Chapter 339: Siege weapon

"Two generals... generals." Pang Tong waved his hand with difficulty, and said to Zangba, Zhang He, "I have something to say to my lord."

Tibetan tyrants, Zhang He did not dare to neglect, and rushed to help Cao Cao to Pang Tong. Seeing Tong Pang's miserable appearance of blood all over his body and his lower body was smashed into flesh mud, Cao Cao couldn't help but say tragically: "Shi Yuan!"

"Lord." Pang Tong struggled to hold Cao Cao's hand and said, "Tong is a mediocre person, and the lord Meng will not abandon his responsibilities as a military advisor. Unfortunately, the weather is not over. If you suffer from this disaster, you may not be able to provide advice for the lord in the future. Alas."

Cao Cao burst into tears: "I lost my scholars alone, just like a hero cutting off his arm. Who can plan in the future? Who can plan in the future?"

"Lord, don't worry." A strange look flashed across Pang Tong's ugly face, and he said, "There are many strange scholars in Jingxiang, and there are countless people who are better than Pang Tong's talent than Pang Tong. Tong's destiny is not long. I would like to recommend four classmates and friends to the lord."

"Oh?" Cao Cao asked with anticipation, "I don't know who it is?"

Pang Tong said: "This person's surname is Cui Zhi, whose name is Zhu Ping, was originally the youngest son of the Taiwei Cui Lie. Later, his family fell into trouble and went to Jingxiang to study under the Yu family's uncle Pang De Gong. Cui and his lord have old friends. The lord usually wanted to serve the lord, but his studies were not achieved. In the previous Jingzhou affairs, Tong was actually entrusted by Zhou Ping to help him."

Cao Cao sighed: "It turns out that he is the descendant of an old friend."

Pang Tong also said: "The second surname is Meng and Jian, the name is Gongwei, the third surname is Shi and Tao, the name is Guangyuan. The two and Cui Zhi are both far superior to Tong, and they are of great use."

Cao Cao said: "I don't know who the fourth person is?"

Pang Tong said: "The fourth person with the surname Zhuge, his name is Liang, and his name is Kongming. He was originally from the county of Xuzhou, and he followed his father to avoid chaos when he was young. He was appointed as the uncle's disciple for twelve years. Although Kong Ming was only young, he had Guan Zhong and Le Yi's talent. His talent and knowledge were far greater than Tong's. He was actually a genius! Tong originally wanted to introduce Kong Ming to his lord's tent after attacking Sichuan, but now it seems that he cannot."

Cao Cao frowned and said unbelievable: "Is this Kong Mingguo so talented?"

"Tong is a dying person, so why should he deceive the lord in vain?" Pang Tong said this, and the radiance on his face gradually faded, and his tone began to become more difficult. He continued, "After Tong died, these four classmates and friends will come to mourn. Now there is a plan that can be used by the lord for all the students."

Cao Cao said, "Will the plan be released?"

Pang Tong leaned into Cao Cao's ear and whispered a few times. Cao Cao nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and praised: "Wonderful, this plan is very wonderful!"

After Cao Cao finished speaking, he did not see Pang Tong respond for a while. When he looked back, he saw that Pang Tong had already died of blood from his seven orifices.

Huainan.

Gao Shun's left army and Fang Yue's right army were stubbornly resisted by the Wu army in Qingniu Pass and Huaiyin respectively. Only Ma Yue personally led the middle army was unstoppable and drove straight in. In less than a month, it advanced hundreds of miles southward, and the troops headed straight towards Shouchun.

Shouchun is in the north and Ma Yue’s military tent.

Jia Xu said to Ma Yue: "Lord, General Gao Shun condemns Malay News. The Wu army built a solid barrier at Qingniu Pass. The terrain in that area is complex and the mountain road is narrow. Our army's military strength advantage cannot be exerted at all. We can only rely on a small group of elite soldiers to force the gate. The Wu army's resistance is very tenacious, and it seems that there is a protracted and fierce battle."

"Well, this is also expected." Ma Yue nodded, "So how is Fang Yue's right-hand army progressing?"

Jia Xu said: "The army on the right has successfully captured Langjia, Pengcheng, Donghai County and most of Xiapei County in Huaibei. However, when continuing to attack Huaiyin, it was subjected to fierce resistance from the Wu army. Huaiyin was backed by the Huai River and supported by the Eastern Wu naval army. General Fang Yue failed several attacks and was always on guard against the night attack of the Eastern Wu naval army. He had retreated thirty miles north to retreat to the village."

Ma Yue said: "It seems that we cannot count on the left and right armies in a short period of time and detour to Shouchun."

Tian Yu said: "Why do you need a small city of Shouchun? The two armies on the left and right attack? The last general is willing to lead 30,000 elite troops from Youzhou to the prime minister's front, and you will definitely conquer Shouchun within half a month!"

Ma Yue said: "There is no joke in the army!"

Tian Yu said: "The last general is willing to issue a military order."

"Okay!" Ma Yue shouted, "Tian Yu obeyed the order."

"The last one will be there."

"Lead 30,000 elite troops from Youzhou to attack the North Gate of Shouchun!"

"The last general takes the order."

Tian Yu responded with a loud promise, turned around and left.

Shouchun, Zhou Yu’s military tent.

Zhou Yu said to Sun Quan: "Lord, Gao Shun's left army has been blocked by Major General Ling Tong at Qingniu Pass, and Fang Yue's right army has also been blocked by the third general in Huaiyin. As for the central army led by Ma Butcher himself, our army completely followed the strategy formulated by Zhao in advance and adopted the tactic of luring the enemy into depth. Now the 200,000 Xiliang army has advanced thirty miles north of Shouchun City!"

"Oh?" Sun Quan asked with a look of movement, "Has the butcher's army has advanced thirty miles north of Shouchun City?"

"Please look, lord." Zhou Yu pointed to Sun Quan with a finger map, "This is Shouchun City. The Huai River passes through the city. Within a radius of 100 miles, there is a low-lying land. Due to the years of backflow of the Huai River, a large number of lakes have been formed in this area, and waterways are connected between the lakes. What is particularly important is that the lakes and waterways are covered with reeds and grass and trees. The navy is infested with boats, which makes the Liang army unable to defend."

"Okay." Sun Quan said, "Ma Butcher led a 200,000 cavalry and infantry army into this land, it is like stepping into a swamp of death. He will be harassed by the Eastern Wu navy! The Liang army is powerful, and our army will definitely be defeated if we fight hard. Only by fully leveraging the advantages of the navy and making full use of the favorable terrain around Shouchun can we turn defeat into victory! Haha, as long as we defeat Ma Butcher's middle army, Gao Shun and Fang Yue, these two side divisions are not worth worrying."

Zhou Yu smiled and turned around, stood on the side of the desk and shouted loudly: "Zhou Tai, Xu Sheng, Ding Feng, Sun Jiao obeyed the order!"

Zhou Tai, Xu Sheng, Ding Feng and Sun Jiao went out of the line, stood side by side in the tent and shouted, "The last one is here."

Zhou Yu said: "Each leader of two thousand navy troops, all of whom took a fast boat to go out on the expedition. All generals should remember that during the day, they should be broken into pieces and lurking in the lakes and waterways. At night, they should gather ashore to burn their food and grass, burn their baggage, kill their soldiers, and steal their horses. They can kill the enemy by any means, attack the enemy, disturb the enemy, and make them tired of running, and they cannot be defended."

"The last general takes the order."

General Zhou Taisi took the order and left.

Zhou Yu said again: "Lu Meng obeys the order!"

Lu Meng rushed forward and replied, "The last one is here."

Zhou Yu said: "Lead the main force of the navy to patrol the Huaihe River and strictly prevent the Liang army from building floating bridges and crossing the river! As long as the barrier of the Huaihe River is not lost, the Xiliang army of the Ma Butcher will never be able to pose a threat to the east, west and south gates of Shouchun, and our army can concentrate its forces to defend the north gate to the death!"

Lu Meng shouted, "The last general will receive the order."

“Woooooooooooo…”

As Lu Meng finished speaking, a long and distant horn sounded suddenly outside Shouchun City. Then the Wu army's junior high school stepped into the tent and knelt down and replied: "Report to the Grand Governor, the Liang army began to attack the city!"

Zhou Yu smiled and turned to Sun Quan and said, "Why don't the lord go to the enemy tower to watch the battle to inspire the fighting spirit of the three armies?"

Sun Quan said happily: "I have this intention."

North Gate of Shouchun.

Tian Yu's 30,000 surrendered troops in Youzhou had already set up their formation. The flags were flying in the wilderness of Beixiao, covering the sky and the sun. Tens of thousands of spears pierced the sky. The cold and cold light almost reflected half of the sky.

In the main formation of the central army, Tian Yu was surrounded by old Youzhou generals such as Zhang Nan, Su You, Mao Kai, and Xin Ming.

From a distance, Shouchun City is like a huge giant beast squatting on the Huai River. The Huai River passing through divides the entire Shouchun City into two. The Wu army was obviously prepared. The height of the city wall north of the Huai River had increased from the original three zhang to five zhang (about 10 meters). Every twenty steps (about 30 meters), there is a gang fort built. The gang fort protrudes outward, dividing the entire straight wall into "concave" shapes.

"Awesome, it can actually build the city wall like this!" Tian Yu looked carefully and turned to the generals and said, "This kind of city wall design is simply unheard of. This general has never seen it in military books. However, it is certain that the difficulty of our army's attack on the city will inevitably increase greatly! Based on this alone, it is enough to see that Zhou Yu, the general of the Wu army, is indeed not an ordinary person!"

"Yes." Xin Ming nodded and agreed, "Due to the existence of these corner castles, our army must bear the attack from the front wall and the corner castles on both sides when siege the city. It is too difficult."

"But we have no choice." Su You's face shuddered and said, "The general has issued a military order in front of the prime minister. We can only fight to the death and strive to break Shouchun within half a month! Moreover, we should also take this opportunity to prove to the arrogant Mobei cavalry that the reason why our Youzhou army chose to surrender was not because we could not defeat them, nor was we afraid of them!"

"Good words!" Mao Kai waved his fist viciously and said in a deep voice, "If the two armies have equal strengths, if we really let the Youzhou soldiers and the Mobei cavalry fight with real swords and guns, who will win or lose, hum."

"Be careful." Tian Yu's face darkened and shouted, "Where is there any difference between the Mobei cavalry and the Youzhou soldiers? Everyone is the prime minister's army and the Han army. They should work together to defeat the Wu army. You should not have these extra thoughts in the future, and you should not mention these words to others today. Otherwise, I will not blame the general for not being reminiscent of his old love."

The generals were silent.

Tian Yu's eyes shone coldly and shouted in a deep voice: "Xin Ming."

Xin Ming rushed forward and said, "The last one is here."

"Lead three thousand elite soldiers to take the lead and test the defense of the Wu army."

"Affect the order."

"Zhang Nan."

"The last one will be there."

"Lead five thousand light cavalry to attack the Wu army from the city to prevent the counterattack."

"Affect the order."

Shouchun city.

Sun Quan and Zhou Yu climbed up to the enemy tower surrounded by Huanggai, Taishici, Song Qian, Jia Hua and other generals. Before they could sit down, they heard the sound of drums outside the city shaking the sky, and the horns were ringing. Looking up, a team of yellow light cavalry was sweeping over like stormy waves. When they were still a stone's throw away from Shouchun City, they turned their horses, then cut by diagonally in front of the city, and finally grabbed the ground on the left.

Sun Quan's expression began to become solemn, and he asked Zhou Yu: "Gong Jin, is this the Mobei Iron Cavalry under the command of Ma Butcher?"

Zhou Yu smiled slightly and replied, "Lord, this is just a soldier surrender in Hebei, not the Iron Cavalry of the Mobei Butcher."

Sun Quan's expression became more and more serious, and he said, "Isn't the Mobei Iron Cavalry of Ma Butcher so elite?"

Zhou Yu said loudly: "My lord doesn't have to worry at all. No matter how brave and good at fighting, the horse butcher's iron cavalry is, no matter how sharp and hard it is, he can only show his might on the northern plains. As for the south, is the world of our Eastern Wu navy? In Yu's opinion, the horse butcher commands hundreds of thousands of cavalry and the army of the army travels far away to Huainan to attack Shouchun, which is simply a death sentence."

Seeing Zhou Yu's confident look, Sun Quan couldn't help but feel relieved and praised: "I am so cautious that I can rest assured."

Just as he was talking, the formation of the Liang army outside the city changed again, and a team of infantry wearing bronze armor emerged from the formation and slowly rushed towards the north gate of Shouchun.

Zhou Yu smiled slightly and turned to Huang Gai and said, "General Huang, immediately order the entire army to archers, do not fire arrows without authorization before the enemy's army approaches the moat, and those who violate the order will be killed!"

"Affect the order."

Huang Gai responded to the promise and took the order and left.

Sun Quan said in confusion: "Gong Jin, as far as I know, our army's longbow has a range of 100 steps. Why do we have to wait until the enemy relies on the moat to shoot arrows? Isn't it better to shoot arrows when the enemy just enters the range?"

Zhou Yu said: "Lord, this is just a tentative attack from the enemy. Our army does not have to waste arrows because of this."

"So that's how it is." Sun Quan nodded happily, "It's worthy of being Gong Jin. Every move of the enemy is in your control. It's his misfortune to meet an opponent like you, haha!"

Thirty miles north of Shouchun City, Ma Yue’s army tent.

Jia Xu solemnly took out a silk book from his arms, carefully spread it on the table, and then greeted Kuai Yue, and Lu Su said, "Yi Du, Zi Jing, come here."

Kuai Yue and Lu Su did not dare to neglect them, so he rushed forward and surrounded the table two steps.

Jia Xu pointed to the pattern on the silk book and said: "This is the pattern of the siege car designed after being perfected and refined according to the concept provided by the lord. Please take a closer look."

Kuai Yue and Lu Su looked down and saw a tall wooden tower painted on the silk book. The tower was a six-sided three-dimensional trapezoidal shape, with the front surface perpendicular to the bottom surface, and the two walls slightly tilted inward, but the rear surface was a gentle slope, with many parallel thin lines densely spreading on the gentle slope, and the next words were marked, which was clearly a step for passage.

Guardrails are placed on both sides of the stairs to protect soldiers from falling from falling from both sides, and to resist arrows shot from both sides.
To be continued...