Just as Zhang Heng guessed, after Xu Rong ordered Jin to withdraw his troops in the morning, he did not continue to attack the city in the afternoon.
Unable to figure out the enemy's movements for the time being, Liu Bei ordered his soldiers to be divided into five groups and take turns changing defenses. This ensures that the soldiers can get sufficient rest and can assemble the army as soon as possible if the enemy makes any movement.
After withdrawing from the city tower, Liu Bei and Zhang Heng returned to the county government office.
After fighting all morning, Liu Bei was already hungry. He planned to eat something and rest before going to inspect the city defenses in the evening.
While the two were eating, they suddenly heard a loud noise in the distance. Liu Bei was so shocked that he almost dropped his chopsticks on the ground, and hurriedly looked at Zhang Heng with doubtful eyes.
"The enemy has started attacking again?"
Zhang Heng also frowned.
"The enemy's troops can only withdraw after calling for an hour. Logically speaking, they shouldn't..."
boom!
Before he finished speaking, there was another loud noise, interrupting Zhang Heng's words.
Now Liu Bei didn't care about eating at all. He immediately threw his chopsticks on the table, got up and walked out.
"Ziyi, let's go out and take a look."
Zhang Heng also quickly put down his bowls and chopsticks and followed him out.
As soon as the two walked onto the street, they suddenly heard another loud noise.
Zhang Heng heard it clearly this time. The sound came from the direction of the city gate.
Liu Bei's expression changed drastically, and he almost didn't have time to react before he ran towards the city gate.
After hurriedly and slowly arriving at the city tower, Zhang Heng, who was out of breath and had no time to rest, looked outside the city to see what could make such a big noise.
It didn't matter what he saw, Zhang Heng was completely shocked.
Xu Rong, your grandson is very good at playing!
Two hundred steps away from the city gate, I saw twenty or thirty catapults standing side by side. The loud noises that were heard just now were caused by the stone bullets launched by these catapults hitting the city wall.
Compared to Zhang Heng's shock, Liu Bei next to him breathed a sigh of relief.
"I thought it was some kind of siege weapon, but it turned out to be just a thundercart!"
Liu Bei snorted coldly, his eyes full of disdain.
Of course he had reason to be disdainful. After all, although the catapult was powerful, its projection distance was limited. After loading sixty or seventy kilograms of stone bullets, it can only project a distance of two hundred steps.
If a stone bullet weighing more than 100 kilograms is loaded, it can only be thrown a few dozen steps.
The crossbowmen on the city wall are located high up, and their shooting range can reach nearly two hundred steps, which is highly overlapping with the distance of the catapult. Once the catapult is pushed to the projection distance, the crossbowmen on the tower will fire thousands of arrows, directly shooting the enemy soldiers who launched the catapult into hedgehogs, so Liu Bei was not worried at all.
Now the distance of the catapult is just two hundred steps away, and the farthest projectile distance can only hit the city wall. The city can sit back and relax.
But Zhang Heng smelled something unusual.
"Mr. Xuande, Xu Rong is going to fight a protracted war."
"What does Ziyi mean by this?" Liu Bei asked puzzledly, "Although this thunderbolt chariot is powerful, it can't hit the city at all, so we don't need to panic."
"No, Xu Rong's purpose is not to hit the city." Zhang Heng shook his head and said, "Although the range of this Thunderbolt Cart is short, this distance has already endangered the city defense. If he throws dozens of catapults in one direction together , there are always some stone bullets that can hit the city wall. Just in the city wall under our feet, a hole will be made in a few days, and the enemy will be able to advance straight in.
Furthermore, with the Thunderbolt Chariot placed here, our soldiers on the tower can only be beaten passively, because no one knows whether the next stone bullet will hit their head, and their morale will inevitably be shaken.
Finally, Duke Xuande knew that the thunderbolt chariot could not threaten the city, but the people did not know this, so their worries were unfounded. Whenever Xu Rong ordered his soldiers to go into battle repeatedly for several days, people in the city would definitely be in panic!
In a word, if the Thunderbolt car is placed outside, we can only passively be beaten, and our minds will continue to be consumed. As time goes by, trouble will inevitably arise, and Xu Rong will have the opportunity to take advantage of it. "
After Liu Bei heard this, his eyes suddenly widened.
"What a plan to kill three birds with one stone, but this thief is so vicious!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a loud shout suddenly sounded from behind.
"Brother, be careful!"
The next moment, Zhang Heng felt himself being pulled backwards by an irresistible force.
Boom!
A stone bullet whizzed over and hit the place where Liu Bei and Zhang Heng were standing just now. A hole three or four feet deep was exposed on the ground, and there was a stone bullet in the middle!
"Brother, Ziyi, are you okay?"
When Guan Yu's voice sounded again, Zhang Heng came back to his senses and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
If Guan Yu hadn't caught him and Liu Bei with his quick eyes and quick hands, he might have turned into a ball of minced meat at this moment.
Liu Bei reacted immediately and became furious and ordered: "Chang Yun, you lead 3,000 elite troops out of the city, and you must destroy these thunderbolt chariots!"
How could a catapult be so accurate? What happened just now was just because he and Liu Bei were too unlucky. But Liu Bei seemed unwilling to believe this fact, and vented all his anger on the enemy.
Just as Guan Yu was about to clasp his fists to accept the order, Zhang Heng quickly dissuaded him and said: "Hold on, Mr. Xuande! Xu Rong has deployed these thunderous chariots to demoralize our troops and force them to leave the city for a decisive battle with him. At this moment, he must have ambushed a heavy army. Once we leave the city, , and fell into his trap.”
"So what, if these thunderous chariots are not destroyed, our army will never have peace. Even if we go out of the city for a decisive battle, I will not be afraid of him!"
Liu Bei, who had been through the gate of hell, finally understood what Zhang Heng had just meant and was eager to destroy these catapults.
"This Thunderbolt Chariot is indeed going to be destroyed, but not now. I would like to ask Mr. Xuande to temporarily calm down his wrath. Let's go back and discuss it in the long term." Zhang Heng persuaded him again.
Guan Yu on the side also advised: "Brother, Zi Yi's words are right. Let's avoid the edge for now. It's too dangerous here. You and Zi Yi should retreat first."
"No, Chang Yun, you can't stay here either, come down with me."
After Liu Bei finished speaking, he was afraid that Guan Yu would disagree, so he grabbed Guan Yu's sleeve and walked down the tower.
After the three people got off the tower, they heard several loud noises coming from outside. It seems that the enemy army was inspired when they saw that they almost killed Liu Bei just now, and fired another round.
Liu Bei's face twitched twice, and he quickly ordered the soldiers stationed on the tower to come down first, leaving only a few dozen people to watch the enemy's movements.
"Ziyi, as you just said, what should we do now?"
Zhang Heng could only smile bitterly in response.
This Xu Rong is really a difficult opponent. He is extremely stable when using his troops, so that you can't find any weak points. At the same time, he can also disgust your hands from time to time, making you irritated but helpless.
To describe it in four words, it is as stable as an old dog!
Zhang Heng had to admit that this person was the most difficult opponent he had ever encountered since time travel.
If he had to cooperate with Zhang Liao in plotting Xingyang, Zhang Heng would have wanted to fight him with real swords and guns.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Heng said: "Mr. No matter how powerful you are, it's useless. Sooner or later, we will capture you. A little impatience will mess up the big plan, so I ask Mr. Xuande to be patient for a few days."
Hearing this, Liu Bei let out a long sigh, temporarily suppressing the anger in his chest.
"Then how long do we have to wait? Now we have a good chance of winning when we go out to the city to fight. If we really have to delay it for ten days and a half, I'm afraid the morale of the army will be destroyed."
"It doesn't take so long. If nothing unexpected happens, Wenyuan has already started taking action after receiving yesterday's battle report. This place is only a hundred miles away from Xingyang, and we can see the outcome in two days at most."
Liu Bei nodded, "Okay, then let's wait for three days! After three days, if there is no movement from Wenyuan, we will lead our troops out of the city and fight Xu Rong decisively!"
"As you command!"
Zhang Heng and Guan Yu raised their hands together and said.
…
"Drive, drive!"
In the evening, on the official road from Xingyang to Juan County, a group of soldiers and horses were galloping rapidly. It was Zhang Liao's subordinate.
After giving the order to march last night, Zhang Liao abandoned all his baggage and galloped all the way to Xingyang.
The reason why we choose to do it at night is also very simple. Even the convoy transporting grain and grass for Xu Rong would stop to rest at night. If they don't move, the possibility of Zhang Liao's troops being discovered becomes much smaller.
Zhang Liao was also very lucky. During the journey of more than a hundred miles, he did not encounter any enemy troops.
Until early this morning, about ten miles away from Xingyang, Zhang Liao found a hiding place and asked the entire army to dismount and rest, but he was strictly prohibited from setting up camp, let alone lighting a fire for cooking.
Zhang Liao didn't even dare to send scouts to investigate the situation in Xingyang, just to avoid alerting the enemy.
Finally, at sunset, Zhang Liao once again ordered the entire army to mount their horses and head straight to Xingyang as quickly as possible.
The towering city wall was already in sight. This time Zhang Liao had no scruples and ordered the entire army to go to full strength.
Seeing that it was getting dark but still several miles away, Zhang Liao gritted his teeth and ordered:
"My general orders us to arrive at Xingyang City before dark. Any stragglers... will be killed!"
Under Zhang Liao's strict order, all the soldiers were horrified and concentrated on controlling their mounts, fearing to fall behind.
It is worth mentioning that, in order to guard against the suspicion of the defenders in the city, Zhang Liao only brought his own troops this time, but left the 2,000 men who assisted Zhang Fei outside the city.
Under Zhang Liao's desperate running, he finally arrived at the foot of Xingyang City when the sky was about to darken.
When the defenders on the city tower saw soldiers and horses approaching, they immediately became alert, and even the crossbowmen were already aiming at Zhang Liao below the city.
Zhang Liao, however, calmly took a few deep breaths, and then with a flash of determination in his eyes, he rushed straight to the city gate alone without any hesitation.
"Who is coming?
When the defenders at the city entrance saw Zhang Liao coming alone, they did not fire arrows, but asked loudly.
Zhang Liao raised his head and responded loudly: "This general is Zhang Wenyuan, the commander of Yulin Zhonglang. Open the city gate quickly and let me enter the city!"
Although Zhang Liao's voice was full of energy when he answered, his heart was in his throat.
Success or failure, it all depends on this!
