Great Wei Overlord

Chapter 873
Chapter 879

Suddenly, four or five caves for hiding soldiers were opened under the city wall, and more than [-] Jingzhou troops rushed out in a swarm, slashing wildly with steel knives in their hands, and sprinkled fierce fire oil on the goose carts. At this time, the hand also suddenly poured arrow rain condescendingly at the Wei army. The soldiers of the Wei army who were caught off guard were in chaos.

The cave of Tibetan soldiers is a secret passage commonly used in defending the city. It is more common in larger cities. Hole into the city.These four caves are located on the left and right wings of the city gate. The city gate has always been the focus of the enemy's attack. Guo Quan, the main general of Fancheng, selected more than 500 elite soldiers to form a death squad, and suddenly went out of the city to launch a counterattack to disrupt the attacking rhythm of the Wei army. After the Wei Army's goose cart was sprinkled with kerosene and ignited, the death squads of the Jingzhou Army did not love to fight, and immediately turned around and retreated into the Tibetan Cave.

At this time, Wei Jun's attack was frustrated again, and all 76 geese owned by the Equipment Battalion were destroyed by Jingzhou.

If Miao Rulin used the model to attract the attack of heavy weapons such as the eight-ox crossbow and catapult of the Jingzhou army, and then used the ambush ballista and rockets to bomb the opponent's heavy weapons, it would be a small victory.However, Guo Quan immediately retaliated.

The Wei army was caught off guard, and indeed suffered a loss. Hundreds of soldiers were killed or injured. The key is the goose carts. Compared with the siege ladder, the goose carts can greatly reduce the casualties of the siege troops. People are ordered to fill the bottomless pit of Fancheng, otherwise there is no way to capture Fancheng.

That night, Ran Ming, who was in Wancheng, Nanyang County, received the battle report from Fancheng.After reading the battle report, Ran Ming threw it on the case helplessly, and muttered, "What a trouble!"

The main force of the defenders in Fancheng is still Huanwen's Xifu Army. In terms of combat effectiveness, the soldiers of Jingzhou Army are definitely not as good as Wei Guozhen's Southern Army, but Wei Guo can't take advantage of the offensive and defensive transition.Guo Quan, the defender of Fancheng, is just a young and cutting-edge general under the age of 20. He is very experienced in fighting, and he fights very steadily. He has brought out the combat effectiveness of the Jingzhou Army. simple things.

Ran Ming was also sighing secretly at this moment, it was very difficult to break through a fortified city when the morale of the defenders was high.We must know that the Mongolian army, which is omnipotent and defiant, can be blocked under the city of Xiangyang for 38 years. Although the fighting power of the Wei army is not strong in this era, Ran Ming is not arrogant enough to consider himself number one in the world.

Fancheng was frustrated in the first battle, and Ran Ming left the headache to the Chief of Staff, urging the General Staff to come up with a solution as soon as possible.The chief of the general staff, Ji Li, didn't dare to take it with him, so he personally sat in the Wancheng headquarters of the general staff. Soon, that night, the staff headquarters came up with an action plan. Bystanders are clear."

The plan of the General Staff Headquarters is actually not complicated. Adhering to the principle of Wei Guo's equipment as the main weapon in the past, it decided to use artillery and hot air balloons to bomb Fancheng.

However, Ran Ming rejected the plan to use artillery, because Ran Ming knew that the power of artillery in this era is still very limited, and in land warfare, the deterrence is greater than the actual combat effectiveness, especially when dealing with that kind of strong city, even in the eighteenth or tenth century The original artillery of the ninth century could not chew the ancient Chinese cities, let alone the artillery of this era.The only way to attack the city with artillery is to be surprised and directly bombard the city gate, but the situation in Fancheng is very special, according to the reconnaissance of the hot air balloon.

The four gates of Fancheng were all sealed with sandbags or stones. Even if the gates were blasted, they could not enter the city.However, the hot air balloon bombing is a good plan. If it is coordinated properly, there is a chance to destroy the city.

However, in accordance with the old saying, the ideal is full, but the reality is too skeletal.Wei Guozhen Southern Army currently has four equipment battalions, which means they have four small hot air balloons. The load capacity of these hot air balloons is very small, no more than five or six hundred catties.If you want to carry out aerial bombing, it must be a bit unsatisfactory.

However, the clever ancient craftsmen still had a way. They put four hot air balloons together and canceled three hanging baskets.This reduced the weight by [-] jin, and the method of combining them allowed the hot air balloon to have a load capacity of [-] jin. If bombing with [-]-jin bombs, even if it could not flatten Fancheng, at least it could severely damage Fancheng.

The mighty and heavy drums of war resounded through the sky.The ground seemed to tremble accordingly, startling a few waterfowls on the Han River, singing and flying away into the distance. Amidst the sound of drums, the siege troops of the Zhennan Army's Selected Front Battalion and Breaking Army Battalion raised their ladders and shouted forward. .Rush towards the moat, towards the walls of Fancheng.

The Jingzhou army on Fancheng City also beat the drums, unwilling to be suppressed by the momentum of the Wei army. With the encouragement of the drums, the panic-stricken Jingzhou soldiers regained their courage and went into battle again.

At this time, the Jingzhou army did not realize that although the Wei army's momentum was great, it was just a feigned attack and did not make a serious move, but a huge monster flew quietly above their heads.

A huge loaded hot air balloon with a load of three thousand catties began to fly over Fancheng.In this era, in terms of familiarity and understanding of gunpowder, no one can compare to Ran Ming.Ran Ming knew that a hot air balloon with a load capacity of [-] jin would not be able to blow up Fancheng at all.Even if it is replaced by the TNT of later generations, it may not be possible to kill all the defenders in Fancheng.However, the Jingzhou army is not those Nanyang natives. They also have their own gunpowder weapons, and they are immune to the fear of gunpowder weapons.So Ran Ming decided to add a little condiment to the bombing.

"Swoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Twenty or thirty thunderbolts were dropped from the hot air balloon. After all, the thunderbolts were not real aerial bombs. Some of them exploded in the air, and some of them hit the Jingzhou soldiers on their heads. However, during the explosion, the lime powder splashed Everywhere, countless Jingzhou Army soldiers covered their eyes and screamed immediately, and then, another incendiary bomb was dropped from the hot air balloon.After falling to the ground and smashing into pieces, burning fire oil was scattered everywhere, and Fancheng was instantly engulfed in flames.

Even if the sudden air bombing is a very small air bombing, the panic caused is fatal.The defenders of Fancheng on the city wall were in chaos.Taking advantage of his illness to make him sick, Miao Rulin still understood this truth, so he hurriedly ordered the soldiers under his command to step up the attack.

The goose carts of the Wei Army had already been destroyed by the Jingzhou Army. The ladders used at this time were all very simple ladders, not much different from ordinary ladders, but taller and stronger. Fastening hooks.

In the supply camp of the Wei army, the craftsmen accompanying the army are hurrying up to build two real ladders. This kind of ladder can be folded and stretched, and the soldiers standing on the ladder can be sent directly to the top of the city. There are baffles and wheels under the ladder. It can be pushed by manpower, and the baffle is wrapped with animal skins and other things. Except for being directly hit by cannons and stone cannons, it is not afraid of any attack.

The leader of the attack this time was Su Xiao, the lieutenant of the Wei army in charge of the attack on Fancheng, and also the school lieutenant of the Xuanfeng Battalion.This person was born in the Su family of Zhongshan, and was the nephew of Ran Min's confidant General Su Lin.However, Su Lin's nephew is not young, he is four or five years older than Su Lin. Su Xiao has practiced martial arts for 20 years. He is proficient in martial arts and has a brave temperament. Besides Xu Yuan, Shi Yue, Jin Nu, and Tie Nu, Su Xiao couldn't possibly rank in the top [-].He is good at using knives. At the rank of lieutenant, they don't need to use standard horizontal knives. They can wear and use their own weapons.With a ghost-headed knife, he slashed the incoming feather arrows and loudly urged the soldiers to climb up the ladder. Two or three guards raised shields as high as a man and stood around him.

The chaos on the walls of Fancheng was indeed something that Guo Quan did not expect.However, he had already concealed his strength, and the soldiers and horses placed on the city wall were only 1% of Fancheng's army strength, and [-]% of the soldiers and horses collapsed, which could not hurt the muscles and bones of Fancheng's defenders.Seeing the collapse of the city wall, Guo Quan hurriedly dispatched his personal guards to supervise the battle. Four or five hundred members of the supervisory team brandished their knives to kill the defeated defenders. The rout on the upper wall was finally under control, but at this time, No. [-] Wei soldier also boarded the upper wall.

However, before the soldier of the Wei army had time to cheer, he was stabbed in the abdomen with a spear by the guarding supervising team. The soldiers of the Wei Army slashed at random with knives and guns, and the Wei Army soldier was thrown off the city wall.

Although this Wei soldier was brutally killed, his first breakthrough also gave other Wei soldiers great confidence.As No.1 Wei Jun soldiers climbed the city wall, the second and third are below.

It's just a pity that more than [-] people in front of the soldiers of the Wei Army climbed onto the city wall, and without exception, they were all hacked to death on the spot by the defenders one after another.This situation did not change until Su Xiao climbed onto the city wall.Su Xiao's Ghost Head Saber is very heavy and fierce.Su Xiao, who climbed the city wall, was under the protection of two personal guards holding shields, so he could rest assured that his left and right wings would charge straight to the attack.His martial strength is extraordinary, and ordinary soldiers can't walk a round in front of him.After cutting down seven or eight soldiers in a row, Su Xiao finally occupied a territory of more than ten square meters.

With such a small space, the Wei army's siege soldiers continued to climb up the city wall from the bottom of the city. Although the defenders had recovered from the fear of aerial bombing, they were forced to fight by the supervising team.Although the defenders who were forced to fight were also fighting, they had lost their courage, so naturally they could not compare with the morale of the Wei army.

Gradually more and more Wei Jun rushed to the city wall, and Wei Jun's advantage became more and more obvious.When the garrison on the city wall collapsed again, even the Supervising Team couldn't stop the rout. Hundreds of members of the Supervising Team were also carried by the defeated defenders and rushed down the city wall.

However, just when the soldiers of the Wei army, led by Su Xiao, were about to take down the north gate of Fancheng in one go, an accident happened again.As mentioned earlier, Fancheng is an important military town. There are only four gates in the east, west, north, south, and four inner urn cities. A large number of stone bombs began to be thrown at the city wall.

When the stone bomb fell, Su Xiao smelled a strange smell, which even covered up the strong smell of blood on the city wall.

"Damn it, it's actually fierce fire oil." Su Xiao was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, and quickly ordered to retreat, and now he didn't care about arranging the personnel behind him, so he turned his head and ran away.

Unfortunately, no matter how fast Su Xiao reacted, it was still too late.

Guo Quan placed more than a dozen trebuchets on the city wall of Neiweng City, and dumped dozens of fierce fire oil tanks on the city wall. yes.The Jingzhou army immediately fired rockets, forming a wall of fire on the city wall.Even dozens of Wei soldiers who had no time to retreat were drowned in the sea of ​​fire.

Those soldiers of the Wei army who were trapped in the sea of ​​fire fell down like dumplings. Fortunately, they were mentally prepared and could take corresponding protective actions physically. It's just that the walls of Fancheng were as high as three feet and six feet, which is equivalent to three feet in later generations. The floor is so high, no matter how shrunk into a ball, the sound of bones breaking immediately after falling to the ground, and I couldn't get up again with a face full of pain.

Fortunately, at this time, the sound of Jin Ming sounded from the position of the central army, and Su Xiao, who was very unwilling, was full of resentment. His two personal guards did not die in the hands of the enemy, but were killed in the sea of ​​fire.

"The last general is incompetent, failed to conquer the city, and is willing to be punished by military law!"

"This is a crime of non-war!" Zhang Wen, who was sitting in the handsome seat, said calmly: "This general underestimated the defender of Fancheng. I heard that the defender of Fancheng, Guo Quan, is just a child under 20 years old."

In this day's attack, the Wei army lost 800 people. This is not with civilian husbands and auxiliary soldiers, but soldiers who are not mixed with water at all. If they fight in the field, they can easily break through the Jin army's ten thousand people. camp.Although they also caused about [-] enemy casualties, when did the Wei army fight a battle with such a heavy casualty ratio?
Not only Zhang Wen's face was full of guilt, but even the dozens of generals and generals of the Zhennan Army also looked bad.According to past traditions, at this time, Wei Jun will conduct a self-examination based on his expression in battle.First, General Zhang Wen of Hussars made a speech.

"Fancheng is heavily guarded and equipped with complete equipment. If we continue to attack, I am afraid that the soldiers will suffer too much damage." Zhang Wen said: "I will not shirk my responsibility in this battle. This general will plead guilty to His Majesty the Emperor, but before that, we We must review our own mistakes. After our Zhennan Army lightly captured Xinye County, all the armies held the idea of ​​​​underestimating the enemy. This general has already emphasized repeatedly that we must recognize the situation and never underestimate the enemy. On the surface, you have all listened to the general's order , but have you really listened to it?"

Miao Rulin said: "The commander-in-chief, why should we weaken our own prestige, we are just a small setback. It is too early to say victory or defeat, and the general will ask for another battle. If the city cannot be conquered, the general will be willing to raise his head See!"

Zhang Wen snorted coldly, ignored Miao Rulin, and shouted coldly: "What is the best strategy for the General Staff to defeat the enemy?"

Although this attack was fierce, it was still only a tentative nature. Although Guo Quan's combat method was rigorous, the combat effectiveness of his Jingzhou soldiers was not strong, and weak troops were the biggest shortcoming. As long as they were prepared, they could break the city in one fell swoop.Staff officers are mainly engaged in paper deduction, calculation and other work. In this era, the staff officers in the Wei State's armies still only acted as staff.Even if Ran Ming wanted to change this tradition, he couldn't do it quickly.

Although the battle in Fancheng encountered a little setback, Ran Ming didn't take it to heart.In fact, he did not interfere with the command of generals at all levels, but went to Xinye to go deep into the people and understand the people's feelings.

Ran Ming did not establish a crown prince, and as Ran Ming moved to the south, the center of Wei State also moved forward.Accompanying him were not only Zhongchang Shi Youyi, but also Shangshuling Wang Jian, Yushi doctor Wang Ning, official secretary Xie An and so on.Xinye County is a lower county with few people and a thin land. Because Yuan Zhen stationed troops in Xinye, this Yuan Zhen is not as diligent and loving as Uncle Liu Huang. In a mere five counties, there are more than ten thousand soldiers and horses to support. I am afraid that the burden will not be light in future generations. , not to mention in this day and age.Yuan Zhen's exploitation of Xinye County was also very beneficial. The Wei army occupied Xinye, and immediately announced the abolition of the laws of the Jin State and the implementation of the laws of the Great Wei State.

Especially those exorbitant taxes and the abolition of miscellaneous taxes like a cow's hair, the people of Xinye celebrated with each other.In order to avoid unnecessary casualties when Wei Guo went south, the principle is that as long as the family of Wei Guo does not resist, all the fields and properties can guarantee their safety.But those generals and families who resisted had all their properties confiscated.Regardless of Yuan Zhen or Zhu Teng, they all occupy a large amount of land in Xinye, especially Yuan Zhen, the prefect, is really awesome. Even the Yuan family in Runan may not have the power of Yuan Zhen in Xinye. In the entire Xinye County, he alone occupied more than [-] fields.

(End of this chapter)