The next day, Liang's army spent the whole day tearing down the fortifications outside the city. In addition to the fences built by the Bing army, the Bing people also dug many deep pits in front of the city. These deep pits could not stop the Liang people from advancing, but they would have some impact on the subsequent siege of the city. Therefore, all the armies arranged their manpower to fill in the ground one by one, but under the rain, the speed was still not fast. According to Jia Xu's assumption, if this continues, three days will be wasted on the outside. If the attack on the outer wall is also calculated as three days, I don’t know how long it will take to get to the main city and Wengcheng, but it still takes too much time.
After discussion, Guo Bang, who was observing the movements in Chang'an, had another task. He led his troops to plunder the people and refugees in Chiyang and Yangling areas, tied them with ropes, forced them with swords, and took tens of thousands of people away. At the foot of Gaoling City, I worked temporarily as a civilian worker to move soil and fill in the fields, but the income from a day's work was no more than a meal of gruel.
Moreover, during the plunder, Guo Si had no scruples and once approached the city of Changling, which was only forty miles away from Chang'an on the south bank of the Wei River. The people were tied up and led away, and their cries for help spread throughout the entire Sanfu, but not Chang'an. Frightened by the enemy's situation, he actually stood still.
As a result, the siege of Gaoling was greatly accelerated. In two days, the Liang army not only removed the obstacles originally set by Lu Bu, but also overcompleted the preparations for the siege. They first leveled the land, dug up the convex sand, and filled up the muddy potholes to make it easier for Liangqi to race horses on the plateau. Then they raised hundreds of earth hills on all sides of the city wall, each of which stood at the same height as the city wall. The outer walls are four feet apart and three feet high, just enough for the archers to shoot against the defenders.
The combined army was not unresponsive to this. The defenders on the city were flying arrows like rain at the civilians who were repairing the earth hill. The civilians did not have much fighting power, and naturally they could not wear any armor. Under the rain of arrows, corpses were lying on the ground. But the Liang people didn't feel bad at all. No matter how many people died, they could quickly introduce new civilians and work numbly like ants without knowing the pain. Soon Bingren also discovered this. Although there were many arrows, they could not be used on the civilians. Otherwise, if they kept shooting like this, they might not be able to shoot many arrows when the Liang army attacked the city.
So Lu Bu tried to lead the cavalry to attack the civilian army again, but it was already too late by the time he made this decision. The Liang army generals had already prepared for this. They built antlers and watchtowers fifty feet behind the city gates on all sides, and sent Elite soldiers are stationed here.
Lu Bu led the cavalry out of the city. After careful consideration, he chose to attack Wang Fang's weaker troops first. The civilians were naturally unable to fight. They were driven around like lambs in front of the cavalry. They had no intention of spending their energy on them, but were like The hunters were hunting as if they were hunting, constantly adjusting the direction of their drive, trying to organize the scattered civilians into one stream so that all the Liang people preparing for battle could be dispersed. Once the enemy formation dispersed, the sky would be huge and there would be nowhere to go. .
But when the rapids reached the front of the deer antlers, they could not get over it. The Liang people leaned on the deer antlers and stabbed the incoming peasants with long swords. At this time, the deer antlers were like an iron wall, no matter how powerful the peasants were in fear. , but in front of the shining tip of the antlers in the gap, it was like a stream of water hit it, and had to stop flowing back, and the momentum of collapse was also forcibly stopped.
When people saw the civilians stopped, they had no choice but to do anything. They had arrows thrown from the watchtower on their heads, but the crowded crowd in front of them didn't give them any space to fly by. Even if they rushed over, they would just die in vain. That’s all. So he had to turn the horse's head and rush back into the city, leaving only corpses in the city and fields, but no one was sad.
Wang Fangbu had no intention of pursuing and allowed Lu Bu to return to the city. Soon after, the peasants began to fill in the mountains of earth again. Like ants, they carried huge baskets on their backs and slowly stepped over the corpses of their companions. Soon, the city and fields were full of their busy figures again. . These people seem to be ignorant of fatigue and have no emotions. In fact, they are exhausted to the extreme.
The Tushan was repaired in this way, and the Liang people still had enough room to allow the civilians to continue to open roads under the plateau. They felt that the original stone road was narrow and could neither advance nor withdraw quickly, which had a great impact on the cavalry.
After the fortifications were completed, the Liang people's confidence greatly increased. Jia Xu also wrote a document on white silk, had several copies copied, tied to arrow shafts, and asked Li Jue to send people to shoot into the city. The document inside was divided into two parts. Part of it is to announce to Lu Bu in a grand manner that the Liang people will begin to attack the city at 10:00 tomorrow, and the other part is to persuade Lu Bu to surrender. Of course, after Sheshu entered, there was no response from the city.
At this time, the rain also stopped. Before tomorrow's attack on the city, the generals of various ministries gathered together again. But this time, they did not hold a military meeting. At this time, the layout has been decided, and there is nothing that can be changed temporarily, so They get together to bond over a meal.
So far in the battle, Li Jue and Xu Rongbu have made the greatest contributions, so they sit at the front. As Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, Niu Fu did not have much merit, but his status was important and cannot be disrespected. Since the army started, the strategic planning of the army basically came from Jia Xu. Everyone admired him very much, so he was ranked second. Wang Fang and Zhang Ji had the fewest subordinates and average merit, so they were at the bottom.
The positions are carefully arranged, but everyone knows that now is the time to work together to overcome difficulties, and there is no alienation because of this. They are all wearing normal clothes, eating and drinking separately, and laughing like family members. However, while talking and laughing, there was a tendency to harass the warriors.
At the beginning of the conversation, both parties exchanged greetings, and then Jia Xu asked: "Brother Li, how are your nephew and your brother's injuries? Are they okay now?" Li Jue laughed and said, "It's nothing serious, it's just about my body. It's just a few more scars and a few more days of training. I think after taking down Gaoling City, these two boys will be able to ride horses again and follow us straight into Xijing."
In the previous battles, Li Jue's nephew Li Li and his younger brother Li Ying were both seriously injured, but they survived the disaster and survived. The other generals were deeply impressed by this, and Zhang Ji said: "If the next generation of us is as unafraid of death as these two, let alone conquering Chang'an City, it is not unthinkable to dominate the world." matter."
Xu Rong laughed at the side. As the only Liao native present, he was actually quite embarrassed and needed to keep talking to ease the atmosphere. So he and Zhang Ji had a glass of wine and said with a smile: "I think that boy Zhang Xiu is also Yes, he was always at the front during the battle, and now he is a good man!"
Zhang Ji drank all the wine, then shook his head repeatedly and said, "I can't say I can't. How can he compare with that kid? When my brother was the same age as him, he had more scars on his body than the three of them. If my brother hadn't died earlier, , I don’t have a son, how could I take care of this brat!” Even so, Zhang Ji’s expression was full of pride for Zhang Xiu. He toasted Jia Xu with a glass of wine and said, “Wenhe, I am Zhang Ji. Except for the Grand Master, I have always disobeyed others, but now, I am convinced by you! When this battle is over, Wen He, please take care of him more, I, the three Zhang brothers, now only have this one seedling!"
Jia Xu repeatedly said he didn't dare, so he drank the wine first, and then said: "We are all brothers and we are in the same boat, so who are you and me? But if you ask me, I will do my best."
Niu Fu used to be the center of banquets. After Dong Zhuo's death, the scene of continuous compliments disappeared, and his wife was all killed in the shed. Now he is alone and feels very uncomfortable. Even though he clearly knew that he was not capable enough and could not serve as commander-in-chief, he still felt sullen and kept drinking at his position. Seeing this, Guo Si also stepped forward to persuade him to have a few drinks and said: "A man is born in this world. As long as this body still exists, there will always be a day when it will come back."
When everyone heard this, they all cheered loudly, saying, "We will break Gaoling tomorrow and enter Chang'an the day after tomorrow." "At that time, each person will have a general and each person will have three lords." Dog bone pig spirit"
The banquet lasted until late at night, and all the generals drank so much that they were drunk. Only Jia Xu said that he had a feeling of discomfort in his chest and abdomen and had vomited in the camp. Then he felt much better. Looking back, Jia Xu suddenly discovered Xu Rong was standing behind him, his face was as usual, and he said to Xu Rong: "I don't drink often, which makes Brother Xu laugh."
Xu Rong shook his head and said with a smile: "Alcohol makes people faint. Drinking less is a good thing."
"Then why is Brother Xu so good at drinking?"
"The land of Yan is bitterly cold. We Liao people often drink alcohol to keep out the cold. It's not because we like drinking."
"That's it." After the two of them finished speaking, they were speechless for a moment. Both sides thought that the other was second only to themselves in the army, and they were actually a little wary in their hearts. But they also knew that only by uniting as one can they survive. Get through it.
Xu Rong spoke first: "I heard that Wen He wanted to kill two angels, but then let them go. I was very curious. I wonder what Wen He had planned?"
It turned out that it was because of this matter that Jia Xu had weighed in his mind. What he said to Zhong Yao and Jin Xiang was all a conspiracy and he did not tell others. The main reason was to avoid shaking the morale of the army. However, he felt that Xu Rong still knew the general situation and would not leak the secret. , and said truthfully: "I used their mouths to make a proposal to the court to remove Wang Yun and negotiate for peace."
Xu Rong was extremely happy when he heard this. He suppressed his tone, but his words were full of excitement. He praised: "What a good idea. Now that the court is desperate, it can only recruit me and wait for it!" At this point, Xu Rong said again I couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and confided to Jia Xu: "What you all said just now was really just drunken talk. How many days can you survive if you really do things like this?"
Jia Xu smiled but didn't answer. But in fact, he never considered appeasement. This strategy of his was just an excuse to negotiate peace and disturb the hearts of the Chang'an court. Once the army came to Xijing, it would not be strange for those who did not want to be with Wang Yun to change sides before the war.
But Xu Rong didn't think so. Jia Xu thought about everyone's performance at the banquet and thought that it really couldn't go on like this for long.
But Jia Xu couldn't think about such a long-term matter. What he wanted first was to control his own destiny, which required conquering Chang'an and defeating Bingzhou.
Chen Tingjian has not yet sent troops. Jia Xu thought rather gloomily.
