Zhong Tan sighed softly and gazed at the Youzhou city in the distance. It could be said that it was the old master of Crouching Bow City who had stripped off the clothes and faces of the Eight Kingdoms of Spring and Autumn step by step. He had turned the warm and affectionate war into a bloody tragedy from beginning to end. The number of deaths in battle grew higher and higher. From thousands to tens of thousands, then tens of thousands, until the Battle of West Rampart where people died every day and soldiers poured in every day. If it was said that Xu Xiao had taught the Eight Kingdoms of Spring and Autumn what cavalry warfare was, then could it be said that after Xu Xiao's death, he would teach Beimang what it meant to defend a city in the Central Plains?
Zhong Tan narrowed his eyes. His infantry had finally begun to scale the city walls.
The city walls of Crouching Bow City were like moths and ants.
On top of the city walls, rolling stones, smashing logs, and scalding oil rained down.
Ladders after ladders were toppled by long hooks.
One by one, Beimang soldiers who were scaling the city walls were shot down by a rain of arrows. After they fell, the unfortunate ones who hadn't died yet were trampled to death by the rest of the siege army.
The Youzhou archers and light crossbowmen who were blocking the Beimang soldiers from scaling the city walls were also shot down by the archers on the siege towers that were almost as tall as the city walls. They fell back one after another.
In this kind of concentrated shooting, those who were skilled in martial arts and those who weren't were all going to die. The few master archers on top of the city walls who still had strength in their arms were targeted by the archers in the siege towers. They were all shot down like hedgehogs full of arrows.
Beimang's siege methods were unscrupulous. When the battle was at a stalemate, they took advantage of every opening and aimed the ballistae at the empty spots on the city walls. They shot out stepping arrows that were no different from large javelins and nailed them into the back of the city walls in a row, helping the Beimang soldiers scale the city walls. As for the Beimang soldiers who climbed up like agile monkeys, they were all brave soldiers that Zhong Tan had carefully selected. As Zhong Tan listened to the frontline military intelligence from the messenger cavalry, he unhurriedly passed down orders one after another to bring them back to the frontline. Although this was a deadly siege with a huge price to pay, the siege method wasn't rigid and inflexible. Just like when the defenders changed their guard, Zhong Tan would also order the chiliarch who had lost soldiers to "cross the line" to withdraw. As for the exact number of the line, in Zhong Tan's mind, he temporarily set it at 100 casualties at the beginning of the siege. Once the 20 chiliarchs and their 20,000 soldiers had experienced the first wave of siege, the second wave would increase the number to 150. If they didn't cross the line, even if they were surnamed Yelu or Murong, they would still have to brace themselves and continue. If they crossed the line, no matter how much they wanted to fight to the death, they would have to obediently withdraw.
Zhong Tan didn't care how those chiliarchs and centurions didn't understand. In fact, he didn't need them to understand at all. After all, he had already asked the commander-in-chief Yang Yuanzan for the right to execute the generals in the frontline. Whoever didn't agree with him could use their heads to disobey the military order. Zhong Tan subconsciously reached out his hand to stroke the soft mane on the back of his warhorse. This kind of command method of "haggling over every detail as one's own arm" was taught to the world by that white-robed general. However, most of the generals who imitated him only scratched the surface but not the essence. Firstly, they couldn't be as familiar with the fighting strength and tenacity of each commandant of the famous academies as that white-robed general. Secondly, the battlefield was constantly changing. If they deliberately pursued perfection in details, it was easy to pick up sesame seeds and throw away watermelons. What's more, the commander-in-chief would be as tired as a dog before the victory was decided. Not to mention the commander-in-chief himself, even the bannermen and messengers would have broken their arms and legs.
Zhong Tan believed that he had learned more than scratched the surface, but he hadn't grasped the essence. However, Zhong Tan wasn't in a hurry. He still had to fight Luan He and Xiaguang City at the mouth of Youzhou Province. Furthermore, these two cities were bigger and had more guards.
Zhong Tan's sitting posture was as steady as a rock. Occasionally, he would ask his maidservant Liu Daoxiang for a jug of water to moisten his throat. Otherwise, his throat would have long been smoking.
The twenty chiliarchs of the middle corps had all seen the scenery of the city wall at close range. Among them, two of them had almost succeeded in standing on the city wall. One of them was stabbed by seven or eight iron spears and smashed into a pile of corpses. After getting up, he saw seven or eight arrows inserted into the corpses not far from his feet. If he were to smash into these corpses, even if he didn't get pierced through, he definitely wouldn't be able to attack Luan He City.
Another one had just stood on the city wall and had even used his saber to chop off several spear heads. Just as he was about to step in, he was shot in the ribs by a stray arrow at a tricky angle. As he staggered and fell, he was viciously hooked by a flying hook called an iron hook. When the soldiers of Youzhou Province pulled him up, the chiliarch whose back had hit the city wall hurriedly raised his arm and chopped randomly. Only then did he manage to chop off the iron chain. After landing on the ground in a sorry state, he took advantage of the momentum and rolled. Five or six arrows whizzed down from his back. Obviously, his dazzling armor had "provoked the public's anger". This caused him to feel some lingering fear when he led his troops back to the rear. He had almost become the first Youzhou chiliarch to die in battle. No wonder those irksome strategists before the battle had reminded them that they could wear layers of heavy armor, but under no circumstances should they wear anything too flashy and eye-catching.
Those winch mounts on Crouching Bow City had mostly been destroyed, and those powerful wolf tooth bats had been completely destroyed. The Beimang soldiers who had died to these bats were the most miserable of all. There wasn't a single piece of unscathed flesh on their bodies. They looked like pork that had been carefully shaved by a plane. Their corpses were too horrible to look at.
Around noon, an especially majestic bugle horn resounded across the battlefield.
The onslaught on the battlefield, which had never stopped, immediately surged.
Commander Yang Yuanzan rode his horse to Zhong Tan's side, accompanied by a group of cavalry officers and five or six strategists dressed in embroidered robes. They found that Zhong Tan was surrounded by many young civil officials sitting in front of several tables. Their brushes flew like they were flying, constantly recording the details of the battle. Yang Yuanzan didn't greet Zhong Tan politely. Instead, he walked to the side of a young official who had been named "Fast Scribe" by the order of peace. He bent down and picked up a piece of paper whose ink hadn't dried yet. His handwriting was a bit messy: "After Crouching Bow City's wooden bats, there are several types of clay and brick bats. Their power is slightly weaker." "They destroyed three of our army's battering rams with a hardwood iron head. They are more than a chi long and shaped like wolf teeth. They are hidden behind the high walls of the city gates and fall down like thunder." "According to reports, the age of the arrows used by Crouching Bow City varies. They have been forged for seven or eight years and were made in the fourteenth year of Yonghui.
Yang Yuanzan sneered: "What a good arrow that has been sharp for a long time! If this general has the chance, I will personally pass on these words to those Xijing officials in the Ministry of War! Let them open their eyes wide and take a good look! "
The Fast Scribe who had been implicated hurriedly stopped what he was doing. His face was full of fear and trepidation. He was afraid that one of the thirteen great generals of Beimang would vent his anger on him, a small fry who hadn't even reached the official rank yet.
The general gently put the paper back and smiled: "It's not your fault. You all did well. After we take down Crouching Bow City, I will personally record this merit for you."
Even a great general who was ranked among the top forty in Beimang had dismounted from his horse. Zhong Tan didn't have the thick skin to continue sitting on the horse's back. Although Yang Yuanzan wasn't as highly regarded by the Empress as Liu Gui, they were both generals of the Southern Dynasty. Compared to Zhong Tan's father, Zhong Shentong, Yang Yuanzan was much more trustworthy than Zhong Shentong, not to mention his ability to mobilize troops. Furthermore, Zhong Tan was making a living under the old man's nose. Yang Yuanzan and Zhong Tan walked side by side to the general's side. Zhong Tan said softly: "Previously in the Xijing imperial court, I heard a certain preceptor say something. At that time, my blood was boiling. Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure anymore."
Yang Yuanzan, who had just rushed over from the wounded camp, was a little unhappy. He frowned and asked: "What was it?"
Zhong Tan smiled: "Beiliang is known to have the most guts in Liyang. Let's break their guts and break their guts."
Yang Yuanzan asked: "What's wrong?"
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