Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 95: Continued Pressure
Huo Xian was in a good mood because the progress of the war now seemed very good and within his expectations.

According to normal expectations, this war should be over within a month, and it may even end at any time.

Looking at the dried-up riverbed, Huo Xian asked with a smile, "How are the instruments that the Grand Herald supervised to make?"

Chen Ju immediately replied, "We have built dozens of trebuchets, but they are not enough."

The trebuchet first appeared in the Warring States Period and was a pure manpower-driven machine. The gun was placed on a wooden frame, with one end tied to a leather case containing the stone bullet with a rope, and the other end tied to many ropes for people to pull and throw the stone bullet.

There are two types of guns: single-gun and multi-gun. A single-gun can be operated by a dozen people. The maximum number of guns with seven guns installed on a gun carriage requires more than 200 people.

The range of such a catapult equipped with stones weighing about 50 kilograms is between 150 and 200 meters.

Chen Ju continued to add, "Lord, the Wan people captured earlier seem to be able to make crossbow beds, but there are far fewer people using them."

Huo Xian immediately became interested, and he subconsciously thought of the Huihui Cannon. But that thing was only introduced from Central Asia during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and there should be no Huihui Cannon now.

"I don't understand what the Dayuan people made, but I remember someone mentioned it before." Chen Ju said, "If you win, you can catch the craftsmen and ask them."

This is something that is very necessary. Although the Han Dynasty is now leading in many scientific levels and technological processes, it does not mean that some other regions are completely barbaric. Some of their skills are also desirable.

The possibility of using catapults to fight the Huns is not very high, but it does not mean that they are completely useless. They should be upgraded when necessary and improved when necessary.

Suddenly, a messenger came on horseback, "General, the Wan people are moving, I'm afraid they are about to leave the city!"

Huo Xian became excited upon hearing this. Feng Dan also ran over quickly, leading his horse, and then quickly rushed towards the army.

It was not that Huo Xian had deserted his post, but that the Dayuan people had been hiding in their own territory for the past few days, so apart from a small number of troops who remained vigilant, most of the soldiers had to rest.

Marching and fighting is very hard, and when the war comes, the nerves must be tense. However, if the soldiers remain vigilant all the time, their spirits will collapse before they can even fight the enemy.

So rest when you need to rest, and train when you need to train. There is no need to be on guard all the time.

Huo Xian quickly came to the front of the battle. The defenders on Guishan City were constantly using arrows and stones to clear space and prevent the Han army from approaching.

Huo Xian immediately gave the order, "Let all the troops gather together to see what the Dayuan people are up to!"

The Han army was lining up, some wearing armor, some preparing bows and crossbows, and many of them were eager to try. They had besieged the Dayuan people for nearly half a month, but they never left the city, which made people really irritated and helpless.

And now the Dayuan army finally came out, leading with a team of cavalry, with more than two thousand cavalrymen.

After leaving the city, the army did not attack immediately, but stopped in the open space in front of the city. Groups of infantrymen with spears also left the city, and occasionally some cavalry joined.

"Finally, I've waited for it." Huo Xian couldn't help but laugh, "Once we're out of the city, that will be easy!"

This is not a true Macedonian phalanx, but the Dayuan people still have some formations, not traditional cavalry tactics.

The cavalry was on both wings, and the infantry was in the middle, but the infantry of the Dayuan people were all equipped with long spears. That was also a typical weapon against cavalry, and the length of the long spear was more than four meters, or even longer.

"Order the cavalry on both wings to fight!" Huo Xian gave the order neatly, "There are only less than 6,000 people. Shoot them with arrows and crossbows!"

Huo Xian continued to give orders, "When the enemy is defeated and fleeing, the troops are not allowed to pursue them too much, enter the city, or retreat under the city wall!"

With command flags waving and drums beating, the Han army's infantry phalanx began to advance.

The most important thing was that the cavalry on both wings began to urge their horses forward. The Han army, which had an absolute cavalry advantage, did not hold back. The light cavalry drew their bows and arrows, or shot with crossbows.

The infantry did not hold back either, and some heavy crossbows also opened fire on the Dayuan formation.

This is how Huo Xian felt: he was on the verge of collapse.

The Dayuan people were unable to resist and immediately fled to Guishan City, leaving behind hundreds of corpses. The Han cavalry seized the opportunity to chase and kill them, as it was easiest to expand the results of the battle when chasing and killing deserters.

As expected, as soon as the Han army reached the shooting range of the Dayuan people, arrows from the city wall fell immediately.

Gongsun Ao and Li Guangli quickly ordered a withdrawal, and could only watch as some of the defeated Dayuan troops fled back into the city under the cover of arrows.

Huo Xian was somewhat bored. The battle lasted less than half an hour, just a few rounds of arrow rain, and the Dayuan people retreated. Even the time it took to leave the city and form a battle array was far longer than the fighting time.

Gongsun Ao and Li Guangli were somewhat happy, after all they had fought a little, killing nearly a thousand enemies in total. It seemed insignificant, but it was a real military achievement after all.

Especially for Gongsun Ao, he had been on the expedition for more than half a year, and this was his first real battle.

Everyone was naturally happy when they won the battle, even if it was just a small victory. Gongsun Ao took off his helmet and said to Huo Xian, "General, the Dayuan people are just like this. We should use arrows against these people. If the city defenses were not strong, we could have destroyed them in the time it takes to eat a meal!"

Huo Xian also smiled and said, "If the Xiongnu are good at riding, they might be able to fight against our army. Even if Dayuan is a powerful country in the Western Regions, it is still a slave of the Xiongnu."

If the Macedonian phalanx and the Western Regions had the ability, they would not have been oppressed by the Huns again and again. They would have surrendered property, provided slaves, etc., and only then could they have maintained some peace.

It would be too arrogant to say that Dayuan was just a stronger ant, but Dayuan could only bring some minor troubles to the Han Dynasty.

By occupying the strategic position, Dayuan might be able to hold out for a while, but in a head-on confrontation, Dayuan is simply not up to the challenge.

Li Guangli was also somewhat excited and asked, "General, what should we do next?"

"What should we do next?" Huo Xian said with a smile, "After today's battle, the Dayuan people probably won't have the courage to leave the city again."

Gongsun Ao and Li Guangli also believed in Huo Xian's judgment. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Dayuan people had no advantage over the Han army.

Leaving the city now would basically be tantamount to committing suicide, and no one would make such a choice.

Therefore, it seems that the best way is to continue to hold on and wait for reinforcements. When the reinforcements from Kangju arrive, we can go out of the city and attack from both sides. Maybe we can have some chance of winning.

Gongsun Ao pointed at Guishan City and said, "General, now that there is no water in the city, the Dayuan people must be getting more and more anxious."

Huo Xian had the same idea. When the Han army arrived, the Dayuan people chose to avoid fighting. At that time, they felt that they still had some support and that they could afford to wear down the Han army.

Now they suddenly leave the city, perhaps because they think the Han army is slacking off and they can catch them off guard.

But the greater possibility is that the pressure and conflicts within Guishan City are now increasing, and they now have to consider leaving the city to try to fight for a way out.

Huo Xian was silent for a moment and then said, "First, use the existing catapults to attack the city and teach these Dayuan people a lesson."

Gongsun Ao said with some concern, "General, this Guishan City is well-defended, and the equipment we have now is not enough."

Everyone knew that Guishan City was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Without a large number of siege weapons, it would be a joke to attack the city.

It can even be said that even if there are enough siege equipment to attack, there will inevitably be a large number of casualties. Attacking a city is itself a matter of human lives.

What's more, Guishan City has an outer city and an inner city. The outer city is difficult to conquer, let alone the inner city.

"Of course I know this, but it's no big deal." Huo Xian said with a smile, "Let's throw some stones over there first. We don't want to destroy their city, but just make the Dayuan people restless."

At this point, Gongsun Ao and the others understood what Huo Xian meant. After all, this siege was not about conquering the city in one go, but about continuously undermining the morale of the Dayuan people.

The morale of the Dayuan people was already low. If the Han army continued to increase the intensity of its attacks, it would inevitably cause the morale in Guishan City to become increasingly low, and the Han army would then be able to gain an advantage.

There is absolutely no harm in doing this, and it is also a kind of psychological warfare. War is not just about fighting on the battlefield.

Huo Xian continued, "Continue to arrange the war in the next few days, and don't let the city be at peace."

It was just some riotous attacks, just to show off in front of the Dayuan people. Huo Xian and others were now using every possible means to undermine the morale of the Dayuan people.

The battle continued, and we had to be prepared to add fuel to the fire when the time was right. The mysterious weapon that Huo Xian had prepared also had to be taken out when the time was right.

In fact, it is just gunpowder. We don't expect it to have much effect. It is very necessary to do some experiments in actual combat.

At the critical moment, it is imperative to completely crush the fighting spirit of the Dayuan people!

The continuous consumption continues, and the pressure on Dayuan continues.

However, Huo Xian was also very clear that the pressure on them would become greater and greater as they were racing against time.

Ending the war as soon as possible is not only beneficial for the return journey, but also ensures that the army has enough arrows and other supplies. However, food and other supplies are starting to become tight.

The army continued to press forward, and catapults occasionally threw stones to attack the outer city of Guishan City.

Seemingly scratching the surface, these stones failed to cause greater damage to the solid walls of Guishan City.

However, there is still some pressure. The Dayuan army guarding the outer city walls will always have some psychological pressure.

Huo Xian continued to prepare the gunpowder. He felt that as long as the time was right, his secret weapon would come in handy and he could give the Dayuan people a surprise.

As long as the outer city is breached, the psychological defenses of the Dayuan people may collapse completely!
(End of this chapter)