Zhang Xi retreated to the street pavilion, and Zhang He followed closely. He did not give Zhang Xi much chance to rest and recuperate. He only spent one day setting up camp, and then immediately launched an attack.
Zhang Xi retreated to the street pavilion and joined Wang Ping. He had no time to rest and immediately devoted himself to defensive arrangements.
I had set up three lines of defense before, but now it seems that it really helped a lot.
The first line of defense is still managed by Wang Ping, who is responsible for delaying Fei Yao's cavalry team with crossbows, trying to slow down Fei Yao's removal of antlers and joining Zhang He's infantry team at the rear.
Jieting City, the third line of defense, has now become Zhang Xi's first line of defense against Zhang He.
Although it is only an earthen city, the walls are only three to four feet high, and there are cracks in many places. I feel more comfort than the actual city defense effect. But it is better than nothing.
At least in the face of the current situation, the morale of Liu Bei's army commanded by Zhang Xi can be stabilized a little more, and it will not collapse directly due to being surrounded from the front and rear.
But relying on these things alone to make the soldiers defend desperately, the hearts of the soldiers will be quite shaken. After all, no one wants to die. If there is not enough reason, it is difficult to make these soldiers firm in their beliefs.
Therefore, Zhang Xi not only ordered the lieutenants in the army to strengthen patrols in the camp, but also summoned all the soldiers to mobilize along the river.
It is not about talking to the soldiers about big principles or about helping the Han Dynasty, but it is about following the example of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang and telling the truth.
"Sirs!" Zhang Xi said loudly to all Liu Bei's soldiers, "It is true that Cao's army is strong now and ours is weak. However, according to Cao Wei's old rules, you can surrender before the siege, but you will not be allowed to surrender after the siege. ! Now that Wei General Fei Yao is in front and Zhang He is behind, we will not be pardoned even if we surrender. Waiting to die, how can we die in our country?!"
"Although we are weak, it is not a dead end. Although the enemy's army is large, it is not a sure-winner. Now the Lord is leading the army to attack Guangwei. The three generals are behind Zhang He's army. We only need to hold on here for a few days and wait for the Lord If Guangwei is captured, or if the three generals lead troops to help, Zhang He will be defeated and we will survive."
"If we surrender, we will die. If we fight, we still have a glimmer of hope. So why not fight to the death?!"
"I am a general, and I am willing to fight with my life. You are all subordinates, why should I sacrifice my life?!"
"If we lose this battle, I will fight with you on the battlefield to the death. If we win, no matter life or death, there will be streams flowing out of the land of gold and silk for all the generals. I will not let down the generals."
He told the truth again, encouraged him with chicken blood, and finally offered gold, silver, silk, and even land as incentives, which finally aroused the fighting spirit of the soldiers under the tent.
Seeing that the morale of the soldiers had improved, Zhang Xi immediately arranged to defend the city. The three to four feet high city wall was also a city wall. Although it might not last a few days, it could always block Zhang He's army's offensive.
It's a day that lasts a day.
Faced with such an earthen city, Zhang He did not build any big siege equipment. After all, in terms of time, Zhang He could not make it in time, so Zhang He just ordered people to build simple hooks and ladders to attack the city by climbing the city wall. .
After all, the city wall is only three to four feet high. Even if you fall, you may not be injured if you are lucky. With such a city wall, there is really no need to waste time on building ladders and rush cars.
To put it bluntly, it is still a hand-to-hand combat, but with some additional obstacles.
Zhang He's purpose is still the same as before, which is to fight for consumption. Even with the so-called earth city, Zhang He does not think that the soldiers of these days can withstand a damage rate of more than 30% without collapse.
Zhang He had the superior force, so he must adopt the tactics that best amplified his advantage, otherwise why would he be called a famous general?
As for Zhang Xi, he didn't have a good idea. He knew that this was a time-consuming battle, and he had no other way to defeat the enemy except to hold on and fight for the enemy.
The only good thing is that for this Northern Expedition, the ordnance preparations are quite sufficient. In order to set up three lines of defense at the street pavilion, Zhang Xi still brought a lot of ordnance for defense. Although the city wall was not satisfactory, the arrows After all, there is no shortage of arrows, bows and crossbows, and a lot of swords, carts and rolling logs are also prepared. It is not impossible to just hold on.
At least on the first day, the defensive effect of the city wall was pretty good. After fighting for most of the day, it really looked like a defensive battle.
They used swords and carts to block the gate of Jieting Tucheng, temporarily blocking Zhang He's army from breaking into the city. On the city wall, they used bows and arrows and rolling logs to block Zhang He's army's attack, which really blocked Cao's army's offensive for a while.
And the most important point is that although Zhang Xi's army failed to cause much damage to Zhang He's army during the siege for most of the day, its own damage was also controlled to a minimum.
After fighting for most of the day, Zhang Xi's army suffered only more than a hundred casualties, and this day was about to pass as the sun went down.
Zhang Xi was very pleased with this, but Zhang He definitely wanted to scold his mother.
Even if these infantrymen have been in Yecheng for a long time, if the basic siege battle is like this, do you really have the nerve to claim that you are the elite of the Wei army? !
As soon as Zhang He became angry, he immediately dispatched the military law team to supervise the battle. Before the sun set, Cao Jun finally launched a desperate attack and attacked the wall of Jieting Tucheng.
Seeing that the city wall was about to fall, Zhang Xi did not dare to be careless and released the thousand-man reserve force he had always held in his hands. Relying on the numerical advantage, he finally drove Cao's army off the city wall temporarily.
But this attack allowed Zhang He to see signs of conquering the city, which greatly improved the morale of Cao's army.
Fortunately, it was winter and the sun set early, so Cao Jun had no time to attack again, which made Zhang Xi breath a sigh of relief.
At night, Zhang Xi has time to re-build the defense line, find ways to improve the morale of his soldiers and give him a chance to adjust.
Zhang He didn't care. After all, the defense of this earth city was just like that. No matter how much it was adjusted, it would be useless. If you could attack it the first time, you could attack it the second time.
The first day's offensive and defensive battle came to an end.
Generally speaking, Cao Jun still takes the initiative on the battlefield, and the temporary truce is just to prepare for a better siege tomorrow.
What Zhang Xi can do now is indeed limited. Apart from preparing the distribution of defense materials for the next day, there is nothing else he can do. This is the strength of his troops, and no matter how much he adjusts, he will not be able to achieve anything.
Now Zhang Xi wished that God would help him again. Just like in Ji County, there was a sudden snowstorm. But Zhang Xi thought about it in his shoes. If he were Zhang He, he would have to continue attacking even if there was a blizzard, let alone a blizzard.
By seizing the street pavilion and occupying Longshan Road as early as possible, Cao Jun can take the initiative in the entire battle.
Therefore, it is better not to have any unrealistic wishes and think carefully about what to do the next day.
Zhang Xi thought about it and felt that if he continued to defend like this, he would probably lose if he defended for a long time. He quickly called Wang Ping to discuss the strategy for defending the city tomorrow.
"I order the general to lead his troops out of the city before early morning tomorrow and ambush five miles outside the city!" Zhang Xi said to Wang Ping, "When Zhang He attacks the city tomorrow, the general will rush out from the flank and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. I don't know. Is that possible?!”
Zhang Xi didn't want to just defend like this, and felt that he had to arrange a force outside the city to help defend and use the field battle to kill Cao's army.
But Zhang Xi was worried whether Zhang He, as a famous general, would give him this opportunity.
Furthermore, if Wang Ping's useless flying army is mobilized, how should Fei Yao's cavalry be used to contain it? If Fei Yao's cavalry merges with Zhang He, the threat will be even greater.
Wang Ping also had similar worries, but after careful discussion for a long time, the two found that this seemed to be the only way to do it.
Will Zhang He give Zhang Xi a chance? This is not an opportunity that Zhang Xi can get by praying. It is an opportunity that requires Zhang Xi to constantly mobilize enemy troops. If you don't do it, you will definitely not have a chance. The only way is to try. Only then.
As for Fei Yao and Zhang He joining forces, it was only a matter of time. Relying on antlers and bows only delayed the process.
No matter how well Wang Ping did, it would only take a few days. Fei Yao and Zhang He would join forces sooner or later, and the difference would not be big if there was more and less obstruction.
Therefore, Wang Ping felt that Zhang Xi's approach was not a bad idea, at least give it a try, otherwise it would not be a long-term solution after all.
However, Wang Ping suggested that now is not a good time to leave the city for a sneak attack. It is best to go aboard for a few days before proceeding.
Now that Cao Jun has just started to attack, he is still sensitive to changes in the surrounding situation. Zhang He will not fail to send out scouts to defend the surrounding area, so now he goes out of the city to ambush and prepare for a sneak attack. There is a high probability that Cao Jun will discover it, and then Wang Ping may not be able to come back.
They should wait a few more days, wait for Cao's army to form a habit of attacking the city, and slowly relax their defenses on the flanks before leaving the city. Maybe they can achieve the greatest results.
After Zhang Xi heard this, he nodded slightly and agreed with Wang Ping's judgment.
But Zhang Xi also has his own worries. There are only more than 7,000 soldiers in the entire army. If he continues to hold on and loses more than 1,000 people, Zhang Xi is not sure whether the soldiers will still have the determination to hold on.
You know, Wang Ping's useless flying army is fine for shooting arrows to stop the enemy, but if these troops composed of the five barbarians in Nanzhong are used to defend the city, we really can't have high expectations. So Zhang Xi can actually invest There were already less than 5,000 soldiers guarding the city.
The overall number of defenders seems to be large, but the number of people who can actually defend the city is actually not large. Zhang Xi is afraid that if he continues to defend the city, his soldiers will collapse.
In this regard, Wang Ping was speechless. This was not a matter that Wang Ping could make a decision on. Zhang Xi, the commander-in-chief, needed to make a judgment.
Zhang Xi, on the other hand, paced back and forth in his tent for a long time, and finally decided to stay for another three days.
(End of chapter)
