The so-called sculls are actually high platforms built with wooden frames, with several wheels installed underneath to enable them to be pushed.
These towers and oars are about two feet high, just about the same height as the city wall of Juan County. Once pushed to the bottom of the city, they will be flush with the city towers. Xu Rong's soldiers can climb up the ladder from the rear and fight on the ground with Liu Bei's army in the city. .
Once this happens, Liu Bei's army's city defense advantage will no longer exist, which is why Zhang Heng was so shocked.
This is because he underestimated the ancients. In fact, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, powerful siege weapons like Lou Lu had already appeared. Not only are there oars, there are even catapults.
Xu Rong, as for Xu Rong, just open it up when you come up!
Zhang Heng was shocked in his heart and lamented Xu Rong's lack of martial ethics, but he was not slow at all and quickly ordered: "Quick, prepare stone lacquer!"
The so-called stone lacquer is actually unrefined petroleum. People today do not use it on a large scale. Although the quantity is scarce, it is enough to collect it for war.
Needless to say, Zhang Heng said that Guan Yu was already ready to attack Lou Lu the moment he saw it.
The three brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang had been fighting for many years, and of course they knew that there were oars among the siege equipment, so they put the stone paint in wooden barrels under the city early in the morning, ready for use at any time.
The wheels of the oars rolled in the dust, making a hissing sound, like wild beasts approaching rapidly, bringing great pressure to the soldiers at the city entrance.
Once they are pushed to the city, this defensive battle will be difficult to fight.
"Crossbowmen, prepare!"
Guan Yu shouted and ordered.
Immediately hundreds of crossbowmen stood up behind them, their arrows already strung, and they were all aimed at the enemy troops pushing down the towers and oars under the city.
"put!"
Guan Yu gave the order, and arrows rained down one after another, swarming towards the enemy troops below the city like locusts.
In an instant, dozens of enemy soldiers fell down, their bodies pierced by countless arrows, like hedgehogs.
"Raise your shield, raise your shield!"
The military commander who was responsible for leading the soldiers to push the oars immediately shouted loudly, and all the soldiers raised their shields.
The craftsmanship during this period was still relatively rough. Most of the shields were made of wood, and some were made of iron. Only a few shields were made of cowhide, and they were all square shields. Therefore, although the defense was sufficient, it was not enough to cover the whole body.
But hundreds of people raised their shields to their heads together, and finally formed a shield array within a certain range, which resisted Liu Bei's army's arrows. Even if there are scattered arrows shot in, they can't hurt the vital parts.
Seeing that the bows and arrows were not working, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel a little anxious. With a wave of his hand, he ordered all the crossbowmen to board the city wall, increase the output of arrows, and vowed to shoot all the enemy soldiers who pushed the towers and oars to death under the city. .
Seeing this, Zhang Heng quickly spoke to stop him.
The most important strategic material of arrows is now useless, so it can no longer be wasted.
"Don't be impatient, Mr. Xuande. We'll have to wait until the enemy forces pull up the building and then burn it with fire. Otherwise, we'll waste arrows in vain, but won't be able to kill or injure the enemy forces. The gain will outweigh the loss."
Liu Bei then calmed down and ordered his soldiers to light the torches first, and then set fire to them after the oars were pushed to the bottom of the city.
Due to technical limitations, the oars did not move very fast. It took nearly half an hour to push the oars from Xu Rongjun to the bottom of the city tower, which was only a few hundred steps away.
Keng!
With a loud noise, the oar finally hit the city wall. The soldiers below suddenly felt huge resistance and could no longer push it any further.
The military commander who ascended first immediately ordered his soldiers to play flags and report to Xu Rong in the rear.
Seeing the flags waving, Xu Rong understood that the oars were in place. He was overjoyed and suddenly pulled out the sword from his waist.
"The whole army is listening to the order. Today we will attack the city and eliminate the thieves. The first one to get there will be promoted to the third level and rewarded with millions of dollars! If anyone gets the head of the thieves chief, I will report it to the court and have him promoted to a noble rank! Go to battle!"
"Woooooooooooo..."
As soon as Xu Rong finished speaking, the attack horn sounded.
When the soldiers under his command heard that the reward was so generous, they all rushed towards the tower with roars.
A huge crowd of people came. In order to ensure victory in the first battle, Xu Rong actually sent out all his infantrymen at once, a total of two thousand people.
Compared to the small town of Juan County, these soldiers and horses are more than enough for siege.
But Xu Rong would never have imagined that there would be nearly ten thousand troops in Juan County at this moment.
Seeing the enemy's massive attack, Guan Yu opened his eyes slightly, flashing with a hint of fighting intent.
"The crossbowmen dispersed, and thousands of arrows were fired!"
The advance soldiers just now were all wearing armor and shields, and their bows and arrows did not play much role, but now the attacking team that rushed up did not have shields in their hands. Facing this rain of arrows, there were heavy casualties immediately, and the soldiers in the front row were the first to bear the brunt. Nearly a hundred people were taken away in one wave.
The remaining soldiers began to look for cover one after another, and some even directly moved the corpses of their comrades in front of them in order to temporarily avoid the sharp attack.
Behind the enemy line, Xu Rong frowned slightly when he saw this scene.
"Although the enemy army is vulnerable, the enemy general commanding him is a worthy opponent."
After muttering softly to himself, Xu Rong waved his sleeves and ordered: "Send an order to send a team of five hundred supervisors forward. Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed!"
"As you command!"
After the order was given, five hundred warriors armed with sharp blades rushed forward and killed a dozen soldiers who were preparing to retreat on the spot, successfully frightening everyone.
Now Xu Rong's advance army had no retreat, and the ferocity deep in his heart was completely aroused.
Anyway, both the left and right will die, so it is better to fight to the death. Even if unfortunately he is killed in battle, his wife, children and children will still have pensions.
The pressure on the tower suddenly increased. Although the arrows could still kill the enemy, they could no longer stop their progress. In just a moment, Xu Rong's former troops rushed to the city gate and began to climb up the tower.
Seeing this, Guan Yu frowned.
Once the enemy troops board the tower, they will enter the stage of hand-to-hand combat. How can these new soldiers under their command be the enemy's opponents?
"Stone paint!"
At the critical moment, Guan Yu used his ultimate move without hesitation.
Buckets of stone paint that had been prepared long ago were carried up to the tower. This time, Zhang Fei personally led the operation and ordered the soldiers to pour stone paint on the enemy's tower sculls.
At this time, Xu Rong's advance troops were halfway up the climb when they suddenly felt water pouring down from above, followed by bursts of pungent smell.
When they hurriedly looked up, what greeted them was Zhang Fei's rough and honest smiling face and the torch in his hand.
"No, this is stone paint!"
The experienced Imperial Guards reacted immediately, and the leader shouted: "Retreat, retreat quickly!"
Unfortunately it's too late!
Zhang Fei laughed ferociously and threw the torch in his hand towards the oar. The soldiers next to him also followed suit and threw the torches out.
The flames drew a beautiful arc in the air, and finally fell on the oar, instantly setting off a burst of flames that reached the sky!
With the blessing of Shiqi, the speed of the flames is beyond human ability to react. Wherever the stone paint passes, flames follow, like a life-threatening ghost.
Sergeant Xu Rong, who had climbed halfway up, was instantly enveloped in flames. He only had time to let out a scream before he fell down.
The surrounding comrades wanted to rescue him, but under the burning fire, no one dared to step forward. They even quickly backed away, fearing that they themselves would be set on fire.
The most terrible thing was that all the oars holding up the city wall were on fire. Now, no matter how much the supervising team urged, the advance troops did not dare to continue climbing up despite the raging fire.
Human nature's tendency to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages was vividly demonstrated at this moment.
Not only that, the arson team led by Zhang Fei on the city tower laughed loudly when they saw that the enemy troops did not dare to move forward, and then began a great arson career, continuing to pour goblets of stone paint into the fire.
Now there was no chance of controlling the fire.
"Fire the arrow!"
Seeing that the enemy troops below the city tower were at a loss, Guan Yu immediately ordered that the drowned dogs be beaten.
The arrows rained down again. Xu Rongjun, who had been demoralized because the oars were burned, had no intention of resisting and retreated with their shields raised.
Seeing this scene from a distance, Xu Rong's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
As early as the moment the fire started, he knew that today's siege was a failure.
Now the soldiers have no intention to fight, and no matter how hard they persist, it will only increase casualties.
Sure enough, these Guandong bandits were much stronger than the Yellow Turban thieves back then.
"Pass my general's order and withdraw your troops with gold!"
Xu Rong sighed and ordered.
