When Yan Sikong and Liang Huiyong rushed to the city tower, they were shocked by the endless and dark army and were speechless for a moment.
Memories of twenty-one years ago came back to them. At that time, they had stood on the same tower, faced the same enemy, and sworn to defend the same land. Is this reincarnation? Otherwise, why do these bloody tragedies always repeat themselves?
Yan Sikong clearly remembered the fear he felt when he first saw the army approaching. He was so scared that his legs went weak, and Yuan Mao held his shoulders with strong hands and told him in a deep voice that people can be afraid but cannot retreat.
So Yuan Mao led his few soldiers in an isolated city and drove back Zhuoletai's army of 100,000 three times. Even when he was hit by stray arrows, he never retreated a single step.
Today, Zhuoletai has brought more soldiers and the wrath of revenge, and Guangning has become a strong city. They were able to defend Guangning in the past, and today, they will not let the barbarians lay hands on their mountains and rivers and their people!
Both the enemy and I have made sufficient preparations for this day.
Liang Huiyong said in a deep voice: "Life and death depend on this one move, Sikong, I believe that the spirits of the Yuan generals in heaven will definitely protect Guangning and Liaoning."
Yan Sikong looked up at the sky and murmured, "Dad, we not only have to defend the city, but also have to make an end to Zhuoletai and end the century-long suffering of the people of Liaodong. Bless us..." and bless Feng Ye to survive this disaster.
At this time, a Jin soldier rode out of the battle formation, rushed to the moat, and shouted to the top of the city wall: "My Great Jin Emperor has ordered that if you surrender, I will spare you. If you don't surrender, I will massacre you in the city!"
Yan Sikong looked down at the messenger with a gloomy face: "This soldier is arrogant and speaks arrogantly. It seems that Zhuoletai has a plan for this battle."
Xu Feng cursed: "A barbarian dares to call himself an emperor. Pah!"
The messenger laughed loudly: "A baby in swaddling clothes can be crowned emperor. You Han people are a joke."
Liang Huiyong shouted, "Release the arrows."
Several arrows were fired at the same time, and the people under the city were instantly pierced into hedgehogs.
The Jin soldiers beat the drums of attack. The people on the top of Guangning City refused to be outdone, and the sound of the drums shook people's hearts.
Yan Sikong looked at the three "mountain walls" built by his supervisor, which were like three sharp swords pointing directly at the Zhuoletai army. His chest was boiling, his blood was surging, and his fists were clenched so hard that they made a clattering sound.
Come on, this time, I'm going to tear you into pieces!
Zhuoletai brought at least 150,000 soldiers and horses. Excluding the 20,000 men who were lost in the attack on the camp and the pursuit of Fengye, the rest stayed in the main camp. He had suffered the pain of having his camp attacked and forced to retreat in the past, so he would definitely not take it lightly this time.
However, there were only 70,000 soldiers left defending the city of Guangning.
However, their morale was high. In the past, Guangning, with a small reserve city and a few thousand soldiers, blocked Zhuoletai's 100,000-man army. Today, Guangning has a high city, a moat, and 70,000 troops, so there is no need to worry about not being able to repel the enemy. This is also the reason why they tried every means to lure Zhuoletai to attack the city.
They will severely consume Zhuoletai's army and his desire to win under this city.
In early spring, the weather was still very cold. To prevent the moat from freezing, the water was drained before winter. Only a circle of deep ditch was left as the first barrier of Guangningwei. However, because the moat was dug later, due to geographical conditions, it was less than 10 feet wide.
On the top of the city wall, archers and artillerymen were on guard, while the rest of the people watched the approaching army, wondering how Zhuoletai would cross the moat.
Ladders? Filling the moat? The Nianhan Method? The Jin people were incapable of making sophisticated machinery. The Nianhan Method required a trench-filling vehicle, which was complex, large, and difficult to transport. Even they rarely used it. There was no water in the moat, so the floating bridge was useless. So did they use ladders or manpower to fill the moat?
Placing ladders on the moat would give them countless living targets, and what would eventually fill the moat were actually the corpses of soldiers. This method of filling the moat was not uncommon since ancient times. Although it was cruel, it was fast and effective.
The more common method was to transport sand and soil to fill the trench. Soldiers pushed toad carts with shields tied to them and dumped the soil into the trench one cart at a time. This method could reduce casualties, but it would take at least ten days or half a month to fill the trench.
Yan Sikong guessed that Zhuoletai collected so many ice blocks from Huangshui, and he would probably use them to fill the trench.
They saw the enemy's line split in the middle, with the center advancing in unison.
On the city wall, everyone gasped in surprise.
Yan Sikong was only half right. The Jin soldiers did push toad carts to fill the trenches, but the carts were filled with neither sand nor ice, but with yellow-brown, inflated drum-like objects, about the size of a person, with a faint glow on the surface and hollow inside. They were tied together with ropes in groups of seven or eight and placed across the toad carts, so they must have been very light.
What is this?!
Yan Sikong and Liang Huiyong looked at each other, both at a loss.
The Jin soldiers held up their shields and covered the toad cart tightly to protect the things on the cart. Thousands of Jin soldiers pushed the cart towards the moat.
Liang Huiyong asked fearfully, "Sikong, you are so knowledgeable, but you don't even know yourself?"
Yan Sikong frowned and said, "Let me take a closer look." He had walked so many roads and read so many books in his life that he could not say that no one else could match him, but they were certainly rare in the world. However, he racked his brains and could not identify what the thing was for a moment.
The unknown is terrifying. Even if the soldiers don't say it, Yan Sikong can feel the subtle changes in the surrounding atmosphere.
Liang Huiyong shouted: "Archer."
All the archers drew their bows to the full, and when the Jin soldiers came into range, Liang Huiyong shouted loudly: "Shoot!"
Arrows rained down from the sky.
Twenty-one years later, Zhuoletai and Guangning went to war again.
Arrows flew all over the sky, most of them hit the shield, and the rest pierced through the flesh and blood, or pierced into the yellow strange object, which instantly deflated and slowly sank.
When they reached the edge of the moat, the Jin soldiers let go of the ropes and the things fell into the moat.
Yan Sikong suddenly had an idea and shouted, "It's a sheepskin fetus!"
People first got into the sheepskin and swam across the river. Later, someone made it into a leather boat, which could be used by several people to cross the river temporarily.
To make a sheepskin boat, you need to take a ram and peel off the skin from the neck without any cuts. After removing the wool, tie the head, tail and limbs tightly, blow air to make it swell, and finally rinse it with water and expose it to the sun repeatedly to make it tough and wear-resistant. Tie several sheepskin boats firmly under wooden strips, and they will float on the water, becoming a "leather boat".
The sheepskin tire was very light and easy to transport when not inflated, and it was the size of a person when inflated. The Jin people had been living on cattle and sheep for thousands of years, and they had plenty of sheepskin, but using sheepskin tires to cross the river was invented by the Han people. It was really amazing that they could think of using this method to fill the trenches!
Liang Huiyong also suddenly realized: "It is a sheepskin fetus. How did the Jin people come up with such a wonderful idea? Could it be..."
"Impossible." Yan Sikong said coldly, "If Han Zhaoxing had such a brain, he would not have caused such a disaster to Liaodong. Zhuoletai must have a powerful strategist around him who has studied the Central Plains culture deeply."
Arrows flew like a weave as they tried their best to stop the Jin soldiers from approaching the moat. But when one group fell, the next group would take their place. The sheepskin tires were light and large, and a small toad cart pushed by one person could carry several of them. At this rate, it would probably take only one day to fill up the moat in front of them!
Facing the gusts of cold wind, cold sweat broke out on Yan Sikong's forehead.
They underestimated Zhuoletai.
Twenty-one years ago, Zhuoletai, who was still the eldest prince of the Jin Dynasty, led an army of 100,000 to Liaodong, but was defeated in the end. They never looked down on this barbarian in their hearts. Zhuoletai is now in his sixties, very old, and he doesn't know when the destiny will come, but he still leads his troops to fight in person, which shows how deeply he cares about Guangning. He has spent so many years hiding his talents, how could he be unprepared.
Xu Feng ran to Yan Sikong and said, "Sir, the trench is being filled too quickly. If this continues, we won't be able to wait for General Feng's reinforcements."
Yan Sikong looked at the sheepskin fetuses that were constantly piled up at the bottom of the trench with a solemn expression.
They estimated that it would take Zhuoletai at least several days to cross the moat. By the time they defeated Zhuoletai at the gates of Guangning City, Feng Changyue's reinforcements would arrive just in time, cutting off their retreat and dealing a heavy blow to Zhuoletai.
But at the current speed of filling the trenches, Zhuoletai will be able to attack the city tomorrow at the latest, and they can only resist. In the next few days, there is no telling how many casualties will occur.
Yan Sikong said in a deep voice: "Switch to rockets."
Liang Huiyong gave the order and the archers switched to fire arrows. However, the wind was very cold and they were in a high place away from the wind, so the flames went out as soon as they lit up, not to mention that after they were shot out, few of them could survive.
If artillery is used to hit the moat, it can indeed destroy the sheepskin tires, but the artillery will also knock down the frozen soil and directly fill the moat faster than the sheepskin tires.
They could only watch as the Jin soldiers continued to dump sheepskin fetuses into the moat.
For Zhuoletai's plan to succeed, he needed the right time and right place, but he happened to encounter all of them. The sky above their heads was the sky of the Han people, so why didn't the sky help Guangning?
On this side of the moat, the sound of war drums was deafening, striking everyone's heart. On the other side of the moat, the corpses of the Jin soldiers and the sheepskin tires were piled up one after another.
Yan Sikong faced the devastated battlefield and wondered if there was another bloody battle going on in the city and in Fengye's houses - a battle with King Yanluo.
With an irreconcilable enemy in front and a wilderness where life and death are at stake behind, Yan Sikong stood on the tower and felt that whether he advanced or retreated, he would be in an abyss.
The battle lasted from dawn to late at night. The Jin soldiers left corpses all over the ground, but the moat of Guangning was completely filled up. The army, with catapults, ladders and artillery bought from the Han people, marched towards the city of Guangning in a mighty manner.