had already sent a message to Xu Rong, boasting to Haikou: "Ji breaks the stone like a blade splitting a bamboo knot. It will definitely succeed!" Within a few days, Jidang will personally hold Chen Chong's head and join forces with Jianwei in Anyi." As a result, he could not make any progress, which would definitely affect the success or failure of the imperial court's entire conquest plan. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and send another message to Xu Rong, saying : "Chen Chong's defense of Lishi is unpredictable, just like Chen Cang's huge defense, it is not a matter of speed!"...
After the letter was sent, Zhang Ji left the camp and continued to look at Li Shi. He thought about Chen Chong's previous great victories against the imperial court. He couldn't help but gritted his teeth and said to Zhang Xiu: "Even if Chen Chong has the power to reach the sky, I will go through the mountains and clouds to capture him." Head!"
At this time, a Sima from the former army suddenly came to report that the defenders in the city had begun to send letters to the shooters below the city, which had caused a huge wave in the army, and asked the general to read them. Zhang Ji was quite surprised and quickly took the handwritten letter over.
It turned out that Chen Chong had captured Bai Bojun alive on the city wall, and had already learned the reasons claimed by Han Siam and Yang Feng. He immediately refuted the reasons for the two people's rebellion in handwriting one by one, claiming that the documents used by Yang and Han were all forgeries. For this reason, he specially printed his official seal on paper and asked Bai Bojun to go back to confront Yang Feng and Han Xian one by one. Don't be deceived by traitors.
Zhang Ji broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately realized something was wrong and immediately led his troops to find Han Xian and Yang Feng. Still far away, he saw that Han Xian's camp was surrounded by soldiers. Yang Feng was also here, arguing fiercely with them. Many people said: "If the Dragon Head hadn't bullied us, What are we fighting for? Do you want us to be treacherous people?"
Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Han Xian immediately confused and said: "In troubled times, we are begging for survival. If we ask for survival, we are just conforming to the current situation. The 400,000-strong army of the princes cannot defeat it. But now that the princes have dispersed, the imperial army has If we keep moving forward, even Guo Shuai, who is so good at fighting, can only die on the spot. We are the first to die. If we want to survive, how can we not do it anyway? What's more, I, Han Siam, are often exposed to bows and arrows. How can I be a person who is afraid of death? I'm just trying to survive. Ear!"
Yang Feng on the side also advised: "Now that Li Shi can be broken with a flick of his finger, and Mei Ji has surrendered to the imperial court, why should we go against the general trend?"
Everyone fell silent after hearing this. At this time, Zhang Ji broke in, looked around at everyone and said, "The imperial army has been stationed in Yuanyang to take care of your children. What else is there to worry about? Go back to the camp quickly!" With this final word, everyone Everyone who heard this was angry and had to disperse.
After everyone had dispersed, the sky darkened, and strong winds shuttled back and forth in the loess. Zhang Ji felt a little cold. Only then did he realize that autumn had indeed arrived. He looked back at Han Siam and Yang Feng, both of whom looked at each other indifferently. Word. As people who have fought for a long time, they all know the consequences of this turmoil. After today, it is difficult to expect the Baibo Army to fight hard.
Another four days passed, and there was still no progress in the attack on the city. Instead, a letter came from Xu Rong from Hedong. He did not urge Zhang Ji to attack the city, but first told him to unite the army and not treat Bai Bo's people lightly. Xu Rong emphasized, The most urgent task is to persuade the Meiji kings to submit. As long as the Southern Xiongnu switches sides, this battle will be won. But if you want to attack the city of Chen Chong, it is difficult to attack by force. It is better to use skillful attack. He specially sent a sharp archer, which can be of great use.
But the sharp archer came two days late. It turned out that he did not come alone, but more than a dozen heavily armored knights, including a young man in white cloth.
Zhang Ji was quite impatient to wait, but when he saw the sharp archer, he immediately said with great joy: "With you here, Chen Chong has nothing to fear!" It turned out that the sharp archer's name was Hu Che'er, who was originally from Huang Zhongyi. From his birth, his courage was astonishing, he was a martial arts champion, and he had an old friendship with Zhang Ji. Zhang Ji asked the grand master several times to transfer him to the army, but the grand master was quite reluctant to let him go. Unexpectedly, they met today! …
Hu Che'er was also obviously very happy. Xu Rong made a heavy promise to him. If he could shoot Chen Chong, the grand master would reward him with ten thousand gold and be granted the title of a thousand households. At this time, he was already gearing up. At this time, Zhang Ji said: "And Wait a moment, I still don’t know how to find a reason for Chen Chong to appear at the top of the city."
Hu Che'er smiled and said, "This is not a difficult matter. Jianwei has already thought of it for you."
At the end of the next day, a few dark clouds floated in the sky, blocking the sunlight and blocking the blood and loess on the battlefield.
The Tushan attack in the south was temporarily suspended. But in the open space under the earth mountain, a group of people came over. The heavily armored knight followed, and in front were several Liang infantrymen, among whom was escorting a young man in white cloth. The white clothes were stained and stained, and the young man was unkempt and had his hair tied up with strips of cloth, making him look really embarrassed.
A knight on horseback behind him untied his collar and shouted loudly toward the city: "Please come out and answer Bingzhou Mu, your clan brother is now below the city and wants to talk to you!"
The city was silent for a long time, and suddenly a man in armor stuck his head out from the wooden building and looked at the crowd below. When the foot soldier in front saw someone upstairs, he immediately grabbed the prisoner's hair and asked him to raise his head. The prisoner raised his head with difficulty, the dazzling sunlight shone on his face, and he closed his eyes in pain.
Before Dongren could speak again, the man on the city suddenly shouted: "Yuande, why are you here!"
Chen Zhong heard the sound and immediately shouted to the city, but he could only make a sound. It turned out that Huangfu Song had already cut off his tongue in order to prevent him from revealing the military situation in Hedong.
When the knight heard this, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Why don't Bingzhou Mu ask me? It happened to inform Longshou that six cities in Hedong have been defeated, and only one city in Jie County is left. During the siege, my brother was captured. General Xu Rong of Jianwei gave way first. I'm here to wait for him to attack the county, and soon he will go north to join forces. If the dragon leader has pity on his family and the people of the prefecture and county, he'd better surrender as soon as possible!"
The man yelled loudly: "You are cutting my brother's mouth off. Obviously, everything you said is false! I, Chen Tingjian, am now the head of the Chen clan. I am admonished by my ancestors. How can I cherish my life for the country? If he falls into your hands, you can kill him with swords and fire. If you want to persuade me to surrender, you'd better give up!"
When the knight heard this, he was not polite. He immediately pulled out his knife, grabbed Chen Zhong's chin, picked up the handle of the knife and smashed it into his mouth, causing his mouth to bleed immediately. As soon as the knight let go, Chen Zhong's smashed teeth immediately spit out from his mouth and fell to the ground with blood. For a moment, his face was filled with tears, and he was moaning and screaming.
The knight stopped and continued to shout: "I heard that Chen Zhong's population is declining in Longshou's generation. This Chen Zhong has lived with you since he was a child, and he is closer to you than father and son. Longshou has no trace. Is it a relationship between flesh and blood? We are going to cut off his ears and nose now!"
But he saw the man on the city raising his hand and taking out a crossbow, and continued to shout to the people: "Don't say any more! You should live upright and upright! Why do you torture you like this? Why don't you chop him off with a knife! If you don't do it, I will shoot him to death myself! Chen Tingjian I am here with all the people with lofty ideals, and I have long made up my mind to sacrifice this body. I am not afraid of death, so why should I care about the feelings of flesh and blood!"
While there was a commotion on and off the city, Hu Cheer finally took action. .
