Chapter 108 Zang Ba's Substitute
Liaoxi Pass, the southwestern part of the vassal state of Liaodong, was the only way to attack the four counties of Liaodong from Liaoxi.
In fact, Liucheng, north of Liaoxi Pass, was originally a route leading to the four counties of Liaodong.
However, Qiuliju, who once lived there, had already led his tribe to migrate south to the Feiru area, leaving few foreign tribes in Liucheng.
There is no way around it. Every day, many small tribes under his command sneak away to the vassal state of Liaodong. No one can stand it.
They knew very well how comfortable the Wuhuan people in Liaodong's vassal state lived.
But Qiuliju could not act in this way, because in the vassal state of Liaodong, the chief was the one who suffered, while the ordinary tribesmen were comfortable, and he could not betray the class he belonged to.
In order to stop this situation, he had fought with the opponent several times, but was beaten and fled away in embarrassment every time.
Fortunately, he was cautious by nature and was able to lead his people to retreat in time every time, so he was never captured by the enemy.
If you can't afford to provoke, you can afford to avoid it. The cowardly Qiu Liju knew that if he stayed in Liucheng any longer, he would soon be left alone, so he decisively and forced the tribes to move south.
At this moment, looking at the majestic pass in front of him, Zhang Chun was extremely shocked. He turned to Qiu Liju and asked, "When did such a majestic pass appear here?"
Qiu Liju was also surprised and shook his head: "When I passed by here three years ago, there was no such thing. I don't know when it appeared."
Tian Ze stood on the wall of the pass, overlooking the so-called 60,000 troops in front of him with a disdainful sneer.
Although the formation looked huge, he could tell at a glance that most of them were weak men, and only the 10,000 Wuhuan cavalry were worth looking at.
Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju were both local tyrants with tens of thousands of servants and abundant financial resources. It was precisely because of this that they were able to create such a huge momentum in a short period of time and mobilize the so-called army of more than 100,000.
However, among the army of more than 100,000, except for 20,000 to 30,000 Wuhuan cavalry who were quite combat-effective, the rest were mostly farmers who had just put down their hoes, no different from the Yellow Turban bandits.
Such a force might be able to deal with some county soldiers, but it is nothing in front of him.
In order to reasonably repel the 60,000 bandit troops, Tian Ze took into account the disparity in the strength of the two sides and finally decided to adopt the strategy of defending the city.
Over the years, Chen Gong has built a lot of buildings in Liaodong, and the first priority is naturally the checkpoints and fortresses on various important roads.
Based on the principle of prudence above all else, Chen Gong and Cheng Yu were extremely attentive in deploying the defense of Liaodong, almost regardless of cost, which resulted in a rather exaggerated defense system in Liaodong.
Since the territory is now completely connected, the east and south are not heavily fortified and are closely guarded by the navy. The north has the natural barrier of Changbai Mountain, which can be resisted with only 10,000 infantry.
The area that needs to be focused on defense is the western border with the Han and Xianbei.
Therefore, Chen Gong and Cheng Yu focused all their energy on this and carefully arranged three lines of defense. Liaoxi Pass was only the first checkpoint, and there were two more checkpoints behind it.
Tian Ze was full of confidence and didn't worry about the safety of the rear at all. He was even more convinced that this level would never be easily broken through.
The terrain here has been carefully surveyed and considered. To the northwest are endless mountains and to the southeast is the magnificent Bohai Sea. There is only one narrow path for travel.
The entire level is made of solid cement and tough steel, with three walls forming a strict defense system in the shape of a Chinese character "日". The wall is nearly 10 feet high and 10 feet wide, and there are many towers and auxiliary walls at the connection points, making it as solid as a rock.
It is simply a pipe dream for this group of rabble to break through such a magnificent pass.
"General Mitian and King Anding are here, why don't you surrender quickly? God is so merciful that he can spare your lives!" Realizing that the checkpoint in front of him was difficult to overcome, Zhang Chun ordered his generals to ride forward and shout, trying to persuade them to surrender.
Tian Ze, wearing Ming Guang armor and looking heroic, stood on the city wall and said in a loud voice like a bell: "Rebellious ministers and traitors, everyone has the right to kill them! The Liaodong governor is here, if you have the ability, just attack us, why waste your breath here."
After he finished speaking, a swift arrow shot out from the hand of Zang Ba beside Tian Ze, like a flash of lightning, and hit the enemy general's horse half a step in front of it. The enemy general's horse was frightened and neighed continuously, almost throwing him off the horse. The scene was extremely embarrassing.
"Xuan Gao, what great archery skills!" Tian Ze couldn't help but admire.
Zang Ba smiled calmly: "It's just a trifle, far inferior to Zilong. I really made a fool of myself in front of my lord."
Zang Ba was deeply moved by Tian Ze's trust in choosing him to guard the pass together with him. He was full of confidence and wanted to show his talent in this battle. Looking at Zhang Chunjun who had already begun to prepare for the siege, Tian Ze gently patted Zang Ba on the shoulder and then activated his talent.
Zang Ba immediately felt a clear plan view of the surrounding battlefield vaguely emerging in his mind. The green dots representing the entire Liaoxi Pass and his 5,000 defenders were clearly visible on it, as were the red dots representing the enemies around the pass.
Zang Ba could even vaguely and actively sense the specific situation and status of each green dot.
A small map also appeared in the minds of the soldiers under Zang Ba, but the scope was much smaller, and they could only sense the area within a few dozen steps around them.
"How?" Tian Ze asked.
"Too powerful!" Zang Ba's eyes were full of excitement, and his own talent was also activated, and he actually achieved full bonus on the 5,000 soldiers around him.
"My lord, my talent bonus has not been affected in any way." Zang Ba said excitedly.
Tian Ze smiled slightly, it was indeed so.
The stable development in the past two years allowed him to gain a large amount of spiritual energy. After consuming nearly one million spiritual energy, his cultivation successfully broke through to the seventh level of Qi Refining.
Although he did not acquire any new spells, his talent was strengthened again and he was now able to perfectly realize his previous vision.
Moreover, he can use spiritual energy as a medium to bear the consumption brought by talent, so as not to occupy the talent bonus quota of the soldiers, and add his "mini map" talent to the soldiers and generals without loss.
However, feeling the rapid depletion of spiritual energy in his body, the originally excited Tian Ze suddenly calmed down. Too much spiritual energy was consumed, and these were only five thousand soldiers.
It seems that this method can only be used as a trump card and cannot be used as a normal practice.
"Xuan Gao, it's up to you from now on."
In the past two years, he was busy with government affairs and could not spare much time to study the art of war. Although his qualifications had improved again, his talent in the art of war was still not as extraordinary as Guan Yu and Zhang Liao.
It is normal that everyone has his own strengths and weaknesses. After all, military affairs are his weakness. It is a huge improvement to be able to improve from knowing nothing to an above-average level.
Moreover, he has now found a temporary solution to his military shortcomings, which is:
Pick up!
"Don't worry, my lord!" Zang Ba said confidently.
At this moment, with Tian Ze's mental support and assistance, he felt as if he could do anything and had full confidence in commanding 5,000 soldiers like his own arms.
Not to mention the mob under the city wall, he was not afraid at all even if he was fighting against Xu Rong and Guan Yu.
Invincible!
Accompanied by the rumbling drumbeats from under the city, Zhang Chun's army began a large-scale siege.
A soldier pushed ladders and other siege weapons and rushed towards the checkpoint recklessly.
Countless arrows and rocks poured down like heavy rain, instantly forming a death zone, directly clearing out a group of siege soldiers and stunning Zhang Chun's army.
Zhang Chun and others stared at the horrifying scene in front of them in amazement, feeling extremely horrified.
Why are there so many crossbows and catapults in this level!
Looking at the three hundred crossbows and one hundred catapults on the city wall, Tian Ze nodded with satisfaction.
"Yes, these siege weapons have been improved very well."
Since we are defending a city, we naturally have to maximize our own advantages, and city defense weapons are indispensable.
"My lord, these craftsmen are really amazing. They can actually create such a powerful device. This large crossbow originally required seven or eight people to operate, but now only three people are needed."
"The same goes for the catapult. It has been operated by more than ten people but now only requires five people, and its accuracy and lethality have been greatly enhanced." Zang Ba couldn't help but sigh.
(End of this chapter)
