After several days of preparation, Touman launched his first probing attack on Five Carriage City two days ago, but it ended in failure. The 3,000 crossbowmen of Five Carriage City and the ballistae that sent chills down one's spine formed a dense net of fire within 50 to 300 steps of Five Carriage City.
Touman had watched the battle that day, and the Qin army had fired a few times. The 3,000 vanguard troops had not even approached the moat when they had already lost hundreds of people. Looking at the death formation formed by the densely packed crossbow bolts on the battlefield, even the experienced Touman couldn't help but feel his heart palpitate. Fortunately, he immediately gave the order for the siege troops to retreat to avoid greater damage.
The simple siege tools were completely useless against the tight defense system of Five Carriage City. Just the moat in front of the city wall that was thirty to forty feet wide was an insurmountable chasm.
This undoubtedly showed that Five Carriage City was a tough bone that the Xiongnu would find hard to chew on. Touman calculated in his heart that it would undoubtedly be difficult to take down Five Carriage City. First, they had to mobilize the army to cut off the upstream water channel and make the moat lose its effect. However, this was only the first step. In order to occupy the city walls of Five Carriage City, they would need at least ten to twenty thousand warriors to achieve their goal. The losses of attacking by force were too great. His army had come from thousands of miles away and had originally planned to rely on surprise attacks to succeed. Who knew that before his army arrived, Five Carriage City had already taken precautions. His original plan was difficult to realize, and he had no choice but to fall into a prolonged battle that he did not want to see the most.
The Xiongnu were originally a nomadic people. The people were soldiers, and the tents of the herdsmen were military camps. Their military potential was huge. If they could win, they would fight. If they could not win, they would flee thousands of miles away. This group of Qin people could not do anything to them. Five Chariot City was surrounded by fertile grasslands. As long as there were enough cows and sheep, Tou Man could continue to fight against the Qin army in Five Chariot City for a year or two.
However, if he did that, he would have no choice but to ask the Xiongnu in the Hetao region to transport more food and grass over, and move the Xiongnu's main camp here. This way, the Great Xiongnu would be caught in the pincer attack of the Great Yue Clan and the Qin Country. This place was surrounded by mountains. Once they were surrounded, tens of thousands of people would become turtles in a jar.
Such a strategy was undoubtedly the worst, but as the Xiongnu Chanyu, Touman had no choice but to prepare for the worst.
Xiongnu camp, King Touman's tent.
Touman already had the intention to retreat, but this expedition was a waste of food. Several brave generals who had followed him for many years had also been massacred a few days ago. If he were to retreat now, it would be a huge loss to his personal prestige.
The tent was empty, and the head man paced back and forth, hesitating in his heart. However, when he remembered the contents of the old Shaman's divination before he came, the hesitation in his heart instantly dissipated, and his determination to take down Five Carriage City became firm again.
This Anxi Jun Ying Tianyu would be the greatest enemy of the Xiongnu in the future, the chief culprit of the decline of the Great Xiongnu.
He didn't believe it at first, but after seeing it for the past few days, he had to admit that the content of the old Shaman's divination was very likely to come true. As long as Ying Tianyu was alive, he wouldn't be able to sleep or eat well.
This war was no longer just about money, horses, and food. Tou Man only had one goal now, and that was to get rid of Ying Tianyu at all costs.
"Chief, we caught a few spies from the southern barbarians.”Just as Touman was about to write a letter to ask the Hetao Xiongnu branch to move over, he heard the voice of the soldiers outside the tent.
"A spy?" "Bring them up here," Toman said doubtfully.”
Seven burly men in ragged clothes and drenched from head to toe were tied up. One of them shouted,""Chanyu, we are not spies. We are people from Zhao who escaped from Five Carriage City.”
"Someone from the State of Zhao?" Touman was stunned for a moment before he realized that Zhao was a country that had been destroyed by Qin a few years ago. He asked,"You said you weren't spies, but the city walls of Five Carriage City were brightly lit. How did you escape?"”
"That was just Ying Tianyu's bluff. Actually, Five Carriage City was already strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Two days ago, the fuel for the bonfires on the city wall was already insufficient, but the Qin army had forcibly demolished the houses of the people, causing the people to seethe with resentment. Right now, there was a shortage of food and fuel in Five Carriage City. Many residents had already frozen to death and starved to death. We brothers were originally from the State of Zhao and had a feud with the State of Qin. We didn't want to wait for death in Five Carriage City, so we found an opportunity to escape tonight, wanting to seek refuge with Chanyu.”
"Then, tell me, how many days of rations do you have left in Five Carriage City?”The leader asked.
"The grain routes have been cut off. Five Carriage City has less than five days of food.”the man replied.
"You still say you're not a spy!" The leader shouted," You're just a slave. How do you know the exact amount of rations the Qin army has?”
"Chief, please accept my report." Seeing the blade and axe on him, the man calmly replied,"When I was in Zhao, I was a commandant in charge of grain and was skilled in arithmetic, so I paid special attention to the grain of the Qin army. In the past few months, I've memorized the number of times the Qin army has transported the grain. After some mental calculations, I got the exact number.”
"There's such an extraordinary person in this world?" Touman was skeptical. The minister in charge of grain and fodder among the generals came over and asked him to put a few bamboo slips in front of that person. He said,"I'll give you an hour to calculate the amount of grain I brought. Otherwise, you will be fed to the wolves today."”
The number recorded on the bamboo slips was something that even the most talented person in the Xiongnu could not finish without four to five hours. Touman wanted to laugh at him.
The person smiled and glanced at each book. In a moment, he got the answer. "I'm afraid there's only a month's worth of rations left in the Chief's tent."”
Hearing this, Touman was shocked. This was a top secret and only a few people knew about it. Now that a captive knew about it, he asked,"How did you know?"
"Naturally, it's told to me on this account?”The man smiled and bowed.
Surprised, he stood up from his seat and laughed,"Good, good. From today onwards, you will follow by my side and manage the rations for me!”
"What about my brothers?"
"I will also work for the Xiongnu with you! I will order people to prepare warm tents and clean food for you.”
The seven men bowed and said,"Thank you, Chanyu."”
Touman was very happy, not only because he had obtained a talent tonight, but more importantly, he had learned about the situation in Five Carriage City. Less than five days of food, haha! The heavens are really helping me. Touman laughed loudly. In other words, in another five days, even if they didn't fight, the people of Five Carriages City wouldn't be able to continue fighting.
In the next four days, Tou Man sent his army to test the waters of Five Chariot City. He discovered that with each passing day, the Qin army's counterattack became weaker. On the fourth day, the 3,000 attacking troops had already reached the moat.
There was a shortage of food in Five Carriages City, and morale was low. Tou Man had no doubt about the words of his new finance minister.
"Five Carriage City has run out of food. Pass on my order, the army will rest for two days. At dawn on the third day, tens of thousands of Xiongnu soldiers set out together, vowing to break through Five Carriage City and capture Ying Tianyu.”
On the fourth day, after the siege battle ended, Touman gathered all the generals and vowed.
On the fifth day, in the Ying Tianyu Main Building of Five Carriage City.
"Master, how is it? How's my brother's acting these days? That bunch of dogs x Xiongnu people, hahaha!”The bear's wild laughter echoed throughout the hall.
Zhang Han and Zhao Yun looked at this glutton helplessly.
Ying Tianyu smiled." You guys did well.”
" Then, Master, the mutton skewers we agreed on," Black Bear said as he drooled. He looked at Ying Tianyu and tried to please him.
"Don't worry. After the Xiongnu are defeated, I'll get the Fire Head Camp to roast you for three days and three nights.”
"Thank you, Master." After receiving Ying Tianyu's assurance, Black Bear stood at the side with a smile on his face. He didn't say anything else.
"Is everything ready?”Ying Tianyu looked at Zhao Yun and asked.
"Young Master, everything is ready.”
"We will defeat the enemy tonight." Ying Tianyu said with a deep gaze.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。