The attack by the Wei army's arrows on the city wall caused many casualties to the Han army fighting for the crossing.
As soon as this situation occurred, many Han army formations inevitably became turbulent.
This cannot be blamed on the weak will of the Han army. The main reason is that thousands of Han troops are currently concentrated on hundreds of small boats.
People in this world have a visceral fear of water, not to mention that the moat of Chang'an City is as wide as an ordinary small river.
What's more, the moat of Chang'an City is not stagnant water, it is living water drawn from the Wei River with the help of river channels.
Under the surging water, it was difficult for the boat to remain stable.
The instability of the boat would naturally cause chaos in the formation of the Han army standing on it.
When he saw that the formation of the Han army fighting for the crossing was somewhat scattered and the speed of the crossing inevitably slowed down, Cao Zhang's face showed joy.
At his order, the Wei army, which had been well prepared, took out more lethal rockets one after another.
Not only were the Wei army's rockets coated with kerosene, but their arrowheads were soaked in boiling gold juice for a long time during production.
Gold juice is a lethal weapon usually equipped by city defenders in the world. It is mainly made by mixing and boiling the excrement of humans or beasts.
The gold juice produced in this way will cause bacterial infection in the injured person if it touches a person's wound.
Judging from the current medical conditions, once this happens, even if you suffer minor injuries, you will most likely die in the end.
Seeing those stinky rockets hitting the bowstrings of his own soldiers, Cao Zhang excitedly gave the order to shoot arrows again.
Following Cao Zhang's order, nearly a thousand rockets flew condescendingly toward the thousands of Han troops on the moat.
Archers today mostly use the projectile method.
The projectile archery method will inevitably lose part of the arrow's power.
But for the archers defending the city, they have the advantage of being in a commanding position and can shoot directly.
With a direct shot and the height difference between the top and bottom of the city, the power of such an arrow should not be underestimated.
I saw nearly a thousand arrows rushing into the Han army's formation like overwhelming locusts at a speed that was difficult to catch with the naked eye.
A moment later, hundreds of Han soldiers were killed by the rockets of the Wei army, and their weak bodies fell straight into the moat below.
In addition, the remaining fire arrows of the Wei army caused more injuries to the Han army.
And when the wounds on the Han soldiers were contaminated with the gold juice carried on the arrowheads, the burning pain caused by the gold juice meeting the fire was definitely unbearable for most people.
Many injured Han soldiers could not help but fall on the boat, hold their wounds and roll over.
Or because they couldn't bear the pain, they took the initiative to jump into the moat below, hoping to relieve the burning sensation with the cold river water.
Most importantly, due to time constraints, none of the hundreds of boats were wrapped in rawhide to prevent fire.
So many rockets landed on the boat and soon caused fires all over the boat.
The gradually raging flames, coupled with the constant screams of surprise from his subordinates, completely obscured Wei Yan's sight and hearing.
But even though the flames were about to burn his feet, Wei Yan never frowned.
On the contrary, his expression became more determined.
As the general, Wei Yan quickly took off his armor and threw it directly into the river.
Military strategists have always been most afraid of advancing lightly, but Wei Yan wanted to advance lightly today.
Because he has no way out today.
After taking off his heavy armor, Wei Yan, who was wearing only a thin double-shirt in the cold weather, raised his long knife high to encourage morale and said:
"Today's battle is about progress and never retreat!"
"I am the general and I shall set an example!"
After shouting these two sentences, Wei Yan put the knife on the neck of the guard at the side and asked him to continue rowing quickly towards the other side.
This was Wei Yan's attitude of advancing to the death in front of his own soldiers.
Whether he was infected by Wei Yan's tone or threatened by Wei Yan's blade, his bodyguard gritted his teeth and immediately gave up using the weapon in his hand to block the flying arrows.
At this moment, the weapon in his hand was only used as wood pulp for rowing forward.
Under the action of the personal guards, the boat, which had initially stalled, started moving at an extremely fast speed again.
And when the small boat Wei Yan was on began to move forward, its indomitable behavior greatly inspired the many Han troops behind it.
Since the Northern Expedition, the Han army has won consecutive battles and has never suffered a major defeat.
This makes every Han army feel arrogant that no other army has.
Perhaps the current situation seems to be unfavorable to the Han army, and it will also make many Han soldiers panic.
However, Wei Yan's actions of taking the lead successfully aroused the arrogance that had long been cultivated in many Han troops.
If you retreat today, how will you be able to see your colleagues in person tomorrow, and how will you be able to see the general in person!
The oath of the Wei River was not far away, and the Han army's desire to die for Mi Yang was still very strong.
Just die, just be afraid of a ball!
When this thought came to the minds of many Han soldiers, many Han soldiers on the boats also took off their armors and threw them into the water without hesitation like Wei Yan.
It can be seen from the situation just now that the armor on their bodies is not very protective against the powerful impact of the Wei army's arrows.
Since I can't protect myself from arrows anyway, I might as well take off this heavy armor, which can also reduce the load on the boat.
After thousands of Han troops unloaded their armor, hundreds of small boats followed Wei Yan and galloped towards the other side again.
Even if the flames are spreading on those small boats, even if the Han soldiers in charge of the boats are covered with arrows.
If the fire spreads, step on it with your feet and pour water to put it out.
If the body is hit by an arrow, it can be rowed as far as it will go.
When a Han soldier fell, there was always another Han soldier to take his place and continue the rowing action.
The Han army's unwillingness to retreat objectively caused their losses to increase exponentially.
But the multiplied casualties are not unnecessary sacrifices.
Hundreds of small boats loaded with Han troops continued to move toward Chang'an City quickly but with great difficulty.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! While the Han army on the moat was moving forward bravely, the Han army on the bank was not idle either.
Under the command of Fu Qian, a large number of Han troops continued to board the boats on the shore one by one.
None of the Han soldiers had a hesitant look on their face.
Couldn't they see the massive casualties of their comrades at the front?
Of course not. It can be seen from their actions of automatically taking off their armor before boarding the ship that they had a clear understanding of the surging offensive of the Wei army's archers.
But there are some things that they have to fill with their own lives.
Cao Zhang, standing on the city wall, looked at the Han army below, fighting for the crossing one after another, and his expression changed from joy to solemnity.
Eventually it even turned into fear.
As a famous general, Cao Zhang knew that in order for an army to become a strong army, in addition to being well-trained and well-equipped, it also needed one very important thing.
This thing is called firm belief.
Only firm belief can enable a soldier to act bravely and fearless of death.
In the past, when the late emperor was still alive, the Wei army had similar beliefs.
Unfortunately, due to Mi Yang's attack, many things have changed with time.
Feelings of emotion flashed through his heart. Cao Zhang looked at the Han army getting closer and closer. He subconsciously ordered the Wei army on the wall to continue shooting arrows.
Judging from the performance just now, this specially made rocket has a remarkable effect.
Since the effect is remarkable, it is natural to use it sparingly.
But after Cao Zhang's order was issued, he found that the Wei army on the wall did not move for a while.
This caused Cao Zhang to glare angrily at the surrounding Wei troops.
"You dare to disobey orders?"
For the Wei army, it was natural that they would not dare to disobey orders.
But it is absolutely impossible for them to continue shooting arrows at the moment.
Soon the captain of the city gate cried to Cao Zhang:
"Your Highness, there are no more fire arrows in the city!"
When he first heard this sentence, Cao Zhang's first reaction was that he thought it was ridiculous.
As an important town in Guanzhong, Chang'an City has two large arsenals for weapons.
With such a rich reserve, it hadn’t been long since the shooting, and it was said that there was no more fire arrows?
But Cao Zhang soon realized why the Wei army would use fire arrows without fire arrows.
Zhang He is to blame for all this!
A large number of weapons and flammable materials in Chang'an City are basically stored in the arsenal.
As the main city gate in the west of Chang'an City, Yongmen is not far from the nearest arsenal.
But the problem is that due to the turmoil caused by Zhang He today, the streets are blocked, and a large number of weapons in the arsenal cannot be transported to the city wall for a while!
Cao Zhang was about to explode when he realized this.
After handing over the command to the captain of the city gate, he quickly went to the other side of the city wall to observe the situation below.
Under his gaze, he discovered that a vehicle transporting a large number of weapons was a hundred meters away from the city wall.
However, because the Wei army that arrived later continued to pursue Zhang He, a large number of weapons were never delivered to the city wall.
Looking at the chaotic scene in his eyes, Cao Zhang's chest was heaving violently.
Totally pissed off.
But seeing the Han army getting closer and closer, no matter how much he hated Zhang He, Cao Zhang could only make a difficult decision.
"The whole army disperses!"
The angry shouts from Cao Zhang spread downwards from the city wall.
After hearing Cao Zhang's order, the Wei troops below were confused, but they immediately dispersed according to Cao Zhang's order.
When the Wei troops chasing behind him dispersed, Zhang He finally seized a glimmer of hope.
Originally due to the numerical disadvantage, Zhang He could only fight and retreat to the narrow opening of the city gate to make the final resistance.
But now the Wei troops in the rear dispersed in large numbers, which gave Zhang He a chance to breathe and let the troops beside him open the city gate.
Realizing that the opportunity was inevitable, he opened and closed and urged again and again.
And perhaps because of the desire for life, with the efforts of hundreds of pro-army soldiers, the heavy Yongmen is slowly being opened.
Yongmen opened slowly, unable to hide it from Cao Zhang.
But now, he can only take one risk.
He knew that the existing physical strength of those people was not enough to fully open the entire heavy city gate.
He could only bet that Zhang He could escape quickly after opening the city gate, so that he could restore traffic on the street as quickly as possible and transport a large number of weapons to the city wall.
Zhang He lived up to Cao Zhang's "expectations".
After the city gate opened to reveal a gap that could be passed by one person, Zhang He rushed out of the city gate impatiently like a fish that had been thirsty for a long time.
Wei Yan also noticed the sudden opening of the gate of Yongcheng.
After seeing this scene, Wei Yan was almost excited to death.
At this time, Wei Yan had already landed on the shore.
Behind him, nearly a thousand Han troops were landing one after another.
Looking at the nearly a thousand Han troops behind him, Wei Yan, sensing that the opportunity was unmissable, quickly led them towards the city gate.
Cao Zhang, who returned to the city wall, naturally saw this scene.
He was surprised that Wei Yan and the Han troops could land ashore so quickly, but now that Zhang He and others had escaped from the city, nothing could hold him back.
After the street traffic in the city was restored smoothly, Cao Zhang, who had received a large supply of troops and weapons, was finally able to fully utilize the advantages of the defenders.
A moment later, under Cao Zhang's order, arrows rained down from the Chang'an city wall. The dense rain of arrows was also mixed with many boulders thrown from high altitudes.
A large number of arrows and boulders with powerful lethality instantly caused great damage to the nearly a thousand Han troops who were rushing towards the city wall.
Even Wei Yan, who was highly skilled in martial arts, was hit by a stray arrow in his arm.
The casualties were not only the Han army, but also Zhang He's troops who had just escaped from the city gate.
Since they were escaping with their backs to the city wall, almost all Zhang He's troops who had no perspective were killed by the Wei army's arrow rain attack.
Among those people was Zhang He's eldest son Zhang Xiong.
Zhang He, on the other hand, relied on his rich battle experience and superior skills to escape all the way to the Han army's formation. Although he suffered many injuries, he managed to save his life.
The Wei army's fierce offensive caused nearly a thousand Han troops to make a lot of sacrifices, and it was difficult to move forward one step further.
This made Wei Yan feel angry, but also full of helplessness.
Chang'an City is so big that its moat is hundreds of meters away from the city wall.
Normally, this distance of hundreds of meters would be nothing.
But with the Wei army's rigorous offensive, the distance of hundreds of meters was like an insurmountable chasm.
Seeing the Han army behind him being killed and injured, and seeing the city gate in front being quickly closed by the Wei army inside the city, Wei Yan knew that it was useless to continue the attack.
With a strong sigh, Wei Yan finally could only give the order to stop the attack.
However, although they failed to successfully capture the city gate, more and more Han troops had crossed the moat in the battle just now.
This allowed Wei Yan to have enough troops to build a defense line under the city wall of Chang'an.
But despite this victory, Wei Yan was still filled with grief and anger as he looked at the corpses of many Han soldiers gradually floating on the moat.
He was ashamed of his expectations of a general!
...
Soon after, the battle report from the front line reached Mi Yang.
When Huang Quan reported the battle situation on the front line, his tone seemed very cautious.
Because he knew that Wei Yan did not successfully capture Chang'an City in one fell swoop.
He thought that this result would make Mi Yang angry.
But what Huang Quan didn't expect was that after hearing that the Han army had successfully crossed the moat, Mi Yang's face showed a smile:
"Chang'an City belongs to our army."
Mi Yang's words made Huang Quan unable to react for a moment.
General, I admit that you and I are not on the same level of thinking.
But is the gap so big?
Taking down the moat means taking down Chang'an City. I'm afraid you are the only one in the world who dares to say this!
Mi Yang's next words shocked Huang Quan even more.
"It's time to take Your Majesty to Chang'an."
"I want the emperor of my Han Dynasty to see the city of Chang'an recaptured by our army with his own eyes!" If you like Mi Han, please bookmark it: (www.sodu777.net) Mi Han's novel search website has the fastest update speed on the entire Internet.
This chapter has been completed!