Ten days later, Zhang Xi finally led 50,000 soldiers to Luoyang.
Zhang Xi received the news about the battle at Yique Pass, and Zhuge Liang also received the news.
To be honest, Zhuge Liang was also a little scared.
Although Zhuge Liang was prepared to use 5,000 men to defend Luoyang and await reinforcements, the news that Sima Yi actually appeared at Yique Pass and almost drove straight in still surprised Zhuge Liang.
Sima Yi's grasp of fighter opportunities and judgment of the current situation are really too accurate.
Zhuge Liang originally thought that with only a window of ten to fifteen days, Sima Yi, who was far away in Hulao Pass, might not receive the news in time, and even if he received the news in time, Sima Yi might not choose such a radical advance with light troops. way to sneak attack Luoyang.
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi not only came, but also came very quickly.
If Meng Da hadn't arrived too quickly and caught Sima Yi off guard, Luoyang might really be in danger.
However, Zhuge Liang is afraid of returning later, but it is not that he does not have his own trump cards.
Now that the big man has a strong foundation, Zhuge Liang doesn't have to be so fussy about using troops. But after all, Zhuge Liang is a cautious person. If he didn't have some trump cards, he would not dare to use 5,000 men to defend Luoyang.
As for Zhuge Liang's trump card, after Zhang Xi arrived in Luoyang, he also saw the Yuanrong crossbow on the city wall.
Well, that is Zhuge Liannu.
It's not the small repeating crossbow that Zhang Xi is holding, but the large repeating crossbow that can be used to defend the city.
Over the years, Zhuge Liang finally came up with this big killer weapon. With so many Zhuge's crossbows fired at the top of the city, Sima Yi only brought 20,000 people to attack the city. I'm afraid he didn't even get close to the city wall.
This was Zhuge Liang's confidence to defend Luoyang City with 5,000 men.
As for Zhang Xi, he is greedy.
If there are so many Zhuge Liannu and they are taken to rescue Meng Jindu, Sima Shi will be in big trouble.
Then Zhang Xi began to pester Zhuge Liang shamelessly, asking him to allocate a thousand crossbowmen and two hundred Zhuge crossbows to himself for the army to use.
This made Zhuge Liang laugh. There are only a thousand crossbowmen and two hundred wall-mounted crossbows in Luoyang. Do you, Zhang Yuanchang, really dare to speak up and ask for them all at once? !
So can Luoyang still be defended? !
When Zhang Xi saw Zhuge Liang's posture, he immediately changed his smile and continued to persuade. Isn't this why I'm bringing reinforcements for you?
There are 20,000 Southern troops, including Jiang Wei, Wen Qin, and Guanqiu Jian, assisting you in guarding Luoyang. Not to mention Sima Yi, even if Cao Cao comes in person, he is not sure of capturing Luoyang.
Besides, when I lead the troops to support Zhang Yi, I will immediately ask Wang Chang to lead the troops to return to Luoyang. When Wang Chang leads the troops back to Luoyang, there will be 45,000 people guarding Luoyang City. Will there be this by then? Zhuge Liannu guarding the city is not important at all.
Zhang Xi tried hard to persuade him, but in the end, Zhuge Liang did not relent and agreed.
It’s not that Zhuge Liang is stingy, but these Zhuge Liannu crossbows fixed on the city wall are all large bed crossbows. It is very inconvenient to disassemble and transport them, and they require a group of four people to operate, with one person as backup. Without professional training, it is really difficult to play Don't understand this thing.
This is also the reason why Zhuge Liang has only had a total of two hundred Zhuge crossbows and a thousand crossbowmen in Luoyang for so many years.
This thing is very powerful, but it also has many limitations. It can be used to defend a city, but it is not suitable for accompanying the army in battle.
This is an explanation. Zhang Xi was very skeptical at first.
After all, in history, during Zhuge Liang's Fourth Expedition, he was said to have used Zhuge Liannu to kill Zhang He at Mumen Road. But during the withdrawal process, if Zhuge Liannu was really not conducive to transportation, how could he be killed? Where's Zhang He's? !
But then, Zhang Xi understood that it was Zhuge Liannu, but it was not the large bed crossbow installed on the city wall that Zhang Xi saw now.
It is a small repeating crossbow that requires two people to operate.
Zhuge Liang made the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow, and he actually came up with two different models at once. Well, if you include the miniature handheld repeating crossbow in Zhang Xi's hand, there are three models.
Zhuge Liang took Zhang Xi and saw this small Zhuge Liannu in the Luoyang arsenal.
This repeating crossbow, it is not accurate to say that it is small. It is twice as big as the general crossbow in the military. Its appearance is similar to the crossbow commonly used in the military today, but it is slightly larger. There is an extra strange box to hold the crossbow arrows. After all, Zhuge Liannu can fire ten crossbow arrows in a row.
Because of this, this kind of repeating crossbow is much heavier than ordinary crossbows and cannot be operated by one person. It requires two people to cooperate.
Moreover, this small repeating crossbow is different from the miniature repeating crossbow that Zhang Xi uses for self-defense.
The thing Zhang Xi is holding has decent lethality within twenty steps, but as long as the range exceeds thirty steps, it basically depends on fate to hit it.
This thing is better than nothing. It was specially made by Zhuge Liang. It is used for self-defense by a coach like Zhang Xi who does not have the skills to defend himself but still needs to go into battle. It has very poor practicality.
But this Zhuge Liannu No. 2 machine, after Zhuge Liang's improvements, has a maximum range of 180 steps. Within 120 steps, the accuracy difference is only within 5 steps.
This is of great practical value.
And this No. 2 machine also has a great advantage, that is, it does not require additional training. Military crossbowmen can use it directly in teams of two, eliminating a lot of trouble.
As soon as Zhang Xi saw this thing and listened to Zhuge Liang's introduction to the power of this thing, he did not hesitate and said shamelessly again, "I want it all."
Once again, Zhuge Liang was so angry that he laughed and gave at most half of it.
To this end, the two people had a "fierce and friendly" exchange, and Zhang Xi finally took away 800 Zhuge Liannu No. 2 machines. You must know that there are only a thousand of these No. 2 machines in Zhuge Liang's Luoyang treasury. machine.
After solving the problem of "dividing the spoils", Zhang Xi had no time to quarrel with Zhuge Liang any more.
Sima Yi retreated quickly enough, but the pressure on Meng Jindu was still very high.
According to Zhuge Liang's introduction, Zhang Xi learned that Wang Chang had led 20,000 soldiers from Hongnong County to support Zhang Yi. However, due to Zhang Yi's lack of early troops and too many Wei troops, Zhang Yi had to abandon the Yellow River and retreat. Continue to hold on to the outskirts of Mengjindu.
Although the navy led by Huang Quan was still working hard to intercept the Wei army's ships crossing the river, at the place where Mengjin crossed the river, the water was gentle and there was a Fuzhou in the center of the river. The Wei army occupied this Fuzhou and used Fuzhou as a response. Huang Quan's navy could not take care of both sides.
In addition, the Wei army has too many troops. It is completely acceptable for the Wei army to overturn more than ten or twenty ferries. But for Huang Quan, he only has fifty warships in total. Overturning five warships will make Huang Quan feel distressed. A long time.
Of course, the most important thing is that the enemy has too many troops to stop them.
Zhang Xi actually had his own thoughts on this issue on the way here.
When he learned that Mengjin Ferry was besieged by a large number of Wei troops, although Zhang Xi agreed with Zhuge Liang's judgment and believed that it was impossible for the Wei army to use Mengjin Ferry as the main attack direction, for the next step of the Northern Expedition, it was obviously not possible to repel the Wei army at Mengjin Ferry. It is impossible to continue to implement it.
According to the Northern Expedition plan, not only Zhang Xi would cross the river at Mengjindu to attack Hanoi County, but Wei Yan, if necessary, would also cross the river at Mengjindu and land in Dongjun.
Not to mention that the Wei army was attacking Mengjin Ferry, even if it was simply across the river from Mengjin Ferry, Wei Yan could not go down the river in this situation.
As soon as he makes any move, he will be discovered immediately by the Wei army on the other side.
Therefore, Zhang Xi must first find a way to repel the Wei army that besieged Mengjindu, and at the same time, he must first attack across the Yellow River, burn the war into the hinterland of Hanoi County, and attract all the Wei troops stationed along the Yellow River to shrink to defend the counties in Hanoi County. , This can create opportunities for Wei Yan to go down the river.
But now, intelligence shows that the Wei army attacking Mengjindu has more than 70,000 troops.
With this force, even if Zhang Xi rushes to the aid of Mengjin Ferry and joins forces with Wang Chang and Zhang Yi, the force is just a stalemate with the Wei army. Defeating them is not only difficult, but also takes time.
Therefore, along the way, Zhang Xi studied the map carefully for a long time before he came up with a barely feasible solution.
After arriving in Luoyang, Zhang Xi immediately discussed with Zhuge Liang.
Zhang Xi's method was to take the old route Dong Zhuo took to Beijing, cross the river in Heyang County, and enter Hanoi County.
It's just that this place is close to the official road. Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang through this road, and everyone knows it.
Therefore, after occupying Luoyang but not Hedong, Zhuge Liang ordered the dismantling of the stone bridge crossing the river here early to prevent the Wei army from entering Luoyang from Hedong County along this road.
The water channel of the Yellow River in this place is relatively narrow, so it is possible to build a stone bridge across the river here. However, just because the water channel in this place is narrow, the water flow is rapid. Once the stone bridge is demolished, it will not be so easy to restore it. .
If Zhang Xi wants to cross the river from here, the only way is probably to connect Huang Quan's navy warships to build a warship pontoon.
But in this way, without the restraint of the navy, I am afraid that the pressure on Meng Jindu will become very great.
Therefore, Zhang Xi also wanted to ask Zhuge Liang if there was any way to take care of both sides.
(End of chapter)
