Chapter 1230 Battle of Xiangyang (3)
In May of the fourth year of Yanxi, Wu's general Zhuge Jin died of illness while attacking Peizhong. Later, Lu Xun took over Wu's attack on Jingzhou.
Cut off the Han River, clear out the Xiangyang Water Village, and make way for the stallions in the south.
Then they attacked the outskirts of Xian Mountain in the south of Xiangyang, and finally surrounded Xiangyang tightly.
It has been so long since we officially attacked Xiangyang, it is already late July, almost entering August.
At the time when Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army, it was in the Han River Basin from August to late summer and early autumn that it would rain heavily, which was called Qiulin.
So it is not surprising that there are flash floods.
Of course, the Han River in the fourth year of Yanxi was considered normal, and floods did not occur.
But after entering late July, it has already rained a lot.
The water level of Han River has also risen a bit.
The Chang'an building ship, which was originally much higher than the city head of Xiangyang, looked even more majestic and taller with the help of the rising water.
When night falls, the moon at the end of the month is like a fishhook, almost invisible in the night sky.
The Han River is covered with a layer of mist, which is very thin and light, as if it is there or not. It floats in lightly, like a burst of fluffy dry soil, which is blown by the wind and spins in the sky, making it gray and white.
Like a veil on a stage, it is bright and dark, looming and visible.
Coupled with the darkness of the night, not even the outline of the nearby mountains, rivers and trees can be seen.
Even Xiangyang City, with its tall walls, was still covered in the mist-filled night.
In this night where there is no moonlight, the Chang'an is like a giant beast lurking in the Han River.
Under the cover of night, they slowly but surely moved towards Xiangyang City.
This kind of behavior is an extremely dangerous behavior.
Because the Chang'an's draft is too deep, it would be a trivial matter if it were accidentally stranded directly on the water's edge.
It would be a serious matter if it really hits a big rock or something under the shallow water of the river, causing water leakage or even capsizing.
Let alone sailing in the dark at night like this.
Although the distance is not far, it is extremely dangerous.
This is also the reason why Lu Xun had to wait until today to take action.
Xiangyang City is indeed built near the water, but a huge ship like the Chang'an cannot always approach the city wall.
Only when the Han River rises and reaches a certain height can we try it.
Lu Xun was certainly not on board the Chang'an at this time.
At this time, he was standing on the Izumo not far behind the Chang'an, quietly watching the Chang'an being submerged in the night.
No one can see his face.
At this time, no one was in the mood to talk.
Everyone is waiting in silence.
Waiting for when the Chang'an will return the news.
For the navy of Wu State, sailing at night is not a very unusual thing.
But to quietly bring the Chang'an to the foot of Xiangyang City at night is a task that extremely tests the ship's maneuvering skills.
The sailor in charge in the bottom cabin gritted his teeth, bulged up his muscles, and kept rowing the oars.
In addition to using both hands, there is also a part of sitting and using both legs to produce better strength.
They are the people who control the direction and speed of the Chang'an.
As for the upper level, two thousand fully armed Wu soldiers have already stood with their arms ready, ready to move at any time.
At the top of Xiangyang City, except for the turrets and the hidden areas of the battlements, where firelight occasionally flashed, the rest of the city was completely silent.
When on duty at night, no one will seek death and expose themselves to the light except for the sentry and the place where fire must be lit.
Unless you are tired of living.
Although the Wei army guarding the city did not think that the Wu army on the Han River could play any tricks on the northern city wall.
Moreover, due to the intense fighting in the south, they did not deploy many troops here.
But when the two armies are at war, for safety reasons, we should be vigilant and will definitely not be careless.
Not to mention that in recent days, Wu Kou has used the building boats to shoot and kill many unlucky people.
In those days, it was really scary.
If it had not been seen later that the Wu invaders were still unable to attack the city from the surface of the Han River, the soldiers at the top of the city would not have dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Boom!”
Wei Bing, who was hiding in a corner with his weapon in his arms and nodding from time to time, seemed to hear something in his confusion.
He subconsciously opened his eyes and looked in the direction in which the sound came from.
However, the lights on the turret not far away seemed to be wrapped in water vapor, and they were hazy, as if even the firelight could not penetrate the turret.
Wei Bing's eyes widened and he tried hard to look forward, but no matter how big his eyes were, it was difficult to see even one foot in front of him.
Feeling unsure, he couldn't help but stand up straight and pushed his companion who had fallen asleep leaning against the city wall:
“Wake up! There seems to be something moving over there!”
The companion who was pushed awake by him was a little impatient, rubbed his eyes and muttered a few times:
"What's the movement? What movement can there be at this time? Could Wu Kou still have wings and fly up?"
“Silence!” Wei Bing swallowed and clenched the weapon in his hand, “Let’s go over and take a look.”
“This is the north, what can happen?”
The companion didn't want to move, but he had to follow him, but he complained a little.
Finally transferred from the south to the north, it’s time to have a good rest, what are you doing with so many things?
Have you not fought enough in the south?
Over the past few days, almost every soldier in the city has been guarding the southern wall.
As long as they can be transferred to other places to guard, they are considered to be on rotation.
Not to mention the city wall in the north is right on the edge of the Han River, and the root of the wall is the Han River.
If there are swamps on both sides of the east and west, it is still possible that someone wants to climb up.
What can happen to the north?
The companion murmured and followed him to the female wall.
“What did you see?”
"No."
The cool breeze of the summer night carries water vapor, which makes me feel quite comfortable.
After standing for a while, there was no other sound except the chirping of known and unknown insects and the flowing sound of the Han River.
“Let’s go, it seems I heard wrongly.”
“Just say it…”
The two of them turned around and were about to go back.
At this moment, not far from the city wall, lights suddenly lit up in the sky.
caused the two of them to turn around again.
"what is that…"
Under the illumination of the lights, a ferocious beast revealed its head from the night, opening its eyes and looking down at the head of Xiangyang City.
"one!"
"two!"
"put!"
The top floor of the Chang'an, where the parapets and other defenses against enemies were originally built, have been demolished.
Two thick gun shafts, three feet long, with one end polished into a spiral shape.
The other end is covered with an iron sleeve.
The spiral-shaped head is put into an iron sleeve, and the two gun shafts can directly form a long pole of more than six feet.
Several long poles are tied side by side and reinforced at the joints to form a simple and practical bridge deck.
This method of building bridges is extremely convenient, especially in this situation, where a surprise attack can be launched.
It only takes a few dozen breaths from the Chang'an to light up the lights and set up an air bridge.
“Boom!”
Fu Qian and Luo Xian directed their men to twist the pulley and raise the other end of the bridge to the top of Xiangyang City.
“It is finished! It is finished!”
Even though we couldn’t see what the city on the opposite side looked like, we knew the bridge was successfully built just by hearing the sound and the fact that the bridge did not fall.
The two fist bumped each other hard and shouted excitedly.
Ding Feng, who had been waiting for a long time, waved the long knife in his hand and shouted:
“Follow me!”
With that said, he strode onto the bridge and rushed towards the head of Xiangyang City.
The two Wei soldiers who were the first to notice something amiss were knocked to the ground by the bridge thrown from mid-air because they were too close. Their lives and deaths are unknown.
I heard shouts of killing coming from the top of Xiangyang City, as well as the constant lighting of torches.
Lu Xun, who had been tense all the time, then gave the order:
“Hold the lamp!”
“Congratulations to the general, it looks like the soldiers have stormed the city!”
Ma Tian, who was accompanying Lu Xun, seemed to be relieved and said to Lu Xun with a smile.
Lu Xun took a long breath, turned his head, and looked at Ma Tian, who was unclear under the dim light, his eyes flickering:
"Looking at this situation, we have just stepped onto the city wall, so it may be too early to say we are happy."
After a pause, Lu Xun couldn't help but marvel in his tone:
“If it weren’t for Mr. Ma’s help this time, I probably wouldn’t have thought of using this method to reach the top of Xiangyang City.”
Martin shook his head, without any intention of taking credit:
“This method is called the Bridge Shooting Technique. It was created by the Prime Minister. I was lucky enough to be taught by the Prime Minister in my early years, so I only know a little bit about it. I didn’t expect that with a little modification, it can be used at this time.”
Lu Xun nodded, his tone full of admiration:
“The Prime Minister is extremely talented and intelligent, and it is no exaggeration to call him a **** or a man. It is a pity that he cannot ask for advice in person.”
As the two of them were talking, the top of Xiangyang City became brightly lit. Some of the lights were lit by Wei soldiers themselves, and torches held by Wu soldiers kept jumping up to the top of the city.
The shouts of killing became even more intense.
Ding Feng, the general who was the first to board the city, did not encounter much resistance.
First of all, there are really not many defenders in this section.
Secondly, even if there were defenders, they never expected that the Wu soldiers would attack the city in this way, so they had no preparation at all.
Ding Feng led his men and chopped down a dozen people who came to stop the Wei army. He led his men and rushed towards the turret that had been lit with lights.
As long as you occupy the commanding heights, you will have a firm foothold at the top of the city.
At this time, on the surface of the Han River, the Wu ships were no longer as silent as they were at first. Instead, after receiving the signal, they lit up their lights one after another.
Looking around, the entire water surface looks like bright stars.
With the Chang'an taking the lead, the Wu army's warships, which had been prepared long ago, continued to move towards Xiangyang City.
Some of them want to connect to the Chang'an and project troops.
Some people want to build an air bridge next to the Chang'an.
The commotion on the Han River soon alarmed Fancheng.
“What happened?”
Guanqiu Jian, who was sleeping with his clothes on, immediately ran to the top of the city when he heard the noise.
“General, we don’t know either.”
Looking at the brightly lit Han River, Guan Qiujian's face was as gloomy as the inverted night.
Wu Kou certainly wasn't doing it for fun when he made such a big noise in the middle of the night.
Thinking again of the tall ships that appeared between Xiangfan and Xiangfan a few days ago, Guanqiu Jian felt even more ominous.
It’s just that at night like this, without preparation, it’s really difficult to know what Wu Kou is doing.
At this time, someone pointed to the south and exclaimed:
“General, look!”
Xiangfan is originally one body. If you stand at the top of Fancheng in the daytime, you can see the top of Xiangyang.
The fighting at the top of Xiangyang City became increasingly fierce, which naturally attracted the attention of everyone at the top of Fancheng City.
"Is this... someone attacking Xiangyang City at night?"
"impossible!"
It’s not that it’s impossible to attack Xiangyang City at night, but it’s simply impossible to attack Xiangyang City at night from the north!
How to attack a city from the water?
We can't even talk about siege, but you still want to attack at night?
Wu Kou's buildings are indeed very high, some are even higher than Xiangyang City.
But even though Xiangyang City is on the edge of the Han River, such a huge ship has an extremely deep draft.
Even on a large river, in a place unfamiliar with hydrology, one would not dare to dock easily.
Otherwise, the boat will capsize and people will die.
Let alone on the Han River.
In his heart, he refused to believe that the Wu invaders could use the built ships to attack the city, but everything in the distance to the south was beyond Guanqiu Jian's explanation.
What exactly happened at Xiangyang City?
…
"We still don't know exactly what happened in Shangdang County. It would be a bit rash to talk about an immediate counterattack now."
In addition to Sima Yi personally leading the army into Shangdang and receiving internal support from Guo Xun, Feng Duhu believed that there must be support from local wealthy families.
Otherwise, Wei Yan would not be in a situation where his life or death is unknown.
It is true that he dislikes Wei Yan, but Feng Duhu still recognizes his ability to lead troops in combat.
It was just a matter of carelessness and he failed to join the party, and he also lost to the eldest son despite having an engineering battalion. This shows that Sima Yi was very well prepared for joining the party.
Faced with the plan proposed by Zhang Bao, Zhang Yi and others, Feng Duhu did not fully agree.
His hand drew a circle on the map:
"The battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao was in this area. If we really want to counterattack Shangdang from the eldest son, it means that we will also have a battle of Changping with Sima Yi."
In the first half of the Battle of Changping, Lian Po led the Zhao army and built three lines of defense in the Changping area. They could not hold on, but the Qin army also suffered a lot.
Otherwise, how could you find a way to alienate Zhao Guo and transfer Lian Po away?
How come Bai Qi had to be secretly transferred here in order to deal with Zhao Kuo?
“Sima Yi is not Zhao Kuo, and our current situation is not comparable to that of the Qin army.”
By the time of the Battle of Changping, the Qin army had already controlled Zhiguan and even Hanoi.
Now, Sima Yi’s son Sima Shi is still in Gaodu City.
If we really want to counterattack Shangdang from Changping, it would be easy to win if we can win it in one go.
If it cannot be won and it really becomes a confrontation like the Battle of Changping, the situation the Han army will face will be much more severe than the Qin army.
After all, the area from Gaopingguan to Changzi is mostly covered with dangerous mountains and ridges, and it is impossible to give full play to the advantages of the cavalry.
Sima Yi, the old turtle, really wants to defend himself against the danger, but Feng Duhu has no confidence that he can win.
Although Jiang Wan has found a way to temporarily requisition food and grass, it can only meet an urgent need.
The big man really didn’t expect to start a big war at this time.
The preparations for troops, food and fodder are insufficient.
ˆPS:
Your lungs are going to be coughed up!
This thing is really not as simple as a large flu.
(End of this chapter)