Farmer of Shu Han

Just when Cao Xiu wrote the memorial and was about to send it to Chang'an, the Han army, which was guarding Bindao City in Nan'an County, finally began to march towards Longxi again after nearly two months.

This time, the commander-in-chief of the Han army has changed to the word Zhuge, and Zhuge Liang, the false prime minister of Shu, led the troops here himself. It seems that the war in the east is not good.

Hao Zhao led Liangzhou soldiers and horses, relied on the elite horse army, and tried to fight against the Shu army in the wild. He thought he could take advantage of it, but he didn't expect that the opponent would form a formation that he had never seen before.

Not only is the head and tail seamless, but no matter where you attack from, you will encounter the same number of Han troops, which is really weird.

More importantly, even if the gap is opened, the horse army will not be able to play a role at all if they rush into the formation, and they will often be submerged in the siege from all directions.

There is no way to continue to rush forward, let alone repeatedly attack, and no matter which direction you attack from, you will be surrounded by superior forces.

If I hadn't seen the opportunity quickly, I'm afraid I would be surrounded by Shu captives who came up from behind.

Fortunately, the Han army did not have a horse army, so in the end, Hao Zhao had to retreat in the direction of Xiangwu City, the prefecture of Longxi County, after leaving behind more than 2,000 corpses and wounded soldiers.

At the end of April in Longyou, the weather has started to become hot.

Under the scorching sun, shoulder to shoulder, head to toe, the fallen soldiers of the Han army and the Wei army were mixed together in a haphazard manner, most of them were stiff and motionless.

But there were still some people lying there, whining and moaning endlessly, and even mutilated bodies convulsed from time to time.

Swarms of flies have already begun to crawl and buzz on the faces of the dead soldiers.

Blood, sweat, blood, rotten meat, excrement and drowning are everywhere, and the hot wind rushes over...

At the edge of the battlefield, there are war horses neighing in a low voice, hovering next to their dead master, unwilling to leave.

This time, the Han army no longer advanced lightly like last time.

After clearing up the battlefield, they continued to move forward slowly, advancing towards Longxi, and finally set up camp under Xiangwu City, cutting wood for siege tools.

Hao Zhao, who originally wanted to take advantage of the victory of the Han army and underestimate the enemy, had no chance to ambush him, so he had to retreat to Xiangwu City.

At the head of Xiangwu City in Longxi County, Hao Zhao frowned as he looked at the flag of the Shu army in the distance.

He was only over forty years old, his waist was stiff, his chin was always raised habitually, and his face was serious.

Because he has been stationed in Hexi for many years and has been caressed by the wind and sand in the frontier, it seems to make others age faster, and there are already weather-beaten wrinkles on his forehead.

The city was windy, and the gray hair was blown upside down.

Liangzhou was originally the place where the Qiang and Hu rebelled, and now the Great Wei had to deal not only with Wu and Shu, but also with the Xianbei in the north, so naturally the princes of the court and the central government would not have too much interest in the west.

If they really paid attention to it, the most important Tianshui County in Longyou would not have fallen into the hands of Shu captives so easily.

Walking hurriedly behind him, I saw You Chu, the prefect of Longxi, walking over quickly with a serious expression, "General, there have been traces of Shu captives in the north of the city. It seems that they are going to cross the Wei River and surround the city."

Hao Zhao shook his head, "It's okay, I've already expected this, and I have sent people to block the south bank of the Wei River to prevent them from crossing the river."

"And I look at the camp of the Shu captives, and the information obtained from the sentry cavalry, the Shu captives should not exceed 50,000. Now there are more than 20,000 soldiers in Xiangwu City, and the people in the city are united and fearless."

As the prefect of Longyou, You Chu naturally knew his own weaknesses, "It's just that Longxi is located in a remote area, and the small wall of Xiangwu City is low, which is not good for defending."

This is why he would tell the Shu captives that as long as the other party can block the Long Dao for a month, he will surrender.

A city like Xiangwu would not be able to defend a city for a month if the opponent had enough troops.

Of the four counties in Longyou, the largest city is Jicheng in Tianshui County. Unfortunately, when Tianshui County heard that the Shu captives were coming, they raised their flags and surrendered.

"The smallness of the city is not a big problem." Hao Zhao glanced at You Chu with sharp eyes. "Our elite horse army can half defend the city and half swim outside the city, waiting for opportunities to attack and harass them, so that they can't concentrate on attacking the city."

Xiangwu City was built on the edge of the Wei River. As long as people were sent to guard the river, the Shu captives would not be able to surround the city and cut off the connection between the inside and the outside of the city.

There are more than 20,000 people defending the city, and the Shu captives are only 50,000 attacking the city. No matter how you defend it, it is not a problem. The biggest problem for your side is not the city, not the strength of the troops, but the food and grass.

An army of 20,000 horses consumes a lot of food and grass a day.

However, Longxi County is the most remote county in Longyou. It is desolate and there is not much food and grass. Not to mention that Nan'an is in the hands of the Shu captives, it is not easy to transport food from Liangzhou.

Even if it can be transported, Liangzhou, where the Qiang and Hu rebelled all the year round, may not have enough food and grass supply.

Presumably the Shu captives had thought of this a long time ago, so they stabilized the eastern front first and did not rush to attack Xiangwu City.

Thinking of this, Hao Zhao regretted endlessly, "It was my mistake. If we took advantage of the Shu captives to deal with the east and captured Bindao City in Nan'an County, we wouldn't be so passive."

When You Chu heard this, he shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Why should the general blame himself so much? The general guarding Bindao City is Wei Yan, a Shu captive general, with more than 10,000 men, and with the assistance of the rebel army from Nan'an County, how can the general's 20,000 horse army attack the enemy?" come down?"

"This is also a point of doubt," Hao Zhao looked at the Shu army in the distance, with worry in his eyes, "20,000 horses can't attack the city of Bindao, which is guarded by more than 10,000 Shu captives. How can we have the confidence to capture Xiangwu City, which is guarded by more than 20,000 people?"

Hearing Hao Zhao's words, You Chu was also a little puzzled, "Although the Shu captives are said to have hundreds of thousands of people, after more than two months of investigation, it seems that there are more than a hundred thousand of them at most."

"These 50,000 horses are already half of the Shu captives' army strength, and with the fact that Zhuge Liang personally led the army, it seems that they are the main force of the Shu captives."

Hao Zhao nodded, "So, if we can hold Xiangwu City this time, they may not be able to send more soldiers and horses. Moreover, it is more than a thousand miles from Hanzhong to Xiangwu."

"We don't have enough food and grass. According to someone, the Shu captives may not be able to supply the food and grass. This time it's just to see who can consume more energy."

"Furthermore, the counties in Longyou are suffering from wars. This year, at least half of their food crops will be in short supply. If the Shu captives want to appease the people of Longyou, food is indispensable. No doubt, they are more short of food than we are."

You Chujiu lived in Longyou, so he knew Longyou better than Hao Zhao. I heard that in the past two years, the aristocratic family in Longyou bought a lot of grain from Guanzhong. If they are willing to help, the Shu captives may not have to worry about food shortages. .

What's more, his good friend Gongsun Zheng had been to Hanzhong himself, and he knew how much preparation the Shu captives had made to conspire against Longyou.

Zhuge Liang had been in Hanzhong for more than a year, but the princes in the court did not think about strengthening the defenses in Longyou, which made You Chu feel helpless.

It's just that these words can't be said at this time.

Because what he said to the Shu captives at the beginning to guard the city for a month and then surrender, has now been known by Hao Zhao.

Although Hao Zhao didn't say it on the surface, it can be seen from his words and deeds that he is already dissatisfied with himself.

If cold water is poured on him again at this time, Hao Zhao may decide that he is really ready to surrender.

You Chu was thinking about it, when he suddenly saw a man and a horse coming from the direction of the Shulu camp.

"Who is that?"

Hao Zhao was a little strange.

"Could it be that you are here to fight?"

You Chu said speculatively.

Hao Zhao saw the person getting closer, his face changed slightly, and he said, "It may also be to persuade him to surrender."

I saw the man come to the city and shouted loudly, "Hao Bodao (Hao Zhaozi), my old friend Jin Xiang came to see me."

When You Chu heard it, he understood.

Hao Zhao responded by relying on the city, "Although you and I are old friends, I am the general of Wei, and you have surrendered to Shu. Now the army is facing each other. In order to avoid misunderstanding, please come back, sir. Only when the fighting subsides, if you want to, I will fight with you again. Reminiscing about old friendships, sir."

Jin Xiang sighed, "Why is Bo Dao so unkind?"

"Even if you don't tell me what you're here for, someone knows about it!" Hao Zhao said emotionally, "Mr. was also a native of Wei, so he should be familiar with Wei's laws and regulations."

"Anyone who fails to defend the city and surrenders to the enemy for no reason will have his family members affected. Do you want me to behave like a son of man?"

"Furthermore, Hao Zhao is a man, and you know it well. I have received great kindness from Wei Guo and I have a prominent family. I have already made up my mind to die. You don't need to waste your time here, sir. Please go back and tell Zhuge Liang, let him lead the army to attack the city. "

Before Jin Xiang could say anything, he was blocked by Hao Zhao. In desperation, he had no choice but to turn his horse's head around, return to the camp, and relay the story to the prime minister.

Hearing Jin Xiang's retelling, Zhuge Liang looked at Xiangwu City in the distance, frowned and said, "If you take it by force, I'm afraid there will be heavy casualties. If you go again, tell him that there is a huge disparity in military strength and that Guanzhong If you can’t help, why do you need to resist?”

Jin Xiang came to the city of Xiangwu again, Hao Zhao's attitude was still firm, only to hear him shout loudly, "I have already said my words to death before, sir, there is no need to say more. I recognize sir, but the bow and arrow don't recognize sir. You still Come back to camp quickly."

When Jin Xiang heard the words, he knew that his heart was unshakable, so he had no choice but to retreat.

"Prime Minister, this person has rejected the Prime Minister's kindness several times. He really doesn't know what is good or bad. Let the last general lead the army to attack the city and let him know how powerful it is!"

Seeing that Jin Xiang failed to persuade him to surrender again, Wei Yan felt annoyed on his face, and volunteered to speak.

Zhuge Liang glanced at Wei Yan, his eyes flashed brightly, and pondered for a while, "Alright, you can try to attack the city first tomorrow."

Although the new type of rock-throwing vehicle is powerful, judging from the results of Shangyu's experiment, even if it is to break the city, it will take several days or even ten days of continuous rock-throwing.

There are a lot of stones needed, and the craftsmen have to polish them in advance, so that the power will be even greater.

More importantly, the men and horses controlling the catapult were not here, but far away in Guangwei County, so if they wanted to capture Xiangwu at this time, they could only attack the city in the old way.

The next day, Wei Yan led his army to the city of Xiangwu, but saw that the moats of Xiangwu city were very wide and the water was deep, making it difficult to approach the city.

It turns out that in the past two months, Hao Zhaoyou Chu and others have dug deeper and widened the moat, and it is no longer what it used to be.

Wei Yan had no choice but to shill the soldiers to transport soil to fill the trench, and then packed the rock and soil in sackcloth bags, and then asked people to chop wood and throw weeds into it, preparing to fill up the moat.

At this time, there was a sound of drums on the city, and the Wei army who had been hiding on the top of the city shouted in unison, raised their bows and crossbows, and the arrows rained down. For a while, the Han army screamed and fell to the ground.

"Raise the scull shield!"

Wei Yan asked people to raise a large shield to protect the soldiers filling the river, but in this way, the speed of filling the river was much slower.

At this time, there was another cry of killing coming from the right. It turned out that Hao Zhao had a team there and was about to charge over.

Fortunately, after Zhuge Liang came in person, he quickly sent someone forward to block it.