Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 139 If you dare to invade, I will surely make you suffer a crushing defeat.
Seeing that Cao Cao's army thought they had been ambushed and retreated hastily, he decisively gave the order!

"Open the warehouses and conscript the people."

Cao Cao's army has arrived. If we lose this battle, we will be slaughtered and the city burned. You and I will all die.

Those who aren't afraid to die, take whatever weapons you want from the warehouse and fight your way out with me!

"Lord Yuan is generous, as everyone in Huainan knows; the bestowal of titles and lands upon him is today!"

When Xu Sheng gave the order, the people were all excited. If you asked them to take real swords and spears and fight a bloody battle with Cao Cao's army, they might still be afraid and dare not do it.

But those large engineering machines in the warehouse were made by these ordinary people themselves, and no one knew their power better than they did.

Moreover, while these manufacturers may not be experts in how to operate and use it, they generally have a good understanding of it.

Recalling the scorched earth tactic of Cao Cao's army, which looted them clean, and remembering the despair of the Yangdi fire not long ago, and witnessing the tragic scene of several guides shouting "Cao Cao's army has arrived" before they died.

In contrast, when Yuan Gong arrived, although he made them work, he also provided them with food and fodder to save their lives, and distributed bunkers for them to live in.

At this moment, with a sharp blade in hand, the desire to kill arises spontaneously; even the decaying grass and fireflies by the roadside have the will to live!
Faced with Cao Cao's army sweeping in once again and threatening to disrupt their peaceful lives, these people from the lower classes, who were used to being subservient, were filled with extreme anger.

Cao Cao's army abandoned us, Cao Cao's army ruined our lives, Cao Cao's army even wanted to burn us alive!
I finally managed to survive by working hard for Yuan Gong and barely clinging to life in this chaotic world. Just when the spring planting was about to begin and a peaceful life was about to start again, you Cao army soldiers came again.
"Kill! Kill these sons of bitches of Cao Cao's army!"

"You treacherous Cao army, your grandpa will fight you to the death!"

"Second son, your father will avenge you today!"

Their courage was bolstered by fierce shouts through gritted teeth, and they then joined Xu Sheng's elite troops.

The first batch of ten siege towers, twenty crossbows, and thirty catapults were pushed out and placed in their own camp positions.

The common people didn't know anything about precise aiming, but once they got a general idea of ​​the direction, they all started shooting at Cao Cao's army.

Arrows rained down like a storm, and stones thundered like lightning, raining down from the sky.

On the well ledge, the arrows were shot by ordinary people, and their quality varied. Some skilled archers were able to hit Cao Cao's soldiers, but most either lacked strength and their arrows fell halfway, or they were inaccurate and went astray.

However, the sheer force of the volley of arrows still greatly shocked Cao Cao's army.

The siege crossbows that followed were the real killing weapons.

The key is that you don't need to aim too much with this thing. Just aim it at the direction of Cao Cao's army and shoot. With so many Cao Cao's soldiers, you're bound to hit them eventually.

Twenty crossbow bolts, as long as spears, were seen pouring into Cao Cao's army; those struck by them died instantly, those touched by them perished.

Although the number of dead and wounded was only a few dozen, the horrific scene of instant death and flying flesh and blood was enough to terrify Cao Cao's army.

The last catapult was really difficult for the common people to hit accurately. Anyway, the stones were thrown out, and whether they hit Cao Cao's army or not depended entirely on luck.

But those huge rocks roared overhead and crashed to the ground with deafening thunder. Who wouldn't be afraid of them?
Sometimes, if you're lucky, stones will hit Cao Cao's army, causing rubble to shatter and leaving the ground littered with severed limbs.

These several rounds of attacks, though not particularly lethal, caused increasing panic among Cao Cao's army. Dian Wei's originally well-prepared retreat formation gradually fell into disarray and could not be stopped.

Therefore, Xu Sheng made a decisive move. With the warehouse doors wide open, the people, carrying thirty chariots and filled with the rage of the looting and burning of Yangdi, charged towards Cao Cao's army.

As the chariots charged and crushed, how could flesh and blood possibly withstand it?

Wherever they passed, they were either knocked away or crushed, carving thirty bloody paths through Cao Cao's army before their momentum finally stopped. Before Cao Cao's army could use this to launch a counterattack, after the chariots arrived, ten more Lü Gong chariots were slowly pushed forward.

In an instant, various swords, spears, and halberds emerged from the lower level of Lü Gong's carriage, stabbing out like porcupine thorns.

On the upper level of Lü Gong's chariot, arrows, stones, boiling oil, and molten gold were rained down as if they were free.

Previously, the well towers were far away, so the arrows of the common people might not have hit them. Now that Lü Gongche has already charged into Cao Cao's army, even if he throws arrows down by hand, they can kill people, let alone shoot them.

Having suffered repeated suppression, Cao Cao's army found these towering, spiked behemoths that could throw arrows and stones to be like miniature, heavily fortified cities that were crushing them. How could flesh and blood possibly withstand such attacks?

From siege towers, crossbows, and catapults to chariots and Lu Gong chariots, the morale of Cao Cao's army had long been low. Dian Wei was shocked and enraged when he saw this scene.
He then personally led five hundred guards to cover the rear, destroying the siege equipment and covering the army's retreat.

As for a counterattack? That's impossible!

This godforsaken place has only one narrow path leading through it. Once inside, you are greeted by bunkers and fortifications, as well as various large-scale weapons. It is so easy to defend and so difficult to attack that it is outrageous.

He must be crazy to risk the lives of his elite soldiers to tackle such a tough nut to crack.

The key point is that this place is not Yangdi City. Even if he risked his life to take it, what merit would he gain?

Therefore, regardless of whether it was an ambush set by Yuan's army or not, ever since Dian Wei realized that he had been tricked by the guide and brought to this godforsaken place, he only wanted to leave.

We can't fight back, and the losses would be huge. The key point is that even if we did take it, it wouldn't be worth it. So why aren't we withdrawing? What are we waiting for?

When two people meet on a narrow path, one side harbors old anger and hatred, and the desire to kill arises spontaneously upon meeting an enemy, while the other side only wants to escape. In such a situation, the outcome is already predetermined.

Seeing that the enemy general had personally led five hundred personal guards to cover the rear, Xu Sheng was afraid that the civilians would not be able to withstand the attack, so he hurriedly led his own thousand men, the real Yuan army, out to meet them.

After all, civilians are not an army. It's fine to let them drive siege engines and crush the enemy, but when they are about to fight a tough battle and their offensive is thwarted, seeing the casualties, they will probably collapse.

Therefore, seeing that a tough battle was about to begin, Xu Sheng ordered the people to continue killing Cao Cao's army while personally leading his troops to meet the enemy general who had come out to cover the rear.

As the enemy approached, arrows rained down and rocks fell like thunder, but Dian Wei ignored them and said to his personal guards:

"Tell me when the enemy is ten paces away."

"Ten steps."

Dian Wei replied, "Tell me again when you have taken five steps."

Everyone panicked and cried out in alarm.

"The enemy is here!"

Dian Wei suddenly opened his angry eyes, holding more than ten halberds, and shouted as he rose up.

"I am Dian Wei, who dares to step forward!"

"Dare to take another step forward, and I will ensure your certain death!"

After saying this, he threw his halberd at the enemy soldiers, and those who resisted fell to the ground without a sound.

"With me, Xu Sheng, here, anyone who dares to invade will be utterly defeated!"

(End of this chapter)