Ji Han Liu Zhang

The stone bullets fired from the Shu soldiers' Thunderbolt Chariots were like the endless rain in the plum rain season in the south of the Yangtze River, pouring down on the top of Chang'an City wave after wave. The stone bullets flew over a hundred and fifty steps, and their speed and power did not decrease when they reached the top of Chang'an City. Anyone who touched them would be injured, and anyone who was touched would die.

For a moment, the Liangzhou soldiers on the top of the Chang'an city wall, the lucky ones were scratched by the fast-shooting stone bullets and cried out in grief, while the unlucky ones were hit directly in the vitals by the stone bullets. They only let out a muffled groan before they collapsed to the ground with their limbs powerless and their souls returned to the underground.

Li Xun and Li Li, who had just made a bold statement and underestimated the flying stone carts of the Shu army, were now hiding under the pheasant discs in fear, not daring to show their heads, for fear of being hit by the stone bullets from the flying stone carts of the Shu army and ending up dead.

Li Xun and Li Li, who witnessed the power of the Shu army's flying stone chariots, were both terrified and found it unbelievable that the Shu army's flying stone chariots could fly to the top of Chang'an city from a hundred and fifty steps away with undiminished power and enormous destructive power.

"Could it be that the gods and ghosts are helping the Shu army? Otherwise, how could the stone bullets fired by the stone carts from a distance of 150 steps be able to fly to the top of the city wall?"

This was what Li Xun was thinking. He couldn't believe that a device made of a few pieces of wood could have such power, so he attributed it to ghosts and gods.

But in this case, if the ghosts and gods are helping the Shu soldiers, then what chance do the people of Liangzhou have of winning the war with Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou? Or rather, there is no chance of winning at all.

Li Xun glanced at Li Li who was sitting opposite him, and saw that the timid Li Li looked like a curled-up snake at the moment. Li Li held his head, shrank his body, and an uncontrollable look of panic was on his face.

The soldiers below all behaved the same way as Li Li. They dropped their weapons and hid their bodies under the pheasant dishes, not daring to show their heads, for fear that they would be hit by the stone bullets shot by the Shu army and end up injured.

Seeing this, Li Xun couldn't help but sigh. As Li Jue's nephew, he had a close relationship with Li Jue. He knew Li Jue's plan for the current war. Li Jue's idea was to hold on to Chang'an for a while, and wait until the Shu army had been stationed under the city for a long time and the soldiers were old and tired, then he would wait for an opportunity to defeat the Shu army and win the war.

In Li Xun's opinion, Li Jue's strategy was not very brilliant, but it was very practical. Without so many fancy operations, there would not be many mistakes, so the probability of success would be very high.

However, the flying stone carts of the Shu army broke Li Jue's plan. In Li Xun's view, the Shu army had such a powerful siege weapon that they could only passively take the beating, and the morale of the army was shaken by the power of the flying stone carts of the Shu army, which was not a good thing for defending the city.

"Chang'an City is not easy to defend." Li Xun revealed a pessimistic thought.

Over there, Li Xun's uncle Li Jue, like Li Xun, was thinking about the impact of the Shu army's flying stone carts on the battle situation.

According to Li Jue's estimation, although the Shu army's stone-throwing carts were extremely powerful, they were of little use in conquering Chang'an. After all, to conquer Chang'an, ladders and battering rams were still needed. Ladders could be placed on the top of the city wall of Chang'an, and battering rams could destroy the city walls and gates. These were the weapons that determined the ownership of Chang'an.

However, the flying stone carts of the Shu army had a huge impact on the morale of the army, which was greatly disadvantageous to them in defending the city. Li Jue saw his soldiers cowering with fear on their faces, one by one, they were afraid of being hit by the stone bullets shot by the Shu army.

With such morale and state, how can we hold the city?

Li Jue felt that his previous plan might fail. His clever plan to hold on to the city and wait for an opportunity to defeat the Shu army was now not going so well.

Time passed little by little. The Shu army made a great fanfare and set up camp in front of Chang'an City. Apart from using stone carts to shoot stone bullets at the top of the city, there was no other action. This was Liu Zhang's order. On the first day of the siege, he only planned to use thunder chariots to test the level of the Chang'an City defenders first.

Wei Kang and Zhang Ji watched Yin Pu lead his troops into battle and arranged a bunch of strangely shaped weapons. Then they learned from Fa Zheng that this was a thunder chariot used to fire stone bullets.

At that time, the two of them were somewhat indifferent to the Thunderbolt Chariot. After all, siege equipment such as the Flying Stone Chariot had never been a mainstream weapon for sieges. Ladders and battering rams were the weapons for taking down a city, and the Flying Stone Chariot was just a trick or a gadget.

In addition, according to the observations of Wei Kang and Zhang Ji, they believed that the Thunderbolt Chariot was a little far away from Chang'an City, about one hundred and fifty steps away. At such a long distance, it was a big question whether the stone bullets fired from it could land on the top of the city wall of Chang'an.

However, after Yin Pu gave the order and the Thunderbolt Chariot was started, Wei Kang and Zhang Ji saw the power of the Thunderbolt Chariot "sounds like thunder and stones like rain", and surprise appeared on their faces. This kind of power was beyond their expectations and imagination.

"With such a powerful siege weapon, there is no need to worry about the capture of Chang'an City." Wei Kang said to Zhang Ji.

Zhang Ji nodded, but he had a different opinion: "Although it may not be possible to smash down Chang'an City with the flying stone cart, it can at least make Li Jue and Guo Si panic and make it difficult for them to sleep well tonight."

"Of course, we have to scare the two thieves." A smile appeared on Wei Kang's face. The elders of Guanzhong, from the wealthy and powerful families to the common people, all hoped that the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si would die soon. Now, being able to scare the two thieves is a pleasure for Wei Kang.

The day of peace in Guanzhong is not far away, and the same thought arose in Wei Kang and Zhang Ji's minds at the same time.

When the sun moved westward, Liu Zhang issued an order to return to the camp. Chang'an City should not be taken suddenly. He did not have the delusion of taking Chang'an City in one day.

Only after seeing the Shu army withdrawing did Li Jue, Guo Si, and the soldiers under their command dare to show their heads and watch the Shu army go away.

"How hateful." A surge of rage rose in Guo Si's chest. Today, they had been hit by the flying stone carts of the Shu army for a long time and had been in a passive state of being beaten. Now the Shu army withdrew their troops back to the camp and walked away, simply not taking them seriously.

Li Jue had a calm expression. He looked around and assessed the condition of his soldiers. When he saw the Shu army withdraw, all of them looked relieved. They were relieved that they were lucky enough to survive today and not end up being killed by stones.

"Morale is low and the army is in panic." Li Jue sighed lightly.

Guo Si heard Li Jue's voice, but Li Jue's words were so soft that he could not hear clearly, so he asked, "Zhi Ran, what did you say?"

Li Jue did not answer immediately. He looked up at the setting sun, where the afterglow of the setting sun and the weary birds returning to the forest, a picture of old age, and he responded at this moment: "Guo Aduo, do you still remember the old days of stealing horses? I heard that when you stole horses, you usually took advantage of the master's unpreparedness and stole them at night, so that no one would hear about it. When the master inspected the stables during the day, you had already fled dozens of miles away." Guo Si was ashamed and angry when he heard this. He said unhappily: "Why are you talking about the horse theft for no reason? Zhiran, although you and I are close friends, there are some things that are better not to be discussed."

In his early years, in order to make a living, Guo Si stole horses, but that was all in the past. He was now a general and had the power to establish his own government, so he kept the matter of stealing horses to himself and did not want others to talk about it. After all, it was not a glorious thing.

If Li Jue had not said it, whoever mentioned the incident of Guo Si stealing the horse would be killed.

Seeing that Guo Si was about to get angry, Li Jue didn't take it seriously. He said, "The Shu army had a great time using stone carts to hit us all day. I guess they are happy and slack off. The guards in the camp are not too strict. This is a good time to steal horses."

Guo Si's eyes suddenly lit up, and he clapped his hands and praised: "Zhi Ran, it's you who has to do it. Tonight is really a good night for stealing horses."

into the night.

Xia Yu and Gao Shuo, the two captains under Guo Si, led more than a thousand soldiers and horses. They held tongues in their mouths and took off the bells on their horses. They acted secretly and arrived near the front camp of the Shu army without making any noise.

Behind them, Guo Si led his cousin Guo Pu, the fierce general Wu Xi, and a large group of troops, hanging not far behind Xia Yu and Gao Shuo.

Xia Yu and Gao Shuo, the vanguards, were cursing in their hearts at the moment. They had been bombarded by the flying stone carts of the Shu army for a long time during the day and had no rest at night. Their commander Guo Si was misled by Li Jue and believed that the Shu army had won a round during the day and their defense must be relaxed, which was a good opportunity to attack the camp at night.

As a result, Guo Si became motivated and happily took the opportunity to attack the camp at night. However, Guo Si would naturally not be the vanguard. After all, as the commander-in-chief, Guo Si bore the heavy burden of the three armies. Therefore, the task of the vanguard fell on Xia Yu and Gao Shuo.

This was also an opportunity given by Guo Si to Xia Yu and Gao Shuo to make amends. After all, when the two were chasing Zhang Xiu before, they failed to entangle Zhang Xiu and his men, causing Zhang Xiu to escape to Liu Zhang and serve Liu Zhang, killing many Qiang and Hu and Liangzhou scouts.

At this moment, Xia Yu and Gao Shuo had no intention of making amends. They just kept repeating "bad luck" in their hearts. They couldn't sleep well and were driven to run to the camp of the Shu army to roll around in the swords and guns. This made Xia Yu and Gao Shuo feel resentful.

But being unhappy is one thing, but they still have to do their job. As two henchmen, Xia Yu and Gao Shuo have to step forward even if their boss Guo Si gives the order, even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire, or boiling oil pots in front of them.

When Xia Yu and Gao Shuo led their troops to a place not far from the front camp of the Shu army, they carefully observed the movements in the front camp of the Shu army. At night, the wind was blowing and the sounds of insects and frogs were loud. After Xia Yu and Gao Shuo observed for a long time, they could not help but sigh in admiration.

"Li Jue really has some skills." Gao Shuo loosened the wooden stick he was biting and spoke to Xia Yu in a low voice. His voice was as soft as a mosquito's, but because it was close to Xia Yu's ears, Xia Yu could hear it clearly.

Xia Yu nodded in approval. Li Jue was the most cunning commander among all the generals in Liang Province and was the most knowledgeable about military affairs. The current situation in the front camp of the Shu army was exactly as Li Jue had expected. Under the overwhelming attack of the flying stone carts during the day, the Shu army's defense was somewhat lax at night.

The soldiers on the camp gate tower were seen sleeping with their spears in their arms, while the soldiers on patrol were all in a hurry to finish their work. They had no intention of patrolling and seemed to only want to change shifts early and go to bed. It was obvious that the Shu army had really become lax and lazy because of the temporary advantage.

When a patrol team of Shu army soldiers walked away from the camp gate and a space appeared at the camp gate, Xia Yu and Gao Shuo looked at each other, waved to the back, and then a team of soldiers leaned over and moved towards the Shu army camp gate. Xia Yu and Gao Shuo waited until the front troops came forward, and the two of them took charge and followed forward.

It went smoothly. Very smoothly. Not just ordinary smooth.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Shu army was slack and there were no soldiers patrolling the camp gate, Xia Yu and Gao Shuo's vanguard broke through the camp gate and entered the Shu army's camp without alerting the Shu army.

"Tonight we will have a great victory." Seeing this, Xia Yu was surprised and said to himself.

But while he was happy, Xia Yu did not forget his mission. He immediately ordered his drummers to beat the drums, urging his soldiers to rush into the Shu army's camp, either killing people or setting fire. In short, making a big fuss and frightening Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou.

At the same time, Xia Yu did not forget to follow the commander Guo Si who was waiting for the signal. He asked the drummer to look out the agreed signal so that Guo Si would know that his side was progressing smoothly and could urge the army to follow and charge into the Shu army camp.

"Charge." Gao Shuo shouted, urging the soldiers who had just entered the Shu army camp to rush forward.

Under Gao Shuo's command and urging, the elite soldiers from Liangzhou who entered the Shu army camp rushed forward one after another. As the first to arrive, these people were all elite and good at fighting, and they had a certain grasp of the battle situation. They knew that now that they had entered the Shu army camp quietly, a great victory would surely be waiting for them tonight.

And victory naturally means rewards, wine, food, and beautiful women are all waiting for them.

As if wine and meat were hanging in front of them, the elite soldiers from Liangzhou under the command of Xia Yu and Gao Shuo rushed forward, left, and right like a flood.

Along with the charge of the Liangzhou elite soldiers was the sound of drums started by Xia Yuling's drummer. The sound of drums was like thunder, which instantly pierced the silence of the night and made the leisurely night become tense and urgent.

"Great." Guo Si, who was following behind Xia Yu and Gao Shuo, was immediately excited after hearing the agreed upon code. He clapped his hands and praised. Just as Li Jue said, there would be a great victory tonight.

"Hurry forward." Guo Si gave the order hurriedly. He urged his soldiers to charge forward and rush into the Shu army camp, killing and looting indiscriminately to vent their anger at the bombardment of stone carts during the day.

However, at this moment, Xia Yu, the vanguard, showed a puzzled look after he ordered the drummer to beat the drum. The reason was that the drumbeat would cause disturbances in the Shu army camp, and even a tendency to blow up the camp. However, at the moment, the Shu army camp was dead silent. (End of this chapter)