"Hurry!" In Xiangyang City, a large number of soldiers poured out of Xiangyang under the command of generals at all levels and rushed towards the Han River.

The news that a gap was opened by the enemy on the front line was unexpected even by Zhuge Liang. The Thousand Miles Embankment was destroyed in an ant nest. Zhuge Liang knew very well what this gap opened by Chen Mo meant. If Chen Mo was allowed to expand this gap, then Zhuge Liang had previously

Many of the arrangements and even the copper pillars in the center of the river, which were built with huge manpower and material resources, may have lost their meaning.

It is necessary to drive out the Ming army's troops who have crossed the Han River before the gap grows larger.

"Yun Chang, this battle is related to the situation in Xiangyang. The enemy must be driven back!" Zhuge Liang looked at Guan Yu at the gate of the city and said solemnly.

In order to drive the Ming army back to the north of the Yangtze River, Zhuge Liang mobilized all the troops and horses he could mobilize. Nearly 10,000 troops and horses were already most of Xiangyang's strength. It was impossible to mobilize more troops. There were not many troops left in Xiangfan.

"Kong Ming, with so many soldiers and horses here, if the Ming army takes the opportunity to attack Fancheng, how will they resist it?" Guan Yu looked at Zhuge Liang and asked.

Now that Xiangyang has sent a large army to seize the Jiangkou stronghold, Zhuge Liang can be sure that Chen Mo has probably issued an order to attack Fancheng at this time. For layout masters like them, once one point is successful, they will be linked together, and Chen Mo's biggest advantage is his military strength.

, he has enough troops and horses to mobilize. It is not difficult for Chen Mo to fight on two fronts, but it is different here in Xiangyang. Zhuge Liang does not have many resources to mobilize. There are troops in Jiangdong, and the two sides are now allies, but those troops and horses

It is not controlled by Zhuge Liang, and the two sides can negotiate, but at this time, time is of the essence. If the Jiangkou stronghold is not recaptured, then Xiangyang will soon have a large number of Ming troops coming over, and then Xiangyang and Fancheng will face each other at the same time.

pressure on the Ming army.

"Liang has ordered someone to summon Governor Zhou Yu to lend me five thousand elite soldiers to help defend Fan City. Yun Chang will go on his own!" Zhuge Liang said solemnly.

Although today's Xiangyang is considered strong and is a battleground after all, it is impossible to completely abandon the periphery and stick to Xiangyang. Without the cooperation of the peripheral terrain, Xiangyang is just a city. If Chen Mo really hits the door, then

More dangerous.

Even if Zhou Yu didn't respond, Zhuge Liang still had to fight. Zhuge Liang was cautious in doing things. He rarely did such risky things, especially after the defeat of Nanyang. Zhuge Liang became more cautious in doing things because he knew whether Liu Bei would lose.

But at this time, he couldn't help but take the risk.

"Come as soon as you go!" Guan Yu took the order and rushed to the mouth of the river with his troops.

The sky had just dawned, and Xiangyang was only twenty miles away from the river mouth. When Guan Yu and his troops arrived, Zhang He had already repelled the invading enemies from all sides, and the newly established camp was also being worked on by a group of craftsmen and soldiers.

The following is initially established.

The huge camp stretched for three miles, occupying almost the entire plain at the river mouth. Guan Yu looked at the camp in front of him and frowned.

"Father!" A general led a group of troops and came from the flank. When he saw Guan Yu bowing on his horse, he frowned and said, "The enemy has set up walls on both sides and is guarded by enemy troops. It is difficult to find any loopholes."

The person who came was none other than Guan Ping.

Guan Yu nodded, looked at the wall, thought for a while and said: "Shoot it with a crossbow."

"Here!"

The so-called repeated crossbow cart, as the name suggests, is an enlarged version of the repeated crossbow, or the prototype of the Zhuge repeating crossbow. It is different from the repeated crossbow held by the infantry. This Yuanrong crossbow is a crossbow cart, and its range and power are far superior to the repeated crossbow.

It is extremely powerful and easier to install than the ordinary bed crossbow. It is a weapon designed by Zhuge Liang in recent years to make up for the lack of combat power of the Jingzhou Army.

Soon, a serial ballista was pulled out from the army. Under the operation of a group of soldiers, the sound of the machine's collision was endless.

"Fire!" Following Guan Yu's command, rows of crossbow arrows shot out of the air amid the harsh sound of mechanical friction, and they fired fiercely at the wall.

"Bang bang bang bang~"

Amidst a series of dull sounds, many soldiers on the wall were hit by arrows that were blown away by the huge force. The eight-inch long iron arrows were enough to penetrate any armor within the range, even in many places on the wall reinforced with rammed earth.

They were all shot through. Although the crossbow car was powerful, in order to pursue range and penetration, it did not use thick and giant arrows like ordinary bed crossbows, so the damage to the city wall was not good. Even if it could penetrate,

It is also difficult to shake the stronghold wall.

After a round of arrow rain, although the defenders were damaged, there was not much damage to the village wall.

But despite this, the power of the crossbow still chilled the defenders of the city. If they encountered this on the battlefield, they would not be able to withstand the rain of arrows, even if they were protected by shields.

"What kind of crossbow is this? Is it so powerful?" Zhang He stood on the watchtower and witnessed this scene with his own eyes, looking at Ma Jun who was sent to supervise the construction of the military camp next to him.

"This..." Ma Jun shook his head. The power of this weapon made his scalp numb just looking at it. Although the Pojun Crossbow was powerful and could fire continuously, it was only three rounds, far inferior to the opponent's.

The repeating crossbow is very powerful, not to mention the other party's portable small repeating crossbow.

"I have never seen such a crossbow before." After a long time, Ma Jun sighed. The power of this repeating crossbow has exceeded his knowledge. If he can get one or two to study, he may be able to build a more powerful one.

The crossbow equipment comes.

For a moment, Ma Jun felt a little eager.

On the other side, Guan Yu saw that the other side's stronghold wall was strong, and said to Guan Ping beside him: "Tanzhi, go ahead and call the formation and ask the Ming army if they dare to go out to fight with a certain person?"

"Here!" Guan Ping agreed, rode his horse to the outside of the camp, and shouted loudly: "Who is the commander of the camp?"

"This is Zhang He." Zhang He came to the camp gate and looked at the army in the distance. He did not ask Guan Ping to be shot. If it is not necessary, some rules can be observed. Of course, if Guan Yu or Zhuge Liang personally

Come and call the formation, the two people over there said it.

"You are not capable of carrying out sneak attacks secretly. Now that our army has arrived, do you dare to fight with our army?" Guan Ping said loudly.

"Don't you hear that soldiers are always deceitful? The two armies are fighting, each using their own methods. You have been defeated for a while, and now you want to take back this place, so you use your skills to attack." Zhang He sneered when he heard this. The camp has been erected, but you are

You want me to go out to fight with you? There is nothing in the world that is so cheap.

Guan Ping snorted coldly, said nothing, turned his horse back to the army, and informed Guan Yu.

Guan Yu looked at the opponent's camp and didn't say much. He just ordered an attack. Although the attacker would suffer huge losses, if he didn't take back this place, the Ming army would probably cross the Han River directly from there.

Most of the defenses to the south will be abandoned, and Xiangyang is also in danger.

Under the command of Guan Yu, the Jingzhou Army launched an attack from two sides. Zhang He was also unambiguous. No matter how Guan Yu attacked, he had a countermeasure. The two sides fought like this for half a day. Although a section of the wall was destroyed, Zhang He quickly ordered people to kill him.

On the top, there was another round of fighting. Guan Yu finally found it difficult to break into the camp, so he had no choice but to withdraw his troops and set up a camp at the mountain pass to confront Zhang He. At the same time, he notified Zhuge Liang and asked him to think of a way as soon as possible. If this continues, the Ming army will continue to flow in.

of crossing the river.

In the evening, Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fei came to the front of the battle in person to observe the enemy camp. Seeing Zhang He's rigorous formation and the orderly layout of the military camp, it was difficult to break through. After thinking for a while, he asked someone to bring in a catapult and follow Chen Mo's example.

Oil bombs were dropped on the camp and the camp was set on fire.

When Zhang He saw this, he knew something was wrong and immediately led his troops out of the camp to destroy the opponent's catapult. However, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu fought on the left and right of the Jiangkou plain. Although Zhang He was brave, the camp at the rear was destroyed.

Burning, the generals and soldiers panicked, and the two men worked together to fight back. Just as they watched the camp being burned down, news came from Zhuge Liang that the upstream ferry had been lost.

However, in order to completely tear through Xiangyang's peripheral defense, Chen Mo took advantage of Zhang He to attract the opponent's troops here, and ordered Zhang Xiu, Wei Yan, and Xu Huang to cross the river from the upper reaches and attack the opponent's ferry.

Although Zhuge Liang's layout was good, the supporting troops were now attracted by Zhang He. There were only a few hundred people coming out of the ferry. Three places were attacking at the same time. Although they were attacking south, they were not incapable of attacking. The three generals had also learned Chen Mo's water battle tactics back then.

Ce, who has trained the navy in the East China Sea for a period of time, although he has no talent in this area, is not the Yangtze River, let alone the East China Sea. The narrowest point of those crossings is less than 60 steps, and hundreds of people can fight without support.

How to withstand the attack of thousands of people? Just as Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu tried to break through Zhang He, three ferries were also lost one after another. Although Zhang He was defeated, the Ming army had indeed completely opened the river crossing barrier, and a steady stream of people landed from the upper reaches.

, the first line of defense that Zhuge Liang painstakingly laid out was broken by Chen Mo in this way.

After Zhuge Liang heard the news, his expression changed greatly. At this time, Zhang He was still leading the remaining troops to resist, and it was difficult to completely destroy him in his eagerness. Even killing Zhang He at this time would not help.

"How could this be?" Zhang Fei looked at Zhuge Liang with some confusion.

Zhuge Liang sighed, shook his head and said: "The defense line along the Han River is too long, and the river is not spacious. It is inevitable for the enemy to break through like this."

Zhuge Liang naturally thought about such a result, but he never thought that it would come so quickly.

"Kong Ming, what should we do now?" Guan Yu rode his horse to Zhuge Liang and asked with a frown.

"Retreat to the second line of defense. This line of defense must be defended, Ji Ling!" Zhuge Liang looked at Ji Ling and said.

"The general is here!" Ji Ling bowed and said.

"You are responsible for the defense line between Atou Mountain and Baizhang Mountain!" Zhuge Liang sighed.

"Here!" Ji Ling agreed, followed the order and left.

"Fanzhi!" Zhuge Liang looked at Guan Ping again.

"The general is here!" Guan Ping also bowed quickly.

"The bronze pillar in the center of the river must be defended. I have set up three strongholds here, and you must guard these three strongholds." Zhuge Liang said solemnly.

"Here!" Guan Ping nodded.

"Yun Chang!" Zhuge Liang finally looked at Guan Yu and said.

"exist!"

"There are not enough troops in the army. Yun Changqi went to Jiangling to recruit soldiers. The more the better!"

"Here!"

Although he defeated Zhang He with all his strength, he finally took a step slower and allowed Chen Mo to successfully cross the river. In terms of the overall situation, Zhuge Liang lost this step. He thought that Chen Mo would take the opportunity to attack Fancheng, but he did not expect that Chen Mo's real goal was this line of defense.
Chapter completed!