The Liangzhou Allied Forces spread out along the Wei River, Qingshui and other rivers, and camped for more than thirty miles. The troops on the front line, the various troops stationed in the western part of Fufeng County, and the civilians who were transferred behind, the total number of troops exceeded 100,000. Such a huge army
Due to the power, not to mention the small number of troops in Chencang City, even if Huangfu Song came in person, he would probably not be willing to fight head-on.
Although most of the Xiliang cavalry are undisciplined, their impact in the wild is amazing. The Han army, with infantry as the main force, will be easily overwhelmed if there is no good terrain and no battle formation. Moreover, the infantry is very mobile.
Their strength was far inferior to that of cavalry. Even if the Han army defeated the Xiliang army, it would only be defeated, but it would be difficult to annihilate it.
When Chen Cheng was commanding the Liangzhou coalition to cut down trees and make catapults, Huangfu Song, who was far away in Chang'an, asked Ding Yuan to send troops to rescue Chen Cang immediately. He said to Ding Yuan: "If there are no reinforcements from outside, there will be no city that must be defended within.
Although Chencang is strong, it will eventually fall without reinforcements. If Chencang is lost, Guanzhong will be shaken! General, please send troops to rescue immediately!"
Huangfu Song was superior to Ding Yuan in terms of military achievements, reputation, and even official position, but now that Ding Yuan was serving as General of the Conquest of the West, he overpowered Huangfu Song's left general. Even so, Huangfu Song did not have any dissatisfaction.
This is a very respectful gesture to Ding Yuan. He was cautious throughout his life, always adhered to the principles of being an official and a general, and never had any arrogance or domineering thoughts.
Ding Yuan pondered for a moment and then said to Huangfu Song: "But the general ordered me to wait for Feng Yi to leave Tunzuo and wait for an opportunity to capture the east of the river. If we lead the army back to the west, I'm afraid the general will blame him."
Huangfu Song said: "The general wants us to send troops to Hedong to attack and destroy Dong Zhuo, who is separatist in Bingzhou. But Dong Zhuo has been in Xiliang for a long time and has many old troops. Once the Xiliang army invades Guanzhong, they will definitely collude with it. By that time
, we will be caught in a pincer attack from two sides. Instead of doing this, it is better to return to defeat the Xiliang army first, and then turn around to attack Dong Zhuo."
Ding Yuan also knew the military and knew the seriousness of the matter. Although he wished to destroy Dong Zhuo tomorrow, he also knew that Dong Zhongying could not be eliminated overnight. Therefore, after listening to Huangfu Song's advice, he immediately made a decision: "Then
Just as General Zuo said, I will lead the army eastward to resist Dong Zhuo. General Zuo will send his army westward, first defeat the Liangzhou thieves, and then join forces with me to defeat Dong Zhuo together!"
Huangfu Song shook his head and said: "Divided forces make us weak, and combined forces make us strong. Instead of dividing our forces, why not go west with all our strength?"
Ding Yuan thought to himself: I only knew that Huang Fuyi was really cautious in using his troops, but I didn't know that he sometimes took risks.
"What if Dong Zhuo takes the opportunity to attack Feng Yi while advancing westward with all his strength?"
Huangfu Song said calmly: "If Dong Zhuo dares to lead his troops across the Yellow River, the general can send troops from Luoyang to seize the east of the river."
Ding Yuan shook his head and said: "By the time the Xiliang people are beaten to death in Chencang, I'm afraid Dong Zhuo has captured Feng Yi and marched to Chang'an. In my opinion, it's better to divide the troops."
Huangfu Song had a decisive look on his face, "So this time, we won't wait for the Xiliang people to retreat."
Ding Yuan was shocked and asked: "What does General Zuo mean?"
Huangfu Song said solemnly: "Our army will first gather strength in martial arts, and then immediately move westward to fight the Xiliang army decisively. At the same time, we will send surprise troops to detour and cut off the enemy's retreat, and capture them all in one fell swoop!"
Ding Yuan looked at Huangfu Song's firm eyes, thought for a while, and then laughed "haha". He bowed to Huangfu Song and said: "Since General Zuo has such courage, I will write a letter to the General Assembly together with General Zuo.
That’s the general!”
Under Chencang City, the Xiliang Army's camp has been established. In other words, only a few elites have set up camps. The others still find a place with lush water and grass to live, which is no different from when they were grazing. Those
Qiang cavalry, like horses, cattle and sheep, are everywhere in the mountains and plains.
Only Chen Cheng's troops established a complete defense system with deep ditches and high fortifications. The iron ore in Helan Mountain was turned into molten iron, which was then forged into shovels, iron saws and various other tools in the blacksmith shops near Yinchuan.
The speed at which the army established camps was greatly increased. It only took three days for a solid camp to appear on the edge of the Wei River, and the camp was still being reinforced.
When Han Sui and others saw that Chen Chengjun had built the camp so quickly, they were shocked, but many people laughed loudly.
"What's the point of building such a strong camp? Do the people in the city still dare to come out to fight in the field?"
"That's right, everyone says that Chen Shijun is extremely brave and looks like a good man. Why is he so cowardly?"
"Haha, maybe they are afraid of night attacks by officers and soldiers?"
"Hey hey hey!"
"Hahaha!"
Like the Huns and Wuhuan people, many Qiang people have the habit of raising dogs. Every night, they sleep in tents with their dogs. It is not easy to launch a night attack on them. Duan Yan was born
In Guzang City, Wuwei County, he knew a lot about the Qiang people and their custom of raising dogs. He didn't have many troops. The young and strong civilians could defend the city, but they couldn't fight in the field. Therefore, he
I didn't think about leaving the city for a night attack.
Even some of Chen Cheng's soldiers don't quite understand. They think that now that we have an absolute advantage, why waste time and energy on building camps? However, Chen Cheng has a high prestige in the army. Even if the soldiers below don't understand,
That has to be implemented first.
On the fourth day, the craftsmen in the camp began to make catapults from the iron parts prepared in advance. What Chen Cheng planned to make was a counterweight catapult, which was the "return cannon" used by the Mongols in Xiangyang. This kind of
The catapult can launch 150 kilograms of stones to a distance of 300 meters. Before artillery technology was illuminated, the "return cannon" was a major weapon in sieges.
The catapults being manufactured now may be a little worse than those used by the Mongols, but they are not much different.
In addition to catapults, Chen Cheng also ordered people to make many shield vehicles, which were used to cover the soldiers filling in the trenches. He also ordered people to build a huge siege tower, preparing to wait for the trenches to be filled in.
Battle on the city wall. Although Chencang City is not big, it can be attacked from several directions, so you need to prepare more siege equipment.
Because the number of craftsmen in the army was insufficient, many people who were proficient in writing and numbers were drawn from the Ya soldiers to join the team of making siege equipment. Before, Chen Cheng had always regarded the Xiongnu Xianbei in the north as his imaginary enemy and had no intention of attacking
The city is a small city, so the preparations are still somewhat inadequate.
After three days of making siege equipment, Chen Cheng temporarily decided to set up an "engineer battalion" and promoted some of the soldiers who were literate and proficient in mathematics to technical officers and transferred them to the engineer battalion.
For many reasons, the Xiliang Army has always only liked field battles, and its ability to attack and defend cities is very poor. They never thought that they could create such a huge thing as a "siege tower" so quickly. Looking at it, it has already
With the "siege tower" two to three feet high, many Qiang people were frightened and thought it was the result of a wizard's spell.
Even Han Suichengyi and others were shocked. In front of the huge creation, it is easy for people to feel their own insignificance. There are more and more siege equipment outside the city. When the "attack equipment" that is taller than the city wall
After the "city tower" was erected, the Xiliang army was certainly shocked, and the defenders on top of the city were even more shocked.
Duan Yan would go to the top of the city to observe the enemy's situation every day. The Xiliang army had not attacked the city in the past few days. He was still thinking about whether the enemy was preparing to "encircle the point for reinforcements" and wondered whether he should write another seal to Huangfu Song.
Letter, asking them not to send troops hastily, lest they fall into an ambush by the Xiliang people.
But when the "siege tower" outside the city became taller and taller, and even began to exceed the height of the city wall, Duan Yan immediately changed his mind. Isn't this about "encircling a point for reinforcements"? This is clearly preparing for a storm!"
Although the ten catapults next to the "siege tower" are also very large, in terms of visual impact, the behemoth at the front is more frightening.
He didn't know the purpose of the many strange things built by the Xiliang people outside the city, but the "siege tower" was so tall that it already exceeded the height of the city wall. He knew that the situation was not good. Taking advantage of the night, Duan
While Xuan sent messengers to the rear again, he also sent elite troops, carrying oil cans and flames, ready to burn the huge monster outside the city.
No matter what function those tall monsters have, they are still made of wood. If they are made of wood, they can be burned. This is a very simple logic. At night, the defenders pulled the rope and climbed down the city wall, crossed the ditch, and headed towards the parking lot.
They killed the siege equipment.
Even though he knew that a night attack might cause heavy losses, Duan Xuan didn't care too much.
Before the officers and soldiers leaving the city reached the "siege tower", the sound of dogs barking was heard in the dark night. One dog barked, and hundreds of dogs harmonized. The Xiliang Army's camp soon became boiling. Someone shouted loudly.
Said: "Enemy attack!"
Bonfires and torches were lit, illuminating an area hundreds of meters in diameter. The attacking officers and soldiers had long been prepared to be discovered, and they did not panic when they saw this. Under the leadership of the general, they went straight to the place where the siege equipment was stored.
He left the place. In the light of the fire, a man who looked like a general said loudly: "We will eat the imperial salary and fight bravely together to kill the enemy!"
He took the lead in the charge, and the morale of the soldiers behind him was greatly boosted. These people not only wanted to serve the court, but also to defend their hometown. Everyone knew what would happen if Chencang was attacked by the Xiliang people, so even if they were discovered,
Without any fear, they shouted in unison: "I am willing to die with the general!"
Although this group of Han troops was small in number, they had strong fighting spirit, strong armor, and very decisive actions. They broke through two Qiang defense lines one after another and directly reached the target. The armored general shouted loudly.
Hu, while moving forward hard, the Qiang people retreated one after another under the sword in his hand. The soldiers behind him fought and set fire to the tents along the way.
Chen Cheng stood on the top of the siege tower, looking at the enemy troops rushing towards him. Hearing the shouts of the other side, he couldn't help but feel a little unmotivated. At his feet, dozens of tooth soldiers were motionless holding torches, seemingly facing the enemy not far away.
The fierce fighting was indifferent. In the darkness, there were more soldiers waiting quietly.
Seeing the enemy getting closer and closer, Wei Ran couldn't help but said: "Master? If we don't attack, I'm afraid this place will really be burned."
Chen Cheng glanced at Wei Ran, and the fire danced in the latter's eyes, as if it was the passion for fighting. He put away a little compassion and said in a deep voice: "Attack!"
Wei Ran was overjoyed and shouted below: "My lord has ordered us to attack the enemy camp!"
The horn sounded in the darkness, and the trapped camp, which had been waiting for a long time, rushed forward according to the long-trained formation, and the armor leaves on their bodies rustled.
