Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3111: Raging Offensive

The ice floes on the river are gradually increasing, and Tongguandu needs to send soldiers to the river bank from time to time to cut through the solidified ice.

After receiving a new batch of supplies from Jizhou and Yuzhou, Cao Jun changed his previous slow and cautious style. As if stimulated by the envoy sent by Fei Qian, he began to attack Tongguan and Tongguan Ferry crazily.

 The ninth year of Taixing, the fifth day of the first lunar month.

 The battle of Guanzhong and Tongguan seems to have really begun at this moment.

Contrary to expectations that the weather was cold and the movement of soldiers was restricted, Cao's army seemed not to be affected by the weather at all, and crazily advanced towards the Hussars' positions, attacking Tongguan City and Tongguan Ferry day and night at the same time.

The catapults from both sides on Linzhi Plateau and Niutou Plateau were also lined up along the ravine and bombarded each other.

The shortcomings of the artillery on top of Tongguan City were also exposed in such a large-scale and long-term attack. It cannot conduct shelling for a long time, and the power of solid bullets is also limited compared with later generations. It can only be regarded as a directional enhanced version of the precision catapult.

Every day on the river, corpses float and sink along with the broken ice.

 Hundreds, thousands, almost none of them is complete.

 The head, with eyes not closed, was spinning in the river.

 The body is missing components, its belly is bloated, and it floats on the water in white flowers.

Every moment, old corpses leave and new corpses join.

On the sixth day of the lunar month, Cao's army was attacked by artillery, catapults, and crossbows, and lost forty-six catapults, one hundred and seventy shield vehicles, more than 2,000 dead and wounded soldiers and auxiliary soldiers, and about one hundred casualties among the hussars and defenders. .

On the seventh day of the lunar month, Cao Jun added eighty catapults, and nearly half of them were destroyed. One hundred and twenty shield chariots were damaged, and nearly 2,000 people were killed or injured. The hussars defenders suffered about 200 casualties.

On the eighth day of the lunar month, Cao Jun once again replenished a large number of catapults. Tongguan Lower City began to face the most severe test. Cao Jun destroyed seventy or eighty siege shield vehicles. For the first time, Cao Jun approached the gate of Tongguan Lower City. Cao Jun suffered less than 2,000 casualties. , the Hussars defenders suffered nearly 400 casualties.

  The ninth day of the lunar month…

 As the war continued, Cao's army suffered casualties of about two thousand every day, and the casualties of the hussars defending the city also increased. In particular, the defenders at Tongguandu accounted for 60-70% of all casualties among the defenders.

As a last resort, on the tenth day of the first lunar month, the Tongguan garrison abandoned the Tongguan Ferry military camp and fully retreated to defend Tongguan City.

　　　Bang! 』

Huge boulders were thrown from Linzhi Plain and hit one of Cao's army's shield chariots.

 The shield cart overturned, blood splattered, and limbs flew everywhere.

From time to time, big rocks would be thrown at them, and shield cars would be knocked over from time to time on the Tongguan Slope Road, but it was much less common than the previous few days.

　　『Help…Help…』

"keep going! Those who retreat will be killed! 』

 The sound of struggling for life and the call to drive away death sounded at the same time.

Cao Hong stood in the military formation and ordered his soldiers to continue attacking to put pressure on Tongguan. Cao Hong's main focus was on the frontal battlefield, but there was a corner in his heart where he was missing his child.

In the original plan, when Cao Jun launched a strong attack on Tongguan, it was to give a signal to Hedong to cover Cao Zhen's evacuation...

 But now that the attack on Tongguan has been launched for so long, there is no movement in Hedong. This makes a certain place in Cao Hong's heart keep sinking, sinking, as if falling into a bottomless abyss.

What’s interesting is that on one hand, Cao Hong was worried about his child and was unwilling to accept the consequences of his child’s death. He even thought about the possibility that Cao Zhen would be captured by the Hussars, which would be better than dying, while on the other hand, he drove him away without hesitation. Let other people's children or parents face death.

The number of civilians killed and injured is just a numerical value. The death of important people is worth worrying about, everyone mourns, and a mourning hall is opened to express condolences.

Ten thousand people died, which is only a mere 10,000 people.

  Anyway, Shandong has a lot of people!

The garrison at Tongguan is only seven or eight thousand, but Cao Jun has fifty or sixty thousand men who can take turns fighting!

"kill! 』

"go ahead! 』

"dash forward! 』

　　『Those who retreat will be killed! 』

The flag is flying high, and the blood-red Chinese characters are swaying in the wind.

 …

 …

　　　　shoot the arrow, let the arrow go! 』

At the Shaanxi-Jin ferry crossing, Cao Jun gathered twenty or thirty warships, facing the attack of Hussar's five large ships, like a pack of jackals surrounding four or five lions.

Cao Xiu shouted at the top of his lungs, "Kill!" 』

These warships were collected by Cao Jun from various places with great difficulty, and they were pulled through the three gates by trackers with great pains. After saving for many days, they were qualified to fight against this hussar navy.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　…　

 Soldiers on both sides who were hit by arrows fell down.

Although the Hussar's large ships were powerful, they could not stop the numerous warships of Cao's army, and they rammed directly into them regardless of the damage.

　　　『Bump into it! 』

"Go to hell! 』

The soldiers on both sides were shouting, and they may not even know what they were shouting, but one thing was certain, they were to bring death to the other side as much as possible and end the other side's life.

 Cao Xiu’s father was an unknown person.

When a person dies, the first time is death on the level of life, and the second time is death on the level of other people's memories. Cao Xiu's father, even before his own death, was already on the level of other people's memories. The memory is dead. No one remembers Cao Xiu's father's name, and no one remembers what his father did or did not do.

Cao Xiu doesn't want to be like his father, who has already been forgotten before he dies.

　　『Report! The Korean team died in battle..."

Cao Xiu’s eyes widened, “Zhao Eryi, step up! 』

　　　　　　! 』

 Cao Xiu urged again, "All ships, at all costs!" Even if it is a collision, I will sink all the hussars! 』

 ‘Obey the order! 』

The rest of the people took the order together, like gamblers who placed heavy bets on the gambling table, their faces were red, their ears were red, and their veins were exposed.

Cao Jun's warship crashed into the Qiaolu ship regardless of life and death. The huge ship was hit with a loud bang, and the hull made a heart-wrenching groan. The hull shook violently, and the soldiers on board were a little nervous. The man's footing was unstable, he staggered and fell from the boat into the river, and was immediately submerged by the current.

 The ships of all sizes on the water were in great confusion.

 Cao Xiu was not an excellent naval commander. Fortunately, Jia Hong, who replaced Wei Yan in commanding the navy, was neither...

 The tortoise fist fights where rookies peck each other are always very lively.

Large and small boats collided with each other, and one boat was even knocked over by a companion. The soldiers on the boat were like dumplings that were just about to be brought to the table, but they overturned the plate halfway and fell into the water with clatter. Some of them fought desperately They slapped the water surface and shouted loudly for help. Some of them sank directly to the bottom like weights.

Arrows flew in the sky, fire oil floated on the water, and corpses sank to the bottom of the water.

Cao Jun's crossbows on the shore fired their crossbows crazily at the hussars in the river. On the one hand, the hussars had to hold up Cao Jun's small and medium-sized warships, and on the other hand, they had to guard against Cao Jun's crossbows on the shore. His left and right sides were in a state of embarrassment, and he gradually looked embarrassed.

Among the navy, the strongest attack power is undoubtedly the building ship, but the building ship also has the shortcomings of the building ship. Without enough **** ships, it is not invincible, although it can inflict higher battle damage. However, as the first hussar ship was knocked out of a big hole and gradually sank, the overall combat effectiveness of the hussar navy also began to decline due to losses, and it began to retreat to Shaanxi...

  …    …

 Huguan pass.

The arrows roared and shot into the dense crowd. Blood splattered and screams were heard everywhere. People were shot to the ground one by one. Those who died on the spot did not suffer too much torture, but those who were not shot to death The people with arrows stuck in their bodies were bleeding, wailing and instinctively struggling to survive, which was even more shocking.

The soldiers of Cao's army who had shields naturally raised their shields together, which could reduce some damage to some extent, but ordinary civilians without shields could only pray for the blessing of the **** of the battlefield and rely on luck. Therefore, as long as civilians can survive on the battlefield, most of them have spiritual roots in their bodies and are protected by luck. It is impossible to say that they are any faster than others in cultivation.

 At Huguan, almost all the stone bullets that the catapults on both sides could use were exhausted. The temporarily mined stone bullets were very random in terms of range and accuracy. Therefore, the two sides gradually shortened the distance between long-range weapons and killed each other as much as possible within the range of bows and arrows.

　　　『Don’t retreat! Those who retreat will be killed! 』

Le Jin and Zhao Yan's military governor soldiers shouted from behind the formation, and also grabbed those who were frightened out of their wits and ran away instinctively, grabbed their necks and carried them back to the front of the formation, and showed their heads to the public.

What's interesting is that each of these captured fleeing civilians seemed to have their fate grasped by the scruff of the neck. They remained motionless and allowed to be dragged by Cao's soldiers, and finally hacked to death.

　　　『Continue the attack! 』

Le Jin shouted.

Nearly a thousand civilians, auxiliary soldiers and soldiers, mixed together and attacked Huguan.

"Archer! Shoot the arrow! Hold down the city! 』

 Zhao Yan shouted loudly, as if shouting would bring some bonus to the archer's accuracy or strength.

The arrows fired rapidly by the archers on the flanks were like swarms of blood-sucking locusts, flying towards the city head.

"careful! Dodge! 』

The military academy on top of the city shouted one after another.

The guards at Huguan approached the battlements one after another, and dense arrows passed over their heads, crackling and making sounds like hailstones on the wall bricks at the head of the city. Although most soldiers evaded in time, some people would be unfortunately hit and injured by arrows every time.

After a hail of rapid arrows fell down below the city for a while, the archers on Hushuan Gate counterattacked the archers below the city under the command of the whistle, and then it was the turn of Cao's archers below the city to shout. Standing up a shield or something, he was shot until he screamed again and again.

Although the soldiers above Huguan counterattacked very effectively, Cao Jun's life-or-death attack still put a certain amount of pressure on the soldiers at Huguan. There were already corpses everywhere under the city wall, and now there were many new corpses and new blood.

In addition to siege the city, Le Jin and Zhao Yan also made an attempt to dig tunnels and siege the city before.

If you can dig a tunnel into the city, you can avoid the troublesome city wall and directly attack the interior of Huguan. However, unfortunately, the tunnel digging strategy was discovered by Jia Qu. Jia Qu in turn opened a tunnel inside Huguan, poured in kerosene, and stewed all the civilians digging the tunnel and Cao's soldiers who were preparing to attack in the tunnel. To this day, you can still smell the smell of barbecue at the entrance of the tunnel. .

Since the war, Le Jin and Zhao Yan have sent the most elite troops to the battlefield in a mixed manner. These elite troops of Cao Jun are different from ordinary Cao Jun soldiers in terms of morale and combat effectiveness. These elites have enough training and know how to survive in the chaotic battlefield and kill their opponents. Sometimes ten ordinary Cao soldiers or a hundred working civilians may not be able to do much damage to the soldiers defending the city. Direct damage, but an elite veteran of Cao's army can take away the lives of one or even several defenders.

 Fortunately, the number of these elite Cao troops under Le Jin and Zhao Yan is also limited...

 …

 …

If someone can be like God, well, in fact, this word for God is not exclusive to Westerners. In Chinese vocabulary, "God" means "the most noble one in heaven", which comes from "Daya·Dang". As the saying goes, "There is nothing more respected by man than the emperor. He is entrusted to heaven, so he is called God." If you look over the battlefield on the entire east-west front, you will find that at almost the same time at the beginning of the new year, Cao Jun launched a huge offensive from north to south.

It doesn’t take much guessing to deduce that Cao Jun launched a coordinated multi-line attack within the agreed time. These were almost all the troops that Cao Jun could mobilize.

 Among the Cao troops who attacked according to the original plan, there were also several troops who failed to make up for the time...

 For example, Bian Bing.

Bian Bing went all the way south, leaving behind them the plundered and destroyed villages in the mountains.

Cao's army was like locusts, plundering everything that could be eaten and used along the way.

War has never been a majestic and beautiful high-end thing, but a dirty and ugly thing, full of **** and violence. Therefore, the kindness that occasionally flashes is like a pearl in the mud, which is regrettable and praised. .

Bian Bing did not expect that from the moment he was injured, Taihang Mountain seemed to have changed, becoming a collection of countless traps. He would encounter an arrow in the grass anytime, anywhere, and sometimes even people. None, just a mechanism made of mountain vines and sharpened wooden forks.

A group of Cao Jun soldiers with a somewhat haggard look walked forward slowly in the middle of the Taihang Mountain Road, holding swords and guns. They generally formed a loose fan-shaped array, watching everything around them vigilantly. They held their breath and listened. Listen for any sound around you.

 They are Bian Bing's subordinates, a branch of Cao's army that has been harassed and devastated by various traps along the way.

　　The troops were divided from Fukouxing. Although Bian Bing had repeatedly issued orders, Cao's soldiers were still a little uneasy, especially after Bian Bing was injured. This worry was not alleviated much even if Bian Bing attacked some small mountain towns and villages along the way.

Worrying and ominous rumors are ringing in the ears of every soldier in the army.

The general was injured, the flag fell, ghosts cried in the middle of the night, etc., all combined together, making people disbelief.

And the recent rumors mainly focus on grain and grass...

 Because at the current speed, everyone knows that it is already slow, and moving slowly means increased consumption on the mountain roads. Compared with running out of food, the enemy is actually not terrible. When you encounter enemies, you can still fight and exchange lives for lives. However, if you run out of food, in the deep mountains, everyone may become someone else's ration at any time.

It’s not like no one has ever eaten rat meat.

Hunger is like an omnipresent evil ghost, sending out a low and sinister laugh in everyone’s ears.

No one knows whether they can return to Shandong alive, or whether they will become dry bones in the mountains, and they still don’t know who has chewed the bones...

No one wants to accept this outcome, and no one wants to think too much about it, otherwise they will go crazy, just like their leader Bian Bing went crazy.

 Yes, these soldiers of Cao's army thought that their general had gone crazy.

A soft "click" sound broke the silence in the mountain road.

"who? 』

"come out! 』

　　　　I found you! 』

Cao's soldiers were facing a powerful enemy, with swords and guns raised, heading in the direction of the sound.

There was silence all around, no sound at all.

The leader rolled his eyes, then slowly stood up straight, and spit hard. Just when he wanted to show his bravery and his timidity and disdain for the surrounding soldiers, he heard the sound of a bowstring. , and then there were arrows whizzing towards us!

"Small…"

Before he could finish shouting, the arrow had already penetrated into Shan Chang's neck.

Chief Cao Jun covered his neck, making a hehe sound from his mouth, and blood spattered out. He fell to the ground, huddled up, and stopped struggling.

With the appearance of this arrow, the originally silent mountain road suddenly heard loud shouts of killing. The dead leaves on the ground suddenly flew up, flying all over the sky. The shrubs suddenly became taller, and dozens of people were flying. The cavalry soldiers rushed out from their hiding place, raised their bows, arrows, swords and guns, and attacked the panicked soldiers of Cao's army.

The shouts of killing were fierce and short. After a while, Cao Jun's soldiers lay staggering on the ground, blood flowing gurglingly.

 The hussars quickly withdrew and disappeared without a trace.

Cao Jun's scouts suffered heavy losses, which was accompanied by a serious lack of intelligence on the front.

The appearance of a few big trees blocking the way in the mountain road is just a trivial matter. It is also common for large and small stones to suddenly fall from the cliffs. Almost any method that may interfere with the advancement of Cao Jun's army has occurred. It is also common to kill scouts during the day and sentries at night. Bian Bing strengthened his vigilance force, but this made Cao's army even more exhausted.

 The most important thing is that Cao Jun discovered that there were ambushes and harassment not only in front of them, but also in the rear where they passed!

Bian Bing couldn't figure out why this happened. He had obviously tried his best to clean up every section of the road he passed, and also managed to kill some hussars who tried to attack them, but how could these hussars be so invisible? Passed through Cao Jun's army silently and went around to their rear?

 Can anyone really do this?

 As a result, the theories of ghosts and gods began to spread uncontrollably...

 (End of this chapter)