Chapter 367 The wind blows and the clouds fly; the war drums beat and the horses neigh!
The group stopped a hundred feet away from the city wall. Looking at the majestic mountains, Yang Zhengshan seemed to be thinking about something.

"Still don't know how many crossbows there are on the city wall?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Niu Zhuang shook his head. "I haven't found out. I asked a lot of people, but they don't know how many crossbows there are on the city wall!"

The mounted crossbow is the most powerful weapon for city defense. Chongshan Pass is the most important pass in Chongshan Town, and there are quite a few mounted crossbows arranged on its city walls.

If it were Chongshan Pass five years ago, whether it was Yang Zhengshan, Niu Zhuang or Tang Feihu, they would all know how many crossbows were on the city wall.

But they don’t know much about Chongshan Pass now.

Ji Feiyu has always acted in secret, and he has been deliberately concealing things. Over the years, Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu knew very little about the military deployment within Chongshan Pass.

"There are two walls at Chongshan Pass. Although they are the same height, there are still differences between the two walls."

"The wall on the south side of the city was built later and is only ten feet wide, but the wall on the inner city was built first and is eighteen feet wide!"

Tang Feihu said.

The layout of Chongshan Pass is roughly in the shape of a "sun".

Originally Chongshan Pass was just a pass, but later, as more and more merchants migrated there, the court built a new city behind the pass.

The east and west sides of Chongshan Pass are connected by mountains and forests, which are not suitable for sieges. Only the north and south sides can carry out large-scale sieges.

The city wall on the north was originally built to defend against the Hu people. The wall there was not only thick, but also equipped with many mechanisms. It had the most crossbows, and even catapults, arrowheads and the like.

The city wall on the south side is relatively simple, but if you attack the city from the south, after breaking through the south wall, you must also capture the middle wall.

The defensive power of the middle wall is definitely not as good as the one on the north, but taking down both walls is probably not less difficult than taking down the north wall.

"In the art of warfare, attacking the heart is better than attacking the city."

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and spoke softly.

A strong attack is the worst option. Although they have been preparing for the siege for the past twenty days, Yang Zhengshan still wants to attack the heart of the city.

"But we can't contact anyone in the city now!" Niu Zhuang said.

There are many psychological strategies among the Thirty-Six Strategies, such as the Beauty Trap, the Counter-Espionage Tactics, the Empty City Tactics, etc., all of which are psychological games.

Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu both thought of many strategies, but none of them came up with a good one.

Yang Zhengshan shook his head and said, "No, we can contact people in the city, or we can pass messages to people in the city!"

"How do you pass the message?" Niu Zhuang and Tang Feihu looked at him in confusion.

Yang Zhengshan did not reply. He looked at Chongshan Pass, then at the clear sky, and said something incomprehensible.

"There will be southeast winds in two days, and they will be quite strong!"

"What does this mean, General?" Niu Zhuang was even more confused.

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "Let's go, I already have some ideas!"

The psychological attack does not necessarily have to be directed at the enemy's main generals, it can also be directed at the enemy's ordinary soldiers.

To attack the enemy's morale is also a way of attacking their hearts and minds.

As for how to operate it, there are still many methods.

Yang Zhengshan already had a plan in mind.

……

The third day of July.

The weather was cloudy and turning to overcast, with strong winds howling from the southeast in July.

The wind rises and the clouds fly, the war drums beat and the horses neigh!
The war drums beat and the trumpets blew.

Tens of thousands of troops left the camp and lined up at the foot of the city.

The wind and clouds were surging, the military might was roaring, and the terrifying power and murderous aura were in the air. The strong wind swept them towards Chongshan Pass and covered the sky above Chongshan Pass.

In the center of the army, a flag with the word "Yang" embroidered on it was erected, followed by a flag with the king's orders.

Yang Zhengshan stood on horseback under the flag, looking solemnly in the direction of Chongshan Pass.

Things are different now. He is now the general of Chongshan Town. He not only has the royal flag from the court, but also his own flag.

Under the strong wind, the flags fluttered, interweaving with the rapid sound of war drums and dull trumpets, like a heroic and powerful piece of music.

On the opposite city wall, Prince Qing, Ji Feiyu and Hou Yao stood in front of the city gate tower, looking at the military formation that seemed to have the power to swallow up mountains and rivers.

"Yang Zhengshan finally couldn't help it!" Ji Feiyu's eyes flashed with brilliance.

He was not afraid of Yang Zhengshan's attack on the city. Instead, he was anxious about Yang Zhengshan's inaction.

He was confident that he could stop the attack of the army outside the city, but he was afraid that other unexpected events would occur if the situation dragged on.

Now that Yang Zhengshan had finally launched the attack, he felt relieved.

Hou Yao is in his forties. He is not tall, half a head shorter than Ji Feiyu, but he is very strong.

"Brother, should we find a chance to rush out of the city and fight?" Hou Yao is a more impulsive person, not as calm as Ji Feiyu.

Before Ji Feiyu could say anything, Prince Qing spoke first: "No, once we leave the city, we will be exposed, which may be an opportunity for Yang Zhengshan to break into the city."

Compared to when he was in Qinghua Mansion, Prince Qing was much calmer at this moment.

Or he had his own understanding of the war.

In fact, Prince Qing is a very smart man, otherwise he would not have been able to hide such a big plan from the Secret Weapons Division.

However, his shortcomings are also obvious. He has lived in Qinghua City for more than 30 years, and he has never left Qinghua City during these 30 years. He is well-educated and has read thousands of books, but he has not experienced the world.

His understanding of war was limited to the art of war.

He was very aware of his shortcomings, so he gave Xu Maocai and Duan Heng the greatest trust.

Don't use people with suspicion, don't use people who are suspicious.

Unfortunately, Xu Maocai and Duan Heng failed to live up to his trust.

After the failure of Qinghua Mansion, King Qing became more cautious and calm. However, his caution towards Yang Zhengshan was mixed with a bit of fear.

That’s right, it’s the fear of Yang Zhengshan.

"Your Highness is right. We should not act rashly now. What we need to do now is to use stillness to control movement and wait for Yang Zhengshan to reveal a flaw!" Ji Feiyu said in agreement.

Hou Yao was a little anxious. "But we have been on the defensive like this. What if the court mobilizes a large army to support us?"

His concerns are not without reason.

Compared with the entire Darong, the troops under their command are not enough.

Not to mention the entire Dayong, even if the court mobilized part of the troops from the northwest, it would be difficult for them to cope with it.

The most powerful of the border towns of Dayong is Beiyuan Town, but the most elite is Suzhou Town in the northwest.

The size of Suzhou Town is similar to that of Chongshan Town, but the cavalry of Suzhou Town is the best in the entire Dayong.

Liang Chu's Yunlong Guard is actually a part of Suzhou Town. When Liang Chu trained the Yunlong Guard in the northwest, he relied on the power of Suzhou Town.

The Wulianghu tribe can contain Beiyuan Town, but cannot contain Suzhou Town. If the court transfers troops from Suzhou, they will be in big trouble.

"No, even if the court transfers troops from Suzhou, they will be used first to resist the Wuliang army in Liaoxi!" said King Qing.

"Is that so?" Hou Yao looked at Ji Feiyu.

He and Ji Feiyu have different thoughts. Ji Feiyu is loyal to King Qing, but he is loyal to Ji Feiyu.

The reason is very simple. Although his three brothers were taken care of and trained by King Qing, in Hou Yao's heart, Ji Feiyu is his eldest brother. It was Ji Feiyu who raised him since he was a child.

Ji Feiyu frowned slightly and said, "That's right, for the court, the Wulianghu tribe is the external enemy! And the threat of the Wulianghu tribe is greater, so the court will give priority to solving the threat of the Wulianghu tribe!"

Hou Yao nodded and said no more.

He just felt that it was a bit aggrieved to passively take a beating, which was far less satisfying than going out to charge and fight. But since Ji Feiyu said so, he would be patient and wait for Ji Feiyu's arrangements.

The Tenglong Guard army outside the city quickly formed its battle array.

Yang Zhengshan looked at the majestic army with a faint smile on his face.

Thinking back to when he had a hard time forming a team of a hundred men in Yangjia Village, he now has an army of tens of thousands under his command. He felt quite proud of himself when he thought about it.

"let's start!"

He turned his head and said to Yang Minghao beside him.

Yang Minghao immediately understood, took out a command flag and waved it a few times, then a dull horn sounded behind him.

The sound of the horn seemed particularly desolate under the howling wind.

As the horn sounded, crossbows were pushed out from the front formation, and next to each crossbow was a team of soldiers either protecting or pushing it.

A moment later, more than 300 crossbows were placed 130 feet away from the city wall.

The reason why it is more than one hundred and thirty feet is because the maximum range of the crossbow inside Chongshan Pass is one hundred and thirty feet.

However, the range of the crossbow made by Tenglongwei is one hundred and sixty feet!

This does not mean that the crossbow manufactured by Tenglongwei is better than the crossbow of Chongshan Pass, but because the crossbow manufactured by Tenglongwei is the crossbow on the warship.

The crossbow on a naval warship is required to have a long range, great power and high accuracy.

The crossbow on the city wall requires a fast firing rate and does not need to be too powerful, as long as it can penetrate the armor. It also does not need to be very accurate, as long as it can shoot quickly.

Because the target of the crossbow on the warship is the warship, while the target of the crossbow on the city wall is the enemy, there is a difference between the two types of crossbows.

The Tenglong Guards did not have crossbows for city defense and could only imitate the crossbows on warships.

Looking at the row of crossbows, Ji Feiyu narrowed his eyes slightly, "What do they mean by this? Are they planning to use the crossbows to attack the city?"

The role of the crossbow in siege warfare is far less than that of the catapult.

Because the city walls can block crossbow arrows, the power of the mounted crossbow is greatly reduced.

Of course, this does not mean that the mounted crossbow is useless, but that the mounted crossbow can only be used as an auxiliary weapon and cannot be used as a main attack weapon.

"Your Highness, let's go down and avoid the spotlight for a while!" Ji Feiyu was worried about Prince Qing's safety.

"Good!" Prince Qing knew very well that a gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall.

Just as they walked down the city wall, the Tenglong Guards' crossbows were ready.

However, the crossbow arrows used this time were different from ordinary crossbow arrows. There seemed to be a lot of paper wrapped around each arrow.

"General, the crossbow is ready and can be fired at any time!"

Xie Yuan, who had come a while ago, came riding on horseback to report.

"Then let's shoot!" Yang Zhengshan's mouth curled up slightly, "Attacking the heart is the best, attacking the city is the best, I don't know if this psychological tactic will work?"

"Here!"

Xie Yuan responded and rode back to the front.

"Fire arrows!"

With his order, the bowstrings of more than 300 crossbows vibrated, making a buzzing sound.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of whizzing through the air was heard, and crossbow arrows were shot towards Chongshan Pass under the influence of the strong wind.

It sounded like countless birds flapping their wings.

wing?

Crossbow arrows naturally have no wings!
But the crossbow arrow was wrapped with layers of paper.

The papers crackled in the strong wind, and as the crossbow arrow flew farther and farther, the papers fell one after another.

Suddenly, countless pieces of paper were flying in the sky above Chongshan Pass like heavy snow.

(End of this chapter)