Chapter 1213: A Good Cook Cannot Cook without Rice

The news of Gongsun Zan's defeat had not yet been transmitted back to Luoyang, so Huangfu Chaobo and others did not know about it. However, even if they knew it, they could only sigh secretly, then call back Zhao Yun's army, and then notify the allied Black Mountain Army to retreat. In fact, whether it is Zhao Yun's army or the Black Mountain Army, facing the Wei State that is ready for battle, the strategy of disturbing the enemy can only play a limited role.

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Under the city of Changzi, Tian Yu, who had rested for a night, had led the army to approach the city again, preparing to launch an attack on this most prosperous and solid city in Shangdang. However, before the attack, Hao Meng's head and flag, as well as the armor and flags of the 6,000 Zhao army, and the more than 3,000 captured soldiers, were all used by Tian Yu.

As expected, as soon as these things appeared, the defenders in the city panicked. You know, the bravery of the Tang army is famous all over the world. When the King of Zhao united several princes to besiege Luoyang, he still failed to capture Luoyang in the end. In recent years, the Tang army has won almost every battle, with almost no defeats, which has made all countries fearful.

Now, the most elite 5,000 soldiers in Changzi City and the 1,000 cavalry guards of the captain were surrounded by the Tang army outside the city. Even the captain himself was beheaded. Nearly half of the 6,000 elite soldiers were beheaded on the spot, and the rest were all captured. How could the county soldiers, whose combat power is far inferior to these elite soldiers, feel about such a result? What's more, now 200 steps outside the south gate of Changzi City, nearly 3,000 elite soldiers who died in battle are spread all over the ground, occupying several acres of land. How could such a scene not make the county soldiers on the tower tremble with fear.

Fortunately, Tian Yu did not chop off the heads of the dead soldiers and put them in a Jingguan, otherwise the scene would be even more frightening. Of course, if he did so, it might also arouse the determination of the defenders in the city to fight to the death. The most important thing is that Huangfu Chaobo has always instilled in the Tang army soldiers that the soldiers who died on the battlefield are all respectable, and no one can blaspheme them at will.

Looking at the performance of the defenders on the top of the city, Tian Yu nodded with satisfaction, and then ordered the army to start attacking the city.

As a drum sounded, the soldiers who had been prepared began to approach the direction of the city. In the front were nearly 4,000 captured Zhao soldiers. They were carrying bags full of soil and ran towards the moat in front of the city wall. With thousands of captives, Tian Yu would not use his own civilians and auxiliary soldiers to fill the moat. If these captives want to get rid of their captive status, they must show their role.

Although Zhang Yang and the generals in the city tried their best to maintain it, the moat outside the city was filled with dozens of passages in the southeast and west directions in just half a day with the efforts of thousands of captives. Among these captives, those who performed well were promoted to managers of various sizes.

On the top of the city wall, Zhang Yang looked at the soldiers in front of him with some discouragement, and asked himself in his heart, is it possible that he was wrong? You know, since he has been in office for nearly 20 years, all the elite soldiers have come out in this way? However, the performance of these soldiers in front of him really made Zhang Yang puzzled. Before the formal battle, only his 1,000 personal guards of the 11,000 soldiers in the city had decent morale, and the other 10,000 soldiers were afraid of the enemy.

The 5,000 county soldiers were fine. Facing the Zhao army captives responsible for filling the river under the city, they could still shoot and kill them, but the 5,000 newly recruited soldiers almost scared the more than 3,000 Zhao army corpses outside the city. Seeing the current situation, Zhang Yang was very worried that these newly recruited soldiers would desert during the ant attack.

Outside the south gate of Changzi City, at the center of the Tang army, Tian Yu looked up at the sky. It was almost noon, so he ordered the troops to retreat and prepare to let the army have a good meal before starting the siege in the afternoon. Moreover, he had to attack the three walls at the same time, because he didn't have much time to waste. If he couldn't capture Changzi as soon as possible, he would have to give up Changzi and turn south to support the army to enter Shangdang and then attack the city. However, in this way,

the losses of the Tang army would increase exponentially.

Tian Yu was still confident that he could win the battle and enter Changzi City. He knew that the soldiers in his hands were the elite soldiers of the Tang army at the worst, and there were nearly 10,000 of the most elite guards, which were special troops. However, there were only 10,000 frightened soldiers in Changzi City. The difference between the two was self-evident. Moreover, among the 10,000 defenders in Changzi City, 5,000 of them were newly recruited soldiers. This was their first time on the battlefield. Not to mention going up to the city to defend against the enemy, it was already very good that they did not make trouble on the city wall.

So in the afternoon siege, Tian Yu was still prepared to surround the city with three missing one, and attack the three walls of the southeast and west with all his strength, and then leave the north side. Of course, once the war went smoothly, 3,000 cavalrymen would ambush outside the north gate, waiting for Zhang Yang and his men to escape from the city. The 3,000 cavalrymen would be their nightmare.

Amid the sound of thunderous war drums, the battle of Changzi City finally began. With Tian Yu's order, thousands of Tang soldiers carried siege ladders and launched an attack towards the city wall. Behind them were several battering rams, and behind them were slowly approaching wells and catapults. Although there were not many of them, the endless rain of arrows and the occasional stones from the sky were a big blow to the morale of the defenders on the city wall.

Although there were no catapults in the city to counterattack outside the city, their poor accuracy had little effect on the equipment outside the city.

However, the defenders on the city wall were not strong, but they were defending, while the Tang army was attacking. In one afternoon, the Tang army launched two rounds of attacks on the city wall, but they were blocked by Zhang Yang's personal guard battalion. However, the price paid was that the personal guard battalion lost more than half of its soldiers, and the loss of ordinary defenders was even greater than that of the Tang army. There was no way to deal with this. The gap between the soldiers of the two sides was there. Even with Zhang Yang's decades of experience in the battlefield, he was helpless. A good cook cannot cook without rice!

A day of fighting made Lu Zhong very angry. After the second round of attack was repelled, Lu Zhong directly asked Tian Yu to lead the troops to attack the city, but was rejected by the calm Tian Yu. He had seen that although the defenders had repelled both of their attacks, they were already at the end of their strength.

Following Tian Yu's order, the Tang army soldiers slowly withdrew to the camp several miles away. Looking at the Zhao army soldiers on the top of the city wall, Tian Yu said in his heart: "I will give you one more night. Before noon tomorrow, I will definitely attack the city. Zhang Yang, you just wait!"