Bang bang bang!

"Whoosh ———!"

Under the city of Shouchun, a series of catapults clanged and swayed, and then one by one huge stones and oil clay pots were thrown to the city, smashing the stone chips and sparks in all directions.

And the crossbows that were drawn into a half-moon shape, with a burst of bowstring vibrations, dense like rain of arrows rushed into the sky, sliding obliquely towards the defenders on the head of the city.

Not only that, but there were thousands of soldiers under the city carrying simple ladders and setting up on the top of the wall, climbing one after another, trying to climb and attack the city. Until he fell down the ladder and drove the clouds, he still had the dream of rewarding hundreds of gold and sealing thousands of households at the moment of his death.

The siege was very urgent, and the attack was fierce, but all the siege weapons that could be used were used.

Under this sudden onslaught, Shouchun City, which had been quiet for several days, finally ushered in the expected siege battle. However, the siege of the city was so fierce and fierce, but the soldiers of the Yuan army defending the city never expected, and it can be said that it was completely unexpected.

Fortunately, the defenders were well prepared, and the defending ordnance such as stones, rolling logs, fire oil, boiling water, and arrows were piled up, which finally came in handy at this moment. Many of the defenders did not wait for the enemy who was climbing the ladder to approach, and threw down the rocks and logs piled up on the top of the city. Not to mention whether they were smashed or not, the number and volume of these rocks and logs alone were enough for the enemy soldiers besieging the city to drink a pot, and they couldn't even finish eating and walking.

However, there are pros and cons to everything, and it is not necessarily a good thing to prepare too much ordnance to defend the city, and sometimes it can be counterproductive. For example, now: the oil clay pots and the huge boulders that were thrown onto the city by catapults fell on the towers. Ignited piles of painstakingly boiled fish oil and smashed into stacks of rolling logs; As a result, many of the defenders were ignited with fish oil, and the fire grew stronger and stronger. They cried and screamed in pain, running wildly without a head, and the rolling logs scattered on the city tower intensified the spread of the fire, blocking the escape path of the soldiers who were covered in flames. Outcome?????? These soldiers who fled for their lives caused great chaos and were ordered to be killed by the defending generals.

Wars are brutal, and sieges are the most brutal battles in war.

After the start of the Great War, people died every minute. Shouts of killing, screams of pain, screams, and the sound of soldiers breaking their bodies. The sound is endless; The sound of arrows breaking through the air, the sound of rocks and rolling logs falling to the ground, and the sound of boulders smashing. and the explosion of the crockpot, banging, noisy, wandering and agitating. Prolonged.

Chances are equal for both the attacker and the defender. However, the geographical advantage is an objective fact that cannot be ignored.

The cost of casualties on the besieging side was much greater than that of the Yuan army defending the city. But even so, the siege continued, and the fighting escalated violently, with more and more ferocity and more troops.

In this thick smoke, either you die or I die, and there is no other choice. The opposite of blood and fire is life and death. Just as the opposite of victory is defeat, it is irreconcilable. There is no compromise. Only fighting to the death is the only way to survive, and it is also the wisest choice.

This unprecedentedly tragic offensive and defensive battle may be the first baptism of Shouchun City in decades, and it is also the most severe test.

As a symbol of the Zhong regime and the imperial capital of the Zhong Emperor Yuan Shu, this city is definitely the most fortified city in the land of Huainan, and it is a large city with more than 100,000 people and soldiers.

The whole city, the city wall is three zhang high and two zhang thick, and its solidity is comparable to the former Luoyang imperial capital, and compared with the Chen Liucheng in Yanzhou, it is more than equal. It is worth mentioning that the moat outside Shouchun City is very complete, and the river water that is more than one zhang deep does not dry up all year round, and it flows for a long time in all seasons. In addition, there are three trenches in front of the moat, which are also brought into the living water, the water is waist-deep and more than a foot wide, and it is difficult for war horses to cross.

These moats and moats caused great distress to the besieging Allied forces, greatly delaying the speed and intensity of the siege soldiers' attacks. In order to fill the trench, the Allies took the opportunity to send troops late at night on the second day of the winter snow, and after paying the price of thousands of people, they finally filled in the trenches outside the east, west, south and north gates of Shouchun, clearing the way for the siege battle.

As for the moat, which was more than two feet deep and about three feet wide, the Allies were helpless. The moat was so close to the head of the city that it was within the range of the archers at the head of the city, and the Allied soldiers could not get close to it. Therefore, when the Allies launched the siege, they could only first set up planks to contain the defending Yuan army, and then fill the river with sandbags, branches and hay, so as to ensure that the follow-up soldiers and horses directly attacked the city, and then launched a strong attack.

Even so, in order to fill the trenches and moats under Shouchun City, the Allies paid a heavy price for this, with tens of thousands of casualties. Fortunately, the Allied army was outnumbered, and there were 80,000 infantry troops besieging the gates of Shouchun alone, in addition to 70,000 war cavalry. Once Shouchun Castle is breached or a breach is opened, the war cavalry will rush into it as soon as possible, thus taking the entire city in one fell swoop.

?????? The south gate of Shouchun City. There is a temporary camp tent three miles away from the city gate, which is a temporary military tent set up by Jiangdong Sun Ce in order to facilitate the command of the army to attack the city.

"Pan Zhang listened to the order, quickly brought three thousand armor soldiers to reinforce the East Gate, Xu Jin is not allowed to retreat, no matter what, he must destroy the crossbow on the tower of the East Gate City for me, there must be no mistake!"

With Sun Ce's sharp order, Pan Zhang bowed down to receive the order, but just as he turned to leave, he was stopped by Zhang Hong's outstretched hand, and signaled him to wait for a while, there was no need to rush to send troops.

After stabilizing Pan Zhang, Zhang Hong hurriedly walked in front of Sun Ce, and said in a painful and urgent voice: "Lord, you can't increase the siege soldiers and horses!" Since yesterday's siege of the city, more than 10,000 of our Jiangdong disciples have been killed and wounded, and more than 3,000 soldiers have just died in the city. In just two days, our army suffered as many as 20,000 casualties, and if we continue to fight like this, before we break through Shouchun City, our Jiangdong soldiers will be wiped out! As he spoke, Zhang Hong's voice turned into a crying voice, with tears in his eyes, which was unbearable to witness, and he couldn't help but be moved.

This is not the first time Zhang Hong has dissuaded Sun Ce. Just last night and this morning, he had already advised Sun Ce twice to suspend the siege. Or change the assault to a feint, and in any case, you can't continue to assault regardless of casualties. In order to seize the two counties of Lujiang and Jiujiang, Sun Ce successively transferred most of the soldiers and horses of the four counties in Jiangdong. Led 50,000 soldiers across the river to defeat Yuan Shu. In the previous battles, tens of thousands of horses were lost, and then some soldiers were added, and there were still 50,000 soldiers and horses under Sun Ce's command. However, since the storming of Shouchun, nearly 20,000 soldiers have been lost in just two days, nearly half of which have been lost.

In the face of such huge casualties. Hugh said that Zhang Hong was heartbroken, and even the commanders of the battalions were secretly anxious and worried about this. For this reason, they successively dissuaded Sun Ce from postponing the attack. Otherwise, the casualties will get bigger and bigger, but it's a pity that Sun Ce didn't listen to persuasion at all, he couldn't listen to anyone's words, and he still went his own way. Again and again increased the number of troops to attack the city.

Besiege. Attack the city again, lose a group of soldiers and horses, and send another group up, in addition to a strong attack or a strong attack. In two days, Sun Ce sent at least three to five groups of men and horses to reinforce the siege every day, and more than 10,000 soldiers were killed and wounded every day. Perhaps the casualties of more than 10,000 soldiers were nothing to the strong Xiliang Army, but for Sun Ce and the Jiangdong Army, they were broken and suffered heavy losses.

The casualties were too great. The Jiangdong Army can't afford to be injured!

In the final analysis, Jiangdong under Sun Ce's rule was at best a land of four counties. Although the population is quite large, it is far less than that of Jingzhou, Yizhou and Jizhou. Of the four counties in Jiangdong, each county has a population of more than 100,000 at most, and the population decreases further south, and the population of individual counties is even less than 100,000. Therefore, the number of the Jiangdong Army is no more than 80,000, at least at the moment, there are only so many soldiers and horses. Even so, the people of Jiangdong have been greatly disturbed, and there is a shortage of men in many places, and there are fewer and fewer young and strong men engaged in farming.

In addition, the territory of Jiangdong was not peaceful, and the southern barbarians of Wuxi often plundered the border villages, making the chickens and dogs restless, and the official army repeatedly conquered and suppressed them in vain.

Therefore, every Jiangdong soldier is very precious, one less one dies, and there are only so many people in the Communist Party, where can they withstand the huge casualties of tens of thousands of people. Like now, 20,000 soldiers were killed and wounded in two days, and in two more days, the Jiangdong Army would be completely annihilated and wiped out. (In later generations, the soldiers and horses of Wu State were always maintained at around 100,000, and the fundamental reason was that the population was limited.) Even when Sun Quan was king, he occupied half of Jingzhou, and his infantry army, sailors, and cavalry together were only more than 200,000, of which Jingzhou soldiers and horses accounted for most of them. It can be seen that the population of Jiangdong during the Three Kingdoms period was extremely limited, which greatly limited the development and growth of the Eastern Wu power. FYI, it is not necessary to be serious. ）

If ordinary people listen to Zhang Hong's bitter advice, they will almost always be as good as a stream, withdraw their fate, and make a new decision. But Sun Ce is not an ordinary person, not only that, but he is also a man with a very good character, and once he makes up his mind, it is difficult to make him change his original intention.

The same is true of Sun Ce at this moment.

After listening to Zhang Hong's words, Sun Ce waved his hand without thinking, signaling that Zhang Hong didn't need to say much, he had made up his mind, and there was no need to persuade him anymore. However, when Sun Ce looked up and saw Zhang Hong's eyes with tears in his eyes, his face changed suddenly, and then he turned his head to look outside the tent, silent, but did not urge Pan Zhang to leave. Obviously, he was also moved by compassion at this moment, which made the original rock-solid heart begin to waver.

At this time, Zhang Hong choked up and said: "My lord, after all, my Jiangdong land is in a remote corner, whether it is financial, material or manpower, it is far inferior to the princes of the Central Plains. The only thing we can rely on is the Yangtze River moat, which is enough to cut off the dominance and make the lord a prince. Such heavy casualties as the current one are tantamount to a catastrophe for our Jiangdong. I implore the lord to take back his order, suspend the siege, or make a feint, and leave some blood for Jiangdong! ”

When Sun Ce heard this, his expression changed, and his expression was moved, so he instructed Pan Zhang: "Quickly lead the troops to the east gate, and do not hesitate, but ?????? A feint is sufficient. Pan Zhang gladly accepted the order and turned to leave.

Seeing Pan Zhang leave, Sun Ce said in a low tone: "It is precisely because I live in a corner of Jiangdong that I have to gain a firm foothold in Jiangbei this time." And if you want to gain a foothold in Huainan, you must come up with a convincing record, so that you can block Li Li's truth, so that he can't find any excuse to ask for Lujiang, and he doesn't dare to rashly attack our Jiangdong army. At present, Shouchun City is in danger, and Yuan Highway has become a turtle in an urn, waiting for the dead rats. It is not difficult to break through Shouchun, as long as the soldiers use their lives, the defenders must be timid, so the day of the city is just around the corner. ”

Speaking of this, Sun Ce's cold eyes flashed with a gleam, and his voice paused, and then he said: "At this critical moment, if our army does not seize this opportunity and take the lead in attacking the city, then we will lose the name of righteousness to take the lead in breaking the city, and what will follow is the coercion and persecution of Li Li's army.

However, once our army takes the lead in breaking through the city, then the news will spread all over the north and south of the river and become known to everyone in the world. At that time, Li Li will inevitably have some scruples if he wants to attack us again, and he will have to consider the consequences and adverse effects of the world's long and easy mouths, and the consequences and adverse effects of fighting against us. In this way, he will inevitably throw himself into a trap, and he will have to give up the Lujiang River, which is occupied by us, and then withdraw his troops and return to the Central Plains. That's why I didn't care about casualties and stormed Shouchun. If you want to take it, you must give it first, Zigang won't not understand this truth, right? When he said this, Sun Ce appeared extremely calm, his eyes were deep and wise and resolute.

After Zhang Hong heard this, his cheeks were slightly hot, and he said respectfully: "The lord has a strategic mind, far-reaching intentions, and is wise. I am ashamed to stop it rashly without knowing it, which is really unwise, and I ask the Lord to punish him. Zhang Hong rubbed it to the end, his old face turned red, but he was afraid that he would not know what was going on, so he resolutely dissuaded him, delaying Sun Ce's major event, so that the huge price before was all in vain.

Sun Ce shook his head slightly, squeezed out a few stiff smiles on his face, and said calmly: "No, Zigang is serious." You reminded you in time, after two days of strong attack, the defenders stationed at the south and east gates must have been exhausted and timid. If this is the case, the purpose of our army's assault has been achieved, and there is no need to storm in the next few days, only a feint attack and disturbance. When the defenders are completely relaxed, we will take advantage of their unpreparedness to attack and attack the city, and we will surely succeed in one blow and capture the city! ”

?????? Just when Sun Ce led the Jiangdong Army to launch a fierce attack on the south gate and the east gate of Shouchun, the north gate besieged by Lu Bu led the army and the west gate besieged by Xu Huang's troops, launched an attack at the same time as Sun Ce's department, and attacked the four gates of Shouchun at the same time. The only difference is that Lu Bu and Xu Huang coincidentally chose a bluff feint, focusing on attacks and harassments, and did not attack fiercely regardless of casualties. The loss of their own soldiers and horses was not large, and the two troops and horses together suffered less than 5,000 casualties.

Just when the Shouchun war was in full swing, Li Li, as the leader of the alliance, rode up the mountain and accompanied his wife and concubine to rest in the camp tent on the top of the mountain for a few days. However, every other hour, a sentry rode up the mountain to report the battle situation ahead, and Li Li's body was unmoved, hugging left and right, but he knew the siege battle well.

??????

—————— to be continued———————————— (To be continued......

PS: [Heartfelt thanks: Sima Xiao's monthly ticket support, thank you!] 】

In the past two days, many gods have shown their powers, opening single chapters every day, and frantically soliciting tickets.

Xiaoqi will not open a single chapter, and his family knows his own affairs. But all book friends who have a monthly pass have already supported Xiaoqi a lot, and the tiger is content.

Xiaoqi has been able to come to this day, thanks to the full support of all book friends, and the tiger is inscribed in five years, and it is recorded in detail in the book, without any omission.

Tomorrow is the last day of 2014, Xiaoqi wishes the book friends a happy New Year's Day, a good New Year, good luck, and a long journey!