If a city with perfect fortifications can not attack it but complete the established strategic objectives, there is no need to touch it.
Jincheng is not only a complete fortification, but also a hedgehog like fortress. You can see the consolidated fortifications from any angle and arrange many long-range urban defense weapons.
"Since it is an important military town of Liangguo, it is really expected." After Xie an arrived, of course, he wanted to see the defense arrangement of Jincheng with his own eyes: "there is a bed crossbow every 30 steps, and a stone catapult is arranged at 80 steps. These are placed in the open."
The height of the city wall is four feet high, which can make the range of long-range weapons farther. There is a mile of defense belt outside the city. When arranging the defense chain, Jincheng should take the attack range into account.
"There are at least four military Forts of different sizes outside the main city, which are located within five miles of the main city." Zhong Xing raised his finger to the fortress contained in the camp of the Army: "when we came, they took the initiative to give up and destroy the fortress."
As for the fortress, Xie an had not seen it, so he said, "go and have a look."
A single city cannot be defended. When defending the city, it is impossible to withdraw all troops into the city. Otherwise, it will become a turtle in a jar. It should be that there are garrison troops outside the main city, which can harass the enemy when attacking the city or attract the enemy to attack the main city.
The military fort that Zhang Liangjun gave up on his own initiative is actually just a frame left behind. No place that can be damaged is intact. Most of the walls and load-bearing columns collapsed. We can only identify some intelligence by looking at the foundation.
"We found something." Zhong Xing took Xie an to an indoor open space where the soil seemed to have been turned over: "this should be the original tunnel."
There is not much water under the surface of Xiliang, and the stone content in most soil is not too high. It is really not difficult to dig tunnels.
"So there are still underground passages between the military forts and the main city?" Xie an frowned. He said, "with tunnels, they can get reinforcements and supplies at any time."
As for the use of tunnels dug by the enemy to attack the main city after the attack, people with normal minds would not do that. If the enemy dares to dig the tunnel in advance, it must be well prepared. If they want to use the psychological preparation of having bodies to fill the tunnel, even if they attack a sufficient distance, watering the other end will not only waste all their efforts, but also kill a large number of people.
The tunnel offensive itself needs to be unprepared. Once it is found, it will kill itself. Even if you enter the city from the tunnel, the enemy will certainly set an ambush in advance. As soon as you go up from the tunnel, you may face the arranged arrow array and encirclement. How many lives are not enough to die.
"I still have to fight..." Xie an presided over the siege for the first time, meditated for a while, and said: "the enemy's military fort is not like the main city..."
Zhong Xing is an instant understanding.
Before, only the vanguards came, and they would not carry large siege equipment. When the main force came, it meant that the large siege equipment should also come. Against those military forts that would not have many urban defense equipment, we can use our long-range siege equipment to submerge them.
The Lord will consciously select the attack target. As soon as the order is issued, his subordinates will be busy.
Zhang Chong, who regarded the city tower as the headquarters, would observe the movements of the Han Army outside the city when he was free.
After the arrival of the Han Army, it only entered the military camp and moderately expanded the camp. Some necessary obstacles such as resisting horses were also increased. Then it sent a small group of troops out, probably carrying water from around. It has come and gone many times.
In ancient times, the first element of building a city was water source. Only areas with sufficient water source were suitable for building a city, otherwise it would be a big trouble for residents to use water alone.
Jincheng is located on the edge of the Yellow River. Originally, a river channel was opened to lead to the moat, and a canal was built to lead water into the city. These water channels are actually laying fortifications and a large number of military defense.
Before Xie an led the main force to arrive, Zhong Xing had tried to build a bridge over the Yellow River. Of course, Zhang's Liang army would come out to harass. The two sides played more than ten times, large and small, but there were not many casualties between each other.
"Lord, look over there..." Huang Yan raised his hand and pointed to somewhere: "those... Are stone catapults?"
In fact, Zhang Chong had long found the movement of the Han Army camp. He was not surprised to see a large number of stone throwing vehicles pulled out by people and animals. However, he heard how the Han army attacked the city of Shijie and Zhao. He used an amazing number of long-range attack equipment many times. The battle of Dingxiang used the most long-range attack equipment, and he bombarded it again and again for nearly three months.
"No harm." Zhang Chong must stabilize his army: "there is a mile of fortification outside the city, and the enemy's equipment can't get close. Even if they get close, they will be attacked by our bed crossbows and stone catapults, and they can't stand firm."
Huang Yan originally said that the Han army was going to attack the military fort, so he would not say more after listening to Zhang Chong's words, so as not to confuse the army.
What makes Zhang Chong more concerned is that the Han Army's riprap truck seems to be different from the appearance of Zhang Liangjun. It seems that the Han Army's riprap truck is larger and the structure seems to be a lot more complex. Next, we should see how far the range is.
Of course, Zhang Liangguo has the technology to manufacture catapults. The style is actually no different from that of the Jin army. The range can be up to 160 steps, but there's nothing to mention about the accuracy.
The catapult of Zhang's Liang army can throw stones 160 steps above the flat ground, and the range can be increased by 20 or 30 steps from the four foot high wall.
According to the unit of measurement, in ancient times, one mile was taken as 300 steps, and one step was summarized as 1.5 meters, so one mile was 450 meters. (some dynasties clearly publicized that one mile is 300 meters in modern times.)
In fact, the range of the catapult placed on the city head is still within the scope of our fortifications. We can only play it after some of the fortifications outside the city are occupied. The bed crossbow placed on it is different.
The style of Zhang's Liangjun's bed crossbow is still the same as that of the Jin army. The difference is only in the selection of bowstring. For example, the Jin army lacks enough tendons... That is, the quality of the bow string of the bed crossbow is poor, so the firing range of the Jin Army's bed crossbow can only reach about 200 steps, but Zhang's Liangjun's bed crossbow can shoot 250 steps because of its excellent bow string quality.
The bed crossbow at the head of the city has a range of 250 steps. Coupled with the range increase brought by height, the result of their experiment is that they can shoot outside their own fortifications and provide long-range support for the defenders outside the city when the enemy attacks.
"Be careful!!!"
The big drink was sent by the Han soldiers. They pushed the riprap truck to the military fort nearest to the military camp. When they approached about 200 steps, the military fort issued a long-range attack.
"Avoid crossbows and arrows!!!"
As soon as the voice fell, the crossbow and arrow fired from the military fort also lost kinetic energy and fell. A strange sound began to appear, accompanied by the dull hum and scream of the arrow.
"Where's the shield? Organize the shield array quickly!"
The military fort does not only launch a wave of crossbows and arrows, but will shoot a wave every time. It is clear that the distance comes from strong crossbows, and there are still a lot of them.
Of course, Zhang's Liang army must have strong crossbows, which is one of the characteristics of the Chinese army. As long as it is the main corps, it will match strong crossbows. The difference is more or less.
The strong crossbow of Zhang's Liang army still continues the style of the early Han Dynasty, and the strong crossbow of the early Han Dynasty is better than the former Qin army, which obtained technology from South Korea.
It can be said that the self-improvement crossbow appeared. The armed forces of the Chinese civilization were basically equipped with strong crossbows. It is strange that at the stage of the Northern Song Dynasty, the strong crossbow technology of the Chinese civilization was worse than that of the Western Xia, which led to the Northern Song Dynasty's success in cracking the divine arm crossbow of the Western Xia. The technique of Xixia divine arm crossbow is actually a legacy of Li Tang.
The range of the crossbow is the key, which also depends on the long-range penetration. The range of the strong crossbow of the Han army can reach 450 steps, and the range of the divine arm crossbow is more than 340 steps. However, the divine arm crossbow can still enter the elm half arrow after shooting more than 240 steps. It can be seen that the divine arm crossbow still has amazing penetration in the range of more than 370 meters, The powerful crossbow of the Han army could not do this.
"Where's the crossbow soldier? He's dead!"
"It's already coming. Big guy, hide again."
"This fucking..."
It should be said that the Han army was a little arrogant. They tried many times before approaching 200 steps. They failed to seduce the Zhang Liangjun of the military fort to launch crossbows and arrows. They waited for the Han Army to push the riprap truck to a distance. Just when they stopped to prepare for the launch, there was a burst of head to head shooting.
"Wind, wind, wind... Strong wind! Strong wind! Strong wind!"
The war horn came to my ears, and the sound fell, followed by a huge boom of bowstrings. What is visible to the naked eye is that a "big net" composed of dense crossbows and arrows rose on the ground level. They made a sharp sound of breaking through the air, moved forward in mid air, and then covered the military fort in the distance.
The counterattack of the strong crossbow troops of the Han army came quickly and suddenly. The Liang army, who formed an arrow array in the military fort, hurriedly avoided at the notice of the lookout. When the crossbow fell, those who could not escape fell down with an arrow.
There are too many crossbows and arrows. Once people are left in place, their crossbows and arrows are dense, and the ground will soon become a crossbow and arrow jungle. It should be said that the place where the whole fort can focus is filled with crossbows and arrows launched by the Han army.
When the long-range suppression needed came, the soldiers around the riprap truck moved quickly. They left the riprap truck and ran back.
"What's the situation?" Suofu was a little confused. He looked out from the lookout of the Fort: "why did he leave the catapult and run away?"
"Congratulations, general. Congratulations, general." The chief General of the fort was blowing: "kill the enemy and flee. The enemy's offensive didn't take shape and left..."
Before the compliment was finished, the Han Army ran back.
The catapult is a powerful crossbow firing range into the military fort. It is impossible for our own strong crossbow forces to suppress it all the time. Of course, some measures should be taken.
To leave the riprap truck and run back is not to discard the riprap truck, but to go back and get some fences, shields, etc. to build around the riprap truck while our strong crossbow forces are still suppressing, which is equivalent to building arrow defense fortifications on the spot.
"Pile grass up, pay attention to the support frame, and cover it with thick soil later."
"Know, know!"
To put it bluntly, whoever stipulates that the riprap truck should be in an open space without obstruction. As long as it does not hinder the loading and launching of the riprap truck, it can be arranged as it likes.
Suofu was a little surprised: "Han Army... How much experience should this be?"
Later, there was something more surprising to Zhang's Liang army. The Han army made simple Fortifications on the spot. When the riprap truck was pushed again, the fortifications built together could also move. It was forced to advance another 20 or 30 steps before the formation was launched.
"They..." Suofu was not only surprised, but also strongly disturbed: "... Still building a corridor!"
Riprap trucks need stone bullets, which is equivalent to a supply line. There must be no shelter in the middle, otherwise how many deaths and injuries should be caused by stone bullets each time?
The corridor is a kind of fun. It is controversial who invented it. It can be determined that it was widely used in the Qin Dynasty. The military corridor is a kind of road with surrounding cover. Its main purpose is to prevent sneak attacks by the enemy. Zhang Han, general of the Qin army, was used on a large scale for the first time.
The general of the fort murmured, "the enemy has stopped firing crossbows and arrows."
Yes, the firing of the crossbow stopped, but the riprap truck began to shoot.
Only three stone throwing vehicles launched the first round of stone bombs. They launched at a distance of about 180 steps from the military fort. The arm swing was completed, and three loud noises were heard after a while.
Sofu was able to detect one, another and three earthquakes on the ground, followed by all kinds of noise in his ears.
In fact, only one of the three stone bullets hit the building of the military fort, and the other two hit the open space. The building was hit. The stone bullet smashed the wall with great strength, but did not let the building collapse or the whole wall fall. It can be seen that Zhang Liangjun made great efforts when building the military fort.
"The enemy should not be allowed to use the catapult recklessly." Suofu looked at the general of the fort and said firmly, "organize an attack and be sure to destroy the enemy's catapult!"
The chief General of the military fort is no longer willing to execute the military order. Moreover, he also knows that no matter how strong the fortifications are repeatedly smashed, they will collapse. Whether they are smashed to death during the period or the military fort is destroyed, anyway, he can't escape the end of death. Naturally, he knows that he should work hard.
Xie an observed with a telescope from a distance. It seemed that he had seen enough before he took his sight back. He asked Shi Yuanqiao, commander of the Army: "when can the river crossing pontoon be built?"
Yuan Qiao actually fell behind the team and just arrived. First, he asked Zhong Xing about the situation, and then took over the baggage army. He was in charge of repairing the bridge.
"If it is near Jincheng, the water flow is relatively fast, and it takes about half a month at the fastest." Yuan Qiao had to suggest: "we should survey the surrounding rivers, choose places with stable water flow, and we can't let go of the shoals."
What Xie an wants is that the army can cross the river and find what feasible scheme is the matter of marching for a long time.
"Someone will ask the king for more troops..." Xie an is not sure. He pondered for a while and then said, "otherwise, he can only take risks."
Yuan Qiao raised his eyebrows and nodded approvingly.