Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 103 Battle in Qu County
Dense arrows were flying back and forth in the sky above the city of Qu County like locusts. The defenders above the city of Qu County and the soldiers of the Young Commander behind the long shield below the city all tried their best to shoot arrows at the enemy on the opposite side with all their might. Among them, the shooting targets of the young generals were of course the guards of Qu County behind the arrow stacks, and the arrows of the Qu county guards were mainly concentrated on the siege team of the young commanders who were approaching the city wall, and suddenly a wave of rockets was fired. Focus on shooting the ladder vehicle that poses the greatest threat to the city wall of Qu County.

Xiang Sui's conscientiousness made it possible for the Young Marshal's army to attack the city this time. Before that, they failed to attack the city four times. The soldiers of the army stopped rushing to build siege weapons, so the Young Marshal Army still has three ladder vehicles that are as high as the city wall available this time, and there are as many as six vehicles that are relatively easy to manufacture, so even if it is temporarily decided to go all out Therefore, the young generals and soldiers will not rely on simple ladders to attack the city.but……

"Throw the torch!"

As the ladder vehicles of the Young Marshal Army gradually approached the city wall, just like the previous sieges, a large number of torches were suddenly thrown from the city wall of Qu County, concentrating on the slow-moving ladder vehicles, and the torches thrown by the defenders of Qu County, It is also different from the torches thrown by other enemies that the young commander encountered before. The tail has double hooks made of pig iron, shaped like a dovetail.And the swallow-tailed torch that the Qu County defenders learned from the Mohist works is also a key reason why the young marshal's army failed in several previous sieges.

Like the previous few times, after being attacked by the concentrated throwing of swallowtail torches, the ladder truck of the Young Marshal Army quickly ignited a fire. In other words, when the speed of travel was greatly affected, the fire on the ladder car became more and more intense, and even before it could completely cross the moat that had been painstakingly filled before, the ladder car of the Young Marshal had gradually turned into a huge The fire group gradually lost its ability to attack the city.

The situation on the side of the crashing vehicle was even more serious. The county magistrate of Qu County, who had studied Mohist works, followed the scriptures and ordered people to rush to build a square rammed earth mound between the moat and the city gate to block the approaching vehicle from directly approaching the city gate. The road forced the young marshal's ramming car to go around the mound before attacking the city gate.As a result, the guards of the Qin army on the city naturally had more time to throw stones and set fire to them, destroying the chariot of the young marshal's army, and the sheep's head stones fell like hail and raindrops, and the people who raised their shields and pushed the cart forward The soldiers of the Young Marshal Army screamed incessantly. Before they could even touch the city wall, they were already suffering heavy casualties. They paid a heavy price. When they finally pushed the crashing vehicle to the city gate, many strips of bluestone fell from the city, and soon It smashed the first crash car of the Young Marshal Army into pieces.

The progress of the siege was not as smooth as the previous few times. Of course Xiang Sui was very anxious, but Zhong Limei, who had just become a hundred generals, came to make trouble again and asked Xiang Sui to allow him and the death squad led by Long Qie to decide the time to attack. Xiang Sui Sui asked the reason, but Zhong Limei cupped his hands and said, "Forgive me, Captain. The general is taking the liberty of thinking that you didn't grasp the rhythm when deploying troops and wasted the opportunity. That's why the general wants to ask you to allow us to attack on our own and catch the enemy for you." Stay on the fighter plane."

If it was Xiang Bo and Xiang You who heard this, they would definitely slap Zhong Limei directly in the face, scolding Zhong Limo for nothing, and dare to criticize their own use of soldiers?Fortunately, Xiang Sui and his father and brother have completely opposite tempers. Although he was a little angry, he nodded after careful consideration and said, "Okay, just this time, I want to see how you can seize the opportunity for me."

Zhong Limo thanked him and left, and then Xiang Sui also ordered the second ladder truck to go forward and attack the city wall of Qu County again.To Xiang Sui's surprise, the second ladder truck had just approached the moat with the rockets of the defenders on it, and before it even entered the torch throwing range of the defenders, Zhongli Mo and Longqie had already attacked decisively. Rush forward on the ladder.Xiang Sui was surprised, but he still ordered the Chinese army to beat the drums with all their strength to cheer for Zhongli Mo and Long Qie, the two death squads.

It was only after the ladder car entered the range of the torches thrown by the defenders of Qu County that Xiang Sui discovered that Zhongli Mei's choice of fighter was indeed very ingenious, because the two death squads, Zhongli Mo and Longji, had already charged and entered within the range of the bow and arrow. Due to internal reasons, in order not to give the Young Marshal's death squad a chance to rush directly to the city, the defenders on the city were forced to divide their manpower and shoot the Young Marshal's death squad with bows and arrows. The number of torches thrown was obviously not as many as before. Intensive, with the pressure greatly reduced, the ladder vehicles of the Young Marshal Army are of course advancing faster than before. At the same time, relying on the cover and attracting firepower of the ladder vehicles, the resistance faced by the Death Squadron of the Young Marshal Army is obviously smaller than that of directly attacking the city. .Then Xiang Sui immediately patted his forehead in regret, regretting why he didn't think of this method before.

Both the rhythm and the fighting opportunity are well grasped, but the pressure of the young commanders on the front line is still enormous, and the ladder trucks are still on fire in many places, and no one can guarantee how long they can last. Immediately, countless stone and ash bottles fell on the city wall, smashing the soldiers of the young general into a bloody mess, the surrounding area was filled with dust, and his eyes were red, swollen and weeping.

The critical moment to test the quality of Zhong Limei and Long Qie, these two future famous generals, has come. Risking their heads being smashed at any time, one after another, the flying ladders of the young marshals climbed to the top of the city one after another. Without hesitation, both of them stepped up the ladder, taking the lead in attacking the top of the city wall. The recruits from Qu County with high morale also roared like thunder, scrambling to climb up.The defenders on the city also kept shouting, throwing stones and ash bottles at the Death Squadron of the Young Marshal's Army, and also successfully knocked many of the Young Marshal's soldiers off the ladder.

The soldiers of the Young Marshal Army cheered, and the defenders on the city were frightened. No matter how many stones and bottles they smashed, they couldn't stop the charge of the Young Marshal's Death Squad. Even though the two generals were hit by the sheep's head stone several times, they gritted their teeth and grasped the ladder, insisting on climbing up endlessly.Long Qi, whose physique was obviously different from that of ordinary people, was about to rush up the city wall, grabbed a spear that was stabbed from a high position and swung it vigorously, and directly swung the Qin soldier who was holding the spear tightly off the city wall. Screaming and breaking his bones, the young commander immediately burst into cheers.

It was still Long Qie leading the charge to the top of the ladder, and at least three soldiers of the Qin army directly stabbed at him. Long Qie hit an arrow stack on one foot, roared, and flew forward with a front somersault, not only dodging Qin The soldiers of the Qin army jumped into the crowd of the Qin army with wild weapons, and the steel knife swept across the room, and directly chopped off the head of a Qin army soldier who was caught off guard.The surrounding soldiers of the Qin army screamed, but subconsciously swung their sabers and slashed at Long Qie.

There is no way to describe how swift and violent Long Qi's movements are. Looking at the gap between the enemy's attacks, Long Qi first dodges and hides between the two long spears, and then strikes back, chopping down a Qin army spear soldier, while his left hand is tight He grabbed another long dagger tightly, not giving the enemy a chance to catch him, and then he raised his body again, kicked a Qin army soldier holding a knife until his face burst into bloom, and his teeth and blood gushed out together. , after landing, he swung the Chang Ge with all his strength, flew another enemy behind him into the air, and knocked over two enemies. The mighty aura made the soldiers of the Qin army around him scream in despair, and they couldn't help it at all. I can't believe there are such powerful generals in the world.

At the same time, Zhong Limei also rushed to the top of the city wall. First, he used his knife to resist the long branch of the enemy who was stabbing with all his strength, and swung it away. Entering the crowd, struggling to get slightly injured, using the rhinoceros leather armor on his body to resist the stabbing sword from the side, he slashed the enemy on the opposite side with one knife, and then slashed the enemy on the side that had already stabbed himself with the knife back, roaring Block left and right, and fight with enemies around you.

The hundred generals of the two young generals successfully ascended the city one after another, but the soldiers of the Qin army on the city did not panic too much, because in the previous few siege battles, there were also cases where the young generals rushed to the city wall, and then they did not. After a while, these warriors of the Young Marshal Army were quickly hacked into pieces by the numerous Qin soldiers. Therefore, the Qin soldiers firmly believed that Zhongli Mo and Long's performance was destined to be only a flash in the pan. He would be chopped into meat paste by himself and his companions, causing them to die miserably.

However, the soldiers of the Qin Army soon realized that something was wrong. They were numerous and mighty, but the two enemies who rushed up were so ferocious that they were not human at all, just like two tigers rushing into a flock of sheep. , Killing people is like chopping melons and vegetables, and they often slash and kill their companions frantically every time they are injured. They rampage among the crowd of Qin soldiers, invincible, and the panic-screaming Qin soldiers tried to encircle them several times. As a result, they were easily crushed by them every time, and more than a dozen soldiers of the Qin Army who died in battle were soon laid down on the city wall.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of Long Qie and Zhong Li Mei Er to fight to cover, of course, the death squad warriors under their command rushed up the city wall one after another. They were also unstoppable and desperately slashing and attacking, covering more companions rushing up the ladder. The city wall gradually occupied a position on the city.At the same time, the ladder car of the Young Marshal Army was also covered by the death squads, and rushed up to the city wall before it was burnt down. Immediately send a team of 500 people to help the battle and join the ants attached to the battlefield.

The Qin Army's reserve team appeared on the city wall almost at the same time, and rushed directly to where Zhongli Mo, Long Qie and others were. However, the Qin Army's reserve team soon discovered that what they were facing this time was already It is a group of enemies who have entered a state of madness. Seeing them killing so much that they not only do not retreat to defend, but also roar and charge at them in turn, rushing into their crowd with blood and minced meat covered in their bodies, killing and slashing whenever they see anyone. , The knife is deadly and also attacks. He just slashes and kills without thinking about his own safety, and keeps yelling, "Baoqin! Die!"

Previously, Xiang Sui kept his word and promised to equip the Young Marshal’s Death Squad with the best weapons and armor without any discount, so the weapons Long Qie and Zhongli Meier held in their hands were all made of carbon-doped steel. The resulting high-quality steel knives are both sharp and tough, but at this moment, these two high-quality steel knives have already been cut with gaps everywhere, and they are already covered with blood foam and minced meat, but this has not affected them. The death and fear brought by the master's swing to the enemy are like peeling apples and chopping rotten wood. The knife is also like chopping melons and vegetables, chopping down more soldiers of the Qin army, leaving countless mutilated corpses and rolling heads and limbs on the battlefield.

It's not that the soldiers of the Qin Army don't work hard, nor is it that the soldiers of the Qin Army have poor individual quality. They also grew up by the sea and lived a life of farming and fishing all year round. The body is mainly due to the fact that the two fierce generals, Long Qie and Zhongli Mo, are too crazy, and the death squads under their command are also crazily working one by one. The soldiers of the Qin army who lack this terrifying and murderous spirit naturally cannot resist, even if the number still occupies The absolute advantage was still defeated by the army of Long Qie and Zhong Limei, and in turn was forced to the female wall facing the city.

More and more warriors from the Young Marshal Army climbed onto the city wall, and the 500-man team of the Young Marshal Army who set out later also rushed to the front line in time, either charging up the city on a ladder car that was barely usable, or bringing the soldiers brought by the army to the city. The flying ladder climbs up the city wall, and climbs up the city by stepping on the flying ladder.However, the Qin army on the city wall still did not show signs of collapse. The reason is that the quality of the Qin army in Qu County is indeed relatively high, and the second is that in the previous several siege battles, the Qin army in Qu County has killed too many young commanders. The soldiers were afraid of retaliation after the young commander's army broke through the city. Of course, these soldiers of the Qin army hoped to create another miracle and block the attack of the young commander's army again.

It is a pity that the Qin army has no chance to create a miracle this time. The soldiers of the young commander who have already burned down the camp in order not to be tormented by the cold winter wind and the sea breeze. Of the 500 troops dispatched, more than half of the soldiers rushed to the city wall in a blink of an eye.At the same time, under the vigorous push of the soldiers, the third ladder truck of the Young Marshal Army moved slowly and unshakably towards the city wall of Qu County.

The guards of the other three gates of the Qin army were rushing towards Ximen, where the Young Marshal's army was attacking. The city wall of Ximen was crowded with people, and people were overwhelming. Gathering together, they went straight to the sky, and the intensity of the battlefield directly surpassed that of Xiang Suijun's first hard battle with the Young Marshal's Army at Yishui Xiaolu.

It was getting dark, but the fierce battle on the city wall was still going on. The Qin army and the young marshal fought repeatedly, fighting for the position on the city almost inch by inch. After the army's third ladder car was close to the city wall, the follow-up troops couldn't go up to the city on the almost intact ladder car, because it was too crowded.

In the end, it was the Death Squad of the Young Marshal Army who finally broke the stalemate. In the melee, Zhong Limo, a natural general, found an opportunity to get close to Long Qie, and loudly invited Long Qie to join hands with him to attack the Qin Army's West Gate Tower. After Long Qi agreed, the two The army rushed to the tower with all their strength. After a bloody and arduous battle, the death squad of the Young Marshal finally killed the soldiers of the Qin army who were standing in front of the tower, and set fire to the tower.The young marshal under the city tower also found an opportunity to smash into the city car, and smashed open the city gate with all his strength, opening the way for the main force to enter the city.

I have to say a word of admiration, even at this point, the Qin army in Quxian County still did not break up and flee for their lives, and still fought hard on the city wall and inside the city, forcing Xiang Sui to send almost all of his troops into the city. With only [-] soldiers left to defend the flag formation, they finally gained the upper hand on the battlefield.

In this battle, most of the more than [-] Qin soldiers in Qu County died in battle. Less than a hundred people surrendered with their weapons down, and even fewer escaped from the city. Suicide and martyrdom, his tenacious performance made the young marshals admire him very much, and Xiang Kang, who later learned about it, hurriedly wrote a letter and ordered Xiang Sui to recruit soldiers for himself in Qu County as much as possible. ——Because in the rich and prosperous town of Jianghuai, there are really not many soldiers who are as brave and tenacious as the soldiers of Qu County.

It was still at dawn the next day, after the overall situation in the city had been settled, that the death squads led by Zhongli Mo and Long Qie returned to Xiang Sui to give orders, but of the [-] death squads they led, there were only a few hundred people left. , Zhongli Mo and the second general Long Qie were covered in blood all over their bodies, and not all of the blood flowing on their bodies was the enemy's blood.

Xiang Sui stopped Long Qie and Zhong Li Mei from saluting in time, took their hands and said excitedly: "General Zhong, General Long, I am not as good as you, I am not as good as you, I should let you sit in my position! Don't worry, I will definitely report the truth to the Young Marshal about the performance of the two of you, and ask him to reward you and use you!"

Zhong Limo hurriedly humbled himself, but Long Qi rubbed Zhenghuan's stomach and laughed dryly, saying: "Captain, let's talk about the future, okay? Can you give me some wine first? I can't hold it any longer."

…………

Hundreds of miles away, Xiang Kang certainly didn't know that his army had joined Zhongli Mo and Long Qie, two powerful generals and generals in the history of the late Qin and early Han Dynasties.In order to take Pengcheng, the largest city in Sishui County, and the small city of Fuyang as soon as possible, the main force of the Young Marshal Army under Xiang Kang's personal command did not even enter the city. Regrettably, Xiang Kang was still a step too late. When the main force of the Young Marshal Army was still about twenty miles away from Pengcheng, an urgent report came from the front, saying that the old opponent of the Young Marshal Army, Zhao Zhuang, the governor of Sishui County, had brought four thousand When the people arrived at Pengcheng, they had already set up camp directly at the Sishui ferry, blocking the way for the Young Marshal's army to enter Pengcheng.

"Old man, you came so fast." Xiang Kang cursed, then scratched his head and said, "It's troublesome, Zhao Zhuang is guarding the Sishui ferry, and it is clear that he wants to attack it halfway. If we cross the river at the ferry, he is likely to fully retreat into the city, and there will be enough defenders in the city, and it will definitely not be so easy for us to take Pengcheng."

"Then what does the young commander plan to do?" Zhou Zeng asked.

Xiang Kang, who has always been resourceful, is rarely at a loss. Originally, with the current strength of the young commander's army, no matter whether it is to forcibly cross the river or divide his troops to cross the river through other ferries, he is quite sure to cross the natural danger of Surabaya. Zhao Zhuang's main force, Zhao Zhuang retreated to Pengcheng City, it must be difficult for the Young Marshal to take Pengcheng.Forced to helplessness, Xiang Kang could only give a negative answer, saying: "Go to the scene to see the situation first, and then think of a way. If there is really no way, you can only follow the steps, cross the river first Find a way to attack the city."

As expected by Xiang Kang, the old opponent Zhao Zhuang really made up his mind this time that the situation was wrong and he had already withdrawn the idea of ​​stationing in the city. He also asked Pengcheng County Magistrate Wang Yong to prepare a camp for himself in the city. After the report of the approaching main force of the Young Marshal's army, Zhao Zhuang said with a sneer: "You dog thief, let your horse come over quickly! If you rush to cross, I will attack you halfway. Even if I can't kill you, I will knock you down A few teeth. Divide up and cross the river at other fords. If you can beat me, you will fight. If you can’t beat me, go to the city immediately. Let’s see what you can do with me?!"

(End of this chapter)