Chapter 173 Siege
The real battle of defending the city is about to begin. The Huns are lining up in the distance, the cavalry is guarding at the foot of the ridge, and a large number of infantry are gathered on the ridge, holding shields and carrying baskets of mud on their backs. The city, after being demolished, provided ready-made materials.
The Huns made no secret of their intention to attack, and the infantry would pile up the soil outside the west gate to form a gentle slope leading directly to the city wall.
The King of the East Sea glanced at him from a distance, his heart was blocked for a while, but he had to remain calm on the surface, and smiled to the surrounding soldiers: "The Huns are really polite, knowing that Da Chu gave up the city of quicksand, and deliberately helped us demolish the wall as a greeting."
Everyone could only laugh perfunctorily, and all looked at Chai Yue, and the King of the East Sea was no exception.
Chai Yue's performance was more like a real calm, standing beside the wall for a while, and then began to give orders. Most of these orders were bland, and ordinary generals could also think of them, but it seemed that Chai Yue said it with more success. grasp. In the end, Chai Yue ordered a team to fetch water and fill up all the buckets, pots and troughs in the city.
Although the King of the East Sea was not good at fighting, he was the first person to understand Chai Yue's intentions. He felt a little at ease, and was finally able to laugh out loud, leave the city wall, and entrust the responsibility of defending the city to Chai Yue.
He did not return directly to the General's Mansion, but went to the nearby Buqu camp. In order to show his determination to defend the city, Han Ruzi only took a few people away, leaving most of the Buqu soldiers in the city.
The King of the East Sea did not dismount, but stopped in front of the camp gate and sent his entourage to call Chao Hua, the head of the Buqu camp.
Chao Hua still retains the habit of fishermen from Guizi Lake and part-time robbers in the riverside village. He just bowed his hands to the King of the East Sea and asked bluntly, "Is there anything you want to do with me?"
The King of the East Sea smiled and said: "The Huns are about to attack the city. If General Zhenbei is not there, I will protect your safety. Please rest assured, there are more than 20,000 regular Chu troops in the city. As long as they are still there, they will not be used. The trilogy of General Zhenbei."
Chao Hua and the soldiers around him kept their faces cold. The King of the East Sea continued: "Don't act recklessly. I'm in the General's Mansion. If you have anything, feel free to come to me."
The King of the East Sea left, Chao Hua's face was ashen, and one of the soldiers said, "Have we followed General Zhenbei for so long, are we just eating?"
"What kind of good intentions can the King of the East Sea be at ease, he is clearly using aggressive tactics."
Chao Hua raised his hand to stop everyone from speaking, and ordered, "Let the horses." Then he looked at these familiar faces, "The King of the East Sea is superfluous, he won't come to challenge the generals, I will also ask General Chai to fight, I have made up my mind, are you ready?"
Several people nodded at the same time.
Chao Hua didn't say more, waited for the horse to bring him, mounted the horse and headed straight to Xicheng.
Chai Yue has come down from the city wall and is arranging soldiers with several generals to draw water from the well.
There are more than ten deep wells in Broken Iron City, and houses have been built outside to block the wind and frost, and they can still be used normally.
Chao Hua dismounted, followed behind Chai Yue, and walked around the streets, listening to his orders.
The arrangement was almost done, and the specific affairs were handed over to the generals. Chai Yue walked towards the city wall again, beckoned to Chao Hua, and motioned for him to come over.
"Why are you preparing so much water?" Chao Hua didn't understand the purpose of this move.
Chai Yue smiled and said, "The Huns are going to pile up soil to attack the city. When they are almost done, let's build a water-frozen city wall and see if they can climb up."
Chao Hua suddenly realized that he kept nodding his head.
"Is something wrong?" Chai Yue asked.
Chao Hua stopped in front of him and said sternly, "Not only the Chu army is guarding the city, but also the thousands of works of General Zhenbei. General Chai seems to have forgotten us."
"I haven't forgotten that an army has a forward, a middle army, and a reserve, and the troupe battalion belongs to the reserve."
"We want to be a forward." Chao Hua was a little anxious.
Chai Yue was silent for a while. There were reasons for him not to use the Buqu Battalion. First, it was the personal soldier of General Zhenbei, and the master was not there, so he could not use it without authorization. Second, the training of the Buqu Battalion was still insufficient. The military cannot be compared.
Chai Yue grew up in a military camp and was naturally interested in training and using soldiers. For him, the two qualities of well-trained and obedience to orders were far more important than bravery and skill in combat. He likes regular soldiers. These people can always accurately understand the thoughts of the chief general. They are not timid or rash when they are in battle. Even if they lead the army for a short time, Chai Yue can command all the soldiers like using an arm. Just like the ambush the night before, if it was replaced by an immature army, there would definitely be some soldiers who couldn't stand the sound of the Huns' hooves and rushed out of the hiding place to fight the enemy, thus ruining the big deal.
The regular Chu army, even the northern army with a bad reputation, can strictly abide by the general's orders and stand under the dangerous wall without saying a word.
"Prepare your people." Chai Yue was not familiar with the Buqu Battalion, but respected their willingness to fight.
"We're ready!" Chao Hua was overjoyed.
"War is impermanent, you may have to wait for a long time. I will only let you fight when necessary. You can't move without my order, understand?"
"Understood, there is a requirement. If General Chai wants to send troops out of the city, he must be the first to send us."
"Okay." Chai Yue nodded.
A messenger came running, "General Chai, the Huns are marching towards Broken Iron City."
Chao Hua left, Chai Yue led the guards and generals to the city wall and looked west.
The Huns marched on foot, not fast, like giant reptiles, and like a large field of weeds that gradually devoured the wasteland.
The King of the East Sea couldn't sit in the General's Mansion, and ran to watch the battle again, walking to Chai Yue's side, his face turned pale, "Let's just wait like this?"
"The Huns are so numerous that they should attack first."
The King of the East Sea reluctantly laughed twice and looked left and right, "Everyone's morale is good, they all know what they are going to do, and they don't need General Chai's orders."
Chai Yue snorted, keeping her eyes on the Huns in the distance, "This is the strength of the Chu army. They train well in normal times, and they have their own means of coping in times of crisis."
Chai Yue waved and called a general behind him, "Tell Beicheng to be careful, the Xiongnu cavalry is likely to attack there."
The general led the way, and the king of the East Sea said doubtfully: "The north is adjacent to the river, and the area is narrow. Why did the Huns choose to attack the city there instead of the empty southern city?"
Chai Yue guessed that the Xiongnu infantry would bulldoze in the west city, and the cavalry would respond in the north city. As for the south city, he was not too worried. "This is the habit of the Xiongnu to fight, besieging on three sides, leaving a way out, and enticing the enemy to flee. The cavalry chased after the victory. Look at the cavalry in the distance, which is used to intercept the fleeing."
The King of the East Sea looked to the southwest. There was indeed a team of cavalry in the distance. I couldn't count how many people. They stopped in the same place and didn't move. Intercept the fleeing Chu army.
Donghai King's face turned paler, "If the Huns block the mountain pass in the south, won't the reinforcements from Shenxiongguan pass?"
"Well, I can't get there." Chai Yue called another general and ordered him to clear the entrance to the city wall so as not to cause obstructions, then turned around and walked to the other side of the city wall. Send someone to deal with it, I would rather tear down the wall and break the door than delay sending it to the water city later.
For him, the main content of the battle has never been to stare at the enemy's every move, nor to fight bravely. Of course, these things are very important, but there are people who are specially responsible for it. As a military commander, his responsibility is to ensure that he is fully prepared. , The formation is not chaotic.
The King of Donghai admired Chai Yue's composure, and was annoyed by his indifference. Just as he was about to ask questions, Chai Yue spared time and said, "The Huns dare not approach the mountain pass for the time being, because they are afraid that there will be an ambush there."
"I don't dare for the time being, but I will always have the courage in the future."
"So we have to trust General Zhenbei and believe that he can bring in a large number of reinforcements as soon as possible." Chai Yue said plainly that he could thwart the enthusiasm of the Huns and find a way to deal with the soil attack, but these methods were all procrastination, and it was difficult to defend an isolated city. , if there is no aid, the Iron Broken City will eventually fall into the hands of the Huns.
The King of Donghai was stunned for a while, and followed Chai Yue back to the opposite side. He couldn't help but be surprised. Before he knew it, the Huns were already very close, and the cavalry by the river at the bottom of the ridge was accelerating. On the attack, the infantry on the frontal ridge erected long shields, and they not only carried dirt, but also a large amount of wood.
"Come here, send the East Sea King back to the General's Mansion." Chai Yue didn't want anyone to destroy the morale of the Chu army.
"General Chai, I am preparing wine in the mansion, waiting for good news." Donghai Wang Qiang calmed himself down, hurried down the city, mounted his horse and walked out not far, when he heard the sound of war drums on the city wall.
In the Buqu Battalion, nearly a thousand soldiers were already lined up, leading their war horses, with long spears standing beside them, waiting for an order to mount their horses out of the city to fight against the Huns.
The East Sea King waved at them, passed the General's Mansion, and came to the Xungui Camp, where he could find people who were like-minded.
There were not many people left in the Xungui camp, and all the followers were recruited, fetching water, transporting equipment, and doing things for the entire Chu army, not just serving the master.
More than half of the noble children joined the battle, and the remaining 145 people stayed in the camp for various reasons. Chai Yue did not force them.
The drums on the city walls were pounding and slowing down, with the shouting of the crowd and the roaring of unknown sources in the middle.
In front of this group of people, the King of the East Sea finally regained a little confidence, rode his horse into the camp, and stood in front of everyone, "Put on your armor, pick up your weapons, and prepare to prove that you are the elites and pillars of Da Chu, the city is in People are here, the city is dead and people are dead!"
No one responded, but they were all a little afraid of the King of the East Sea, so they ran back to their rooms, put on their armor, and came out with swords in hand. Without the help of the attendants, many people's armors were not well-dressed, so they had to help each other to fasten silk ribbons.
The King of the East Sea was slightly satisfied and did not want to go back to the General's Mansion alone, so he stayed in the Xungui Camp.
A few more bangs came from somewhere, and not long after that, a messenger came running on horseback and shouted loudly on the street: "Bingqu Camp, go to Beicheng immediately!"
There was the sound of horses' hooves from the Buqu camp, and the messenger shouted several times. He came to the Xungui camp again, stopped at the gate of the camp, and looked inside. A lot of people doing nothing, feel a little weird.
The messenger didn't speak, slapped the horse and left.
Donghai Wang said: "What are you waiting for? Let's all guard the north gate!" But he was shocked. The mound on the west should not have formed yet, and the gate on the north was about to be breached?
The Huns attacked too fast, and for the first time the King of the East Sea truly missed Han Ruzi, who was his elder brother.