The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 334
It was June and the weather was very hot.

As soon as the sun came out, the ground seemed to be on fire, and it was extremely hot.

Some gray air, which looks like clouds but not clouds, or fog but not fog, floats low in the air, making people feel suffocated.The willow trees on both sides of the pipe seemed to be sick, the leaves were curled with a layer of dust on the branches, and the branches didn't bother to move, hanging down listlessly.

Cracks also appeared on the official roads to varying degrees. When the army walked, the dust flew up, connecting with the gray air in the sky, forming a vicious array of dust, which burned the faces of the soldiers.

Everywhere is dry, everywhere is hot, and everywhere is stuffy, and I can hardly breathe.

Since the beginning of summer, there has not been a drop of rain in the sky. Milky white mist permeates the air, covering the trees in the distance, and from there, there is a burning smell.

The ground is cracked and the fields are dry. This year, it is estimated that it will be another year of severe drought.

It was only five miles from the barracks to the city of Yecheng, but it took a long time for the soldiers to walk this way.

The weather was so hot, and the soldiers still had to wrap a layer of armor. After being exposed to the scorching sun, the armor was already scalded, and the people inside the armor were already sweating profusely.It is estimated that at the temperature on the armor, breaking an egg on it can be fried and eaten directly.

The dark cloud riding snow horse under Zhang Yan's seat also became listless because of the weather, lowered his head, snorted, as if complaining about the damn God.

This war horse has been with Zhang Yan for eight years. Basically, Zhang Yan participated in all the big and small battles, and this horse carried him through it. I don’t know how many times he went through life and death. .

Although these eight years were not long, for Wuyun Treading the Snow Horse, it was his golden time.

Now, Wuyun Treading the Snow Horse has passed his prime time, and now he is slowly getting old.

Fortunately, the current Wuyun Treading Snow Horse does not have to go through life and death with Zhang Yan anymore. As long as he is served with delicious food and drink, he may live longer.

Zhang Yan was riding on the back of the dark cloud riding snow horse, but he was thinking about other things. Since the beginning of summer this year, the weather should have been rainy, but it has not rained for a long time.

Seeing the cracks in the ground, the drought in the fields, and the drop in the water level of the river, Zhang Yan was really worried in his heart. Could it be that this year is another year of severe drought?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. He had to hand over the work of fighting the drought, and let the soldiers and civilians within his sphere of influence do their best to fight the drought, and divert water from the river to irrigate the farmland.This year we don't want a bumper harvest, we just want the harvest not to decrease.

So, Zhang Yan exchanged for a Jinyiwei, and asked him to pass his oral instructions to Pengcheng, and asked Chen Qun, the chief minister, to be in charge of supervising the drought relief.

After Jin Yiwei left, Zhang Yan's heart calmed down a little. Looking at the majestic city in front of him that became clearer and clearer, he began to take back all his thoughts and focus on attacking Yecheng.

"Regent, Gan Ning, the pioneer, has arrived at the city of Ye and asks for further instructions." A scout came to Zhang Yan's side, clasped his fists and asked.

"Let him prepare for the attack, and make a decision when the army arrives!"

"Here!"

Yecheng is the county seat of Wei County and also the state city of Jizhou. Yuan Shao raised troops from the Bohai Sea and called on the world to crusade against Dong Zhuo.After Dong Zhuo fled to the west, the allied forces survived in name only. Yuan Shao took the opportunity to seize the territory of Jizhou Mu Han Fu, thus occupying Yecheng, replacing Han Fu as Jizhou Mu, and then began his rule in Jizhou.

Today's Ye City was expanded by Yuan Shao when he was in Jizhou. It is majestic, majestic, and magnificent. The firmness of the city is second to none in Hebei. The scale of the city is also modeled after the old capital Luoyang.

After Yuan Shao took charge of Jizhou, he recruited many talents. Under his rule, the people of Jizhou lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the military strength was extremely strong. Basically, they would wipe out the invading enemies in the wild, so it was rare for soldiers to come to the city.

Very few, not none.

The last time Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao fought in the Central Plains, Zhao Yun led an army of [-] to sweep Jizhou, and came to the city of Ye twice.However, Zhao Yun did not really attack Yecheng, so, up to now, Yecheng has never been attacked by a large army.

Such a strong and huge city is in front of Zhang Yan. If it is an ordinary person, as long as there is enough food and fodder in the city, even if they attack for three years, they may not be able to capture it.

But Zhang Yan is not an ordinary person. He has memories and knowledge from the future. For him, no matter how strong a city is, it cannot stop advanced science and technology. Technology is the primary productive force, and it is also the key to changing the war.

Gan Ning's army had already arrived at the city of Ye, and they lined up outside the city, waiting in full force. The scorching sun shone on everyone, burning their iron armor, let alone the people inside.

However, none of the soldiers complained of suffering or tiredness, they were all well-trained soldiers.

The army arrived one after another, and all the ministries were deployed under the unified command of Zhang Yan. The [-] army was neatly and orderly arranged in front of the south gate of Yecheng.

The south gate of Yecheng is also called Zhuquemen. The four gates of Yecheng were named by Yuan Shao. The east gate is called Qinglongmen, the west gate is called Baihumen, the south gate is called Zhuquemen, and the north gate is called Xuanwumen.

On the tower of Suzaku Gate, the defenders had already informed Jizhou Biejia Xunyu and General Cao Hong of the news outside the city.

Xun Yu and Cao Hong climbed to the tower of Zhuque Gate one after another, and looked at the army outside the city from the heights, but saw the enemy's banners and flags densely covered, spears like a forest, bows and crossbows were ready, and the army was neat and orderly. Far, about 5 people.

"I didn't expect Zhang Yan's army to come so fast..." Xun Yu felt a little worried after seeing the enemy lineup outside the city.

According to the remnant army who returned from Liyang's defeat, the enemy army has a powerful weapon that can blow up a group of people in an instant, making them bloody and bloody, and this weapon will also emit a loud "boom" when attacking. The sound is like thunder falling from the sky, but this kind of weapon must be ignited with fire, so soldiers call this kind of weapon of the enemy "Fire Thunder".

The reason why Guo Huai's army was defeated so quickly is all related to this weapon called "Huo Lei".

What exactly is "Fire and Thunder", the retreating soldiers couldn't tell clearly, you said this, he said that, but no one said exactly what it was.

However, the "fire thunder" that the soldiers said made both Xun Yu and Cao Hong a little worried.

If Zhang Yan used fire and thunder to deal with them again, let alone Yecheng, even a city ten or a hundred times stronger would be razed to the ground.

But out of curiosity, Xun Yu and Cao Hong really wanted to see what Huolei was.

Xun Yu turned his face to Cao Hong and said, "Is there no news from my lord?"

Cao Hong shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Xun Yu said: "I really hope the lord can come back as soon as possible, otherwise, with our current strength and the enemy's powerful weapon called Huolei, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold on for long!"

Cao Hong went on to say: "I have sent people to contact again, and to report the latest battle situation to my lord. If my lord knows about it, I will definitely lead the cavalry back first to come to support."

Xun Yu frowned, and asked again: "Xu You and Xun Chen went to Zhaojun and Changshan respectively, should they be back by now?"

"The two gentlemen have already arrived in Handan, and they will arrive in Yecheng tomorrow." Cao Hong said.

Xun Yu sneered and said, "Tomorrow? If the enemy really possesses the fire and thunder weapons that the soldiers said, and if all of them are used to attack the city, it's hard to say whether we can survive today."

Cao Hong clasped his fists and said, "Lord Xun, don't worry, if Yecheng really can't hold on anymore, I will do my best to protect Master Xun from here."

"Yecheng is the last line of defense. You must not lose it, let alone retreat! If even the strongest city in Hebei is broken by the enemy, then the rest of the city will be no problem. If you lose Yecheng, it will be very It might be thrown away along with the whole of Hebei. Don’t forget, the lord has just taken over Hebei, and many people are obedient on the surface, but they don’t think that way in their hearts.” Xun Yu said firmly.

Cao Hong pondered for a while, frowned, and said, "Then I will lead the army to live and die with Yecheng!"

Xun Yu knew that Cao Hong was a loyal confidant to Cao Cao, even if the others surrendered, Cao Hong would not surrender, let alone be shaken by Jinshi.

What makes Xun Yu happy is that all Cao Cao's family members have been taken to Jinyang City. Even if Ye City is breached, Cao Cao will not be threatened. He can retreat to Jinyang temporarily, and then wait for the opportunity to move slowly. Of.

Outside the city, Zhang Yan was impatient to wait. After he gave an order, two hundred catapults were pushed from the rear army to the front army, and then fixed at a place about [-] steps away from the tower. Start to operate the catapult, put the thunderbolt bombs in the leather slot, and stand by.

With the previous experience, Zhang Yanshe skipped the step of igniting the thunderbolts. With his order, two hundred thunderbolts were thrown out, leaping over the moat and flying over the suspension bridge. Most of them fell on the ground. near Suzaku Gate.

Xun Yu opened his eyes wide, watching a thunderbolt projectile fall towards the city tower. Several defeated soldiers saw the thunderbolt falling from the tower, and immediately exclaimed: "Fire thunder! Fire thunder... "

Following the shouts of several of them, Cao Hong immediately realized the danger, and pulled Xun Yu aside. The shield soldiers held their shields and stepped forward to block them, covering both Xun Yu and Cao Hong behind the shields.

boom!
The fire and thunder fell on the tower, and the defeated soldiers immediately went down the tower in fright, panicked and mad.

However, when the fire and thunder fell, it was not as miraculous as what the defeated army said. It was like a thunderbolt falling, but there was no bullshit in the end.

Xun Yu, Cao Hong and others stared at the thunderbolt that fell on the tower for a long time, and found that there was no movement, it was just a black round iron ball, and there was a thin long rope beside the iron ball.

"This is Huolei?" Cao Hong boldly walked to the edge of the thunderbolt first, kicked it with his feet, and the thunderbolt rolled to the side, but there was no reaction at all.

Cao Hong suddenly had a feeling of being deceived, and couldn't help cursing: "Damn it, this group of defeated troops actually spread rumors in the army. They said fire and thunder, I think it's just an iron ball..."

Xun Yu interrupted Cao Hong, and said loudly: "Since they can say such a thing, it proves that they are not lying. Don't forget that they also said a very important thing, that is, they must use ignite……"

"Fire! Big fire! What a big fire!" Suddenly, Cao Hong's expression changed drastically, and balls of burning fire were thrown from outside the city, flying past Suzaku Gate.

Xun Yu looked at the big fire balls thrown towards him, and suddenly had an extremely ominous premonition. He felt that things were likely to undergo a great reversal after these fire balls fell to the ground.

Reminiscent of the dictation of the defeated army, Xun Yu immediately concluded that this black round iron ball was what they called "Fire Thunder".

"Oops, retreat into the city quickly! Withdraw quickly! Withdraw quickly!" Xun Yu suddenly realized the danger, and immediately shouted from the soldiers below the city.

At this moment, huge balls of fire fell near the Suzaku Gate. Once they landed, those thunderbolts were ignited by the raging fire.

A moment later, there was an explosion, and the huge city gate was blown to pieces...

(End of this chapter)