The city gates of Chencang are all built on horse faces.
Although it is still parallel to the city wall, the convex horse face makes the city gate appear like a "concave" character.
With such a layout, if the Han army wanted to attack the city gate frontally, they would inevitably be attacked from the front and from the left and right sides, doubling the difficulty.
This is also true.
When the Han army's siege chariot had just entered the depression on the horse's face and had not yet had time to rush into the city gate, the Wei soldiers on the horse's surface began to attack from left and right with bows and crossbows. Although the siege chariot's top was covered with rawhide,
It can provide a certain degree of protection, but many soldiers who were pushing carts and unable to hold shields were still shot in the calf.
When Du Bo, who was approaching the battle, was alert and sent more oars and shield soldiers forward to help protect, the soldiers above the city gate threw another boulder.
This kind of boulder is specially made.
A hole is drilled in the center like a millstone or stone mill, and it is hung with a rope.
After throwing it down, you can winch it up again and hang it, continuously attacking the approaching siege vehicles.
Normal siege vehicles often fall apart after only a few hits.
However, the siege engines built by the Han army were also improved.
The top cover, covered with rawhide and smeared with thick wet mud, is not made of wooden strips and wooden boards. Instead, it is made of a lot of bamboo strips specially transported from Bashu and mixed with rattan from Nanzhong. It is full of toughness.
And there is no lack of flexibility.
When the high-hanging boulder dropped sharply and hit the roof of the siege vehicle hard, wet mud was splashed everywhere, and it rebounded with a muffled "boom" sound.
The only damage caused to the siege engine was the slight tilt of the wooden pillars supporting the roof.
The Han soldiers who were hiding under the roof had already pushed the wooden blocks and started hitting the city gate non-stop, causing the sound of "Dongdong" to be heard endlessly.
Wei Jun does not believe in evil.
However, after repeatedly smashing the hanging boulders with no results, he finally chose to throw away countless jars of anointing oil and planned to burn the car. There was no need to worry about the rawhide and wet mud blocking the fire source, and the horse's sunken area was burned.
Just light up the area!
But a scene that surprised them happened.
When they just started to throw down the torches and lose the fire, the Han soldiers didn't even try to put out the fire or worry about the military law of death for those who retreated. They all rushed to escape with the protection of oars and shields.
I don't begrudge the siege engine that was labor-intensive and time-consuming to build at all.
When the city gate supervisor reported this strange thing to Guo Huai, Guo Huai revealed it in one sentence.
"They have no intention of breaking the door, and they are trying to waste our army's anointing oil inventory."
Indeed, the Han army had no intention of breaking through the city gate because it would be a dead end.
There is no doubt that an urn city must have been built inside this city gate.
In other words, it is similar to the Fortress of Manyin. This kind of military city has no common people living there and is used as a military garrison. If the city gate is breached, there will be no danger of the city changing hands.
If you want to capture the city, you must occupy the city wall and force the defenders into the inner city, and then you will see the dawn of victory.
But it is not easy to capture the city wall. Even climbing the city wall is difficult.
However, it is said that when Guo Huai was heightening the city wall, he buried some iron spears of different lengths across the original crenels, which caused many disadvantages to the Han army's ladders when they stretched their cloud wings to hook onto the city wall.
Some Cloud Wings were blocked by the iron spears and could not reach the city head; some were hooked, but the iron spears leaked out from the gaps in the Cloud Wing ladders, forcing the soldiers to slow down and avoid them when climbing up.
.
The ants are the first to arrive, and a moment's delay can determine life or death.
When the Han army surged forward, the soldiers in the front row were hit by three or four spears and fell off the city wall as expected. However, the soldiers in the following row were unable to fight for the time with their lives because of this momentary delay.
He jumped up to the top of the city, climbed inside and tore open the Wei army's defense line, making the Han army's attack like moths flying into a flame.
But that's not the case everywhere.
Some of the ladders were not set up at the crenels where they were earlier, and there was no obstacle of more than half a foot of iron spears. The Han soldiers climbed up without fear of death under the slogan "Return to the old capital".
One of them rushed forward and was stabbed to death by a spear before he could jump into the city wall and fight bloody with his sword.
In an instant, a fresh life disappeared into nothing.
But when one falls, the other takes his place, one after another, like the tide lapping against the rocks, endlessly.
Some soldiers jumped into the city wall as they wished. Even though their bodies were pierced by two or three spears, they still held on to the spear shafts to prevent the enemy from pulling out, buying time for the successors. The Han soldiers under the city were as follows:
Advancing like waves, they let out shouts that shook the heaven and the earth.
"Return to the old capital!"
These shouts are contagious to each other, encourage each other, and eliminate many inexplicable fears in each other's hearts.
The real brutal attack began at this moment.
On the top of the city, countless stones, wood, and gold juice poured down from the city wall to the ladder, taking away the lives of the Han army one after another. On the earth mountain not far outside the city, many people also gathered
The Han army's crossbowmen missed the arrows and poured them towards the enemy Wei army guards, so they had to put down their shields and free their hands to defend themselves against the enemy Wei army guards.
Arrows flew wildly in the air, and the long rain of arrows cut through the clear sky like locusts, constantly making the Wei army guards howl when they were hit by arrows. The Han soldiers who finally climbed onto the city wall were immediately swarmed by several Wei soldiers and pointed their spear blades.
To meet him, he died outnumbered.
The shrill screams, crazy slashing, and blazing smoke made the soldiers of both armies forget about life and death and focus more on fighting, making the war more and more intense.
The attack on Chencang was destined to be the most difficult battle since the Han Army's Northern Expedition.
Soon, the setting sun turned like blood.
The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the tower.
But the meat grinder-like tug-of-war continues, and the loud screams and pitiful screams are still heart-wrenching.
The Han army, which had already killed more than 2,000 soldiers, still showed no sign of stopping the offensive and returning to camp.
Instead, countless fires were lit outside the city, and many ladders were pushed in the back, with the intention of attacking day and night.
This prompted Guo Huai to issue an order to burn the ladder with anointing oil.
He has been saving the anointing oil.
At the beginning of the war, when the guards are strong enough to deal with it, there is no need to use anointing oil.
In order to give the Han army the illusion that they could seize the city wall, the ants that lured them forward came up to die, bit by bit eroding the Han army's vigor in attacking to the death.
This is common sense that a good defender must have.
It is also an isolated city that was heavily trapped by enemy forces, but it was able to hold on to its last chance of survival.
But now, Guo Huai does not plan to save anointing oil, because the Han army's attack is not just at the west gate.
Chencang City is bordered by the Wei River to the south and the Lishui River to the east. The only places that can be attacked are the west and the north.
Of course, there are no absolutes.
For example, the east city gate is still far away from Lishui. Although it is not conducive to the spread of tens of thousands of troops, it can still be done if the Han army responds with four to five thousand soldiers and horses.
The 20,000 infantry sent from Wei Yanbu, led by the returning chariot general Wu Ban, were attacking the North City Gate at this time.
And because Wei Yan had already personally crossed the Lishui River to prevent Wei's western garrison troops from coming for reinforcements, there was no need to be wary of enemy troops coming from the rear. Wu Ban also sent out five thousand soldiers to attack from the east gate.
This is why Guo Huai wanted to prevent the Han army from continuing to attack the city.
There were more than 10,000 soldiers accompanying him to guard the city. Two to three hundred were reserved to guard the southern city wall. The others were divided into three groups to guard the city wall respectively. Although there was no worry about the shortage of troops for a while, there was no rotation to rest.
time.
The Han army's offensive was too fierce!
And everyone will die without hesitation!
The defenders of Wei State, not to mention the soldiers guarding the top of the city, even the soldiers who transported materials such as lost arrows, stones, wood, or gold juice to and from the city were exhausted.
The disadvantage of not having young and strong laborers to assist in defending the city appeared on the first day when the city was besieged.
Therefore, he wanted to burn the ladders of the Han army so that the soldiers could take a rest, count the dead and injured, replenish supplies, repair and replace some ordnance, etc.
As for the reduction in stock of anointing oil, isn’t it just for this moment~
When all the areas where the ladders were located were ignited with anointing oil and dead branches dropped by the Wei army, the Han army, which could no longer continue to attack the city, finally retreated.
The burning equipment and firewood below the city raised thick smoke and filled the entire city.
Many sparks also rose up, burning the banner with the word "Wei" stuck vertically on the side of the crenellations of the city wall until it was broken and tattered. It seemed that it would fall down in an instant when it was fluttering in the wind.
On top of the city tower, there were dead bodies lying on the ground, and the sticky blood that pooled in the potholes had many broken shields and sawdust floating on the ground.
The thick smell of blood, the stench of corpses being burned by fire, and the smell of sweat were mixed with each other, filling the air, pungent, unpleasant, and nauseating.
But no one dislikes it.
It smells bad, but it's always good to be alive.
And until the outcome of the war is determined, the living people will always be accompanied by this smell.
When the Han army retreated like a tide, the Wei army on top of the city also relaxed its mood.
Some sat down regardless of the mess on the floor, feeling exhausted; some bared their teeth, holding on to wounds they had suffered at unknown times and sucked in the air; a few Wei soldiers who still had some strength to spare used their bows and arrows to explore their bodies with hatred.
After leaving the crenellations of the city wall, they loosened their bowstrings with ferocious faces. Unfortunately, the billowing smoke obscured their sight, making it difficult for them to vent their hatred.
"Go and ask if the evening meal is ready."
After quietly listening to the battle report, Guo Huai suddenly waved to one of his subordinates and said.
Immediately, he walked slowly in silence.
Sometimes he would support a wounded soldier who was being carried down the city wall for treatment, sometimes he would lower his body and close the eyes of a soldier who was still staring at death, and sometimes he would pick up the blades of some spears scattered on the ground that could easily be accidentally injured.
Finally, his footsteps stopped at a crenel that was slightly cracked by stoning, and he placed his hands on the exposed rammed earth.
The rammed earth here has been soaked in too much blood and has turned dark brown. There are many random scratches from swords and spears, and there is even a broken arrow stuck diagonally in the gap between the earth and rocks.
Guo Huai reached out and held it behind his back, pulled it out with force, looked at the three-edged arrow silently for a while, and then threw it down the city wall.
Today's battle losses made him a little sad.
Even though we had a towering city wall to rely on, we still lost more than two hundred soldiers, and nearly three hundred more were seriously injured and could no longer fight.
This is only the casualties on the west city wall.
The casualties on the northern city wall have not yet been calculated!
Based on the offensive strength of the Han army here, the casualties there should be similar.
In other words, compared with the thousands of casualties suffered by the Han army here, this result is not considered a failure or an accident.
After more than ten years of attacking each other, it is obvious to everyone that the Han army has become more adept at fighting.
But Guo Huai's worry is that he knows that the battle losses on both sides will gradually become smaller as time goes by.
Because of the consumption of defensive equipment and supplies.
The thunderbolt chariot and bed crossbow were almost completely damaged. Just now, the craftsman supervisor claimed that less than 23% of them could be repaired. It would be difficult to suppress the Han army from approaching the city wall in the future.
A lot of other materials such as stones, wood and gold juice were also consumed.
But he had just sent several soldiers to the city to demolish the offices and houses, so there was no need to worry about this for the time being; as for the gold juice, there were new ones added every day, so there was no need to worry.
The only reassuring thing is that there are plenty of arrows and crossbows.
But he used up more than half of the anointing oil!
Moreover, among the casualties of the Han army today, at least a thousand people died in the smoke of the anointing fire.
Perhaps, based on today's results, our army will retreat to the inner city to guard it in at least a month, waiting for rescue?
He asked quietly in his heart.
Probably not.
The greatest morale in siege is that if the Han army suffered thousands or hundreds of casualties every day, they would not be able to siege the city continuously for a month.
Immediately, he immediately answered in his mind.
It's just that he didn't have enough confidence in this answer.
"General, the evening meal is ready. Do you want to order the soldiers to eat now?"
After an unknown amount of time, the retinue who had just been sent strode to his side, raised his hands and asked.
"okay."
Guo Huai, whose thoughts were interrupted, nodded slightly and responded, "Go ahead."
But he had no intention of dining, but looked at the brightly lit Han army camp outside the city.
At this time, the sun had just retreated into the mountains, and twilight had not yet dominated the night. He clearly discovered that there was no smoke rising from the Han army camp at this time.
And the huge figures of more than twenty ladders still stood about two stone's throw away.
Yes, the Han army did not push back.
Could it be that Ni Shu still wants to attack overnight?
Or was it deliberately left outside to lure our troops out at night to burn it and set up an ambush?
Guo Huai squinted his eyes and had no answer in his heart.
But soon he won't have to guess anymore.
About half an hour had passed before all the guards in Chencang City had used their evening food, and the Han troops outside the city once again started shouting.
well......
Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, is indeed not an easy person to compare with!
Guo Huai, who had just sat down to eat, sighed secretly.
Immediately he threw down the wheat cake in his hand, stood up and strode to the big banner to direct the war.
Yes, he didn't think that the Prime Minister did not care about the lives of his soldiers at all, but he saw through the meaning behind the overnight attack.
First of all, it has always been necessary to overcome difficulties and make sacrifices.
Those who are good at fighting will work hard to minimize the casualties suffered first. The prime minister's overnight attack now is based on this consideration - relying on more soldiers on his own side, the advantage of taking turns to fight will not give the Wei army a chance to repair equipment or rest.
The other is to get the timing just right.
Because after a day of hard fighting, the Wei army had just finished their evening meal, which happened to be the moment when their bodies were most exhausted and sleepy, and when they were most lacking in fighting spirit. When attacking at this time, it would be difficult for the Wei soldiers to regain the fierce fighting spirit they had during the day.
Therefore, Guo Huai suddenly realized something.
Perhaps, after one month of withdrawal and guaranteeing the inner city, it is not helplessness, but a kind of luck?
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