The day after Liu Xie left, Zhou Buyi also completed the arrangements for the Han army to attack Jianye. The first was the navy. He ordered Huang Quan's troops to be stationed in Niuzhuji. Under his command were Deng Dang, Cen Guang and Du.
Ji and Jia Kui, with nearly 60,000 troops, continued to guard against the Wu navy that might arrive in Jingzhou. Then he strengthened the siege. He ordered Guo Huai to lead Wang Ji, Sun Zi and other 30,000 right-leg troops to station themselves in Piling, forming a line.
Trench trenches were dug locally to continue to cut off Jianye's connection with Wu County. Finally, the arrangements for the siege were made. At this time, Zhou Buyi led Huo Yi to lead ten thousand people to monitor the south gate of Jianye, and Hu Du led twenty thousand people to stop at Qingqing.
On the west side of Ximuzha, to contain the defenders in the city, he led the remaining 80,000 soldiers to personally attack the Stone City northwest of Jianye.
As mentioned earlier, Stone City is located on Qingliang Mountain northwest of Yundu. Although the city is small, the terrain is steep and the city defenses are strong, even higher than Jianye. Stone City is located at the junction of Huai River and Jiangshui River, with surging river water and river wind.
Xi Xi didn't know how long he had been circling here before he polished a natural stone cliff like a knife and axe. Therefore, it was impossible for the Han army to attack from the east and north. The Wu people also took a fancy to this, so they
The city was built with stone bricks on the stone cliff, and this city is also the only city in the south of the Yangtze River with stone walls. In contrast, Jianye was the political center of the Wu people, but most of the city wall was just a wooden fence. This is all because
Because Qingliang Mountain produces its own stones, there are no rocks in the mountains for sixty miles from the north of the Yangtze River, and there are only stones in Qingliang Mountain. Such a perfect place for building a city has been favored by people since ancient times, so the ancient Jinling City established by the Chu State was also
In today's Stone City.
Stone City is not big, with a circumference of only about ten miles, and about 5,000 defenders. Logically speaking, it is more than adequate for defense but not enough for attack. However, considering that it is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River, it is the only gap in the Han army's encirclement network of Jianye.
, once Huang Quan's troops failed to stop the Jingzhou Navy, Zhou Yu's troops would be able to use it as a stronghold and directly threaten the flanks of the Han army. According to known information, the people guarding Stone City were Yangzhou Zhizhong engaged in infantry.
He was a famous general in the Wu army second only to Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu. If he could be captured alive, the guards in Jianye City would be in despair! Out of all these prudent considerations, Zhou Buyi decided to remove this stronghold first.
When the Han army first attacked the city, they couldn't help but be shocked when they looked at the stone city wall. The green and black brick wall was not high, probably only more than one foot, but it was built on a rock wall about two feet high.
The ocher-colored rock walls are sometimes high and sometimes low, and you can clearly see a strange boundary line between the two, which together form the wall of Stone City. What is even more eye-catching is that the rock walls are full of long-term weathering.
, traces of peeling gravel, mixed with purple and black rocks in the middle. From a distance, the ears, eyes, mouth and nose can be vaguely seen, resembling a ferocious grimace. The soldiers could not help but murmur when they saw a city like this for the first time.
, thinking that there were ghosts and gods in it, and secretly called Stone City Ghost Face City.
Under Zhou Buyi's order, the Han army built dozens of earthen hills around the city and filled them with earth and rocks day and night. However, the soil in Qingliang Mountain was rich in rocks and little soil. When the soldiers dug, they would hit big rocks from time to time and could not dig.
, and often damage the pickaxe, which results in half the effort and extremely slow progress in filling the mountain. In contrast, the Wu people had long ago cut down all the trees on the mountain, and then built many simple watchtowers with wood on the walls. Nowadays, more
Specially built archery towers were placed on both sides of the earth mountain, overlooking the earth mountain below. When the Han army was laboriously hauling earth and rocks to the earth mountain, the Wu people's dense archers shot down from the arrow towers on both sides. Random arrows crisscrossed from both sides like rain.
The Han army could not look up. After several days, the Han army had already suffered thousands of casualties before they could even level the city.
When finally there was a mountain of earth that was as high as the city wall, the Han army tried to launch an offensive into the city, but suffered even more casualties. The Wu army left holes in the stone wall, and when the Han army approached the city, they stretched out hooks and sickles from the holes.
Specially cutting off the legs of Han soldiers from bottom to top, the Han soldiers often couldn't bear the pain and fell down before they reached the city. Even a few who were lucky enough to reach the city wall were swarmed and besieged by the defenders at the top of the city, and they were instantly killed or injured.
It's impossible to stand at all.
What's even more unfortunate is that after Liu Xie left, the temperature in the south of the Yangtze River rose slightly, and the graupel snow turned into winter rain, which continued for days. Under such circumstances, the Han people still attacked in the rain. Unexpectedly, many mountains collapsed one after another, and the Han people fell and filled them up.
There are countless dead people in the soil.
While raising the earthen hills, Zhou Buyi also ordered people to dig tunnels to penetrate the city. After many earthen hills collapsed due to rain, the tunnels slowly extended closer to the base of the city wall. But Wu Jun was also prepared for this. As early as
When the city was built, the Wu people dug a deep trench around the base of the wall and filled it with rainwater, forming an inner city ditch surrounding the city. The water in the ditch could be used to resist the enemy's fire attack, while the Han army's
Once the tunnel was dug through, water would pour back into the tunnel. Not only did all the Han soldiers in the tunnel drown, but also thanks to the collapse of the earth mountain, Zhou Buyi terminated the tunnel battle plan, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
After besieging Stone City for nearly half a month, the city remained strong and no progress was made in the siege. Zhou Buyi had no choice but to find another way. Seeing that there were many rocks in the area, he ordered the construction of dozens of stone carts to see if they could be used.
Throw stones to destroy the city wall. But the result is disappointing. The stone cart can fire stones half the size of a man at most, and the stone wall is different from rammed earth. After three rounds of throwing stones, the stone wall does not move at all. Wu people in the city saw
The soldiers of the Han army couldn't help but look at each other in disbelief and felt depressed when they saw that the stone-launching chariots that had been going all the way had failed to achieve success.
When the first plan failed, Zhou Buyi came up with another plan. In the past twenty years, the Han army had launched attacks from land, but due to the Wu people's sufficient preparations and solid city defenses, they all ended in vain. How could the Wu people be unprepared?
What about the aspect? Under the winter rain, he saw that the river water at the mouth of the river was settling erratically, repeatedly lapping at the dry cliffs. Looking further up, he saw that the Wu people only had a beacon tower on the city wall by the river, and there were no arrow towers or wooden sheds.
He estimated the height of the river surface and the stone wall with his eyes, and suddenly a plan came to his mind.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! That night, he ordered Huang Quan to transfer a large ship and temporarily dock it twenty miles outside the Stone City. Then he urgently summoned the craftsmen and ordered them to modify the ship's side.
On one side of the bank, a two-foot-high platform was built on it. This platform was four feet long and one foot wide, and could accommodate more than a hundred people standing on it at the same time. There were also stairs for going up and down. Zhou Buyi planned to catch him by surprise and directly
The tall hull of the building boat was used to allow the Han army to reach the Stone City from the river.
This matter was prepared for about two days. For this reason, the Han army's offensive was also suspended for two days, which caused the entire battlefield to fall into a rare silence. Before the attack, Zhou Busuo visited the military camp and saw many Han soldiers.
The soldiers all looked depressed, and someone asked Zhou Buji directly: "General, when can we return to the capital?" Zhou Buyi was stunned for a moment, then smiled and patted the man on the shoulder, saying: "As soon as a month.
It can take as little as half a year, but there is no need to rush." Although the Han army encountered minor setbacks before, generally speaking, it was smooth sailing. It was the first time for the Han army to suffer such a setback under a city. Zhou Bu
I suspect that if this strategy still doesn't work, I'm afraid we will have to make a long-term plan to withdraw to Jiangbei.
The timing of the attack was chosen in the middle of the night. In order to cover up the attack of the building ships, Zhou Buyi once again ordered Yang Qiu to attack Stone City head-on. In the dark night and dark rain, the Han army beat gongs and drums, climbed the earth mountain through muddy water, and raised wooden poles to face them.
The rain of arrows climbed up the city, and then the other hand grasped the long spear and stabbed upward. In the dark night, they could not see the appearance or even the position of the enemy at all, but even so, they still had to attract Wu Jun's attention with their flesh and blood.
At the same time, the building boat took advantage of the situation and went down the river, suddenly appearing on the river north of Stone City.
The people of Wu were shocked when they saw the building ship heading straight for the city in the distance. At this time, the only ones staying on the north wall were nearly a hundred veterans taking a break. They could only urgently summon the soldiers around them and immediately go to the city.
Bu Zhao reported. By the time Bu Zhao came in a hurry to help with about 500 people, this huge ship full of Han soldiers was only a few feet away from Stone City.
Seeing that the building ship was about to hit them directly, the Wu people did not care about shooting arrows, and immediately lined up on the city wall with guns. The formation had just been formed, and the side of the building ship was already pressed against the stone wall. And the platform of the building ship was pressed against the stone wall.
, only two feet away from the top of the wall, the Han army jumped up and immediately started hand-to-hand combat with the Wu people. The stone wall here was very narrow, only about three feet wide. Two people standing together were so close that they could directly feel it.
to the enemy's breath. In this case, it was not so much fighting as pushing. The two sides tried their best to gain a foothold on the wall, and then pushed the enemy off the wall with all their strength. For a while, soldiers fell from both sides of the north wall.
Fall, or fall into the water, or fall onto the stone ground. But when both parties are wearing armor and heavy clothes, the result is no different. If you fall into the water and cannot swim, or fall on the ground and be broken into pieces, it is just a word of death.
But Bu Zhao could see that the Han army was gradually gaining the upper hand. If this continued, the north wall would be breached in less than an hour. The Han army actually attacked the city from the river, which he never expected. He was annoyed.
At this time, he observed the advancing building ship and found that it had no cockpit and was guarded by green birds. Then he thought with great joy and said in his heart: "The thieves don't know about water warfare. How dare a building ship come so far?" He immediately called for his relatives.
Wei ordered a small boat to be carried to the water gate in the northwest corner of Stone City. Then he ordered the boat to be filled with dry firewood, filled with kerosene, and immediately lit it and let it float down the river.
The Han army saw a blazing fire ship suddenly appear at the stern of the ship. It was approaching the stern of the ship in an instant. In a hurry, they had to use a long stick to hold it back. However, it was very hot nearby and the smoke was so thick that it soon became unbearable.
, they could only call for people to take turns to support them. But not long after, the Wu people lit a second fire ship at the water gate. Seeing this, the Han army knew that the offensive could not last long, and in desperation, they could only decide to withdraw. Due to the incident
Suddenly, many Han soldiers on the city did not know the plight of the building boats, and did not hear the order to return to the ships, and continued to fight on the wall. The Han soldiers on the building boats could not hold on, and finally left hastily, which led to
About a hundred Han soldiers did not return to the ship and died tragically under the siege of the Wu army.
This time the offensive against Stone City ended in failure.