Tiger Guards

Chapter 242: Taking the City with One Drum

After seeing Qin Yilu off, Zhang Yang also arrived with his troops.

Now that our side has divided and isolated the high-ranking officials, the so-called passes and enemy cities cannot hinder Zhang Yang's progress.

You can just march through the city gate openly. You can get supplies after reaching the Changzhi Basin anyway.

Zhang Yang also brought a letter from Yang Qi. Zhao Ji opened it and asked, "Why is there no letter from General Fuguo?"

"I don't know, perhaps you are still thinking that the General Fuguo has some good reputation with the Minister of the Interior. Even if Yang Ziqi's negotiations are unfavorable, you can still ask the General Fuguo to mediate."

Zhang Yang's position was very firm. Just because Zhao Ji gave him two thousand men, he was happy to follow Zhao Ji.

If Zhao Ji's base is stable, then the two thousand people recruited by Zhang Yang will become Zhang Yang's solid foundation.

With these two thousand men protecting him, plus his existing trusted followers, Zhang Yang would be able to restrain and suppress the generals in Henei.

Once your horizons broaden a little, you will find that borrowed friendly troops and mercenaries are more useful than the old troops recruited under your rule.

This is the case with Zhang Yang and Lu Bu.

As long as Zhao Ji's rule is stable, the mercenaries sent out will remain loyal enough.

The imperial court and the ministers lacked royal teachers, and Zhang Yang actually lacked one too.

The battle of Shangdang was progressing smoothly, and it was Yuan Shao who took the initiative to seek peace and stop the fighting... In this case, it couldn't be the credit of the ministers.

No matter how confused Zhang Yang was, he knew who was forcing Yuan Shao to seek peace.

Therefore, Zhang Yang, who was responsible for writing the letter on behalf of the court, did not put pressure on the officials on behalf of the court as the officials had expected. Instead, he sold out the officials as soon as he opened his mouth.

Zhao Ji held the silk scroll in his hand. "These fools, can't they see Yuan Shao's intention in seeking peace? He's clearly trying to test our army's strength. If we agree, our army will inevitably become complacent, and Yuan Shao will seize the opportunity to advance. If we lose the battle, who will be held responsible?"

As he spoke, Zhao Ji stood up, put his hands behind his back, paced back and forth, and looked like he was thinking with a frown.

Zhang Yang, Xue Hong, Wei Xing, and the others watched with awe. Zhao Ji suddenly stopped and said, "The messengers have been sent back and forth. Our military intelligence has been leaked! We must not delay. Announce to the entire army: attack the city tomorrow!"

Wei Xing and Ximen Jian bowed deeply and said excitedly, "Yes!"

Although all the siege equipment had not been completed, the earthen hills had been built, and our side had the upper hand in the shooting battles during this period.

In Huguan City, there were no more than 3,000 defenders, and less than 1,000 of them were actual armored soldiers.

What is there to be afraid of?
All the soldiers in the army want to attack Huguan, and the court wants to negotiate peace with Yuan Shao... We must respect the opinions of the army.

Zhang Yang felt something was not right. Zhao Ji's reaction was too exaggerated, and it seemed that he was accusing the ministers of colluding with Yuan Shao.

The death of a few ministers would not affect Zhang Yang at all, so he was worried that Zhao Ji would send him to carry out this difficult task.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yang looked at Xue Hong, and Xue Hong also looked up tacitly, as if they had both foreseen this kind of thing.

But how can they stop it?

Besides, Zhao Ji’s worries were reasonable. Who could guarantee that there was no correspondence between the ministers and Yuan Shao?
The next day, at four o'clock in the morning.

The camps outside Huguan City cooked breakfast as usual, but the number of scouts sent out was more frequent.

On the top of Huguan City, the defenders and senior officials have noticed that the atmosphere today is a little different.

But within sight, there are still a lot of siege equipment that have not been built.

"cavalry!"

A military officer pointed to the distance and whispered. Gao Gan turned his head and saw a group of cavalry coming towards the earthen hill east of the city.

Behind this cavalry, there was another cavalry, both gathering on both sides of the earthen hill.

As the sun rose above the sky, the fully armed Tiger Infantry Army marched out of the camp; Zhang Yang, who had arrived at the camp south of the city yesterday, also sent out 2,000 troops.

The entire area outside the city was filled with moving troops and vehicles transporting arrows.

In addition to the attacking Tiger Infantry, all the Yicong knights who were good at archery had already climbed up the earthen hill and were transporting arrows to the hill.

The mountain wind blows from the north, and all kinds of flags flutter.

Gao Gan glanced around and saw that the military officers on both sides were all pale and had no confidence in defending and repelling the enemy.

After the city was broken, ordinary people and soldiers were likely to be able to escape, and high-ranking officials were also valuable. The fate of these military officers was the most dangerous.

As the sun slowly rose, Zhao Ji rode his horse up the hill. He jumped off the horse and climbed up the arrow tower to look around the hill.

He saw that there were still troops moving, mainly Shangdang volunteers and county soldiers, who were pushing ladders and carts and slowly forming a row in front of the earthen hill.

The first team of black flags took the initiative to form a formation in front of the earthen hill, only sixty steps away from the Huguan city wall.

Twenty steps in front of them was the ladder cart slowly moving into position.

Zhao Jian stood in the formation, holding the shield in his left hand diagonally in front of him, forming a closed shield formation with the people around him.

No one dared to be careless, as the defenders might release stray arrows at any time.

"Xu Gongming won't be able to make it to this battle."

Zhao Ji sighed and asked his attendants, "Should we persuade Huguan to surrender?"

The group of people looked at each other. They had made great contributions in persuading Huguan to surrender, and they had never even thought of persuading them to surrender from the beginning to the end.

A clerk standing in the back row was about to step forward and gamble his life when Zhao Ji smiled and said, "That's right. Gao Gan is Yuan Shao's nephew. How dare he surrender? The officials and people of Huguan followed Gao Gan and are entrenched in their thuggish nature. How could they suddenly come to their senses?"

"Let's begin." After saying this, Zhao Ji turned around to face Huguan in the west, grabbed the strong bow in his hand, drew the arrow, aimed at a battle flag on the city wall of Huguan's east gate and shot.

In the morning breeze, the arrow shot steadily into the pillar of the tower, and the arrow feathers vibrated rapidly.

His flag officer, Gao Yanglong, turned around and shouted to his left and right: "Beat the drums!"

The war drums near the arrow tower sounded, triggering drumbeats along the entire line.

To the sound of drums, the soldiers from Shangdang County and the volunteers, wearing double old armor, pushed the ladder carts with their heads down.

The defenders on the city wall never waited for Zhao Ji's envoy to persuade them to surrender. When they saw the enemy start to attack the city, they immediately fought back with bows and crossbows.

Many militiamen were organized to stay behind the city walls and throw slingshots indiscriminately and randomly outside the city.

As the defenders fired their bows and crossbows, the archers on the earthen hill which was more than eighty steps long from north to south immediately launched a counterattack.

In front of the earthen hill, the archers of each team of the Tiger Infantry Army also began to fight back, using long-range lobs and projectiles, mainly for suppression.

Some elite crossbowmen cooperated with shield soldiers, took the initiative to break away from the formation and move forward, setting up shields for cover under the city, and using powerful crossbows to snipe the defenders at the battlements.

On the hill, Zhang Yang watched the changes in the battle situation.

The sound of drums made the air vibrate, and Zhang Yang's blood flow faster.

Rather than governing a county and establishing his own regime, he preferred leading troops to fight. This relatively pure and simple life made him feel mentally relaxed.

Zhang Yang couldn't help but pick up his bow and join in the shooting.

The thing that is most abundant on the earthen hill is arrows.

After fighting so many bad battles, Zhao Ji had never fought a decent positional battle.

We must severely intimidate the senior official so that he will not dare to confront us again!
What's the big deal about spending money on luxury goods?
In Zhao Ji's eyes, the grand scene was to completely cover the Huguan East City with arrows.

He also drew his bow and shot the figures that looked like military officers one by one in an orderly manner.

As for the command of the entire army... 5,000 cavalrymen will serve as a reserve force to prevent most accidents.

Huguan City was not particularly large, so the 5,000 Tiger Infantry were divided into five attack units, which took turns to participate in the siege.

Attacking a city is a painful and torturous thing for the soldiers on both sides of the attack and defense.

Huguan is a small city, which is perfect for honing the army's siege skills.

"Duang~!"

A large ladder cart was the first to approach the city wall, and the front ladder hit the parapet.

"Come at me!"

A sergeant, holding a spear in both hands, wearing a mask and leather boots, strode forward along the wooden steps of the ladder.

Contrary to his expectations, the defenders did not fire at him.

When he was the first to climb the ladder, the ladders on both sides also slammed heavily on the battlements, forming a gentle slope with the ground.

He had no time to think or hesitate. The heavy infantry behind him pushed him, racing against time.

The arrows shot from the earthen hills and the arrows thrown from the bottom of the city suppressed the defenders.

The defenders barely managed to launch any decent counterattack, and one after another heavily armored tiger infantrymen climbed onto the city walls, stabbing and chopping with spears, halberds, and axes.

The front team attacked the city smoothly, and the rear team, the Tiger Infantry, followed quickly.

Zhao Ji saw that the arrows shot from below the city had interfered with his own troops climbing the city wall, and immediately shouted, "Stop shooting arrows from below!"

Before the order was conveyed, purple battle flags with the word Zhao on them were erected on the city walls.

As long as the Zhao-shaped battle flag is firmly erected, the archers shooting from the bottom of the earthen hill will change direction.

Ximen Jian watched the battle and said to Chang Mao beside him: "Next time we attack the city, it would be best if the siege infantry carried shields. This will reduce accidental injuries."

Chang Mao nodded, his eyes fixed on the fierce fighting on the Huguan city wall: "Even powerful crossbows have to be used to climb the city walls... Gao Gan is so weak, he really can't withstand the attack."

He was mentally prepared to lead the team in an attack and break the deadlock.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the battle started, the defenders on the east wall were suppressed and unable to launch any effective counterattack, so they were driven out of the city.

Zhao Ji remained calm and continued to pull the bow, accurately sniping any guard who looked like a military officer.

Every inch of land on the city wall is valuable. He will snipe and kill any defender who makes a move or gives orders, regardless of whether he is wearing armor or not.

This siege was for Zhang Yang to see, and also for the participating Tiger Guards to see.

When ordinary cities can no longer provide effective protection for rebels, many people will become more conservative and cautious when considering whether to rebel.

He didn't want to run around to quell rebellions. It was a very internally-consuming thing and should be avoided if possible.

Finally, he shot and killed a man who was obviously an enemy general on the city wall with an arrow, and then two Tiger Infantry troops joined forces from the left and right to attack the city wall.

The bright red battle flag with the word "Gao" flying on the city wall was also cut down, and the purple battle flag with the word "Zhao" was planted one after another.

The siege lasted less than half a day before Huguan City was taken in one fell swoop.

(End of this chapter)