Ji Han Liu Zhang

"How is Liangzhou these days?"

After talking about the situation in Guandong for a few words, Liu Zhang immediately threw the Guandong princes aside and asked about Xun You's situation in Liangzhou.

Liu Zhang sent troops from Shu and marched towards Chang'an from Chencang, intending to kill the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si. At the moment, he was not too worried about Li Jue and Guo Si who were entrenched in Chang'an City. What he was worried about was the safety of Chencang, his rear route.

Yu Yunwen, a famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty, once said about the situation in the northwest: "Guanzhong is the upper reaches of the world, and Longyou is the upper reaches of Guanzhong. Therefore, if you want to control Guanzhong, you should first control Longyou." As Liangzhou in Longyou, the terrain is higher than Guanzhong, and it has the advantage of being high above.

Therefore, if at the critical moment when Liu Zhang was competing with Li Jue and Guo Si for hegemony, someone from Liang Province sent troops to attack Chen Cang, Liu Zhang would be in a dilemma. He would not be able to quickly defeat Li Jue and Guo Si, and would not be able to ensure the safety of his grain route. He would be caught in the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

Being attacked from both sides and being caught in a dilemma is an extremely unfavorable military situation.

For example, the Wei State in the early Warring States Period and Germany during World War I and World War II had advantages at the beginning, but as the situation developed, they eventually fell into a dangerous situation of being attacked from multiple sides because of their position in the center of the world. They were unable to fight against four hands with two fists, and ultimately their armies were defeated and their countries were destroyed.

Xun You looked relaxed, and he spoke eloquently: "Ever since you promised Ma Teng the post of governor of Liang Province, Ma Teng has been boasting of being the governor of Liang Province, and he has been acting recklessly in Liang Province, quite domineering. Only Han Sui was slightly dissatisfied and often refused to follow Ma Teng's orders."

"In order to dominate Liang Province alone, Ma Teng took advantage of the fact that he and Han Sui were still brothers on the surface and had not torn their faces apart, and led his army to attack Jincheng, killing Han Sui and defeating him. Among them, Ma Teng's eldest son Ma Chao performed outstandingly, charging into the battle line and advancing forward, making the first contribution to Ma Teng's capture of Jincheng."

"Didn't they say that Ma Teng and Han Sui became brothers before? Why are they attacking each other and killing each other?" asked the simple clerk Meng Jie.

Liu Zhang sneered when he heard this, but did not answer. He looked at the clay and wooden sculpture of Jia Xu. Since Jia Xu surrendered to him, he was not an old minister of the shogunate, and had once been affiliated with the traitor Dong Zhuo. In addition, he was involved in the murder of Wang Yun and the suffering of the emperor. Therefore, Jia Xu often did not say much when attending the meeting.

But now Liu Zhang cast an inquiring look at him, and Jia Xu instantly came out of his half-closed state as if he was resting. His eyes opened, and a gleam of light flashed in them. He first coughed lightly, and then answered Meng Jie's question.

"In Liangzhou, heroes like to become sworn brothers, but this kind of sworn brotherhood is not very reliable. It is just a formality. It does not go to the extent of not asking to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but to die on the same day of the same month of the same year."

Jia Xu, who was born in Liangzhou, was naturally familiar with the customs of Liangzhou. He gave a long speech: "Often, two brothers with different surnames today may chop each other with knives tomorrow because of a small conflict. You give me a knife, and I give you a sword."

"Sworn brotherhood with different surnames is just a childish trick in Liangzhou and should not be taken seriously." Jia Xu said with disdain. As a scholar who had been selected as a filial and incorrupt official and served as a palace attendant in Luoyang, he had a somewhat contemptuous attitude towards those who were disloyal and ungrateful. Although he was not a good person either, he still had some bottom line.

"Mr. Jia is worthy of being a native of Liangzhou. He understands the logic of this matter very well." Xun You said, and he added the reason why Ma Teng and Han Sui, two brothers with different surnames, turned against each other.

"Ma Teng called himself 'Liangzhou Mu' and regarded Jincheng as the jurisdiction of Liangzhou, so he led his troops to inspect the territory of Jincheng. However, Han Sui believed that Jincheng belonged to him and was not a place that Ma Teng could inspect, so Han Sui sent a letter to question Ma Teng."

"When Ma Teng received the letter, he was very angry. He thought that as the governor of Liang Province, all affairs of Liang Province should be under his control. So he took advantage of the opportunity to attack Jincheng and killed many of Han Sui's clansmen."

Xun You chuckled, "Although Han Sui was caught off guard and attacked by Ma Teng, Han Sui has been in Qiang territory for a long time and has won the hearts of Qiang and Hu people. I heard that Han Sui is now recruiting Qiang and Hu people. When his army is strong, he will repay Ma Teng's attack. Now in Liang Province, thunder is brewing."

They are just superficial brothers! Liu Zhang sighed in his heart. Here he was not only sighing about the false feelings between Ma Teng and Han Sui, but also about the strange father and son Ma Teng and Ma Chao.

When he first read Romance of the Three Kingdoms but had not read Records of the Three Kingdoms before, he thought Ma Teng was a loyal general of the Han Dynasty and Ma Chao was one of the Five Tiger Generals. Later, when he read Records of the Three Kingdoms, he found out that Ma Teng had initially rebelled with Han Sui in Liang Province, and later, Ma Teng sought temporary peace by abandoning his family business and moving into Yecheng, putting his life and death in the hands of others. In the final analysis, he was just a foolish man who did not know right from wrong and behaved inappropriately.

Ma Chao was a filial son of Liang Province and a good son of Ma Teng. When Cao Cao intended to get involved in Guanzhong, Ma Chao, in order to preserve his power to rule a region, raised an army regardless of Ma Teng's death. He even privately intended to recognize Han Sui as his adoptive father. Later, Ma Chao was defeated and had to join Liu Bei. Liu Bei was suspicious of Ma Chao's erratic behavior, and only favored Ma Chao to a high position, but without any power. Ma Chao did not have the same glorious status and power as the Five Tiger Generals in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Therefore, Ma Teng and Ma Chao, father and son, acted carelessly and lacked loyalty and filial piety, which led to the extermination of their three clans or death in despair and depression.

However, the integrity of Ma Teng and Ma Chao was a good thing for Liu Zhang. At least Liu Zhang did not have to worry about Ma Teng and Han Sui joining forces and leading troops to Guanzhong to threaten his retreat.

After all, before the outcome of the battle between Ma Teng and Han Sui was decided, it was impossible for them to be of one mind and plan for the long term and lead their troops to Guanzhong to rescue Li Jue and Guo Si.

'My enemies are stupid, this is my blessing!'

Liu Zhang was thankful, and then he instructed Xun You: "Tell Wu Yi to be cautious and send out more scouts to spy on the situation in Liang Province. In addition, you can also contact the noble families in Liang Province privately."

Liu Zhang was making long-term plans. If Guanzhong was pacified, the next area he would target would be Liangzhou. Only with Guanzhong, Liangzhou and Shu in his hands could he be considered a strong Qin and would be invincible in the struggle for supremacy in the world.

"Yes." Xun You bowed and accepted the order.

There is no danger in Liangzhou, and there is nothing to worry about in Guandong. Now we just need to concentrate on the present and wipe out the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si. Liu Zhang began to think in his mind. In order to wipe out the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si, he needed to take over the city of Chang'an.

But, Chang'an City is not easy to take!
The Han Chang'an City was a capital city built in the early Han Dynasty on the basis of the Xingle Palace, a detached palace of the Qin Dynasty. It was expanded and built by Emperor Gaozu of Han and later generations. It was named because it was located in Chang'an Township, Du County, of the Qin Dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Hui of Han, the Han people began to build the city wall of Chang'an. The city was 63 li in circumference, with a total area of ​​about 36 square kilometers, and had 12 city gates.

Although the city walls and palaces of Chang'an City suffered a certain degree of damage due to the rebellion of the Xin Mang Dynasty in the distant past and the chaos of Dong Zhuo in the recent past, the city defense and general outline of Chang'an remained in relatively good condition.

Just like the moat of Chang'an City, it is eight meters wide and three meters deep. In addition, the city wall of Chang'an City is made of fine loess, with a base width of twelve to sixteen meters and a wall height of twelve meters, just like the Great Wall of Winter. Even the White Walkers have to retreat when they see it. Dong Zhuo was killed before, and Li Jue and Guo Si led their troops to attack Chang'an City. The city was too steep to be attacked, and Li Jue and Guo Si could not take it down even if they tried their best. If it were not for the rebellion of the old soldiers under Lu Bu, who opened the gate of Chang'an City, it is possible that the army under Li Jue and Guo Si would have dispersed due to the long siege and the lack of food.

From this we can see that Chang'an City was indeed difficult to take.

However, as a man with a modern soul, Liu Zhang understood that technology was the primary productive force. In addition, he had many skilled craftsmen under his command, so he ordered people to conduct extensive research on the engineering tool trebuchet.

At that time, Yin Pu, the Thunderbolt Captain under his command, was already an expert in trebuchets and was familiar with using trebuchets to attack cities. The soldiers under his command were as skilled in operating trebuchets as eating and drinking.

Although the catapult in Liu Zhang's hand was not as powerful as the Huihui cannon used by the Mongols and could not fire hundred-jin cannonballs that flew several miles away and had the power of thunder when falling, it was enough to deal with Li Jue and Guo Si, who had never seen the world, and to intimidate them.

On the second day, the Shu army marched out in large numbers and formed up their battle array outside the city of Chang'an.

Liu Zhang was in command of the central army. He called out to the Thunderbolt Captain Yin Pu, "Captain Yin, pull up your Thunderbolt Chariot and show these despicable thieves like Li Jue and Guo Si some face-to-face."

"Yes." Yin Pu accepted the order happily. It was time for his favorite part, using the Thunderbolt Chariot to throw stones at people, and no matter whether the enemy's bows and arrows or crossbows were used, they could not threaten his safety.

He can slap the enemy in the face, but the enemy cannot hit him. For Yin Pu, this feeling is like drinking rock honey from the Western Regions, which makes him feel extremely happy.

Under Yin Pu's command, more than twenty Thunderbolt chariots equipped with ground wheels were pushed to a distance of 150 steps from Chang'an City. He first ordered the soldiers to fix the Thunderbolt chariots, and then without Yin Pu's orders, the soldiers loaded huge stones on the Thunderbolt chariots and waited for Yin Pu's order to launch.

On the top of the Chang'an city wall, facing the first siege of the Shu army, Li Jue, Guo Si, as well as the Guanzhong generals Li Kan, Hao You, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others, all climbed up to the city wall, intending to estimate the combat effectiveness of the Shu army in order to make plans for the future.

"What is this?" Guo Si was a little confused. When the Shu army attacked the city, there were no usual battering rams or ladders. Instead, they pushed up more than 20 vehicles with strange styles. They could not be called vehicles, after all, there was a flat plate on top of the vehicles to carry people, and the object in front of him looked more like a toy built with several large logs.

Li Jue held his chin with his hand and carefully examined the objects pushed up by the Shu army. He saw that the Shu army placed the huge stone in a package on the object. In an instant, he had a rough answer.

"It should be a flying stone cart."

Guo Si showed an expression of sudden enlightenment. He slapped his forehead and said, "I was wondering how the Shu army loaded the stones on it. Zhiran, you are really knowledgeable."

"But can the stones fly to us from such a distance?" Guo Si asked doubtfully. He was a little skeptical. After all, the distance between the Shu army's stone carts and the city wall, as he was experienced in military affairs, he estimated that it was about one hundred and fifty steps.

Stones flew from a distance of 150 steps. Even though the stone carts of the Shu soldiers looked fancy and might have some reputation, Guo Si guessed that the stones would at most fall into the moat, and there was no way they could fly to the top of the city wall, and they might not even hit the city wall.

Li Jue shook his head. He did not believe that the stone-flying cart could have such power. "It is impossible for the stone to fly 150 steps... If the stone fell on the top of the city wall from a distance of 150 steps, it would be the gods and ghosts helping the Shu army."

In Li Jue's opinion, if one wants to throw a flying stone one hundred and fifty steps away, it is impossible to have such a magical skill unless ghosts and gods intervene and help the Shu army in the dark.

"Uncle is right. In my opinion, the Shu army is just trying to be mysterious and do something strange." Li Xun, the brother of Li Jue, declared. His voice was very loud, as if he was shouting louder on purpose so that the soldiers around him could hear it and thus inspire them to fight.

"Yes, the Shu army's deliberate mystification will only be in vain and we will be treated to a monkey show." Li Li, another nephew of Li Jue, echoed loudly.

As a family-style army, Li Jue had two cousins, Li Huan and Li Ying, and his brothers Li Xun, Li Li, Li Xian and others. For some reason, Li Jue's troops were very close to each other.

Even though Liu Zhang issued many proclamations and declared that only Li Jue and Guo Si should be executed, Li Huan, Li Ying, Li Xun, Li Li, Li Xian and others, who were Li Jue's cousins ​​and nephews, would not easily betray Li Jue.

For this reason, when the Shu troops were approaching and dark clouds were gathering over the city, Li Xun and Li Li both uttered magnificent words to boost morale and boost fighting spirit.

However, the true power of the Shu army's flying stone carts remains to be seen. And at this moment when the Shu army seems to be well prepared, the outcome may be revealed in the next moment.

Yin Pu did not let Li Jue and Guo Si on the top of the city wall wait too long. He stretched out his palm and chopped down like a sharp blade, shouting: "Send, send to Nai Gong..."

Upon hearing this, the soldiers under his command who were operating the Thunderbolt Chariot skillfully released the trigger device. In an instant, the heavy object serving as a counterweight fell rapidly, while the casting pole on the opposite side was raised high, and the stone bullets contained in it were shot out, drawing a perfect parabola in front of the two armies and flying towards the majestic Chang'an City.

Listening to the thunder-like sound of flying stones, Li Jue, Guo Si and others focused their eyes on the flying stone bullets. They wanted to see how far the Shu army's stone bullets could fly, and whether it was as they imagined, that the stone bullets would only fall into the moat and could not climb up to the city wall, let alone the top of the city wall.

However, the development of things is often not as planned, just like now. Li Jue and Guo Si saw the stone bullet grow from a small black dot to a larger size as it approached them, until it filled their eyes.

However, within a few breaths, the stone bullets fired by the Shu army flew in front of them. Li Jue and Guo Si were experienced in military affairs, and they moved and reacted quickly. They hid their bodies under the pheasant dish.

"Is this the power of ghosts and gods?"

Li Jue and Guo Si, who were hiding under the pheasant dish, looked at each other, each with a look of surprise in their eyes. (End of this chapter)