Chapter 846 Fuel
Chapter 846 Fuel
On the seventh day of the seventh month, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet in the Milky Way.
That's a matter of heaven.
On the ground, the Jin army suddenly launched an attack, which was quite surprising.
In the open space south of Pingcheng, three earthen platforms rose from the ground. More than a thousand archers quickly climbed to the top of the platforms, drew their bows and arrows, and shot into the city. Occasionally, loud noises of crossbows firing could be heard from the platforms.
Thanks to their efforts, screams were soon heard from the places where the lights were gathered on the city walls, and the guards fled in panic.
After a long time, some tribal chiefs stood up and organized archers to fight back and shoot at the Jin army archers on the earthen platform.
Feng Bachi was standing under one of the high platforms, wearing a set of double-crotch armor, with a sword hanging from his waist and a spear in his hand, ready for battle.
I asked someone to buy this armor for me. I spent a lot of money on it and I also owe him a lot of favors.
Actually, he originally wanted the tube-sleeved armor worn by the Silver Spear Army, and even coveted the Ming Guang armor worn by Prince Liang's personal army. Unfortunately, it took too much time to make it, and he was in a hurry to go to the war, so he bought a ready-made one from someone else, modified it slightly and put it on - don't say that hoarding armor and bows is a serious crime. There are too many people hoarding these things these days, and the nobles and powerful people are openly making them. What can you do?
He and his comrades lined up here, with their main task being to block the enemy troops rushing out from the top of the city and protect the archers on the high platform.
Unfortunately, while both sides were shooting happily from above, there was no movement on the ground. The south gate of Pingcheng was tightly closed, and the Xianbei people had no intention of coming out, so much so that Feng Bachi even suspected that the gate was blocked from the inside.
If that were the case, it would be really simple.
If you don't dare to open the city gate and attack, you will have to defend to the death.
You can't leave the city to destroy other people's siege equipment, you can't launch a large-scale night attack on the enemy, you can't hunt down the troops that have collapsed during the siege, there are too many things you can't do.
If we keep defending like this, we will be doomed sooner or later.
The rain of arrows from the sky continued to fall, and occasionally some of them fell on where Feng Bashi and the others were standing. Listening to the clanging sounds on the wooden boards above his head, Feng Bashi even recalled the rainy nights in Pingqiu in summer.
After being away for several months, I feel a little homesick.
"Shi Ben has surrendered, stop fighting!"
"Dongmugen Mountain has been captured, and your family members have all been captured. What are you still fighting for?"
"Shi Yijian is the legitimate son of the previous king, and his bloodline is precious. Why doesn't he surrender?"
"You have no way out. You can escape by surrendering. Don't make the mistake."
In addition to the exchange of arrows, there were also calls for surrender from all around the city.
Some people shouted in Jin language, some in Xianbei and Wuhuan language, and Feng Bachi just listened for fun.
"General, how is Pingqiu?" asked someone nearby.
"That's it." Feng Bashi said indifferently, "According to the letter, the wheat harvest in May was OK. It rained a little bit, but it was not big. Many new irrigation canals were dug this year, and some dry fields have been turned into irrigated fields. The water mill on the river north of Longxiang Mansion was finally removed. I heard that the Zheng family used their connections to get it back."
"Did you really push it back?"
"How could it be false?" Feng Bachi smiled and said, "Fighting for the King of Liang is really useful! In fact, it's not just Pingqiu. I know a boatman on the Bian River. He went to the Heilongjiang Right Camp and heard him say that many water mills and mills on the Luo River were also demolished. It was difficult to demolish them before because they were all the property of the rich and powerful. Now the Governor Sun of the Right Camp came forward with the military order issued by the Central Commander, saying that if they didn't demolish the water mills, they would demolish their manors. No one dared to disobey."
"General, you are right. Fighting for King Liang is indeed useful." The man said with a smile, "After we capture Pingcheng, King Liang's prestige will grow, and no one will dare to talk nonsense."
Feng Bachi nodded slightly.
As a prefectural soldier, I went to war, but the three households only sent one man as an auxiliary soldier, and the rest of the people could do all the farm work. As long as the farm work was not affected, what did it matter if they went to war all year round? They would definitely be poorer, but it would not be affected too much.
What really had a major impact on them were, first, the great defeat they suffered and the loss of their weapons and armor, and second, the division of their land and troops and the lack of financial resources.
But for now, there is no such worry at all. The grain harvested and the livestock raised at home are sufficient to support the training of myself and at least one of my children and nephews, so my skills can be guaranteed.
Therefore, they sincerely hoped that King Liang would win the battle and become emperor, so that their interests could be guaranteed.
The back-and-forth archery continued until dawn.
In the second half of the night, Feng Bachi and others returned to the camp to rest, and a part of the soldiers from the Bajiao Longxiang Mansion came to relieve them.
The battle never stopped for a moment.
******
Tuoba Hena climbed to the top of the city wall.
The personal guards held up large shields and carefully provided protection.
Arrows kept flying from the opposite side, making sharp sounds of breaking through the air.
There were white arrows everywhere on the shields and towers, and even on the battlements.
When the wind blew, the arrow feathers swayed in the wind, almost obscuring the original appearance of the parapet.
Some arrows flew farther and even landed inside the city. The rotation soldiers who were resting under the city wall suffered heavy casualties and had no choice but to hide in nearby houses.
There are still some damaged areas on the tower.
Last night, the Jin people also got some artillery carts and advanced to more than a hundred steps outside the city wall to fire at night, but they stopped in the second half of the night. This morning, the artillery carts were also withdrawn, the reason was nothing more than that they had no stone bullets, or it was useless and they gave up.
The defenders had hung some cloth curtains on the top of the city to prevent stone bombs, but they were all burned by a volley of rockets fired by the Jin people this morning, so they simply stopped hanging them up.
Overall, the three earthen platforms pose the greatest threat to the city.
The archers took turns to shoot at the city without stopping, forcing them to hold up their shields when walking in the city. People were injured from time to time, and the damage to morale was too great.
Tuoba Hena took a few steps back and looked at the soldiers who were resting inside the tower. They looked numb, panicked, and even a little uncomfortable.
Tuoba Hena could not understand them.
They were all warriors on horseback, so why did they give up the advantage of cavalry and dismount to defend the city? Is this the right thing to do?
No one could answer, not even Tuoba He.
He suddenly remembered that when the capital was moved from Shengle, many people suggested moving to Pingcheng, but his mother rejected the idea on the grounds that it would be difficult to move if the enemy attacked.
Now it seems that what my mother said was right.
After taking Pingcheng, they thought too much and were reluctant to run, so they used their own weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths. It would be better to be straightforward, abandon all the pots and pans, and give full play to their advantages in mobile warfare: if the Jin army attacks, they can fight if they can, and if they can't fight, they can run; if the Jin army retreats, they will chase them vigorously, and at worst, they will eat up the remaining part of them and let them feel the pain.
Pingcheng should only serve as a forward base and a fortress for storing military supplies and fodder, rather than a southern capital.
It’s a pity that by the end of the fight, even my mother couldn’t see through it anymore.
Perhaps, it wasn't that she couldn't see through it, but that she had no other choice.
Tuoba Yulu was killed after failing once. If his brother and mother lost too many points, their fate would not be any better - perhaps, they were worried about themselves?
Thinking of this, Tuoba Hena smiled bitterly. At this time, he really didn't need to attack his own family.
"Whoosh!" A thick crossbow arrow flew from not far away and hit the top of the city wall.
Dust fell down and everyone looked at it with their mouths wide open, at a loss.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two more crossbow arrows flew over.
One of the bullets went through the crowd, knocking down several people, and screams rang out one after another.
One nail was stuck in the parapet, peeling off large pieces of plaster.
Tuoba He's scalp tingled and he took a few steps back.
"Can't we just destroy those earthen platforms?" he asked anxiously, looking outside the city.
Avoiding his eyes left and right.
Obviously, no, they couldn't. Or maybe the Jin people were waiting for them to attack so that they could use the opportunity to consume the defenders' strength and save effort when attacking the city.
When Tuoba Hena saw this, his heart sank.
He had just inspected the east side of the city, and it seemed that they were also carrying soil and tamping down the earthen platform there.
When it comes to attacking and defending cities, the people of Jin are better at it.
An aide in the palace mentioned that many large cities in the Han area had horse-faced guards, or high platforms outside the city, called "enemy platforms", to prevent this. However, the Xianbei people did not understand, and were even far inferior to the Xiongnu in this regard, leading to this.
"Swoosh! Whoosh!" Dense arrows attacked this side. Obviously, the Jin army judged that there was an important target here.
The defenders fought back, and men fell on both sides. Although it was just an exchange of arrows, the bloodiness was no less intense, and casualties increased dramatically.
Tuoba He retreated wisely. With a heavy heart, he began to seriously consider whether it was necessary to defend Pingcheng. After all, most of the elderly, weak, women and children were not here, so it was not too late to withdraw now.
If they delay any further, some people may surrender out of desperation. If the Jin people or Helan Aitou know about their temporary pasture, the situation will deteriorate sharply.
But the decision to retreat was not something he could make alone...
******
"Boom, boom, boom..." Amid the continuous drumbeats, several phalanxes had been lined up in the south of the city, which was the main attack direction, including both infantry and cavalry, roughly counting no less than 15,000.
The fully armed Luonan Prefecture soldiers and part of the Silver Spear Army were lined up in the rear, with 5,000 Dingling Zhai Shu troops leading the way.
Of course they were reluctant, but as long as there was the slightest movement, the rear team would kill the front team, and they would have no chance of survival at all.
In addition, family members who are still in Zhongshan County of Jizhou will also be demoted to slaves, although in this world many people no longer care about their families and only care about their own life and death.
Dozens of ladder trucks were pushed out.
The first group of more than a thousand people from Zhai Shu's army got into the belly of the vehicle and slowly pushed it forward.
There were more than a dozen smoke trucks sandwiched between the ladder trucks. Today, the south wind was blowing, but not strong, which was just right for the use of such siege equipment.
A new group of archers and crossbowmen were replaced on the three earthen platforms.
As they were about to attack the city, the arrows were shot more and more frequently.
The archers of the Silver Spear Army didn't even care about casualties, and repeatedly leaned forward to shoot arrows.
Drum sounds also rang out in the west and east of the city.
The Wuhuan people from the west and the Huangtou army from the east launched a round of feint attack to attract the attention of the defenders.
The Yicong Army was deployed in the rear. Although the soldiers were sitting on the ground, they were fully armed and ready to attack at any time.
War costs lives.
And the man commanding this siege didn't seem to care much about human life.
The high-nosed and deep-eyed Dingling people had already pushed the ladder truck to the foot of the city, becoming the first fuel for the meat grinder.
(End of this chapter)