The last three kingdoms

Chapter 969 Attacking Xiangyang City

The Jin army is passing the pontoon bridge and continuously crossing the Han River. The battle outside Xiangyang has ended. The rebel army's attempt to prevent the Jin army from crossing the river has failed. The rebel army has retreated in an all-round way and gathered towards Xiangyang City. It will be their last line of defense.

At the beginning, the rebels claimed to be 20, and they were very powerful. When Yanghu commanded [-] troops to attack the south, many people were not optimistic about Yanghu. If you attack, it is very difficult to have a chance.

But in just one month, Yanghu defeated the rebels twice in the Battle of Xinye and the Battle of Hanshui. As more and more rebels escaped, the strength of both sides fluctuated. Subversive changes have taken place. The number of Yanghu's troops has continued to increase, and the number of Zhonghui's rebels has continued to decrease. The Jin army has already gained a clear advantage in strength.

Not only the superiority in military strength, but also in terms of morale and fighting spirit, the Jin army is obviously much higher. On the other hand, the rebel army has low morale, weak fighting spirit, and scattered troops. The balance of victory has undoubtedly moved towards Jin. The army leaned over.

Yang Hu is standing on the bank of the Hanshui River, and is urging the troops of the Jin army to cross the river. If the 10,000+ army has all crossed the river, it will take at least a few days. Yang Hu is waiting for the Jin army to cross the river before preparing to go to Xiangyang. The city launched a general attack, completely wiped out the rebels in Xiangyang, and captured the traitor and traitor Zhong Hui alive.

However, the news just received made Yang Hu a little unhappy. Jiang Weibing, the general of the Shu Kingdom, came out of Hanzhong and took the three counties of Shangyong lightly. Now he is advancing towards Xiangyang.

The three counties of Shangyong have always been the territory of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but after the Zhonghui rebellion, like Xiangyang, they were stolen by the Zhonghui Office. Although Du Yu was the governor of Nanyang, he could only barely hold Nanyang due to limited military strength. One county, as for the three counties of Shangyong in the southwest, Du Yu seemed beyond his reach.

Yang Hu's suppression of the rebellion this time naturally included the three counties of Shangyong in the scope of recovery, but this was obviously the next goal. Yang Hu's current main target was still in Xiangyang.

But I didn't expect that Jiang Wei would take advantage of the emptiness and take down the three counties of Shangyong in one fell swoop, and Yang Hu didn't know that Zhong Hui had reached a deal with Jiang Wei in private, and handed over the three counties of Shangyong. Come on, it was Zhong Hui's inaction and the lack of defense in the three counties of Shangyong that caused Jiang Wei to drive straight in.

Jiang Wei's sudden intrusion made the situation in Xiangyang suddenly complicated. Yang Hu couldn't figure out Jiang Wei's real intention of going east this time. Was he planning to help Zhonghui, or was he trying to fish in troubled waters?

The Kingdom of Shu is the enemy of the Kingdom of Jin no matter what time it is. Since the army of Shu is already approaching Fangling, Yang Hu naturally cannot remain indifferent. He immediately sent Du Yu to lead an army to Shandu to stop the army of Shu, and at the same time ordered the army of Jin Speed ​​up the operation of crossing the river, strive to complete the crossing within one to two days, and prepare to storm Xiangyang.

Since Yang Hu didn't know Jiang Wei's true intentions, he couldn't take it lightly. If Jiang Wei really came to aid Zhong Hui, there would be variables in the battle of Xiangyang. Yang Hu didn't want this to affect his plan to counter the rebellion. He had to take Xiangyang City before Jiang Wei's army arrived in Xiangyang.

The Shu army had already occupied the three counties of Shangyong, which caused Yang Hu quite a headache. Originally, his plan was to take Xiangyang first, attack Zhonghui, and then sweep the three counties of Shangyong to regain all the lost territory. Once Zhong Hui died, the land of the three prefectures of Shangyong would become unclaimed land, and Yang Hu could recover it in a very easy way.

But now the invasion of the Shu army has made it very difficult for the Jin army to regain all the territory of Jingzhou. The loss of the three counties of Shangyong has made the Jin country almost invulnerable in the Xiangwan area. Even if Xiangyang is regained, the situation will be uncertain. will become less optimistic.

Under the urging of Yang Hu's strict order, the Jin army's crossing rhythm was obviously accelerated. The entire Han River was brightly lit at night, as if it were daytime. +The army has all successfully crossed the river.

After crossing the river, Yang Hu immediately ordered an attack on Xiangyang City.

The main reason why the Jin army crossed the river for many days was that the large siege equipment was slow, such as catapults, siege vehicles, nest vehicles, battering rams, rush vehicles, ladders, bed crossbows, etc. It is indeed difficult to transport equipment, especially when crossing the river, which seriously affects the actions of the entire army.

However, if these equipment and equipment are not in place, siege is empty talk. Therefore, the Jin army's light infantry completed crossing the river early in the morning, but they can only besiege Xiangyang City without attacking. Only after these heavy equipment are in place, the Jin army The siege operation was officially launched.

Xiangyang City faces water on three sides, and only the west of the city is flat. Taking advantage of the attack, the Jin army's offensive direction is naturally concentrated on this road. , all over the mountains and plains, endless, densely packed, layer upon layer, like a white ocean, rushing towards Xiangyang City with an irresistible torrent.

Boulders whistled, and crossbow arrows flew across. The Jin army's catapults and bed crossbows were the first to attack. Pieces of boulders were thrown into the air by the catapults, and slammed into the city wall of Xiangyang.

Every time a boulder hits the city wall, the originally thick city wall will shake surprisingly. Dust is flying on the wall, and brick chips are flying across the wall. It can be seen that the catapult has seriously damaged the wall.

The bed crossbow also began to shoot huge arrows. The sharp arrows were deeply buried in the city wall with strong force, leaving only a short arrow tail outside.

The shooting of bed crossbows is regular. One by one, the crossbow bolts are nailed into the wall to form an upward slope, which is convenient for the infantry who are besieging the city to trample on them. Siege infantry could step on these bolts and climb the walls.

After countless catapults and bed crossbows attacked first, the siege troops of the Jin army officially appeared on the stage. Under the cover of archers, the Jin army infantry pushed the rams, battering rams, siege vehicles, and nest vehicles. , ladders, etc., slowly approaching Xiangyang City.

The damage caused by the catapults and bed crossbows to the Xiangyang city wall is shocking, but the strength of Xiangyang city is beyond doubt. Although there is damage, it is not fatal. If the Jin army wants to conquer Xiangyang city, it must use its offensive Only in this way can we truly take Xiangyang City.

(End of this chapter)