Chapter 354 The Storm Is Coming, The Great War Is Coming
Chapter 354 The storm has arrived, and the war is coming
Author: Playing with Basilisk
August 27, the 24th year of Jian'an.
When it was just dawn, Cao Jun launched another attack on Yuliangzhou.
From the beginning of the morning to the end of the evening, the two sides launched a desperate battle around the river beach, slopes and the gate of the camp.
Tens of thousands of Cao's troops attacked from the west and north. Relying on a powerful offensive, they finally reached the river beach. Then they attacked up the east slope of Yuliangzhou and rushed outside the camp.
Since there is no moat, and behind the camp, to the right is the rolling Han River, it can be said that they are in a dangerous situation. Zhou Buji's army has an extremely difficult time holding on, and the camp is almost broken several times. If it were not for the command of Zhou Buyi and Cai Du, I am afraid that they would not be able to survive. Liangzhou has been lost.
The tasks given to them by Shen Chen were too tight and the time was too short; a normal camp not only had strong fences around it, various pits, trenches, horses, iron caltrops, and a wide river to protect the camp, even the Yun Tower was very It is difficult to conquer.
However, Zhou Buyi and the others had only landed on Yuliang Island not long ago, and they had no time to build a large number of defenses. There was no river to protect the camp, no pits, trenches, and horses. They only had some iron caltrops and bows and arrows to defend themselves.
In this case, Cao's army only needed to form a square formation outside the camp, push the wooden curtain and hold the shield to the outside of the camp against the rain of arrows, then set up ladders and rush directly into the camp.
From here we can see how difficult the dilemma faced by Zhou Buji and the others was.
Fortunately, we managed to survive in the end.
At dusk, Cao Jun launched his final charge.
A section of the wall that was less than 180 steps away was spattered with the blood of soldiers from both sides. In many places, the tawny rammed earth was completely soaked with blood, turning it into a dark red color.
Cast iron helmets and flip-leaf hats were visible on the wall, and bald and broken arrows and broken weapons were scattered on the floor.
The corpses of soldiers from both sides who died in battle were piled randomly in the corners on both sides of the village wall. Some of the corpses had severed limbs and were kicked and trampled under people's feet before they could be moved. The battle was so intense that no one could spare the manpower to clean up the battlefield.
There are probably more than 3,000 Cao Jun in the camp on the left, and more than 6,000 in the right side. More than 300 Cao troops formed a square formation outside the gate of the camp in the middle, eagerly waiting for the opportunity to attack; more The soldiers of Cao's army were carrying ring-headed knives, howling like wolves, and swarmed up like ants on the more than ten wooden ladders set up on the wall of the village.
The roars, echoes, weapons blocking, and miserable howls and groans on the wall almost never stopped. From the beginning of the day to the end of the afternoon, the whole afternoon, the front of the camp was undergoing a test at any time, as if it was being The stubborn rocks were washed away by the waves of the sea, and the fierce fight had no end in sight.
However, although Cao Jun's offensive was fierce, the terrain selected by Zhou Buyi was also very exquisite. It was backed by cliffs, with dense forests at the foot of the mountain, and the vast river farther away. The terrain in front of the camp was extremely narrow, which made Cao Jun attack with a large number of people each time. many.
Therefore, the two sides gradually turned into a war of fuel and attrition in these days. Cao's army could only manage less than 10,000 people at a time, while Zhou Buyi's camp had 10,000 people, relying on bows and arrows, quicklime, and iron caltrops to barely defend themselves.
The sky in Jingzhou seems to be gloomy at the end of August. It's a little better during the day. It's the kind of gray weather. Sometimes it rains a little, sometimes it doesn't rain. The clouds are always very heavy at night. Densely dispersed by the sun during the day, everyone knows that a storm may come at any time.
After the Cao army in the direction of the main entrance of the camp was repelled with difficulty again, a series of rapid horns suddenly sounded in the distance. Following the sound of the horns, a group of Cao soldiers wearing brown leather armor split from the large square formation and swirled into three lines.
The march forward seemed to fill the vacancies of the more than 300 people before.
The leather boots kicked up a long circle of floating dust, and as the soldiers marched forward, they beat the swords in their hands rhythmically, making the leather shields protecting their chests flutter. Therefore, the team of more than 200 people could see that
It looks quite majestic and fierce.
Deng Ai, who was fighting with the enemy on the wall, also heard the sound. He thrust the spear in his hand into the belly of an enemy and knocked the Cao soldier out of the fence without even looking at the man again.
He took two steps and picked up a waist knife embedded in the wood. He held it with both hands and waved it diagonally from top to bottom.
The leather armor on the back of a Cao soldier who had his back turned to him immediately cracked a long gash, and blood immediately poured out. He fell into their camp with a cry of pain, and was stabbed to death by the soldiers who surrounded him.
A wooden platform was built in the middle of the fence of the village wall. This was to facilitate archers to reach out from the fence and shoot arrows. When Shen Chen entered Henan for the first time, there was no wooden platform built in the temporary camp. Cao Hong sent Xia Houcun to make a surprise attack. As a result, Shen Chen
He built a ladder to let the archers shoot arrows above the fence, and defeated Xia Houcun.
At this time, Deng Ai was standing on the wooden platform. There were corpses of both enemies and ourselves around him, but more enemy corpses were outside the camp.
When he looked out and looked at the team of Cao Jun who had added up, it happened that Zhou Tai had also dealt with his opponent. He was holding his right upper arm that was bleeding with blood in his left hand and leaning towards the village with a sword in his right hand.
The man under the wall took a look and said, "I'm afraid I can't hold it anymore."
"Not necessarily."
Deng Ai wiped the sweat from his face and said, "Uncle Master, there is still a way."
"It's time for us to withdraw."
Zhou Tai did not ask what the solution was, but said: "We have been guarding it for nineteen days."
"It's time to withdraw."
Deng Ai nodded.
While he was talking, Zhou Tai suddenly shouted in a low voice: "Lower your head."
Deng Ai almost instinctively lowered his head.
As soon as he lowered his head, the sharp air flashed across his ears, and when he saw a big knife cutting into the air, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
Zhou Tai stepped forward and stabbed to death the Cao soldier who was attacking Deng Ai from behind.
By the time Deng Ai turned around, Cao Jun had already fallen.
He didn't say thank you, just nodded.
The two are peers.
Zhou Tai came from Xinye Academy, and Shen Chen occasionally went there to give lectures, and was considered a registered disciple.
Because Deng Ai was of the Deng family, he was eligible to attend the Deng Academy in Huangmenting, so he was a direct disciple of Shen Chen.
Fighting side by side these days, the two sides have developed a great understanding.
Zhou Tai saved Deng Ai's life, and Deng Ai also saved Zhou Tai's life. There is no need to say thank you anymore.
The brutal fighting continues.
As the sun sets gradually, the sky gradually becomes darker.
It's late afternoon now, that is, it's about five o'clock in the afternoon, but the sky is darkening as if the sun is setting at dusk.
"Pap tap tap."
At this moment, big raindrops suddenly fell.
Many people raised their heads and looked to the sky.
The clouds that were originally just a thin layer suddenly became extremely thick, covering the sky and the sun, causing lightning and thunder.
Then the heavy rain fell suddenly, covering the entire world in an instant.
"It's raining."
Zhou Tai murmured to himself: "It's raining so hard."
"Master Shishi said that this rain is heavier than last time. Last time."
The last time Deng Ai was referring to was the time when water flooded Cao Hong.
The flood that flooded Caohong was actually only the amount of precipitation in the normal rainy season in the Funiu Mountains, but Shen Chen could remember that this heavy rain flooded Xiangyang and Fancheng!
"Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding."
From Cao Jun's rear position, the crisp sound of copper clangs finally came out.
Ming Jin withdraws the troops.
Countless soldiers of Cao's army immediately evacuated like a tide.
Zhou Buyi's archers, who had been almost driven off the wooden platform, replenished their ranks and fired indiscriminately, leaving hundreds more corpses behind.
It took nearly a quarter of an hour before the chaotic situation outside the camp returned to peace. Cao Jun returned to the ship and evacuated Yuliangzhou, and the situation became better again.
Zhou Buyi, who was supervising the battle outside, saw Cao's army retreating and ordered his soldiers to put on their raincoats, clean the battlefield, and convene the generals for discussion.
Needless to say more about the content of the discussion, we have to withdraw our troops.
Their performance in these days is also very good. They lost more than 4,000 people in Yu Jin's time. Cao's army made several strong attacks in these days and also lost troops and generals. The exact number of people has not been counted, but it is probably not less than 3,000.
All added up, Zhou Buyi had already lost seven to eight thousand of Cao's troops on Yuliang Continent. Compared with the enemy's army, his battle losses of more than a thousand people were almost negligible.
You must know that this is a camp set up in a hurry without a lot of fortifications. If you persist for so long, you have already overfulfilled the task.
"Everyone."
Inside the camp, Cai Du, Deng Ai, Zhou Tai, Li Ying, Huo Yang and others were sitting.
Zhou Buji looked at everyone and said: "Senior brother asked me to hold on for twenty days, and it expires tomorrow. I am confident that I can hold on for another time, but I can't ruin my brother's plan and withdraw the troops tomorrow morning."
"But it rained suddenly."
Li Ying listened to the crackling sound of the tent being hit by the heavy rain, and worried: "The river is turbulent, can our ship move?"
"It doesn't matter."
Zhou Busuo waved his hand and said: "Senior brother also has a plan. The small boat cannot leave. General Wen will transfer a big boat from Xiangyang to pick us up. Let the soldiers have a good rest tonight. We will pack up the camp immediately tomorrow morning and go down the mountain and leave from the east beach."
"That's good, that's good."
Everyone felt relieved.
Historically, Guan Yu flooded seven armies, and Pang De was in a small boat but was overturned by the waves and captured.
Small boats that can only carry a few or a dozen people are indeed more dangerous in stormy weather. Shen Chen also considered this issue and left a group of fighting ships in Xiangyang to prepare.
These large ships are very strong and are not afraid of being beaten by waves. Moreover, it has just rained now and the river has not yet surged, so the fighting ships are more than enough to cope with it.
And just when Zhou Buyi had perfectly completed the task of stopping Xiahou Dun from being banned for twenty days, at this time in Zhijiang, Zhao Yun's tribe and Shamoke's tribe also retreated from Yiling and retreated to Zhijiang.
The current situation is completely different from the Battle of Xiangfan and the Battle of Yiling. In the Battle of Xiangfan, Guan Yu's rear road was completely cut off. He could only choose to go north of Maicheng, follow the Ju River and enter Jingshan Mountain. When he arrived at Ju, Then retreat to Fangling.
The specific route was from Dangyang City in later generations to Yuan'an County and then to Baokang County, and from the outskirts of Shennongjia to Fang County. This was his only escape route, but it was a pity that Lu Meng predicted it.
Now, unlike Guan Yu, Shen Chen's troops dispersed on their own, leading to an isolated and helpless destruction. He had troops under his command, and he could completely defeat the Jiangdong Army in Yiling head-on, and then open the way back to Sichuan and Shu.
It is a pity that Sun Jiao and Xu Sheng defended Yiling, and Lu Meng sent Ding and Feng 8,000 people to help. Zhao Yun and Shamoke did not bring heavy siege equipment, and spent more than ten days outside Yiling City with no results. In the end, Today we can only choose to retreat to Zhijiang.
The news reached Ji Nan. Shen Chen was reading in the camp at this time. He had inspected the camps in the morning. The soldiers at the bottom did not know the plans of the top leaders. The morale of the soldiers was not very stable. Fortunately, the families of the soldiers were not captured, otherwise they might be like Guan Yu. , the soldiers all dispersed.
"Report!"
The guard came in, raised his hands and said, "General Zhao and General Sha failed to attack Yiling and have withdrawn their troops back to Zhijiang."
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded slightly, and then said: "It's something that was expected. Don't let the news spread. Although the road back to Jiangzhou has not been opened, I already have a winning plan, so you can rest assured."
His words immediately appeased the guards. The guards were by Shen Chen's side every day, so they naturally knew some things about the army.
For example, in their view, Cao's army attacked from the north, and Jiangdong's army occupied Yiling, Jiangling and other places. Attacked from both sides, the southeast, northwest and northwest were already in a dilemma of being surrounded.
But Shen Chen's calmness and lack of panic every day also infected the guards. The guards had friends in the army, and they could pass news to each other and appease everyone.
Therefore, in ancient times, the reason why generals often had to endure the collapse of Mount Tai was to stabilize the morale of the army.
Cao Cao likes this. After his defeat in the Battle of Chibi, he had to laugh several times and constantly taunt the enemy, just to stabilize the morale of the army. As a result, he was slapped in the face again and again, which really meant that he had no cards.
On the other hand, Shen Chen was very confident. After all, he had made the game. Unless something went wrong on Huang Zhong's side, it would not be a big problem to at least destroy the main force of Jiangdong Army.
While talking, Shen Chen thought again, put on his raincoat and got out of the tent. A sudden cold wind hit him, making people shiver unconsciously.
Outside the tent, all the soldiers were wearing raincoats and still carried out their tasks in an orderly manner.
Now that we know it's going to rain, raincoats have become strategic materials. We collected them early and are now putting them to great use.
The camp was full of potholes and muddy pits. Shen Chen didn't pay attention, and went straight to the gate of the south camp and climbed up a high archery tower.
Zhang Xiu, the guard of the southern camp, heard that Shen Chen was coming and quickly came to accompany him.
Their location is about five miles north of Jiangling, with Jiangling City to the south and Jishan Mountain to the north. In the later century, Nanzhen was at the foot of Jishan Mountain and was called Jinan Township at this time.
Shen Chen looked at the distant city shrouded in mist and rain.
Historically, Jiangling was Guan Yu's seat in Jingzhou. He guarded this place for many years and built a tall new wall outside the original old city.
According to later archeology, the city wall built by Guan Yu was 5.2 meters high, about 2.3 feet.
In fact, cities in the Han Dynasty were generally relatively low. Later archeology showed that Chang'an City in the Western Han Dynasty was 12 meters high. However, in fact, there was a 3-meter-deep moat trench outside the city wall and a 1-meter stacked wall above it, so the actual height was 8 meters.
The height of an ordinary county town can be about three or four meters. Like Guan Yu's, it was built to 5.2 meters, which is already very high. With the trenches of the moat and the stacked walls, the overall height was about 9 meters, which was already considered an important town at that time.
No wonder in history, after hearing that Lü Meng had occupied Jiangling, Guan Yu could only sigh and said: "This city I built cannot be attacked."
But now Liu Bei's seat in Jingzhou is Xiangyang, and Jiangling is just an ordinary city. No one has made any new buildings taller or thicker. There is no later water city in the periphery. There are quite a lot of water gates. Historical data records that these water gates have no land routes and It is connected to the outside world and all access is by boat.
The height of the city is only about four meters, which is far inferior to the Jiangling City built by Guan Yu.
However, even this ancient city that lacked the ability to attack fortresses was difficult to break. Zang Hong led thousands of people to defend a small county town in Dongwuyang, and Yuan Shao besieged it for a year but could not break it. This shows how difficult the means of attacking fortresses are.
The main difficulty lies in the moat. Large siege equipment such as the Cloud Tower cannot pass through. You can only rely on moat bridges and cloud ladders to increase the number of people. The defensive power of the moat increases more than ten times.
Although the current Jiangling is not as good as the Jiangling built by Guan Yu later, the ditch that connects the Yangtze River and Yunmengze is indeed indestructible.
Zhang Xiu saw Shen Chen looking at the city and asked, "What is the general thinking?"
"I'm thinking."
Shen Chen looked at the town with deep eyes, and said softly: "Is the tunnel dug before still useful? Can the water channel made by it be used to get in?"
"General, are you afraid that Lu Meng will find out the clues?"
Zhang Xiu asked.
"That's not true."
Shen Chen shook his head: "I'm afraid that the foundation of Jiangling City is unstable, the city will sink, and the storm will come soon. What if the city collapses early and Lu Meng runs away?"
Jiangling City is located on the edge of the Yangtze River and Yunmengze. It has collapsed many times in history. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that when it was rebuilt, in order to prevent the foundation from collapsing again, green bricks with lime and glutinous rice mortar were used to build the city. The foundation is completely solidified.
Shen Chen didn't know that there were records of Jiangling City's collapse many times later, but he had been fighting in the north and south for many years, and he also knew that the city structure in the Han Dynasty was a rammed earth structure. More than 99% of the city was basically an earth city, and the number of brick cities was relatively large. Less. When flooded, the water will soak into the foundation and it will easily collapse.
Shen Chen had seen and heard about the collapse of the city many times before. Among other things, Cao Cao flooded Xia Pi and Ye City just to collapse the city wall. In later generations, when he went to the country as a designer to study architectural design, I have also heard that the ancient city of Pingyao in Shanxi collapsed due to heavy rain.
Therefore, when I heard a heavy rain outside this time, I suddenly remembered that the several tunnels I dug about five meters below Gangneung City were about to receive heavy rain and floods. What if the water flooded the foundation and washed away the walls? What should we do if the city wall, which was already unstable due to tunnel digging, collapsed?
By then, Lu Meng would probably be so frightened that he would most likely choose to run away.
As soon as he ran away, Shen Chen felt embarrassed.
It was undesirable to beat the dog after closing the door, and the dog ran away before the door was closed, so at this time, Shen Chen was worried about the safety of Jiangling City.
"I hope God will bless me and Jiangling City can last longer."