Farmer of Shu Han

In fact, Lu Xun did not know how much preparations he had made in secret for this battle.

With the speed at which he led the army to cut off the Han River, even if Hu Zhi could come at a normal speed, it was still unknown whether he could break through the defense line of the Wu Guoshui Army on the Han River and re-establish the connection with Xiangyang.

But people always like not to hit the south wall without looking back, and not to give up without seeing the Yellow River.

With the current situation in Xiangyang, it is obvious that there is only a river to the north, and Wei Guo has enough troops, but he can only watch helplessly as the Wu army besieges Xiangyang.

With nothing to do, a normal person will naturally think "I knew it was like this, so I might as well..." in my heart.

Or "why don't you..." thoughts.

As I walked along this road, I couldn't get through, and I always subconsciously imagined whether it would be better if I took another road.

Guanqiu Jian has been in Jingzhou for a long time, and he has accumulated a lot of experience in military affairs.

After all, before Wei Guo lost Guanzhong, the small-scale encounters between Xiangyang and Nanjun had never stopped.

It's just that this is the first time Guanqiu Jian has encountered such a big battle.

Moreover, he was flanked by Lu Xun and Feng Yong at the same time.

This kind of treatment is no one else, and it is normal to deal with some mistakes.

Although Feng Yong ran away halfway through the fight.

There is a feeling of giving up halfway.

But the name of a person is the shadow of a tree.

Facing the famous and vicious King Feng Gui, Guan Qiujian, who was stationed at Caoqiao Pass in person, still did not dare to be careless after the withdrawal of the Han army on the other side.

The company sent more than a dozen teams of scouts to confirm that the Han army had retreated to Wuguan, so he dared to lead the troops back to assist Xiangyang.

What he didn't expect was that the situation in Xiangyang had deteriorated to such an extent.

Under the anxiety, he naturally did not have a good tone.

It's just that Hu Zhi was also full of anger.

As for the leading generals at the front, which one likes to be restrained by those things in the rear like a puppet?

It is their credit for winning the battle.

If you lose a battle, the responsibility is all on yourself.

Unfortunately, Hu Zhi is now facing the second situation.

Facing the defense line on the Hanshui River personally arranged by Lu Xun, Wei Guo, which did not have many naval troops, naturally had a headache for Guan Qiujian and Hu Zhi.

"What do we do now?"

Hu Zhi didn't care about Guan Qiujian's tone, he just looked at him and asked.

Guanqiu Jian has lived in Jingzhou for a long time and is familiar with the situation in Jingzhou. If even he has no idea, then the two of them will be punished!

Unexpectedly, Wuqiu Jian shook his head:

But hear him say:

"No one has a good solution for the current plan. The only way is to see if we can rely on Fancheng to rebuild the pontoon bridge on the Hanshui River to connect with Xiangyang."

Hu Zhi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this, isn't this going to break through Lu Xun's water defense line?

After thinking about it, Hu Zhi asked again:

"What about Shangyong? Can Shangyong's defenders put pressure on Wu Kou from the west?"

Hearing this, Guanqiu Jian showed a wry smile:

"During Emperor Wen's reign, the powerful clans in Shangyong and other places were not small. When the first emperor came to the throne, the Shen family and others dared to engrave official talismans privately and bestow them on others in the name of the Son of Heaven."

Having said that, Guan Qiujian sighed:

"After Sima Taifu personally quelled Shangyong Mengda's rebellion, the imperial court wanted to investigate the household registration and land of the local Ding, but he was stopped by Sima Taifu."

"It is only said that the Shu captives were bound by a dense net, so they were abandoned. The great Wei Yihong made an outline, and the officials were naturally at ease, so the court no longer mentioned this matter."

"Besides, Sima Taifu has been guarding Wancheng for a long time, persuading farming and mulberry, and prohibiting floating fees. Therefore, most of the local officials in the south are grateful for Sima Taifu's kindness."

In fact, there are extremely complicated historical reasons for the problem of power in Shangyong and other places.

More recently, it dates back at least to the period when Emperor Wu and Liu Bei competed for Hanzhong.

(Note: Shangyong and other places belonged to Yizhou in the Eastern Han Dynasty)

Farther away, it can even be traced back to Liu Biao, Liu Yan, Zhang Lu and others.

Shangyong and other counties are located at the junction of Nanyang, Xiangyang and Hanzhong.

It is also surrounded by Bashan Mountain, and the road is difficult.

In the past few decades, no matter which forces have owned this place, they must appease the local tyrants.

Hu Zhi frowned:

"General Wuqiu has been guarding Jingzhou for so many years, but he still hasn't been able to get the officials from the mediocre place to return to the court?"

When Guanqiu Jian heard this, he cursed in his heart:

What nonsense!

When the first emperor was there, Sima Taifu was an auxiliary minister, and officials from Shangyong and other places, which one was not loyal to the court?

When the first emperor visited Xuchang in the east, Sima Taifu retreated to Luoyang, and the Great Wei lost even Guanzhong.

I have to guard against both Wuguan in the north and the Wu people in the south. How can I have the energy to appease Shangyong and other places in the west?

To be honest, given the current situation in the world, these places have not been in chaos, and it is already rare to have the intention to return to Xishu.

Still want Shangyong to send troops?

Not to mention Sima Yi, are all the Shu captives in Hanzhong dead?

Seeing Guanqiu Jian's ugly face, Hu Zhi coughed and didn't ask any more questions, so he had to change the subject:

"Is there enough food in Xiangyang City?"

Guanqiu Jian's face was gloomy.

Hu Zhi's heart sank, and his face turned ugly:

What do you mean?

After working in Jingzhou for so many years, I didn't do this well, and I didn't do that well. What the hell did you do?

He was thinking, only to hear Guanqiu Jian finally said:

"When Emperor Wen was here, all the ministers in the court discussed the affairs of Jingzhou, and they all said that there was no valley in Xiangyang. Zhonghou (that is, Cao Ren) used this as an excuse to return Wancheng."

"After Emperor Wen agreed, Zhonghou also burned down the second city of Xiangfan and returned it to the north. Later Sun Quan sent people to occupy Xiangyang, and Zhonghou followed the order to crusade and regained Xiangyang again."

"In order to prevent the people in the south of the Han River from being forced by the Wu people, not only ordinary people, but also many barbarians were moved to the north of the Han River by the Zhonghou."

"Over the years, the area between Xiangyang and Nanjun has become white land! Therefore, most of the food in Xiangyang is transported from the north."

Having said that, Guanqiu Jian closed his mouth.

(Note: In the original history, because of the lack of food in Jingzhou, Lu Xun of Wu State wrote to Sun Quan, asking the soldiers of Jingzhou to garrison the fields; and when Yanghu of Jin State took over the defense of Jingzhou, there was no food for a hundred days in the army, which shows the shortage of food in Jingzhou)

When Hu Zhi heard this, he was silent for a while, and then asked:

"How long will the remaining food in Xiangyang be enough for the defenders?"

"Most of Jingzhou's military rations are stationed in Wancheng, and there is not much food in Xiangyang, at most it will only be three months."

In fact, if he didn't take away part of the defenders, Xiangyang's military rations could last up to a month.

This is actually impossible.

After all, Xiangyang is considered to be on the front line and separated by the Han River, so it can be described as an isolated city south of the Han River.

It is impossible for anyone with a little military knowledge to put a large amount of military rations there.

"Three months..."

Hu Zhi pondered, then looked up to the south.

"That is to say, even if Xiangyang is not destroyed by Wu Kou, it can only be guarded for another two months at most?"

Xiangyang has been besieged for almost a month.

If this month is deducted from three months, isn't it just two months left?

Guanqiu Jian still didn't answer, he also looked up to the south.

Maybe, maybe it can last for two and a half months?

Because there is a high possibility that it has already fallen!

If the defenders in Weizhong lost too much to retreat to Xiangyang City, then there would be even fewer defenders in Xiangyang.

But in the same way, the fewer defenders, the more difficult it is to defend a big city like Xiangyang.

"There are still two months left, try to get through the contact between Xiangfan and Xiangfan."

It's useless to talk too much, Guanqiu Jian and Hu Zhi started to try to connect Xiangyang from Fancheng.

It's just that Fancheng, facing the Hanshui River in the south, can be said to be under the eyes of the Wu Army and the Navy.

As soon as the two made a move, Wu Jun knew about it immediately.

"General, the bandit army in Fancheng seems to be moving!"

Lu Xun seemed to have expected it a long time ago, and smiled lightly:

"I thought that the thieves would go downstream from Shangyong, but I didn't expect that they would still forcefully break through from Fancheng."

Speaking of this, Lu Xun seemed to be thinking, and then there was a look of disbelief on his face:

"Could it be that the thief has given up on Xiangyang?"

To the west of Luzhong are Fangling and Shangyong.

If it is said that when Dawu attacked Luzhong, because of the barrier of Bashan, the bandit troops in Shangyong and other places could not reinforce in time.

So now that Xiangyang has been besieged for so long, it stands to reason that the thieves from Shangyong and other places should have arrived.

To be honest, if reinforcements from the bandits came from Shangyong and other places, Lu Xun would be a little worried.

Because Shangyong and other places can not only reach Xiangyang directly by water, but also go ashore halfway and take land.

And if he wanted to compete with the Wei army on land, Lu Xun naturally didn't dare to rest assured.

Now the thief of Shangyong has not made any movement, which makes people as calm as Lu Xun uncontrollably rejoicing:

In the past, when Guan Yu attacked Xiangfan, Shangyong's reinforcements never arrived, so he was defeated and died.

Today I am attacking Xiangfan, but Shangyong's reinforcements have not arrived. Could it be that this is God's will, and I am destined to succeed?

Thinking of this, Lu Xun's eyes flashed, he looked at the north subconsciously, and then immediately ordered:

"Come here, take my warrant, go to the general step, and tell him that we must send more scouts, and be careful of the bandits in Shangyong and other places. If there is news of the bandits, we must report back immediately!"

"Here!"

After finishing the order, he looked in the direction of Fancheng again, with a smile on the corner of his mouth:

"Want to rebuild the pontoon bridge from Fancheng? How many sailors do you have?"

No sailors?

If you want to pass the Han River, then go dreaming!

This is also the reason why he wanted to destroy the water village of Xiangyang City as soon as possible after cutting off the Han River.

It is to eliminate as much as possible the navy army deployed by the Wei thief in Jingzhou.

At this time, on the Xiangyang city wall, Pu Zhong, the guard of the Wei army, looked at Xianshou Mountain outside the city to the south, with a worried look on his face.

Xianshou Mountain, which was originally the gateway to Xiangyang, has already been filled with Wu's flags.

Turn your head again and look to the north.

On the surface of the Han River, there are densely packed Wu Kingdom water troops.

But the only hope, the direction of Shangyong, still has no news.

At this moment, Pu Zhong was somewhat desperate.

Xiangyang City is indeed very big, with very high and thick walls.

But at this time, Pu Zhong hopes that Xiangyang City can be smaller, and even smaller.

Otherwise, when the Wu army is ready, the guards in their hands will continue to rush between the various sections of the city wall.

Not to mention that now that Wu Kou occupies high places such as Mount Xian, he can see the layout of the city clearly.

Over time, the soldiers will inevitably be unable to do what they can.

If the imperial reinforcements cannot arrive in time, it will only be a matter of time before the defense falls.

I was thinking about it, only to hear a report:

"General, Wu Kou shot the letter into the city!"

"Oh?" When Pu Zhong heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and he stretched out his hand and said, "Show me."

Opening the letter, as expected, it was Wu Kou's persuading letter.

It is nothing more than a million elite soldiers besieging the city. The king is benevolent and righteous. He can't bear the suffering of the people and soldiers in the city. He persuaded himself to open the city gate and surrender.

Before Pu Zhong finished reading it, he tore it up and said to the soldiers:

"From the head of Xiangyang City, you can see the north bank of the Han River. The imperial reinforcements have arrived, and they are trying to break out the thieves."

"Wu Kou's benefit lies in the navy, what else is there for the rest?"

"But how can the navy attack the city? So as long as we defend the city and do not surrender, the bandits have nothing to do."

Having said that, he glanced around again, raised his voice, and said:

"In the future, if any more letters from thieves enter the city, they will all be burned, and they must not be kept privately, otherwise they will be beheaded!"

All the soldiers suddenly responded.

Lu Xun, Zhu Ran, and Bu Zhi shot letters of persuasion into the city from different directions, and after receiving no response.

Knowing that the defenders in the city were determined to defend the city, they began to prepare for the siege.

Before the counterweight catapult was used in siege, no matter when and what generation, the way of siege basically did not change much.

Pushing carts, erecting ladders, boarding carts, piling up hills, digging tunnels...

They are all filled with human lives.

Although now because of the illegal crossing of a certain ground turtle, Ji Han has embarked on a completely different path, and at the same time mastered the counterweight trebuchet more than a thousand years in advance.

But the engineering camp is Ji Han's secret, especially after the Yang Yi incident, Feng Duhu pays more attention to the secrecy of the engineering camp.

Although Wei Guo also knew something about stone cannons, he didn't have professionals, and didn't have a lot of experiments, and didn't have a lot of actual combat.

High imitation is impossible, the most is to come up with a copycat version, and it may even be the Pinxixi version.

Ma Jun is powerful, but no matter how powerful he is, how many nails can he drive?

Not to mention those projectile parameters.

As for the craftsmen who built this thing, they need to be trained.

And the soldiers who operate this thing also need to be trained.

This also involves certain mathematics, physics, materials, organs and other knowledge.

Even Ji Han's engineering battalion has a standardized embryonic form, but it takes a lot of time to prepare to build a qualified stone cannon that is powerful enough and large enough to take down a big city.

Not to mention that Dui Shi Pao only heard its name, but never saw the real Wu State.

The southeast of Xiangyang City is the main attack direction of Wu State, and it is also where Zhu Ran is located.

In order to capture Xiangyang City as soon as possible, Lu Xun equipped Zhu Ran with the most elite soldiers.

Team after team of Wu soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, and civilian husbands braved the rain of arrows, and under the cover of the soldiers holding the big poles in the front row, they carried soil bags and pushed carts filled with earth and rocks, pouring them into the moat continuously. .

During this process, people were constantly shot by arrows, or fell to the ground and howled, or were seriously injured and died.

This is a price to be paid, and it is only the beginning.

A few days later, Zhu Ran stood under the city of Xiangyang and made a promise to the generals of the Wu army who were about to attack the city:

"The great general only wants Xiangyang. After the city is broken, you will take all the gold and silk from the children in the city."

"However, if the siege fails," Zhu Ran looked at everyone and said with a single word, "Ner and other children in the family, Jinbo, may be owned by others!"

After speaking, he drew his sword and shouted, "Siege the city!"

The rumble of war drums sounded.

Wu soldiers carrying ladders and other siege equipment began to rush towards Xiangyang City.

"Let the arrow!"

The guard at the top of the city watched Wu Jun enter the range and began to give orders.

Logically speaking, for a big city like Xiangyang, in addition to the moat, another sheep wall should be built under the city.

One or even several refusal horses can be arranged in front of the sheep wall.

In this way, the defenders at the top of the city can continue to consume the troops of the attacking side.

But at this time, the Xiangyang defenders had too few troops, and Pu Zhong had no choice but to bring all the troops into the city.

This led to the fact that Wu Jun could directly attack the city after filling up the moat.

The arrows were like locusts, but they did not frighten the Wu army who attacked the city.

Not only that, but Zhu Ran immediately threw in heavy troops after probing and roughly finding out the number of defenders.

Wave after wave of offensives, regardless of casualties.

"Crack!"

A light ladder with an iron hook was placed on the city wall, and it was firmly hooked to the parapet.

Wu Bing under the city began to climb up.

When they climbed halfway, stones and rolling logs were suddenly thrown down from the top of the wall.

Many unlucky Wu soldiers were smashed to pieces on the spot.

And some light ladders, before they reached the top of the city, Wei Jun stretched out his long refusal guns when the top of the city was prepared, shouted in unison, and took the ladders out.

And the ladder is not so easy to destroy.

The thick chassis is destined to be difficult for soldiers to stand on the narrow city head, and it cannot be easily damaged.

But it is also not enough to protect the siege soldiers.

Every time he climbed halfway, Wu Bing fell from midair like a dumpling in the water.

The sound of killing, howling, and the human body being hit by some object made a dull sound like defeating leather...

Haunting over the sky of Xiangyang City, it will not leave for a long time.

Zhu Ran did not go to the front to supervise the battle, but handed over the front line to Zhu Yi.

As for himself, he returned to Xianshou Mountain, stood on the top of the mountain, and looked at the city of Xiangyang.

Beside him are the soldiers with the best eyesight in the army.

"General, the commander-in-chief of the bandit army is here!"

Zhu Ran nodded and remained silent.

My direction is the main way to enter and exit Xiangyang, and it is also the most convenient position to attack the city.

It is understandable for the thief generals defending the city to put heavy troops here.

"Send someone to tell Captain Cavalry (that is, Zhu Yi) to continue sending more troops!"

"Here!"

"Send someone to the west and tell the infantry general that we can start."

"Here!"