Chapter 2 Xu Family Secrets, First Talk About Sheng Family

Swoosh——

Thousands of arrows were shot out at once.

The bows and crossbows of the Great Zhou Dynasty, shooting downwind from a high position, can effectively kill at a distance of two or three hundred steps!

But the Liao soldiers did not stop, they were still charging forward!

"Using cavalry to attack the city? Are they crazy?"

"They didn't carry any large siege equipment!"

"Only ladders, no catapults, no battering rams, no rams!"

"."

Beside Wei Yuan, several soldiers were discussing.

He was not happy about this.

What does it mean that they didn't carry any large siege equipment?

It means that the enemy came too fast!

50,000 cavalry are just the vanguard!

A large amount of baggage may still be in the rear!

It is unheard of that the cavalry attacked the city and dismounted when the gate was close!

Wei Yuan guessed that the first battle was just a test by the enemy. The real battle would not start until the Liao army's siege baggage arrived.

"Master Zhang said that he only gave me 3,000 men because he wanted to show weakness to the enemy and make them think that Yanmen was no longer defendable!"

"So that the Liao soldiers could strike hard at Yanmen! In order to force the Liao army to split up and fight, they would have no time to take care of other things."

"In the first battle, they did not hesitate to consume cavalry to attack the city. It was unheard of. Either the enemy general was stupid, or they would rather pay several times the casualties of our army to take Yanmen!"

Wei Yuan sighed secretly. Could Yelu Yixian, who had experienced hundreds of battles, be a fool?

"The enemy's follow-up cavalry has dismounted, is building a shield formation, and is coming with ladders. There are about 10,000 troops!"

The scout reported again.

The real bloody battle is coming!

Wei Yuan raised the Pudao in his hand above his head and shouted:

"Soldiers, kill the enemy and serve the country, and make achievements. Today is the day!"

"Don't be sorry for the arrows. The thousand men will be divided into two teams and take turns to shoot!"

In order to defend Yanmen, he asked Zhang Fu for nearly 5 million arrows.

It seems like a lot, but if you really shoot them, they won't last a month.

However, the first battle must be fought with momentum!

There must be fewer deaths!

Soon, thousands of people were divided into two teams, 500 people in each team, taking turns to shoot arrows.

Try to make up for the gap between the arrows and the bowstring.

In the battle of attack and defense, opportunities are fleeting.

Or because of a gap, the whole city is lost!

Outside the city, the shouts of Liao soldiers were deafening.

On the top of the city, thousands of soldiers were united.

It is impossible for a thousand people to defend the city.

As expected, some enemy troops attacked the weak defense.

"Commander Wei, please give me a team of troops!"

On the top of the city, some soldiers noticed this scene and volunteered.

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "The second team of a thousand people, lead a hundred Pudao soldiers, Xu Changzhi, hold it for me!"

Xu Changzhi is the illegitimate son of the Yongyi Marquis of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Please watch it, Commander Wei! If there is any mistake, I will bring my head to see you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he hurried down the city.

A moment later, hundreds of Pudao soldiers killed all the enemy troops who were about to climb the city wall from the weak point.

At this moment, under the consumption of countless arrows, and the enemy troops coming from afar, their strength was already weak, so the momentum of the siege slowed down.

But Wei Yuan did not dare to relax,

"The third team will climb the city, and the first team will hand over to the third team!"

"The third team will continue to shoot arrows with the momentum of the first team's defense!"

Archery, especially shooting arrows with great lethality, urgently requires arm strength.

The soldiers guarding Yanmen are not all archers.

So, they need to be replaced to prevent some soldiers from not having enough strength and letting the enemy find a gap in the siege.

Moreover, the continuous casualties in the battle will not help the first team to recover.

As for the second team, it is a backup team. If any of the city walls are about to fall, the second team will make up for it.

At this moment, the soldiers of the third team saw the first team fighting bloody battles and some of the second team also climbed the city wall. The fire and blood in their hearts had long been ignited.

After climbing the city wall, they didn't care about anything else.

They fired a volley at the Liao soldiers.

Far away from the city gate.

In the Liao army's rear camp, Yelu Yixian was standing on a hill and suddenly heard a report from a scout that Yanmen Pass had been replaced by soldiers to guard the city.

He looked in the direction of Yanmen Pass and vaguely saw arrows being fired continuously. He understood Wei Yuan's intention and said with a smile:

"This Zhou general guarding the city is quite smart. Order the front army to withdraw and wait for the baggage to arrive before attacking the city."

Yelu Yixian knew very well that Yanmen Pass had sufficient defense equipment and they took turns to guard the city. When one team was tired, another team that had rested well would replace it.

Continuing to attack the city will only increase casualties.

When the vanguard of the attack returned to the camp, he looked at Yelu Yixian and said in confusion: "General, some of my soldiers have already attacked the top of the city. Why don't you wait a little longer?"

Yelu Yixian smiled and said: "The army has traveled hundreds of miles and is exhausted. It is not appropriate to fight again. Let you attack the city just to see how well they defend the city."

"Now I have a plan in mind. Once the baggage arrives, you, the vanguard, will still lead the charge."

Hearing this, the vanguard of the Liao army was overjoyed, "Thank you, general!"

In ancient warfare, the greatest achievement was to be the first to climb, break the formation, kill the general, and seize the flag.

The vanguard of the Liao army wanted to be the first to climb.

After the Liao army withdrew.

On the top of Yanmen Pass, Xu Changzhi and other generals were all smiling. They made a preliminary estimate.

In this battle, the casualties of the Great Zhou were less than 100, and the casualties of the Liao soldiers might reach about 1,000.

However, Wei Yuan still looked distressed. This battle loss ratio was still too high.

"Don't get carried away."

"You guys look at the enemy's retreating formation. It's orderly in the chaos, echoing from front to back, and there are rear troops to support them."

"Moreover, they were in the midst of attacking the city, but they suddenly retreated, which is enough to prove that the enemy coach is quite strategic and knows how to retreat bravely."

He had to remind the generals that their troops were already inferior to the enemy's. If they underestimated the enemy again, they would not be able to defend for ten days, let alone one month.

"But you don't have to be discouraged. No matter what, we won this battle."

"While the enemy is retreating, clean the battlefield quickly. Pick up the arrows first, then put away the gun and shield!"

In ancient marching operations, there was an unwritten rule that after the war, both the enemy and ourselves could clean up the battlefield.

However, that was an era of "propriety", and the Liao soldiers did not necessarily have it.

Sure enough, as soon as the soldiers came out of the city to clean the battlefield and before they could pick up a few arrows, the enemy sent out cavalry to harass them.

Fortunately, there were scouts with amazing eyesight that prevented a big mistake.

evening.

Wei Yuan had dinner at the top of the city.

With his status, the food will be better and there will be meat in the meal.

However, Wei Yuan still ate with the soldiers, a bowl of old rice porridge and some vegetables, and that was all.

At this time, Xu Changzhi sat next to Wei Yuan and sent the surrounding soldiers away. Then, he looked around, lowered his voice and asked:

"Brother Wei, please give me some guidance. Can we hold on this time? Or can we survive?"

Hear the words.

Wei Yuan fell into silence.

He didn't know the answer either.

After a long while, he angrily rebuked: "How many times have I told you that when marching and fighting, you must call upon your duties!"

From the moment Wei Yuan became a disciple of the British Duke, Xu Changzhi was assigned to his command by the British Duke.

Therefore, the relationship between the two is very good.

"Yes, yes, Commander Wei said yes." Xu Changzhi smiled awkwardly.

Wei Yuan asked curiously: "You are a noble concubine of the Marquis. Even if your family is in decline, with your prominent family, you can still find an official position. Why do you want to join the army?"

Xu Changzhi said helplessly: "Our lineage comes from the Xu family. It was my great-grandfather who had no choice but to adopt our lineage in order to prevent Marquis Yongyi from disappearing."

"As one of my great-aunts got married, she took away most of our Xu family's property. In addition, no one in the court was willing to take care of our lineage."

"I can't study well and I'm a concubine. I was displeased by my aunt in the family and contradicted her a few times. This also made my father angry. I had no choice but to join the army."

Wei Yuan nodded, "Your aunt is married to a man named Sheng?"

Xu Changzhi looked surprised, "How does Commander Wei know?"

Wei Yuan said sadly: "My eldest sister wanted to hire someone to treat my parents' illness, and I was young at the time, so I needed money for everything from studying to eating."

"We are about to run out of food. My second sister is not yet married and can't even collect a dowry. The eldest sister has no choice but to grievance herself and sell it to the Sheng family."

"Later, my eldest sister became a concubine of their Sheng family, so I heard my eldest sister talk about some past events about the Sheng family."

After hearing this, Xu Changzhi was silent for a moment and then found another topic.

"Commander Wei has a reputation as a scholar, why do you want to be a soldier?"

Wei Yuan felt a sore nose when he thought about how his two sisters had cared and loved him more than his own children over the years, and said:

"I want to be successful, I want to make a name for myself, and I want my two sisters to live well in this world."

"When this battle is over, I will go to their Sheng family to see my niece who I haven't met yet."

"I just don't know if it's possible."

Xu Changzhi knew what he was going to say and quickly interrupted:

"Commander Wei! Brother Wei! When this battle is over, I will accompany you to the Sheng family!"

"In any case, the Sheng family and I are related."

Wei Yuan patted his shoulder and said nothing more.

Suddenly.

There was a drumbeat.

Three drums in between!

"Jujianggu, Jujianggu! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Wei Yuan once again held the knife in his hand and kept talking loudly.