Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 85 The city is broken!

Due to the influence of the battlefield fog, scouts sent by Yuan Shao ran back and forth in more than ten counties from Pingyuan to Dongjun close to Jizhou to gather information.

There has been too much news and it has been too messy in the past month.

Yuan Shao could only use scouts to search for the approximate location of the Qingzhou army so that he could gather heavy troops for defense.

The three counties of Bohai, Ganling and Wei all border Liu Bei. If the troops are divided into all of them, they will become weak everywhere.

Moreover, Liu Xuande's speed in recruiting troops was obviously much faster than Yuan Shao and his staff had imagined.

The marching speed was not slow at all. After only a few days, the army of 23,000 people had arrived in Dongyu and Wei County.

Since the army is stationed here, the arrangements in other directions have basically become decorations.

The scouts Liu Bei had sent out to gather information hurried back to report: "Sir, Yuan's army has begun to deploy additional troops to Fanyang, Yin'an, Weixian, and Yuancheng."

He raised his eyebrows when he heard that. Well, he had underestimated Yuan Benchu. His reaction speed was faster than expected.

It seems that he learned a lot of experience from fighting Gongsun Zan.

After a short rest, Liu Bei went up to his tent and summoned all the generals and captains to discuss matters, and ordered the military officers to make a sand table.

After some discussion, Liu Bei went personally to take Fanyang and Neihuang, while Guan Yu divided his troops to attack Yin'an.

"Yun Chang!"

"exist."

"Lead the Liangdu Camp and three thousand auxiliary soldiers to attack Yin'an. We must fight quickly and capture the city walls."

"As ordered!"

"Xianhe and Han Mu will remain in Dongjun as usual. The rest of the generals will follow me to attack Fanyang first, then take Neihuang and threaten Yecheng!"

"Yes!" The generals and captains bowed and responded in a resounding voice.

Suddenly, there was a rumble in the military camp, with drums and horns sounding, and the army quickly split into two parts. The small part, led by Guan Yu, quickly marched towards the north.

The other part, led by Liu Bei, led Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci, Guan Hai, Xun You and Guo Jia and marched northwest, carrying most of the siege equipment.

The followers of the powerful families were also mixed in.

"Clang clang..." The sound of horse hooves was endless. At first there was a burst of chaos, and then the horses carrying military equipment went farther and farther away.

The convoy carrying food and supplies followed closely behind.

Like a raging torrent, it rushes towards the northwest with great momentum and inexhaustible.

The soldiers on the Fanyang city wall were terrified when they saw the Qingzhou army stretching out as far as the eye could see, with ladders taller than the city wall approaching in the distance.

Liu Bei sent several people to the city walls and shouted, "I am Liu Xuande, a descendant of Emperor Taizu Gao and a relative of the Han Dynasty. I am here to fight against the traitor Yuan family who secretly deposed the emperor, used the imperial decree to claim the throne, and killed Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou."

"You are about to break into the city. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy after entering the city!"

"Anyone who takes the initiative to open the city gate will be rewarded handsomely, and the officials will be exempted from punishment!"

"No, no! Whoever dares to open the city gate will be killed!" The county magistrate and the county magistrate on the top of the city wall angrily scolded the soldiers, then turned around and shouted to the people below the city: "Liu Bei has an empty title, but he dares to call himself a royal family member. Bah!"

"Lord Yuan is a fifth-generation duke and was born into a noble family. You cannot slander him. Surrender quickly, or else Lord Yuan's army will arrive and you will all die!"

The two sides cursed each other under the city, and then several people returned and reported to Liu Bei in anger.

Zhang Fei was so angry that he wanted to take his men there without waiting for the siege equipment to arrive.

Liu Bei hurriedly pulled him back and said, "Yide is a general who must avoid being impulsive. It's just a momentary verbal fuss."

Then he turned to look at Taishi Ci, who was also angry, and Xun You and Guo Jia, who were also sullen, and suddenly smiled and said, "Don't be angry, everyone. It seems that there are many loyal and righteous people from the Yuan family in Hebei, who eat the salary of the Han Dynasty and work for the Yuan family." "In this case, I will fulfill their loyalty and righteousness, so that they can be reunited in the afterlife. The Han Dynasty cannot tolerate ministers of the Yuan family."

"Yide, after the battering rams and weapons are delivered, send your troops to attack the city first, and then use the auxiliary soldiers. When you inspect the city walls and see any gaps, immediately use the heavy armor and iron armored battalions to climb the ladders and the battering rams and attack the top of the city. Anyone who does not abandon his weapons will be killed without mercy."

Liu Bei gave the order, paused, and then smiled and said, "Stop blocking the four gates and don't let the county magistrate and county magistrate escape from this city."

Zhang Fei's eyes lit up, and he clasped his hands and said happily: "I will obey your orders, sir!"

"Brother, rest assured. If I let them run away, I won't have the face to see you again. I won't let those two thieves die easily!"

"I will chop off their heads myself."

Liu Bei stepped forward and pulled his collar, chuckled and said, "Go ahead, but first make it clear that you should always put your own safety first and don't take advantage of your temper."

Zhang Fei bowed respectfully, then strode out of the tent with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Xun You stroked his beard with a smile and said, "The Third General has a true character. Apart from his quick temper, he is a capable general in commanding troops."

After hearing this, Liu Bei sighed slightly and said, "Yide is good in every way, except for his temper, which always makes me worried."

What he feared most was that Zhang Fei would get too carried away in the fighting on the battlefield and would just rush forward and attack regardless of the disparity between the enemy and himself.

This way of fighting is still quite dangerous.

If he could control his temper, he would have given him the important task of taking charge.

In comparison, Yunchang made him feel much more at ease.

Guo Jia was thinking about Yuan Shao's reaction, and bowed, saying, "Your Excellency should take Fanyang immediately and then attack Neihuang. Otherwise, if we delay here for a moment, Yuan Benchu ​​will have more time to mobilize his troops to station in Neihuang County.

Then our strategy of pinning down Yuan’s army is likely to fail.”

With Neihuang County blocking the Qingzhou army in front of Yecheng, Yuan Shao would not be so worried and might even send troops to the plains.

Then Liu Bei would be put in a passive position.

Xun You also agreed with Guo Jia's analysis and offered a suggestion: "We can first send soldiers to dip in kerosene and use bows and crossbows to shoot upward in turns to repel the guards on the top of the city. Then we can quickly build ladders on all sides to climb the city. As long as we open a gap, we can immediately capture it."

"No matter how many crossbowmen Yuan's army kills or injures, the arrows must not stop."

Liu Bei nodded. When it came to a fight, he had no choice but to do so.

The order was given to the Sound Archery Battalion to carry crossbows and large shields, and to immediately proceed to the city and shoot arrows dipped in kerosene upwards.

The slow-moving ramming machine at the back was soon pushed to the front of the formation by the auxiliary soldiers, and then assembled by the craftsmen who had participated in the expedition. The ramming machine was several dozen feet high and ten feet long, with three floors, each with a ladder for going up and down. The roof of the ramming machine could be flush with the city wall, or even slightly higher.

Hundreds of auxiliary soldiers pushed the wooden wheels forward from below, and the soldiers could rush directly to the top of the city wall through the ladders to fight the enemy, which was much safer than using ladders.

The only drawback is that it is too heavy, needs to be disassembled for transportation, and is very slow.

Soon, the sound of drums beating and marching came from the bottom of the city, and the shouts of thousands of people could be heard throughout the city.

The nobles' troops first attacked the city with ladders, but after charging twice they retreated with casualties.

When the chariot approached the city wall, Liu Bei ordered his auxiliary soldiers to use ladders and climb onto the chariot to attack the city again. He asked Zhang Fei, who had been wearing armor for a long time, to lead the armored battalion to follow closely and climb onto the city wall using the ladder inside the chariot.

Liu Bei, who was looking from a high place, was overjoyed when he saw Zhang Fei rushing into the city with a large number of soldiers.

He hurriedly ordered the sonic firing battalion to stop firing rockets at the top of the city wall.

Xun You and Guo Jia laughed and said, "This city has been captured!"

　Thanks to my book friend Shao Nian Yong Bu Fa Ke for the reward!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)