At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 166, The coming reinforcements and Zhang Er’s escape from death

As Xiang Liang's order was issued, the war drums became louder, and the soldiers of Xiang Liang's army began to act in battalion units, each acting according to their own tasks.

"Order the bow and arrow battalion to fire three rounds of volleys to cover the Qin army's city head and suppress the Qin army's city head. The soldiers of each battalion who board the city must be ready to charge at any time!"

The messengers took Xiang Liang's order and conveyed it to the commanders of each battalion.

Ten thousand archers were divided into five square formations and lined up neatly 100 steps below the city. The archers fired their bows and nocked arrows, pointing directly at the Juxian city wall. 2000 archers pointed at Ju County at the same angle, and the scene was extremely spectacular.

"Shoot!" Xiang Ta ordered loudly.

"Boohoo!" 2000 archers shot 2000 long arrows.

The long arrows covered the walls of Ju County like dark clouds, but any Qin soldier who saw this scene was heartbroken.

Zhao Hong shouted loudly: "Raise your shield!"

His personal guards used several giant shields to protect Zhao Hong.

Xiang Liangjun's archers fired three rounds of 3 long arrows and then stopped, because the long arrows in his hands were almost exhausted after the battle, and now each archer could only shoot three rounds.

Zhao Hong looked to the north and said secretly: "When will the reinforcements arrive? We won't be able to hold them here for long."

Shitou and Tugen tried their best to shrink their bodies and hide behind shields and walls. They looked nervous and frightened because they were surrounded by the wailing sounds of soldiers who had been shot.

Xiang Yu said to Long Qie: "Today you lead the charge and must capture this damn city."

Xiang Liang's army, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, took turns attacking the city, but the crumbling city wall was always difficult to conquer. Soon the walls were filled with dead soldiers, and the blood dyed the land completely red.

Suddenly, the sound of long arrows piercing the air was heard everywhere on the walls of Ju County.

"Dang, Dang, Dang!" Ming Jin's voice echoed across the battlefield, and everyone stopped and returned to their own teams.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

As Xiang Yu's order was issued, tens of thousands of soldiers performed their duties. Tens of thousands of archers used long arrows to suppress the Qin army on the city wall. Long Qie led the soldiers to rush to the city wall. Commander Qitong was the first to climb the ladder, holding hands and feet Climbing up quickly, he was about to reach the top of the city wall.

"I'm fine!" Although he was dizzy from the fall, he was not seriously injured, but he was a little out of breath.

Shitou and Tugen stabbed their spears at the same time. Qi Tong immediately blocked it with his arm shield, but the power of Shitou and Tugen was too great, and he was pushed down the ladder.

Xiang Liang saw that the rebel army had suppressed the enemy, and said to the messenger: "Order Xiangzhuang camp to launch an attack!"

But it was difficult for the Qin army to fight back. During the previous defensive operations, the long arrows in Ju County were almost exhausted. Now the only long arrows the Qin army can only use at critical moments, instead of fighting against Xiang Liang's army. Counterattack consumption.

Shitou exclaimed: "There are enemies coming up here, Tugen is here to help!"

Shitou also pulled Tugen to hide under the city wall, and used his shield to create a small triangle of safety.

"Bang bang bang!" These long arrows either hit city wall bricks or hit shields, but soon there were also screams of unlucky soldiers being hit by long arrows.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The two gathered together available supplies like groundhogs.

Fan Zeng also looked at the battlefield and said: "General, don't worry. Even if you can't conquer Ju County, as long as you can defeat Feng Jie's army, the general will gain the entire Qi State, and the Qin army in Ju County will not be a problem."

"This is not the time to rest. Hurry up and collect your long arrows. You can use them when attacking." Shitou said.

When the sun turned to the west and the flaming clouds hung in the sky, Xiang Liang's expression turned ugly when he looked at Ju County, which had still not been captured. Although he could still attack for two days, judging from the Qin army's tenacious defense today, it would be impossible for him to attack in a short period of time. It is difficult for his army to conquer Ju County.

Fan Zeng said: "We must fight even if it is difficult to fight. This is the most critical step for a general's hegemony."

"Kill!" 5000 soldiers carried ladders and set them up in Ju County and began to rush towards the city wall.

Xiang Yu said to the messenger: "The bow and arrow camp covers Long Qi and their attack on the city. We must suppress the Qin people on the wall!"

"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

"Captain!" The soldiers below caught Qitong with their bodies.

Of course Xiang Liang understands that this battle cannot be avoided.

The east gate of Ju County.

The soldiers were organized into a unit, with a dozen shield soldiers in front and behind organizing a huge defensive position. The soldiers in the middle carried the ladders to put up the city wall, and then a dozen soldiers held the ladders to let the soldiers in the rear climb up. On this wall There are at least 50 such combat teams in the world.

A large number of civilians appeared on the city wall. They carried the bodies of dead soldiers or injured soldiers, cleaned up the blood stains on the city wall, and helped the Qin army with some logistical matters.

Shitou once saw an unlucky guy who was hit in the head by a long arrow and died. From then on, Shitou always carried a shield behind him.

The archers of Xiang Liang's army fired 2000 rounds with 5 soldiers in one round, and tens of thousands of long arrows covered the top of the city wall.

Zhao Hong shouted loudly: "Shoot me hard with bows and arrows, and destroy the enemy's ladders with rocks."

After fighting for a day, both the Qin army on the wall and Xiang Liang's army under the city wall were exhausted.

Whether Zhao Hong or the Qin soldiers on the city wall breathed a sigh of relief, most of them thought that today's war was over and they had survived again.

And this scene is also the epitome of the offensive and defensive battle in Ju County. Countless stones and wood weighing dozens of kilograms were thrown on the walls of Ju County, as well as boiling water, sand, etc. In short, everything that could prevent the soldiers from climbing the city wall was destroyed by the Qin Dynasty. If the soldiers were thrown down, those soldiers near the top of the city wall would be beaten to death and injured, but they were rarely as lucky as Qitong.

"Boohoo!" A dark rain of arrows flew over the walls of Ju County. The long arrows flew sharply towards the soldiers who were attacking the city. The soldiers who were shot kept letting out shrill screams because the soldiers were too dense. A large number of soldiers get shot.

Xiang Zhuang received Xiang Liang's order, raised his spear and said: "Soldiers, kill the enemy!"

Long Qie could only say with a solemn face: "No!"

Xiang Liang worriedly said: "We have not conquered Ju County. It is not perfect after all. Moreover, the Qin army is so tenacious that Feng Jie's army may not be easy to fight."

The two people on the city wall, Shitou and Tugen, were extremely lucky. Not only were they not killed in battle, they were not even seriously injured.

As the war continued, the sound of drums, shouts, and fighting resounded throughout the battlefield. Spears were being waved on the battlefield, long arrows were killing lives, huge stones were destroying the ladders, and warriors were falling down wailing, heavy logs were smashing into the crowd with thunderous force, and the siege battle was extremely violent. The tragic price has consumed the lives of soldiers on both sides. Several city walls in Ju County have become demons devouring life, so bright red and cruel.

In early May of the 37th year of the First Emperor's reign, Handan.

At this time, the ancient city was in dilapidated condition under the attack of 30 Qin troops, but the Zhao people's flag still stood tenaciously on the city wall.

Meng Tian looked at the Handan City Wall with a headache. He thought he would win this battle easily, but he did not expect that Zhang Er would defend so tenaciously, even though Handan City has not been conquered yet.

As the strongest engineering expert in the Qin Dynasty, there is a way to attack the city. After Meng Tian realized that he could not conquer Handan City quickly, he began to use engineering methods to clear his obstacles one by one. The moat in Handan was wide, so he tried to find a way. After cutting off Handan's moat, there was no water in the ten-mile-long river in Handan, and several rivers had been filled in to facilitate the attack. It's a pity that he can clear up the engineering problems, but it is difficult to break the hearts of Handan. The nobles and powerful people in Handan already know what the Qin army did in Yan State, and they understand that the Qin people have no choice to surrender this time.

This forced them to fight to the end with the Qin army. This unity under external pressure was the biggest reason why Handan City remained indestructible.

But Meng Tian didn't think of this, and secretly said: Zhao people are worthy of being our biggest enemy in Great Qin.

Of course, in real history, the people of Qin have always paid most attention to the people of Zhao. Although the Chu State has a vast territory and a large population, comparing the results of the two sides, the Chu people have always been defeated. Even Xiang Yan defeated Li Xin. That time, it was also because of the rebellion in Qin's rear that the soldiers were killed, so Qin always despised the Chu people.

Historically, when Zhang Han defeated Xiang Liang's army and killed Xiang Liang, he did not pursue the victory and continue to strangle the Chu people. Instead, he was worried that the Zhao people would become bigger in the Central Plains, so Zhang Han turned his guns and besieged Zhang Er.

But now that Xu Fan has invaded, the Chu people have become the biggest threat in the world. In addition, the strong record of the Han Dynasty has also made Meng Tian look down on the rebels in other places. This time, Zhang Er vindicated the Zhao people by carrying 30 Qin troops to death. .

While Meng Tian was still thinking about how to conquer Handan, Zhang Han came up and said anxiously: "General, something bad has happened. The rebels have captured Daliang City. Now more than 20 rebels are besieging Xingyang. Our army's food and grass have been cut off. "

Although Meng Tian only had 30 Qin troops attacking Handan City, there were nearly 30 civilians behind him to assist the Qin army in various logistical matters. Meng Tian's army alone consumed millions of shi every month, not counting the cost of transporting food. of food. These grains must be transported from Aocang to Chaoge through the Yellow River, and then transported from Chaoge to Handan.

The biggest impact of Xu Fan's siege on Xingyang for Meng Tian was that there was no way to transport grain and grass from Aocang. Of course, saying that grain and grass were cut off was a bit much. Qin could still transfer supplies from Shangdang County, Taiyuan County, Hengshan County, and even Qidi Food and grass supported Meng Tian's army.

However, the consumption of allocating grain and grass from these places was several times that of walking along the Yellow River. Especially on the road to the Party Army that went over mountains and ridges, the consumption increased astonishingly by more than ten times. Feng Jie, who was in Qidi, had too much to take care of himself at this time.

"If there were not 5000 elites in Daliang City, how could it be captured so quickly!" Meng Tian seemed to be asking a question, but he was actually afraid.

The speed of the Chu rebels' siege was too terrifying. Since Xu Fan's rebellion, Chen County, Yangzhai City, and the fortified Wancheng were almost all captured by the rebels in one battle.

The same situation is happening in Daliang now. When did it become so easy to attack the city? Then what did he do in Handan in February?

The thing that worries Meng Tian the most now is that Xingyang will be captured by the rebels with such an attack, which will be a disaster. Aocang, the most important granary of the Qin Dynasty, is in Sanchuan County. The entire Central Plains grain has been transferred to Aocang. There are tens of thousands of stones of food inside. If these food were obtained by the rebels, Meng Tian could not imagine the consequences.

Zhang Han smiled bitterly and said: "It is said to be a giant stone cannon that can fire 200-pound projectiles at a distance of 300 steps. The rebels fired thousands of such projectiles in three days, destroying the old general Wang Ben. The city wall, Daliang City was captured by the rebels."

Meng Tian breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the specific information. This was within the scope of his understanding. What he was most afraid of was the drama "Chu Zhaonu" and "Alive" performed by the rebels. The soldiers' morale collapsed after watching it, and they directly opened the city gate to let the enemy go. Enter the city.

But Meng Tian soon realized something was wrong and said: "You mean the rebels' stone cannon can not only shoot 200 steps away, but also shoot 300 kilograms of projectiles?"

Zhang Han nodded with difficulty.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible. Even my Great Qin's stone cannon cannot hit a 300-pound stone bullet."

There is no record of the earliest inventor of the trebuchet. Trebuchets first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Qin State, which had its own mechanical technology tree, naturally also had stone cannons, but this siege equipment was extremely uneconomical.

At this time, the stone cannon was still a human-powered trebuchet that purely used human power. Human power was used to pull the tip (cannon tip) connected to the horizontal bar at a distance away from the catapult. The gun tip is placed on a wooden frame. One end is tied with a rope to hold the holster containing the stone bullets. The other end is tied with many ropes for human power to pull and throw the stone bullets. The gun tips are divided into single tips and multiple tips. The most common ones are Seven gun tips were mounted on a gun mount, and about 250 people fired it.

In other words, if hundreds of people pull a stone cannon, it may not be accurate, and its lethality is extremely limited. With so many resources, it is more cost-effective than stone cannons to make wells or rush cars. Meng Tian also used stone cannons, but they could only fire projectiles weighing more than ten kilograms. Now Zhang Han said that the rebels had stone cannons that could fire 300 kilograms of stone projectiles. Meng Tian didn't believe it. He, Da Qin's military industry, has always been the best in the world. First, how could anyone create a stone cannon that was more powerful than their Great Qin.

Zhang Han approached Meng Tian in a low voice and said, "It is said that the remnants of the Moh family have taken refuge with the traitor Xu Fan."

Meng Tian was stunned for a moment.

In his early years, because he was often dispatched by the infrastructure madman, the First Emperor, to do spectacular projects, Meng Tian actually had a good relationship with the Mohist family. However, even Meng Tian did not expect that the Mohist family would be so crazy and do such a treasonous thing as assassinating the First Emperor. Naturally, Meng Tian cut off decisively. Relationship with the Mohist family.

When Meng Tian heard the news about the Mo family at this time, he was still filled with emotions. Is this the Mo family's method of revenge on His Majesty? You Mo family are still so brave!

"How much food do we have now?" Meng Tian asked Zhang Han.

Zhang Han replied: "Enough to feed the army for half a month."

Meng Tian said: "Give orders to Shangdang County, Taiyuan County, and Hengshan County to allocate grain and grass to support the army."

Zhang Han thought for a while and said: "Since the rebels have such powerful siege equipment, I am afraid that Xingyang's city defense will not be able to withstand the rebel attack. If Xingyang is captured, the consequences will be disastrous. General, should we retreat to support Xingyang?" ?”

Meng Tian looked at the dilapidated Handan City, nodded with difficulty and said: "Prepare to withdraw the troops, and the army will return to support Sanchuan County."

Then he sighed: "With this retreat, I don't know if my general will have a chance to capture Handan County again."

Zhang Han said: "General, why are you sighing like this? As long as our army defeats the Chen County rebels, the remaining rebels are not worth mentioning. General, you will definitely have a chance to conquer Handan again."

Inside Handan City.

Zhang Er, dressed in rags, struggled to rest against the city wall. Surrounded by him were a group of exhausted soldiers. They either leaned on the wall or lay directly on the ground to sleep. There were loud snoring sounds everywhere. More than a month of fierce fighting had made them extremely tired, and they had to seize every minute to rest.

Zhang Er vaguely felt a warm sunshine shining on him. He slowly opened his eyes and found that it was already three o'clock in the morning. Zhang Er stretched himself. This sleep restored a lot of energy to him.

But soon he realized something was wrong. The sun had risen so high, but the Qin army hadn't come to attack the city yet. This was wrong, very wrong.

Zhang Er immediately looked under the city wall, and sure enough, no Qin army appeared.

Zhang Er immediately woke up the soldiers around him and said: "Get up quickly, the Qin people have retreated."

"Qin people, Qin people are coming!" These words suddenly woke up countless soldiers. They quickly grabbed the weapons in their hands and looked around nervously. It was impossible to tell that they were still sleeping just now.

Zhang Er smiled and said: "It's not that the Qin people came to kill them, but that the Qin people retreated. Look, there are no Qin people under the city wall!"

Hearing this, all the soldiers looked at the city in surprise. Sure enough, there was not a single Qin soldier under the city.

Zhang Er ordered: "Quickly, send a few people to the Qin army camp to investigate the situation."

Soon Zhang Er and others used ropes to hang several spies out of the city. Half a day later, the spies came back and said excitedly: "Prime Minister, the Qin people are breaking camp and they are retreating."

After receiving the exact news, the soldiers in Handan City began to cheer. The soldiers cheered that they had survived, and then their cheers infected the people in Handan City.

The fact that Handan was able to defend Handan for two months was not only due to Zhang Er and his soldiers, but also to the support of the people of Handan City. Not only did they have to help Zhang Er and others with some logistical matters, but when the Zhao army suffered heavy casualties, the people of Handan Will also join the Zhao army. It can be said that Meng Tian is not dealing with tens of thousands of Zhao soldiers, but hundreds of thousands of Handan people.

Of course, this kind of support also caused casualties to the people of Handan. For these people, the Qin army retreated, and their excitement was no worse than that of the Zhao army soldiers.

Not long after, Zhao Wangxie led a group of men to climb the city wall, found Zhang Er and said: "Prime Minister, the Qin army has retreated!"

It can be said that Zhao Wangxie and the others were living in fear during this period. He lost more than 40 pounds in two months. He could not sleep all day long because he was worried that the Qin army would break through Handan City and capture him.

These days, he dreams that the Qin army captured him and escorted him to Xianyang City. Ying Zheng ordered him to be quartered by five horses.

Handan was getting more and more declining, and the morale of the soldiers was getting lower and lower. Wang Xie of Zhao had more and more dreams about being torn into pieces by five horses, so much so that he carried a bottle of poison with him. If the Qin army really conquered Handan, he would die. In short, Ying Zheng will never be given the opportunity to order his body to be cut into pieces.

But who wants to die if he can live? After hearing that the Qin army had retreated, he immediately found Zhang Er and wanted to hear certain news.

"Retreat!" Zhang Er laughed.

"We survived!" Zhao Wangxie almost collapsed with excitement.

(End of this chapter)