Yizhou City was besieged for five days, and the defenders were really exhausted. Although the Northwest Army persisted desperately, the Yizhou Army did not have the perseverance of the Northwest Army. The soldiers of the Yizhou Army no longer cared about anything else, and fell down in the corridors at the top of the city, regardless of the coldness of the stone slabs, and fell asleep. Many Northwest generals shouted and even took out whips. , I just can't open my eyes.
The most frightening thing is that a few soldiers suddenly collapsed and died of a heart attack because of the fear and lack of sleep all day long. Although this proportion is small, nearly a hundred people in the entire defenders died of this. Such a situation cast a huge shadow over the defenders' hearts.
Yizhou was completely besieged, and no news from the outside could be obtained. As for the reinforcements, Maoer did not see them either. Not only did the physical and mental damage take a toll, but even the hearts of the soldiers began to loosen and weaken.
If there are still eyes open, they must be muttering: "Damn, such a vicious Xue Poye... Is there such a tricky person?"
Lion General Hong Wei looks more ferocious than a lion now, he hasn't treated his beard for a few days, the beard under his jaw is like a mess of grass, it's a horrible mess, his blue face looks old and tired.
"General, you must rest." The general beside him persuaded: "If you continue like this, even if your body is made of iron, you won't be able to bear it."
Lion General Hong Wei, as the name suggests, can be seen from his nickname, he is as brave as a lion, but he can't be called a wise general. For so many days, Xue Poye's "cat fight" has always been Did not come up with a solution.
He also thought about imitating the appearance of the Chu army and dividing the defenders into several shifts to take turns on duty. However, Yizhou City must be defended on all sides, and maybe the Chu army will really attack the city one time. If you defend in batches, the number of troops facing the battle is obviously insufficient, and it will not be easy to reorganize.
Every time the Chu army charged, the already weak defenders had to be on guard. In this way, in order to ensure the safety of the city defense, they had to grit their teeth and persist. Even if it was not necessary for all the defenders to be on alert, it was impossible Let the soldiers rest in batches.
Between offense and defense, it is a very mysterious thing. If you are on the offensive, you have a strong autonomy and can attack at any time, but if you are on the defensive, you can only passively fight. This is even more vividly reflected in Yizhou City.
The Chu army's feint attack is becoming more and more incomprehensible, and it is becoming more and more accompanied by fiction and reality.
Yesterday, the Chu army launched sixteen attacks, but they could not be called feints. Four or five of them rushed to the city of Yizhou when the defenders were a little looser. Judging by the posture, it seemed that the final attack was about to take place. However, when the defenders raised their spirits to resist, they fought for less than half an hour, and the Chu army withdrew with less than a hundred casualties on both sides.
When such a situation appeared, the defenders were even more terrified, and they didn't know which time it would be a real attack.
Yizhou City is surrounded by groups on all sides, and the attack methods of the Chu army are also varied. Sometimes they attack on all sides, sometimes they attack on three sides, and sometimes they feint on one side. Every time they attack, the defenders of the four gates are stronger. Ever since they cheered up, as generals, Hong Wei and several capable generals had to pay attention to every movement in the four gates, which made their energy and physical strength drain to the maximum.
Looking at the camp of the Chu army in the distance, the "Chu" flag and the "Shuai" flag are like a sea of flags fluttering, Hong Wei's eyes are still firm, in stark contrast to the tiredness on his face: "Rest? No, Hold on. Dou Shuai will return to aid soon. Although there is no news, but... But I believe that Dou Shuai has captured Qingzhou, and now reinforcements are on the way... Let the brothers hold on, maybe... hold on for a couple of days Days later, the reinforcements will arrive, and then our army should cooperate with the outside and kill this gang of mobs." His voice was full of resentment and anger, but more of it came from the bottom of his heart...Looking forward!
That's right, without reinforcements, Yizhou City, I'm afraid it really can't stand it.
The general knew very well in his heart that the possibility of reinforcements coming, judging from the current situation, was very slim, even if they did arrive in a day or two... But, can the defenders really last for a day or two
…
The situation of the Yizhou garrison is getting worse and worse, and the soldiers of the Chu army have been playing cat and mouse games for days, which makes their nervous hearts more and more relaxed, and their self-confidence is also increasing with repeated feints and watching. Seeing the panicked appearance of the defenders, they became firmer.
After going through iron and blood, although the combat effectiveness of the Chu army has not made a huge leap, there is no doubt that it has made great progress compared to when it was just assembled.
Inside the handsome camp, Xue Poye was in a happy mood, listening to the civil servant explain the situation behind.
"Mr. Chen Yin and the others have come forward and started to give lectures in major academies." The official said: "Nowadays, the prestigious gentlemen in each state are talking about the national way and the righteous way. Peaceful, chaotic evils, extremely wolfish ambitions, provoking turmoil in the world, causing the people to suffer, and continuous wars. Chu State is originally a great advantage, but the northwest has changed, and the disadvantages are great. This kind of benevolence and righteousness can also be divided into big benevolence and small benevolence. It is Xiaoren who help the world and benefit people's livelihood. Only then is Daren, and Mingyue King abandons Daren and chooses Xiaoren, which is really a trick...!"
Xue Poye was dizzy when he heard it, and waved his hands and said, "Okay, okay, do you mean that Mr. Chen Yin and other Chu writers have already begun to condemn the rebellion in the Northwest?"
"That's what it means." The clerk hurriedly said: "You gentlemen have the same opinion. Now most of the literati are cheering for the imperial court in various states, and the people who have different opinions in various places have also begun to appease them."
Xue Poye smiled with satisfaction: "That's good, that's good." He thought to himself: "Father-in-law still understands big things, and this time it's really thanks to him coming forward to help. Hehe, if you can triumphantly, you should have a good time with the old man." Have a few cups." Then he asked, "Does the Holy Majesty have a decree?"
"Return to Commander-in-Chief, the Holy Lord ordered the Commander-in-Chief to take care of himself and not worry about the rear. With him and the Prime Minister behind to protect him, the Commander-in-Chief will focus on the Northern Expedition." The official replied.
Xue Poye smiled and nodded.
As soon as the official left, Yang Yijun begged to see him and came in with a relaxed expression: "Commander, the defenders in the city may not be able to hold on anymore. The last feigned attack, only 30 to 40 percent of the defenders stood up to fight, that is to say, most of them The defenders are already exhausted, and by tomorrow, they will surely be able to attack the city!"
Xue Poye smiled faintly, and asked, "How are you feeling now, brothers?"
"Everyone rests well, eats well, is full of energy, and has a strong desire to fight." Yang Yijun looked at Xue Poye's eyes, already full of respect: "The general thought that even if he attacked the city now, he was 70% to 80% sure. Take it down."
Xue Poye laughed and said: "If we want to fight, we must take Yizhou in one battle, and we must try to kill as few people as possible... Well, pass on the order, let the brothers rest well, tonight... when midnight comes, attack the city from all sides!"
"Tonight?" Yang Yijun became excited: "I obey!"
"General Yang, don't let this letter out for the time being, just let the brothers prepare for the siege half an hour before the battle begins." Xue Poye rubbed his nose thoughtfully: "Remember, every hour of the day, all four sides Don't attack the city immediately, first make a feint attack at the same time, and then retreat quickly, but don't really retreat, retreat for three or five miles, turn around and attack immediately... You must win Yizhou City in one battle!"
Yang Yijun's eyes lit up, and he respectfully said, "Yes!"
Xue Poye closed his eyes and murmured: "God bless you, don't lose this battle."
…
The night was dark.
Torches were lit at the top of the Yizhou city, and many soldiers leaned against the wall of the city, holding their spears, squinting their eyes and being exhausted, it would be a pleasure to take a nap even for a while.
"call out!"
A crisp sound of arrows pierced the sky, and the cries that had not stopped for several days were heard around Yizhou City.
"Get up, damn it, get up!" the general in charge of the city held a big knife and carried the soldiers who seemed to be asleep, with a rough voice.
The soldiers had gotten used to the yelling of the Chu army, and they got up lazily one by one, and someone muttered, "Here's making a noise again, and ran away like puppies if we couldn't reach the city."
Some soldiers said: "General, the Chu army is fooling people... Leave them alone... let the brothers rest, they haven't closed their eyes for a few days...!"
"Get up quickly, don't talk nonsense, whoever talks nonsense will be pulled down and beheaded." The generals shouted.
When the soldiers took up their weapons and stood at the top of the city, they saw that the flames all over the sky were like stars in the sky, illuminating the surroundings of Yizhou City brightly, and the dark Chu army was rapidly approaching Yizhou City.
When the Chu army approached, the city leader immediately shouted: "Shoot the arrow!"
"Whoosh whoosh!"
The arrows were fired at the Chu army through the air.
This round of arrows was like flying locusts, just like many times before, there was a scream from the Chu army, some soldiers were shot and killed, and the Chu army retreated immediately.
Looking at the retreating Chu army, a general of the Northwest Army snorted coldly: "The Chu army is a group of rats without guts. Why don't they dare to really attack the city and fight with us?"
A soldier next to him couldn't help but said: "General, if the Chu army really attacks the city at this time, we... can we hold it?"
The general was full of resentment. Hearing the sarcasm in the soldier's words, he was furious. He raised his foot and kicked the soldier's chest, cursing: "Your Yizhou army is as incompetent as the Chu army."
The soldier was kicked and rolled on the ground. Hearing what the Northwest General said, the other Yizhou Army officers were extremely indignant, and all cast hostile eyes on this general.
The Northwest Army has been able to fight well, and has always looked down on the soldiers and horses of the imperial court. Although the surrender of the Yizhou Army was caused by various factors, in the eyes of the Northwest Army, it still did not regard the Yizhou Army as its own.
The Yizhou army was afraid of the strength of the Northwest Army, and secondly, they had already taken refuge in King Mingyue. The state soldiers were also full of resentment. After all, if the Northwest Army hadn't committed rebellion, the Yizhou Army would not have suffered like this.
At this time, the generals in the northwest not only beat people, but also spoke contemptuous words. Naturally, there were also some grumpy soldiers in the Yizhou army, and one of them shouted: "General, what he said may not be wrong, why did you beat him? If the Chu army really attacked the city at that time, do you think we can really hold it? Brothers have not had a good night's sleep for several days, exhausted... You are right, our Yizhou army is useless, not as good as your Northwest army Bravery, that's good, when the Chu army attacks the city again, you Northwest Army can defend the city by yourself, and don't use us wretches."
The person who spoke was also a general in the Yizhou Army, and he was quite prestigious in the Yizhou Army.
Northwest General sneered, "Oh, according to you, it's going to be reversed!"
The partial general was not afraid, and with the fact that many Yizhou sergeants had gathered behind him, the pent-up anger ignited: "In your eyes, our Yizhou army is just used to send you to death. , you have caused trouble, but our Yizhou Army will be sent to death, I...!" Before he finished speaking, the Northwest General shouted, and he slashed down at Linkong with his sword, which was unexpected This Northwest general really dared to do something, and was split in half alive.
The Yizhou sergeant was taken aback for a moment, and then became angry immediately. Several brave soldiers had raised their swords and rushed forward.
"stop!"
There was a loud shout, and Hong Wei with a tired face came quickly, and he was walking like a tiger. When the Yizhou soldiers saw him, they didn't dare to rush forward, but someone shouted: "General Hong, he...he killed our people."
Hong Wei glanced at the corpse on the ground, then glared at the northwest general, and said in a deep voice, "What's going on?"
The Northwest general said: "General, this man... this man made a verdict. His humble position is afraid of disturbing the morale of the army, so he cut it first and then played it."
The Yizhou army shouted one after another: "Nonsense, he is talking nonsense. He first scolded our Yizhou army as useless, and Li Pianjiang retorted, but he shot and killed him. General Hong, our Yizhou army is also your subordinate, please Call the shots for us!"
Hong Wei's face was extremely ugly.
At such a moment, there is actually internal strife. It seems that something is really wrong with Yizhou City.
Looking at the anger of the Yizhou army, Hong Wei's bloodshot eyes were full of anger, and he shouted to the northwest general: "You stupid guy...!" He looked extremely exhausted, knowing that this general had been enduring suffering all this time, and that killing someone today was a deformity caused by psychological depression, so he couldn't help sighing: "Go and get fifty army sticks yourself!"
Fifty army sticks is undoubtedly a dead end for the current generals.
In order to quell the civil strife, Hong Wei could only make sacrifices.
The general didn't blink, and respectfully said: "Yes!" He turned around and went to receive the army stick.
At this moment, someone shouted: "Then... what is that?" The voice was full of creepy fear.
Everyone followed the sound and saw a soldier leaning on the battlements, looking out of the dark city. Everyone looked out of the city and saw the camp of the Chu army dozens of miles away still shining brightly, and they had just attacked the city and retreated. The Chu army, whose torches had already been extinguished, was only a few miles away from the city at this time. In the gloom, there were figures flickering, and a black mass approached silently.
"Not good!" Hong Wei's expression changed drastically, and he swayed: "Chu army... Chu army is really going to attack the city... Everyone is ready to fight...!"
Sure enough, the Chu army who had just retreated extinguished their torches, but in the dark, they turned around following the firelight at the top of the city and attacked silently. The entire Yizhou city was surrounded by Chu troops like a tide.
"Beat the drum!" Hong Wei's face was ashen, and an ominous premonition shrouded in his heart.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Under the city, the Chu army rushing ahead had already shot locust-like feather arrows, and there was a scream from the top of the city. Before countless soldiers could react at all, they had already been shot by the arrows and fell down the city.
"woo woo woo woo!"
The horns in the Chu army's formation suddenly remembered that such frightening horns sounded around Yizhou City at the same time, and they joined together. Finally, the Chu army roared: "Kill! Kill!"
"Shoot!" The generals at the head of the city howled.
So, panicked or not, the soldiers on the city also began to fight hastily, but the arrows they shot were soft compared to the sharp ones of the Chu army.
Like a group of bloodthirsty ghost corps that suddenly appeared in the dark night, the generals of the Chu army rushed to Yizhou City frantically, without any falsehood, the generals of the Chu army shouted, and the soldiers roared , In just a moment, the ladder was on the city wall.
Although the defenders were caught off guard, the rocks and logs to defend the city had been prepared long ago. Under fatigue, the Northwest Army, led by the Northwest Army, still resisted tenaciously.
As far as the eye can see, there are Chu troops under the city, like ants, and some defenders were shot down from the top of the city by arrows as soon as they poked their heads out.
The rolling logs and stones dropped from the top of the city also dealt a huge blow to the Chu army's siege soldiers. Many soldiers of the Chu army were smashed into meat mud by the things falling from the top of the city.
Blood and fire are intertwined, the bloodiest and cruelest side of human beings is stimulated, and the strongest and bravest side also comes out at this moment, like killing tools one after another. The defenders, or the Chu army under the city, have no fear and fear, and some just kill each other with all their strength, fighting to save their lives.
Although the defenders were at the end of their strength and rushed to the battle, the progress of the Chu army was not as smooth as expected, and the entire battlefield was filled with roars and screams.
"Bang bang!"
The catapults of the Chu army finally launched an attack, and the huge boulder smashed towards the top of the city, either killing a group of defenders, or breaking holes in the solid city wall one after another.
The Chu army will use all the weapons they can use. Except for the cavalry who are ready to break through and rush to the city, other soldiers will participate in this most powerful general attack.
On all sides of Yizhou City, in just over an hour, many places were smashed by catapults.
When the fierce battle was in full swing, the tiger-head hammer, the most effective weapon of the Chu army, finally came out. The soldiers used their shields to resist the rain of arrows on the tower and began to hit the city gate.
"Send more people to guard the city gate!" Hong Wei roared, the situation was quite chaotic.
"Report!" A sergeant came to report: "General, the west gate is about to be broken."
"Report!" Another sergeant came to report: "The south gate can no longer resist, and our army has suffered heavy casualties."
"Report, the Chu army has already captured the top of the city!"
The bad news came one after another, and Hong Wei's eyes burst into anger. He also saw that after the tossing of the defenders for the past few days, the Northwest Army can still defend the city with strong will, but the soldiers of the Yizhou Army, It seemed that they were not able to do what they wanted. Under normal circumstances, they could shoot three or four arrows, but now they could barely shoot one arrow. Even those rocks and logs were transported and thrown down the city at an extremely slow speed.
It's not necessarily that the soldiers didn't do their best, but that everyone's bodies and consciousness have become numb and sluggish from the tossing of the past few days.
After all, in this era of cold weapons, if we really want to fight, we still have to rely on human combat effectiveness, but the combat effectiveness of the current defenders is obviously weaker than that of the Chu army.
Deep down in Hong Wei's heart, there was even a trace of regret. If he had known this situation earlier, he should have led the army out of the city a few days ago, and fought to the death with the Chu army, so he might not lose.
"Xue Poye, I admire you!" Hong Wei murmured, looking at the enemy camp in the distance.
Reinforcement is definitely not something to be counted on, and with Hong Wei's judgment, he already knows that there must be a major incident in Qingzhou, otherwise it is impossible that there will be no movement of reinforcements.
The sound of shouting and killing enveloped the entire sky of Yizhou City.
In the night sky, someone suddenly shouted: "It's not good, it's not good, the east gate has been breached, and the Chu army has rushed in!"