In ancient warfare, the most important task for the defending side was to fortify the city and clear the fields!

What is meant by "fortifying the walls and clearing the fields"?

Building a strong and tall city is easy to understand... but clearing the fields means cutting down all the nearby trees and killing all the grass...

In short, destroy everything that is usable!

In ancient warfare, besides bravery, the most important thing for the attacking side was to have good siege equipment.

Having effective siege equipment is key to conquering a city.

However, those siege engines were extremely heavy, and transporting them to the battlefield from hundreds or thousands of miles away... not to mention the enormous manpower and resources required.

The siege engines fell apart after they were delivered!

Since there were no tires in ancient times, this... was almost an impossible task!

So what should we do?

The only option was to "use local materials"—cut down trees near the city and make makeshift siege weapons!

Therefore, in ancient times, when armies marched to war and conquered cities and territories, all they needed to do was bring enough carpenters!

The scenes depicted in many movies and TV dramas, where groups of soldiers carry ladders to the city wall and climb up one by one, are actually unrealistic and impractical!

This situation only occurs when the defending soldiers have lost their will to fight and are almost about to take the city, and the main force rushes forward in a hurry to climb the walls!

If we had done that from the beginning, it would have been suicide!

They initially used other siege weapons to kill the defending soldiers, and then set up ladders...

Although Zhao Yong wasn't as skilled in warfare as Jiang Ming, he was still a seasoned military man. Upon learning of the Northern Xiongnu army's impending advance, he had all the timber within a radius of several miles cut down; anything that couldn't be transported was burned on the spot, ensuring the enemy received absolutely no materials for manufacturing siege equipment...

However, when the actual battle began, the siege tactics employed by these Northern Xiongnu were quite surprising!

This was beyond Zhao Yong's wildest imagination, and even Jiang Ming hadn't expected it at first...

On the battlefield, the Northern Xiongnu army stretched out like a vast ocean... Standing atop the city wall of Yunzhou, it seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see!

The Xiongnu Chanyu Sahehan didn't bother with ambushes or cover; he launched a direct attack on the city!

And what about Jiang Ming's side?

The city was fortified, with barricades erected beneath it and various barbs covering the entire city wall—it was armed to the teeth!

Jiang Ming also raised the city walls... It can be said that although the preparations were hasty, the entire Yunzhou City was "as solid as a rock".

After both sides set up their formations, there were no unnecessary "tricks" and the siege battle began immediately!

This group of Northern Xiongnu did not carry siege weapons, and the vanguard... was not those agile, ladder-carrying first-strike warriors, but rather heavily armored cavalry!

They wore armor made entirely of metal plates, leaving only their eyes exposed.

Not only the cavalrymen, but even their horses were clad in heavy armor...

It looks a lot like the knights used in European palace decorations...

This puzzled Jiang Ming greatly...

Such attire... would only be used when the two armies were fighting in an open area, when the battle had reached a fever pitch and both sides were exhausted, and when the heavy cavalry was finally crushing them!

From any perspective, this siege battle couldn't possibly involve sending them in at the very beginning!

Before Jiang Ming could think it through... this group of heavily armored cavalry from the Northern Xiongnu launched their charge!

They rushed to the city walls, but neither attacked the gates nor used any special tools to scale them...

Instead, they scattered bags of soil beneath Jiangming City...

In an instant, dust filled the air, and everything was covered in dust!

Even Jiang Ming, standing atop the city wall, was choked by the fumes...

At this moment, Jiang Ming finally understood the other party's intention!

That is, by piling earth beneath their city walls... when the earth has piled up to a certain depth, the city wall will become a slope, and at that point... the Northern Xiongnu army can charge up on horseback, just like attacking on the grasslands...

The reason why these heavily armored cavalrymen of the Northern Xiongnu armed themselves like iron cans was because...

It's not about protecting anything else, it's about ensuring the safety of every soil transport they make...

wipe!

This method of moving mountains, though seemingly foolish... was immediately recognized as dangerous by Jiang Ming, a top student from the military academy!

Logically speaking, only bears, animals, and people who are incredibly stupid would do this...

However, there are successful precedents in history!

When Genghis Khan Temujin broke off relations with the Jin Dynasty and led an army of 100,000 to attack a city on the Jin border, he used this very tactic!

After suffering heavy casualties, the Mongols finally rode their horses up the city walls and breached the city!

Seeing the immense casualties, Temujin used this tactic only once...

Afterwards, he captured many Han Chinese artisans in the Jin Dynasty and taught the Mongols how to build siege weapons, which prevented them from continuing to use the 'rammed earth wall' method to capture cities!

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