Due to the changes in the situation, Liu Bei spent a full ten days gathering enough food and fodder before he sent his troops to attack Xuchang City.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei gathered their troops and charged towards Xudu City.
Tens of thousands of enemy soldiers pushed siege hammers, ladders, and other siege tools as they rushed down the Xu Capital.
In order to maximize their power, Guan Yu took the risk of placing the archers 100 steps away from the city. He planned to suppress the enemy's firepower so that they could break through the city as soon as possible.
Thousands of archers released their arrows at the same time, and countless arrows whistled through the air toward the head of Xudu City.
The siege began.
On the city wall.
Xiahou Dun's expression was extremely grave as he watched the enemy swarm over like ants. He ordered,""Crossbowmen, aim at the enemy archers before firing. We have limited arrows and cannot waste them.”
Most of the military supplies in Xuchang City had been taken away by Cao Zheng during the Northern Expedition. However, Cao Cao still left a batch of reserve military supplies just in case. However, there were not many reserve military supplies, so they could only be used sparingly or used to their best effect.
In order to seize the time, Liu Bei did not test the waters. The moment he came up, he launched an all-out attack. The soldiers carried the ladder and pushed the moat bridge to face the rain of arrows. They charged forward like crazy.
When they reached the river, they directly built the moat bridge on both sides of the moat. They could rush down the bridge to the city wall and then push the ladder to climb up the city wall.
Apart from that, the Yuan army also had a new type of siege weapon, the wooden curtain chariot. It was a mobile board that was hung on the chariot to block the rain of arrows.
After the invention of the repeating crossbow, no matter if it was the enemy or the enemy, they would fire a volley of arrows at the same time. The arrows would rain down at an angle. Not to mention the infantry, even the cavalry would sometimes be unable to withstand it. In view of this situation, Xu Shu suggested that Liu Bei make this thing, mainly to block the arrow rain.
At this moment, hundreds of wooden curtain carts were pushed by the enemy troops to cover the soldiers 'charge.
It was actually quite useful. Most of the arrows were blocked by the wooden curtain, and only a few arrows hit the enemy. The damage caused was completely within the acceptable range.
There were also ballistae. The scaling ladder was not enough to make up for the ballistae. The walls of Xu Du were not poured with concrete, but rammed earth. Fortunately, Liu Bei's siege equipment was not that advanced. Only half of the arrows shot by the ballistae were buried in the wall. A dozen or even dozens of ballistae as thick as an arm shot into the wall, naturally forming a ladder. Anyone could grab the arrow shaft and climb up the wall.
Even so, the range of the Cao army's bows and crossbows far exceeded the enemy's. Thus, even if Liu Bei's soldiers charged fearlessly, they still could not avoid the fate of being shot.
"Retreat and rest. We'll attack the city tomorrow." Liu Bei saw that the casualties were too great and could only order a retreat.
"General, the enemy has retreated."
Xiahou Dun looked outside the city. They had really retreated.
"Check the casualties on the walls.”
"Yes."
"East City, 500 dead, 300 lightly injured, and 200 heavily injured.”
"300 people died in the West City, 600 were heavily injured, and 500 were lightly injured.”
" Beicheng…"
" South City…"
After a day of fighting, Liu Bei had lost five thousand soldiers and Cao Cao had lost no less than two thousand men.
However, the more brutal battle had just begun.
Early the next morning, the enemy troops, led by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, climbed up the scaling ladder fearlessly. Although they were beaten down by the rolling stones and burning oil before they reached the top, they still crawled over like moths to a flame, killing and burning them endlessly.
Only those who were thieves for a thousand days did not guard against thieves for a thousand days. Offense was the best defense. Otherwise, even the strongest defense would be defeated by endless attacks.
The Cao army in the city did not have the strength to attack, so they could only rely on the city walls to defend. However, even the wisest man would make a mistake. Who knew when the enemy would seize the opportunity to give them a fatal blow?
"Xiahou Dun, quick, look at that angry car. There must be something strange inside. Quickly think of a way to stop it.”Cao Cao's heart-wrenching voice suddenly rang out, giving Xiahou Dun, who was about to shoot, a fright.
Xiahou Dun didn't have time to think. He took the bow and arrow and gestured. He gritted his teeth and said,""I'm not confident if we're too far away.”
After saying that, he turned around and ran down the city wall. He led a team of soldiers with shields into the door and opened the city gate. When he looked carefully, the chariot was less than 200 meters away from the city gate. He quickly ordered the soldiers to protect themselves with shields and lit up the thunderbolt bombs before throwing them at the chariot.
The main defense of the Furious Chariot was the attacks from above, so the roof was especially thick. However, it was empty on all sides. Other than the four pillars supporting the roof, there was nothing else. Xiahou Dun's thunderbolt shot right at the enemy under the Furious Chariot.
The car was extremely spacious, and there were at least twenty people hiding underneath. Some were busy pushing the cart, while others were used as backup soldiers in case of any accidents. Therefore, when a thunderbolt bomb exploded, the car and the enemy below were blown into pieces.
" Retreat…" Having achieved his goal, Xiahou Dun did not continue fighting. He retreated into the city and closed the city gates."Big Brother is done."
Cao Cao didn't look happy at all. Instead, he said worriedly,"The enemy's attack is so swift and fierce. How many times can we stop them? We can't care about that anymore.”
Xiahou Dun was stunned and exclaimed uneasily,""How are we going to get out by blowing up the drawbridge?”
"You still want to go out?" Cao Cao turned to look at him and said," The Warmth Chariot was destroyed. The Yuan army will definitely come again. Can we defend against it once or twice? Can we defend against it three or four times? Blow up the safety."”
Xiahou Dun thought for a moment and ran to the top of the city gate. He took the thunderbolt bombs and piled them up before lighting the fuse. Then, the Xudu suspension bridge was blown up.
On the other side, Liu Bei saw that the suspension bridge had been destroyed and could only think of other ways.
As the night deepened, countless torches lit up above and below the city walls, illuminating the earth as bright as day. Under the illumination of the torches, both sides began to fight fiercely with the city walls as their target.
The west gate was like this, and so were the other gates.
South Gate.
Cao Ren ran back and forth with his sword in hand, shouting over and over again. His voice was already hoarse.
Most of the soldiers he led were the remnants of the battlefield, but their combat strength was still much stronger than the prefectural soldiers.
Because Cao Cao did not blame them for losing the city, these soldiers and Cao Ren wanted to atone for their crimes and regain their honor.
They were brave, and the enemy troops below the city were even crazier. Wave after wave of them rushed up the city wall along the scaling ladder. There were a few times when Cao Ren personally led his men down to kill them.
"General, there are too many enemies.”Niu Jin said with a face full of blood.
"Even if we can't hold on, we have to. If we can't hold on here, the lord will be in danger.”
East Gate.
Yuan Zhou's army was the smallest here, and their offensive strength was also the weakest. Xiahou Yuan and Li Dian were able to deal with them with ease.
Seeing that the enemy had been defeated again, Xiahou Yuan frowned and said,""Mancheng, the enemy's main force is with the lord and Zixiao. The pressure there must be very great. You and Wenqian bring troops to support them.”
"Then you should be careful," Li Dian said immediately.”
Li Dian and Le Jin then bid farewell to Xiahou Yuan and led a dozen men towards the north city.
North City.
The enemy troops on this side were the craziest and had already charged up the city walls several times.
"Kill, chase these bastards away.”Cao Zhen's saber struck the enemy in front of him in the chest, but the enemy was not as heavily injured as expected. He only took a few steps back and charged again.
Cao Zhen was shocked. He instinctively swung the Tang sword in his hand again. When he raised it, he saw from the corner of his eye that the blade had already curled up. Not to mention armor, even his fingers might not be cut.
He threw away his Tang sword in anger and rushed forward to kick Yuan Jun in the chest. While Yuan Jun was retreating, he kicked his wrist. The enemy soldier loosened his fingers in pain and his sword fell on the spot.
Cao Zhen followed up with a punch at the corner of his mouth, then picked up the weapon that he had dropped and swung it hard, hitting the other party's neck. After that, he did not even bother to catch his breath and charged at the next person.
The most important thing about defending a city was to be tight. They could not give the enemy the slightest opportunity to take advantage of it. Otherwise, the enemy would seize an opening and tear it apart to the greatest extent.
Not long ago, a guard in front of a ladder was shot and killed. The enemy at the ladder quickly climbed up the city wall without any obstruction. The guards could not shoot them down immediately, causing more and more Yuan soldiers to climb up the ladder.
The Cao army was caught off guard and fell into a bitter battle. Seeing the three ladders being taken away and the enemy climbing up the walls, Cao Zhen's heart sank.
In a situation like this, there was no way to resolve it, and they could only fight head-on.
"Brothers, charge!" Cao Zhen took the lead and immediately rushed forward.
The hundreds of soldiers behind him also charged forward. Two thousand people from both sides engaged in a bloody battle on the city wall, and the control of the city changed hands repeatedly.
At the same time, Cao Chun and Cao Xiu's Tiger Leopard Cavalry were also fighting with Liu Bei's guards. Neither side gave in to the other. The Tiger Leopard Cavalry fought a bloody battle, while the Bai Bai soldiers fought to the death.
After the battle on the second day, Xuchang City's defense line was almost in ruins, and many of the city's fortifications were destroyed.
Compared to the casualties of Cao Cao's army, Liu Bei's casualties were even greater. However, he knew that this was his only chance. Thus, Liu Bei decided to launch a general attack on the third day. He had to break through the city.
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