My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 398: Conquer Pengcheng and kill Zhu Ling
Gao Shun used new techniques and tactics to fill the moat, which accelerated the siege several times faster than originally expected.

Zhu Ling fell into great panic for a moment, but this panic did not help the battle situation at all.

Zhu Ling also ordered the archers on the top of the city wall to shoot arrows at the earth-filling vehicles that were being pushed toward the moat at all costs, not sparing arrows or physical strength. But what effect would arrows have if they were shot at the earth and wood?
The soldiers pushing the carts were protected by the carts and could not be shot at all, so the earth was pushed directly into the river one cart at a time.

After filling a section, Gao Shun slowed down the pace a little and asked the soldiers responsible for leveling the ground to use small baskets to pick up soil and fill the gaps, and tamp the roughly filled section of the road. Of course, these soldiers were also protected by rattan shields, and the amount of construction was not large, so Zhu Ling was also difficult to stop.

This cycle only took one or two hours to fill up several river sections by one-third of their width. Then in the afternoon, Gao Shun started the second round of work and continued to repeat the same operation.

In the evening, Gao Shun evaluated the progress and concluded that by tomorrow morning, these gaps in the river channels would be completely filled and the large siege towers would be pushed directly to the other side.

In the past, it would normally take more than half a month to complete this kind of homework. Now, it only takes five days to prepare and two days to finish it, which saves two-thirds of the time.

Moreover, this two-thirds is based on the total time. If we only count the time when the soldiers doing the filling are exposed to the enemy's crossbow fire on the city wall, then at least 80% or even 90% can be saved - after all, in the seven-day construction period, the first five days of preparation are completed in the rear, and only the last two days require on-site work under the enemy's arrows.

Gao Shun was very satisfied with the result, and Chen Dao and Zhou Tai, as bystanders, were also amazed. When the work was over that night, all the generals gathered together and praised Zhuge Jin's clever planning, which was really ingenious and perfect.

Unexpectedly, Zhuge Jin did not look complacent at all. Instead, his brows were furrowed and his eyes were slightly worried.

After being flattered by his subordinates for a few words, he waved his hand in annoyance: "What's the big deal? After working on the project today, didn't you find any problems? There are still many areas that can be improved!"

Gao Shun, Chen, and Zhou Tai were all stunned: Can this be improved?

In their eyes, this method is perfect.

Zhuge Jin sighed and listed them one by one:
"I thought about it later. Since we are going to fill the river in batches, there is no need to make the cart so big. We don't have to aim for three wheels to fill the other side of the river. We can divide it into smaller parts, four or five wheels, which will save effort and be more flexible to push.

And how many cars today ended up flipping over? They didn’t sink steadily at all. The subsequent caulking and compaction work was much larger and more complicated.

If you ask me, you can also make a crowbar under the truck bed and make the front fender so that the "bolt" can be removed and laid down, so that you don't have to push the entire truck down when the time comes.

Just push the car to the riverside, cut off the wooden pillar in front that serves as the baffle bolt, and the baffle will collapse and fall into the river, and the soil and rocks inside will naturally pour out. Then use the "lever" to pry up the car body, pour it out, and pull the empty car back..."

Zhuge Jin also associated today's several construction accidents with the dump trucks used to transport soil in later generations. Although there is no power system like those in later generations now, and everything has to rely on manpower, the mechanical structure of the dump trucks used to transport soil can be used as a reference.

At worst, we can make a smaller version to ensure that it can be pried open by manpower, and make the unloading baffle of the truck bed disposable. Cut it off after unloading each time, so that the entire truck does not need to be discarded every time. Only a baffle and a door bolt need to be discarded, and the other wooden structures can be reused.

Even if it cannot completely replace those river filling vehicles that are pushed directly into the river, it can at least make the subsequent construction work of the seam tamping stages easier and provide better cover for the soldiers.

Anyway, it is always right to let a hundred flowers bloom, try various possibilities, and put them to the test of actual combat.

Even if it is not applicable, lessons learned are learned.

After listening to Zhuge Jin's analysis, Gao Shun and other generals became more impressed.

The wisdom of the princes is indeed unfathomable. Laymen watch the excitement, while experts see the doorway. Even Gao Shun, a famous siege general, did not find any points that could be improved after trying out the new equipment for a day, nor did he feel any hidden pain or incompatibility.

But the princes could see the problem at a glance and felt uncomfortable everywhere.

The gap between people is really huge.

……

With Zhuge Jin's advice, the military craftsmen naturally continued to work overnight and built several more "lever dump bulldozers".

The length and width of the self-sinking river filling vehicle modified from the original Gegong vehicle were reduced by half, making it easier to tow and dump. The next morning, it was officially put into the siege battlefield as a pilot.

Zhu Ling hadn't even figured out a countermeasure for the previous move, and seeing these endless new tricks, he had completely given up thinking.

After a whole morning of river filling, by the afternoon of that day, several sections of earthen embankments had finally been created in Pengcheng's moat, so that the Ge bus and ladder could be pushed directly across the river.

Then Gao Shun launched a new round of attack.

As Ge Gongche was pushed to the base of the city wall, the thick planks with iron spikes on the top pierced the top of the city wall. The armored soldiers in the tower car quickly climbed up the spiral staircase and rushed directly to the top of the city.

The archers of the attacking side also all approached the edge of the moat, and under the cover of large rattan shields, they fired a rain of arrows at the top of the city walls, suppressing the defending archers and sharing the pressure with their comrades.

"Those who surrender will not be killed! Those who kill Zhu Ling will be made Marquis of Guannei! Those who capture him alive will be rewarded with ten kilograms of gold!"

"Fellow villagers of Pengcheng! Stop working for Cao Cao! The General of Chariots and Cavalry is back! He is the former General Liu! Let's kill Zhu Ling together and join the light!"

Amid the surging shouts and cries of killing, the spearmen that Zhu Ling desperately sent out to block the entrance were still unable to withstand the fierce attack of Gao Shun's vanguard soldiers, and a gap was torn open.

The two sides fought bloody battles for a long time. Even though Zhu Ling was the defending party, when the two sides no longer had the advantage of height difference, Gao Shun's soldiers, relying on their strong weapons and armor, still achieved a very advantageous exchange ratio.

Zhu Ling's only advantage was that his army was more densely populated and could surround Gao Shun's soldiers from three sides at the blockade.

This caused the attacking soldiers to be caught between a rock and a hard place, with their two fists no match for four hands. Every time they killed a few enemies, they would be suddenly stabbed by a spear with all its force.

After Liu Bei's vanguard soldiers used steel armor, Cao's sabers and ordinary bows were no longer lethal. Only spears, heavy weapons, and crossbows could kill the armored soldiers.

However, compared with the casualties directly caused by fighting on the battlefield, the psychological blow suffered by Cao's army was probably greater.

Because the slogans shouted by Liu Bei's soldiers hit the soft spot of Cao's army. Many civilians who were temporarily encouraged to defend the city were originally just fighting a favorable battle and stood on the side of Cao's army because they admired the strong. They thought that Zhu Ling would definitely be able to hold on for a long time with the solid city, so even if they had other ideas, they did not dare to move.

Seeing that Liu Bei's army had so many amazing siege methods, filling up the river in a few days, pushing the siege tower to the base of the city wall, and attacking with great momentum, some civilians suddenly became lazy and hid whenever they could.

And this mentality is slowly spreading.

As for the diehard high-ranking Cao army officers, they might not be bothered by this kind of psychological attack, but among the many slogans that Zhuge Jin had people shout, there was always one that suited them.

For example, when Zhu Ling himself heard Zhuge Jin order his soldiers to shout, "Whoever kills Zhu Ling will be made a Marquis of Guannei! Whoever captures him alive will be rewarded with ten kilograms of gold!" he felt an inexplicable fear.

Ordinary soldiers may not know how valuable Guannei Hou is, but Zhu Ling obviously knows it - Guannei Hou is clearly priced at fifty kilograms of gold.

Therefore, the shouting of Liu Bei's soldiers meant that the price of a dead Zhu Ling on the battlefield would be five times higher than that of a living Zhu Ling.

Zhuge Jin didn't say to kill the surrendered soldiers. He just told the soldiers not to give them a chance to surrender from the beginning, so that they could be honored on the battlefield.

In the end, Zhu Ling had no choice but to resort to desperate measures and deployed all his elite reserve troops to barely hold up the situation.

Gao Shun on the opposite side wanted to continue the fierce attack and give an explanation to the princes. However, Zhuge Jin noticed that after a whole day of hard work, the soldiers' physical strength had declined seriously, so he told him not to be stressed and to make decisions based on his own judgment without rushing.

Zhuge Jin: "Zhongda, don't worry about being blamed by me for not being able to take the city today. It would be best if we could take the city with fewer casualties. We have already spent most of the day filling the river and pushing the siege vehicles. There is not much time left for fighting. It will soon be dark..."

Gao Shun thought for a moment: "According to the tactics of siege, the Cao army has just been attacked by the enemy and is fighting hand-to-hand, so the morale is still there. Even if there is fear, there is no time to calm down and think carefully.

Besides, it is getting late. If the princes are not in a hurry, I think we should guard the troops first, let the soldiers have a good rest, and regroup before dawn tomorrow morning to organize the attack. In this way, the soldiers can have sufficient physical strength and energy, and our army's offensive shouts can also make Cao's soldiers calm down and think clearly. "

Zhuge Jin: "It's up to you to decide."

Gao Shun made an assessment and found an opportunity to call off the troops, allowing the soldiers whose strength had declined to retreat and rest.

At the same time, he did not forget to leave a harsh word: "Zhu Ling, you bastard, our army is exhausted from filling the river today, so we will let you live one more night. Tomorrow you will gather your strength and have a whole day to attack the city, and then we will definitely break it!"

After the troops were withdrawn, Liu Bei's soldiers received a full army reward, a generous meal, and even a rare chance to eat meat, although most of it was fish.

Each person was given a few bowls of wine to drink, so they could calm down and have a good sleep to fully restore their strength.

The next morning, they got up at four o'clock in the morning, cleaned up, cooked a meal, and had a full meal to satisfy their stomachs. Then they went out of the camp at five o'clock in the morning and launched the general attack at daybreak.

The Cao army in Pengcheng was left alone by Gao Shun for a night, and their morale dropped instead of rising. Many things that were hard to understand when they were fighting became more and more frightening when they thought about them slowly after calming down.

Among the direct line of Cao's army, panic began to spread, fearing that they could not defend the city and would be captured today.

The local civilians in Pengcheng County who were coerced were even more aroused to make moves. They all began to talk about the brutality of Cao and the benevolence and love for the people of Liu.

As a result, most of the able-bodied civilians decided not to work hard, and some small groups even colluded with each other and agreed that when Liu Shijun's troops attacked the city, they would join forces to fight Cao Cao.

"Let's do it! Maybe we can get rewarded for our achievements and get a good family background! Look at the fierceness of the attack yesterday. For more than an hour before dark, Zhu Ling was unable to resist. Today is a whole day, and Liu Shijun's soldiers don't have to bear the hard work of filling the river. They are physically strong. How can Zhu Ling hold it? Pengcheng is definitely broken!"

Although these words did not reach Zhu Ling's ears, he had some intuition. He tried to organize the remaining cavalry in the city, and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity when Liu Bei's army did not surround the west gate, and break out and escape if they could not hold it.

After midnight, just as the sky was getting light, Gao Shun launched a general attack that was as swift as fire and as powerful as thunder.

The soldiers, freed from the trouble of destroying the outer fortifications, rushed to the edge of the city like a tide and started climbing again along the siege equipment.

Zhu Ling still used the old method to deal with it, but it seemed increasingly powerless.

After only an incense stick of time had passed, the fighting on the city wall was in full swing, and suddenly several fires broke out inside the city, making Cao's army on the city wall even more panicked and uncertain.

"General, this is bad! There are several people in the city who are causing chaos and raising flags with handwritten messages on rags to welcome Liu Bei's army into the city!"

The civilians of Pengcheng who had decided to join Liu Bei's army suddenly had no ready-made, respectable military flags, so they simply took a few pieces of linen, wrote a few "Liu" or "Guan" or "Zhuge" on them, and then attacked the reserve troops of Cao's army stationed nearby.
There was chaos in the city, and even several of Cao's military camps were burned down.

When Zhu Ling heard this and saw the fire, blood rushed to his head. He knew that there was no chance to hold on, so he decisively ordered: "All cavalrymen follow me to break out of the west gate!"

As Zhu Ling himself abandoned his troops and fled, Cao's army in the battlefield north of the city fell into total collapse. They were defeated by Gao Shun's frontal attack and surrendered in large numbers. More than 2,000 Cao's soldiers were annihilated in an organized manner in a very short time.

Gao Shun occupied the north gate tower and marched straight into the city, attacking the government treasury. He occupied the government office and military grain warehouses, killed some soldiers who tried to set fire, and put out some scattered fires.

On the other side, Zhu Ling tried his best to open the west gate and rushed out of the city. He ran for only ten miles before he ran into Zhou Tai who was ambushing along the reed marshes beside the Huo River. Zhou Tai shouted for a fierce battle, and first he fired a hail of arrows from the ambush, knocking Zhu Ling's guards off their horses.

Afterwards, the soldiers around him also bravely took the lead, stabbing randomly with their long spears, aiming at the vital points with every move.

Zhu Ling drew out his saber to block the attack, but was hit by three or four crossbow arrows. If he was not a high-ranking general with good armor to protect him, he would have been seriously injured by these arrows.

But although he dodged the arrows, he could not avoid the stabbings of the long spears and was eventually stabbed to death by them.

Zhou Tai cut off Zhu Ling's head and then led his troops back to the city to report his achievement.

(End of this chapter)