Zhang Heng has not read many military books. If he insists on using troops, all his methods come from the information age of later generations. After all, the times have developed for another eighteen hundred years, and its use can be described as a dimensionality-reducing blow to the ancients.
The most important point is the asymmetry of information!
He knew who Xu Rong was and the deployment of troops in Xingyang City, and he could guess Xu Rong's current situation from this.
On the other hand, Xu Rong knew almost nothing about the Liu Bei Group.
One is in the light, the other is in the dark, and Xu Rong has lost much chance of winning even before the battle begins.
In addition, Zhang Heng has always been as steady as an old dog, and likes to maximize the results while ensuring his own safety. This is equivalent to building yourself into a turtle shell first, standing still under the enemy's attack, and then looking for the opportunity to take advantage of the situation and give the enemy a hard blow.
The arrangements have been made, and the next step is to wait for Xu Rong to attack.
Regarding this matter, Zhang Heng was actually not sure. After all, he was not the roundworm in Xu Rong's belly. He could only deduce the most likely outcome based on the situation. Anyway, they just asked Zhang Liao to stay outside the city for a while with his troops, and there would be no loss if it failed.
Fortunately, Xu Rong finally came.
On the second day after Zhang Liao led his army out of the city, Xu Rong led his five thousand troops and rushed to the foot of Juan County.
Compared to Zhang Heng, who was as steady as an old dog, Xu Rong was no less generous. He started leading his army early yesterday morning. He walked for a whole day for more than a hundred miles, and then set up camp to rest. All night.
When the soldiers were completely refreshed and their morale was at its peak, he slowly led his army to the foot of Juan County City and blew the attack horn.
After all, he was the one who could defeat Cao Cao, and Xu Rong did have some tricks.
As for whether the enemy army would raid Xingyang while he was on an expedition, Xu Rong was not worried at all.
First, the cities around Xingyang were all in Dong Zhuo's hands.
Between the two, there is only one official road between Juan County and Xingyang. If the enemy takes the opportunity to make a surprise attack, they will be discovered by their own grain transport team halfway. Moreover, he had left five hundred soldiers and horses in the city. With Xingyang's city defense, even if 10,000 enemy troops attacked, he would be able to calmly hold out until he could come back for reinforcements.
Therefore, Xu Rong started the first wave of siege with confidence.
Roll upstairs in the county seat.
Liu Bei looked at the enemy troops coming from the ground and the word "Xu" on the big banner at the end. His face was full of excitement. He grabbed Zhang Heng's shoulders, and his voice even trembled.
"Zi Yi really has a clever plan, then Xu Rong is really here!"
What does this mean?
This means that Zhang Liao can take action.
Once Xingyang is captured, he will no longer have any worries, whether it is the situation or the level of food and grass.
"I saw it, Mr. Xuande, I saw it."
Zhang Heng reluctantly took away Liu Bei's hand and rubbed his sore shoulder.
"Haha, I lost my composure, I lost my composure..." Liu Bei rubbed his hands in embarrassment, "How should we fight in today's battle?"
Zhang Heng did not answer, but looked at Guan Yu next to him.
"What do Yun Chang think?"
Hearing this, Guan Yu stroked his beard habitually and said slowly: "Defending the city is not too fancy. It is just a steady and steady attack. These enemy troops below the city will never be able to break our city defense."
"That's true." Zhang Heng nodded in agreement, "But in today's first battle, I want the newly recruited soldiers to hold on."
"Why?" Guan Yu frowned and asked in confusion.
Not only have the newly recruited young men never been on the battlefield, they have not even practiced much. Once the city defense is handed over to them, they will inevitably suffer heavy casualties. Moreover, the first battle is related to the morale of the entire army. Once it is unfavorable, it may lead to many unfavorable factors.
"There are two reasons." Zhang Heng explained his basis. "The first is to show the enemy's weakness. Let Xu Rong think that our combat power is insufficient, give him the illusion that we can break the city, and give Wenyuan more Buy some time.
Secondly, it is for military training. New recruits always need to see blood, and the city defense battle is a relatively low-difficulty battle, which is perfect for training new recruits. After all, we can't always rely on the surrender of Dong's army. "
I had been using it before because I had no choice. Now that he has a choice, Zhang Heng certainly wants to train these new recruits.
"Understood."
Guan Yu cupped his fists and said, then turned around and deployed the city defenses. He replaced all the surrendered soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army and put the new soldiers on the front line.
When he was almost ready, the enemy troops outside the city also began to charge.
Just as Zhang Heng expected, as soon as the two sides came into contact, Liu Bei's newly recruited soldiers suffered heavy casualties. If they hadn't been victims and had a deep-seated hatred for Dong Zhuo in their hearts, they would probably collapse at the drop of a hat.
Fortunately, he was defending the city, and relying on the city wall, these new soldiers were able to withstand Xu Rongjun's offensive with difficulty.
Zhang Heng looked at the raging battlefield below the city and couldn't help but nodded.
It was beyond his expectation that these new recruits could achieve this level. It can be seen that Guan Yu's military training level is still good, at least not as high as that of the legendary Eight Hundred Traps camp.
No matter what kind of battle, the first wave of attack is always tentative. A truly experienced general can often discern a lot from this wave of temptations.
And Xu Rong is exactly this kind of general.
When he saw that Liu Bei's army suffered heavy casualties as soon as they fought, he couldn't help but nodded and his eyes were filled with joy.
He had known that the Kwantung princes had newly recruited troops under their command, but he did not expect that their combat effectiveness would be so weak.
I really don’t know how Yang Ding lost!
The siege lasted for about an hour. Seeing that the sun was in the middle of the day, Xu Rong ordered Ming Jin to withdraw his troops. His expression was much more relaxed than when he attacked.
With this level of city defense, three days is enough to destroy the city!
Next, it’s time to take the real approach.
On the city tower, Liu Bei heard the desolate horn sound in the distance and couldn't help but look suspicious.
"Ziyi, the enemy army is gaining momentum, why are you calling for gold at this time?"
However, Zhang Heng looked at Xu Rong's general platform in the distance and praised: "Xu Rong is indeed a veteran on the battlefield, his methods are superb. Cao Mengde did not lose unjustly."
"What do you mean by this?"
"Mr. Xuande, the appetizers have been served. The enemy will really begin to attack the city in the afternoon." Zhang Heng said with a smile.
"this……"
Liu Bei looked at the corpses under the city and the pools of blood gathering in the low-lying areas, and thought to himself, is this not a real siege?
"Then what should we do now?"
Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows and said, "What to do? Of course we have to eat. Only when the soldiers are full can they have the strength to continue fighting."
"Forehead……"
Liu Bei didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Xuan De Gong, when the enemy is no longer eager for quick success, he is already in an invincible position. Naturally, we have no opportunities to take advantage of and can only fight steadily. In the next battle, we will remain unchanged in response to changes. There’s no need to worry.”
After hearing Zhang Heng's words, Liu Bei nodded slightly, his eyes thoughtful.
Zhang Heng planned to eat first, and Xu Rong outside the city happened to have the same plan.
They all understand the truth that no matter what the situation is, they must maintain the maximum combat effectiveness of their soldiers.
As a result, both sides set up pots to cook rice in unison, and soon the aroma of the food filled the city and outside. If it weren't for the hundreds of corpses lying under the city, people would have mistakenly thought that both parties were out for a picnic.
After lunch, Xu Rong ordered the soldiers to rest for half an hour.
When the time was up, Xu Rongmeng's expression changed. His face no longer had the calmness it had before, but was replaced by a look of solemnity, and a captivating light erupted from his eyes.
After the siege formation was set up again, Xu Rong did not order the soldiers to attack. Instead, he drew his sword in his hand and ordered loudly:
"Someone, come upstairs and paddle!"
Following his order, the queue slowly gave way to several passages, and hundreds of soldiers pushed out oars one after another.
After seeing these things, Zhang Heng on the tower was stunned for a moment, and spit out a mouthful of Chinese quintessence on the spot.
"Damn it, this thing still exists in this day and age!"
