The slightly cold spring breeze blows through the forests, hills, and grasslands of Songshan Mountain, making a rustling sound of leaves and weeds.
Under Hulao Pass, Liu Bei's troops supported each other, wailed, suffered in pain, and were silent, retreating towards their own camp like a tide.
All the princes stood on the high platform and looked at this scene indifferently. Only Gongsun Zan galloped away and led the Youzhou cavalry against the wind and thunder. They formed a neat charging formation and stood on the left and right sides of Liu Bei's defeated army.
Guard.
With the arrival of reinforcements from Luoyang, the rout of Liu Bei's soldiers had already taken shape. Even though Liu Bei personally went to the battlefield to organize, all the soldiers under the city were dispersed in order to cover the defeated troops who fled down the city wall.
Under such circumstances, if the army inside Hulao Pass attacks, it will be impossible for Liu Bei's army to retreat in an orderly manner, and it will inevitably be defeated in a massive way, and the entire army may be annihilated.
Under the command of generals at all levels, the soldiers slowly withdrew from the pass. After the garrison at the pass stabilized the situation, Xu Rong began to mobilize a large number of archers, but Liu Beijun's wooden curtain was not far away and slowly advanced.
, covering the evacuation of infantry.
After a wave of arrows, hundreds of soldiers were killed. Xu Rong could no longer launch the next wave of offensive. He glanced at Lu Bu with slight disgust from the tower and ordered loudly: "Withdraw the troops."
!”
"Withdrawal?"
Lu Bu was furious, pointed his halberd at Xu Rong and said: "How can there be any reason in this world to withdraw the army after winning the battle? And you are abandoning the pass and leaving without fear of punishment from the Grand Master?"
"Who told you that I was going to abandon the pass? We are going to leave the pass. As for you to withdraw or not, it's up to you."
Xu Rong turned around and walked towards closing the bunker.
The army around them had been well-trained for a long time. After Xu Rong gave the order, they left the city wall like a tide. Only Lu Bu and the 10,000 troops he brought were left on the city wall. Many soldiers looked at each other, wondering what the situation was now.
Lu Bu was indeed favored in front of Dong Zhuo, but when it came to official positions, Xu Rong was a middle-ranking general with five features, and Lü Bu was also a middle-ranking general with five senses. They were almost the same.
In terms of status, Xu Rong followed Dong Zhuo in the northern and southern campaigns very early, and was close to the Xiliang generals, second only to Niu Fu, Hu Zhen and others. Lu Bu has always been arrogant and domineering, relying on force, and looked down on the Xiliang military factions.
, so the veterans formed a group and squeezed him together.
Therefore, no matter how arrogant and domineering Lu Bu was, and he was favored by Dong Zhuo, Xu Rong, Niu Fu, Hu Zhen and others hugged each other to keep warm, but they still did not favor him. After all, the palms and backs of the hands were all flesh, and Dong Zhuo was afraid that he would be happy to see his men at odds.
It was Li Su, one of the few generals who had a good relationship with him, who explained to him: "Fengxian, the stone-throwing carts of the Guanzhong Alliance Army are very powerful. They can throw bigger, farther and more stones than ordinary stone-throwing carts.
We must retreat to Guanxia, otherwise the city wall will be too dangerous."
"Hmph, how powerful can a small stone-making vehicle be?"
Lu Bu was arrogant and looked down on the world's heroes at all. He said scornfully: "Wei Gong, don't emulate others' ambitions and destroy your own prestige. Taking advantage of today's victory, I will go out to challenge later. With this stirrup, I will be invincible in the world."
, let’s see who dares to dominate in front of me!”
Before he finished speaking, a rumbling sound was heard. Lu Bu raised his head and looked at the sky, and saw countless black dots appearing above his head. The black dots were getting closer and closer.
Hemp, the soul is gone.
Those black spots turned out to be huge stones. The lightest ones weighed more than three hundred kilograms, and the largest and heaviest ones could even reach five hundred kilograms. They fell like meteors, with a terrifying sound of howling wind, and surged.
Come.
The reason why catapults were not widely used on the battlefield at the end of the Han Dynasty was because the technical level of catapults was not as developed as it was after the Tang and Song Dynasties, and the stones that could be thrown were very limited.
For the same comparison, the weight of stones that can be thrown by catapults after the Tang and Song Dynasties is that a 30-kg stone projectile has a range of about 140-210 meters, and a 100-kg stone projectile has a range of about 40-70 meters. Converted to the weight of the late Han Dynasty, 30 kg
Equivalent to 135 kilograms, 100 kilograms is equivalent to 450 kilograms.
The weight of stones that can be thrown by catapults in the late Han Dynasty is generally about 50-200 kilograms. And the range is not very far, probably within 100 meters. In terms of lethality and range, it is much different from that after the Tang and Song Dynasties.
The catapults are incomparable.
Therefore, after the Tang and Song Dynasties, catapults have basically become the mainstream siege equipment. Especially in the late Song Dynasty, when the Mongols attacked Xiongguan in the Southern Song Dynasty, catapults played an indispensable role. The Battle of Xiangyang, which lasted for six years, was caused by the famous Huihui artillery.
Fall.
With the innovation of technology, Liu Beijun's catapult may not be as good as the return artillery in terms of performance, but it is not far away. Therefore, in the face of the top siege equipment of this era, all city defense props are lost.
Color, even Xu Rong, could only tremble after closing the bunker to avoid its sharp edge.
Lu Bu was ignorant and fearless. He had never seen the power of a catapult. In his eyes, huge stones came like raindrops towards Hulao Pass. As the black spots got closer and closer, he felt it for the first time in his life.
In panic, Chituma turned sideways spiritually and avoided the attack.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom.
Like countless explosions going off at Hulao Gate, Lu Bu finally understood why when he arrived at the gate, he found that the city tower had collapsed and the city walls were full of potholes. It was completely different from what it looked like before he left. It turned out to be this reason.
"Withdraw, withdraw, withdraw!"
Li Su and other generals braved the rain of stone bullets and scurried around, beckoning the new soldiers to retreat to the pass. There were watch posts inside the city wall, and a new force joined them. At least they did not have to worry about another wave of attacks from the coalition forces.
City.
...
...
In this siege, Liu Bei's army lost seven to eight thousand men. The catapults attacked almost in retaliation, pouring almost all the stones collected in the past few days onto the wall of Hulao Pass, until all the stocks were used up in a few days.
Don't stop until you finish.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! On a slope outside the city, Liu Bei, protected by heavy black armor cavalry, looked indifferently at the soldiers under his command, under the command of generals at all levels.
Then he slowly retreated to his military camp.
Chen Mu knew that he was heartbroken.
In fact, the wall of Hulao Pass is three miles long. It is so long and deep. When Liu Bei's army launches a large-scale attack, if other princes obey the order and attack together, then no one can say for sure the outcome of this battle. Maybe, Hulao Pass will really be breached.
There is no doubt about the hope.
It's a pity that even though Liu Bei gave orders many times, the princes from all walks of life still used various excuses to make excuses. The only ones who obeyed the orders were Gongsun Zan and Cao Cao. However, Gongsun Zan's troops were all cavalry, and there was really no need for Cao Cao's three to five thousand men to go up.
Of course, some people may say, doesn’t Liu Bei have an army of 60,000? Since Hulao Pass is so deep, all 60,000 people should be able to go up. Why are they all crowded under the pass and only a few thousand can go up at a time?
This is because his siege equipment is insufficient.
It has been more than two months since the coalition forces arrived at the foot of Songshan Mountain. More than 100,000 troops cut down a large number of trees in Songshan Mountain and made siege equipment. However, these equipment were not all piled up together. Instead, everyone was doing their own thing and managing their own houses. No one
I plan to make it and present it to the public for everyone to use.
Doing this is definitely a bad thing, but Liu Bei's army also did this. Innovative technologies such as catapults must not be leaked, so at this point, even Liu Bei, who is the leader of the alliance, cannot blame them.
As a result, Liu Bei's army was not prepared enough for trench bridges, ladders, and wells.
Because his main direction of making siege equipment is to make catapults, wooden curtains and other equipment. Several catapults and iron wooden curtains are produced every day. While making these two kinds of equipment, a large amount of manpower must be allocated to quarry.
Stones made other siege equipment seriously inadequate.
This can be regarded as the disadvantage of concentrating on developing one kind of force. If you build too many catapults, the suppression force is enough, but if you lack trench bridges and ladders, your siege capability will be much worse. There are only a thousand ladders in total, making it difficult for subsequent troops to move quickly.
Arrive at the city gate.
Liu Bei was not unaware that he had insufficient numbers of ladders, trenches, and bridges, but he counted on people like Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. Unexpectedly, these people all promised well beforehand, but then they all talked like farts.
"These are the worms of the country!"
Liu Bei's face turned livid, and he glanced at the various princes on the stage in the distance with murderous eyes. He never expected that after reaching this point, it would be these so-called own people who were holding him back.
Gongsun Zan was on the side and said rather embarrassedly: "Xuande, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have brought so many cavalry and just recruited some infantry."
"Bogui, this is not your fault. Our coalition army already lacks cavalry to fight against the Xiliang cavalry. You brought the cavalry here to make up for the lack of cavalry in our army. I just didn't expect that those people would be so shameful."
Liu Bei shook his head and sighed.
The people's hearts are scattered, and it is difficult to lead the troops. Each of the Kwantung Allied Forces has their own evil intentions. If they could use their hearts and minds together, Hulao Pass would have been breached long ago. Why wait until now and end up with a big defeat today?
Chen Mu pondered: "Today's battle is not a bad thing. At least let us know that none of the Kwantung Allied Forces are reliable. From now on, we will join forces with Brother Bogui. Our strength is half of the entire Allied Forces."
, it is enough for us to rely on ourselves, there is no need to use them.”
"Xuande, we have been friends for many years. If you want to use my place, just ask."
Gongsun Zan patted his chest and promised.
Among the Kwantung Allied Forces, Gongsun Zan was the only one who supported Liu Bei.
Not only did Liu Bei and Chen Mu help him make money, but the most important thing was that they had been friends since they were young and had been friends for decades. For the loyal Gongsun Zan, this was more important than life.
For example, in history, Tao Qian was attacked by Cao Cao and asked Liu Bei for help. Liu Bei had no troops at the time, so he asked Gongsun Zan to borrow thousands of Youzhou Wuwan and Zahu.
At the critical moment when he and Yuan Shao were fighting for Jizhou, he could still give Liu Bei so many soldiers and horses, which shows Gongsun Zan's loyalty.
After Liu Bei heard this, he was very moved and sighed: "Bogui, you and I need not say more. If we can conquer Luoyang and rescue the emperor in the future, as long as I am here, our brothers will definitely serve as officials in the same court."
, assist the Han Dynasty and take care of the world."
The metaphor of this statement is self-evident.
Gongsun Zan was overjoyed and said: "Why are brothers so polite?"
At that moment, everyone stopped and returned to camp.
After returning to the military camp, Liu Bei summoned the generals and the survivors of the death squads for a meeting at the military camp. The other soldiers were watching around.
On the school grounds, Liu Bei stood on a high platform, raised a loudspeaker, and said loudly: "We have lost this battle."
"But I am very happy and relieved."
"I am happy that there are still so many brave and fearless soldiers in our army who are fighting for me and for the Han Dynasty."
"The thief Dong harbored treasonous intentions, deposed the emperor, poisoned the emperor, and everyone in the world found it and punished him."
"Although we are defeated today, our courage is still there, and our determination to kill thieves will not change. The courage of all the kings makes me happy, and the righteousness of the kings makes our Han army proud and majestic!"
"I'm Liu Bei, thank you all."
Liu Bei bowed slowly to the audience.
Many soldiers in the audience shouted repeatedly: "Ming Gong, you can't do it, you can't do it."
But Liu Bei smiled and said: "No matter what, you are all soldiers who have dedicated their lives for the country. I salute you all to express my respect for you. Bring it up!"
The auxiliary soldiers carried the boxes one by one to the stage. When the boxes were opened, there were countless five-baht coins, as well as a small amount of gold, silver, jewelry, silk, and other items.
"A man's words should be regarded as Jiuding. As I said before, everyone in the vanguard will be rewarded. All these gold and silver money will be rewarded to everyone. As for all the soldiers who died, not only will they have pensions several times that, but their families will also be rewarded.
They will also receive tax exemption and proper accommodation."
After Liu Bei finished speaking, everyone in the audience became excited instantly, and everyone began to shout long live.
There were actually only more than a thousand soldiers in the audience, and the vanguard army had 8,000 people. Most of them were killed or injured, and only two to three thousand people survived. More than half of them were injured. A large number of doctors in the rear camp were treating their wounds. It was urgent.
treat.
But even so, the sound was deafening, and everyone was happy from the bottom of their hearts.
Talking about ideals and serving the country and the people with ancient soldiers is actually a very boring thing. Except for a few armies, most of the armies are still mothers who have milk, and they only live for money and food.
Therefore, these soldiers were happiest when Liu Bei did not hesitate and directly took out real money.
As for shouting long live.
The word "Long Live" is actually a word of congratulation, and it does not just refer to the title of "Emperor".
It was not until the Song Dynasty that it could only be used on the emperor.
Before the Song Dynasty, in the Qin, Han, Tang and other dynasties, it was not uncommon for the army to shout long live the victory, or during festivals, it was not uncommon for the people and ministers to say long live to each other.
Therefore, the people of Liu Bei's army are now shouting "Long Live Long Live" to Liu Bei. Firstly, it is not considered a transgression. Secondly, it is not even a title. It is just because Liu Bei was given gold and silver and everyone was happy to shout.
It’s the same reason that later generations happily cheered “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” when everyone in the future learned that bonuses would be given out at the company’s annual meeting.
After Liu Bei lost the battle, he distributed a lot of gold and silver in order to encourage his soldiers and boost their morale.
Although the battle was defeated, under such encouragement, not only the dead soldiers who went up to the city wall were grateful, but even those soldiers who did not go up the city wall and only responded under the city were all trying their best to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds.
Make money.
This is the same as buying horse bones for a thousand dollars.
Soldiers lined up one by one to collect money. Each member of the death-defying vanguard had nearly 10,000 five-baht coins, which was enough for a family to live comfortably for several years in Qingzhou, where prices were relatively stable and food prices were low.
In addition to the death squads, Liu Bei also announced that all soldiers in the entire military camp would be rewarded. It was just a matter of more or less. Everyone would have dozens to hundreds of five-baht coins.
After all, other soldiers also rushed to the pass and were about to board the city, but they did not go up to fight to the death because of an accident. This does not mean that they are cowards.
The reward for the death squads was dozens of times that of ordinary soldiers. They fought hard to get it back, so ordinary soldiers would naturally not be dissatisfied. Therefore, in the midst of the excitement, Liu Bei sprinkled tens of millions of five-baht coins and won the entire military camp.
The morale of the military was stabilized and morale was restored.
But when Huang Zhong came to the stage to receive the reward, Huang Zhong knelt on one knee in front of Liu Bei and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I don't want a reward. Please give my reward to a soldier named Guan Liang under my command."
"Oh? Why is this?"
Liu Bei didn't understand that every soldier had a reward. Even those who died in battle not only received a large pension, but also had other preferential treatment. Therefore, everyone's reward was what they deserved. Why should they give their own money to
What about others?
Huang Zhong held back his grief and said: "A Liang died to save me. I promised him that I would take good care of his family for him. Please transfer my reward to A Liang's name."
"I see."
Liu Bei sighed: "You are also a righteous man, so as you said, transfer your reward to Guan Liang's name, deposit it in the account first, and after the battle is over, return to Qingzhou and let the pension officer pay according to the flowers."
The roster will come to your door to provide compensation in person."
Before these soldiers went to war, their place of origin, names, and family members were all registered, and non-only children were not allowed to be included. This can be regarded as a tradition that has been going on for thousands of years. If one person dies in battle, there will be others in the future.
A brother who has taken care of his parents and died in old age cannot let the hero bleed and shed tears.
Huang Zhong said gratefully: "Thank you so much, envoy."
"Your Majesty, Captain Huang fought with Na Lu Bu to protect us, and A Liang died trying to save the captain. I am also willing to give the reward to A Liang. I know that he only has a young brother and two sisters in his family.
My parents died young, and only my grandmother is here, making life difficult. Anyway, I still have both parents alive, so please give him my money too."
"Me too."
"The A-Liang family has received enough rewards. I wanted to give my money to another Paoze Adong, and he helped me block the knife."
At this moment, more than ten people from Huang Zhong's team who survived knelt down and prayed.
Many soldiers here lost their robes. In Guang Huangzhong's squad, a team of fifty, only a dozen of them came back alive. The death rate was as high as 80%, which shows how brutal this battle was.
Seeing this scene, Liu Bei shed tears and said: "Okay, okay, pass my order, your reward must not be less. If the other brothers who died in the battle have meritorious service, they will be given an additional reward. Everyone, get up quickly. I am Qingzhou
The army will never allow our brothers to die in battle, and their families cannot be comforted!"
"Thank you so much, envoy!"
Everyone was so grateful that they kowtowed one after another. It was not until Liu Bei personally came to help them that they got up one by one.
And speaking without intention, listening with intention.
Liu Bei didn't notice the details in the soldiers' words just now, but Chen Mu did.
A fight with Lu Bu?
Your surname is Huang?
You must know that at the city gate, Lu Bu rode a red rabbit horse and fought with Zhao Yundian, Wei, Zhang Liao and others. He took advantage of them. Everyone was beaten until they vomited blood, and they are still resting in the camp to this day.
But this man survived the battle with Lu Bu, and his surname was Huang. Could he be the rumored prime man Huang Zhong?
Just when Chen Mu was thinking a lot, Huang Zhong had already spoken again: "Your Majesty, I have one more request!"
Liu Bei said: "Please tell me."
Huang Zhong glanced at Xiongguan in the distance and spoke a few words between his teeth: "I ask for orders to fight Na Lu Bu. He shot A Liang to death. I want to avenge my brother!"