Murong Hu's attack has begun!
He ordered a military commander to lead two thousand cavalrymen to the foot of Yunzhong City, where they took out bows and arrows and fired them upwards at the city walls.
Having come from afar, they had no siege equipment, not even siege ladders.
They could only rely on mounted archery to wear down the city's manpower.
This is why Tuoba Gao set up camp ten miles north of Yunzhong City without launching an attack.
There are some siege weapons in the city of Shuofang.
He was waiting for the people in the city to come out and fight in the field, and he was also waiting for the arrival of the army from Shuofang.
Unexpectedly, last night someone took the initiative and launched a surprise attack.
The enemy seemed to know something, and only attacked Murong Hu's camp.
Today, Murong Hu was enraged and led his troops to attack the city.
Whether it was a coincidence, premeditated, or intentional, perhaps it no longer matters.
Murong Hu's two thousand cavalrymen had already drawn their bows and arrows, unleashing a barrage of fire at the city walls.
The cavalry charged in, unleashing volleys of arrows upon the city walls.
Xue Rengui, Shen Lian, and others had already protected Liu Wei thoroughly the moment the Xianbei cavalry launched their attack.
Compared to the bone arrows of the Xiongnu, the arrows of the Xianbei were not much better.
It's worth noting that it took Tuoba Gao ten years to build up his Tiger-Striped Cavalry, so it's conceivable that the Tuoba tribe is now severely lacking in iron.
His soldiers were still using bronze swords!
Murong Hu also used a bronze staff as his weapon.
The arrowheads of the Xianbei people were mostly made of bronze.
Iron is twice as hard as copper, so when these arrows hit the helmets and armor of the Han soldiers, they only created a small dent but did not cause much damage.
The soldiers on the city wall were unharmed, except for a few dozen unlucky ones who were hit by arrows through the joints of their armor.
"With such limited abilities, they still dare to attack the city; they are truly overestimating themselves."
"Commander Yao, have your three thousand battalions fire back and show them what a powerful bow and crossbow really are."
Xue Rengui swung his halberd, gently knocking away the incoming arrows, and then ordered his three thousand battalions to return fire.
Although we need to show weakness to the Xianbei people now, it doesn't mean we can't use better weapons.
Of the 3,000 crossbows purchased by Liu Wei, the archer battalion took 2,500, and Zhang Liao took 200!
The remaining three hundred divine arms have all been taken into the hands of the Three Thousand Battalion.
Commander Yao, the commander of the Three Thousand Battalion, immediately received the order, and six hundred soldiers stepped forward carrying crossbows and arrows.
They formed a loose formation on the open ground behind the city wall.
At this moment, the two thousand Xianbei cavalrymen below the city had fired about twenty arrows from their horses.
Seeing the soldiers on the city wall cowering and not daring to show themselves, they laughed triumphantly.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Suddenly, a whooshing sound pierced the air, and a cluster of arrows, as small as mosquitoes, appeared above them, enveloping them.
The two thousand Xianbei generals had already had their soldiers fire more than twenty shots.
We are now in the stage of slow, free-firing towards the city wall.
Before they could even raise their small wooden shields to protect their heads, they were struck by arrows that suddenly appeared.
Immediately, seventy or eighty cavalrymen were hit by arrows and fell off their horses one after another.
Then, round after round, four or five hundred of the two thousand Xianbei people died!
However, they had no idea how many enemy casualties they had suffered.
The Xianbei people's military system was based on tribal chieftainship.
These two thousand Xianbei people were not only cavalry, but also familiar members of the tribe of this military leader, as well as the able-bodied herders of their tribe.
Right now, his own people are dwindling at a visible rate; how could he not feel heartache?
The commander hurriedly ordered his cavalry to retreat, moving them two hundred paces away from the city wall and maintaining a loose formation.
They thought they could escape the Han army's firing range, but to their surprise, the soldiers on the city wall were still firing merrily.
More than a hundred people were hit by arrows.
The arrows from the city wall didn't stop until they had run 250 paces away.
When the commander counted the men, he found that 2,000 cavalrymen had gone out, but 1,500 had returned.
Such battle losses were hard for him to accept.
But now, all they can do is helplessly watch the city walls.
The arrows of the Han people were not only vicious, but their range was also over 250 paces.
This range surpasses that of 99% of any single bow.
The military commander, dejected, led 1,500 men in retreat and went to Murong Hu to apologize.
"hiss!"
"A range of 250 paces!"
"Yes, I didn't expect the Han army to have mastered even more advanced bows and crossbows!"
Murong Hu, who was leading four thousand men to hold the rear, gasped in shock upon hearing his commander's report.
He gradually calmed down, losing the initial anger and excitement of wanting to fight to the death.
After a moment of hesitation, his expression darkened: "Withdraw!"
"No wonder they refused to come out of the city to fight us; they have such powerful crossbows."
"Last night's sneak attack was a deliberate attempt to provoke Lord Yang Zhen, so that he would attack the city."
"They want to use the city to wear down our fighting strength, and then take advantage of our fatigue to launch an attack."
"They really are cunning Han people; we must not fall for their tricks!"
Murong Hu returned to Tuoba Gao's side and recounted the situation of the probe, which immediately drew astonishment from many Xianbei generals.
Everyone was discussing the power of this crossbow that could shoot more than 250 paces.
"In that case, we can't fall for their trick! Send the order to send more men to train the camp tonight; we can't afford to be ambushed again!"
Tuoba Gao's face was gloomy.
Yuwen Lie frowned, seemingly trying to think of a solution.
"How about we surround this place and launch an attack on the surrounding counties of Yunzhong first?"
“Isolate Cloud City.”
"With no help from all sides, even if they have powerful crossbows, we can still trap them and kill them."
Yuwen Lie thought for a moment, since he couldn't lure them out of the city to fight, he decided to surround them without attacking!
After listening, Tuoba Gao thought about it carefully and realized that this was the strategy he had initially adopted.
The plan was initially to lure the Han army out of the city to fight, but they simply refused to come out.
"Then we'll do as you say. We don't have enough troops to surround us right now. Let's wait outside the city for two days."
"As soon as He Baxian's troops arrived, we surrounded the area and cleared out the surrounding county towns."
"I don't believe that the prince in Cloud City can sit idly by and ignore the people in the surrounding counties."
Tuoba Gao said.
Murong Hu had no better suggestions. Even though he was extremely unhappy today, he could only wait two days as Tuoba Gao had said.
......
When Dong Zhuo received the household register and the map and seal of Dingxiang from Shanwu City, he immediately wrote a memorial and sent it by express courier to the General's Mansion in Luoyang.
Two days later, He Jin received a report from Dong Zhuo and summoned his staff for a meeting.
"It's quite unexpected that Dong Zhuo would be the first to take over Dingxiang!"
"He wouldn't have lied or concealed anything, would he? As far as I know, Shan Wuke is a city managed by the Marquis of Yinshan. How could he have handed it over so easily?"
"The household registration records, maps, and official seals are all there, so it shouldn't be fake!"
"......"
Upon hearing this, Chen Lin, Kuai Yue, Kong Rong, Xun You, and others began to discuss it amongst themselves.
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