Jiang Qin watched the enemy soldiers advance slowly under the city, getting closer and closer to the city.
But they are still a hundred steps away, and bows and arrows cannot hit them. Even if they can hit them, their power will be greatly reduced.
Some soldiers on the city were so frightened that they couldn't hold their breath, so they shot out their arrows, and sure enough they fell in front of the enemy soldiers.
"Don't panic. Every time they take a step forward, they will be one step closer to death. Only when they die can you survive."
Jiang Qin kept using words to stabilize the morale of the troops and prevent them from panicking.
His words did have an effect. The soldiers who were originally panic-stricken now became more confident. They steadily raised their arrows and aimed at the enemy soldiers approaching step by step below the city.
"Okay, cum."
As Taishi Ci's soldiers approached the city wall step by step, and were now within shooting range, Jiang Qin gave an order, and a volley of crossbows and thousands of arrows were fired from the city.
A round of arrows came, and fifty or sixty people fell down. The people behind quickly stepped forward to pick up their shields, held them up and continued to move forward.
According to Tai Shi Ci's idea, we can't really attack the city now. We need to consume the arrows of the defenders in the city first, and then attack the city when they have almost finished shooting the arrows. The casualties will be much smaller.
Zhou Ping agreed with his proposal, so now he mainly used shields to get closer to attract the defenders to shoot, and at the same time used bows and crossbows to shoot at the defenders, consuming the number of defenders.
Therefore, they did not rush forward in a swarm, but still formed a formation and advanced steadily. They had to get closer so that the crossbowmen could shoot upward.
"Load the arrow and shoot."
At the beginning, the military princes could still give orders for the soldiers to fire uniformly. However, as the speed of the soldiers could not be unified, some loaded arrows and shot faster, while others fired slower, and it became free fire.
At this time, the enemy soldiers under the city had already walked fifty steps away from the city. Under the cover of shields, the crossbowmen raised their arrows and shot upward.
"Ah, it hurts so much!"
"Help me quickly!"
"I was shot in the eye, I can't see!"
"..."
Many people were shot by arrows from the city and fell down one after another, and screams could not be heard.
When the people standing behind saw such a scene, many looked at it in fear, and some even couldn't bear to witness it and covered their eyes.
But after those crossbowmen were shot, their crossbows were thrown aside, but they were unable to use them.
Not everyone can use a crossbow. Even if they are allowed to go up, they may lose the strength after a few shots, let alone whether they can shoot accurately.
Jiang Qin did not expect these people to be able to use bows and crossbows. Moreover, he still wanted them to carry stones to resist the enemy. He did not want them to come forward and die now.
Although they were blocked by a female wall above the city, they had to expose themselves if they wanted to shoot arrows below the city. At this time, the enemy soldiers below the city were firing arrows at random, and they didn't know how to stay safe.
Even if you are hiding behind a parapet, you may still be hit by some projectile arrows.
Seeing more and more soldiers being shot down, Jiang Qin hid behind a virgin wall and looked down.
It was found that only the shield soldiers and crossbowmen were approaching, while the spearmen and halberd soldiers stayed in the distance to wait and watch.
He suddenly thought that the enemy soldiers wanted to use up their arrows and the strength of their soldiers. When they were exhausted after shooting arrows, they would come back to the city again.
"Send the order, everyone stops shooting arrows, squat down, raise their shields, and wait for my order."
Jiang Qin quickly gave the order.
After the order was passed, everyone stopped shooting and squatted down. Those with shields also raised their shields to cover themselves.
"Quickly go and count the number of casualties. Those who are injured and can shoot arrows should be given a rest for later use."
Jiang Qin ordered again.
The military leader personally took people to count the casualties, and found that more than 120 people were injured and more than 50 people died.
Jiang Qin couldn't help but feel heartbroken. Among his three thousand soldiers, there were not many who could use crossbows. There were only more than a thousand of them. If he continued to fight like this, all his crossbowmen would be destroyed.
Fortunately, I woke up early, otherwise I would really have fallen into the enemy's trap.
He also asked people to carry the dead and wounded soldiers down to the city, where the wounded were treated and the dead were gathered together to wait for treatment.
Outside the city, Taishi Ci was watching from a distance and found that all the soldiers on the city suddenly disappeared and stopped shooting arrows under the city. He felt strange.
The shield soldiers and crossbowmen also felt strange. They could not see the enemy soldiers now, and they did not know whether to shoot at the city anymore. They all raised their arrows and waited for orders.
"What should we do now?"
The military lord next to him asked Tai Shici.
Taishi Ci thought for a while and guessed that the city guard had seen through his plan and stopped fighting with him.
Because there are fewer guards in the city and more soldiers attacking the city, if we continue to fight, the people in the city will definitely suffer.
"Let them all withdraw first."
Taishi Ci ordered.
The military lord agreed and sent an order for the shield soldiers and crossbowmen to return with all the wounded.
Their shield soldiers and crossbowmen together injured more than 300 people and killed more than 100 people. The casualties were much higher than those in the city. After all, they were under the city, only covered by shields, and they were in a low place.
unfavorable.
"There is no other way, let's go to the city."
Taishi Ci asked two military princes to lead a thousand men each to feign attacks on the north and south sides, attracting some of the defenders, and then he led his troops to attack the west side of the city.
Liu Bei only gave them two days to conquer Spring Valley, so they had to risk their lives.
"Brothers, there are not many soldiers guarding the city. They no longer have the strength to shoot arrows now. We must work together to climb up the city. The first one to climb up will be rewarded with ten thousand coins. If this city is broken, everyone will be rewarded."
Taishi Ci encouraged the soldiers and organized his troops. He still put the sword and shield soldiers in front, followed by the bow and crossbow soldiers, and the spear and halberd soldiers behind, carrying the ladder to the city, ready to attack the city.
Liu Bei and Zhou Ping stood on the opposite bank, looking from a distance. Although they couldn't see clearly, they could vaguely see something.
The soldiers came back and reported the siege. Knowing that the enemy would no longer shoot at the city, they retained their troops.
"Jiang Qin is a good general. Sun Ce made the right choice by using him to guard Spring Valley, but we will suffer a lot."
Zhou Ping said quite helplessly.
How to attack the city is Taishi Ci's business, and he has no better way to help at the moment.
Originally, when Taishi Ci proposed to consume the enemy's troops, he thought it was a good strategy, but he did not expect that it would fail so easily.
"If we use troops and horses to attack by force, the casualties will be huge. Should we also send Gao Boping's troops and horses to attack the city together with Ziyi?" Liu Bei said.
Zhou Ping responded: "It's better to wait a little longer and let Ziyi consume the enemy's troops first. When they are exhausted physically and mentally, Gao Boping can then lead the troops to attack the city and use fresh troops to fight against the tired troops. It may be easier to break the city."
Liu Bei also felt that it made sense and nodded slightly: "That's okay, but it will hurt Ziyi!"
"Lord, why don't you let me attack the city?"
Gan Ning suddenly came up and shouted.
Liu Bei and Zhou Ping turned around after hearing the sound.
"Xing Ba, you are now leading the camp to deal with Sun Ce's army. You cannot participate in the siege."
"I don't want to lead a trapped camp. Let me lead the troops to attack the city. I would rather be the first to climb to the top of the city and destroy it."
Zhou Ping said hurriedly: "Xing Ba, in the army you have to obey orders. You have your own uses, just stay calm and ready."
"Humph, I can't even attack the city, so what are you fighting for?" Zhang Fei said angrily.
Gan Ning glanced sideways at Zhang Fei and turned to leave.
Liu Bei and Zhou Ping looked at each other and shook their heads. For this Gan Ning, he must be allowed to rush into battle and kill the enemy.
In Spring Valley City, after Jiang Qin ordered to stop shooting, he found that the enemy soldiers outside the city had also withdrawn.
The soldiers in the city thought that the enemy soldiers were afraid, and perhaps did not dare to attack the city again. Not long after, they saw the enemy soldiers forming up again and gathering. Many people were carrying ladders to climb the city, and it seemed that they were preparing to storm the city.
What is supposed to come will come.
Jiang Qin thought to himself and ordered all the soldiers to stand up and prepare to resist the enemy.