Daqin: The poorest prime minister, the first emperor begged me to corrupt

Chapter 268 The Correct Way to Open the Cannon of Conscience
Outside Stone City, a large number of defeated soldiers did escape back.

Toriti was very vigilant and refused to open the city gate to prevent the Qin army from getting in. This is understandable and the correct response.

Later, the remaining generals from the Western Regions, the leaders of the Qiang people who led the way, and Tuoliti, who had recovered a little, boarded the city wall to look outside.

On the other side of the newly dug small moat, about a thousand cavalry from the Western Regions who had fled back from the defeat were circling around in a hurry, calling for Paozhe in the city to put down the suspension bridge.

At the same time, behind these Western Region cavalry, there are more cavalry coming towards Stone City.

I can't tell if it's the Qin army chasing soldiers, or the cavalry from the Western Regions who escaped slowly!

"Put the drawbridge, let them enter the trench defense line behind the moat..."

A general from the Western Regions suddenly gave an order and shouted to the soldiers in charge of operating the drawbridge winch.

Toriti was startled at first, and opened his mouth to stop him, but when the words came to his mouth, he stopped abruptly and swallowed them back into his stomach.

At this time, the defeated soldiers on the other side of the moat were all the cavalry from the Western Regions who fled faster. Among them, there were many elites who were taken away from the generals who stayed behind when they went to ambush. No one was willing to give up on them.

The most important thing is that the cavalry of the Western Regions all have high noses and deep eyes, and there is an extremely obvious difference in appearance between them and the Qin people or Qiang people. Can.

Even if there are cavalry from the Qin army chasing after him, in fact, there is no worry about the city being destroyed!

When defending Chiyan Pass, Toliti had already realized that the existing city defense tactics of the Allied Forces in the Western Regions were not enough to deal with the firearm tactics of the Qin Army.

Therefore, the defense system of Stone City was modified for the Qin army's firearms.

The suspension bridge passing through the moat is not at the same place as the city gate, but is staggered far away. The defense is that after the Qin army seized the suspension bridge, they quickly blasted the city gate with gunpowder packets.

Moreover, on the inner bank of the moat, there is a not-so-high but extremely solid wall of sheep and horses, which is covered with sharp wooden barbs, which is very sinister...

Closely behind the horse-raising wall is a more insidious trench trap with built-in antler wood barbs. If you jump over the sheep and horse wall and jump down, it will be considered a bloody bad luck...

The area between the trap and the city wall is not a blank area. Three trenches for Tibetan soldiers have been dug, and low walls one person high are built in front of the trenches. Soldiers can hide in the trenches to avoid the bombardment of firearms, or rely on the low walls , as well as the support of his own crossbowmen on the city wall behind him, fighting the siege enemy in melee...

The generals of the Western Regions and the leaders of the Qiang people who lead the way have always thought of killing the Qin army outside the city. This is the source of their confidence...

At this time, it is not a big deal for the cavalry from the Western Regions to enter the defense line inside the moat. If Qin Jun Qingqi dares to chase and enter with his tail, he will die!

squeak-

bang-

Amidst the harsh noise, the suspension bridge was lowered.

The panicked cavalrymen of the Western Regions were overjoyed, hurriedly urged their horses to swarm up the suspension bridge, entered the defense line inside the moat, took off their helmets and hats to accept the screening by robes.

Then bypass the trench and go to the city gate that is staggered from the suspension bridge!
At the same time, those backward western cavalry who were not active in fleeing for their lives also got rid of the entanglement of the Qiang cavalry of the Qin army, and fled into the inner line of the moat in a panic.

Among the Qiang cavalry of the Qin army, there was the iron one, perhaps addicted to beheading, so he rode his horse to the suspension bridge, chased the embarrassed cavalry from the Western Regions, and entered the defense line inside the moat.

The head of a soldier is the most useful for changing military merits. If you can cut one more, it counts as one!
However, they soon paid the price for their recklessness. Either they were killed by the infantry of the Western Regions who were waiting for work, and they fell off their horses with spears and killed them, or their horses' hooves stepped on the air, and they fell into the trench trap with their horses.

Hundreds of Qiang cavalry rushed in, and less than twenty escaped!

The crossbowmen on the stone city tried to keep the only remaining Qiang cavalry behind, and the feather arrows shot at their backs and horse buttocks to greet them desperately.

This surprised the other red-eyed Qiang cavalry, their minds calmed down instantly, and no one dared to rush in after catching up with the escaped robe.

Later, groups of Qiang cavalry turned their horses around to intercept and kill the fleeing cavalry from the Western Regions, as well as the defeated infantry who fell further behind!

Toriti looked at it for a moment, then suddenly retracted his gaze, walked towards the most powerful general among the remaining generals, and said in a low voice: "General Lei Zhe, all those fleeing at this moment are our cavalry from the Western Regions, but... there may be many more in the future." Among the infantry who have fled back, the Qiang warriors will definitely account for the majority, should we let them go or not?"

The [-] elites brought by Oduscu were divided into more than [-] Western Region cavalry and more than [-] Western Region infantry. The remaining [-] leading party Qiang soldiers were all infantry.

The main force in the ambush and encirclement of the Qin Army's large formation was [-] leading party and Qiang soldiers. Although more than [-] Western Region infantry were also in the ambush, their more role was to supervise the formation and support with bows and crossbows.

Because altitude sickness is annoying!

Now that the ambush failed, the escape speed of the Western Region infantry, under the influence of altitude sickness, must not be comparable to that of the Qiang soldiers of the leading party.

At that time, among the leading Qiang fighters who fled back, there was a high possibility that there were a large number of surrendering Qiang people under the Qin army.

They only need to form a group and say that their leader has died in battle, so even the Qiang people of the leading party who stay behind cannot be screened. After all, the tribes of the Qiang people are not monolithic. Except for the leaders, who knows who? ?

And in the absence of screening, who would dare to let the defeated Qiang soldiers enter the city?
But if you don't let him enter the city, the army's morale will definitely be shaken!
Even though the leaders who stayed behind took care of the overall situation, the remaining tens of thousands of low-level Qiang fighters inevitably felt sad...

"I heard that when you were at Chiyan Pass, in order to prevent the Qiang people under your command from rebelling and surrendering to the Qin army, you disarmed and imprisoned them all. Is it true or not?"

The left-behind general Lei Zhe pondered for a while, then suddenly looked meaningfully at Tuoliti, and asked in a low voice.

Toliti's face changed slightly, and he shook his head without hesitation: "This is slander, fake~!"

After he and the remnant soldiers under his command fled to the Land of Sunlight, Oduscu annexed his remaining troops, so naturally he also knew about his backstabbing of the Qiang allies.

But Odus took the overall situation into consideration, fearing that this matter would affect the relationship between the coalition forces of the Western Regions and the Qiang people of the leading party, he had already issued a sealing order...

But it seems that the secret has not been kept!
"Don't worry, this matter has not reached the ears of the Qiang people. You just need to tell me, are the Qiang people worthy of trust?"

Lei Zhe curled his lips, knowing that his backstabbing of the Qiang people was probably true, so he stopped asking, and instead discussed the credibility of the Qiang people with him.

Toriti shook his head again without hesitation: "It's unbelievable."

Lei Zhe probably didn't expect him to be so straightforward, he was taken aback and said: "Why are you so sure? How can you say it?"

There was a trace of despair on Tuoliti's face, and he explained with a wry smile: "General Lei Zhe, you haven't seen the horror of the Qin army's firearms with your own eyes, they are divine punishments that can destroy people's minds."

"Once the Qin army besieged the city, only a few rounds of firearm strikes would be enough to make people feel hopeless!"

"The Qiang people, after all, are different from us. They seem to have offended their own people and have no way out, but in fact... as long as the god-killing prime minister of the Great Qin Dynasty knows how to be flexible, pardon their sins as a condition for persuading them to surrender. , when the Qiang people are desperate, they must be willing to jump back."

"Even if the leaders are unwilling, the low-level Qiang warriors will act on their own!"

"After all, for the lower-level Qiang people, becoming a Qin person is a good thing that is beneficial and harmless... Now they are standing with us because they blindly follow their leader. When the war goes well, everything is fine. "

"But after falling into despair, they will blame the leader and drag them to be buried with them for their own self-interest."

"At the time of introduction, if Qin Jun persuades him, he will definitely oppose it!"

This explanation can be described as transparent.

Lei Zhe nodded as he listened, and couldn't help but cast a glance out of the corner of his eye at the nearby leaders left behind, as well as the Qiang soldiers on duty.

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze, looked at Tuoliti beside him, and said in a low voice, "The Qiang people are indeed a hidden danger for defending the city. Do you have a way to deal with it?"

Toliti immediately replied in a low voice: "Later, the defeated infantry will flee back, so the leaders of the remaining Qiangs can go out of the city to screen out the people who will welcome them."

"Take advantage of this opportunity to gather the Qiang warriors in the city, and in the name of changing to better armor, disarm and imprison them all."

"Then, disarm the Qiang leaders!"

After hearing this, Lei Zhe raised his eyebrows and jokingly said, "You're very proficient, you just opened your mouth, and you said you didn't backstab the Qiang people in Chiyan Pass?"

Toretti: "..."

We are like dogs of a feather now, so don't laugh at the elder brother.

"Now that Oduscus is dead, he annexed your soldiers and horses, and you can take them back."

"In addition, among the defeated soldiers we have fled back, if there are generals who died in battle, you can also take them back under your command and reorganize them."

Lei Zhe was joking, but he also recognized Toriti's ability, and instead gave him military power.

Toriti was immediately overjoyed, suppressed the urge to cheer, bowed his head to show his gratitude, and also had the intention of submitting to the horse's head and looking ahead.

……

……

The next day, with the power of a great victory, the Qin army rushed to Stone City in a mighty manner, and put on a siege posture of encircling the city with three queues and one.

Then, start logging around the surrounding area to build siege engines!
The generals of the Allied Forces of the Western Regions watched helplessly, but they did not dare to send troops out to harass them, they just huddled in and defended themselves.

Qin Mo and Meng Tian had already learned from the captives and the Qiang cavalry who had suffered a loss that Stone City had defensive measures against firearms.

So, after the army set up the siege camp, they led the generals in the army to climb up to check!

"The lord, the general, all the lords... the guards above and below the city seem to be all from the Western Regions. Why don't you see their allies, the Qiang people?"

While others were holding binoculars to observe the defensive measures above and below the city, Liu Ji carefully discovered that the soldiers guarding the city were not 'diversified' enough, so he reminded him aloud.

In fact, Qin Mo and Meng Tian had already discovered this. After looking at each other, they said in unison: "The coalition forces of the Western Regions may stab their allies in the back again...they have tricked the Qiang people again~!"

Zhang Liang, Xiao He and the others were stunned for a moment, and then they all had strange expressions.

Well, I can't laugh, the generals of the Qiang people are also here, so I have to save some face for others!

However, Qiang generals are also different from Qiang generals.

The generals of the auxiliary army, with indifferent faces, even a little gloating, joined forces with outsiders to kill Diao Mao of the same clan, they deserved to be cheated!
The generals of the slave army were very embarrassed, and they gritted their teeth.

Is the coalition forces of the Western Regions real or not? It's a fool to let the Qiang allies go up first, and then get stabbed in the back by them.

Thinking of being the cannon fodder of the slave army now, it was these former allies who harmed them, which made them even more ashamed and indignant!

"The Qiang people captured yesterday were also incorporated into the slave army. Let them take their crimes and make meritorious deeds."

Meng Tian said to a group of slave generals who were ashamed and annoyed.

The general of the slave army, who could understand elegant words, translated his words to his companions, and then they all bowed their hands together: "Here."

Meng Tian nodded, turned to glance around at the generals, and said, "Masters, is there a way to destroy this city?"

All the generals looked at each other in blank dismay, and no one spoke for a while. The Allied Forces of the Western Regions repaired the defense of Stone City in a very characteristic way, and the firearms seemed to be unable to exert their power.

If you proceed step-by-step and use a stupid method to attack, you will probably not be able to find a good one.

Because the allied forces of the Western Regions in the city are no less than the Qin army, and they don't have double the strength to pile up human lives. It is almost wishful thinking to want to storm the next city!

"Won't the water of the moat poured into this place freeze?"

When Zhang Liang and others were silent, Meng Tian suddenly pointed to the not-so-wide moat and asked a group of Qiang generals.

A general of the auxiliary army raised his hand and replied: "Report to the general, it will freeze, but only at night, and it is not very strong. When the sun shines brightly, it will melt again soon."

Meng Tian pondered and nodded, then turned to Qin Mo and asked, "President Qin, if we bomb with firearms, can we destroy the sheep and horse wall on the other side of the moat?"

Qin Mo raised his eyebrows. He probably guessed what he was going to do. He nodded and said, "Actually, unconscionable artillery is used to hit people, which is a waste of gunpowder. It is the correct way to use it to destroy solid buildings."

Meng Tian smiled, and said hesitantly: "If that's the case, then first destroy the defense facilities under the stone city."

A group of generals seem to have some understanding, but they don't have a deep understanding, they can only guess in their hearts.

……

The next day, the craftsmen in the army led the slave army and built hundreds of simple but sturdy 楯carts, which were spliced ​​from logs.

Meng Tian issued a general order, and more than ten thousand slaves pushed the chariots to cover themselves, pushed directly to the side of the moat, and then built a low wall with sand on the river bank.

This scene left Zhang Liang, Xiao He, Liu Ji and others in complete confusion.

They heard the conversation between Qin Mo and Meng Tian yesterday, and probably thought that Meng Tian wanted to use unconscionable cannons to wash the ground and blow up the defense measures under the stone city.

Even if they didn't blow up all of them, at least they had to blow up the defensive measures under the two walls, so that the siege army had a choice, and it also put more pressure on the defenders.

In this way, they are still worried that after a counter-ambush battle, the army's reserves of gunpowder packs will not be enough.

But now it seems that this is not the case, they want to go wrong...

The generals of their own family were all confused, but the generals of the Allied Forces in the Western Regions in Stone City were even more confused.

"The Qin army built a wall on the other side of the moat. Could it be that they wanted to cut off our hope of breaking through? If so, why did they only surround the camp on three sides and leave one side for us to escape?"

Although Tuoli Ti has [-] minds, he is also looking at the mosquito coils at this moment, completely unable to understand Meng Tian's intentions.

(End of this chapter)