Can you build a catapult for attacking Fancheng in ten days? !
This second master is really out of his mind.
At the gate of Chengdu, it took Zhang Xi nearly two months to build more than sixty catapults. After that, he built more than a dozen more catapults one after another, and bombarded them non-stop for almost a month. Then Liu Zhang finally Surrendered.
More than ten days were only enough to build thirteen catapults.
Fancheng is a strong city. Although it is not as big as Chengdu, its city walls are not necessarily less strong than Chengdu's walls.
So, Zhang Xi's idea is that on a city wall, thirty catapults must be deployed to bombard it for ten days and a half, and maybe the city wall can be broken.
But the second master doesn’t have that much time.
The second master has received the detailed report. Hou Yin launched the uprising in advance. Cao Ren, who originally set out from Wancheng to support Fancheng, was called back to Wancheng by Cao Cao halfway to quell Hou Yin's rebellion. Is there anything now? The second master didn't know that reinforcements were coming to Fancheng.
Therefore, the second master must defeat Man Chong in a short period of time and let Cao Cao send reinforcements again, otherwise the purpose of dividing Cao Cao's forces will be lost.
So thirteen trebuchets are enough, let’s use them first and then talk about it.
Besides, this is a siege machine. The second master doesn't believe it. Faced with a siege machine that is out of the range of the crossbow, he would be willing to wait in the city to be smashed.
As long as Man Chong sends troops out of the city to burn these siege equipment, Guan Yu will be sure to kill Cao Cao's soldiers in the field. If this happens several times, Man Chong will not have enough troops, and he will definitely ask Cao Cao for help.
The second master thought very well, but he probably underestimated the power of the heavy catapult.
When the thirteen catapults were fired for the first time, eight white dots were hit on the east gate wall of Fancheng. Three more stones flew directly over the wall and hit the inside of Fancheng. The remaining two stones hit the wall. Upstairs, a bed crossbow was smashed.
The second master stared blankly at the thirteen catapults that kept pouring stones towards the east wall of Fancheng. He turned around and asked Zhang Xi, "Can this thing be made larger? I mean, I mean, throw bigger stones?" !”
Zhang Xi nodded and said, "Yes."
The second master frowned and looked at it for a while, then continued to ask, "Can we make it twice as big?"
Zhang Xi thought for a while and replied, "It's hard to find wood, but it's not hard to find trees in the south that aren't tall enough."
The second master didn't want to listen to Zhang Xi's complaints at all, so he continued to ask, "How long will it take to build fifty units twice the size?!"
Zhang Xi thought about the time and then said, "It will take two months to be the king. What do you mean by this?!"
Guan Yu looked at Zhang Xi, then at Fancheng, then looked into the distance and said, "If I had known that there was such a sharp weapon, I would have sent out troops as soon as possible to capture Xiangfan and advance to Xudu. What a pity!"
Zhang Xi really didn't understand when he heard Guan Yu's sigh, but no matter what he thought about it, he felt it was wrong.
"What do you mean, sir? Please tell me clearly?!" Zhang Xi quickly raised his hands and said to Guan Yu.
However, Guan Yu shook his head and said, "I have no other intention. You can go to the rear army and continue to supervise the construction of the trebuchet as big as possible. I will be of great use."
No. Zhang Xi always felt that Guan Yu was planning something terrible.
But now, it is obviously not the time to talk things over with Guan Yu. It is necessary to question this Guan Junhou properly after withdrawing his troops and returning to the camp today.
Zhang Xi listened to Xu Shu's words. When it was time to give advice, he must give advice.
But for now, it's better to obey the military orders and supervise the construction of ordnance.
Guan Yu ignored Zhang Xi's reaction and kept looking at the walls of Fancheng in a daze, seeming to be thinking about something.
At this time in Fancheng, Man Chong felt that he was going crazy.
Just a stone smaller than a millstone fell from the sky. Such a big stone, let alone the city gate, would not even be able to withstand the city wall after being hit for a long time.
Man Chong had actually seen the catapult before. When he was in Xudu in his early years, Cao Cao once brought the thunderbolt chariot presented by Liu Ye back to Xudu and stored it in the warehouse as a military weapon. Man Chong had seen it at that time.
But Man Chong remembered that the thunderbolt chariot couldn't throw such a big stone, and were all the soldiers of Liu Bei's army strong men? !
It's been a whole morning, won't these people feel tired? !
Because they were too far away, Man Chong couldn't see the structure of the counterweighted catapult at all. He only thought that it was like a thunderbolt cart and required human power to pull it before it could be projected.
Man Chong couldn't understand such continuous projections all morning.
What was even more incomprehensible to Man Chong was that Guan Yu's army was like this all morning, and then withdrew its troops back to the camp in the afternoon.
They didn't take advantage of the situation to attack the city at all.
Really, Man Chong really couldn't understand what Guan Yu was thinking.
Cutting off the connection between Fancheng and Xiangyang by water means that Fancheng and Xiangyang cannot support each other and cannot transport food, grass or weapons. It is obvious that this means to defeat them one by one.
However, it has been more than half a month since Guan Yu's navy defeated Cao's navy. Although Guan Yu set up camp on the north bank of the Han River, he did not rush to attack the city. Instead, he challenged several times and tried to fight in the field.
At first, Man Chong thought that Guan Yu hoped to eliminate the Fancheng defenders through field battles and make the siege less difficult.
But now, with the intensity and frequency of this catapult's attack, if Guan Yu's army takes advantage of the situation to attack the city, it is difficult to say how long Fancheng can hold on.
So, what exactly is Guan Yu trying to do? !
You know, in less than five days, the 30,000 reinforcements led by Yu Jin should arrive, right? ! Reinforcements? !
Surrounding the spot for support? !
Does Guan Yu want to surround him and call for reinforcements? !
Man Chong felt as if he had touched a little bit of Guan Yu's veins.
But there was one problem that Man Chong still found unexplainable - Guan Yu only brought a total of 30,000 to 40,000 people to the north bank of the Han River, and Yu Jin alone brought more than 30,000 people to help.
The strength of the two sides is almost equal, so where does Guan Yu get such confidence that he can surround the point and call for reinforcements? !
Even if Guan Yu is a famous general in the world, Yu Jin is not just paper.
Man Chong still can't figure it out.
But whether he understood it or not, Man Chong had a lot to do now. The first thing was to check the city defense to see if the Fancheng city defense had been damaged by Guan Yu's catapult.
As for Guan Yu, after returning to the camp, he took the initiative to send someone to call Zhang Xi without waiting for Zhang Xi to come to his door. Then he waved away the guards on the left and right, and asked Zhang Xi a question in a low voice.
"If I lead 20,000 people to block Cao's reinforcements, and Yuan Chang besieges Fancheng with 15,000 people and uses catapults, how many days will it take to capture the city?!"
Zhang Xi blinked and looked at Guan Yu seriously.
Guan Yu also looked at Zhang Xi seriously, waiting for Zhang Xi's answer.
Zhang Xi did not answer directly, but asked Guan Yu, "The prince wants to modify his strategy?!"
Guan Yu did not deny it, but nodded and said, "I didn't know that there was such a sharp weapon in the army before. If I had known about it earlier, I would have planned to Xiangfan and used it as a basis to enter Xudu. Cao Cao would not have failed to save Xudu. In this way, I will live up to my brother’s trust.”
Zhang Xi remained silent because his mind was thinking quickly, weighing the pros and cons.
Without Cao Cao's reinforcements and the attack power of heavy trebuchets, it would really not be difficult to capture Fancheng.
What's more, Guan Yu also gave Zhang Xi fifteen thousand soldiers. With these troops, Zhang Xi was confident that he could defeat Man Chong even if Man Chong went out to fight in the city with the intention of destroying the catapult.
Against other famous generals, Zhang Xi may not have enough confidence, but against Man Chong, Zhang Xi is still confident.
A conservative estimate, including the time to build the catapult, is about three months. A little faster, maybe two months, Zhang Xi will be able to knock down the walls of Fancheng and break through Fancheng.
But the problem is
"The victory or defeat of a military strategist is uncertain. With only more than 20,000 soldiers, how can the monarch guarantee that Cao Jun's reinforcements will be blocked?!" Zhang Xi raised his head, looked at Guan Yu, and asked, "If the monarch is defeated and Cao's army comes to reinforce him, what will happen to the soldiers in Fancheng?" Fighting out, Xi is surrounded by enemies on both sides, and may not be able to protect himself, so he can only retreat by boat. Wouldn't this be a disgrace to the lord?!"
Guan Yu's expression changed slightly, he looked at Zhang Xi and said proudly, "Does Yuan Chang not believe my words or my abilities?!"
Yes, the second master's arrogance is rising.
Okay, you are getting arrogant, but I still have to say what I should say.
"Feixi doesn't believe it. It's just the way of a general. He doesn't think about victory, but thinks about defeat first. Xi has to think about it." Zhang Xi shook his head very firmly this time and said, "If the king's strategy is not comprehensive, the whole army may be overthrown." In such a dangerous situation, Xi dare not obey his fate."
Guan Yu's expression suddenly changed, his eyes widened, and he looked at Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi doesn't show any weakness. I won't glare at you. I'll look elsewhere, but I just won't agree.
Guan Yu stared for a long time, and found that Zhang Xi was either looking at the sky or the ground, or just not looking at him. He was a little angry.
But after all, Guan Yu was not a reckless man, and he also knew that if Zhang Xi did not agree with him to change his strategy, there was nothing he could do.
After all, Zhang Xi was the prefect of Nanjun and the second-in-command among the generals on this expedition. Guan Yu did not want to have a stalemate with Zhang Xi unless he had to.
Furthermore, the catapults were made by others. To implement your new strategy, you need the cooperation of others to direct the siege. If you don't convince Zhang Xi, Zhang Xi may not fully cooperate with you.
Therefore, after Guan Yu found out that the glaring trick was useless, he could only temporarily suppress his temper and said to Zhang Xi, "Since ancient times, there has never been a battle that must be won. On the battlefield, it is just a matter of improvisation."
Zhang Xi still didn't look at Guan Yu, but he still retorted and said, "Xi only knows that those who calculate more will win, and those who calculate less will lose."
Guan Yu hesitated, raised his voice slightly, and said, "In the past, I used thousands of people to fight against tens of thousands of troops in Juebeidao, and I was still able to defeat them. Now I have more than 20,000 people in hand, how can I not be sure?!"
After saying this, Zhang Xi directly raised his head, looked at Guan Yu, smiled slightly, and said, "Do you dare to issue a military order?!"
Guan Yu was confused, "What is a military order?!"
(End of chapter)
