allonlinenovel Chapter 156: Back to the old business
Chapter 156: Back to the old business
Seeing that the two had finished what they wanted to say, Pei Ji asked the military doctor and the soldiers serving in the tent to leave, and stood up to get a map.
"Brother Zhou is right. It will be impossible to storm Liangdu with only the troops we have." He sat down at the table and said calmly.
"What should we do?" Shou Junwu was very anxious, "Should we ask for help from Ao County as soon as possible?"
"Not for now. We had a fierce battle today, and asking for help may not be effective." Pei Ji seems to be careless, but he actually has a very keen understanding of human nature.
He knew that Chu Yuanming had no experience in war and could only accept victory, with a low tolerance for failure. As long as he could not conquer Liangdu, Chu Yuanming would not truly trust him.
"I have already thought of a plan, but it is a bit risky and we need to take a chance." Pei Ji unfolded the map and asked Zhou Yao and Shou Junwu to sit down and look at the map together.
"There is a mountain named Bi in the northwest of Liangdu. There have been continuous spring rains recently, and the streams on the mountain have risen sharply. If we can divert the water to attack the city, we can achieve twice the result with half the effort." Pei Ji pointed to a high place outside Liangdu City in the picture.
"During this siege, we have opened a gap in the northwest corner of Liangdu City. The Wuge people are not good at repairing. They can't repair the city walls and gates in a few days, which will help us divert water to break into the city."
After Pei Ji's explanation, Zhou Yao and Shou Junwu immediately understood his intention.
"This is a very good plan." Shou Junwu was delighted, "But how do we divert this water?"
Pei Ji smiled slightly and said confidently: "Yesterday Zhuo Zhi led the team up the mountain to provide cover. I have asked him to send spies to explore the terrain. We only need to build a dam on Bishan to store water, and then we can guide the water to rush to Liangdu."
Speaking of water conservancy, this is Zhou Yao's specialty, so of course he has his opinions.
"Brother Pei, this is a very dangerous move. If you fail, you will end up hurting yourself." He said worriedly, "First, the dam is a huge project. If Wu Ge finds out, this plan will fail. Second, Rong County is downstream of Liangdu. If you divert water to flood the city, you will hurt yourself."
“Wealth and honor are achieved through risk. If we don’t fight now, when will we fight?” Shou Junwu didn’t understand the pros and cons and seemed very fanatical.
Pei Ji's eyes flashed with determination. "Brother Zhou's words make sense, but it is precisely because we are downstream that Wu Ge would not have thought that we would choose this plan. Besides, we are not without confidence. I have found a local who is familiar with the mountain road to lead the way to ensure that there will be no mistakes."
Zhou Yao and Pei Ji looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes.
"Okay!" Zhou Yao also made up his mind, "Let's do as General Pei said and give it a try!"
"If we really want to divert water to irrigate the city, we can first build a water diversion ditch in Rong County. When the time comes, we can divert the water from Wuge to the east and use the ditch to drain the water," he suggested.
The three of them made their decision and immediately began to prepare.
Pei Ji sent Zhuo Zhi to lead soldiers and laborers to Bishan to build a dam. At the same time, he asked Shou Junwu to supervise the progress of the project in the city and lead his men to speed up the digging of ditches in Rong County.
Zhou Yao was really worried about the people sent by Pei Ji. Changqi was not like the south. Even if it rained, the rainfall would not be very heavy. It was not easy to accumulate enough flood to attack the city.
He volunteered to go up the mountain with Zhuo Zhi to survey the terrain, hoping to use his professional knowledge to carefully design the structure and location of the water-blocking dam to ensure that the water flow could be directed to the maximum extent.
Pei Ji did not expect Zhou Yao to be so enthusiastic. With the preparation of the crossbow, he recognized the ability of this rival in love very much, so he sent more people and ordered Zhuo Zhi to protect Lord Zhou at all costs. He asked them to take a team of people and quietly go to Bishan.
The water diversion and drainage projects were being built in full swing, but the Uge people were not so understanding and would not allow the Zhao Dynasty to have time for construction.
In return, on the second day after Pei Ji attacked the city, General Wuge Getai personally led the cavalry out of the city to challenge, and the army approached and prepared to attack the city.
"I heard that you sent a boy from the Shou family to join the battle. I wonder which one it is? Although your eldest brother from the Shou family is not good at fighting, he always dares to fight. Would the boy not even dare to show up?"
Shou Junwu's face turned ugly after hearing this. He knew that Ge Tai was deliberately provoking him, but he still couldn't help but want to respond.
Pei Ji immediately stopped him with his eyes, signaling him not to be impulsive.
Shou Junwu swallowed his breath again, but Ge Tai outside the city was still mocking him.
"Haha! The coward from the Shou family doesn't even dare to come out and fight me? Is he scared?" Ge Tai shouted loudly.
Shou Junwu clenched his fists tightly, and he wanted to rush out immediately to fight with Ge Tai. But he also understood that Wu Ge's entire army was on alert and the horses were very fast. Going out to fight at this time would be like opening the door to the enemy, which would only allow the enemy to succeed.
So, he tried hard to control his emotions and looked at Getai quietly.
Seeing that Shou Junwu did not respond, Ge Tai increased his attack and began to insult Shou Junwu's brother Shou Junchou, calling him a defeated general and an incompetent person.
These words deeply hurt Shou Junwu's heart, and he could no longer bear it.
"Enough! Ge Tai, you despicable villain! If you have the guts, come out and fight us fairly, instead of talking here." Shou Junwu roared angrily.
Ge Tai was delighted to see Shou Junwu finally took the bait. He thought that as long as he provoked him a little more, Shou Junwu would completely lose his mind.
"Haha! So you can get angry? But a real man doesn't rely on words. Come down and fight with me." Ge Tai said with a proud smile.
There were sparks of anger in Shou Junwu's eyes, but thinking of Pei Ji's warning, he could only continue to endure.
Seeing that the boy remained silent no matter how he provoked him, Ge Tai lost interest and without further ado, he directly ordered an attack on the city.
Yesterday, the offensive and defensive forces suddenly changed.
Wuge's army pushed the siege chariots towards the wall of Rong County. Pei Ji calculated the distance in his mind. When he saw Wuge stepping into the attack range, he immediately ordered: "Shoot!"
The number of finished products of the repeating crossbow machine was limited, so Pei Ji mixed the crossbows with archers together, which made the power much greater than the original bows and arrows.
Moreover, the density and speed of firing ten arrows in succession are much higher than that of archers shooting one by one.
Looking at the rain of arrows in the sky, even an experienced general like Ge Tai was a little dazed for a moment.
Taking advantage of Ge Tai's distraction, Pei Ji personally commanded the crossbowmen to fire. The spear-like arrows flew straight towards Ge Tai on his horse.
The large crossbow that Zhou Yao and Pei Ji talked about was this bed crossbow. One or several bows were mounted on the bed frame, and the wheel axle at the rear was twisted to draw the bow, load the arrow, and wait for firing.
The catapult force of the bed crossbow far exceeds that of the crossbows used by a single person, such as the split, jue or waist-drawn crossbows. In a sense, it can be regarded as a chariot.
In order to make a crossbow, Pei Ji dismantled the beams of the county government office and some wealthy houses in the city and gave them to Zhou Yao for use.
Seeing the power of the repeating crossbow, the people who had moved back initially wanted to take advantage of the chaos to occupy some good houses, but later they spontaneously dismantled the beams and sent them to the military camp.
Time was limited, so they worked intensively and only built this one.
Although the number was small, the effect on the battlefield was very shocking. The arrows flew straight towards Getai. He could not dodge in time and the iron feathers on the arrows scratched his helmet and he fell off his horse.
With their commander injured, Wuge's troops lost their composure and soon retreated back to the city. The Zhao Dynasty soldiers and civilians on the city wall cheered.
Pei Ji looked at the enemy army going away, calculating the time in his mind. He turned to the generals around him and said: "Although we won this battle, Liangdu has not been conquered. Everyone must hold on to the city and strive for victory!"
Meanwhile, Zhou Yao and Zhuo Zhi's water storage project in Bishan was progressing smoothly.
Zhou Yao surveyed along the river and, based on the mountain terrain and water source, chose the narrowest part of the river to intercept it. He also planned the shortest route to divert several small streams and merge into the Bi River as quickly as possible.
In addition, he had the water storage depth expanded to further increase the water storage capacity.
Moreover, he also deliberately made a simple diversion, diverting part of the water out to maintain the water level of the Bi River, so as not to reduce the river water to a level that would alert people in the city.
Zhuo Zhi returned to the city to report, and even Pei Ji felt that this boy was really cunning.
"General, Lord Zhou said that the sluice gates can be opened to release the water in three days at most," Zhuo Zhi said.
"Okay. After all, it's not safe outside the city. I have arranged Mo Han to be on guard in a hidden place at the foot of the mountain. He must protect the safety of the mountain." Pei Ji was confident. The Wuge people were good at fighting but not good at strategizing. This move would surely defeat the enemy.