At around three quarters of the hour, an urgent message came from outside the handsome tent, alarming the Zongwei Shen Yu and Zhang Ao inside the tent.
Shen Yu is the chief of the Zongwei of Zhao Hongrun, and Zhang Ao is the chief of the Zongwei that Zhao Hongrun borrowed from his younger brother Zhao Hongxuan. While the other eighteen Zongwei are on duty in the camp to learn experience, the two of them serve as Zhao Hongrun's personal guards. They jointly shoulder the important responsibility for the safety of His Royal Highness, Prince Su.
After hearing the news, Zhang Ao, who was lying on another bed sleeping with his clothes on, was about to get up subconsciously when he saw Shen Yu, who was on duty in the tent, waving his hand and walking towards the entrance of the tent.
Putting his right hand on the saber at his waist, Shen Yu stood at the entrance of the tent and lifted up some of the tent with his left hand, and glanced outside.
In fact, he didn't need to be so cautious. After all, there were Wei soldiers sent by General Bailiba outside the tent to guard Wei soldiers. However, Bailiba asked the Zongwei to be vigilant at all times. After all, the Zongwei were protecting the country. The princes of Wei must not allow any mistakes.
"What's the matter?" Shen Yu asked Wei Bing, who was kneeling on one knee outside the tent.
The Wei soldier clasped his fists and reported: "Replying to your lord, the Chu army is invading and is gathering outside the south camp wall at this moment. General Gong Yuan ordered me to report to His Highness King Su and the general immediately."
"I understand, you go and inform the general."
"yes!"
The Wei soldier stood up and left. Seeing this, Shen Yu turned around and walked towards Zhao Hongrun's bed.
"The Chu army is invading?" Zhang Ao, who was lying on the other bed, asked in surprise.
"Hmm." Shen Yu nodded and gently pushed Zhao Hongrun, who was sleeping dazedly on the bed.
"Huh?" Zhao Hongrun, who was pushed awake by Shen Yu, opened his hazy eyes, wrapped himself in the quilt, and asked vaguely sleepily: "Shen Yu, what's the matter?"
"Your Highness, a messenger has just come to report that the Chu army has invaded our camp."
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun groaned twice without saying anything. After waiting for several breaths, he finally came to his senses. He frowned and asked: "Shen Yu, you just said that the Chu army invaded our camp. ?”
"Yes."
"..." Zhao Hongrun sat up and lazily wiped his face with his hands: "Go get some cold water."
"Yes." Shen Yu clasped his fists and retreated. At this time, Zhang Ao, who was sleeping on another bed with his clothes on, had already gotten off the bed and hung his sword on his waist.
Not long after, Shen Yu came back from outside the tent carrying a bucket of icy cold water. He dipped a cloth in some cold water and handed it to Zhao Hongrun.
Zhao Hongrun took the cloth and wiped his face, finally dispelling his sleepiness, and got off the bed to put on his clothes.
"Damn Xiong Tuo, do you have to come and attack our military camp so early?"
Zhao Hongrun complained and got dressed. After all, in the past, he rarely got up at this time, especially in the cold winter.
"Shen Yu, please rest, Zhang Ao. Come with me."
"yes."
Shen Yu was stunned when he heard this, clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, let me follow you too."
"It's okay." Zhao Hongrun waved his hand and said casually: "The Chu army can't attack this camp. I just went to see what the Chu army wanted... You have been guarding it all night, so rest up."
Shen Yu wanted to say something more, but then Zhang Ao came over and patted Shen Yu on the shoulder, pointed to the bed they shared, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, leave His Highness Prince Su to me... Shift change Already."
"Oh well……"
Not to mention that Shen Yu, who had been on duty all night, went to catch up on his sleep, and that Zhao Hongrun took Zongwei Zhang Ao out of the commander's tent and went straight to the south camp wall.
During this period, the alarm sound in the camp kept ringing, so that when Zhao Hongrun and his two men were on their way to the south camp wall, Wei soldiers came out of their tents from time to time. Wearing full body equipment, they hurried to the south camp wall. Go through the wall.
What surprised Zhang Ao was that the Wei soldiers did not panic and ran towards the camp wall in an orderly manner. They moved very quickly. In a short time, they were arranged neatly in the camp, either waiting for the general's order, or directly Climbed the camp wall.
"It's so quick to increase defense..."
Zhang Ao said in surprise.
Zhao Hongrun smiled slightly when he heard this: "Dunshui Camp!"
"His Royal Highness King Su."
"His Royal Highness King Su."
Because the Wei soldiers in the dredging camp all recognized Zhao Hongrun, even if they were lined up in the camp, they all made way for Zhao Hongrun and Zhang Ao, allowing Zhao Hongrun to move freely among the crowd.
Not long after, Zhao Hongrun and Zhang Ao arrived at the southern wall of the camp.
At this time, Baili Ba, the general of Junshui Camp, had already arrived. He was whispering something to Gong Yuan, the general on duty at the southern camp wall. When he saw Zhao Hongrun and his two men walking up the camp wall, they quickly walked over.
"His Royal Highness King Su."
"General, General Gongyuan."
After exchanging polite words, Zhao Hongrun turned to look outside the camp and saw clearly that tens of thousands of Chu troops were arranging their formations two or three miles away.
"How many people are there?" Zhao Hongrun asked while making an estimate.
"I'm afraid it must be more than 50,000..." Bailiba estimated and murmured.
"Fifty thousand...The Chu army came to attack my camp today, which is really beyond my expectation. I thought it would take a few more days..."
Bailiba heard this and whispered: "A certain person has ordered the whole camp to be on alert, and ordered the soldiers to transport a large number of arrows to the south camp..."
"Don't worry yet." Zhao Hongrun waved his hand and said, "It's not yet certain that the Chu soldiers really came to attack our camp. Maybe he has some idea of exchanging prisoners..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Chu army on the opposite side sounded the war drums to boost the morale of the army.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun was stunned, shrugged and said: "Okay, now I can be sure...let the entire army prepare to defend the camp!"
"yes!"
Following the order from General Gong Yuan, all the Wei soldiers who were originally on duty on the camp wall were replaced by the crossbowmen from the Junshui Army's shooting camp and the shield soldiers in charge of them.
At the same time, the Chu army had already assembled and lined up. Zai Fugen, the general of the Chu army in charge of this critical battle, frowned and glanced at the scary Wei camp in front of him, and took a deep breath.
"Former army...attack!"
Keeping in mind the instructions of Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo, Zai Fugen directly issued the order to attack without speaking to the Wei army.
For a time, the Chu army's front military formation, a whole battalion of 5,000 soldiers, marched step by step towards the Wei camp under the command of the Chu general in the army.
Five thousand Chu soldiers were invested in the first round of attack?... It seems that the Chu army today is not trying to test the reality of our army.
Frowning, Zhao Hongrun ordered General Gong Yuan: "General Gong Yuan, you come to command the battle."
"As commanded."
Gong Yuan clasped his fists and went off to give orders. Only Zhao Hongrun and Bailiba were left watching the Chu army's offensive on this section of the camp wall.
The five thousand Chu troops advanced slowly. When they were only a stone's throw away from the Wei camp, the Chu general in the army immediately ordered the entire army to charge.
At the same time, Gong Yuan immediately responded: "Archers, prepare... to fire arrows!"
Following his order, a wave of arrows shot out from the south wall of the Wei camp. Up to a thousand arrows flew up in the wind and shot at the Chu soldiers who were rushing towards the camp.
"Arrow attack! Arrow attack!...Raise your shield!"
The vanguard of the five thousand Chu soldiers were all sword and shield soldiers. Under the orders of several Chu generals, they quickly raised their shields to resist the Wei army's arrows.
“Tuk tuk tuk”
A sound like knocking on the door resounded throughout the battlefield. The five thousand Chu army sword and shield soldiers were horrified to find that the shields made of hardwood and cowhide in their hands could not resist the Wei army's arrows. Just a wave of arrows knocked them out.
The shield in his hand cracked.
Seeing this scene, Xi Meng, the Chu general of the vanguard army, changed his face. He gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Don't stop! Charge! Keep charging!"
After hearing this general order, five thousand soldiers of the Chu army, holding cracked wooden shields, braved the arrows of the Wei army and rushed towards the wall of the Wei camp.
Seeing this, General Gong Yuan of the Wei army gave the order expressionlessly: "Second team (archers). Fire arrows!"
Another wave of baptism with thousands of arrows.
But this time it can be clearly seen that many of the wooden shields in the hands of the Chu soldiers were shot to pieces by the Wei army's arrows. Although the wooden shields were not broken because they were wrapped in cowhide, they had lost their original texture.
The shape was reduced to a package of broken wood wrapped in cowhide.
The difference in equipment...
Zhao Hongrun shook his head slightly.
He didn't know whether to be thankful or sighing. The Chu army's standardized weapons and equipment were generally inferior to those of the Wei army. You must know the shields used by the infantry of the Junshui camp. They were iron round shields, which were for the physical strength of the soldiers.
, the thickness of the iron shield is probably slightly more than a knuckle, although it cannot be said to be indestructible. But at least the wooden shields in the hands of the five thousand Chu soldiers on the opposite side that can be shot with just two arrows are much stronger.
It is not difficult to guess that those Chu soldiers who lost the protection of their shields would not be able to survive the third wave of arrows from the Wei army.
Facts have proved that Zhao Hongrun's guess was accurate. When the Wei general Gong Yuan ordered the third wave of arrows to be fired, the rushing Chu soldiers fell to the ground after being hit by arrows. From a distance, it looked like a strong wind blowing through the wheat fields.
Falling to the ground.
Just when Zhao Hongrun felt sad about the fate of those Chu soldiers, Zongwei Zhang Ao beside him reminded him in a low voice: "Your Highness, the Chu army's troops are advancing."
Zhao Hongrun suddenly raised his head and looked into the distance.
Just as Zhang Ao said, the huge Chu army advanced neatly and changed their formation, from the square gate formation at the beginning to the crane wing formation.
This battle, I always feel like something is not quite right...
Zhao Hongrun wrinkled and squinted his eyes to carefully look at the Chu army in the distance.
He was surprised to find that the two wings of the "war cranes" of the Chu army's crane wing formation were actually long archers, not the infantry usually used for surprise attacks.
So close... Aren't those Chu army's long archers... afraid that our army will shoot at their archers?
Zhao Hongrun muttered. He felt that Chu's archer formation was too close to their Wei camp. Not only had they already entered the range of arrows, they were even closer than this range by almost twenty feet.
Logically speaking, no general would put his archers in danger unless...
Unless they have the intention to attack first!
"The north wind is blowing today, right?" Zhao Hongrun asked unexpectedly.
Bailiba glanced at Zhao Hongrun doubtfully. From the side, Zhang Ao nodded and said, "Although the wind is not strong, it is indeed the north wind."
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun's expression suddenly became very solemn and he whispered: "Notify General Gong Yuan that the Chu army may launch a salvo against my camp!"
Bailiba was stunned when he heard this, glanced at the infantry who were charging towards their Wei camp, and said in disbelief: "Isn't that true? There are still more than 4,000 Chu soldiers over there..."
That’s because you don’t understand Chu’s fighting style…
Zhao Hongrun said secretly in his heart. He suddenly remembered that during the Battle of Yanshui, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu had ordered his crossbowmen to fire without hesitation in order to force back the Yanling soldiers who persisted in retreating.
At this moment, the Chu army on the opposite side was quietly advancing, and the longbowmen acting as "Crane Wings" suddenly raised their longbows in unison.
This scene shocked Zhao Hongrun, who suddenly became terrified and shouted urgently: "The entire army is on alert for arrow attacks! ... The archers paused shooting to avoid the arrows. Shields were placed on the wall to protect the archers!"
General Gong Yuan, who was commanding not far away, was stunned when he heard Zhao Hongrun's shout, and subconsciously looked at the array of Chu army's long archers in the distance.
He was horrified to see dense arrows rising from the Chu army's formation, roaring towards his Wei camp.
"Arrow attack! Arrow attack!"
A total of 10,000 Chu long archers and a total of 10,000 arrows covered the south camp wall of the Wei camp like a downpour, covering up the clouds and the sun. (To be continued.)