After Cao Zhen took away the 4,000 cavalry protecting the flanks, he could only line up 5,000 or 6,000 infantry to attack the city. This number of troops could not surround Anling's four walls. , so Cao Zhen simply attacked the Nancheng and Xicheng of Anling.
Yang Qing also made targeted arrangements for this. He divided the army into four. Liu Yin led 4,000 troops to defend the west city. He personally led another 4,000 troops to defend the south city. As for the east city and north city, he also sent a thousand troops each. The army is on guard to prevent unexpected events.
The Han army was said to have ten thousand people in the city, but the nine thousand were all a ragtag group of farmers, soldiers, and volunteers. In order to strengthen the army's combat power and prevent it from being overwhelmed by the Wei army, Yang The Qing Dynasty also divided a thousand old soldiers into two, and each of Liu Yin and Liu Yin used 500 old soldiers to lead the new soldiers.
The Anling city wall is not very tall, only about ten feet high, and it was damaged when Yang Qing led his troops to attack Anling. Although it has been repaired and reinforced to a certain extent in the past few days, it is still not the same as before. Compare.
Therefore, Cao Zhen did not ask his sergeants to build any complicated siege equipment. He only built a batch of simple ladders and a few rams and launched the attack.
"Kill, kill..."
"The general has an order. The first person to reach the rank will receive a reward of one hundred taels and be promoted to three levels."
"The general has an order. Anyone who captures and kills Yang Qing, the leader of the thieves, will receive a reward of a thousand taels, be promoted to five levels, and be granted the title of Marquis within the pass."
...
The general supervising the formation repeatedly conveyed the rewards issued by Cao Zhen to the charging sergeants. When all the Wei soldiers heard that the rewards were so high, they all screamed with encouragement and bravely carried the ladders towards the Anling city wall without fear of death. Rush away.
In addition, these Wei soldiers are all elites who have been fighting for many years. They have rich experience in rushing into battle and attacking cities, and are proficient in killing skills. Their combat power is far better than the new soldiers that Yang Qing has gathered these days.
Therefore, the Wei army's first attack almost overwhelmed the Han army. Fortunately, the Han army on each wall was almost twice as many as the Wei army attacking the city, and the original elite veterans took the lead and fought hard, so the Wei army was not defeated. One hit.
"Your Majesty, it's so dangerous. If the Wei army is allowed to attack the city in large numbers, it will be difficult to drive them back." Zhou Xing stepped forward and killed the last Wei soldier who jumped onto the city wall, and then returned to the tower and said with lingering fear.
Yang Qingdao: "Yes, it is indeed a bit thrilling. But after withstanding the first wave of Wei army's attack, the new recruits will no longer be frightened into panic. It can be said that we have survived the most dangerous moment."
He paused and then said: "If Bo Qi and the others can return to support at this time, it will be easier for us."
"Envoy, look!" Zhou Xing did not answer his words, but pointed to the east and shouted.
Yang Qing took advantage of the situation and saw bursts of horse hooves suddenly coming from the east, like winter thunder hitting the ground. After a while, a horn sounded again, exciting and exciting, shaking the surrounding areas.
After a while, rows of figures appeared in everyone's sight. These figures came and went quickly. They drove straight in. It was Zhang Yi who led the cavalry to return reinforcements.
"Okay, Bo Qi came back at the right time." Yang Qing shouted happily.
Zhou Xingdao: "It's a good thing that Mr. Zhangfu can come back to help in time, but Mr. Wei and Wei Qi are on the side. They won't let Mr. Zhangfu and others succeed in the attack easily."
"Yes, Cao Zhen is also considered a rare famous general. How could he not prepare in advance. Those four thousand Wei cavalry are to protect the flanks of the infantry. It is indeed difficult for Bo Qi and others to succeed in attacking.
But at least it will put a certain amount of pressure on Wei Jun. As the pressure on Wei Jun increases, the pressure on our side will decrease accordingly. After all, we will make money in the end. Yang Qing said with a smile.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw three thousand Han cavalry turning southward in unison, and then thrust straight into the ribs of the Wei army in Nancheng like a sharp sword.
The Wei army that attacked Nancheng only had more than 2,000 people, and their strength was slightly less than that of Zhang Yi and others. If the Han cavalry were to attack the flanks, the entire Wei army's formation would be in chaos. By then, they would say they were attacking the city, but they would just want to withdraw. I'm afraid it will be very difficult for the camp.
It's just that although Zhang Yi's idea is good, Wei Jun will not let him succeed easily. When Dunn saw the Han cavalry coming, he also led the cavalry in a circle to meet them. The two armies fought in a melee, and many fell off their horses.
The two cavalry have fought several times in the past few days, and they both understand that the combat power of the two sides is only about equal, and the winner cannot be determined by a single charge. However, there were a thousand more Wei cavalry, so Zhang Yi and others were at a disadvantage every time they fought and did not dare to fight the enemy for a long time.
Zhang Ni originally wanted to take advantage of the Wei army's confusion to launch a surprise attack, but he did not expect that the Wei army's cavalry still responded quickly, causing his plan to fail. However, he was not discouraged. When he saw that he missed a hit, he stopped struggling. He led his men to turn their horses' heads and go in the opposite direction, then turned back to the original road.
When Dunn gained the upper hand, he led his army to pursue him and held the Han army firmly in an attempt to defeat it in one fell swoop. When Zhang Yi's plan failed, he made another plan. He led his troops from the east city to the north city. He wanted to go around in a circle and kill in the west city to see if he could open a gap from there.
But as soon as Dunn saw the Han army turning north, he immediately understood Zhang Ni's plan. He detached a thousand cavalry and galloped northward against the wall of the East City, blocking Zhang Yi's advance.
Upon seeing this, the Han troops on the east wall fired arrows repeatedly, intending to support the cavalry outside the city. But firstly, the Wei cavalry was extremely fast, and secondly, these Han troops were all new soldiers with poor shooting skills, so they did not cause any damage to the Wei cavalry that flew by.
Seeing that the road to the north city was blocked, Zhang Yi knew that his plan would not work, so he had no choice but to smile bitterly and lead his troops to retreat to the east. Dun En led Wei Qi to continue the pursuit, and did not return until they drove Zhang Yi and others thirty miles away.
By the time he led his army back to the camp outside the city, Cao Zhen had already withdrawn his troops and returned to the camp, ending today's attack.
Although he failed to conquer the city in one go today, Cao Zhen also had a general understanding of the Han army's city defense. He decided to take a good rest tonight and use new tactics to attack the city tomorrow morning.
"Kang Yi, although the strategy of the Shu cavalry to turn to the West City did not come true today, there is no guarantee that they will not make a big circle to kill the West City tomorrow.
You send two thousand cavalry to the west city to prevent the Shu cavalry from attacking our army's formation from the west city. With cavalry in both directions to protect the flanks, our army can attack the city with peace of mind. As for defeating this Shu cavalry, let's wait until the city is defeated first. "In the handsome tent, Cao Zhen ordered worriedly.
Dunn clasped his fists and said, "No."
Cao Zhen said to everyone again: "From today's battle, we can see that the Shu army is very tightly defended. Although most of them are rabble-rousers with low combat power, Yang Qing and other generals are not mediocre people. They have commanded these rebellious people." It may not be easy for our army to quickly defeat the city. Therefore, someone has a plan that may be able to defeat the city in one fell swoop."
"But listen to the general's military orders." All the generals responded in unison.
Dunn asked: "I wonder what the great general has in mind?"
"Let all the troops rest early tonight. In the second half of the night, we will mobilize three thousand soldiers and horses to quietly come out from the back door, then make a large circle and sneak outside the east city, and launch a sneak attack before dawn.
The Shu army in the east city only has about a thousand people. I observed the enemy situation in the four cities today and found out that all the Shu army in the east city are those who have been away from the battle formation for a long time. Our army may attack them with three times the strength. "Cao Zhen said with confidence.
After hearing this, everyone exclaimed that it was wonderful, and Cao Zhen then gave detailed instructions one by one, teaching everyone to follow the plan in the middle of the night.
