Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 62: Initial Probe of the Liaodong Army

Gongsun Du and the Xianbei Murong clan had good ideas.

But when the Hu people arrived at the city on horseback, the Han army refused to come out no matter how they provoked them.

After being hit by a volley of crossbow arrows, he dared not get any closer.

He stared blankly at the distance and shouted a few words in Luo dialect for a long time, but there was still no response.

He had no choice but to ride his horse north in shame.

When Gongsun Du heard that Liu Bei was holding out, he said to the Xianbei people who had worked so hard but to no avail, "Forget about it this time. If we need a cavalry charge, you will have to give up your efforts."

Murong nodded in agreement.

Two days later, the Liaodong army arrived 20 miles outside Qucheng. While the scouts of both sides were investigating the situation, they fought several battles with both sides winning and losing.

After all, the Hu people have more cavalry and have an advantage in numbers.

Liu Bei simply brought all the scouts into the city. Gongsun Du had already arrived anyway, so he just had to remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing circumstances.

He ordered the three battalions to leave the city with weapons and arrows, preparing to teach Gongsun Du a lesson on what it meant to encircle three sides and leave one behind.

He also slowly led his banner out of the city. Seeing the worry in Qian Zhao's eyes, Liu Bei patted him on the shoulder twice, then turned and left the city.

Flags were waving and war drums were beating suddenly on the wall.

Gongsun Du followed the army to the front of the city, climbed a gentle slope and looked at the top of the city from afar.

Suddenly, scouts came to report that the south city gate had been opened, and the Qingzhou army was forming a battle array with Wugang chariots. A large silk banner with the words "Qingzhou Governor and Conquering the Enemy General Liu" engraved on it was also in the battle array under the city.

Gongsun Du couldn't believe it, so he led 500 cavalrymen to bypass the south gate and found that Liu Bei was actually at the city gate, leading his army to wait for the enemy.

He couldn't help laughing up to the sky and pointed with his whip: "I thought Liu Xuande had become more cautious, but I didn't expect that his arrogance was deeper than I thought. Qingzhou will definitely be occupied by me."

If God doesn't take it, he will be blamed for it!
If the army is stationed at the narrow city gate and the chariot formation is broken, the soldiers will be trampled to death in their rush to return to the city, and the entire army will be easily wiped out.

Since Liu Bei has handed over Qingzhou to us, we should not miss this kindness.

Why not defeat the enemy at a very low cost?

Gongsun Du smiled and ordered, "Quick! Order the entire army to turn from the north to the south, start building battering rams, capture and kill Liu Bei, and then advance to Beihai."

The confidants also received the order with a smile, and more than ten of them rode on horseback to deliver the message.

He drove his horse forward a few steps, carefully looked at the distance to Liu Bei's chariot formation and the trench in front of him, and made a rough estimate in his mind.

He returned to the camp in great joy, with hundreds of riders following behind him in high spirits.

He sent someone to find the Xianbei Murong clan and ordered them without question: "After I send people to fill the ditches, I will have the auxiliary soldiers and civilians attack the left wing, and you will lead the cavalry to attack the right wing and shoot arrows into their formation to cause them to panic."

After Murong accepted the order and left, Gongsun Du said again: "The soldiers holding swords and shields should be behind the auxiliary soldiers and civilians. Anyone who dares not to go forward will be killed without mercy!"

Let the miscellaneous soldiers consume Liu Xuande's arrows and energy, and I won't feel sorry if they die.

Anyway, there are many people being forced to join us, and we have no plan to distribute the food to them. They will starve to death anyway, so we might as well make some use of it.

Soon, drum noises were heard in Gongsun Du's camp.

The common people were in the front, the auxiliary soldiers followed behind, and the combat soldiers came next.

The weather has changed rapidly in the past two days and has become gradually gloomy.

The laborers and the common people were in a mess, making a lot of noise.

After the Liaodong Army killed more than a dozen people to establish their authority, they finally stopped and looked at the other side in horror.

They dared not flee, nor did they dare to speak. Being driven towards the southern gate of Qucheng, many people knew what was going to happen next and could not help crying.

The Liaodong army behind remained unmoved and used their bloodstained spears to hold the civilians back.

The Lord has already issued an order that anyone who dares not to proceed will be killed.

The Qingzhou soldiers in the chariot array drew their crossbows and waited for the envoy's order to shoot. Liu Bei was silent for a few breaths, and finally uttered one word: "Shoot!"

A general needs to be decisive; it is difficult to command troops with just kindness.

The order was given suddenly, and arrows rained down. The bows on the city wall and the crossbows of the Shengshe Camp were fired at the same time, and a large number of civilians and auxiliary soldiers fell down.

Liu Bei stared, knowing that the rain of arrows would not stop as long as he did not shout stop.

When fighting, many armies like to drive out local civilians to interfere with the enemy's counterattack. If there is any hesitation, the enemy will dare to capture more people.

Even though we know that the people are innocent, we have no choice but to harden our hearts.

Many civilians were so frightened that they ran back and were beheaded one after another by the Liaodong Army.

Seeing countless people lying dead on the ground and those who were shot but not killed wailing, some auxiliary soldiers could not bear it anymore and ran back.

They were brutally shot to death by the crossbows of the supervising officers, and the whole battlefield was miserable and sharp.

After killing many people, they gave up the idea of ​​escaping and continued to advance. However, they encountered another problem. The road ahead was covered with caltrops, making it impossible to advance.

On the other side, the Xianbei cavalry crossed the filled trench and were about to draw their bows and arrows, but they were tripped by the caltrops hidden in the wormwood. Hundreds of them fell, and the horses were frightened and unable to stop.

Either the person on its back would be thrown off, or the horse and the person would fall to the ground with injured hooves.

Hundreds of steps away, the Xianbei people reined in their horses and shot arrows at the opposite formation, but because the distance was too far, they could not reach it at all.

At this time, crossbow arrows with greater penetration power and farther shot followed. Seeing that the situation was not good, Murong quickly blew the horn and led his troops to retreat.

Without shield soldiers to clear the caltrops, are they going to have to dismount and clear them while facing crossbow arrows?

The cost was too high. Even if two thousand men were thrown in, they might not be able to get close to the Han army's chariot formation.

Moreover, the enemy could only face the enemy on one side, and with their backs against the city wall, they could not attack from behind. For the Hu people, this kind of tactic could only cost them lives or use up all the enemy's arrows, otherwise there was no way to defeat the enemy.

On the way back, Murong frowned and thought to himself, "In the past, I heard that when the Han army went out of the border, they would often use carts to form a circle and shoot at cavalry with bows and crossbows. But now Liu Bei is using the city wall to form a semicircle for stronger defense. Even if the Xiongnu and Wuhuan come, they may not be able to break through their formation."

The Han army's turtle formation is disgusting. They can only cower behind their chariots. If they have the guts, they should send out cavalry to fight against cavalry and see who is better at cavalry shooting.

If we had good armor and skilled craftsmen, why would we allow the Han people to run rampant on the border?

Murong looked back unwillingly. The large banner of Qingzhou Governor Liu Xuande and the crimson flag with the word "Han" hanging in the center were still fluttering in the wind.

As if mocking silently.

He secretly said in his heart: "One day, we Xianbei people will defeat the Han people head-on on the battlefield, even if you form a battle array with chariots, it will be useless."

He waved the whip again and returned to the camp.

By the time he turned back, Gongsun Du had already ordered the troops to retreat, roll up their flags and stop the attack, and ordered the infantry to raise their shields to block the arrows while clearing the caltrops hidden in the wormwood.

I couldn't help but sneer. Liu Xuande was quite cunning.

But he was at his wit's end. He had already built several battering rams. He wanted to use these weapons to break through the chariot formation and see how the other party would respond.

　Thanks to my book friend Taoist Feixiong for the reward!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)