The smoke rising from the border naturally couldn't escape the notice of the people in Hebei.
Xun Yu had originally come to Hebei to take charge of various important matters there, so he immediately noticed the smoke rising.
"Enemy attack?" Xun Yu looked at the smoke. There were many types of smoke.
The materials used were also different. Populus poplar, red willow, broadleaf hemp, chee grass, camel grass, licorice, reed, haloxylon, etc. These could all be used as fuel. The way he burned them was different as well.
The rising smoke signals were a warning to the people of Hebei that the Xiongnu were attacking.
"Impudent!" Xun Yu was seething with anger in Youzhou. He really hadn't expected that the Xiongnu would actually enter at this time.
"Prince Maodun of the Left, I think you're really tired of living!" Xun Yu's temper flared. He and his older brother Xun Cen had fought many battles in Liaodong's Youzhou. Slowly, Xun Yu had transformed from a scholar to a strategist. Or rather, he had become more accustomed to the position of Provincial Governor.
"Sir, could it be that you've made a mistake? Prince Maodun of the Left only has 100,000 cavalry. How could he dare to enter the border?" a general on the side asked doubtfully. His name was Tian Yu.
He had originally been one of Gongsun Zan's subordinates. When Gongsun Zan had lost, he had retired and waited for Cao Cao to use him again before coming to Youzhou.
Tian Yu really knew the situation at the border like the back of his hand. Prince Maodun of the Left wasn't someone he hadn't fought before.
Although he was considered an ambitious and ruthless person among the Xiongnu, that was only among the Xiongnu.
100,000 Xiongnu cavalry might seem like a lot, but if they really fought, Cao Cao wouldn't be afraid of him. As long as 30,000 cavalry entered the desolate border, they would be able to deal with Prince Maodun of the Left.
Soon, someone came back with the news.
Prince Maodun of the Left had ordered 800,000 troops to enter the border. Even if Maodun had deliberately increased the number, there should still be 400,000 to 500,000.
"How can this be?" Tian Yu was dumbfounded. Were the Xiongnu people born with two? How could so many people appear all of a sudden?
"I don't care where he came from. Since he's here, he can forget about going back!" Xun Yu also had a hundred thousand soldiers in Liaodong. It wasn't that he couldn't fight against Maudun.
Xun Yu also had his own confidence. The Han people were good at the art of war. Now was not the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. At that time, because of the continuous wars and the exploitation of the common people by the nobles, the talents in China had withered, the soldiers and horses were taunted, and the horses were let go of the Southern Mountains.
Although the sun was setting in the west, the Great Han Dynasty still had its last ray of light.
In peacetime, these 100,000 soldiers would serve as field troops, but in wartime, they would serve as combat troops.
Tian Yu hesitated for a moment before he said to Xun Yu, "Sir, the army hasn't paid the soldiers for three months!"
"What? Haven't the provisions from Xu Du arrived yet? "Xun Yu asked Tian Yu.
"Never!"
Without rations, how could they mobilize the army? Before the army moved, the rations would have to go first. They couldn't possibly let the soldiers and horses go to war with empty stomachs.
"How much rations do we have left?" Xun Yu asked with a gloomy face.
"Not enough for half a month!"
"Damn it!" Xun Yu gritted his teeth. Half a month. Even in You Province, there was only half a month left. It was easy to imagine that the other places only had a dozen days of rations left. How could the Han people resist the people of the grasslands? One was relying on the new weapons, sharp blades, elite armor, and the other was the cities.
However, if you wanted to defend a city, you needed food. Without food, how could you defend a city? Now that the Xiongnu cavalry had entered Guanzhong, Xun Yu didn't dare to imagine what would happen to the cities that were surrounded by the Xiongnu army.
"Quick, quick, quickly send the rations to Xu Du with me. Tell Xu Du to send the rations over as soon as possible!" Xun Yu roared loudly. This was no longer a small matter. If it wasn't handled properly, the entire Hebei Province might fall.
"Yes!" Tian Yu was about to leave.
"Wait! Send another envoy to Yangzhou. Tell His Highness King Wei that we need reinforcements! "Without rations, Xun Yu couldn't mobilize the troops and could only wait for reinforcements.
Tian Yu instructed his subordinates and quickly returned. A few warhorses galloped out of the relay station. It was an urgent matter.
Without rations, coupled with the invasion of the Xiongnu, Xun Yu felt terrified just thinking about it.
"Tian Yu, go to the city and buy rations from the nobles. Buy as much as you can!" Xun Yu continued to instruct Tian Yu. He couldn't rely on Xu Du for the time being, so he could only rely on himself. However, these were just a drop in the bucket.
"Sir, actually, we can borrow rations from them!" Tian Yu suddenly said.
"Them?"
"Is that really okay?" Xun Yu smiled bitterly. Putting aside the fact that they were enemies, Cao Cao had already attacked Yangzhou. With Hebei being threatened, they were probably overjoyed.
"Sir, after all, we are all Han people!" Tian Yu pointed in the direction of Liaodong.
"Let's give it a try!"
… …
In Yangzhou, it was already the third day.
"Boom boom boom!" Wei Yan was really merciless. The Red Coat Battalion tore open their cannons and fired at the top of the city wall.
If Cheng De was not made of cement, the city gate would have already been breached. Even so, the people on top of the city wall were howling in grief.
The Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry under the leadership of Zhang Liao were entangled with the Ferocious Cavalry.
Countless of Xiahou Yuan's soldiers were climbing up the city walls.
"Your Highness, let's go!" Liu Ye was really worried. Cheng De could be lost, Liu Ye could die, but Liu Mang could not be harmed.
If something happened to Liu Mang, then the entire Yangzhou Army would be hopeless.
"Wait a little longer!" Liu Mang gritted his teeth. Wei Yan seemed to be determined to kill Liu Mang. All of the Red Coat Battalion's cannons were thrown at the top of Cheng De's city wall.
"This Wei Yan calculated correctly. After taking down Cheng De, he can replenish his cannons in Cheng De city!" Liu Mang was also angry. Originally, the cannons of the Red Coat Battalion belonged to him. Liu Mang intended to use these cannons to entertain Cao Cao, but he did not expect that Cao Cao would entertain him instead.
"Your Highness, it is already the third day. If we wait any longer, it will be too late!" Liu Ye said worriedly. Even if Cheng De was made of cement, it would not be able to withstand the cannons of a battalion for three days.
The city wall was full of cracks and corpses were piled up. Cheng De originally only had three thousand soldiers. If it were not for the help of the civilians, the city would have been breached.
Now, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry did not suffer too many losses. It was enough to take away Liu Mang.
"If Wei Yan does not die, the Red Coat Battalion will not be destroyed. How can I leave?" Liu Mang was not willing to leave. He wanted to see Wei Yan's Red Coat Battalion being destroyed. The threat was too big.
"Your Highness, Cheng De city has me. You should leave quickly!" Liu Mang wanted to replace Liu Mang and stay in Cheng De city to wait for reinforcements.
"No!" Liu Mang did not look down on Liu Mang. If he left, Wei Yan would be suspicious. It would not be good if they deviated from their original plan.
"Ziyang, I will wait here for one more day. Just one more day. If they do not come, I will leave with General Zhang Liao!" Liu Mang comforted Liu Ye.
Liu Ye knew that he could not persuade Liu Mang. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, just one more day!" In one more day, Cheng De city could still be defended.
"Kill, kill, kill!" Xiahou Yuan's soldiers began to charge towards the city wall.
"Soldiers, listen to my order. Follow me to kill the enemy!" Liu Mang was now an expert at the peak of God Refinement realm. If it was not for him, Cheng De city would have been filled with enemies.
Now, Liu Mang had a saber in his hand. If it was not for Wei Yan's cannons, Liu Mang would not dare to play with his life. Coupled with Liu Mang's dissuasion, Liu Mang planned to fight alone. Charge into the enemy camp.
Xiahou Yuan's troops were all elites of the Divine Marching Army. Although Cheng De City's troops couldn't be compared to Xiahou Yuan's troops, they weren't weak either. Moreover, Cheng De Shi's troops had the responsibility of guarding the territory. Xiahou Yuan simply couldn't gain much of an advantage.
"Liu Mang, I want to see how long you can hold on!" Once again, Xiahou Yuan's soldiers were beaten back. Wei Yan's cannons were once again set up and aimed towards the city wall.
After fighting for a few days, the defenders of Cheng De city slowly understood the characteristics of the cannons. Once the cannons were set up, the soldiers on top of the city wall would retreat and wait for the cannons to be finished before going up the city wall to fight.
Except for the heavy casualties caused by Wei Yan on the first day, the rest of the time there was no problem.
The cannons were supposed to last for half an hour but this time, it only lasted for a few minutes.
"What's going on?" Wei Yan also noticed it and asked.
"General, our Red Coat Battalion is running out of ammunition!" A general of the Red Coat Battalion walked up to Wei Yan and reported to him.
"Ammunition is running out?" Since the beginning of the attack on Guangzhou, Wei Yan had been saving ammunition. But now, it was still not enough.
"The solid bullets have been used up. Only the exploding bullets are left. Exploding bullets, each cannon group has less than ten bullets left!"
Cannons used ammunition. Without ammunition, it would be no different from a fire stick and a copper stick.
Without the Artillery Camp, Wei Yan's status in Cao Jun City was very low.
Therefore, Wei Yan was determined to win Cheng De city. But after three days of fighting, they still haven't taken down Cheng De city. If this continues, his cannons will run out of ammunition. Should he let the cannoneers go up the city wall to fight?
Looking at the defenders of Chengde City, Wei Yan gritted his teeth in anger. But there was nothing he could do. As long as he attacked them, they would hide under the city wall and wait for him to finish the attack. Anyway, he was a master who wouldn't act until he saw a rabbit. Wei Yan gritted his teeth in anger.
Therefore, except for the first day when Wei Yan caused damage, the rest of the time, the Artillery Camp was not so much a help to the siege but a rest.
Everyone was tired, so they could play with the cannons and have some fun.
Is there any way to expose the defenders of Cheng De city to the exploding bullets?
"Kill, kill, kill!" Wei Yan's soldiers once again attacked the city wall.
Slowly, people began to appear on top of Cheng De city wall.
When the cannons were fired, they shrank back. But when Wei Yan's soldiers attacked, they came out again.
Suddenly, Wei Yan thought of a way.
He walked to Xiahou Yuan's side.
"General Xiahou!" Wei Yan cupped his fist at Xiahou Yuan.
"Yes?" Xiahou Yuan looked at Wei Yan. Wei Yan was not in the Artillery Camp. Why would he appear here? Xiahou Yuan was busy watching the attacks on the city wall. There was no special skill in attacking the city wall. It depended on the perseverance of the soldiers and which side was not afraid of death.
Xiahou Yuan's soldiers were not afraid of death, but they could not die in vain.
"General Xiahou, if this continues, we won't be able to take down Cheng De city in a short time!" Wei Yan said to Xiahou Yuan.
Xiahou Yuan looked at Cheng De city. Wei Yan didn't need to say that. They had been fighting for three days and they hadn't even broken through the first line of defense. None of the city walls were in their hands.
"General Xiahou, our Artillery Camp is running out of ammunition!" Wei Yan continued.
"Yes?" Xiahou Yuan frowned. The battle was already difficult enough. Now that they had lost the support of the artillery battalion, it was even more difficult.
"General Xiahou, things will change if we delay! I know Liu Mang! He must have a backup plan! "Wei Yan pointed at Liu Mang who was fighting on the city wall.
Liu Mang is not a heroic person. Basically, he is a gentleman. If there is danger, he must hide. But this time, he appeared on top of the city wall.
Wei Yan couldn't figure it out, but he wanted to take down Cheng De city as soon as possible.
"His Highness Wei Wang is also waiting for us to return! But the Yangzhou Army in Cheng De is like a coward. As soon as the cannons are fired, they will hide. What we need to do is to lure them out! "Wei Yan continued.
"What do you mean?" Xiahou Yuan asked in confusion.
"Xiahou, look. The Yangzhou Army has already appeared on the city wall. I just need to set up the cannons and fire at the city wall."
"Bullsh * t!" One of Xiahou Yuan's thousand-man general was unhappy. His men were charging on the city wall. If they were fired at this time, Wei Yan was right. Cheng De's defenders might suffer heavy losses, but the Divine Troops would not be spared.
Those were cannons. Cannons did not have eyes. He could not tell who was his ally and who was his enemy.
"Hmph!" Wei Yan suppressed his anger and did not argue with the thousand-man general. Instead, he continued to talk to Xiahou Yuan, "General Xiahou, this is the only way to take down Cheng De city. You and I originally planned to attack Cheng De city from afar, but now it has become a tug of war. This is Yangzhou, Liu Mang's hinterland. The reinforcements may arrive at any time. We need to take down Cheng De city as soon as possible. As long as we take down Cheng De city, we can get as many cannons and cannons as we want. General Xiahou, don't you see? "Wei Yan tried to persuade Xiahou Yuan.
Cannons! To be honest, Xiahou Yuan really wanted the Red Coat Camp. Although it was a little heavy, it would be fine if it was pulled by thousands of cannons and warhorses.
The cannons were really sharp weapons. Xiahou Yuan had never seen cannons used to defend a city, but he believed that if these cannons were moved to the city wall, they would be a divine weapon used to defend a city.
If they were placed at the border or on some important fortresses, who could break through them?
There was also the issue of cement. Yangzhou, Yuzhou, was completely different.
Back in Yuzhou, when they encountered a city that was stubborn to the end, Wei Yan's bombardment solved the problem. Because even the city walls collapsed, how could the problem not be solved?
However, when they arrived in Yangzhou, they found that although the cannons were good, they could not destroy the city of Yangzhou. They relied on something called cement.
And these two things were in Cheng De city.
"How many troops do you need?" Xiahou Yuan said to Wei Yan.
"General, you can't!" The thousand-man general on the side panicked.
Xiahou Yuan did not pay attention to him.
"I don't need many, just two thousand-man troops. General Xiahou Yuan, let these two thousand-man troops attack the city and lure the defenders of Cheng De city out!" Wei Yan said happily.
"Did you hear that? Give me two thousand-man troops! "Xiahou Yuan said to his subordinates.
However, none of his subordinates responded because if they did this, they would be criticized by their subordinates.
After all, they treated you as a comrade but you gave them up as bait.
"Since you don't want to go, General Wei Yan, you can call them out!" Wei Yan called out two thousand-man troops. The thousand-man general was one of them.
"General, please let me go to the city wall!" The thousand-man general said to Xiahou Yuan.
"Fool, on the battlefield, sacrifices are necessary for a greater victory. If you lose your comrade, you will get Cheng De city. Fewer people will die! "Xiahou Yuan said to the thousand-man general.
"General, I understand the logic but I only know that those people are my soldiers. They are my subordinates. I can't bear to see them die in front of me. I can't bear to see them die in the hands of my own people! Since that's the case, I might as well go with them! "
Xiahou Yuan also couldn't bear it but he had no choice. It was for his lord's great cause.
"Go ahead!" Xiahou Yuan nodded.
"Thank you, General!" The thousand-man general said and led his troops to the top of the city wall.
"General, I'm going too!" Another thousand-man general volunteered to go to the city wall.
"Kill, kill, kill!" Xiahou Yuan's troops on the city wall once again clashed with the defenders of Cheng De city.
"Red Coat Camp, calibrate!"
"All units, attention! Exploding bullets!"
Bullets were pushed into the cannons and the cannons were aimed at Cheng De city.
"Calibrate fire!" With a boom, a exploding bullet was fired at the top of the city wall.
"En?" Liu Mang was attracted by the sound of the cannons.
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