All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 258: The First Warrior Han Powu

"Han Powu, what should we do?"

"How should I know what to do?"

Looking at the wall of Chang'an City in the distance, Han Shizhong scratched his head vigorously. "I can't care about so much. We are not the Western Army now. If we lose the battle, we will die. It is more important to consider our own lives first."

Everyone around immediately agreed, saying that what Han Powu said made sense.

They are now just brave fighters in the cannon fodder camp (cannon fodder suicide squad), and they may die in the siege. How can they have the energy to consider whether they are the Western Army or not?

Shortly after capturing the city of Bianliang, Chen Ran used a large amount of money to arrange a large number of people to serve as spies in various places.

Guanzhong is the location of the Song Dynasty's strongest and largest field army, so naturally many people were arranged to come here.

The previous news about Puzhou Ferry was provided by the spies.

There was also a spy lurking in Chang'an City who informed Chen Ran of the city's weak defenses.

Without any slow preparations, the troops were brought to the city and the siege began immediately.

The tactics were still the traditional one of surrounding three sides and leaving one side open. The troops blocked the three directions of east, west and south, but left the imperial city of Daming Palace in the north unsieged.

This was a blatant scheme. Not to mention Zhong Shidao, anyone with a bit of ability could see through it.

But the key point of open conspiracy is that even if you know it, there is nothing you can do about it.

The troops originally stationed in Jingzhao Prefecture were from Yongxingjun Road.

But this was Tong Guan's direct territory, with a garrison strength of 72,419 troops and 33,158 horses.

Of course, just like in the late Ming Dynasty, with military generals at all levels eating empty salaries and sucking the blood of soldiers, the actual number of troops in each unit was as high as 70% to 80% and as low as 50% to 60%.

There are also some extremely cruel ones, accounting for about 30 to 40% of the actual number.

Tong Guan’s core military force was the Yongxing Army, so the actual number of troops remained at around 60,000.

Among them, more than 40,000 capable fighters were taken to the south of the Yangtze River.

The remaining more than 10,000 people were stationed in a vast territory ranging from Shanzhou and Huazhou to Jingzhaofu and Hezhongfu.

Not to mention a showdown with Chen Ran's army, even dealing with bandits on a normal day would be difficult.

For example, Shi Jin, the Nine-Striped Dragon on Shaohua Mountain, once harassed the local people, but the government troops were unable to deal with him.

By the time Chen Ran's troops arrived at the city, there were only four or five thousand soldiers and horses of the Yongxing Army in Chang'an.

In order to defend the city of Chang'an, Zhong Shidao urgently mobilized troops stationed in various places, and even gathered together the local garrisons, militiamen, native soldiers, archers responsible for local garrison and security, etc.

In a hurry, he arrested all the foxes and rats in Chang'an, the gangsters and even the beggars in the Emperor Wu Temple and sent them to the top of the city wall.

The number of defenders was forcibly increased to tens of thousands.

However, their military morale and combat effectiveness were low, with hundreds or even thousands of soldiers fleeing every night from the inner courtyard in the north and the Daming Palace.

Zhong Shidao had no choice but to appoint his general Qu Duan as military judge to strictly guard the city gates and kill deserters.

Hundreds of heads were hung up, which finally deterred them from escaping.

But the morale of the troops is even lower.

The siege began at the beginning of the Si hour, but it was not until the end of the Si hour that more than a hundred siege engines of various types were pushed to the designated positions.

There are no more forests around Chang'an City, so the only way to cut down trees is to go to the distant Qinling Mountains.

Chen Ran did not run so far to cut trees. Instead, he directly ordered the demolition of houses outside the city to collect raw materials.

Of course, he gave enough money, so it was considered a forced loan.

In this era, it is already a benevolent and righteous army.

If you meet a shameless person, not only will he demolish your house, but he will also force you to do hard labor or even use you as cannon fodder to fill the city.

Do you want monetary compensation?

If you don't drag your wife and daughter to entertain the troops, you can be called a 'benevolent and righteous commander.'

The main attack direction is Mingde Gate, behind which is the famous Imperial Street, Zhuque Street.

Dozens of siege machines of various types slowly moved forward.

On both sides of the large machinery, there was a constant stream of people carrying sacks filled with sand, soil and stones. They ran wildly under the rain of arrows from the defenders, rushed to the moat, and threw the sacks on their shoulders into the moat to fill it up.

"We, the strong soldiers, are being used to do such a lousy thing."

Han Shizhong, who came back alive after throwing a bag of dirt, took a bamboo stick that indicated he could rest, sat down in the gathering area nearby and started to complain, "We should just grab some strong men to do this kind of thing."

"You better shut up." Someone on the side immediately retorted, "You call us strong soldiers. In the eyes of the king, we are not even as good as civilians."

"Then don't stay in this cannon fodder camp." After taking out a few bites of the cold dry food, Han Shizhong raised his head and looked towards the distant Chang'an City. "Beheading five levels will get you out of this crime."

"The soldiers guarding the city walls are all dear friends and brothers of our Western Army. Can you bear to kill them?"

Han Shizhong sneered, "When they were defending the city and shooting arrows, they showed no mercy. How many people did they kill? If I hadn't hidden well, I might not have been able to come back."

After a pause, he added, "I am from Fuyan Road, and I have no relationship with them in Yongxingjun Road."

This is the key point.

The six armies of the Western Army were constantly at odds with each other, fighting for power and profit, and they disliked each other.

If they could really work together, there would be no chance that Xixia would have been struggling for a hundred years.

As soon as these words were spoken, some captives from Yongxing Army Road became furious, jumped up and started fighting, cursing.

The captives from Fuyan Road came to help, and also dragged in captives from other routes into the melee, which immediately turned into chaos.

The riot was not quelled until the fully armed guards came to suppress it. On normal days, if such a thing happened, the participants would be punished and the ringleader would be beheaded.

But now we are at war after all, so the punishment will naturally be much lighter.

Hundreds of prisoners in this area were all incorporated into the first wave of cannon fodder to climb the city wall.

"That's all?" Han Shizhong was very dissatisfied when he saw the loose wooden shield tied with ropes and the rusty broadsword in his hand. "No armor? Leather armor will do."

The Bianliang soldiers who were distributing the equipment immediately sneered, "You still want armor?"

"What's wrong with me?" Han Shizhong was furious. "I am a famous hero in Fuyan Road! I have fought against the Dangxiang and captured the Dangxiang dogs!"

The commotion here attracted the attention of Hu Cheng, who was in charge of the Death Squad.

He rode over and asked, "Have you really captured the son-in-law of the Tanguts?"

"Although I, Han Shizhong, have a bad reputation, I have never been willing to take credit for anything!"

"Are you Han Shizhong?" Hu Cheng's heart moved slightly, as if he had heard Chen Ran mention this name before.

Han Shizhong also laughed, "I am not a big shot, is there anyone pretending to be me? I just want to wear armor, get to the top of the city, and get level 5, and leave this damn death camp."

Hu Cheng thought about it and told his men, "Give him a set of armor, the one I have as a spare."

Seeing that Han Shizhong actually got a set of armor, the first wave of suicide squad members who were scheduled to join the battle shouted that they wanted one too.

Hu Cheng turned his horse around and left.

Various siege weapons finally approached the city wall.

A four-meter-tall ladder truck lowered the drawbridge, and one end of the drawbridge, which was large enough to accommodate six or seven people, fell on the battlements.

The soldiers who climbed up the ladder were shot into sieves by the dense rain of arrows after just two steps.

It can be seen from here that the quality of the defenders is indeed very poor.

The defenders near the ladder vehicle fired arrows almost at the same time, especially those powerful crossbows with extremely strong penetrating power, which were very troublesome for them to reload.

The correct approach should be for the teams to take turns firing and maintain a continuous fire output, even letting a few fish that slip through the net occasionally be spared, because there will be teams of armored soldiers blocking the battlements.

When Han Shizhong, wearing a full set of iron armor, rushed out, the crossbowman who posed the greatest threat to him was frantically reloading.

The archers were busy drawing their bows and arrows and had no time to pay attention to him.

Knowing that this was a rare opportunity, Han Shizhong held his shield in front of him and rushed forward quickly with a machete in hand.

When he was only a few steps away from the city wall, he suddenly jumped up, jumped over the soldiers blocking the battlement, and landed on the city wall.

There is no doubt that he was already waiting at this time, as so many spectators were staring at him outside the city wall.

As long as you can survive until after the war, you will naturally be credited for waiting first.

The city wall of Chang'an is not only four zhang high, but also incredibly wide from the top of the wall, which is five zhang wide.

Han Shizhong stood up and looked up, and saw people all around him.

There's nothing much to say, just wield your weapons and start fighting.

Immediately after Han Shizhong jumped down, there was a young man who managed to avoid the tail of the second round of arrow rain and jumped onto the city wall. This was the achievement of the second climb.

Similarly, as long as you can survive until after the war, you will also have made a contribution.

In fact, as long as the city can be captured, all siege troops will receive rewards after the war, the only difference is the amount.

Han Shizhong relied on his iron armor to sweep across the city walls, trying to kill the defenders who were blocking the ladder bridge.

His bravery attracted attention, and a captain who was also wearing armor immediately rushed over with several strong soldiers.

Han Shizhong used his shield to knock away the soldier who came forward, and then killed the second soldier with a single sword strike.

Then he fought with the leader with weapons.

The machete in his hand broke immediately, but the short axe in the opponent's hand was also knocked out of his hand by Han Shizhong's strength.

The captain reached out to touch the spare axe hanging on his waist, but Han Shizhong suddenly pounced over to grab it, and the two men started fighting.

The third soldier came over, raised the short axe in his hand and chopped at Han Shizhong's neck.

At the critical moment, the young man who had been on the second stage before rushed over and knocked down the soldier.

Han Shizhong grabbed the short axe, knocked down the captain, and then stood up to continue the sweep.

It was not until more and more soldiers rushed to the top of the city and a large number of defenders began to flee that he had time to find the man and ask, "Who are you?"

The man cupped his hands and said, "I am Wu Jie, the tenth general of Yuanjing Road."

"I'll remember your kindness." Han Shizhong raised the hatchet he had snatched and said, "Let's go, take the opportunity to chop down more people!"

The attack on Chang'an City was a large-scale battle, so it was naturally impossible for there to be only a small space like the ladder truck where Han Shizhong was.

In addition to the Mingde Gate which was the main attack, troops were deployed at the other gates on the east and west sides for feint attacks.

The purpose is simple, to tie down the defenders' strength in defending the city.

The main attack was on Mingde Gate, with more than ten ladder trucks alone.

As the cannon fodder soldiers continued to pour into the city walls, the defenders, whose morale was already low, suddenly collapsed.

The Mingde Gate, which has five gates, slowly opened.

A large number of soldiers rushed in.

Chen Ran rode forward, passed through the city gate and entered the city wall, calling out to his attendants, "Call the brave warriors who are the first to climb the city wall to receive the reward."

(End of this chapter)