"Sun Tzu's Art of War" talks about preparations before attacking a city: "It takes three months to build the oars, culls, and equipment, and it takes another three months to build them."

That is, it takes three months to build siege equipment, and it also takes three months to pile up mountains of earth.

However, this is no longer the Spring and Autumn Period seven hundred years ago. The Jingzhou Army arrived at Linxiang City and completed all preparations before attacking the city in just one month.

This is because Linxiang is a fortified city, otherwise the preparation period would be greatly shortened.

The end of September in Linxiang can be said to be the best time of the year. The weather is no longer cloudy and rainy, and the autumn air is crisp and comfortable.

Kuai Yue stood on a cloud carriage nearly ten feet high, overlooking the city of Linxiang from a high position. The cloud carriage is a building carriage. Because the watchtower is high on the carriage, like a bird's nest, it is also called a nest carriage. It is specially used to observe the enemy's situation.

Observation vehicle used.

On top of the cloud chariot, in addition to Kuai Yue, there was also a young man standing. He was about twenty years old, with a tall and slender figure, a Chinese character face, and outstanding facial features.

His name was Kuai Qi, also known as Zi Shou. He was a disciple of Kuai Yue and a leader among the younger generation of the Kuai family in Zhonglu, Xiangyang. Kuai Yue valued him very much. He crossed the Yangtze River and ordered Kuai Qi to serve him.

On the left and right.

Kuai Yue looked at the head of Linxiang City for a long time and ordered: "Zishou, please pass my order to the general to start attacking the city."

"No." Kuai Qi responded solemnly, and then waved the flag in his hand downwards.

"Boom..."

The thunderous sound of war drums suddenly sounded, instantly spreading to every corner of the battlefield.

"Dong, dong, dong..."

With the sound of drums, tens of thousands of Jingzhou Army infantry phalanxes began to approach Linxiang City in an orderly manner from both the east and south directions of Linxiang City.

At the forefront of the Jingzhou military formation are thousands of crossbowmen, many of whom are armored. Their main task is to suppress the long-range crossbow shooting of the Linxiang defenders and try to create a favorable environment for their colleagues who follow up the siege.

.

At this time, Chu Fang was standing on the east wall of Linxiang, leaning against the female wall, observing the enemy's formation. He wore an iron bag on his head and a fish scale robe that extended to his knees and covered his whole body. Although he was not tall, he had an air of aura.

A mighty temperament.

As the Jingzhou military formation approached step by step, Chu Fang ordered the defenders on the city to cock their crossbows. He also took off his two-stone heavy bow, quietly set up a long arrow, and silently calculated the distance.

"Shoot..." As soon as the Jingzhou army entered the shooting range, Chu Fang immediately leaned forward and shot the arrow in his hand. He took dozens of steps and hit the flag-bearing man walking at the front of the phalanx accurately.

Chu Fang's shooting was just the beginning. Hundreds of arrows from bows and crossbows followed closely, raining down into the Jingzhou military formation, creating gaps in the dense square formation crowd.

Since the Linxiang defenders were in a commanding position, their crossbows had a longer range, and the Jingzhou Army's crossbow phalanx was unable to fight back in a short period of time.

However, the width of the Linxiang city wall was limited, and the defenders could not place too many crossbowmen. The same was true for the towers and oars. Therefore, the Jingzhou Army's crossbow phalanx withstood the arrow rain from the Linxiang defenders and quickly advanced to within the shooting range.

Under the command of Qi, we began to prepare for a counterattack.

There are extremely strict procedures for shooting bows and crossbows in formation, that is, three steps of nocking an arrow, pulling the string, and releasing the arrow. Everyone must act in unison. Those who disobey orders will be beheaded on the spot by the warlords at the rear.

military discipline.

Thousands of Jingzhou Army crossbowmen, under the command of Ling Qi, reloaded nervously and quickly, aimed at the city head, and fired in unison.

With a "boom" sound, thousands of bow and crossbow arrows shot out, filling the entire sky in an instant, almost covering the sky and the sun.

The Linxiang defenders in the front line immediately hid under the battlements of the female wall, while the defenders in the rear could only curl up their bodies as much as possible and hold up their big pillars to shield themselves from the arrows.

Put together, the rows of tent sheds were filled with arrows in a blink of an eye. During this period, arrows continued to fly in from the gaps and hit the defenders.

Just before the defenders had recovered from the first round of attacks, the second round of arrows from Jingzhou's crossbows followed one after another.

The density of the Jingzhou Army's crossbow phalanx was far higher than that of the Linxiang defenders on the city wall. From the moment they launched their attack, they suppressed the Linxiang defenders in one fell swoop.

The Linxiang defenders were unable to engage in a battle with the Jingzhou army, so they could only rely on the cover of the oars and the female wall to find openings to counterattack the enemy.

After the Jingzhou Army's phalanx of bows and crossbows successfully suppressed the Linxiang defenders, siege equipment such as wells, ladders, and rams began to slowly drive out of the phalanx and rushed straight to the foot of Linxiang City.

Dozens of jinglans, which are as high as the Linxiang City Wall, can be said to be the vanguard of siege equipment. A large number of crossbowmen wearing armors stand on them, and cooperate with the phalanx of crossbows on the ground to attack the defenders on Linxiang City.

Launch a fierce attack.

Behind the well is a large number of ladders, and batches of elite soldiers holding swords and spears line up in columns, following closely behind the ladders. The reason why sieges must be arranged in columns is not only to ensure utilization.

It is higher to reduce the enemy's attack surface on the city.

Under the cover of the phalanx of crossbows and wells, dozens of ladders arrived at the foot of Linxiang City.

"Set rockets, quickly launch rockets, shoot at the well..." Chu Fang waved his halberd and shouted. Since the height of the well is the same as the city wall, the crossbowmen above can attack the defenders without any hindrance. The closer the distance, the more likely they are to attack the defenders.

The greater their threat, the better to destroy the well before engaging in battle.

Well lanterns have large targets, are slow to move, and are most afraid of fire. The Linxiang defenders prepared cloth soaked in grease in advance, wrapped it around the arrow body, ignited it, and shot it towards the well lanterns. In a short time, more than ten well lanterns were ignited.

The crossbowmen on it were unable to escape, and were burned, either burned alive, or jumped to death, which was horrific.

At the same time, the Jingzhou Army was not idle either. Groups of soldiers climbed up along the well-built ladders and attacked the Linxiang city wall.

In the military since ancient times, the most dangerous thing is to be the first to get into the battle. The so-called first to get there means to get there before everyone else. Non-warriors cannot take on this important task. In some cases, they even need to recruit heavy sums of money from the army. The Jingzhou Army's first advance is not the same.

The exceptions are all carefully selected able-bodied men in the army.

Wearing heavy armor, holding swords and spears, they braved the rain of arrows and stones, rushed to the top of the city with death in mind, and fought fiercely with the Linxiang defenders.

Chu Fang did not rely on his own bravery and ended up fighting the Jingzhou army first. He was no longer the general of the first battalion in the past. He was now the commander-in-chief of the Linxiang garrison in charge of all the battalions, with more than ten thousand troops at his disposal.

Man, individual bravery is insignificant.

Although he has superb martial arts skills and is the bravest of the three armies, even if he is allowed to let go of his desperate killing, in one battle, he will be able to decapitate at most ten or eight levels, which will not help the battle situation, and there is a risk of injury or even death.

And if he sits in command of the central army, the effect he will achieve will be countless times that of charging into the battle himself.

Of course, there are no absolutes in this world. This refers to the initial stage of the war. Once the Linxiang city wall defense line cannot hold up and is on the verge of collapse, he must step forward and take the lead. Doing so can greatly enhance his own morale.

The battlefield was in full swing to the east, and the south was not far behind. On top of the city, soldiers from both sides were fighting each other. There were shouts, roars, and miserable howls everywhere, hovering in the sky for a long time.

Huo Du, the commander of the other division, is in the Jingzhou infantry formation, watching the battle at the head of Linxiang City in the distance. He is from Zhijiang, Nanjun, and comes from a local wealthy family. He was famous as a ranger in his youth. In the past few years, the place was unrest and clan traitors were rampant.

Relying on his prestige and power, he gathered hundreds of people in the village to defend his hometown.

Liu Biaodan rode into Jingzhou, sent out seals and ribbons, and recruited heroes. Huo Du was also appointed as the commander of another department, and he still led his troops to station in Zhijiang.

This time Liu Biao raised troops in Jingnan. Due to the lack of troops, almost all local forces received recruitment orders, and Huo Du was no exception.

Liu Biao's move could be said to kill two birds with one stone. It not only increased his own military strength, but also weakened local forces. Huo Du and other powerful officials knew Liu Biao's inner plan, but no one dared to oppose it.

Now that Liu Biao has become the leader, Zhang Xian is the only one in Jingzhou who dares to reject him.

Huo Du turned to a young man with a similar appearance next to him and sighed: "Brother, it seems it will be difficult for us to return to our hometown in a short time."

The young man is his brother, named Huo Jun. Although he is weak in talent, he is calm and courageous, and he also has strategies. Huo Du has always believed that his younger brother's talents are above his own.

Huo Jun frowned slightly on his young face and said: "Isn't this obvious? It has been a whole month and we haven't even been able to capture the Beijin Water City on the outskirts of Linxiang. Trying to conquer Linxiang in a short time is tantamount to wishful thinking.

"

Huo Du was worried: "In the beginning, in order to stabilize us, Chief Kuai would definitely not send us to attack Linxiang, but as time goes by, it's hard to say."

Huo Jun was silent for a while. His brother's worry was not unreasonable. They all belonged to local private tribes and there were only a few armored men. If they were driven to the front line by Kuai Yue and attacked the city, with the few men under their command, they might be dead within a few days.

There will be a lot of casualties.

The Jingzhou Army launched its attack at sunrise and continued until dusk, almost without stopping for a whole day, and the price paid was extremely staggering, with more than 500 people killed in battle and many injured.

If it continues at this intensity, Huo Du's worries may come true within ten days, and all the local tycoons will be forcibly dragged onto the battlefield by Kuai Yue because the Jingzhou Army is stretched thin.

Fortunately, after three days of fierce attack, Kuai Yue finally accepted the reality that Linxiang was difficult to conquer and slowed down the pace of the attack. Even as time went by, the intensity of the battle continued to decrease.

When the time entered December, the weather gradually became bad, and Kuai Yue completely gave up the siege and instead focused on siege.

The only good news for the Jingzhou Army is that after three months of unremitting efforts, Cai Mao finally led his troops to capture Beijin Shuicheng in the northwest of Linxiang, and finally cleared the periphery of Linxiang and turned it into an isolated city.

For this reason, Cai Mao seemed quite satisfied in front of Kuai Yue and had the intention of going south.
Chapter completed!