Chapter 319: Dunbing Qiantang
The Conquering South Army used well firepower to suppress the counterattack at the top of the city. At the same time, a large number of trench-filling trucks poured sand and soil on the moat in an orderly manner.
Among them, most of the trench-filling trucks were actually operated by the old troops of Zuo Rong and Xue Li.
However, the food standards of the Conquest South Army were much better than those of Zuo Rong and Xue Li. At least the soldiers did not have to worry about being deducted from their rations. For this reason alone, the Conquest South Army won the victory. Zuo Rong and Xue Li's former subordinates have a great impression.
Secondly, the Southern Army did not rush to launch an offensive against Wuxi City. Instead, they prepared a large number of siege and protective equipment in advance, especially trench-filling vehicles. They also focused on teaching Zuo Rong and Xue Li How to operate soldiers and protect them.
This obviously greatly alleviates the feeling of being used as cannon fodder.
In addition, after Liu Feng announced the end of the Jiangdong Campaign, the old troops of Zuo Rong and Xue Li could continue to join the army and allocate supplements to the main armies. They could also apply for proposals and have the Hussar General's Mansion arrange farming. Interest-based leases include various materials such as fields, grain rations, seeds, homesteads, and cattle.
This policy greatly stimulated the morale of the old departments of Zuo Rong and Xue Li, thus making the two departments more usable.
Under the command of the officers, twelve wells with wooden shields moved to a distance of 120 to 140 meters from the city wall, and kept shooting at the city head.
The crossbowmen on Jinglan were divided into several batches, with the archers maintaining coverage and suppression, and the crossbowmen maintaining focus on counterattack. Bows and arrows can not only shoot straight, but can also be thrown, while crossbows can be aimed for a long time without requiring effort to maintain.
The Conquering South Army made full use of the differences between the bows and crossbows, and achieved clever coordination to suppress the counterattack firepower at the top of the city, so that there was a firepower vacuum in the entire section of the city wall.
Twenty-four trench-filling trucks were flowing continuously between the wells. Along the opened route, one after another transported sand and soil to fill the moat.
At the same time, less than half an hour later, the loaded counterweight trebuchet showed its power again, this time reaching a 50% hit rate. Two stone bullets directly shattered the city tower, and less than half of it collapsed.
As a result, the tall tower at the north gate of Wuxi was completely destroyed, and no one dared to climb this dilapidated and dangerous tower again.
After losing the North Gate Tower, the commanding heights shifted to the attacking Southern Army.
The trench filling operation went quite smoothly. Although Xu Kun organized a wave of counterattacks, under the combined attack of Jinglan, Sanhe Knights and Iron Armored Soldiers, the counterattack troops were driven back shortly after leaving the city.
This means that with the city wall as a cover, the knights of the Southern Conquest Army did not dare to charge randomly. They only disrupted the opponent's formation with mounted fire, and finally made the opponent retreat.
Xu Kun's counterattack completely failed, and he was unable to leave the city to counterattack again.
In just one afternoon, the Southern Army successfully filled in half of the trench. In another two or three days, they should be able to successfully fill in the moat.
When it was getting dark, Liu Feng simply called the gold to withdraw his troops. The armored soldiers and the Sanhe Knights covered the entire army and retreated to the camp, without giving Xu Kun the slightest chance.
In a normal battle, only the northern camp sent troops, and the east and west battalions didn't even take any action to support them. They just rested in the camp, which shows the confidence of the southern army.
But this point made Xu Kun feel like he had fallen into an ice cellar.
Just dealing with the main force of the Southern Conquest Army in the north is so difficult. If the east and west battalions cooperate in the attack, can Wuxi still be able to defend it?
In desperation, Xu Kun could only ask for help from Wu County. Although he also knew that Wu Jing had no power at hand, he was indeed powerless.
Even if it is not possible, Wu Jing must be informed of the tactics of conquering the Southern Army as soon as possible so that Wu County can prepare in advance.
Three days later, Wu Jing received the report from Wuxi.
At first glance, Wu Jing was shocked.
In the past month, things have been calm in Wuxi. Xu Kun sent letters back many times, just saying that the conquering army was diligent in civil engineering and building equipment, but he was still very confident that he could hold on to Wuxi under the opponent's full offensive. of.
Xu Kun was relatively optimistic at the time, believing that even if the Zhengnan Army was besieged on three sides, he would still have the confidence to hold on for a month. Later, he would decide whether to continue to hold on or retreat based on the degree of damage to the city defense and the casualties of the soldiers. To Wu County.
As a result, Xu Kun couldn't stand it anymore as soon as the Zhengnan Army attacked.
But Wu Jing was no longer in the mood to blame Xu Kun, because if the battle report Xu Kun sent back was true, then Wu County might not be any better than Wuxi.
It can throw a boulder weighing more than 200 kilograms a distance of 300 meters, and the hit rate is as high as 50%. And even if it misses, even if a boulder of this size crosses the city wall and flies into the city, then It can also cause considerable trouble.
In addition to this giant trebuchet, the Southern Conquest Army has unique tricks and many types of equipment. It is very uncomfortable to suppress the firepower of the city head with just a shield and a well. As for those trench-filling trucks covered with cowhide and iron and covered with wet mud, it was even more difficult.
Xu Kun tried several times to destroy the opponent's siege equipment, but was unable to do anything.
There are armored soldiers hidden inside these trench-filling vehicles, as if they are not afraid of Sun Jun's close combat. If you want to set fire to it, the surface of the vehicle is not only covered with cowhide, but the top layer is also wet mud, which will keep you on fire for half a quarter of an hour. Neither of them can touch each other. Naturally, the armored soldiers among them would get out of the trench-filling vehicles at this time, engage in close combat with Sun Jun, and protect their equipment.
Seeing that there were still a large number of equipment being built in the opponent's camp, Xu Kun's confidence in holding Wuxi City became less and less, so he had to notify Wu Jing in advance to prepare.
According to the original plan of the senior Sun family, Piling was the front line and needed to hold on for a month.
As a result, Qu'a destroyed the city in half a day, and Piling's garrison was directly wiped out. As a result, the Sun family did not dare to reinforce Piling at all, so they had to abandon the place directly.
As the last barrier of Wu County, Wuxi itself is a fortified city, and its terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The Sun family has placed a total of 10,000 troops here, and has high hopes for Xu Kun, hoping that the other party can defend it for several months.
But now it was just over a month ago, and Xu Kun was already complaining. What made Wu Jing even more uncomfortable was that this month, the Southern Conquest Army did not launch an attack at all.
The real attack only lasts one day.
“You all should take a look.”
Wu Jing asked his attendants to forward Xu Kun’s report to the generals in the hall.
Among them are the generals under Wu Jing's command, as well as two branches of the Sun family, Sun Fu and Sun Xiu.
"Is it difficult for Wuxi to hold on for another ten days?"
After reading the battle report, Sun Fu could hardly help but scream.
This is a huge difference from the planned two or three months. It has not even reached half of the scheduled time.
In the battle report, Xu Kun focused on the progress of the Southern Army. Based on Xu Kun's judgment, in two days, or at most three days, the moat will be filled.
The Southern Expedition Army will definitely land on the city wall by then. By then, no matter how heavy the casualties are, they will still have to fight on the city walls.
Sun Xiu was one year younger than Sun Fu. He frowned but said nothing.
In fact, both Sun Fu and Sun Xiu were in an awkward situation. After all, their fathers had surrendered to Liu Bei.
Although Sun Fu was Sun Ben's younger brother, in fact, not long after Sun Fu was born, Sun Qiang and his wife fell ill and died. Sun Ben could be said to be the eldest brother as much as his father in a real sense.
"Uncle, my cousin said in the letter that we should send troops to the north and work with him to defeat the western part of Zhengnan Army City first."
Sun Fu, however, has a cheerful personality and is very friendly. To be honest, I have no intention of becoming conservative because of my brother's surrender.
When Wu Jing heard this, he was not unhappy at all.
He was able to call Sun Fu and Sun Xiu here just to hear their opinions.
"The risk is too great."
Wu Jing shook his head and replied to Sun Fu: "Shibao's plan is too risky, and he can't even make up his mind."
"Besides, There are only less than ten thousand people in Wu County. How many troops can be sent?”
Wu Jing frowned and said, "Once troops are sent out to overthrow, will Wu County be able to defend it?"
What Sun Fu mentioned was a tactical plan proposed by Xu Kun in his report, which was to let The troops from Wu County went north to attack Gao Shun's troops in the west of the city, and Xu Kun also responded in Wuxi City.
The reason why Xu Kun planned this way was because Gao Shun was relatively isolated in the west of the city and was isolated by Hangou, making it inconvenient to support each other.
If the Southern Expeditionary Army in the west of the city can be defeated in one fell swoop, it will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the battle situation, and it may even turn Wuxi's crisis into safety.
Because once they can win, even if they just repel the Southern Army in the west of the city, the grain road in Hangou will have to be moved at least dozens of miles north to avoid being harassed and attacked by Sun's army.
This alone can allow Wuxi to temporarily turn the corner.
Of course, once it fails, not to mention Wuxi, even Wu County will have no power to resist.
If there is no attack, taking Xu Kun's judgment as an example, it will take at least ten days and a half for the conquering army to reach the gates of Wu County.
In addition, we have to rebuild the siege equipment. I am afraid that we will not be able to organize an effective offensive within a month.
In this way, even if Wu Jing does nothing, he can persist for nearly two months.
From the perspective of risks and returns, Wu Jing still feels that being prudent and conservative is much better.
In the end, Wu Jing suppressed Sun Fu's desire to send troops and decided to still focus on stability.
At the same time, he also wrote to Sun Ce, carefully explaining the situation in the north of Wu County, and told the other party that he would probably only be able to support it for less than two months. Xu Kun also received a reply from Wu Jing here, saying that if Wuxi could abide by the rules, it must persist until the city's defenses completely failed, and then they could preserve their strength and retreat to Wu County.
When the time comes, Wu Jinghui will send Sun Fu and others to respond.
When Xu Kun received the news from Wu Jing, he was also helpless.
In fact, he also knew in his heart that if Wu Jingzhen went north, the risk would be greater. If one of them failed, even the reinforcements and the Wuxi defenders would lose everything.
So he was helpless and not dissatisfied with Wu Jing's decision.
In the past few days, the Conquering South Army has filled in a large section of the moat, leaving only one-third of the entire north gate as the last line of defense, the city wall. However, the Conquering South Army was still not in a hurry. It was just accumulating strength and launching an attack step by step.
The time went back to six days ago. After a day of attack, Liu Feng withdrew his troops and returned to the camp.
At this time, Zhou Bin had completely surrendered and felt that it was beyond the power of the Sun family to survive even if they wanted to survive, let alone compete with the Zhengnan Army.
Therefore, Zhou Bin was determined to join the Southern Army and serve Liu Feng.
After returning to the camp, Zhou Bin offered advice to Liu Feng and asked Liu Feng to send people to garrison Yangxian.
Yangxian is adjacent to Zhenze in the east, and there is an official road along the lake in the southeast that leads directly to Wucheng.
At the same time, he also handed out all the information he had collected about Wucheng on a tray, and finally bowed to Mao Sui and recommended himself: "Zou Ta and Qian Tong both have old friends with me. After they occupied Wucheng, He also came to me to buy food. I am not talented, but I am willing to serve the general. I asked him to surrender and give him some money."
Liu Feng was immediately overjoyed. He helped Zhou Bin up with his own hands, patted his hand and said, "Zixu, the so-called heroes have the same ideas, and your strategies are exactly the same as those of Feng!"
Zhou Bin He was shocked, but heard Liu Feng continue to say: "I have already sent an army to Liyang. I am just waiting for you, Zixu, to see the situation clearly and surrender to the emperor."
Hearing that Liyang on the side has already Zhou Bin was even more panicked when he gathered a large army.
Recalling what I saw and heard during the day today, the strength of the Zhengnan Army has completely suppressed Zhou Bin.
Although he has always prided himself on his bravery in fighting, but in front of the Southern Army, even with Yang Xian as his support, he may not be able to survive for a few days.
Zhou Bin shuddered when he thought of the various types of siege equipment used by the Conquest South Army and their outstanding effectiveness. Considering the small town of Yangxian, we don't even need to dispatch all of them. We only need to pick out trench-filling vehicles and rush vehicles, and we can probably defeat Yangxian.
"The general's plan is as deep as the sea, and I am ashamed to say it is inferior to him!"
Zhou Bin immediately prostrated again and said: "I sincerely ask the general to spare no kindness and give me the opportunity to serve in Yangxian. I Yang Xian's father is young and strong, and he is willing to serve the general with the strength of his dog and horse."
Liu Feng laughed and pulled Zhou Bin up: "Why is Zi Xu so self-indulgent?"
Zhou Bin. He solemnly expressed his feelings and said: "My words come from the bottom of my heart. I sincerely ask the general to take note of them."
Zhou Bin was quite proud when he came, but the fact that he got on the pole showed how huge the shock was today.
"Okay, that's the case..."
Liu Feng thought about it and decided: "Then I can give Zi Xu an army of 1,000 men and organize it into a separate unit. What do you think of Zixu, who joins my army in the southern expedition and temporarily returns to the command of General Taishi?"
Zhou Bin was overjoyed and bowed down three times, excitedly saying: "I am grateful for the kindness of the general and will do my best. "I will live up to the general's trust."
Early the next morning, Zhou Bin ignored Liu Feng's plea to stay, and immediately returned to Yangxian after bidding farewell to Liu Feng.
At the same time, Liu Feng's command also went to Liyang and ordered Zhou Yu to garrison Yangxian to prepare for Taishi Ci's army.
Tai Shici had arrived in Wuhu at this time and was heading towards Liyang with Xu Huang as the vanguard. Along the way, there were three granaries in Niuzhu, Liyang and Wanling for supplies, and he was hoarding a large amount of grain. In Liyang.
When Zhou Yu arrives in Yangxian, the grain will also begin to be transferred to Yangxian for subsequent use in battles.
After Zhou Bin arrived in Yangxian, he prepared his troops, counted supplies, and at the same time personally went out to welcome Zhou Yu from Liyang.
After the two met, they decided to send people to persuade Wang Sheng, Zou Ta and Qian Tong to surrender.
Wang Sheng was put in charge of the Zhou family and asked Lu You to take action, while Zou Ta and Qian Tong were left to take action by Zhou Bin himself.
Because he had to wait for the South Route Army to take action, Liu Feng did not launch a general attack on Wuxi. Instead, he still followed the original steps, focusing on clearing Wuxi's city defenses and attacking as a supplement.
Although Xu Kun didn't know why the Zhengnan Army never launched a general offensive, he also couldn't figure out the other party's intention of doing so. It may be delayed for one more day, but it is always a good day, and I am happy to slow down the pace of the Conquest of the South Army.
The news from the northern part of Wu County quickly reached Sun Ce.
Sun Ce also had a headache at this time.
Although his guess was absolutely correct, even if he raised a large army to go south and cleared the entire rear area, no one, including the Yan brothers, Wang Sheng and other Wucheng tycoons, dared to send troops. They just stayed together in Wucheng and waited to die.
This result made Sun Ce's prestige in the army even higher.
But it was a big trouble, but it gave Sun Ce a headache.
That’s because Wang Lang’s Guling defense line is too tough.
Since the failed raid on Guling half a month ago, Sun Ce has organized five offensives, large and small, but most of them were defeated directly on the Qiantang River. The two successful offensives ashore were still unbreakable. Guling City.
Instead, under the opponent's counterattack, the army that had crossed the river was forced to retreat to the north bank to protect itself.
Now the army is stationed in the north of Qiantang River. Although with Zhu Zhi's help, there is no shortage of food, the problem is that time is running out.
Seeing that the Zhengnan Army not only successfully crossed the river, but also quietly annexed Liu Yao's Niuzhu Army, and even eliminated Zuo Rong and Xue Li.
The entire Jiangdongbei region changed silently.
This allowed the Southern Conquest Army to reach Qu'a without any hindrance. The destruction of the city in half a day was enough to show the powerful strength of the Southern Conquest Army.
In fact, Sun Ce was not reckless. It was precisely because he felt the intimidating edge of the Southern Conquest Army that he advocated going south to Kuaiji.
If Wucheng is flanked, even if Wucheng is captured, it will have nothing to do with the overall situation. It will not even be able to solve the flanking threat as originally intended.
Because once Wucheng is captured, it will actually be bordering the Southern Conquest Army. In this way, the flank will be exposed to a more powerful opponent.
Only the main force can go south to defeat Wang Lang. In this way, not only can they sweep across Kuaiji, but they can also send troops north to reinforce Wuxian.
Only with the manpower, materials and soldiers from Kuaiji County can we hope to defend Wu County.
This is the real way to break the situation.
Unfortunately, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.
Sun Ce never expected that he would be stopped by Wang Lang in the north of Qiantang River.
This time in Kuaiji County, the powerful nobles who supported Wang Lang could be said to have wiped out all their wealth.
Zhou Xin even spent 2,000 private troops in one go, and at the same time spent a lot of money and food to recruit another 2,000 people.
Zhou Xin's family alone provided Wang Lang with four thousand soldiers and horses.
Yu Fan also sold iron and scraped together a thousand troops, plus 5,000 county soldiers and 6,000 troops from other powerful nobles. Wang Lang placed them on the small Guling defense line. There were a total of fourteen thousand people.
In this way, Wang Lang was not very satisfied, and kept writing to Shang Sheng, the magistrate of Houguan County in Dongye, and the local tycoons Zhang Ya and Zhan Qiang.
Ask them to send troops north for reinforcements.
Although Houguan County is also affiliated with Kuaiji County, the two places are actually too far apart.
Guling is located on the bank of the Qiantang River and is the location of the urban area of Hangzhou in later generations, while Houguan County is the location of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province in later generations.
It can be seen that the two places are far apart.
But Houguan County is indeed quite powerful. The jurisdiction of one county is equal to half of Kuaiji County.
During the Soochow period, Houguan County was divided into eight counties and merged into Jian'an County.
In the Jin Dynasty, it was divided into two counties and twelve counties.
It can be seen that this place is huge and has a wide range of people under its jurisdiction.
As the prefect of Kuaiji, it is natural for Wang Lang to want to mobilize troops from the waiting ranks.
(End of this chapter)