Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 424 Protracted war, storming Chang'an
In the wilderness, thousands of soldiers scattered and took advantage of the hills outside the city to cover, and slowly approached to the west of Chang'an City.

Chang'an City Wall is too long and too big.

The key point is that its city wall is not a straight line, but has a lot of curved sections. Moreover, there is a river outside the west city. The water and grass on both sides are lush, the trees are dense, and there are many high slopes and hills. There are many bunkers.

Therefore, it is difficult for the guard posts on the city wall to discover their existence in the first place.

The only problem was that they had to cross the river first, but fortunately, Jushui was a small river, which coincided with the dry season in winter, so even though the bridge on the river had been destroyed, they were still allowed to cross.

But just after crossing the river, there is still a buffer area from the water to the moat of Ximenzhang City Gate in Chang'an City. The distance is about one mile, about [-] meters, and there are relatively few bunkers. Commander Ma Dai wanted to force rushed over.

It never occurred to me that Zhong Yao had sent thousands of scout cavalry to patrol the vast city wall. One of the cavalry had sharp eyes and noticed a change in the distance, so he blew his bone whistle to alert the enemy.

After realizing that they had been spotted at the top of the city, Ma Dai gritted his teeth and issued an order for a strong attack. The soldiers carried the trench bridge and ladders and rushed wildly towards the west gate of Chang'an not far away.

But it was too late, the melodious sound of the horn blared, and the nearby Wei Jun and the large number of cavalry sent by Zhong You soon gathered more than 1000 people, and the arrow rain frantically washed down.

During the bow and crossbow volley, Ma Dai was beaten back and forced to evacuate.

But in contrast, the other two teams, Liu He and Deng Tong, who were also in charge of the raid, were lucky enough to rush up the city wall, but now Zhong Yao came to his senses and immediately sent a team to drive them off.

This was the disadvantage of Shen Chen not having the upper hand in troops.

If he had an army of 20, there would only be 26 in the city, and he would just have to attack directly at the gates in the southeast, northwest, and the [-]-kilometer-long interception area, and the mere [-] Cao army would not be able to defend it at all, and it would definitely leak out like a sieve. .

But now he is only 2 more than the city, and it is still very reluctant to force his way into the city with this, so this time's strategy of attacking east and west obviously failed.

At the end of the afternoon, when he learned that the soldiers and horses who had made several raids had failed and returned, Shen Chen gave the order to withdraw his troops.

With the sound of clanging gold, the Han army began to retreat like a tide. Under the cover of the wooden mantle, the catapults and the bed crossbows on the Yunlou stopped attacking one after another, and then retreated.

Without the suppression of bed crossbows and catapults, the Wei army on the top of the city began to shoot bows and arrows downward one after another. However, due to the distance problem, most of them shot on the wooden mantle, causing almost no casualties, and could only watch helplessly. The Han army left like this.

After the investigation, both sides had more than a thousand casualties.The Wei army has the strength of the city wall, and the Han army has the power of catapults and bed crossbows. Both sides can only be regarded as no one can do anything.

The situation in the north of the city was the same. Although Zhao Yun and Pang De also launched an attack, their scale was not as large as Shen Chen's side. Therefore, under the complete defense of the Wei army in the city, they were still forced to retreat.

After returning to the camp, Shen Chen held a new meeting.

Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, Pound and their subordinate generals were absent from this meeting, because it is now divided into three main camps. Zhao Yun and Pound are only [-] kilometers away from his camp, and Huang Zhong's side is even [-] kilometers away. Kilometers away, it is not easy to come here.

Therefore, there are only a dozen generals below Ma Dai, Lei Ding, Dou Mao, Liu He, Deng Tong, Huo Yang, Wu Dang, Wu Tao, Shan Yi, etc. Jiang Wei, the closed disciple, is still a clerk, and Deng Ai is the one. Army staff officer.

Sitting in the main seat, Shen Chen first listened to the reasons why Ma Dai, Liu He, Deng Tong and others failed in their sneak attack today, and after summarizing, he said: "The chief general Xia Houmao in Chang'an City is an idiot with no great talent. , don’t worry. But Cao Pi probably also understood Xia Houmao’s ability, so he sent Zhong Yao over.”

"Zhong Yao has been in Chang'an for Cao Cao for many years, and he knows the advantages and disadvantages of Chang'an City like the palm of his hand. This time we failed, it is very likely that Zhong Yao noticed our strategy and sent a large number of scouts to patrol the city wall. Targeted defense."

Shen Chen looked at them and said: "If our army strength is more than three times that of the city, breaking Chang'an City is easy. But with insufficient troops, even if Chang'an City is large, they can barely defend it. It is quite difficult to attack by force."

"But that seems like the only way we can go."

Deng Ai got up and cupped his hands and said: "Master, we"

Shen Chen interrupted him: "Shi Zai, how many times have I told you that you have to be called a position in the army."

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief."

Deng Ai quickly changed his words: "Chang'an City is too tall, and it is impossible for us to capture it with conventional siege methods. We can only take advantage of the weakness of its too wide city wall."

"Yes."

Shen Chen nodded, looked around everyone and said, "Do you know why we can't take advantage of this weakness?"

All the soldiers, you look at me, I look at you, who knows where to go?

After a while, a voice suddenly came from the corner saying: "Grand Governor, it's because we didn't put enough pressure on them, so they still have the strength to rush to help other walls."

"Exactly."

Shen Chen glanced at the corner approvingly, waved Jiang Wei to sit down, and continued: "Although we have prepared for this battle for a long time, it is still difficult for large-scale siege equipment to be built in Hanzhong and transported thousands of miles away." When we come to Guanzhong, we can only assemble it temporarily, and there are not enough catapults and bed crossbows to give the city a sense of oppression."

Ma Dai said: "Governor, should we stop fighting and wait for the manufacture of large-scale siege equipment?"

"Do not."

Shen Chen shook his head, glanced at everyone, and then said: "Starting tomorrow, the city will be attacked every two to three days. The craftsmen in the camp will go all out to build equipment, which will greatly increase the number of catapults. I will let the Wei army not stop for a moment. "

"The technique of exhausting the enemy?"

Deng Ai was puzzled and said: "But in that case we will also be very exhausted. Originally, the morale of the soldiers is high. If we continue to attack and fail to obtain results, it will not only exhaust the soldiers and horses, but also make the morale slack. It's not a good thing, Commander."

"Ah."

Shen Chen nodded: "Yes, but it is also beneficial to do so. We must analyze the pros and cons, so as to make a decision whether to continue the attack or rest and wait for the equipment."

Ma Dai asked curiously: "Great Governor, what are the benefits?"

"Benefit one."

Shen Chen raised a finger: "The continuous attack will keep the people in the city in a state of high tension, and they will also worry that we will send a small group of troops to attack at the same time as we attack. When the time comes In one or two months, we suddenly launch a sneak attack, and if we don't know how to break through the city."

"Is this the war psychology that the governor once said?"

Deng Ai thoughtfully said: "If we continue to attack, they will always be vigilant against us attacking from other walls. If nothing like this happens for a long time, they may relax their vigilance?"

"good."

Shen Chen nodded: "This is the so-called truth that you can only be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days."

"I see."

Everyone suddenly realized, and immediately felt that the governor was right.

"Benefit two."

Shen Chen raised his second finger: "Now that Your Majesty has launched an attack from Nanyang, we must put pressure on Cao Wei on the western front. If Cao Wei feels that Guanzhong is in danger and Chang'an is precarious, he may continue to send reinforcements to help His Majesty. Clear the way."

"Ah."

The soldiers nodded one after another. This is some of the most basic military knowledge, and they naturally understand it.

"Benefit three."

Shen Chen looked to the south and said: "General Huang is attacking Lantian now, Cao Zhen is afraid that we are pretending to attack Chang'an, but in fact we want to annihilate him, so as to open the passage between Guanzhong and Nanyang, so there is a high probability that we will not leave Lantian Valley and continue to guard the dangerous points But if we continue to attack Chang'an and make Chang'an feel in danger, he may come to support him."

"Once Cao Zhen comes to support Chang'an, our Liangzhou iron horse will ride heavily and defeat him in one fell swoop?"

Ma Dai stretched out his fist and punched out.

He is now commanding half of Liangzhou's heavy cavalry, and the other half is commanded by Shen Chen's disciple Shan Yi, so he is full of confidence in the combat effectiveness of the heavy cavalry.

"Exactly."

Shen Chen said with a smile: "Cao Wei already knows that we have cavalry, but he would never have thought that we also hid a hand of heavy armored knights. If Cao Zhen came out of Lantian Valley to help Chang'an, and dealt with us in the same way as light cavalry, then I would definitely It will make him understand what a gold and iron horse is!"

"The governor is wise!"

When Ma Dai heard that he was able to lead the heavy cavalry again, he immediately became energetic.

Which general would not wish for such a day?

Shen Chen looked around at everyone, and finally said: "Therefore, with three advantages, we should continue to storm Chang'an and put more pressure on Cao Jun in the city. Zhong Yao is also getting old, so I don't believe it. To be able to keep water tight and to be able to defend against every move, order the three armies to tell Pang De and Zhao Yun to rest for a day tomorrow and continue to attack the city the day after tomorrow."

"only!"

The soldiers agreed with a loud bang, at least at the general level, their morale was still very high.

When Shen Chen's offensive didn't make much progress on the first day, they took a rest for a day, and continued their onslaught on the third day.

Moreover, catapults and bed crossbows are still being built, and new catapults and bed crossbows are put into the battlefield every day. At the beginning, the number of bed crossbows of the Wei army crushed the Han army.

Afterwards, when the number of catapults and bed crossbows of the Han army increased significantly, in terms of long-distance offensives, the Wei army almost only retreated behind the female wall, and it was difficult to return long-range firepower like in the previous defensive battles.

The main reason is that the catapults were too fierce. The bed crossbows on the city wall were all fixed crossbow platforms. Under the fierce bombardment of the catapults, many crossbow platforms were smashed. Because the people's catapult stared at the direction of the crossbow platform and hit it once. If you miss it once, you should hit it ten times.

Therefore, most of the time, the Wei army on the top of the city ran away with their heads in their arms, either hiding behind the female wall and shivering, or running a little farther. When the Han army infantry launched an offensive, they would regroup on the city wall and use bows and arrows Knock back enemies climbing the walls.

The two sides have thus fallen into a stalemate.

And when Shen Chen continued to attack Chang'an City, in late December, Zhang Fei's former army had already fallen into a confrontation with Cao Wei's main force in Henan.

Cao Pi's advisers believed that after Liu Xie was taken away in order to prevent Xu Du and Chen Du from being attacked as before, the defense of Kunyang and Wuyang would lose their strategic significance. If the enemy forcibly intercepts here, it will be difficult for the army to deploy.

Therefore, they felt that they could use the vast depth of Henan to lure the enemy deep, retreat the defense line to Yingchuan and Runan, and lengthen Liu Bei's supply line, just like Emperor Wu once defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, making it easier for the enemy to fall into a passive position .

Cao Pi thought it made sense, so he adopted their suggestions. Not only did he personally go south from Luoyang to Chenliu to supervise the battle after learning of Liu Bei's personal conquest, but he also asked Xia Houyuan to take the initiative to retreat and open the line of defense.

Xia Houyuan got the order and acted according to plan.As a vanguard, Gan Ning led 8000 people all the way like a broken bamboo, and quickly occupied the front fortresses of Cao Jun such as Kunyang and Wuyang, and then fought a battle with Cao Wei's Jianwu General Wang Ling in the Dingling area, and Wangling was repelled to Linying .

The main army of Cao Wei was deployed around Yingchuan, Runan County, and Henan County. Places like Yangcheng, Changshe, Yangzhai, Yanling, Fugou, Changping, Ruyang, etc., were all Cao Wei's army, formed A siege net seemed to be waiting for Liu Bei's main force to rush out of the Nanyang Basin before diving into the net.

Cao Wei's initiative to retreat naturally also aroused the vigilance of Liu Bei's advisers. Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and Fazheng were not vegetarians. Go north and fight with Cao Wei's main force.

Liu Bei took the advice of the advisers and acted carefully, so the main force had just left Nanyang, and it had not yet begun to confront them in Yanling and Fugou, where the main forces of Cao Wei had assembled.

Now the three-way northern expedition, the middle road is the top priority. Once there is a problem in the middle road, it is very likely to radiate the two wings and cause a complete defeat.

Therefore, even if Liu Bei is impatient, he will not make low-level mistakes.

On the other hand, Guan Yu was also not in a hurry to attack Hefei. He first went to the city of Hefei and ordered the army to set up camp. Naturally, he personally led the troops to inspect the situation in the city.

A few days later, the camp was basically built. He personally led the army to try to attack the city, but Hefei was no better than Chang'an. better effect.

Guan Yu had no choice but to encircle Hefei on three sides, and at the same time send a fleet of ships from Shishui in the west of Hefei to the north to block Hefei's grain roads, hoping to wait until the food in the city ran out and Zhang Liao was forced to break through or surrender.

This is a very conventional method of besieging the city. After all, during the dry season in winter, watering is not a large river like the Han River. It is still very difficult to flood the city.

However, Guan Yu still communicates very frequently with the city these days. Seeing Zhang Liao also reminded Guan Yu of his glorious years. The meaning of persuading surrender.

Xue Ti saw that Guan Yu's letter to Zhang Liao was a personal letter, so Zhang Liao never showed it to Xue Ti, so Xue Ti didn't say anything, but he still felt a little grudge, so he reported the situation to Cao Xiu There, Cao Xiu, the current supreme commander in Huainan region, will decide.

Cao Xiu didn't do anything there either. After all, Zhang Liao was a front-line general with high prestige in the army. Even if he was suspected, he couldn't be dealt with immediately. So for the time being, the Chang'an side was bombarded, and the Henan side was trying to win steadily. It was extremely quiet.

The three wars have all fallen into stalemate and confrontation, and this confrontation lasted for half a year!
　A friend said to build artillery. . . .Let’s not talk about the fact that there was no gunpowder in the Han Dynasty, how difficult it is to start from scratch with the proportion of gunpowder and to perfect the full combustion of black gunpowder, just say that gunpowder can be made if it can be made, and the cannon can’t blast the city wall. In addition, the guns and guns were produced regardless of the reality, and most of the readers were lost. Everyone came to see the gold and iron horses. I am afraid that it would be boring to watch the firearms pushed flat, right?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)