Wang Chang naturally understood the implications. At this point, there was no need to think about attacking from both inside and outside; defending the city was the priority. "Quickly send orders to completely block the main gate with earth and stones! Hurry!"
"Yes, sir!" The messenger responded and ran down the city wall with his large shield on his head, but he died under a hail of arrows after only a few steps, without even letting out a scream.
"Holy crap!" Li Tong's eyes widened instantly; this was far too dangerous!
"Excellent! With General Li personally leading the charge, the city gates will surely be blocked in time!" Wang Feng shouted, lying on the ground.
Li Tong blinked. "This humble general has suddenly thought of a better way. Let's all shout together, 'The General has ordered that the city gates be sealed with earth and stones immediately!'"
"That's one way too! Everyone shout! Send the military order down to the city!" Wang Chang didn't want Li Tong to take the risk; it wasn't worth dying like that.
"The General has ordered that the city gates be sealed off with earth and stones immediately!"
"The General has ordered that the city gates be sealed off with earth and stones immediately!"
...
In fact, Wang Chang was very good at defending the city. Although the city gates were not sealed, earth and stones had been prepared next to each gate, and wooden rafts and ropes were used to block them. Once the city gates were in danger, everyone would work together and the city gates would be sealed off in no time.
At this moment, three armored behemoths made of massive shields were rushing rapidly toward the city gate of Kunyang, followed by tens of thousands of swordsmen and shieldmen.
Xiang Yu and Ju Wuba were both inside the giant beast in the middle, one at the head and the other at the tail, with two rows of strong men carrying a thick battering ram in the middle.
The low-end version of this thing is a sharpened log, the mid-range version has the tip wrapped in metal, the top-end version is called a crash wagon and has wheels underneath, and the deluxe version can be towed by warhorses.
The one Xiang Yu used was the mid-range version; building a ram was too troublesome, and it was too large a target, making it easy to be destroyed.
Suppressing the enemy with a rain of arrows, and then breaching the city gates under the cover of a shield formation—this was Xiang Yu's siege plan.
The reason for bringing Ju Wuba along was to make him take the blame. Anyway, Liu Xiu already regarded Ju Wuba as an opponent, so it didn't matter if he did something earth-shattering.
Of course, this Ju Wuba is now Xiang Yu's clone. He has lost the ability to control beasts, but he has super strong martial power and is almost no different from Xiang Yu a year ago.
As for Ju Wuba's injuries, Xiang Yu had already scraped off a small piece of healing medicine and the wounds were almost healed.
At this time, Liu Xiu was leading his army to pursue the three thousand soldiers left behind by Chen Mao.
Yes, Chen Mao suffered another defeat; his three thousand men still couldn't stop Liu Xiu's attack.
However, Chen Mao was not flustered at all, because Wang Song and Wang Cai's two armies had already split into two groups and surrounded Liu Xiu's army.
Delightfully, Liu Xiujun seemed to have been blinded by victory and continued to push forward.
Liu Xiu advanced triumphantly and had already reached the edge of the Xinjun Company camp, while Li Zhi's three thousand main force had also caught up.
Li Zhi thought Liu Xiu's victory was too easy; the new army was utterly vulnerable. He couldn't let Liu Xiu get all the credit.
However, after Li Zhi caught up, Liu Xiu ordered a halt to the pursuit.
"General Liu, why did you stop chasing?" Li Zhi cursed inwardly. Could it be that this guy wanted to take all the credit for himself?
“Something’s not right. Kunyang City is in danger,” Liu Xiu said coldly.
"Hmm? Kunyang has been resisting the siege of the new army these days, so there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to hold out now that we've arrived," Li Zhi asked suspiciously.
"Because the general has been changed, it must be that guy Ju Wuba who participated in the siege. Everyone, let's rest for a while." Liu Xiu said, then closed his eyes.
"Ju Wuba?" Li Zhi cursed inwardly. He's just a beast tamer, why make such a fuss? Liu Xiu is clearly using this man as an excuse to prevent him from reaping the credit.
Suddenly, the wind picked up and changed from a southeasterly wind to a westerly wind, blowing harder and harder.
A dark cloud gradually appeared on the western horizon, seemingly blown in by the wind from an unknown distance.
The east gate of Kunyang, atop the city wall.
The rain of arrows suddenly lessened considerably; the wind had become strong enough to affect the trajectory of the arrows.
Wang Feng stretched his hand out from under the shield, "The wind has changed, the wind has changed, hahaha... Heaven is helping me!"
Li Tong looked behind him and exclaimed, "Dark clouds are drifting over; there's bound to be a heavy rain. Now the new army won't be able to attack the city! Haha!"
Wang Chang breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately realized, "Everyone prepare rolling logs and stones! The enemy is about to reach the city gate!"
Clang, clang, clang...
Arrow after arrow struck the behemoth formed by the shields of the new army.
Xiang Yu suddenly raised his head. "No, the wind direction has changed, and it's very strong. Immediately order the arrow corps to stop firing!"
In fact, even without Xiang Yu's order, the rain of arrows would have stopped, because the wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the new army's arrow formation could no longer be adjusted, so the arrows that were shot could not fly very far at all.
Hao Jiu cursed under his breath, "He really is the chosen one of this world!" "Xiang Yu, we need to hurry, it's probably going to rain heavily soon! And there might even be meteorites falling from the sky later!"
"A meteorite? Dionysus, you must be joking." Xiang Yu frowned, and at the same time ordered the new army, "All troops, speed up! Charge into Kunyang in one fell swoop! Kill!"
Chapter 267 The Decisive Battle of Kunyang (Part 4)
Kunyang is a wonderful place, with vast fertile fields to the southwest and east, and numerous villages.
But these days, it's enough to make you despair.
"Damn it! These locusts are back again! Someone, please save us!"
"Heavens above, open your eyes!"
"With war, banditry, and locust plagues, is there any way for ordinary people to survive?"
...
The villagers were filled with despair as they watched the vast rice seedlings crawling with locusts.
However, there are still some people who refuse to accept their fate and have not given up hope.
"I'll beat you to death! I'll beat you to death!..."
A seven or eight-year-old child bravely challenged locusts by waving a stick, and then a swarm of locusts suddenly flew up, scaring the child to tears.
"Wow! Waaaaah..."
Natural disasters are not things that humans can easily overcome, but the locust plague in Kunyang is truly strange.
The adults used torches to drive away the swarm of insects and rescue the child. They slowly raised their heads and looked westward, where a large patch of dark clouds shrouded Kunyang City.
"It's raining? Is this heaven taking pity on us...?"
West of Kunyang, the central camp of the new army.
"This storm couldn't have come at the worst possible time! Order a halt to the siege; this awful weather is really bad for us," Wang Xun cursed angrily.
"The commander leading the attack today is Wang Xiang. As long as he hasn't given up, we should give him our full support. The wind has shifted, and we're in the favorable direction, so let's make our side the main attack direction." Wang Yi was a little worried, fearing that today might be the last chance to attack the city.
Ju Wuba had previously warned the enemy that they might fabricate a pretext that Wancheng had been captured in order to shake the morale of the new army. But upon closer examination, Wancheng had already held out for a long time. Could it really hold out indefinitely?
What if the enemy is telling the truth? They couldn't even defeat Kunyang, which was defended by more than 10,000 rebels, with an army of 400,000. If the 100,000 rebels from Wancheng came, how could they possibly win the battle?
Just then, a soldier came to report.
"Reporting to the Grand Minister of Works and the Minister of Education! A large rebel army is attacking from the west!"
"Hiss... How many troops are there?" Wang Yi was shocked. Had his prediction come true? Wancheng had really fallen?
"They number around three thousand, but they are extremely fierce. The outer perimeter of the camp has already been breached!" the soldier said with lingering fear.
"Hmph! It seems Ju Wuba was right after all. The rebels are trying to mislead our army with this small force. If Wancheng were really breached, how could they send such a small force to rescue Kunyang? Moreover, our army has deployed many scouts in Nanyang. If Wancheng falls and the main force of the rebels arrives, they will definitely find out." Wang Xun analyzed.
“What the Minister says makes sense. Do you know who commands these three thousand soldiers?” Wang Yi had always refused to admit that the reason he insisted on attacking Kunyang instead of Wancheng was that he was actually afraid of Liu Yan. If it was Liu Yan who came this time, things would be very bad.
"Some people have seen large banners with the characters 'Liu' and 'Fu' on them, as well as the banners of the Chunling Army," the soldier replied truthfully.
"Chunling Army? That's Liu Yan's army!" Wang Yi exclaimed in surprise.
"Hmph! You're afraid of Liu Yan, but I'm not! Besides, how could Liu Yan only bring three thousand men? At most, it's just two of his generals. Grand Commandant, do you dare to come with me to meet the enemy?" Wang Xun tightened his belt.
“If Lord Situ is not afraid of damaging his reputation, then go ahead. Unless Liu Xuan comes in person, I will not fight!” Wang Yi had a good reason.
"Haha, that's true. Grand Commandant, please rest assured and hold the central command. I'll lead the army to capture that arrogant rebel general and behead him in front of the Kunyang garrison. Let's see if they surrender or not!" After saying this, Wang Xun remembered that the Kunyang garrison had surrendered once not long ago, but they hadn't agreed to surrender...
East of Kunyang, the rear army of Gengshi Army.
Upon seeing the enemy troops flanking from the rear, Song Tiao was terrified. "Quickly inform General Liu Xiu! Our army is about to be surrounded!"
"General! Our army is small, with only a thousand men, while the enemy has more than ten thousand cavalry. We cannot withstand them! Let's escape!" the lieutenant said, his voice trembling with tears.
"We may escape the enemy cavalry, but what about our soldiers? What about the vanguard and the main force?" Song Tiao gritted his teeth. "All soldiers, listen to my command! Advance immediately and rejoin the main force!"
"Yes!" The generals and soldiers of Gengshi Army had nothing to say. They were surrounded by enemies on all sides, and even if they wanted to escape, they might not be able to. They might as well go and join forces with Liu Xiu.
Soon, Song Tiao arrived at Liu Xiu's location first. "Uncle Wen! We've fallen into a trap! Let's break out quickly!"
Seeing the rear guard being driven over by the enemy, Li Zhi's face turned ashen. "Liu Xiu! Is this your strategy? We're all surrounded! What are we going to do!"
"General Song, your arrival is just in time. Our remaining three thousand-plus men are all elite troops. Why not take a gamble, form a suicide squad, and charge straight to the city walls, joining forces with the city's defenders to launch a pincer attack and completely defeat the enemy!" Liu Xiu said solemnly.
"Huh?" Li Zhi and the others were dumbfounded. Were they trying to kill themselves quickly enough?
"We must fight to the death! If you believe in me, charge with me! If you don't, then go wherever you want! The enemy can't hold on any longer, this heavy rain is our best protection! Soldiers of the righteous army! Charge with me!" Liu Xiu brandished his ring-pommel sword and charged out first.
Song Tiao roared and charged forward with Liu Xiu, shouting, "We must fight to the death! Charge! The decisive battle is today!"
Li Zhi cursed under his breath, "Where else can we go now? Charge!"
"kill!"
...
Outside the east gate of Kunyang, arrows rained down like rain; this was a counterattack by the Gengshi army inside the city.
However, the new army's vanguard consisted of either shield-bearers or sword-and-shield soldiers, who stacked their shields together as they advanced. Thus, no matter how fierce the arrow rain was, it could not force the new army to retreat.
Of course, the real killer weapon when defending a city is the rolling logs and stones thrown from the city walls. Although the range is short, the destructive power is enormous, and if the enemy wants to attack the city, they have to deliver themselves to the city.
Two of the three shield-bearing behemoths that were originally leading the new army had shrunk considerably by the time they reached the vicinity of the city gate.
Because the Gengshi army could see that there was a wooden stake in the middle one, they focused their attention on that one.
Whenever the central shield behemoth suffered casualties, reinforcements would be brought in from the two shield formations on either side to ensure that the battering ram was transported to the city gate as planned.
Finally, the city gate came into view, and then logs and stones poured down from the top of the city wall.
Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang...
"Charge straight at them!" Xiang Yu shouted!
"Charge!"