Outside Xiegu Pass.
The camps were continuous, and the Zhou people's camps stretched across the Xiegu Pass for dozens of miles.
The Zhou people came with an army of 150,000 from the north. If you include the accompanying soldiers and civilians, they could even reach 300,000. The majesty of this voice is so great that it can cover the sun and the moon, and make the whole world eclipse.
Lu Yuan stood on the gate tower, looking at the Zhou camp in the distance.
After staring at it for a long time, he asked: "Is this the Zhou people leading the army? Is it He Basheng, the general of Beizhu Kingdom?"
Disciple Chu Wei, who was watching next to him, heard this and hurriedly replied: "Based on the captured evidence and interrogation, it is indeed this person."
After hearing this, Lu Yuan looked a little solemn: "It's a bit difficult to handle here."
He Basheng, the general of the Beizhu Kingdom of the Zhou Kingdom, was a famous general of the Zhou people. Since his debut, he had conquered the north and south and defeated countless enemies. He was a military god like Bai Mengyang of the Yue Kingdom.
Not only is He Basheng an excellent leader, but He Basheng's cultivation is also strong. It is said that he has almost touched the threshold of the second level of Xiantian.
This kind of cultivation is definitely not comparable to Gui Lianyun, Zhang Chanyi and others that Lu Yuan killed before.
If he faced this person on the battlefield, even he had no chance of defeating him.
He Liansheng was the general of the North Zhu Kingdom of the Zhou people. He always dealt with the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Shuofang County of the northern frontier of the Zhou people. He could be called the sacred pillar of the northern frontier of China.
This time the Zhou people transferred him here as the chief general of Hanzhong County's southern expedition. It seemed that he was really pressed for help. ' Lu Yuan thought secretly.
Zhou State was located in Yongzhou and occupied most of Yongzhou. To the north of Yongzhou is Jizhou.
The land of Jizhou, just like the three states of Yong, Qing, and Yang, also has great countries similar to Zhou, Liang, and Yue.
This country is Wei.
Because they are located adjacent to each other and they are both large states, there are often frictions and fights between Zhou and Wei, and a major war will occur every ten years, one after another.
Therefore, more than 200,000 troops and horses are stationed in Shuofang County in the northern border of Zhou State all year round, just to defend against Wei State.
With such a formidable enemy, Zhou State also dispatched He Basheng here, accompanied by 100,000 northern Xinjiang elites.
From this it can be seen that Zhou people are really anxious this time.
In order to achieve a great victory, they had to send troops to the south at the risk of problems in northern Xinjiang.
"Dongdongdong."
Just as Lu Yuan was thinking in his heart.
The dull sound of drums sounded in the mountains, and groups of Zhou soldiers came out of the camp, then carried various engineering equipment and pushed hard through the small mountain road.
After setting up camp, the Zhou army from the north finally took action and began to test the city.
Looking at the Zhou army slowly approaching, he put back his thoughts, turned to Chu Wei and said, "Get ready to defend the city."
"yes!"
Chu Wei accepted the order, and then began to command the troops and horses for defense.
Not a moment.
At the top of the city, arrows were flying, boulders were flying, crossbows were thundering, and various long-range instruments began to change patterns and hit the heads of the approaching Zhou people.
A brutal siege officially kicked off.
But when the fight here was getting fierce, Lu Yuan turned around and pulled away, getting off the city wall.
This time the Zhou people came from afar, and they were exhausted and exhausted. At this time, it is just a trial attack on the city. Chu Wei can handle it at the top of the city, so there is no need to worry too much.
Xiegu Pass is the most important pass in the world, no less inferior to Wushan Pass. It is a dangerous place where one man can pass it and no one can open it.
There are now 30,000 defenders in the city. Even if 300,000 Zhou people come from outside the city, the strong pass and strong city are there. As long as Xiantian does not take action, the enemy will not be able to break the city even if they fight for months and a half.
Therefore, Lu Yuan did not need to worry too much about city defense.
All he had to do was step forward and stop He Basheng when he took action to prevent the innate threat.
The rest will be done by the people below.
After getting off the tower and returning to Guancheng Yamen, Lu Yuan immediately issued two orders.
The first is to send an order to the rear, asking the 50,000 troops responsible for the immigration work in Hanzhong County to send 20,000 troops northward to reinforce Xieguguan.
The second was to send a message to Zhou Qing, who was guarding Xichuan, and then recruit troops from Xichuan County and then send them to the front line to supplement the losses of the war.
The number of Zhou people coming this time has greatly exceeded Lu Yuan's original expectations.
Previously, he thought that the Zhou people could only have a hundred thousand soldiers at most, and one innate was the limit.
In this way, with the combined efforts of him and Lan Cai'er, even if the soldiers and horses are a little weaker, they are still enough to maintain a stalemate with the Zhou people.
But now when the Zhou people came, they came with 150,000 soldiers, and if you count the civilians, there were as many as 300,000. There are also two innate masters among them, and the leader is a military god like He Basheng.
It can be said that such a lineup configuration is quite luxurious.
The Zhou people's strength was more than twice what Lu Yuan originally expected.
In this way, the only 30,000 defenders in Guancheng were not enough. Even the 110,000 troops originally prepared in Hanzhong County were not enough.
Therefore, more troops must be added.
Draw people from the rear of Hanzhong, and let Xichuan County continue to send some brave men, so as to supplement the consumption on the front line.
If you just do this, Xichuan County, which was already ravaged, will suffer another big disaster now that it has finally recovered.
After all, Lu Yuan had previously recruited 100,000 rebels and civilians from Xichuan County. If he recruits people from there now, he is afraid that by the time the Hanzhong Battle is over, the population of the entire Xichuan County will fall below one million.
Well, yes, just below a million.
After previously conquering Jinguan City, Lu Yuan not only obtained Li Xiong's treasury collection, but also obtained the famous books and atlases in the city.
According to the latest official statistics from Puppet Shu, as of last year, the population of the entire Xichuan land was roughly around 1.3 million.
But now it has experienced another war, and it has been caused another disaster by Lu Yuan and the Zhou people. Tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people will die no matter what.
Later, he recruited another hundred thousand soldiers and horses, which was another big loss.
If we recruit people from there now, wouldn't this mean that Xichuan County is on the verge of death?
After the war was over, Ji Hui and Qiao Kangquan took over Xichuan County. After seeing the situation here, they were afraid that they would have to change the territory if they didn't.
He even had to ask Lu Yuan to change.
Otherwise, the two of them would take over this rotten land and each would be in charge of four to five million people. Even if they have the title of king, is it really interesting for the king to do what he does?
Well, from a conspiracy perspective, why did Lu Yuan's behavior at this time not contribute to this aspect?
But if you really look into it, there is nothing he can do.
After all, if Xichuan County is not exploited and these Xichuan people who hate the Zhou people deeply are not used, how can Lu Yuan be allowed to use the Zhou people from Hanzhong and Xiangyang counties?
He asked these people to help him defend the city. He didn't fight for two days, but these Zhou people opened the city and surrendered, welcoming the king's army into the pass.
And deploy troops from the Dongting Army?
Not to mention being thousands of miles away, is it possible to make it in time?
Even if there is time, if you leave the ready-made coolies unused, you will harm your own foundation. Lu Yuan did this stupid thing because his brain was crazy.
So to sum it up.
Sure enough, the people of Xichuan can only suffer a little more at this time.
Well, after this battle is over, they will have a good life.
Lu Yuan comforted himself in his heart, and after finishing writing the letter, he sent someone to send it out in a hurry.
…
Just as Lu Yuan was writing a letter to mobilize troops, in the following time, before the arrival of reinforcements, the offensive and defensive battle at Xieguguan did not stop until the surrounding areas arrived.
On May 23rd of the eighth year of Hongdao, He Ba led an army of 300,000 troops and arrived at Xiegu Pass.
On the same day, ten thousand troops were sent to attack Xieguguan.
The next day, another 30,000 troops were sent to continue the attack. Late at night, a bonfire was set up to light up the scene.
On the third day, they still mobilized 30,000 troops to replace the army that had been deployed all day and night, and continued to attack the city day and night.
And for the next two days, it was still the same.
By the sixth day, more than 10,000 of the defenders in Xiegu Pass had been killed, and everyone who remained was exhausted and many were injured.
The morale of the military began to decline.
…
Thirty at the end of the month.
It started to rain continuously today, and along with the fog in the mountains, Xiegu Pass, which is located at the junction of the north and the south, actually had a hint of mist and rain in the south of the Yangtze River.
However, facing this poetic beauty, people inside and outside Guancheng didn't have the slightest intention to appreciate it.
The defenders on the city wall screamed and repelled another round of attacks from the Zhou people in front of Guancheng before they could take a breath. Hearing the rumble of drums outside the city and the fluttering of Zhou people's flags in the distance, a new siege army slowly came out of the camp.
"The Zhou people are here again."
"The backup team, where is the backup team? Come here quickly."
"Seize the time to rest, drink and eat, and replenish some energy."
"Those who have held on for two rounds can retreat to the city to repair."
On the top of the city tower, shouts came and went, noisily.
After hearing these instructions, the soldiers sat down numbly, began to open the water bags, took out the rough biscuits from their arms, and ate them quickly.
Some people, as if they had been granted amnesty, hurriedly lined up the remaining formations and hurried down the city wall.
Under the city wall, a new force of about a thousand people was quickly deployed in Guancheng to make up for the gaps in the city's defense.
Soon, the short Guancheng was filled with people again.
However, although the surroundings were filled with thick and thick figures, the soldiers standing on Guancheng did not feel much sense of security.
Because in the previous six days, the surrounding area had generally thick defenses and sufficient manpower.
But after fighting day by day, every time the Zhou people retreated from the offensive, half of the people on the city wall would be gone.
An attack that lasted for two hours had already killed more than a thousand people.
After careful calculation, if a team went up to the city wall for two rounds and four hours, only half of them would be able to return at most when they went down.
With such tragic casualties, even a long-time veteran could not stand it.
Not to mention, many of the defenders in Guancheng at this time were drafted civilian warriors.
The Zhou people fought more and more bravely and fiercely.
Under this brutal siege, the defenders in the city had begun to become frightened and shaken.
If there wasn't still a glimmer of hope in their hearts, believing that that person could lead them to victory, I'm afraid these soldiers would be unable to hold on and break up and flee.
The rotation break lasted for less than a moment and passed quickly.
The Zhou people arrived in front of the city wall again, then carried their equipment and rushed up desperately on the thick mountain of corpses under the wall.
Seeing this scene, the defenders on the tower also lifted falling rocks, poured boiling water, shot arrows and missed, and fought back.
The two armies began a fierce battle again.
"Morale is at a loss."
In the gate building, standing upstairs, Lu Yuan looked at the nearby battlefield and saw that the Zhou people had scaled the city wall after attacking for less than half an hour. He couldn't help but sigh: "The thieves are so numerous, even if they work day and night. Three hundred thousand people, with replacements taking turns, are enough to ensure adequate rest and physical strength.
Our army has few people here. Even though we have Guancheng to rely on, our troops are becoming increasingly scarce due to repeated consumption.
Originally, the soldiers had a cycle of three days, but later it became a cycle of two days, and then it became a cycle of one day now.
The soldiers were exhausted from fighting for a long time, their casualties were increasing, and their morale was gradually declining.
Now that we have only defended it for such a short time, we have people attack the city wall. It seems that we have indeed reached our limit. "
Chu Wei, who had been living on the city tower since the war started. Hearing this, Chu Wei, who was commanding the defense, immediately said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Even though there are many enemies, there are still 20,000 people in the city. They want to break into the city. It's not that easy." easy.
Isn't it just a wave of Zhou people attacking?
I will lead the people over and fight them off. "
Lu Yuan shook his head: "Even if there is no problem today, what about tomorrow and the day after tomorrow? Now the army behind Hanzhong is scattered in various counties and villages, urging people to move.
It's not that fast to bring them back together now.
It will be five days before the fastest reinforcements arrive. This period of time may be difficult.
But what you said is right. Letting the Zhou people stay in the city is ultimately not a good idea, but a serious danger. You can take people to wait for them. "
Chu Wei accepted the order: "Yes!"
After the disciple led the people away, Lu Yuan also fell into deep thought.
Hanzhong County covers a vast area of thousands of miles and has hundreds of counties.
Lu Yuan's soldiers and horses were scattered over such a large area, and they were divided into small teams of dozens or hundreds, scattered in the local villages, urging the local people to migrate.
Under such circumstances, it is not that easy to regroup people and then transfer them to Xieguguan.
Even if they get together, the prefectures and counties that are close to each other are easier to talk about. For those who are farther away, it takes ten and a half days just to travel, and it doesn’t arrive that quickly.
Therefore, although Lu Yuan's order to mobilize troops and reinforcements had been sent back six days ago, until this time, the first team that arrived for reinforcements had still not been seen.
According to the intelligence from the rear, most of the soldiers and horses in Fengcheng and Taibai Mansion, which are close to Xiegu Pass, have already been assembled. They are just waiting for the remaining people to gather, and then they can arrive in five days.
But depending on the situation in Guancheng, whether it can last for five days is a question.
'What a mistake! '
Lu Yuan felt some regret in his heart. He should not have delayed the expansion and only left 30,000 people to garrison in the pass. If only 50,000 people were left, we wouldn't be in such a dilemma now.
But now it was useless to regret, he could only try his best to survive for five days.
…
After a day of fighting, day and night, and paying the price of more than 3,000 casualties, the city's defenders finally managed to survive until the seventh day.
But before the soldiers, who had been fighting all night, could rest for a moment, the Zhou people caught up again.
As a last resort, they had no choice but to pick up their spirits, take the swords with curled blades, and continue to fight with the Zhou people.
After fighting like this for another two days, the number of defenders in the city was reduced to 10,000. The surviving soldiers like me are all injured, and because of the huge casualties, their morale is extremely low.
Although the Zhou people attacked fiercely for eight days, they lost more than 70,000 troops. But there are still more than 200,000 men and horses left, and they are in great numbers. Even because they saw the hope of conquering this city, they formed morale formations with great momentum.
Under these circumstances, on the ninth day, within a few seconds of Zhou's attack, more than a thousand people climbed onto the city wall.
The guards on the city could no longer sustain themselves in the face of the Zhou people's fierce offensive, and began to retreat steadily.
Seeing that they are about to throw down the city wall, this level is about to be lost.
Lu Yuan knew that it was time for him to take action.
"I am going to take action first and stop those Zhou people. You go and draw a new force to fill the gap."
He turned his head and said something to his disciple Chu Wei, then jumped up, with several red sun fires burning around him, and his whole body was like a meteor fire, and he suddenly attacked the crowd of people on the upper city.
There were a few bangs.
The fire exploded, and the hundreds of people gathered nearby were instantly reduced to ashes before they even had time to scream.
Then Lu Yuan didn't stop and continued to kill the people next to him. In just a few breaths, hundreds of people died under his true fire.
The soldiers in Changsha who were retreating nearby were greatly boosted in morale when they saw that their king finally took action and reversed the situation in one fell swoop.
Turning around, he was no longer afraid, and turned around to fight with those Zhou people.
On the Zhou people's side, facing Lu Yuan's attack, everyone's morale was greatly reduced, and they even felt fearful, and began to retreat steadily.
They were about to be driven out of the city.
At this moment, a sharp red arrow flew from the distance, slid across the sky in an instant, and exploded Lu Yuan with a ball of real fire.
After the arrows and fire intersected, the real fire was extinguished, but the arrow still had some power left and continued to rush towards Lu Yuan.
Seeing this scene, Lu Yuan couldn't help but be horrified, and quickly mobilized real fire to burn out the arrow.
When he turned around, he saw a red-armored general coming from the sky. In a few steps, he had landed on the corner of the wall and looked down.
"He Basheng?"
"Lu Yuan?"
Two questioning voices came to mind at the same time, and then fell down at the same time, but they both guessed the identity of the other party.
"It's really you."
He Basheng looked at the extremely young junior in front of him with a sneer on his face: "Earlier, you took advantage of Gui Lianyun and Zhang Chanyi's carelessness to kill two of our Zhu Zhu Kingdoms, which brought our Zhou Kingdom to this situation.
You dare to show up in front of me at this time, so since you are here, please keep your life and don't leave today. "
After saying that, He Basheng opened his bow and drew an arrow, and another stream of red light flew out, reaching Lu Yuan in an instant.
Lu Yuan had already suffered a sneak attack before and was on guard now.
Seeing the opponent shooting an arrow, the same ball of real fire rushed forward, and with a bang, the broken arrow flew away.
Then several balls of real fire roared and burned towards He Basheng.
But the opponent also fired a few more arrows, exploding the real fire one by one.
Even while blocking the attack, he didn't forget to aim at Lu Yuan, missing several shots in a row, until he was left in a panic, and he hid in a hurry.
Lu Yuan had just met the general of North Zhu State of Zhou State, and once the fight ended, Lu Yuan was in danger.
