Moreover, there were many dignitaries and merchants living within the city. The villages outside the city did not have much surplus grain, and most of the grain produced had to be handed over to the city every year, allowing the city to hoard the food, population, weapons, workshops, and businesses in the surrounding area. It could be said that occupying a city was equivalent to occupying an entire area. They could also use the hoarding in the city to support the war and replenish themselves. In ancient times, the revolutionary policy of encircling the city with the countryside would not work.
This was also the reason why when two kingdoms fought, they would use most of their forces to occupy Cities. Even if a City was not connected to the Great Wall or other fortresses, very few generals would lead their troops around the City to attack the next City. If they went in alone, they would be attacked from both sides, which was even more unwise. They would not even be able to transport food from the rear. Therefore, in ancient wars, other than fighting on the border battlefield, there were also battles for Cities.
The army had already built some siege equipment such as chariots, charging chariots, towers, scaling ladders, folding bridges, and dozens of carts of wood cut from temporary logs to lay trenches. The army formed a snake-shaped formation and marched toward Peng City in a mighty manner. Flags fluttered, and countless bright weapons stood in the sky, shining with a faint cold light under the sunlight.
They arrived in less than an hour. A tall city could be seen in the distance. In front of the city was an open field. About three to four miles away from the city gate, dozens of enemy formations had been arranged. Chariots, cavalrymen, archers, shield-bearers, and heavily armored soldiers were gathered together to guard the first defense line. They were eyeing the enemy with their swords and spears. The armored soldiers stood solemnly. Two hundred steps in front of the enemy soldiers was a trench and barbed fence defense line.
Under the dark and heavy world of cast iron and lead, there were thousands of weapons and armor. The cold light of knives and halberds was like a cold moon slanting through a dark room.
The two armies faced each other from a distance of 500 steps. The first two rows of long shieldbearers were tightly arranged in front of the formation, and behind the shieldbearers were several rows of light armor archers and crossbowmen. On both sides of the formation were chariots and cavalrymen, and behind them were heavy armor infantrymen holding spears. This formation was similar to that of the two armies.
This was Ye Tian's first time on the battlefield, and he was still the vanguard.
Tens of thousands of people's qi and blood condensed into a rope. That kind of murderous aura almost made him stop breathing. If it wasn't for his high cultivation, he would have already had stage fright before the battle.
Ye Tian took a deep breath, throwing away the chaotic thoughts in his mind and shouting at the top of his voice,""Is the commander of the army in front Cao Aman, that old thief Cao?”
At the center of Cao Cao's mount formation, he shouted,""So what if I am? And who are you?"
Ye Tian smiled and called out," I am Ye Xiaoyao, the vanguard general under the command of Lord Tao. I've been waiting for you here on orders." Xu Prefecture has no enmity with the Cao Clan. Why did you bring the army to approach Pengcheng? Can you bear the crime of poisoning the people? If your Cao family gives up their armor and retreats now, my Peng City can let bygones be bygones. Otherwise, on today's battlefield, either you die or I live.”
Cao Cao sneered," Brat, you sure have big words. Tao Qian killed my father. Can you still call it innocent?" The hatred of killing my father is irreconcilable. Today, I have arrived at the city to kill that thief Tao and raise the reputation of my Cao family. I, Cao Cao, am not so easy to bully!”
He was dressed in white and rode a white horse. He held a long sword in his hand and stood upright. His clothes fluttered in the wind, making him look like a banished immortal.
Ye Tian raised his sword and shouted,""If that's the case, don't blame this general for being heartless. Men, beat the drums and send troops!”
" Wu…Dong…"
A heavy trombone and a shocking drum sounded. In an instant, the enemy's drummers, bugle horns, golden chimes, and flag bearers all moved. As soon as the order was given, the formation of the entire army began to change. Archers and crossbowmen continuously moved to the front row and pulled their bowstrings, waiting for the enemy to charge into the formation.
In ancient times, ordinary bows and arrows used in war had a range of 100 to 150 paces. The bow was two meters long and was made of purplish or ashen wood. It was relatively cheap. When shooting arrows, it was not aimed at people, but shot diagonally upward. When the arrows fell naturally, because there were many shields in front of them, it was difficult to dodge the rain of arrows falling from the sky. Moreover, the speed of the arrows increased as they fell, and the strength was not weak. In this way, ordinary archers basically had a quiver each, and each quiver contained twelve arrows. In most battles, after three or four rounds of volleys, the enemy chariots and cavalry would have already reached them. There would basically be no situation where the arrows would run out.
According to historical records, the Qin Dynasty used six feet as a step, and one mile was 300 steps. Back then, each step was about 1.3 meters. Ordinary bows and arrows could shoot up to 100 to 200 meters and even pierce through armor, which was already very powerful. Above ordinary longbows, there were composite bows, which were made of many materials. The core was still made of ash wood, and there was also cutin. The outer layer was tied with relatively hard wood chips such as sawn wood, and the inner layer was glued with thorns. The outer layer was covered with cow tendons. The process was complicated and the cost was high. Therefore, the irregular elite troops rarely had composite bows. Its range could reach two hundred steps, and its power was astonishing.
With the Cao army's current wealth, they were only equipped with ordinary bows and arrows. Pengcheng was no exception, so there was no difference in weapons between the two sides.
"Locating Arrow!" Ye Tian ordered the messenger to wave the flag.
Following that, the sound of bowstrings clanging rang out, and countless arrows were shot out. They streaked across the air and landed 120 steps away, filling a row. These were positioning arrows. As the name suggested, they were used to determine the location of the arrow. When the two armies charged into this range, it was time for the archers to shoot.
Cao Cao stared coldly at the enemy formation in the distance and took a deep breath. He suddenly said,"Send troops ~~"
At the commander's command, Xu Chu and Xu Huang looked at each other and nodded. Then, they shouted,"" Chariots, step out!"" Cavalry, attack!"
The military order was as firm as a mountain, and the chariot formation immediately began to move. The first row, the second row…a total of three hundred chariots pulled by two horses rushed out of the formation and charged fiercely at the enemy troops in front of them. Immediately after, four thousand cavalrymen poured out like a flood. Hundreds of wheels crushed the ground, and thousands of hooves trampled the ground. These mixed sounds intertwined, and in an instant, the ground within a radius of several miles trembled.
Following that, the 20,000 infantrymen and 6,000 archers followed behind the chariots and cavalrymen. They charged out of the formation and charged towards the enemy. The entire Vanguard Battalion moved out at the same time. The shouts of the thousands of soldiers instantly tore through the void and set off an earth-shattering storm.
"Kill!"
Countless soldiers roared as they brandished their spears and brandished their weapons. Cold light flashed as they bravely charged forward. In an instant, they felt a strong wind and cloud rising from the battlefield, sweeping across the entire area of hundreds of miles. The sky changed color, and an invisible killing intent spread out.
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