The Battle of Bowang not only dampened Huang Zu's ambitions for a field confrontation with the Xuzhou army, but also greatly damaged the face of Huang Zu, the chief general of Jingzhou. His only son Huang She was captured alive by the Xuzhou army and was awarded the gold medal.

The helmet was taken away by the Xuzhou army. When the news reached Xiangyang, Liu Biao, who had a good temper, got angry and cursed Huang Zu for disobeying his command, going against his own established strategy, and going into battle without permission, which led to the defeat of his own army. It was simply reckless.

Lord, you are making child's play with the lives of soldiers!

But it's not bad. Huang Zu came from a wealthy family in Jingzhou and was an important helper for Liu Biao in ruling Jingzhou. At the same time, the overall losses in the Battle of Bowang were not very large, so Liu Biao didn't plan to change the commander before the battle. He just sent a letter to Huang Zu,

Huang Zu was euphemistically reminded not to be arrogant, underestimate the enemy and rush to fight again. He must follow Kuai Liang's strategy of holding on and defend Wancheng's defense line with all his strength. At the same time, Liu Biao sent General Wenpin to lead the first wave of reinforcements to Yuyang to ensure that Wancheng and

The communication between Xiangyang and Xiangyang was smooth, and they could also go north to meet Huang Zu via water at any time.

This was basically enough. After seeing the news of Liu Biao's implicit accusation, Huang Zu also understood that Liu Biao was very dissatisfied with his rash battle, so when the Xuzhou army marched towards Wancheng, Huang Zu, who was not sure of victory, paid the price

He no longer took risks to fight, and did not give Xuzhou pioneer Wei Yan a chance to show off his skills. He just raced against time to strengthen the city defense, preparing to regain the lost face in the city offensive and defensive battle.

According to common sense, Huang Zu still has great hope of regaining face in the battle to defend the city. First, Huang Zu's available troops on the battlefield in Wancheng still exceed 40,000, which is quite sufficient; second, Wancheng

It is adjacent to the Feishui River, and the two southeast gates are directly connected to the Water Gate. Ships can enter the city directly, and grain, grass, military supplies and various baggage can be continuously sent to Wancheng through the Feishui Channel. At the same time, follow-up reinforcements can also be replenished into the city at any time, or

Using waterways to detour behind the Xuzhou Army and conduct landing operations was very beneficial to the defenders.

The third and most important point is that the city of Wancheng is quite strong! Although Wancheng, which has changed hands several times, has suffered from wars many times, whether it is Zhang Ji, Cao Boss or Liu Biao, the first thing they do after entering Wancheng, the most important town in Nanyang, is

It is to strengthen the city defense and build Wancheng as the strategic support point of Nanyang battlefield. Therefore, Wancheng's current city wall is more than four feet high and more than two and a half feet thick. The moat is more than three feet wide and more than two feet deep.

, and introduced the flowing water of the Feishui River, which is difficult to fill and cross. In addition, the two southeast gates of Wancheng are directly protected by the Feishui River, and only the northwest gates are attacked, which can greatly reduce the pressure on the defenders and greatly increase

The attacker's siege difficulty is definitely considered easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it is impregnable.

By the way, there are two reasons why Cao Cao was able to capture Wancheng from Zhang Ji. First, Liu Biao was afraid that Zhang Ji would become powerful and was unwilling to invest too much force in supporting Zhang Ji. Second, Cao Jun suddenly resorted to attacking from Xuzhou.

The Xiangyang artillery obtained from the army finally captured Wancheng by force. Later, when the Jingzhou army regained Wancheng, it was impossible to do anything about Wancheng's city defense. In the end, it completely exhausted the defenders' food and grass, forcing them to become isolated and helpless.

Wei Zhong, the general of Cao's army, abandoned the city and fled, and then recaptured Wancheng.

Now these prerequisites for breaking the city no longer exist. First, Liu Biao will never give up Wancheng, and will only rescue with all his strength. Second, Uncle Liu, who once participated in the Battle of Licheng, had already sold the defensive Xiangyang artillery to the Jingzhou Army before.

The protective fences greatly reduced the power of the Xuzhou Army's siege weapon, the Xiangyang Cannon, and the shocking effect when it was suddenly used. Therefore, although he suffered a loss and lost face in the field battle, Old General Huang Zu defended

However, he was full of absolute confidence in the city battle. He swore to show the Xuzhou army some color in the city attack and defense battle, regain his lost face, and also find a way to save his only son Huang She.

Kuai Yue, who was proficient in military affairs, was also full of confidence in the battle to defend the city, but he was also a little worried. He repeatedly reminded Huang Zu: "Commander, although Wancheng is strong, Tao Ying is famous for being opportunistic.

Whenever we attack a fortified city, we always like to use surprise troops, deceive and deceive, or arrange internal agents, and we often succeed in taking the fortified city at the minimum cost. So this time, although we are not afraid of Tao Ying's direct attack, we must be careful to guard against Tao Ying's tricks.

City, win by surprise."

"Then how should we be careful?" Huang Zu asked.

"There are two acropolises in Wancheng, one is Huanyang and the other is Jiyang. They form a cornering force with Wancheng." Kuai Yue replied: "According to the principles of the art of war, such a cornering force is the most effective.

It is reliable and can respond to each other's rescue. If one city is attacked, the other two cities can immediately send troops to attack the enemy's rear and share the pressure of the enemy city. However, the Xuzhou army is stronger than our army in the field. Tao Ying, Jia Xu and others are unparalleled in cunning, and they are best at

It is to make profit out of chaos. If our army follows the principles of military art and confronts the enemy with Tao, it is very likely that Tao Ying will encircle and reinforce, or even attack from the east and attack the west, luring the soldiers of our three cities out of the city one by one and annihilating them, which is very dangerous."

"In this case, the commander-in-chief may wish to arrange it like this." Kuai Yue continued: "The commander-in-chief can send five thousand troops to each of Huanyang and Jiyang to defend the city and not to fight. No matter how urgent the war in the other two cities is, no war is allowed.

Unauthorized troops are sent for rescue. As long as Huanyang and Jiyang are still in the hands of our army, the Xuzhou army must divide its troops to guard against the troops of Huanyang and Jiyang. It can also have the effect of reducing the pressure on Wancheng. In this way, there is no need to worry about Tao Tao.

We should encircle the point and mobilize reinforcements, pretending to attack Wancheng and actually capture Huanyang or Jiyang."

"Isn't this too passive?" Huang Zu asked back: "What if the Tao thieves really attack Huanyang or Jiyang? If we just defend and cannot get out, won't we be defeated by the Tao thieves one by one?"

"Huanyang can be rescued by Anzhong's troops, and Jiyang will ask General Wenpin's army to be responsible for the rescue." Kuai Yue replied: "In fact, it doesn't matter much even if Tao Ying takes these two cities. The battle cannot be limited to one."

Regarding the gain and loss of the city, Huanyang and Jiyang are both small cities. Even if they fall, as long as our army holds Wancheng and waits until Taoying runs out of food and grass or the rear is forced to retreat, it will be easy to recapture Huanyang and Jiyang.

, so instead of worrying about Huanyang and Jiyang and distracting energy, it is better to be prepared for these two cities to fall at any time, concentrate on guarding the important town of Wancheng, and use Jiyang and Jiyang as chess pieces that can be abandoned at any time.

To distract the enemy's forces."

Considering that there is a waterway between Wancheng and Xiangyang, and there is no need to worry about backup and food routes, Huang Zu, who originally planned to protect the three cities together, quickly accepted Kuai Yue's suggestion. Seeing that Huang Zu accepted this suggestion, Kuai Yue

Yue Busy added: "Also, when Yue accompanied his lord to meet Liu Bei, he heard Liu Bei mention that Tao was the best at deceiving people with forged letters and orders. The only time he failed was that he didn't know the private secret agreed between Liu Bei and Mi Zhu. The more he felt that this

This move is very effective. The commander-in-chief may wish to imitate it and send his confidants south to meet with General Wenpin in advance. Make an agreement with General Wenpin to write a secret message in the letter that only you two will know. This will prevent Tao Ying from capturing our army's messenger and then forging a letter to seduce me.

If the army falls into a trap, beware of Tao Ying sending troops disguised as General Wenpin and sneaking into Wancheng to take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos."

"God damn the Tao thief. There are so many twists and turns." Huang Zu cursed and immediately accepted Kuai Yue's suggestion and sent someone south to meet Wenpin and follow his plan.

After making these careful arrangements, on June 26, the steady and steady Xuzhou army finally arrived at the Wancheng battlefield. They set up camp on a high ground on the bank of the Juishui River, fifteen miles north of Wancheng.

When the Xuzhou army arrived at the camp with water, Huang Zu was very happy, saying that he had the opportunity to send troops to attack the Xuzhou camp by water. However, Kuai Yue reminded him very carefully: "Commander, be careful. Tao Yingying's soldiers have always been cautious.

How could Tao Ying not understand that the camp is vulnerable to surprise attacks by our army on waterways? Tao Ying set up camp like this. Perhaps it was a ploy to lure the enemy."

Huang Zu accepted Kuai Yue's judgment and did not immediately take the risk of sending troops to attack the Xuzhou camp through the waterway. However, this time Kuai Yue's judgment was wrong and he arrived at his grandma's house. At the same time that the Xuzhou army was setting up camp, it was five miles downstream of the Jishui River.

At the same place, a water fence was built with wooden stakes and iron chains, blocking the Jingzhou Army's northbound route from the water. In this way, the Xuzhou Army did not have to worry about being unexpectedly attacked by the Jingzhou Army's waterway. It also made it easier for the army to get water, and also protected the upper reaches of the Jingzhou River.

The waterway allows the Xuzhou Army, which has weak water surface power, to pass through the Guishui waterway and continuously send grain and grass to the front of the army for use.

After learning about this action of the Xuzhou army, Huang Zu and Kuai Yue were dumbfounded in front of this kind of water fortification that appeared more than two hundred years in advance. They could only curse in unison, "Traitor! Sure enough, traitor."

!”

The conspiracy and conspiracy that Kuai Yue expected did not appear. Deputy Director Tao, who looked like a man in silver armor and white robes, only showed up outside Wancheng City. He led a group of lackeys to carefully observe the terrain of Wancheng and patted him.

He went back to the camp to sleep with the beautiful woman without saying a word, which made it impossible for him to try to rescue General Huang Zu even if he wanted to negotiate. Kuai Yue, who had carefully studied Deputy Director Tao's military style, was worried and didn't know.

What is Deputy Director Tao’s next plan?

The next ten days were all calm. Apart from closely monitoring the movements of the Wancheng defenders, the Xuzhou army made no major moves. It even skipped the procedure of dividing its troops to attack Huanyang and Jiyang.

All the forces were concentrated on the Wancheng battlefield. It was not until the tenth day of the seventh month that Huang Zu and Kuai Yue finally waited for the Xuzhou army's first move.

What does it mean to be as quiet as a virgin and move like thunder? Deputy Director Tao this time called it as quiet as a virgin and move like thunder! There was no movement for more than ten days, and when he finally made a move, he was shocked and stunned the more than 30,000 Wancheng defenders.

More than 50,000 siege troops and horses, with flags like a forest of swords and spears like a sea, immediately completely submerged the wilderness outside the north gate of Wancheng. Then more than 300 Xiangyang artillery were pushed to the front of the formation, and more than 60

The folding trench bridge carriages and countless wheelbarrows were lined up in front of the formation, which was so spectacular that it was indescribable.

Immediately afterwards, with the command flags of the Chinese army's flag formation waving, the Xuzhou Army's siege battle finally began. First, thousands of long shield men stepped forward, followed by the Xiangyang artillery team; then the long shield men strode forward with shields in hand,

Numerous temporary fortifications were formed outside the moat at the north gate of Wancheng. When the defenders on the city and the defenders behind the sheep and horse wall hurriedly fired arrows to stop them, the Xiangyang artillery of the Xuzhou Army also began to show its power, firing huge stone bombs and igniting them.

Bundles of firewood were thrown at the north gate of Wancheng. They were densely packed, like a flock of crows soaring with wings, whistling and hitting the top and bottom of the north gate of Wancheng. Although the Wancheng defenders on the city wall and outside the sheep and horse wall tried their best to avoid it, they couldn't get the stone.

Too many, and many defenders were killed and injured. Some defenders were smashed into pieces on the spot, and a few particularly unlucky soldiers were hit by bundles of firewood poured with kerosene, and their whole bodies burst into flames.

The screams for help could be heard for miles.

The Xuzhou soldiers behind the temporary fortifications also began to fire arrows to suppress the enemy defenders. Taking advantage of the cover of bows and arrows and Xiangyang artillery, half of the Xuzhou army's 60 folding trench bridge vehicles were dispatched at once, and they rushed quickly driven by the Xuzhou infantry.

Towards the Wancheng moat, the Xuzhou soldiers pushing wheelbarrows ran faster and took turns rushing to the edge of the moat to dump the large rocks and straw bags filled with soil. They kept going back and forth like ants moving. Although the Wancheng defenders tried their best to stop them by firing arrows

However, there were too many Xuzhou Army soldiers filling up the river, and the people pushing the carts were protected by the shields of their companions. Although the effect was moderate, it was not great and could not stop the Xuzhou Army from filling the river with all their strength.

After the Xiangyang artillery fired three or four rounds, the folding trench bridge vehicles also approached the moat one after another. The soldiers on the vehicles pushed and pulled hard and lowered the front bridge, making the trench bridge vehicle suddenly four feet long. A temporary bridge was built on the opposite side of the moat.

Although the defenders on the city tried their best to stop them with arrows and threw a large number of swallow-tailed torches to burn them, they still could not stop so many trench bridge trucks from building bridges. When the first temporary bridge was completed, more than 20 people holding short swords immediately arrived.

Xuzhou soldiers armed with weapons and bucklers rushed onto the bridge, using their shields to block the arrows shot from the city wall, while flying across the moat and over the sheep and horse wall to kill those hiding behind the sheep and horse wall.

Jingzhou soldiers firing arrows.

The siege tactics used by the Xuzhou army this time were standard enough to be incorporated into cold weapon warfare textbooks. They used long-range weapons to suppress the enemy's long-range weapons. They covered the auxiliary troops to fill the moats and used large siege weapons to advance.

The road allows elite infantry soldiers to cross the river first and attack direct-shooting enemies hiding under the city walls and behind the sheep and horse walls. This weakens the enemy's shooting power and effectively kills enemy soldiers.

This is a standard siege tactic. It is an ordinary siege tactic that almost everyone knows with some battlefield experience. It is also a siege tactic that progresses relatively slowly. It is completely inconsistent with Deputy Director Tao's usual military style. The Xuzhou army is destined to be in the

Siege battles cost a lot of money and consume a lot of time, troops and materials. However, such standard tactics make it difficult for the defenders to effectively crack the city and quickly repel the attackers, or force the attackers to give up the siege and retreat.

It may be a waste of effort against the siege party, which consumes troops and supplies, but also consumes morale, combat effectiveness and patience.

In terms of combat effectiveness, of course the Xuzhou army has an absolute advantage. Although not many Xuzhou soldiers crossed the moat, and some Xuzhou soldiers died on the way across the river, war has always been about numerical additions and subtractions. Dozens of Xuzhou soldiers crossed the moat.

After crossing the moat and crossing the sheep and horse wall, the Jingzhou soldiers hiding behind the sheep and horse wall were in bad luck. On their heads were huge rocks that could fall at any time. On the opposite side were the wolf-like Xuzhou soldiers, and on both sides were unattainable mountains.

The cold city wall and the sheep and horse wall, which are being closely cared for by Xuzhou archers, have no way to go to the sky or the earth. I can only bite the bullet and fight with the Xuzhou soldiers on the battlefield behind the sheep and horse wall, which is only ten steps wide, and have a hand-to-hand fight on a narrow road.

Close combat.

Taking advantage of the opportunity that the enemy behind the sheep and horse wall was unable to fire arrows, more Xuzhou soldiers rushed across the moat and crossed the sheep and horse wall, gradually reversing the absolute disadvantage in strength, and gradually showing that their individual combat effectiveness was stronger than their opponents at close range.

Taking advantage of their physical strength, they wielded their swords and axes with red eyes and slashed at the enemy behind the wall. They competed with the enemy for position space one shooting hole after another. Although the Jingzhou soldiers also showed their courage to resist desperately, nothing could stop the Xuzhou soldiers' brutal invasion.

, they were chopped down one after another, their control space was compressed bit by bit, and they were unable to fire arrows with all their strength to stop the Xuzhou army from filling the river.

Under such circumstances, the most correct tactic for the defenders should be to send troops from other city gates to attack the flanks of the Xuzhou army in a roundabout way to reduce the pressure on the front, or simply open the north gate and send troops to rob Xuzhou from the front

The army filled the river. But it is a pity that although the old general Huang Zu who presided over the Wancheng battlefield was very aware of these countermeasures, he did not have the courage to send troops to fight with the Xuzhou army outside the city. He only desperately sent more crossbowmen to the city wall.

, using long-range weapons to prevent the Xuzhou army from filling the river.

This is destined to be ineffective. Although the Jingzhou Army soldiers like to use bows and arrows, in such a chaotic and critical situation, it is naturally not efficient to shoot an enemy dozens of steps away. It is also impossible to do so on a city wall that is only more than two feet wide.

If too many troops are deployed to draw bows and fire arrows, it will be more difficult to effectively kill the enemies filling the river. At the same time, the soldiers on the city wall are deployed too densely, giving the Xuzhou Army's bows, arrows and stone bullets a chance to show off their power and kill the enemies.

, especially the giant stone bullets weighing more than three hundred kilograms thrown by the Xiangyang artillery. As long as one stone bullet hits the city wall, it will immediately splash a huge blood splash, causing a series of exclamations and screams.

, the Jingzhou soldiers were frightened, and even more unwilling to defend the enemy with all their strength.
To be continued...