Guan Ji's overly conservative arrangement allowed the Jingyang City defender to escape back to Jingyang smoothly.
But before he could take a breath, soldiers soon came to report:
"General, there are Shu captives outside the city!"
General Hu secretly complained: I knew there were Shu captives who would not let me go so easily!
I was thinking this, but I had to bite the bullet and go to the top of the city to watch.
When he saw people neighing and horses neighing outside the city, his heart trembled: "Why are these Shu captives chasing so closely?!"
On the contrary, the guard of Wuzhi City who escaped with him was calmer. He looked carefully at the people under the city and seemed to have discovered something:
"We are riding fast all the way. The only people who can be pursued so fast by the Shu captives are the cavalry. There are nine out of ten cavalry from the Shu captives under this city."
"Cavalry?" When General Hu heard this, he quickly looked carefully and saw that the Shu captives outside the city seemed to be very powerful, but they had more horses and fewer horses.
Of course he understood this situation: the cavalry was a man riding two horses, so he was blinded for a moment.
"It's really a cavalry army!" General Hu was overjoyed. "How can the cavalry army attack the city? I don't have to worry about it for now!"
Just to put it bluntly, how could Shulu be so fast?
It took the Shu captives one day to clear up Wushi City, and it would take at least one day to march here again, adding up to two days.
At the same time, General Hu still had a small thought in his heart:
Linjing City is taller than Wushi City. According to the way the Shu captives attacked Wushi City before, it didn't take five or six days, but only two or three more days, so they would have four days left for themselves.
If that really happened, the governor's reinforcements must have arrived.
When the time comes, not only will he lose his troops without fault, but he will also be able to defend the city successfully.
At this time, I saw some Shu captives under the city coming forward with something in their hands and shouting loudly:
"Listen to the Cao thieves in the city, Wushi City has been destroyed, and Wang's troops are approaching Jingyang. Why don't you surrender quickly and return to righteousness?"
As he said that, someone else brought out a large number of flags and drums, the most obvious of which had a big Chinese character "Hu", which was the flag of General Hu of Jingyang City.
It turned out that when Wushi City retreated, the flag officer of the Wei army was still trying desperately to protect the flag, so Zhang Yi and others did not find the opponent's flag in the city.
After the Wei army was defeated and retreated from Wushi City, General Hu was escorted by his bodyguards and led the way back to Jingyang. Without the general and the general, the handsome flag in the hands of the flag officer naturally became a hot commodity.
So it was advantageous for Yang Wanwan, who had driven away the defeated troops all the way.
General Hu's face turned green when he saw his handsome flag.
But the soldier responsible for observing the enemy's situation came over and reported:
"General, that Shu captive took the general's flag to persuade him to surrender..."
General Hu's green face began to turn red: I'm not blind, I can see!
"Shu captives...Shu captives bully people too much!"
General Hu slapped Wucheng's head with his palm and said angrily, "It's tolerable, but who can't be tolerated? Come on, shoot me an arrow!"
Although General Hu is mediocre in ability, it does not mean that he does not understand one thing:
Nowadays, the Hu family dominates Anding County. This is a rare opportunity for the Hu family in hundreds of years.
If Anding County falls into the hands of Shu captives, who knows what will happen?
I heard that many of the aristocratic families in the Shu region had their families destroyed because they were forced by the Shu captives.
It can be seen from this that the cruel government of the Shu captives is fierce!
Yang Wanwan led the cavalry to pursue the defeated troops, but encountered no decent resistance along the way.
Even the opponent's coach's flag was captured by him.
He originally thought that Jingyang City would not hold on at this time, but he surrendered after being persuaded, but he did not expect to be persuaded to retreat by a wave of arrows from above.
Although no one was hurt, the attitude in Jingyang City was very clear, which made Yang Wanwan very unhappy.
However, just as General Wei had guessed, the cavalry he led did not carry any siege equipment at all, and their number was only two thousand. Facing Jingyang City, there was no good solution for the time being.
At the moment, I had to bear this tone angrily, and at the same time, I had someone take the news back to the rear and notify General Guan.
The guard general of Wuzhi City, who escaped with General Hu, saw this man just running wildly along the way, and he felt a little contempt for him.
I thought that General Hu was just a timid person who climbed to the position of guard of Jingyang City by pacifying the Hu family, but he didn't expect that he was also a loyal person?
But he didn't know what his superiors were thinking.
Because after Wei lost Xiao Pass, Jingyang became the northern gate of stability.
Therefore, it is natural to send someone who is loyal and obedient. As for ability, that comes second.
After all, there is Wushi City in front of Jingyang City, Linjing, the county seat behind it, and Yuezhi City guarded by Xiahou Ba in the north. It is safe no matter how you look at it.
If we really talk about the current situation in Jingyang, it is actually caused by General Hu following the instructions of Xiahou Ba and Hu Zun.
The main responsibility does not lie with him at all.
At most, it means placing a reverse curse on Wushi City: Why was Wushi City not destroyed?
Then Wushi City was destroyed.
Therefore, for General Hu, it is okay to defeat the battle, but it is absolutely impossible for him to surrender without a fight.
Seeing that the Shu prisoners under the city were retreating under the rain of arrows, General Hu cheered up and said encouragingly:
"With this heavy baggage of Shu captives, it will take at least two days. If it is to attack the city, it will take another two days. If the prefect leads the reinforcements, it will only take three days at most."
"Moreover, the generals from Chang'an are heading north along the Jing River at this time. As long as we can hold on for a few days, the Shu captives will have no choice but to retreat. By then, everyone will have done a great job in defending the city!"
After hearing the general's words, everyone who was originally fearful finally calmed down a little.
"The laws of our country, Wei, are very strict. If we surrender without a fight, everyone must know the consequences. Even if we don't think about ourselves, we must think about our parents, wives and children at home."
When General Hu saw the changes in everyone's faces, he felt happy and quickly added fuel to his anger.
As soon as these words came out, everyone was immediately horrified.
Seeing this situation, General Wuzhi City, with the mentality of making up for his past mistakes, suggested General Hu to summon the city sergeants overnight to explain the situation and encourage everyone to defend the city together.
Although General Hu was unable to lead an army in battle, he was originally from a wealthy and stable family.
The calls and promises he made in his capacity have received support from many people.
Seeing this, the two Wei generals became more confident in guarding Jingyang.
Some people are optimistic, and naturally some people are pessimistic.
After hearing that Jingyang City mobilized all the city's officials to defend the city, some people sighed privately:
"The Shu captives used a trick to destroy Wushi City, and their intention was Jingyang City. How could they slow down and give Jingyang a chance to breathe?"
"If we let the officials guard the city now, I'm afraid that not only will they not be able to protect the city, but they will also provoke the Shu captives to become more murderous, and only cause more harm to the people in the city!"
Unexpectedly, this exclamation was reported to General Hu.
General Hu was immediately furious and arrested the man, preparing to kill him for disturbing the morale of the army.
However, the guard general of Wuzhi City dissuaded him and said:
"At this time, the hearts of the people in the city are unstable. If we kill people easily, we will only confuse people's hearts. Otherwise, we will be organized into a death camp."
General Hu thought it was reasonable, so he threw him into death row, waiting for the Shu captives to attack the city, and then let him die in front.
After Guan Ji, who was leading the army from behind, learned that Jingyang City was unwilling to surrender, she immediately urged the Han army to speed up their pace. It only took less than a day for them all to arrive at the gate of Jingyang City.
General Hu, who was trying to comfort himself until he fell asleep in the middle of the night, suddenly heard someone wake him up.
"General, it's not good, the army of Shu captives is approaching the city!"
Hu Shoujiang, who was a little confused because he didn't sleep well, suddenly woke up:
"Shu captives...didn't they already arrive at the city gate yesterday?"
Suddenly I felt something was wrong again, "Army? The army of Shu captives has arrived? Are you sure?"
At that moment, I casually put on my clothes and armor and came to the top of the city. Looking outside the city, I saw that the Shu camp under the city was much larger than yesterday.
The most eye-catching thing is that the flags and drums lost by General Hu were once again taken out and whipped.
"...The great Han defeated the thieves and used sharp troops to defeat Wushi City and defeat the Jingyang army. Now the army is approaching the city. If there are any who are cooperating with the defenders, they will be counted as bandits after the city is broken!"
"If you stay behind closed doors, the big man will not disturb you..."
Several Han soldiers were at the gate, holding a strange object and shouting loudly.
As soon as General Hu saw his handsome flag, his eyes turned red: Come again? Come again?!
"Shoot the arrow, why don't you shoot the arrow!"
The soldiers and officials who had just been inspired yesterday looked at each other quietly this time with different expressions.
Defending the city is meritorious. Only when you defend the city can you merit merit.
This was based on the fact that, as General Hu said, the Han army would arrive in two days and then attack the city for another two days.
If you know that you cannot defend yourself and yet you are labeled as a thief, that is called a fault.
For such a large Jingyang City, there are only a thousand defenders, and most of them are old and weak. There are not enough people to stand in all four corners. How can we defend it?
No matter how hard the city sergeants worked, how could they compare with the huge Han army below the city?
Let's look at the Han army. They only broke through Wushi City yesterday, but today the army has reached the foot of Jingyang City.
As soon as his genius dawned, he began to build some kind of large-scale equipment.
At this time, besides being used for siege, what else can this kind of equipment do?
General Hu shouted angrily several times and found that the arrows fired at the city were sparse and weak, as if the soldiers who were shooting arrows had not eaten breakfast.
Only then did he suddenly realize that the atmosphere at the top of the city was not right. He looked around, either raising his head and saying nothing, or looking to the side, but no one was looking at him.
He seemed to understand something.
All the soldiers of Jingyang City were left in Wushi City, and their majesty was completely lost.
What I said yesterday is still in my ears. Today, Shu captives are approaching the city. Who will trust me again?
It's just that the current situation doesn't allow him to think too much.
"If you lose Wushi City, if you can help defend Jingyang, you can still pay for it. If you lose Jingyang again, what will you do? What about your parents, wife, and children?"
General Hu looked at the general of Wushi City and threatened.
The guard general of Wuzhi City gritted his teeth, cupped his fists and said, "General, I understand, now I will make arrangements to defend the city."
After saying that, he turned around and strode away.
Guan Ji looked at the arrows being fired from the top of Jingyang City. A cold light flashed in her eyes. She looked at the closed city gate and ordered:
"Let the sergeant who shouted come back. There is no need to shout anymore. Also, let Wen Shi from the engineering battalion come to see me."
After a while, Wen Shi came over sweating profusely: "I've seen the general."
"When will the siege crossbows and siege ladders be ready?"
The engineering camp was regarded as a heavy supply camp, and it also had to help clean up Wushi City, so most of them stayed behind, one day behind.
Only a small part followed.
This small group carries siege crossbows.
This time is a preview of the future Guanzhong War by the Qiang Guards. The improved stone cannons and the siege crossbows that have passed the test will be put into actual combat.
Stone cannons are too heavy and difficult to assemble, requiring a long time to prepare.
However, the key accessories of the siege crossbow can be prepared in advance, as long as the base is built in front of the formation.
Of course, because this was the first time that the siege crossbow was put into use, Guan Ji did not expect it to play a key role.
In this siege, we still need to look at the siege ladder, and it is a simple siege ladder.
If the Cao thieves were very determined to defend the city, the casualties of the Wudang camp might be relatively high.
But for Guan Ji, a general who is not compassionate and cares about the lives of his soldiers has never been a good general.
"Go back to the general. It will be ready before dinner."
"That means we have to wait another night, it's too slow!"
"Yes, General Mo will go and speed up immediately."
Wen Shi wiped his sweat, not sure if it was because he was sweating from working or something else.
Feng Junhou treats people well, and General Guan is more majestic and powerful than Feng Junhou.
Standing in front of him, one can't help but feel pressure.
If others don't know the details, they would rather believe that the person in front of them is the real prince.
"Go quickly, I will attack the city an hour before dinner."
"promise."
"Send the order and distribute the candy and grains to the Wudang camp so that they can prepare to attack the city."
"promise."
Sugar is a good thing that makes people feel happy and excited.
At the same time, it can quickly replenish energy.
In addition, in this era, the output of brown sugar was not high, and it was controlled by the Xinghan Hui. A lot of brown sugar was made into dry food, which was used as an important military material for protecting the Qiang captain's mansion.
The rest that flows into the market can only be obtained by wealthy people.
Once a large amount of dry food mixed with brown sugar is taken out, it is much more useful than those alcoholic and meaty foods.
That would be the equivalent of an injection of feverish stimulants.
This stimulant is not only more effective than alcohol and meat, but it is also extremely convenient to carry.
Instead of killing cattle, sheep, and horses for meat, they directly gave them sugar and grain, which is enough to show Guan Ji's determination to capture Jingyang City immediately.
The sun is in the west and the heat has dissipated.
The Han army finally pulled back the curtain that had been covering the city, and then the siege crossbows lined up in a row finally appeared in the eyes of the Wei army.
When the people at the top of the city saw the huge ballista, many of them lost their blood.
Those officials who were summoned urgently had their legs weak.
"Block...block...block the city gate, quickly, go and block the city gate!"
Although General Hu had never seen such a large ballista, it didn't mean that he didn't know what it meant.
The city gate covered with copper may be able to withstand one, two, three or four blows, but it certainly cannot withstand continuous impacts.
The guard general of Wuzhi City ran down the city wall, crawling on the ground: "Hurry, come with me!"
That's too late……
The siege crossbows that have been debugged have begun to officially aim at their respective targets.
"Bang!"
The hammer hit hard, and the huge arrows and spears suddenly shot out, and then with a muffled "plop" sound, they penetrated deeply into the city wall made of loess.
At the same time, two or three more directly hit the city gate, making a huge noise.
Except for a small part of the siege crossbows that were aimed at the city gates, most of them seemed to just shoot at the city walls aimlessly.
Soon, the city walls were filled with huge crossbow arrows.
Guan Ji looked at the sky and saw that the sun was already starting to set.
"Siege the city!"
The drums sounded, and the soldiers of the Wudang Battalion began to rush towards the city. The crossbowmen continued to fire at the top of the city, and the dense arrow feathers instantly covered the sky.
The people at the back lowered their heads and rushed forward with their ladders in hand.
"Crazy, crazy!"
General Hu was trembling when he saw the Han army rushing to the bottom of the wall and starting to climb up with the giant arrows stuck in the wall.
Seeing that it was getting dark, the Han army actually started to attack the city. It seemed that they had no time left for themselves. General Hu was extremely anxious.
"Let go of the stones, let go of the arrows!"
"Quick, quick, why don't you let go?"
The Han army was not crazy, but General Hu was going crazy.
The impact of the huge ballista is equally huge.
Some people in the city who have not been trained have been frightened.
Before they could react, Wudang camp's arrows covered the entire city, and then a large wave of people fell down on the city.
When the people at the top of the city began to fight back, they heard a huge cheer coming from somewhere:
"The city gate is open!"
"General, it's bad, someone opened the city gate, the Han army, the Han army rushed into the city!"
The bodyguard ran over and shouted loudly.
Upon hearing the news, the city's defenders, whose morale was already extremely low, suddenly went into chaos.
"Isn't the city gate blocked? How could it be opened? Who opened it?"
General Hu shouted loudly, "This is impossible!"
Han troops have begun to appear in the city below, and the impossibility has become a fact.
I don’t know who shouted: “Stay behind closed doors!”
So the officials at the head of the city cried out for their fathers and called their mothers and dispersed.
Guan Ji, who personally supervised the battle, was stunned as she watched the soldiers of Wudang Battalion work hard to climb halfway, and then the city gate was suddenly opened.