Chapter 318 A small test of one's skills
In the end, Zhou Bin couldn't bear the heat in his heart and decided to take a risk and go to Qu'a.
In any case, the reputation and status of Teng Dan sent by Liu Feng to Qu'a far exceeds that of the person sent by Sun Ce.
So Zhou Bin and Teng Dan set off by boat to Qu'a.
Halfway through the journey, I heard that Liu Feng's army had been dispatched, heading south to Wuxi, and was besieging the city.
So Zhou Bin and Teng Dan changed directions and headed for Wuxi.
By the time Zhou Bin and Teng Dan arrived at Wuxi City, it had been a full month since the Conquest of the South Army besieged the city.
Although Xu Kun and others in Wuxi City repeatedly ordered to be on guard, the Southern Army only built fortifications and tools, and there was not even a tentative attack in a month.
Xu Kun's soldiers naturally gradually relaxed.
This is human nature. Even the most elite soldiers can only extend this time, but they cannot relax forever.
At this time, Zhao Yun lived in the east of the city, Gao Shun lived in the west, and Liu Feng personally took charge of the north.
Liu Feng also assigned Zhao Fan and Yu Zi to Gao Shun. Gao Shun was good at military training. Zhao Fan and Yu Zi happened to be newly composed parts. Liu Feng specially asked Gao Shun for guidance. Zhao Fan and Yu Zi asked Zhao Fan and Yu Zi to ask for advice humbly.
As a result, Gao Shun's troops also had 7,000 troops, plus the 3,000 Zuo Rong's old troops assigned to him, for a total of 10,000 people.
The reason why Liu Feng strengthened Gao Shun's troops was because of the special location of Gao Shun's troops.
Liu Feng's main camp and Zhao Yun's east camp were both to the east of Hangou, but Gaoshun camp in the west of the city was to the west of Hangou. Compared with the two camps in the east of the city, Gaoshun's west camp is obviously relatively isolated.
In the past month, in addition to civil engineering work, the Zhengnan Army has also been training troops for various ministries.
Not to mention other ministries, Zhao Fan and Yu Zi were very effective. Although they were far from as good as other ministries, they were enough to invest in the battlefield.
Just when Liu Feng was planning to surprise Xu Kun, Teng Dan took Zhou Bin to the army.
After Liu Feng received the report, he immediately summoned Teng Dan and Zhou Bin.
Zhou Bin was quite brave and loved to read military books since he was a child. Although he failed to make any achievements, his military ability was indeed impressive. It is precisely because of his military ability that he can see the strength of the Confederate army from clues.
Since entering the military camp, Zhou Bin's expression has changed slightly.
Teng Dan on the side was not aware of it and introduced military affairs to Zhou Bin with great interest.
Zhou Bin's expression became even fiercer. Along the way, he saw that the army was extremely orderly, with strict inspections, and everyone was performing their duties.
In the military camp, there are sergeants resting in each tent.
But these sergeants did not make a sound. They closed their eyes to rest, or wiped their weapons. Very few of them made any noise. Occasionally, there were shouts, and it was the officers summoning the troops, and they could usually be assembled in a short time.
Zhou Bin has always been proud of his military law management unit, and has always believed that his unit has good combat capabilities and can be called elite.
But it wasn’t until we entered the camp of the Conquering South Army that we suddenly realized what the real elite should look like.
"Are they...?"
Zhou Bin and Teng Dan passed by an open space. Zhou Bin could tell at a glance that this place was obviously being temporarily used as a school ground.
What he couldn't understand was that there were hundreds of soldiers standing on the school field, just standing in neat rows on the field.
He couldn't help but curiously asked Teng Dan.
Teng Dan turned around and looked at it, and said with a smile: "This is the military posture."
"The military posture?"
Zhou Bin said in surprise: "This is the military posture." "What do you mean?"
Teng Dan shook his head: "I don't know, but they do have this kind of training in the Southern Conquest Army. It may last for a quarter of an hour, or it may last for half an hour, depending on the time." Why, I never asked.”
Zhou Bin thanked him and suddenly noticed a tall and strong man in front of him, like a moving wall.
Zhou Bin was shocked. Even though he was very brave, he didn't think he would be the opponent's opponent.
Of course this big man couldn't be anyone else, it was Liu Feng's personal guard commander Xu Chu.
Although Xu Chu brought huge pressure to people invisibly, especially a brave man like Zhou Bin, he could feel the horror of Xu Chu.
But Xu Chu himself was quite polite. He stopped when he got close, raised his hands to Zhou Bin and asked, "May I ask, are you Mr. Zhou?"
Zhou Bin was a little surprised and glanced at Teng Dan, who smiled and nodded at him.
Immediately, Zhou Bin returned the courtesy to Xu Chu: "I am Zhou Bin, and I have met the general."
Xu Chu said politely: "I am just a captain, I dare not be called a general. Mr. Zhou, Teng Canjun, please come with me."
Xu Chu then turned around, took them to a large tent, and then went in to report.
After a while, a young man came out of the tent to greet him. It was Liu Feng, the general who conquered the south.
Zhou Bin panicked and hurriedly bowed down: "My guest, please see Liu Zhengnan."
"Why is it so late, Mr. Zhou?"
Liu Feng stepped forward to lift him up, then turned to Teng Dan again. He said: "Teng Canjun has worked hard all the way."
When he first heard someone reported that Zhou Bin came back with Teng Dan, he actually didn't know who Zhou Bin was.
It wasn't until someone introduced Zhou Binnai as the head of the Zhou family in Yangxian that he realized that this person turned out to be Zhou Chu's grandfather and Zhou Fang's father.
It's a pity that this man didn't have many opportunities in history, and his reputation was far less than that of his son and grandson.
Especially his grandson, who became a famous general in the Jin Dynasty.
If it weren't for the Holy Dynasty where Fu Wei ruled the world with filial piety, the northerners really looked down on the southerners and discriminated against the southerners in every possible way, and there is no way he could have gone further.
On the same day, Liu Feng invited Zhao Yun, Gao Shun, Zhao Fan and other generals, as well as the camp lieutenant general and his lieutenants, to host a banquet in honor of Zhou Bin.
Looking at the many talents under Liu Feng’s command and the powerful generals performing their duties, Zhou Bin felt that this time was not in vain.
The next day, Zhou Bin couldn't wait to join Liu Feng and offer him the land of Yangxian.
"Bin, a young and brave man, is in troubled times and has only the people of his hometown to rely on, so he has no choice but to defend his hometown."
Zhou Bin expressed his position in front of Liu Feng: "Today If we have to conquer the south, like when there is a long drought, the rain will fall. I am willing to work with Yang Xian and his father to fight against the south. "
Liu Feng laughed, he had actually prepared it for Zhou Bin. It was a big dish. Unexpectedly, Zhou Bin was already satisfied before the dish was even served.
However, the dishes were all prepared and they were served in the end. It was regarded as an eye-opener for Zhou Bin.
After Liu Feng accepted Zhou Bin's surrender, in the morning of the next day, the Southern Expeditionary Army marched out of camp and forced towards Wuxi City.
I saw Liu Feng standing 300 meters away from the city wall, with two rows of eight counterweight trebuchets arranged at staggered peaks, four in each row.
At the same time, twenty meters behind the counterweight trebuchet, there are twelve well lanterns with wooden shields, with eight people standing on them, four bows and four crossbows.
The upper layers of these manholes are equipped with shields to increase defense, allowing the crossbowmen to hide behind the shields and shoot freely.
Behind the well, four cowhide vehicles, twelve siege ladders, and twenty-four trench-filling vehicles were lined up.
The cavalry on both wings covered the formation, and Xu Sheng's three battalions of 6,000 men were lined up in the formation to protect these siege equipment.
It is natural that Xu Kun’s troops would not know about such a large battle.
Xu Kun and his generals immediately boarded the north gate and observed Liu Feng's every move.
The siege equipment in front of us is huge, numerous and of various types.
Xu Kun and others were stunned.
What they could clearly recognize were the ram and the siege ladder. Jinglan vaguely guessed their function, but the counterweight trebuchet was a little confusing.
Because in the Han Dynasty, the range of trebuchets was less than 300 meters, generally only more than 100 meters, and they were not very powerful.
As for the trench-filling truck, Xu Kun and others did not recognize it at all and regarded it as a rush truck. After all, in terms of appearance, the two were somewhat similar.
It’s just that the trench-filling truck is larger, and there is an extra compartment for sand in the back.
Liu Feng brought Zhou Bin and Teng Dan with him. Yang Xian's position was very important. Zhou Bin came to serve at this moment, and Liu Feng was naturally willing to show off his strength. Besides, Zhou Bin's son and grandson are both good and worthy of his small investment.
Compared with Liu Feng, Zhou Bin was very excited at the moment. He never dreamed that he would get such love from Liu Feng.
If Corporal Liu Fenglixian was still there at the banquet the night before yesterday, then today he will be brought into the battle formation to watch the performance of the Southern Army.
This made Zhou Bin feel like he was in a dream and couldn't extricate himself.
Liu Feng glanced at Zhou Bin and saw that the other man's majestic body was trembling slightly.
If you don’t know better, you may think that Zhou Bin is too weak to hold up the wall and is timid in the face of battle. But Liu Feng knew that the other party was just too excited to find himself. "Let's get started."
Liu Feng nodded towards Xu Chu.
The order was then conveyed to the flag drummer.
The passionate drum beat started, and the flag bearer waved the flag toward the front line.
When the flag bearer of the front formation saw it, he immediately conveyed the order to the commander of the front army Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng immediately ordered the artillery fire.
The first four of the eight counterweight trebuchets immediately started operating. Four rounded stone projectiles weighing about 200 kilograms flew into the air under the huge force and were thrown high. Toward the Wuxi City Wall 300 meters away.
On the opposite side, Xu Kun and others were dumbfounded, unable to react for a moment.
Just stared blankly at the four boulders volleying over.
"General, be careful!"
All four boulders actually hit the city tower. It was obvious that this place had been targeted by the gunners for a long time.
Four boulders, one hit the trench in front of the city tower, the other hit the city tower and hit the city. It ricocheted directly over the thirty-meter-long city gate square and hit the houses behind. , two or three houses were smashed one after another.
The remaining two hit the target.
One of them hit the bull's-eye directly, hit the middle of the tower, smashed in, and then passed through the tower.
A trail of blood, mud and meat paste was left in the center of the entire building. This was the last remnant left by the person who was hit by the boulder.
That is to say, the position was too square, so that the stone bullets failed to hit the beams and columns. Otherwise, the tower might have been destroyed with one shot.
But even so, the entire city tower is already a dangerous building, and it may collapse at any time.
As a result, the long-range firepower that could have been allocated did not dare to be used, and the heavy troops did not dare to be deployed downstairs at the city gate, for fear that it would be affected by the sudden collapse of the city tower.
This instead puts huge defensive pressure on the defenders, especially the pressure on the city gates.
The last stone bullet hit the city gate wall directly, then jumped high and hit the crowd on the city tower.
At this time, more than a dozen people were killed on the spot, and the same number of people were killed and injured by flying rocks that shattered from the crenels.
This artillery achieved the most outstanding effect. These people were not all soldiers, but also many officers at all levels. They were also the most capable commanders and military commanders under Xu Kun. These people All the troops are used as reserve troops.
But now, just after the war started, the commanding layers of these most elite units suffered heavy casualties, which undoubtedly reduced the combat effectiveness of these units by more than one level.
If Xu Kun’s soldiers had not reacted quickly and used tower shields and human walls to protect Xu Kun, Zhu Chao, Xu Yi, Sun He and other senior generals, maybe the flying rocks on the battlements just now would have been able to Take one or two of them away.
Looking at the city that was in a mess, with limbs and arms broken everywhere, and blood flowing everywhere, Xu Kun's face was as pale as snow.
Xu Kun was not afraid of the scene in front of him. What he was afraid of was that he could not find a way to counter the opponent.
The eight trebuchets are placed three hundred meters away, and the equipment is huge and bulky. It is obviously very troublesome to move it.
But the question is, do I have the ability to attack them?
Three hundred meters, even if there is a city wall condescendingly, the trebuchet in the city can only reach a maximum of 150 meters.
If you want to send troops out of the city, these three hundred meters may be able to drain the blood of the troops in the city.
Liu Feng placed Jia Bin's 1,000 Sanhe knights on both wings, ready to move and attack the rear at any time.
On the front, Liu Feng sent five hundred armored soldiers to guard both sides of the counterweight trebuchet. Not to mention that Xu Sheng's formation is not far away and can reinforce the front line at any time.
Even if Xu Kun's elite troops are exhausted, it is impossible to touch the opponent's siege equipment.
Liu Feng stood on the artificially piled earth slope and looked into the distance. Even though he had the advantage of height, he still could not clearly see the situation at the top of the opponent's city.
However, it can be seen that two of the four boulders in the first round hit the target.
Liu Feng thought in his mind, it would be great if he had a telescope at this time. The simplest version of this thing is a magnifying glass. It is not difficult to make. You can try it later.
Zhou Bin and Teng Dan, who were beside Liu Feng, were completely stunned. Especially Zhou Bin, the blood in his body surged, and he wished he could put on armor and go into battle immediately.
Liu Feng, however, had a good time, and continued to order to Xu Chu: "Let the wells and trench-filling carts go up."
"Yes!"
Xu Chu was very quick. The order was passed on. After Xu Sheng in the front line received the order, the wells and trench-filling trucks arranged on both sides started moving.
The reason why Liu Feng ordered to change the attack method instead of striking while the iron is hot was because the rate of fire of the counterweight trebuchet was so impressive.
Such a stone throw will take at least a quarter of an hour to reload, or even half an hour if it is slow.
So at this time, it is indeed a routine operation to send up the wells to suppress the firepower of the opponent's city head and cover the trench-filling vehicles for trench-filling operations.
We can't just stare at each other for half an hour and then have sex.
Contrary to the step-by-step actions of the Southern Conquest Army, the city of Wuxi was already in chaos at this time.
"General! Retreat first!"
Xu Yi shouted at Xu Kun from the side.
This is just a round of stone-throwing by the opponent, and it will obviously continue later.
We can no longer stay at the top of the city. This is obviously where the opponent's fire is concentrated. If we continue to stay here, we will undoubtedly wait for death.
Xu Kun said nothing with a livid face, and just stood there stubbornly.
Xu Yi and others were extremely nervous. They didn't know how long it would take for this terrifying stone bullet to strike again, and they might not be so lucky next time.
If you are directly attacked by such stone bullets, no matter how many shield bearers are there to protect you, it will be meaningless, and the casualties will only be more severe.
Xu Yi looked at Zhu Chao and Sun He, hoping that the other party would join him in persuading Xu Kun.
Zhu Chao and Sun He immediately took action. Sun He even tried to force Xu Kun to go to the city because he was Sun Ce's confidant.
“Why panic!”
Xu Kun broke away from Sun He's arm and shouted: "Don't panic!"
The people around him suddenly became quiet, and their eyes focused on Xu Kun.
Xu Kun frowned, but his expression was still calm: "Don't panic, how can such heavy artillery be continuously projected. From my perspective, I am afraid that there may not even be one shot in a moment. The military morale on the city is now If we leave the city, what will we do if the Southern Army takes the opportunity to attack the city?"
"Don't panic, let's stabilize the morale of the troops in the city first."
Xu Kun. Staring at the weighted trebuchet in the distance, he continued: "This thing is still a bit clumsy. Even after it is projected, it is still too late to dodge."
After hearing this, Xu Yi, Zhu Chao, Sun He and others also woke up and calmed down.
"Okay, stop hanging around me and go do your work!"
Xu Kun waved his hand and rushed people.
Xu Yi and other generals also knew that what was needed most at this time was time, so they stopped wasting their time. They raised their hands to Xu Kun, each raised their own flags, and moved forward from both sides of the tower. .
The soldiers on the top of the city were quite frightened when they saw the stone bullets hitting the city tower hard.
But now after seeing the flags of Xu Yi, Zhu Chao, Sun He and other important generals, as well as himself patrolling the city, he gradually calmed down and took action under the command of the officers.
After Xu Kun responded, Liu Feng's military formation also changed, and equipment such as well rails and trench-filling trucks began to move forward.
The range of ordinary crossbows is one hundred to one hundred and fifty meters, while the range of divine bows and big yellow crossbows can generally reach one hundred and eighty meters, or even two hundred meters.
However, there are not many people who can use the divine bow, and the cost of the big yellow crossbow is also quite expensive.
Coupled with the height advantage of Jinglan, the range has undoubtedly been increased by one section in disguise, which is equivalent to offsetting the height advantage of the city head.
Seeing the wells and trench-filling trucks dispatched in large numbers, the Wuxi defenders suddenly became nervous.
"The general has an order! Be careful of enemy crossbows!"
"The general has an order! Prepare kerosene at the city gate!"
"The general has an order! Prepare rockets! "
Effective orders were executed one after another. Xu Kun continued to issue instructions, and the city became busy.
This busyness made the Wuxi defenders temporarily forget the terrifying power of the stone bullets just now, and devoted themselves to preparations for the upcoming bloody battle.
It's a pity that the Conquering South Army has no intention of ascending the city. They still use long-range firepower to consume the lives and morale of the Wuxi defenders.
(End of this chapter)