Most of the time, the defense of a city is not done by holding on to the city walls, unless there is a huge disparity between the enemy and us, and the city is vast and strong, so we can only rely on the city walls to hold on and wait for rescue.
Such as the Battle of Diaoyucheng at the end of the Song Dynasty and the Battle of Hongdu at the end of the Yuan Dynasty.
The former was forced to surrender before he could be rescued; the latter was rescued and laid the foundation for Zhu Yuanzhang to rule the world.
When Li Mu wrote to Zhu Xiang, he wrote several versions of his opinions on defending the city and asked Zhu Xiang to make a decision based on the actual situation.
Li Mu was inclined to rely on the city walls to defend.
Although Guangling City was relatively small, Li Mu reinforced the city walls and built a new moat after he was stationed in Guangling City. As long as enough people were put on the city walls, it would be easy for Zhu Xiang to hold out for ten days.
But Zhu Xiang thought that defending a small city was too passive. Li Mu underestimated Xiang Yan.
Although Zhu Xiang didn't know much about city defense battles in his previous life, he had seen many large and small city defense battles in this life. Lian Po was especially good at defense and often pulled Zhu Xiang to teach him.
Defending a city requires a field battle.
If the difference in troop strength does not exceed five times, the city gates should be opened, ditches and fences should be built outside the city, and then troops should be stationed outside the city to actively engage in the attack.
By the time the attacking army reached the city gate, it was already the last line of defense. The defenders were put on the defensive and had no chance of winning. The best they could do was to hold on and wait for rescue.
Lian Po said that the troops of each country were limited and reinforcements were rare. At this point, he was defeated. If he met an excellent general who besieged the city and attacked the reinforcements, he would fail even with reinforcements.
Although Xiang Yan had swept the Chu rebels, it was not considered a great achievement in the eyes of the other six generals. Li Mu was already a recognized general in the seven countries, so he could not help but look down on Xiang Yan.
But Zhu Xiang would not underestimate Xiang Yan, after all, he was the man who could thwart Qin Shihuang's offensive to unify the world.
If Li Mu only gave Zhu Xiang one plan, Zhu Xiang would choose to listen to the opinions of professionals. However, Li Mu believed in Zhu Xiang's ability to defend the city more than Zhu Xiang himself, so Li Mu only gave several feasible plans and let Zhu Xiang decide how to defend the city based on his understanding of Guangling and observation of the enemy.
Li Mu also emphasized in the letter that he was only predicting the city defense strategy based on experience, but the battlefield situation was changing rapidly, and the general needed to rely on his keen observation to adjust the strategy at any time.
"If you don't have confidence, give up Guangling City."
Although Li Mu informed Zhu Xiang of the strategic intention, he also told Zhu Xiang that he could give up.
Xiang Yan was coming with great force, and the Chu people on the north bank of the Yangtze River had previously been quite hostile to Qin, so a temporary retreat was an appropriate strategy.
If Zhu Xiang chooses to stay in Guangling City, he will have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of being a general in Guangling City.
Although Meng Tian will become a general in the future, he is too young now, so Zhu Xiang can only be his general.
Zhu Xiang repeatedly asked himself, can he be a general
Zhao Kuo can only talk about military affairs on the map, isn't he the same
But he knew a way to keep most people in this city alive, so he had no way out.
Zhu Xiang summoned Meng Tian and other Qin generals, as well as the Chu scholars in the city, and informed them of the matter.
"Xiang Yan led the Southern Chu army southward, and many cities on the north bank of the river immediately rebelled against the Qin army to welcome Xiang Yan. Therefore, General Wucheng Jun Li Mu judged that it would not be worth the cost to defend the cities on the north bank of the river, and retreated to the south bank of the river." Zhu Xiang glanced at the people present.
The scholars in Guangling City looked dejected and desperate.
Zhu Xiang continued, "You are the same. You have already betrayed Qin once. If you want Qin to save you, you must show sincerity."
Chen Qi immediately said: "I am willing to donate all my property!"
After Chen Qi spoke out, scholars began to donate their property and ask Qin to send troops.
Zhu Xiang shook his head: "Qin State does not want your property. What Qin State wants to see is the sincerity and ability of the entire Guangling City. Can you really break with Chu State? Are you really worth Qin State's rescue? If you want to move north without burning the city, you can't just resist Xiang Yan's attack this time. In the future, Southern Chu State will continue to want to remove this thorn nailed to the north bank of the river."
Zhu Xiang sighed: "Do you think that as long as you survive this time, you can be rescued?"
The scholars in the city looked even more sad.
Zhu Xiang exposed what they dared not think about.
Even if Guangling City relied on the Qin people to defend the city this time, would Chu State never send troops again in the future? They would always live in fear of war.
It’s better to leave!
Zhu Xiang saw their wavering expressions and said, "So those who are willing to move north should take advantage of the fact that Xiang Yan is being held back by the Chu people who are resisting the move and quickly leave Guangling City and go north to live with their relatives. Even if you lose most of your property, at least you can keep your life."
Chen Qi said sadly: "What if you don't want to move north?"
Zhu Xiang frowned, trying to make his expression look cold and emotionless: "If you don't want to move inland and want to protect Guangling City, then be prepared to continue fighting with Southern Chu. Now, show Qin your determination to become a Qin citizen."
Zhu Xiang held up a finger and said, "General Li has given up dozens of cities on the north bank of the river. To make up for his mistakes, he is now leading his army to attack Nanyue. It will take at least half a month for the main force of the Qin army to return. If Guangling City can hold out for at most one month with the soldiers and civilians in the city, General Li's fleet will surely come back to support it. Can you defend it?! Do you dare to defend it?!"
Zhu Xiang shouted loudly, making the ears of the scholars present buzz.
We can hold out for a month by ourselves?! How is this possible?!
A young scholar was dissatisfied and said: "If we hold on for a month, will the Qin people really come to rescue us?"
Zhu Xiang said calmly: “If you dare to defend, I will stay in Guangling City and force Li Mu to send troops to rescue.”
Meng Tian, who had been distracted by the matter and thought it was none of his business, suddenly changed his expression: "Duke Zhu Xiang! No!"
Zhu Xiang stood up, walked to the hall, and faced the people of Guangling Chu: "If you dare to save yourselves, I will help you save yourselves. I dare to advance and retreat with you, do you dare?!"
Meng Tian stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Duke Zhu Xiang, you can't do that! After you came to Guangling City, you built canals for them and taught them how to farm. Have they ever said a good word to you? The people of Guangling are ungrateful and are like wild dogs that cannot be tamed. If Duke Zhu Xiang saves them, they will open their doors to join the Chu army and kidnap Duke Zhu Xiang to save their lives!"
Meng Tian cursed people bluntly, making the scholars in the city so angry that their faces turned pale and their lips trembled.
Fuqiu gritted his teeth and knelt down, saying, "Duke Zhu Xiang, what General Meng said makes sense. You should repay evil with kindness, but how can you repay kindness? They chose the King of Southern Chu, and you have already handed over the city affairs to them. Now that the King of Southern Chu is unkind, they want to defect to Qin. Isn't that like a domestic slave betraying his master several times? How can you trust them?"
Meng Tian called the Chu people in Guangling City "wild dogs that cannot be tamed". Fuqiu, as a Confucian scholar, was a little more refined and only called the Chu people in Guangling City "traitorous slaves".
The scholars in Guangling City were so angry that they trembled all over. They wanted to curse back, but they didn't dare to, and they didn't know how to refute.
After Li Mu entered the city, the military discipline was better than when the Chu army changed its defense on its own; during the more than half a year that Zhu Xiang had been in Guangling City, he treated the citizens of Guangling City as his own children, personally going to the fields to guide them every day, a devotion that even the local soldiers could not do.
Guangling City was valued much more in Qin State than in Chu State, but the scholars in Guangling City were indeed looking forward to the return of the Chu army. They did not consider themselves as Qin people, did not thank Zhu Xiang for his efforts, and secretly called Zhu Xiang stupid.
Now they have to rely on this "fool" for their entire lives and fortunes.
Do you have any shame
Chen Qi knelt down tremblingly, without saying a word.
He was the first to ask Zhu Xianggong to save Guangling City, but now he is speechless. Doesn't he know that he is shameless
But these are the lives of the people in the entire city, so he can only be shameless.
But Chen Qi was mentally prepared to be shameless, and he could no longer ask for help, so he could only keep kowtow to Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang couldn't bear it, but he didn't help Chen Qi up.
He looked quietly at the other Chu scholars from Guangling City in the hall.
Under Zhu Xiang's calm gaze, the scholars in the city knelt down one after another and kowtowed in silence.
Zhu Xiang raised his head and sighed, saying: "If Guangling City can be defended, I am confident that Guangling City can become a thorn in the side of Chu State and convince the King of Qin to send a large number of troops to guard Guangling City. But all this must be based on Guangling City showing its loyalty and ability."
"Since I'm here, I don't want to do nothing and watch the people of Guangling being slaughtered, so I'm willing to take a gamble." Zhu Xiang sighed again and said, "I'll give you one day. If you want to leave Guangling City, you must leave tomorrow. After Guangling City becomes an enemy of Chu, don't hold on to your extravagant hopes and open the city to surrender."
Zhu Xiang helped Meng Tian and Fu Qiu up one by one: "I will not die. With my reputation, the Southern Chu Lord and Xiang Yan will treat me well. Anyone who holds me hostage to seek credit will be killed by the Southern Chu Lord and Xiang Yan. At most, I will go with Xiang Yan to be a guest of the King of Chu."
"If Guangling City resists, it will be massacred." Zhu Xiang helped Meng Tian and Fu Qiu up, looking down at the kneeling people, "You have seen what happened to other cities on the north bank of the river. I don't think you will have such foolish hopes."
Meng Tian said anxiously: "Duke Zhu Xiang! Think about the prince! The prince is still waiting for you to return to Wujun!"
Zhu Xiang said: "What I say and do comes from my heart and will not be swayed by anyone or anything."
He took out the tiger seal and said, "I have the Qin King's decree, which can seize the tiger seals of the three counties of Southern Qin at any time. Meng Tian, listen to my orders!"
Before Zhu Xiang finished speaking, Meng Tian, relying on the fact that he was a generation younger than Zhu Xiang, started to lose his temper.
He sat on the ground and said, "Uncle, you can take my tiger talisman, but don't try to drive me away. If anything happens to uncle, the prince and my father will not forgive me. I might as well die here in battle."
Zhu Xiang: “…”
The first time he saw Meng Tian acting like a junior in front of him, he was really shocked.
Zhu Xiang was always easily "taken advantage of" by the younger generation. Meng Tian was playing tricks, so Zhu Xiang could only change the subject: "You get up first, how disgraceful!"
Fuqiu and Jiao Yun, who had remained silent, quickly lifted up the young general who was sitting on the ground and acting like a spoiled child, to prevent him from continuing to embarrass Zhu Xiang.
Zhu Xiang straightened his expression again and said, "You should get up too. Whether it's to defend or escape, it's time to prepare now. Tomorrow night, I will come to listen to your decision."
Zhu Xiang waved his hand and asked someone to send these people away.
On the second day, Zhu Xiang ordered the Qin soldiers to beat gongs to command the citizens of the city and nearby farmers, informing them of their current situation and giving them two choices: to escape or to enter the city to help defend it.
They only have two days to choose, after which no outsiders will be allowed into the city.
While the Chu people were making their choice, Zhu Xiang began to send people to repair the city walls, widen the moat, and build city defense equipment.
Then, Xiang Yan finally arrived.
Xiang Yan should have arrived long ago.
After the Qin army symbolically resisted several times, they soon withdrew one after another. It should not have been difficult for Xiang Yan to recover the lost territory on the north bank of the Yangtze River of Chu.
What held Xiang Yan back were the order to massacre the city and relocate.
Xiang Yan did not want to go too far. The first massacre was to achieve his intention of intimidating the Qin army and the Chu people who surrendered to the Qin army, and to cause civil unrest in the cities captured by the Qin army.
After achieving his strategic goal, he should have stopped. However, the order of relocation issued by the King of Chu and the Lord of Southern Chu, which he had submitted, prevented him from putting away his butcher knife.
According to Xiang Yan's original plan, the relocation order would be implemented slowly by the King of Southern Chu after he recaptured the city.
But Nan Chujun obviously didn't want to bear this responsibility alone. Since it was Xiang Yan's idea, he had to drag Xiang Yan into it.
Perhaps he, the Lord of Nanchu, would be ousted not long after taking office.
This is actually one of Xiang Yan’s goals.
Although the internal migration order was the only strategy to counter Li Mu, it was also a strategy of fighting poison with poison. If the King of Southern Chu did not operate properly, the newly established Southern Chu State would not be in line with morality, and after arousing the resentment of the scholars, it would probably be quickly broken from within.
At that time, the King of Chu will be able to easily re-annex the State of Southern Chu and depose the King of Southern Chu.
Unfortunately, the King of Nanchu and the nobles of Nanchu were not stupid and immediately saw through Xiang Yan’s not-so-clever tricks.
The order to relocate had to be completed by Xiang Yan himself, otherwise they would simply ignore the cities occupied by Qin on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and even threaten to surrender directly to Qin and become its vassal state.
Xiang Yan had first-rate military ability, but his political ability was very immature. He was outmaneuvered by the Lord of Nanchu, and now he was tied to the chariot and could not get off. Not only did his reputation suffer greatly, but his offensive pace was also seriously slowed down.
Fortunately, the Qin army was determined not to take the city on the north bank of the Yangtze River. If the Qin army counterattacked at this moment, Xiang Yan would definitely be defeated.
When they are forced into a corner with no way to survive, even the common people who are considered as insensitive as pigs and dogs by the great nobles will rise up in resistance.
The State of Chu also had many knights-errant. They gathered the villagers to fight against the Chu army. Although they were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot and were soon crushed by Xiang Yan's chariot, after so many times, Xiang Yan's chariot inevitably suffered some damage and its speed became slow.
Zhu Xiang had a full half month to prepare.
Guangling City is the last big city on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Xiang Yan stood on the chariot, looking at the densely packed bamboo fences in front of Guangling City, and sighed deeply.
"Duke Zhu Xiang, I've long admired you." Xiang Yan stood on the chariot and clasped his fists and bowed.
Zhu Xiang nodded to the people beside him, and took Meng Tian and Jiao Yun with him, riding his horse around the bamboo fence, completely exposing his body to the sight of the Chu army.
"General Xiang, I've heard a lot about you. You didn't reply to my letter." Zhu Xiang said lightly.
When Xiang Yan saw Zhu Xiang's courage, his admiration grew even stronger.
Although he really didn't dare to hurt Zhu Xiang, this was another matter compared to Zhu Xiang's courage to take risks.
"Duke Zhu Xiang wrote to me? I don't know, maybe the letter was lost." Xiang Yan lied with his eyes open.
Of course he received the letter, but he wouldn't reply.
Zhu Xiang stood on the side of morality, so whatever he said would be wrong.
But he didn't expect that Zhu Xiang would personally ride up to him and question him about this matter while he was defending the city. This made him feel a little embarrassed.
Xiang Yan has the integrity of a nobleman and is not a completely shameless scoundrel.
Zhu Xiang asked, "Is Lord Nanchu here?"
A man with a fifty-year-old beard and hair stood up on a chariot with a canopy and said, "Here I am."
Zhu Xiang said, "Just consider the letter lost. Then I will ask again in person, can Lord Nanchu and General Xiang swear in the name of their ancestors not to harm the people of Guangling in the slightest? If they move inland, will they be given enough land and houses so that they will not be displaced?"
Zhu Xiang's voice was so loud that the Chu soldiers in front and behind him were all moved.
But neither Nan Chujun nor Xiang Yan answered.
Although they wanted to deceive Zhu Xiang, swearing an oath on one's ancestors was a serious matter in this era. Moreover, the establishment of the Southern Chu King was not righteous, and Xiang Yan was the new favorite of the King of Chu who had many enemies around him, so they dared not break their promise easily.
Zhu Xiang asked three times, but Nan Chujun and Xiang Yan remained silent.
He sighed and said, "Then there is nothing to talk about. Let's fight."
Zhu Xiang rode his horse back and walked calmly back to his own camp. He passed through the first line of bamboo fence and trench defense, the second line of low wall and trap defense, crossed the bridge of the third line of moat defense, and returned to the city gate.
The city gates were wide open, and the Qin and Chu soldiers guarding the city had already taken position on three lines of defense.
Only after all three lines of defense are lost will they retreat back to the city gate, close it tightly, and defend the last line of defense on the city wall.
Guangling City was not big at that time, with only two gates, one of which was facing the water. Only the terrain in front of this gate was open, allowing the army to launch a fierce attack.
Nan Chujun and Xiang Yan, as well as the Chu soldiers behind them, all watched Zhu Xiang leave in silence.
Xiang Yan sighed again in his heart.
He knew that Zhu Xiang's appearance this time must have dealt a heavy blow to his morale. He didn't know whether Zhu Xiang was doing it as a military strategy or unintentionally.
But he couldn't stop Zhu Xiang and had to let Zhu Xiang finish what he was saying.
If he dared to shoot an arrow to scare Zhu Xiang, or to scold Zhu Xiang, the morale of the army would drop even faster. Moreover, if Zhu Xiang got into trouble before the battle, the King of Chu would probably have to hand him over to appease the King of Qin's anger.
Xiang Yan was in a great headache. Even before the battle began, he knew that this battle would be difficult.
But the arrow was on the string and had to be shot, so Xiang Yan had no choice but to order his army to attack.
The defenders were already prepared, and the battlefield was limited to this side. The Chu army and the defenders did not have any fancy skills at all, it was just a head-on positional battle.
Zhu Xiang was protected by pits and bamboo fences, while Xiang Yan used the bronze chariot as a shield to press forward.
The power of the bronze chariot at this time was no less than that of Wang Jian's heavy cavalry.
Moreover, Xiang Yan saw Wang Jian's heavy cavalry and trained a cavalry unit. Although not as strong as the heavy cavalry, they were able to press in front of the front and shoot at the defenders at short distances, which brought great pressure to the defenders.
The war scene was bloody and fierce.
The defenders had the advantage of the terrain, and they exchanged five to ten men for every man they had with the Chu army led by Xiang Yan. But because Xiang Yan brought an army of 100,000, 30,000 of them were elite soldiers. The defenders had less than 20,000 soldiers, of which only 15,000 were elite soldiers. Among them, only half were veteran Qin soldiers.
Therefore, based on the ratio of casualties on both sides, the casualties were heavy.
The first line of defense was fought back and forth three or four times. Xiang Yangang led the chariots to rush in, but was taken back by the Guangling defenders holding up their shields.
The armored cavalry and the heavy infantry collided head-on, neither side was willing to retreat.
Zhu Xiang stood on the city wall and watched the scene through a telescope hand-ground from transparent crystal by the Mohists.
The line where the Chu army fought with the defenders was like a tide of flesh and blood, sometimes advancing and sometimes retreating.
Such an intense scene seemed like a pantomime.
Apart from the shouts of military commanders, the cries of fighting and killing that should be used to vent emotions on the battlefield are rare on this cruel battlefield where waves of blood and flesh are repeatedly sweeping across the battlefield.
Both sides were like silent beasts, biting each other wordlessly.
The entire battlefield was lifeless, as if the dead were still alive.
Zhu Xiang took a deep breath, his nose filled with the smell of blood.
"Beat the drums and sing the Chu songs."
Zhu Xiang ordered.
Chen Qi, whose hair and beard were grayer than before, took off his robe, exposed his upper body, and beat the drum himself.
From the city wall, there were bursts of Chu songs.
Chuci became a system only after Qu Yuan, but Chuge has always existed.
Most of the ballads of the Chu people are very free and easy, and the lyrics always use metaphors based on the unique local scenery.
Like orchid flowers, river tides and forest waves.
Even a sad and desolate song can sound romantic and heroic when sung by the people of Chu.
Like now.
Most of the nobles in this era were high and mighty and could not see clearly the importance of their country and the world.
But it was precisely in this era that most scholars adhered to the "righteousness" in their hearts and were willing to die for it.
Almost all the scholars in Guangling City sent their families to seek refuge, but they left their young and strong men and most of the servants to defend the city. Especially the heads of the families, almost all of them stayed behind.
Chen Qi is just one of them.
Those who were able to fight had already entered the defense line in front of the city gate and were fighting with the siege army, which were also from the Chu people in the past.
Those who could not fight stayed on the city wall with Zhu Xiang, watching the most brutal front line of the battle to defend the city and waiting for Zhu Xiang's command.
When the three lines of defense in front of the city gate were lost, the defenders retreated to the city wall. Even if they were not very good at fighting, they would fight together on the city wall.
Now, under the command of Zhu Xiang, these people beat the war drums, picked up the traditional musical instruments of the Chu State, and sang the most sad songs in their hearts with the loudest voices.
We are of the same root, why are we so eager to fight each other
Zhu Xiang said in his heart.
He was not a Chu person, so he did not sing along, but just looked down at Xiang Yan and Nan Chujun who were vaguely visible in the distance.
As well as the Chu army in front, behind and to the sides of these two people.
He knew that among Xiang Yan's 100,000-strong army, at least one-fifth were conscripted civilians from the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Would these people feel the same way when they heard the sad songs from the Guangling city wall
(End of this chapter)