Because the trebuchet required a large amount of bricks and stones to serve as stone projectiles, all decent houses in Xichuan City had been demolished. Only the town general's mansion was barely preserved, and many generals lived in low shacks.
The trebuchets built by Liang Jun in the later period could even throw scattered stone bullets into the city. Although the shacks were short and crowded, they provided better protection.
The Liang army that was besieging the city withdrew towards Neixiang City, and the defenders were unable to pursue it. They built a slightly spacious tent near the town general's mansion for the main generals in the army to live.
Although the Liang Army was expected to be as powerful as a crossbow, the war would not end until the Liang Army withdrew from the Jingxiang area. No one dared to be careless in the slightest.
The second general of the Longque Army landed ashore immediately and entered Xichuan City at night.
Only some of the soldiers from the water camp of the Louchuan Army were injured and moved into the city. The others moved with the boats into a lake to the north of Xichuan City, sealing the entrance to and from the Xichuan River to guard against Liang Jun's water camp.
Might come by surprise.
The normal maximum military establishment at the "capital" level of Dachu is 2,500 soldiers. For this reinforcement of Jingxiang, the second capital under the control of Xinchang Marquis Li Pu recruited a large number of strong men from the garrison military mansion and finally set out with troops.
At one time the number increased to nearly 6,000.
After entering the Han River and advancing all the way north, the Longque Army's second capital also suffered heavy losses, with more than 4,600 soldiers left.
After arriving at Xichuan City, Xinchang Hou Li Pu's control over the second capital of the Longque Army was naturally transferred to the hands of the third prince Yang Yuanpu.
After Yang Yuanpu's generals from the second capital entered the city, he immediately reduced them to normal size and added the extra two thousand soldiers to the Li Zhigao and Guo Liang tribes that suffered the heaviest casualties and were almost broken up.
Zheng Hui's troops are local state soldiers belonging to Huangzhou. They are currently only controlled by the third prince Yang Yuanpu and do not belong to the Longque Army system under the direct control of the third prince Yang Yuanpu. As for the Shanzhai soldiers led by Zhou Pan, where they will go remains to be seen.
We need to discuss it after the war - except for transferring sufficient supplies, these two departments will keep the status quo unchanged.
In addition to the more than 10,000 elite generals of the Louchuan Army Water Camp commanded by Yang Jian, the garrison in Xichuan City once again recovered to less than 10,000. No one was afraid that Liang Jun would not capture Xiangzhou City, as well as Yingzhou and Pingzhou.
With the main force of Jinling reinforcements advancing strongly, they dared to attack Xichuan City again.
At the cleansing banquet for Zhenyuan Marquis Yang Jian and Xinchang Marquis Li Pu, the third prince Yang Yuanpu, Han Qian, and Shen Yang all drank wine as an exception.
After walking around the city with the third prince in a tipsy mood, Han Qian took Xi Rong back to the Xuzhou camp.
Han Qian has been living in the camp area of Xuzhou Camp these days.
Although he claimed externally that only by sharing the joys and sorrows with the generals can morale be boosted, he knew in his heart that all he had thought about in the early days was that he was afraid that one day Liang Jun would burst into the city in the middle of the night, and he would be alive with the generals of the Xuzhou Camp.
The probability of a successful breakout is higher.
Back in the tent, Han Qian habitually took off the sword from his waist, pulled it out to see if it was intact, and then hung it on the pillar in front of the bed; today it was also rare for him to let Xi Ying help him remove the heavy armor.
Come down and plan to have a comfortable sleep.
Xi Rong helped Han Qian untie his back armor and placed it in order in front of the long desk in front of the bed so that he could put it on as quickly as possible when there was a police situation. Han Qian's brows were slightly wrinkled, not because of anything.
Da siege was overjoyed and said: "Yang Jian doesn't seem to appreciate the great achievements of the young master?"
"Because he is one of the few smart people. He should have guessed that the dangerous strategy I used at the beginning was to take the wrong side of the sword!" Han Qian sighed lightly and said, "The so-called use of troops is to use the right combination to win by surprise. .Be it Yang Jian, Shen Yang, or even Yang En, they were all indoctrinated by the orthodox military ideas. No one would pin their hope of victory on a dangerous plan that takes an eccentric approach from the beginning! Perhaps, they In the future, we may not support a monarch who can take the wrong approach!"
"Young Master has made great achievements in guarding Xichuan. No one can stop the rise of the Dragon Bird Army. Can't this make up for the gap with Shen Yang, Yang En and others, so that they can work together to assist the third prince?" Xi Yong was confused. asked.
"If you have different paths, don't work together. Haven't you heard this sentence?" Han Qian smiled calmly and said.
"It's just that Liang Jun has withdrawn today, and the young master seems to be a little too uninterested, right?" Xi Rong asked in confusion.
"Have I?" Han Qian smiled and said, "Maybe it's because he feels relieved to see that the bloody battle doesn't need to continue anymore?"
Of course Han Qian knew that he was not guarding Xichuan City at this time. The excitement and excitement of the siege being solved, just as Xi Rong said, there was an indescribable waning of interest.
At this moment, after seeing the bloody war in Xichuan City that was like a meat grinder, Han Qian could more or less understand his father's story about how when he was serving in Chuzhou, he met the couple who cooked their son to express gratitude and then hanged themselves. state of mind.
At this moment, Han Qian even suspected that if he had not taken the wrong approach and decided on the strategy of welcoming the third prince to the west to defend Xichuan, but instead informed Du Chongtao in time, would the situation have developed better?
Xi Rong didn't know what kind of psychological pressure Han Qian had been carrying deep down in his heart in the past two years, nor did he know how experiencing the bloody battle in Xichuan and watching flesh and blood flying all day long had touched Han Qian's heart.
"grown ups?"
Tian Cheng shouted outside the tent.
"What's going on?" Han Qian asked.
"Fan Dahei is afraid that he won't be able to hold on any longer. He just woke up and said he wanted to see the adults," Tian Cheng said.
Han Qian didn't wear any armor, so he put on a robe over his short coat, and waited on Tian Cheng. He quickly rushed to the medical camp tent, opened the curtain and walked in. Han Qian saw Lin Haizheng standing in a daze. In front of the hospital bed, Fan Dahei lay there with his head tilted, blood foam still flowing from the corner of his mouth, but he was dead.
Han Qian stood in front of the bed in a daze, looking at Fan Dahei's expressionless face. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know where to start.
On that day, he suggested that the third prince go to the city to inspect and boost morale. However, Liang Jun was already prepared and even calibrated dozens of trebuchets in advance. When he and the third prince stepped into the east wall from the climbing road, hundreds of The planned scattered stone bullets covered it.
Zhang Ping blocked a falling rock for the third prince, and his left shoulder bone was shattered. Fan Dahei used his body to block a falling rock for him, and his back was crushed. He fell into a coma after that, until he died. He even There was no chance to say an apology to Fan Dahei.
After a long time, Han Qiancai and Lin Haizheng said: "Go to Zheng Tong and see if there are any good trees in the craftsmen's camp, and build a coffin for Dahei, and then send someone to Xuzhou to find Mr. Fan to see where Dahei will be buried. "
At this time, the sound of the xun was heard from nowhere. The sound was low and solemn. It was an elegy for the fallen comrades. Han Qian walked out of the camp. The bright moon hung high in the night sky, and there were no dark clouds around. He could see it from a distance. On the north city wall, there is a figure sitting on the crenellated wall, playing a pottery xun.
In the past, this was strictly forbidden, but tonight no general came over to yell at him. Today, many of the generals on duty at the wall were holding their swords and bows, standing or sitting in the corners, listening quietly to the low sound of the xun.
When Han Qian returned to his tent, he had no chance to rest. The scouts along the Danjiang River came one after another. News came one after another. The elites of the fleet who had escaped from the building had fled into the water camp of Liang Jun in the upper reaches of the Danjiang River. At this time, they were crossing the mouth of the Xichuan River at night, heading towards Danjiang.
Go downstream of the river.
"I understand. Send people to keep an eye on Liang Jun's movements on the front lines of Tie Crocodile and Canglang City. If there is any change, report them at any time." Han Qian said to Gao Shao.
At present, Han Qian sent Tian Cheng to take charge of the Xuzhou camp with the assistance of Xi Chang, Guo Nuer and others; Yang Qin and Feng Xuan not only lost their warships, but the transport ships of the boat gang and the four surname fleets were also sending the copycat recruits into the camp.
After Xichuan City was destroyed by the pursuing Liang Jun water camp, the armed guards of the boat gang, the boatmen, and even the sons of the fourth surname were all incorporated into the Xuzhou camp to participate in the defense of the city; Gao Shao and Zhao Yuanji were responsible for peripheral reconnaissance and scouting.
After seeing Gao Shao leave, Han Qian stretched himself and was about to lie down on the bed to rest. He didn't seem to think that the information sent back by the scout was very important. Xi Rong asked in confusion: "Liang Jun's water camp is going to escape back to Xiangzhou City. Now, what's the matter?"
Shouldn't we notify the Marquis of Zhenyuan to send the elite fleet of Lou to pursue and annihilate them?"
"Who knows if Liang Jun has arranged any traps halfway. It is already a great achievement to force Liang Jun back in this battle. It is not easy to sleep peacefully. Why do you have nothing to do? Is it possible?
Do you still expect to be able to severely damage the main force of Liang Jun this time?" Han Qian asked with waning interest.
"In order to take advantage of the victory and severely damage Liang Jun's water camp, wouldn't there be an opportunity to block some of Liang Jun's elite troops, especially Xuanjiadu, on the south bank of Han River and prevent them from returning north?" Xi Rong stared at Han Qian's eyes and asked in confusion.
, it is unimaginable that Han Qian, who had taken the wrong approach before, would give up such a big opportunity. I don’t know why he changed his temper?
"Sleep! If you don't go out, do you want to sleep with me?" Han Qian opened the quilt and asked.
Xi Rong glanced at Han Qian with her beautiful eyes, turned around and walked out.
…………
…………
At the northern foot of Tieguling, the remnant stronghold that Li Zhigao led his troops to defend earlier became a stronghold for Liang Jun to control the Danjiang waterway.
The iron cables of the iron cable pontoon bridge were chopped off by the Chu army with giant axes, and half of the iron cables sank to the bottom of the river. The pontoons used to support the bridge decks were also washed away, sunk, or stranded on the river beach.
There were also some floating boats loaded with fuel, hoping that the Chu warships would rush in and set the boats on fire. However, the Chu navy had rich experience in preventing fire attacks and only sacrificed a small number of warships to isolate the fireships.
Burnt and cracked ship planks can be seen everywhere, either being hit by the waves on the river beach, or floating or sinking downstream.
Han Yuanqi, who is responsible for presiding over the frontline war in Xichuan, is like a cheetah that has been tortured by hunger for a long time, squatting on the top of the main peak at the northern foot of Tieguling Ridge, his red eyes staring at the river to the north, radiating a hungry and ferocious spirit.
mango.
The ripples of light seemed like there were billions of silver coins hidden under the black water.
Zhou Shicheng and Liang Jun's water camp have been fleeing downstream for two hours, but there is still no movement on the north side of the river.
At this time, the morning light gradually became clearer. No matter how anxious and unwilling he was, Han Yuanqi couldn't help but let out a long sigh and said to Yang Xiong behind him: "If I had known that this plan would not work and the enemy ships were heading north, I should have set fire to these firewood boats."
Surround and burn it!"
Three stockades were built on both sides of the Liutiao River in the northern foothills, surrounding a water mooring in the sky, just enough to block the vision of the surrounding scouts. At this moment, in this water mooring of more than ten acres, there were hundreds of boats loaded with firewood parked.
, the purpose of pouring oil on the boat was to pretend that the water camp fleeing hastily south could lure down the warships of the Chu navy, and then take advantage of them to make a surprise attack in the narrowest Danjiang waterway at the northern foot of Tieguling.
Of.
However, up to this point, the Chu army showed no signs of falling into the trap.
Yang Xiong knew that Han Yuanqi had too much reluctance in his heart, but when the Chu army's navy rushed north, they were sufficiently vigilant and prepared. What role could these hundreds of oil and firewood boats set on fire and rush out?
Even if you can burn ten or eight of the opponent's warships, what will change?
