Chapter 858: A brutal siege
Chapter 858: Fierce Siege
Chapter 856: Fierce siege
At Hulao Pass, Li Shimin was injured, so he did not personally direct the guarding of the gate, but he handed over the important task of guarding the gate to his good brother Yang Guang.
Yang Guang also knew that Li Shimin was actually paving the way for himself by letting him defend the city.
He lost 50,000 cavalry in the previous defeat. It is impossible for Li Shimin not to bear responsibility for such a huge mistake. Whether he can continue to serve as the commander in the future is a question.
Except for Li Shimin, the only candidates who are qualified to become the chief generals of the Liang Army are Yang Jian, Li Yuan, and Yang Guang.
And Li Shimin now arranges for Yang Guang to defend the city, which shows that he hopes that Yang Guang will take over his team. Of course, this is also the reason why he understands that Li Yuan is no match for Qin Hao.
Yang Guang knew that Li Shimin had good intentions, but he and his father Yang Jian were actually unwilling to wade into this muddy water. After all, his opponent was Qin Hao, who had never lost before.
Yang Guang believes that there is still a gap between him and Li Shimin, but Li Shimin lost to Qin Hao, how could he be Qin Hao's opponent?
Whether Yang Guang wants it or not, these are not things he can decide. Yang Guang can only wait silently in his heart, hoping that Dong Zhuo will not be stupid and withdraw Li Shimin, otherwise no one will really be able to contain Qin Hao.
Yang Guang felt uneasy and led some of the uninjured generals to the city to guard the pass. When he looked at the neat formation of Cao's army below the city, a solemn look flashed in Yang Guang's eyes.
They are all elites. Does Cao Cao need to fight so hard?
Yang Guang thought to himself, but he didn't worry too much because he had absolute confidence in the defense of Hulao Pass.
When he saw Cao Jun blowing the charge horn, Yang Guang pulled out the sword from his waist and shouted: "Get ready to release the catapult."
In the middle part of Hulao Gate, there is a catapult every ten meters, a total of one hundred.
Following Yang Guang's order, thousands of rocks flew into the sky and hit Cao Jun's formation hard.
Cao Cao had long been on guard against the catapults that were locked in Hulao, so he ordered the army to charge in a loose formation, thus avoiding being hit by flying rocks to the greatest extent.
Thousands of flying stones are thrown at Hulao Gate every round, so no matter how loose Cao Jun's formation is, there will still be unlucky people who will be hit by flying stones, and once they are hit, it means there is no doubt.
Boom…Boom…Boom…
The flying rocks in the sky were like bombers, constantly wreaking havoc on Cao Jun's formation, and they bombarded Cao Jun in an instant.
miserable shouts rang out one after another, but Cao Jun's soldiers still held their shields high and charged with gritted teeth at the risk of being hit by flying rocks.
Soon, Cao Jun rushed through the attack range of the catapult, but what they had to face next was a rain of arrows from the sky.
“Raise your shield.”
I don’t know who yelled, and then Cao Jun’s very loose formation quickly closed up within tens of seconds, defending itself while also protecting the archers behind.
At the same time, more than 20 wells of the coalition forces were also pushed up by the soldiers, but a few were smashed in the process.
Although the well fence built by the coalition forces is not as high as the city wall, it can still shoot arrows into the pass after approaching the city tower. This can also suppress the archers inside the pass and cover the cloud echelons outside the pass to attack the city.
While the coalition's Jing Lan and the Liang army's archers were shooting at each other, the Liang army's catapults were also aimed at the immobile Jing Lan. Over time, the Jing Lan would definitely be smashed. However, because the well gate attracted the firepower of Liang's catapults, Cao's archers, also covered by shieldmen, quickly formed an array outside the city wall and shot arrows from bottom to top.
The archers on the well fence and the archers behind the shield simultaneously suppressed the Liang army's archers, while the soldiers carrying sandbags behind them rushed over and threw the sandbags into the moat, and then quickly retreated into the shield formation.
The escalator team and the city assault vehicle also rushed up together at this time. After the aerial ladder team set up the ladder, the soldiers at the rear immediately climbed up quickly, while the city assault vehicle wildly hit the city gate, but the city gate had been blocked by Yang Guang If it is sealed in advance, it cannot be broken open no matter what.
Yang Guang, who was on the city tower, could not help but feel some pressure in his heart when he saw how skillfully Cao's troops cooperated with each other in attacking the city without a trace of chaos.
"The moat has not even been filled yet, so we sent ladders to attack the city. Cao Mengde, are you willing to fight so hard?"
Yang Guang is too lazy to care about what Cao Cao thinks. The only thing he considers now is to defend Hulao Pass at the minimum cost.
“The catapults immediately stopped throwing flying stones, and fire oil cans were used to deal with the coalition’s wells.”
A hint of coldness flashed in Yang Guang's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Prepare the stones and roll the logs. Make sure you hit them accurately. You must not let an enemy soldier climb up."
Cao Jun's soldiers have obviously been trained in climbing. They are very agile when climbing ladders, and some of them can flexibly avoid rocks. Of course, larger rolling logs are difficult to avoid.
After being hit, the soldier in front screamed and fell down and became a meat pie, while the soldier in the back followed up, but was also smashed down after a while, and this was repeated.
Suddenly, dozens of fireballs flew out of the city tower and hit them in the same manner as the well. Of course, most of them missed, but one or two hits were enough to destroy the well.
The soldiers who were affected by the fire oil screamed and ran around on the battlefield. However, they were caught up by soldiers on the side before they could take more than two steps, and they used sand to extinguish the flames on their bodies.
Some soldiers used sand and earth to extinguish the fire on the well railing, but after it was extinguished, the kerosene came back again. After repeated attempts, the well railing would still be damaged, but at this time the new well railing at the rear had also been pushed up.
Cao Jun’s current siege method is the most typical death attack. This method of siege does not cause casualties at all, so the losses in the siege battle are also the largest.
Seeing this, Cao Ren looked distressed, and immediately ran to Cao Cao's side and said: "My lord, the casualties of such an attack are too great. This time, three hundred elite soldiers were lost in just one hour. If we continue to attack like this, even if If we attack for only one day, our army will pay a huge price."
Cao Cao, however, did not blink an eyelid and said calmly: "Continue to attack, and those who retreat will be killed."
"this…"
“In addition, I will send another order. The first person to climb the Guan Hulao Pass will be rewarded with a hundred catties and promoted to three levels.”
Looking at Cao Cao's unquestionable look, Cao Ren sighed, cupped his fists and said, "No."
After Cao Ren left, Cao Cao also took a deep breath, then turned his head and took a deep look in the direction of the princes.
“Troubled times are coming, and if you want to protect yourself, you must have enough strength.”
A strange look flashed in Cao Cao's eyes, and he whispered to himself: "This demonstration should be enough. I hope those guys can be self-aware, otherwise they won't want me to go on a killing spree when they unify Yanzhou in the future."
(End of this chapter)