Chapter 172: Coward, don’t surrender!
Zhou Tai lived up to expectations and sent back accurate news in just six days.

"Jiujiang County deployed 20,000 soldiers in Liyang County?"

"Danyang County deployed 10,000 soldiers in Danyang County?"

According to normal thinking, they must attack the side with fewer people, but Jin Mao has a special affection for Jiujiang County, especially Liyang County.

This is the first siege war, and it is also the actual combat training site.

I didn't expect it to happen again so soon.

"Send the order!"

"The main forces of the first, second, fourth and fifth battalions are all ready to fight!"

Since Ling Cao's Third Battalion was still stationed in Nanchang County, the main Second Battalion was temporarily led by Gong Lei.

The other half of the three battalions were stationed in Qu'a County.

"My personal guards will follow me to the battle!"

Four main battalions plus eight hundred personal guards, and five thousand naval forces, nearly fourteen thousand people!

Such a luxurious lineup was not even as grand as when they fought Zu Lang with 30,000 men to defend Liyang County.

Jin Mao didn't believe that the 20,000 people Wu Qiuyi had just recruited could be more powerful than Zu Lang was at that time.

The tenth day of June.

The main force set out on a thousand transport ships, and a long dragon appeared on the Yangtze River, swimming upstream.

That evening.

The vanguard troops began to land.

Jin Mao was not worried that Wuqiu Yi would lead his troops out of the city to fight, so he attacked them halfway across the river, because the first group to land were 800 personal guards.

This is the essence of Jinmao’s five years. If this can’t withstand the impact of the mob, it’s better to go back to the drawing board as soon as possible!
That night, the landing went smoothly.

There was no time to build a camp, so they could only use the simplest spear and gun camp for one night, and patrol posts were naturally indispensable.

On the first night, everyone had to be on guard.

After many practices, Jinmao gradually understood when to tighten and when to loosen.

You really can’t sleep lying down while wearing ancient armor. The feeling is more uncomfortable than sleep paralysis. You can only sleep sitting up.

Jin Mao tried it once and realized that soldiers must take off their armor to sleep well at night. Only when they sleep well can their combat effectiveness be high.

Of course, in daily training, you have to carry weight, and those without armor can carry stones.

The next day.

Jinmao began to set up camp step by step and manufacture siege equipment such as ladders.

The city wall of Liyang County.

Wu Qiuyi watched Jin Mao's preparations with great anxiety.

Last night, he had thought about attacking the camp at night.

But this group of defeated soldiers were obviously frightened by Jin Mao. Even if Wu Qiuyi offered them high positions and generous salaries, he was unable to impress this group of mobs.

Helpless to give up.

Today, there were even rumors in the military camp that if they continued to resist, Jinmao would not take any more prisoners.

Wuqiu Yi killed a large number of them.

The rumors stopped, but morale collapsed.

The entire army learned from the old soldiers. They would rather sit than lie down, and would never save if they could eat more.

Wuqiu Yi was very annoyed, but there was nothing he could do.

the other side.

Jin Mao and his generals were planning how to attack the city.

Xi Zhicai could not help but say, "My lord, as the Art of War says, the best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, and the next best is to attack their troops."

"Why don't you try to persuade them to surrender, but take the most extreme approach?"

The world is about to fall into chaos. If we don't take this opportunity to accumulate experience, do we really have to compete head-on with those powerful people?

But Jinmao couldn't explain this problem. At least on the surface, the court did not seem to be that bad.

"Zhicai is right. I'll leave this matter to you."

"Here."

When Xi Zhicai received the order, he did not send anyone to persuade the enemy to surrender as usual, but instead came to Xun You for advice.

The two of them came up with a plan.

On the gate tower of Liyang County.

Wuqiu Yi received a report saying that the enemy had made unusual movements, so he hurried up to check the situation.

I saw more than two hundred archers lined up in a row outside the arrow's range, and behind them were two thousand well-equipped infantrymen, ready for battle.

"What is this for?" Wu Qiuyi was confused: "Two thousand people attacking the city, who are they looking down on?"

Next, the enemy's actions became even more confusing.

The archer bends the bow, puts the arrow on, and shoots the arrow at a 45-degree angle.

The range is indeed longer, but this kind of indiscriminate shooting without density has no lethality at all.

But in order to prevent the unlucky ones from being shot and further lowering morale, Wu Qiuyi shouted loudly: "Enemy attack! Be careful to avoid arrows!"

There was no need to be reminded a second time. People on and below the city walls had already found shelter and hid, and no one was injured or killed.

Wu Qiuyi did not miss this opportunity and laughed out loud: "Hahaha!"

"The enemy has been thrown into disarray. Attacking like this is like playing house for children!"

Sure enough, this morale boost was very effective.

There was cheering throughout Liyang County.

Wu Qiuyi turned around, wanting to see what other tricks Jin Mao was going to play.

The next moment, Wu Qiuyi was stunned.

Outside the city wall.

After the archers shot a round of arrows, they retreated. Then, a group of hundreds of infantrymen of different appearances came forward, including tall, short, fat and thin.

There doesn't seem to be any common features.

When this group of people took out wooden trumpets from their waists, Wu Qiuyi felt that something was wrong.

"Leave the city and surrender, and I will forgive you for what happened!"

"Leave the city and surrender, and I will forgive you for what happened!"

Wu Qiuyi's premonition was correct. This group of people really had one thing in common: they all had loud voices!
With the sound amplification effect of the wooden loudspeaker, not only the front wall of Liyang County, but even the back can be heard clearly.

At this time, those in the city looked at each other with ulterior motives in their eyes and connected with each other.

Suddenly, someone seemed to have discovered something extraordinary.

"Everyone, look!"

"There are words on the arrow!"

No matter how few people are literate, we can still find a dozen among 20,000 people.

Soon, the words on the arrow were recognized.

"Whoever takes Wuqiu Yi's head will be promoted to the Imperial Guard!"

In just eleven words, everything is clearly stated.

The soldiers here are all captives and defeated soldiers. They once farmed under the leadership of the elite soldiers of the Jinmao Army. The names of the imperial guards are so famous that you can hear calluses on your ears.

Everyone hopes that one day they can join such a team and enjoy the good life.

That treatment is better than that of some minor officials!

How can it not make people excited.

The news spread in Liyang County at an extremely fast speed.

Combined with the loud propaganda outside the city, more and more people began to connect and conspire.

By the time Wuqiu Yi discovered something was wrong, the city was already surrounded by people.

Seeing those hungry wolf-like eyes, Wu Qiuyi panicked: "Rumors! They are all rumors!"

"Do you really think Jin Mao will let you go?"

"Stop dreaming!"

"From the moment you joined the army, you have betrayed me again. The only way to survive is to follow me!"

However, no matter how loudly Wu Qiuyi shouted, the people under the city would not listen and kept getting closer.

For these poor people who cannot read a single word, what is betrayal or not is difficult to understand.

Wu Qiuyi said in panic: "They've rebelled! They've all rebelled!"

He ordered his confidants like a madman: "Kill them! Kill all these traitors!" Suddenly!

Wuqiu Yi's confidants rebelled and took off Wuqiu Yi's helmet, ready to chop off his head.

"You think you can survive by killing me?"

"Idiot's dream!"

"Hahaha…"

Seeing that he could not survive, Wuqiu Yi laughed out loud, but before he was halfway through his laugh, his head was chopped off.

"Wuqiu Yi has been executed!"

The confidants held up Wuqiu Yi's head and shouted, thinking that they could surrender.

Unexpectedly, the captives and defeated soldiers, blinded by greed, rushed forward and tried to snatch the head.

Chaos! Fighting! Trampling!
For a moment, people kept falling down from the gate tower of Liyang County, screaming like dumplings.

The chaos happening over there attracted the attention over here.

Jin Mao stared in amazement at the tragedy happening in Liyang County.

Xi Zhicai seemed to have expected this, and calmly walked up to Jin Mao and said, "I'm glad you have fulfilled your mission!"

Jinmao was happy and sad at the same time.

The good news is that no one has to die.

The sad thing is that all the previous efforts were in vain. If we had known that it would be so easy to take it down, we would not have sent so many people to attack the city.

What a waste of food and time!

That evening.

Jin Mao took over Liyang County in its entirety. As for Wuqiu Yi, his head had been torn off long ago, leaving only a few pieces of limbs and broken armor.

I was too lazy to identify them and just gave them civilian identities, provided them with food and lodging for a year, and that was it.

The next day.

When the statistical results came out, Jinmao took a deep breath and lamented the terribleness of human nature.

More than 4,000 people died in just one big fight!

There wouldn't be that many casualties in a normal siege. At most two thousand, which is 10% of the population. This group of people would definitely collapse.

Wuqiu Yi died without a complete body, Jiujiang County fell without a fight, but it also left a mess behind.

Jin Mao issued an official document, notifying the entire county to restore the military settlement system. How much of it could be restored depended on how high his status was in the hearts of the people.

There are more important things to do!

June thirteenth.

Zhou Xin stationed 2,000, 2,000 and 6,000 troops in the three neighboring counties of Shicheng, Danyang and Moling respectively.

We must fortify our defenses and clear the countryside to respond with a stable triangular defensive formation.

Jinmao's troops were divided into two groups and landed simultaneously from the north and south sides of Moling County.

Seduce Zhou Xin to take the initiative.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xin was different from Wu Qiuyi. He had some real talent and was not moved.

Instead, he saw through Jin Mao's intention and withdrew troops from the more distant Moling County to strengthen the defense of Shicheng.

In this way, Shicheng and Danyang, two counties only ten miles apart, formed a pincer attack.

No matter which city Jinmao attacks, Zhou Xin can launch a surprise attack from behind.

At first glance, it seems that Jinmao is in a passive position.

In theory, this is true.

But it must also be combined with reality.

Jin Mao learned that among Zhou Xin's 10,000 soldiers, there were less than 500 veterans, and the rest were all new recruits who had been in the army for less than a month.

Soldiers like these are excellent if they can keep their composure, let alone fighting a brutal war like defending a city.

So, this time Jinmao went against the majority opinion and refused to persuade people to surrender!
This kind of opponent who knows a little but is not very strong is really an excellent practice object.

Danyang County.

Zhou Xin, wearing silver-scale armor, stood on the north gate tower, looking at the Jinmao army stationed outside the city.

Zhou Xin also understood what Jin Mao knew, but he insisted that he still had the strength to fight.

Because the military books say that if your force is ten times yours, surround it; if your force is twice yours, attack it.

Jin Mao, however, besieged two county towns guarded by 10,000 elite soldiers with less than 20,000 troops. This was a violation of the great taboo of arrogance as mentioned in the art of war!

Zhou Xin will definitely make Jinmao pay the price.

Three days in a row.

Zhou Xin didn't even wait for Jinmao's attack, but instead received ship after ship of siege equipment.

Ladders, siege engines, catapults, all different every day.

It is worth mentioning that the catapult was built under the leadership of Liu Fang with the help of many Qu'a craftsmen.

The previous contraction of the defense line had cut off the iron supply to Wushang County, so Liu Fang immediately ran to Qu'a County to develop inventions.

The people in Qu'a County are also very interesting. Among them are several craftsmen whose ancestors made military equipment.

When they heard that there would be rewards for inventions and that with luck they could even be appointed as an official, these people couldn't wait and started to take out their best skills.

Hard work pays off.

Liu Fang successfully manufactured the catapult, and the three that were shipped to the front line were all finished products that had undergone successful tests.

The accuracy is not so good, but the power is enough to throw boulders weighing up to 70 kilograms, with a range of up to 300 meters!
It is said that if there are enough materials for upgrading, the range can be increased by another 100 or 200 meters.

You should know that the maximum throwing distance of a general arm-drawn crossbow is less than 300 meters, so this thing is almost equivalent to an over-range attack.

Jin Mao was not prepared to go to Danyang County for a head-on confrontation, so he drove a catapult to the north of Shicheng and had people smash it continuously.

Each catapult requires dozens of strong men to pull together to set up.

It just so happens that Jinmao doesn't have much else under his command, but he has a lot of strong people.

After years of training, each of the royal guards was considered a strong man of the era. A catapult that usually required sixty to seventy people to pull could now be pulled by only half the number of people.

It is quite interesting that Dian Wei was confident in his strength and wanted to pull the string by himself, but was almost thrown out by the reaction force.

Later, with the assistance of twenty personal guards, Dian Wei was finally able to pull the trigger.

This is also quite amazing. Dian Wei's strength alone is equivalent to that of seven or eight personal guards!
No wonder he could fight Zhang Fei on horseback for fifty rounds. His strength is amazing.

It was different from the joyful atmosphere in Jinmao’s army.

There was a tragic scene in Shicheng County.

The person guarding Shicheng County is Zhou Xin's confidant Zhan Qiang.

He never expected that Jin Mao would use heavy weapons like catapults to attack the city.

Although the power is not very great, a huge rock can only knock off half a piece of bluestone on the city wall, but it would be a different story if it fell into the city.

If it hits a person, there is no doubt that the ketchup will explode; if it hits a house, that would be terrible too, as it could hit three or four houses in a row.

This is just one shot!
In just half an hour, nearly a hundred shells had been fired from outside, and a section of the northern city wall had collapsed. Not to mention the houses near the city wall, which were full of potholes as if they had been bombarded.

Seeing that the morale in the city was about to collapse, Zhan Qiang immediately led his confidants to leave the city to destroy the catapults.

Zhou Xin equipped Zhan Qiang with a hundred elite soldiers, which is the source of Zhan Qiang's confidence.

He also spent a large sum of money to recruit two hundred brave warriors.

The city gate was wide open. Zhan Qiang, who was quite brave, rushed out first and shouted, "Kill!"

What you see first is the catapult. Jinmao did not arrange any protection around it.

Three hundred people rushed out of the city like a long snake, following the snakehead Zhan Qiang and moving forward.

Two hundred meters away, Jin Maojun hadn't reacted yet, but Zhan Qiang's adrenaline surged, his eyes were bloodshot, and he screamed in incomprehensible words.

One hundred meters!

"Buzz!"

Zhan Qiang finally saw clearly the archers standing behind the catapults. There were not just the 200 people as in the attack on Liyang, but 1,200 people!

After three waves of arrows.

Zhan Qiang fell in a pool of blood, with his beloved warhorse beside him. Both he and the horse were shot into hedgehogs. He looked forward with reluctance.

The catapult was only thirty meters away from him!

None of the suicide squad members were spared, Shicheng County collapsed completely, the generals did not know their soldiers, and the soldiers did not know their generals.

In the evening, the gates of Shicheng County were opened wide, and the only remaining county magistrate came out to surrender.

Jin Mao was very annoyed: "No surrender!"

If Shicheng County surrenders, what if Zhou Xin escapes?
(End of this chapter)