There is indeed no way to set up the ice holes Xu Rong in the city of Taiyuan.

At present, the Jizhou Army is not as advantageous as the Xiliang Army in terms of military strength or situation. More importantly, even he himself did not know the reinforcements mentioned by Xu Rong.

In this case, anything that is conducive to the defense of the Jizhou army will become an important bargaining chip for Xu Rong to persevere. Even if these ice holes only cause minor trouble to the Xiliang army, even if the Xiliang army fills these holes in less than an hour.

But at least during this period, the pressure on the Jizhou army on the city wall was minimal. Until the ice holes were filled, the defenders on the city wall suddenly felt the surging offensive of the Xiliang army.

When the two armies fight, the side with the advantage in numbers can often keep the morale of the soldiers at a high level. The Xiliang Army's own combat power is not weak, and coupled with its high morale, this makes the Jizhou Army on the city wall bear huge pressure every moment.

"Press up to me! The enemy army is only 20,000 people, and even if it is consumed, they will be consumed to death!"

"Anyone who climbs first will be rewarded with a reward of 10,000 yuan and will be granted the title of Marquis of Guannei!"

Lu Bu urged the soldiers to come forward with cold eyes. Whether the soldiers in front of the formation were tempted or threatened, they all roared and rushed forward.

The Xiliang army under the city braved the rain of arrows and climbed the wooden ladder with the greatest courage in their lives, stepped on the cloud ladder, and rushed to the city wall one after another.

On the city, the Jizhou army upholds the belief of persisting for ten days and prevents the enemy from climbing to the city again and again.

The battle between the two sides was fierce and tragic, and the hot blood still filled the entire city wall even in the cold winter.

The same scene also exists on the battlefield commanded by Zhang Liao in the south. Xu Rong defended both sides and felt tremendous pressure from the beginning.

This battle was not until the sky gradually darkened, and the Western Liang army called out to withdraw its troops.

When the Xiliang Army retreated, many soldiers of Jizhou leaned tiredly behind the wall. Below them was a thick layer of blood-colored ice crystals.

The day's battle ended, and the Xiliang army, Hezhou army, began to restrain the bodies of its own soldiers.

When collecting the bodies, the clerk beside him trembled and recorded the casualties of his army. These numbers were eventually reported to Xu Rong, so they should not be careless.

......

Late at night, in the Taiyuan Prefecture.

"General, in today's battle, our army suffered 2,421 casualties, of which 1,982 were killed and 25 were seriously injured. The rest were all slightly injured. You can continue to fight after being cured." The clerk respectfully reported the figures he counted to Xu Rong.

Xu Rong looked at the Taiyuan map without looking back, and gently replied to "Yeah" and asked the little official to retreat.

The deputy general on the side walked up and said worriedly: "General, today's first battle is not the first battle, and our army's casualties have exceeded 10%. If this continues, I'm afraid the soldiers will not last ten days!"

Before the war began, the Jizhou Army, from Xu Rong, believed that it was very easy to keep it for ten days, but today the Xiliang Army had already slapped everyone with a loud slap.

Lu Bu and Zhang Liao used facts to tell the generals at all levels of the Jizhou Army that the number of people could really do whatever they wanted!

There seem to be many Xiliang troops siegeing the city today, but the combined north and south sides will not exceed 20,000, but the total number of troops in Lu Bu and Zhang Liao is 90,000, which means that they can maintain the intensity of this attack today for at least four days!

How tragic the battle today is, the deputy general has witnessed with his own eyes. If the Jizhou army's strength is not inferior to the Xiliang army, the deputy general is fully confident that he will be able to conquer the Xiliang army. But the problem is that there are only 20,000 soldiers and horses in Taiyuan City. Today, in order to defend the city, nearly 10,000 of these 20,000 soldiers have been mobilized.

In this way, each of the soldiers of the Jizhou Army who were forced to capture the four days of four days would have to bear twice the pressure and combat intensity of the Xiliang Army. Perhaps the soldiers of the Jizhou Army could still support it with their own abilities in the first four days.

What if the Xiliang Army attacked like this for four days?

It was very exhausted to continue fighting with high intensity all day. At that time, let alone soldiers from Jizhou, perhaps even the generals could not withstand the fatigue caused by the battle. At that time, could Taiyuan still be defended?

That's why the deputy general was worried about whether Taiyuan City could be kept for ten days.

In fact, the deputy general's concerns were exactly what Xu Rong was worried about.

Even though he attached great importance to the Western Liang army from the beginning, the intensity of the Western Liang army's offensive exceeded his expectations. Now even he doubts whether he can hold on for ten days.

But even if I have been holding on for ten days, what should I do later?

Watching all the soldiers under your command die?

Or... surrender to Lu Bu?

Xu Rong tightened his fists and wiped out the idea of ​​surrender directly.

Han Fu's kindness to Pan Feng treats him as much as a mountain. He has surrendered once. If there is really no way out this time, he can only repay the kindness of Han Fu and Pan Feng with his death.

"Don't worry if we can defend it for ten days. Although our army suffered heavy casualties, Lu Bu's Xiliang Army was not much better. If he dared to attack for eight consecutive days, his casualties would definitely be far better than our army!"

"It's hateful. If it weren't for the huge gap in military strength, why would we be trapped and killed in this Taiyuan City!" Xu Rong said with a hatred.

I was a little unwilling to die like this, but I had to stop because of the huge difference in military strength. This feeling was very uncomfortable, which made Xu Rong feel so nervous.

"By the way, how many equipment is left in the city?" Xu Rong asked suddenly.

"This... After today's consumption, half of the rolling stone wood I prepared had been consumed, and tincture oil and other objects were also very scarce, only arrows were barely enough, but if today's offensive strength was used, it would be sold out in at most five days." The deputy general said with difficulty.

The more people and the situation becomes more unfavorable, there are fewer people and insufficient supplies, and there are no reinforcements. If other generals were replaced, they might have already opened the city and surrendered, and Xu Rong and others could still maintain this tenacious fighting will and persist in fighting.

However, fighting will not represent everything. When the materials are used up, it is impossible to kill the real sword and gun.

"Can supplies be found in the city?"

"When the general, the soldiers have searched many times, but the general ordered that the people should not be infringed upon, so the people's homes have not been searched yet." said the deputy general.

Obviously, the deputy general meant that Xu Rong ordered the search of the people's homes, and that some supplies might be able to be supplemented by that time.

Xu Rong waved his hand: "Even if there are people in their homes, they are just food and other objects. Now our army lacks supplies like rolling stones and wood. It is useless to search for the people. Moreover, it is difficult to guarantee that soldiers will make actions to harm the people during the war."

The Jizhou Army is notorious for the people. The people living in Taiyuan have known this for a long time, so they are not wary of the Jizhou Army. It is just that Xu Rong is afraid that his soldiers will not follow the military orders under the pressure of life and death, and will do things that both human and gods are angered against the people, so he dare not order them easily.

Seeing that Xu Rong was determined, the deputy general said nothing, but just handed over to rectify the organization.

......

The next day, as Xu Rong expected, the Xiliang army launched a fierce attack on the Taiyuan city wall again.

Because there is no shortage of supplies to defend the city, the Xiliang Army's offensive became fierce, but not many people rushed to the city wall. Most of the casualties of the Jizhou Army came from the shooting of the crossbowmen on Jing Lan.

Fortunately, the Jizhou Army has plenty of arrows and has not been unilaterally suppressed.

The day's siege passed quickly, and Lu Bu's Xiliang army once again left the body of the ground and retreated in a hurry.

Although the siege on the next day still did not improve, Lu Bu had already seen the disadvantages of the shortage of throwing objects in Taiyuan City, so from the third day, the attack of the Xiliang army reached a higher level again.

This time, Lu Bu did not withdraw back to the barracks because the night fell, but instead asked his generals to lead their troops in batches to launch a fierce attack on the walls of Taiyuan City.

At this time, the Jizhou army had already fought in batches for a round. On the third day, when the Xiliang army attacked day and night, the first Jizhou army that responded to the enemy had not yet recovered from the fatigue of the war. However, they could not let the compatriots who were fighting bloody the day before, so they could only grit their teeth and lift their swords to fight to the death with the Xiliang army rushing up.

On this day, the soldiers of the Xiliang Army attacked the city head many times. If the soldiers of Jizhou had not fought to the death under the command of the generals, the city walls of Taiyuan City would have changed hands.

It was also on this day that news about the insufficient supplies of the Jizhou army defending the city spread wildly, and the people in Taiyuan City were all in a rage.

The lack of supplies to defend the city means that the difficulty of soldiers guarding the city will increase exponentially, and sacrifice will increase exponentially. In this case, it will be even more difficult to defend Taiyuan City. If Taiyuan City is lost, ordinary people will live in the shadow of being ruled by the Western Liang Army.

The panic spread more and more among the people, but soon another voice gradually sounded among the people.

"General Xu is kind to us, we need to help General Xu defend the city!"

"After the Jizhou army came, life has improved a lot. You can't let the Jizhou army lose the city!"

"You have to help them! You must help them!"

The people are all simple. The arrival of the Jizhou Army greatly improved the lives of the people in Taiyuan City. They were grateful to the Jizhou Army and Xu Rong. Now Xu Rong is at the moment of life and death. Those people who are grateful in their hearts have spontaneously organized themselves to help the Jizhou Army defend the city, and their first step is to raise materials for the Jizhou Army to defend the city.

Taiyuan Prefecture.

In the evening, Xu Rong received a notice from the guard that several old men wanted to see Xu Rong, saying that they were here to help Xu Rong.

Xu Rong has been busy with the city guarding the past two days, but he has limited resources and can only sit and wait. Now he hears that someone can help him. Even if he doesn't believe that a few old men can help, he must take some time to meet them.

Pan Feng once told Xu Rong that there must be my teacher when walking around three people. When encountering troubles and difficulties, you might as well listen to other people's opinions. Sometimes the inspiration to solve problems may come from this!

"Bring them in."

Soon, three old men walked in under the guidance of the guards.

"I have seen the general!" The three of them saluted Xu Rong.

Xu Rong's eyes fell on the three of them. Seeing that they were dressed in simple clothes but had a good mental outlook, he knew that these people should be local gentry.

At night, why did the three squires come to him for?

"When you are looking for me late at night, what's the matter?" Xu Rong asked.

One of the three people, an old man with a white hair, immediately stepped forward: "Go back to General, we are here to wait for the general to dispatch and help the general defend the city."

Xu Rong:......

Xu Rong almost vomited blood after hearing what they said, but then he thought that these three people didn't look like stupid people. What they said was that obeying orders and helping defend the city might have other meanings.

"I wonder, how do you call the dispatch? How do you defend the city?"

The old man saluted again: "I and others came here on behalf of the 16,7823 families in the city, and asked the general for the orders and help the general defend the city!"

More than 16,000 households!

Xu Rong's expression was refreshed. You should know that there are only nearly 20,000 households in the entire Taiyuan City, and more than 80,000 households account for more than 80%.

So many people are willing to help themselves!

At this moment, Xu Rong felt a feeling of tears. He finally knew why Pan Feng had been emphasizing since the beginning of his military administration that he should treat the people in the city well and not be harmed by the people.

It turns out that this is the reason why Pan Feng wanted to strictly order the soldiers of Jizhou. This is the most powerful force of a city!

Xu Rong had experienced storms and storms. Even though the old man's words shocked him, he quickly suppressed his excitement.

"What my father-in-law said seriously?"

"Take every sentence seriously!" The old man spoke in a decisive tone.
To be continued...