The horn sounded continuously, and the Han troops, one after another, slowly lined up in front of Changzi City and merged into one.
Looking around, red armor is surging and flags are like a forest.
I have to say that Wei Yan did have his own tricks when leading the army.
Although they returned to the army in a hurry, the momentum of the Han army in front of them was still impressive.
On the first day of the attack, Wei Yan dispatched 10,000 troops, accounting for one-third of his troops.
Soon, the Han army's horn sounded again.
On the south side of the moat, the Han army formed a team several hundred paces wide and marched in formation.
The two teams at the front, pushing carts and holding large rafts, slowly moved towards the moat.
Behind and on the flanks of the carriages and large carriages are the crossbowmen.
At the very back of the battle formation were auxiliary soldiers and even civilians carrying wooden stakes and thick hemp ropes.
"Puffy!"
A heavy rain of arrows covered the entire battlefield sky.
It was obviously a sunny day, but the Han army, which was attacking the eldest son, felt that the sky was gloomy.
Even the sun was obscured.
The arrows could not penetrate the big pillars. It was only the first wave of arrows. Many arrows had already been inserted into the big pillars and carriages in the front row.
However, the large pillars and carriages were not enough to completely block the Wei army's arrows.
Many fletched arrows flew directly over the front army, and then fell from mid-air to the rear army.
Rao is now Ji Han, and his iron smelting technology has been improved, and his national power can be considered strong compared to Wei and Wu.
But it is impossible to achieve 100% armor coverage for the entire army.
Except for the soldiers at the front who were wearing iron armor, most of the soldiers at the rear were wearing leather armor.
The auxiliary soldiers and civilians wore cloth armor.
Although leather armor also has certain protective capabilities, it cannot be compared with iron armor.
Sharp arrow feathers fell from the sky, and with the momentum of landing, they directly penetrated the leather armor and inserted into the shoulder of a certain Han soldier.
He groaned and staggered.
An even more unlucky person was shot in the chest and screamed in agony on the spot, falling to the ground.
Fortunately, the power of the projectile is not as powerful as the direct shot.
As long as the target is not hit, there is no danger of life.
Not to mention that the Wei army was launching the arrows from a hundred steps away, and most of the fallen arrow feathers no longer had much power.
…
But as the Han army continued to advance, the second and third waves of arrows continued to shoot.
The closer the distance, the greater the power of the arrows, and there was a certain commotion in the Han army's formation.
But overall, the Wei army was unable to stop the Han army from advancing.
When they were within seventy steps, they heard another change in the sound of the Han army's horns.
"pause!"
"boom!"
The large pillars were erected on the ground.
"shoot!"
The Han army's crossbowmen began to fire back.
Across the moat, countless arrows crisscrossed in the air.
Many arrows fell into the moat after the collision.
When Zhuge Liang was in charge of state affairs, he consciously improved the crossbows in order to fight against the Wei cavalry.
Coupled with the support of the workshop system established by a certain country boy, the crossbow has been further strengthened.
If the Wei army on the other side of the moat had not set up their positions early, they would have been able to wait for work.
In addition, as the attacker, the Han army needed to constantly adjust its formation while advancing.
I am afraid that in this exchange of fire, Wei Jun will be unable to withstand it first.
Even so, after the Han army stabilized its formation, the rear army continued to add archers and crossbowmen.
Arrows rained one after another, falling into the formations of both sides, and screams of pain continued to be heard.
The two armies faced each other across the river, and the geographical advantage that the Wei army occupied first was gradually offset by the Han army's superior bows and crossbows.
Guo Xun had been lurking in the Han army for several years, so he naturally knew the power of the Han army's bows and crossbows.
I just know that I know, but I have never really faced it after all.
Although I was prepared in my heart, I saw that my side was unable to stop the Han army from gathering on the bank of the moat despite taking the lead.
Still, Guo Xun's expression changed slightly.
"The Taifu once mentioned to me that when he and Zhuge Liang were fighting at the water's edge, Zhuge Liang sent people to break through to the east bank several times."
Sun Li, the eldest son’s commander in chief of the garrison, sighed:
"If it hadn't rained heavily at that time, making it impossible for the thieves to cross the water safely, I'm afraid the Imperial Tutor wouldn't have been able to hold on to the east bank with full confidence."
"What troubled the Tutor the most at that time was the bandits' strong bows and crossbows. They were so powerful that they could actually support the bandit army from the west bank to the east bank."
Hearing this, Guo Xun couldn't help but feel a thump in his heart, and asked in a low voice:
"Does General Sun think the eldest son can stop Wei Yan?"
Sun Li smiled:
"If there were no reinforcements from the Western bandits, according to what Mr. Guo said, Wei Yan's army would only be 30,000."
"The storming of Gaodu will probably result in a lot of casualties. In addition, he was mobilized by the Taifu and ran back and forth between Gaodu and the eldest son. He has already become a tired veteran of the division."
"No matter how elite the bandit army is, they can only hold on for a while."
"Based on this calculation, the number of thieves who can follow Wei Yan here at this time will not exceed 15,000."
As he said that, Sun Li looked at the sky between the two armies where arrows were constantly interlacing. His eyes narrowed slightly and his voice was a little low:
"If it were in the past, Wei Yan might not be able to threaten the eldest son with the power of his engineering battalion and his 15,000 elite troops."
"It's just a pity that these elite troops are already tired. At this time, if he wants to capture the eldest son, it is nothing more than a dream."
Guo Xun breathed a sigh of relief:
"Listen to what General Sun said earlier, I would like to say..."
Halfway through, he stopped talking and put a smile on his face again:
"The Grand Tutor has been planning for a long time about the Shangdang matter. By the time the traitor reinforcements arrive, the Shangdang matter has already been decided."
"What Wei Yan is doing right now is nothing more than a fight between trapped beasts."
Sun Li was not as optimistic as Guo Xun. His expression was a little heavy:
"In the past, the Wei Dynasty's elite cavalry dominated the world. Only the thieves relied on the power of bows and crossbows to be able to fight against the Wei Dynasty."
"Nowadays, the traitors are both on foot and on horseback, and with the addition of bows and crossbows, they are already stronger than the Wei Dynasty in both distance and close combat."
"If the Wei Dynasty wants to fight the bandit army, it must rely on dangerous ground; and if it wants to fight the bandit head-on, it must be two or three times the bandit army."
Sun Li pointed to the other side and said:
"Wei Yan dared to attack with these troops because he had someone to rely on."
After all, he is a fierce general in the bandit army. Even if Wei Yan comes in anger, he naturally has some confidence.
When Guo Xun heard this, he fell silent.
He has been doing detailed work for the past few years, has experienced it personally, and seen it with his own eyes, so he naturally knows that what Sun Li said is not false.
There was sudden silence between the two of them.
As for the confrontation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the situation has changed again.
The Han army's carriages and large rafts have been pushed to the water's edge.
But I heard the sound of Han army drums changing again.
"Quick, quick! Get up quickly!"
The auxiliary soldiers and civilians in the rear were constantly urged and began to run towards the shore.
Their job is to seize time and find ways to fill in the moat.
Compared with soldiers with higher armor coverage, these auxiliary soldiers and civilians have much lower armor.
The Wei army had long seen the changes in the Han army. The rain of arrows that had been suppressed suddenly came out with another wave of bursts.
The auxiliary soldiers who were running at the front with their heads lowered had just entered the range of the arrow rain when two of them suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.
The arrow feathers dropped from the air may not penetrate the tightly protected iron armor, but the lethality is still quite high for the auxiliary soldiers and civilians who only have cloth armor.
Seeing the tragic situation ahead, some civilians couldn't help but slow down.
There were people on both sides shouting:
"Don't stop! Anyone who dares to disobey military orders will be killed!"
Finally, some auxiliary soldiers rushed to the shore and placed the wooden piles on the ground.
It's just that their luck seems to have finally run out.
It may also be that the Wei army discovered something unusual here, and the arrows they shot here immediately became denser, and several auxiliary soldiers let out another scream.
He staggered two steps and stretched out his hands, trying to grab something, but he fell to the ground and struggled for a while, but nothing happened again.
…
Wang Han, who was holding a telescope and looking at the fighting on the front line, looked a little livid.
How long has it been since a big man took human lives to fill the moat like this?
According to the current practice in the Han army, the crossbow unit should be used to suppress the other side first.
If it cannot be suppressed, the engineering battalion's stone cannons will begin to follow.
Until the enemy troops are forced out of the range of the crossbows, auxiliary soldiers and civilians are sent up to fill the soil.
What Wei Yan did was simply for his own selfishness, regardless of human life!
Thinking of Wei Yan's military orders to the engineering camp, Wang Han could no longer sit still.
He put away the telescope, turned around and hurried back.
Wen Shi was sweating profusely and leading the people in the engineering camp to rush to work when he saw Wang Han coming over:
"General Wang?"
Wang Han pulled Wenshi aside and asked quietly:
"How? In three days, can we meet the requirements of General Zuo Hussar?"
Wenshi wiped his sweat, glanced at the busy construction site, and smiled bitterly:
"Isn't this a redundant question? It couldn't be completed yesterday, so how can it be completed today?"
He sighed: "Three at most, and we are still working day and night."
Wang Han nodded: "Then I understand."
After saying that, he didn't stay for a moment, turned around and left.
Returning to the empty engineering camp with few people left, Wang Han shouted: "Come here."
The soldier on duty came over: "General?"
"Send me an order to have all the soldiers in the guard camp return to camp immediately!"
"Here!"
After a while, Wenshi hurried over, his face full of anxiety:
"General Wang, why did you withdraw all the guard camps? Did something happen?"
Wang Hanping stepped back and then answered:
"Wen Xiaowei, we were at the construction site just now. There were many people, so there are some things that I don't want to say more about."
Seeing that Wang Han was so serious about his matter, Wen Shi knew that the matter was serious and asked quickly: "But what happened?"
Wang Han nodded:
"I was ordered to lead the escort battalion and escort the engineering battalion over. Before departure, the Central Protector personally said that we must bring the engineering battalion back."
He emphasized his tone, "If things really get out of hand, we can die, but the engineering camp must not make any mistakes."
With that said, Wang Han took out a list and handed it to Wen Shi:
"Especially the dozen or so people on the list, we must save them even if we risk our lives."
Wenshi took it and glanced at it, and he already knew it.
These dozen people have all participated in some secret experiment to a greater or lesser extent - including himself.
And in Wenshi's arms, there is exactly the same list.
"General Wang, is the matter really so urgent that it is irreversible?"
Wang Han smiled bitterly and shook his head:
"To be honest, I'm not sure now, but..."
He hesitated to speak, and after organizing his words for a while, he continued:
"But just now I was observing the battle situation from the front, and I felt that something was not quite right with General Zuo Hussar."
With such disregard for casualties, who knows if he will also let the engineering battalion ignore casualties?
When things developed to this point, Wang Han felt that things might have completely exceeded the expectations of the Central Protector.
After all, who would have thought that a siege battle that was not considered important would actually develop into a life-and-death battle concerning the survival of Bingzhou?
Wenshi knew that since Wang Han had said this, he probably really wanted to make final preparations for a rainy day:
"What does General Wang mean?"
"Anyway, as you said just now, neither the left nor the right will be able to complete the tasks assigned by General Zuo Hussar. It is better to prepare in advance, just in case."
"Everything else is easy to talk about, but I think these dozen people should be recalled to the camp first, just in case."
Wang Han looked at Wen Shi, "As for you, Lieutenant Wen, if General Zuo Hussar calls you in the past few days, you must remember to send someone to notify me immediately."
In fact, Wang Han wouldn't even think about confronting Wei Yan unless he had no choice.
Because of this, it will have an irreversible negative impact on the Han army, and may even implicate the Central Protectorate.
Disobeying orders before battle, no matter how big the reason, is a violation of military rules and a major taboo.
Wen Shi looked at Wang Han steadily and whispered:
"Have you thought about it? If you really go that far, even if the Central Protector wants to protect you, I'm afraid there will no longer be a place for you in the army."
Wang Han smiled bitterly:
"The worst case scenario is to quit the army."
He let out a long sigh, "But if I don't send you people back, I'm afraid the Central Protector will be the first to spare me."
Wen Shi opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, and in the end she could only sigh heavily.
He returned the list to Wang Han, turned around and left:
"I'm going to call these people back."
…
As the battle became more intense, under Wei Yan's attack regardless of casualties, the Han army finally used the advantage of bows and crossbows to force the Wei army out of range.
Although the auxiliary soldiers and civilians suffered a lot of casualties, they finally built a pontoon bridge on the third day.
When the Han army crossed the moat, the Wei army retreated into the sheep wall under the city wall.
If the Han army wanted to rush to the city wall, they had to bulldoze antlers and a trench.
The Wei army hiding behind the sheep wall was watching eagerly waiting for the Han army to come and die.
"Today, we must attack the city!"
Wei Yan came to the front of the formation, looked at the soldiers who were already looking a little tired, and encouraged him loudly:
"As long as we can wipe out the rebel army outside the city, with the engineering battalion..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard an extremely anxious voice:
"Report!"
Interrupting Wei Yan's mobilization before the battle.
"What's the matter?!"
Wei Yanji looked angrily at the personal guard who came to report the news.
"Your Majesty, General Wei has sent an urgent message!"