Steel Dynasty - Chapter 171

[Chapter 171 Barbarian soldiers arrive]

Arrive The aroma of green grass mixed with earth blew from the land north of Cangzhou City.

Outside Cangzhou City, the golden sunshine shines on the endless grassland. A path leads into the distance. An occasional collapsed thatched house on the roadside tells the past of this place.

“After the barbarians captured Youzhou, they burned the houses and woods and arrested the people. A prosperous place was overgrown with weeds in ten years and turned into a grazing land for the Huyantuo tribe.”

On the city wall, Niu Ben looked at The endless grassland, the words are full of desolation.

Ten years ago, he stood on this city wall and witnessed the barbarian cavalry galloping here. The flames would not go out for months, burning the sky as red as blood.

Zhan Xingchang was also on the city wall. He worked hard for more than two months, and everyone else lost weight. However, with the work of tens of thousands of slaves working day and night, a majestic city wall appeared.

“It’s a pity that King Yong guarded Youzhou and was once the most powerful vassal king. Unexpectedly, he still couldn’t resist the barbarians.” Zhan Xingchang said.

Xiao Ming looked at the fertile land outside the city. From Cangzhou City to Youzhou, it was more than four hundred miles in total, and Youzhou was where the Forbidden City of the modern Ming Dynasty was located.

The Ming Dynasty, known as the emperor guarding the country and the king dying in the country, disappeared from history like dust after losing Shanhaiguan. King Yong also broke through Shanhaiguan and the entire fiefdom was trampled by the barbarians.

If Niu Ben hadn’t defended Cangzhou City and encountered the Ottoman Empire in the Western Region, the barbarians would never have given up on their plan to continue going south.

In this way, the Ottoman Empire inadvertently delayed the collapse of the Great Yu Kingdom.

“Don’t inflate other people’s ambitions and destroy your own prestige.”

Xiao Ming said lightly. The Chongqing Kingdom has become barbaric. What it needs most at this time is morale. Now Xiao Ming has no way to retreat. If he doesn’t defend Cangzhou, he will die. Not far away.

Zhan Xingchang woke up with a start. He fell into the same compassion as many scholars in Dayu.

Niu Ben nodded, “There is nothing to fear from the barbarians. They are also made of flesh and blood. There is nothing to fear. The only thing you need to worry about is that the soldiers are timid before they fight.”

Zhan Xingchang looked embarrassed and said, “I made His Highness and the general laugh. “

Xiao Ming patted him on the shoulder and said, “But what you said is not entirely wrong. Tactically, you must pay attention to the enemy, and strategically, you must despise the enemy.”

“Hahaha… Your Highness’s words are a classic, and they can be written into the book. The art of war is in.” Niu Ben was startled and said suddenly.

Zhan Xingchang fell into thinking after hearing this.

Xiao Ming said with a smile: “These words are not said by me, but by a great man, but these words are in response to the current situation with the barbarians.”

The three of them talked while patrolling the city wall. The city wall facing the grassland is five hundred meters long.

Now Xiao Ming has transferred most of the troops from the fief to Cangzhou City. The number is as expected, a total of 50,000 people.

Except for the Qingzhou Army, which is equipped with new plate armor and weapons, the other new armies have poor equipment and can only be used as backup.

After inspecting the Cangzhou City Wall, Zhan Xingchang basically realized his original idea.

Nowadays, there is a turret every ten meters on the tower, and a protruding battlement every fifty meters.

These battlements were perpendicular to the walls, allowing soldiers to have more defensive positions.

At this time, crossbows and catapults have been arranged in the battlements, and the crossbowmen are also in place, ready to fight at any time.

At this time, there were still piles of rolling logs, stones, iron caltrops, long forks and other defensive tools on the city wall outside the battlements. The long fork was used to push away the ladder.

And everything else is just for throwing away.

Along the inner side of the city wall are hanging baskets leading into the city. Under the hanging baskets are more supplies for city defense. If the rolling logs and stones on top are used up, the top ones will be lifted up by auxiliary soldiers.

At the same time, there are large iron pots every twenty meters under the city wall. These iron pots are filled with oil, also to deal with the climbing barbarian soldiers.

Under the city wall outside the city is a different scene.

A trench three meters deep and three meters wide was dug along the city wall, and protruding and sharpened bamboo pieces were buried in the trench.

The barbarian soldiers of this era wore nothing more than leather boots, and the soft bottoms could not withstand such sharp bamboo splinters.

On the outside of the trench were densely packed pillars half as tall as a man. These pillars were laid on foundations and buried underneath in order to prevent the barbarians from charging on a large scale, allowing the barbarian soldiers to pile up together and become targets for artillery.

“Your Highness, there are many traps on the outside. These traps are covered with turf and are difficult to detect.”

Zhan Xingchang was formulating the defense strategy for the city wall this time, including trenches, stone pillars, etc.

Niu Ben said to Xiao Ming: “This young man is good and insidious enough. Now the barbarians are coming, but he will suffer.”

Zhan Xingchang said depressedly: “Captain, are you praising me or hurting me?”

“Of course I’m complimenting you.” Niu Ben laughed. Like Pang Yukun, he also loves talents.

In his opinion, this Zhan Xingchang was much better than many powerful children.

Xiao Ming was also very satisfied with Zhan Xingchang’s arrangement, because Zhan Xingchang also used hemp rope to trap rattan soaked in tung oil on the stone pillars.

These rattans are very strong after being soaked in tung oil, and it takes a while to chop them with a sword.

During this time, the crossbowmen on the city wall were able to fire with all their strength.

“Good job.” Xiao Ming said with satisfaction.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to siege a city, and it is difficult to win even with five times the number of troops.

The more obstacles are set up during the siege, the greater the losses for the siege party.

After walking around the city wall, Xiao Ming remembered that he had not seen Lu Fei and Luo Xin. He asked, “Old general, where are Lu Fei and Luo Xin?”

Niu Ben smiled bitterly at the mention of this.

He said: “Ever since they received His Highness’s telescope, these two people have not been idle. Instead, they go out with the soldiers to investigate every day. With this telescope, they can detect the barbarian scouts in advance every time. This makes them happy. You can’t stop it.”

Xiao Ming shook his head helplessly. Going out with a telescope was like bullying a short-sighted person. No wonder the two couldn’t stop.

The two were talking about Cao Cao, and Cao Cao was about to arrive. They saw a pair of cavalry figures appearing in the distance. The two in front were Lu Fei and Luo Xin.

When they got closer, the two of them also saw Xiao Ming.

After entering the city, the two men immediately climbed up the city wall. Lu Fei was panting: “Your Highness, the Huyantuo tribe has accelerated its march. It is estimated that they will arrive at the city at noon tomorrow.”

“This time the entire Huyantuo tribe is migrating to Cangzhou City. It is very important. The meaning of stationing here is that the barbarian army is behind them. They are providing cattle, sheep and other food for the following army.”

Niu Ben asked: “What is the number of the army?”

“The Huyantuo tribe alone has 20,000 cavalry. , and there are countless slaves.” Luo Xin looked solemn.

(End of chapter)