Chapter 30: Meat Grinder

  The sun sets in the west, and the evening glow is as red as fire.

  After sacrificing three thousand casualties, Sun Jian finally ordered the retreat.

  The casualties were so heavy that it was a great tragedy.

  The only consolation was that after sacrificing three thousand men and suffering heavy casualties, Sun Jian's army finally filled up the moat.

  Only wait for the troops to rest for one night, and tomorrow they will launch a fierce attack, as soon as possible to break through the city.

  Late at night, Sun Jian's military camp.

  Cheng Pu said to Sun Jian: "My lord, we need to guard against the Xiliang rebels taking advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack on our camp."

  Sun Jian said sternly, "De Miao's words are quite right. Luo Zhen is a cunning and treacherous child. In the past at the Baishui Pass, he had set up an ambush to harm me and lose Gong Du and Yi Gong. I must be careful tonight. De Miao, you have worked hard tonight, and I will personally take the night watch."

  Cheng Pu solemnly replied: "I will obey orders."

  Sun Jian said in a low voice, "Luo Zhen's reputation is not prominent, but unexpectedly he can use troops well, and there are also fierce generals like Xu Chu under his command. It is unknown what method this thief used to launch a surprise attack on Qiao County, and I still think about it today, but I am still unable to figure it out."

  Cheng Pu also said: "I don't understand either, the Western Liang army is not a bird in flight, how can they fly up onto the city wall?"

  Sun Jian's voice was firm: "The matter that De Mou is confused about is also something that I have been thinking about for a long time. However, no matter what, Luo Zheng is not someone to be underestimated, he is much more difficult to deal with than Hu Zhen, that useless thing, and we must not be careless."

  Cheng Pu nodded in agreement: "Don't worry, Your Excellency, I understand."

  Zhe County, workshop in the north of the city.

  Luo Zheng called Lao Ma and asked: "How much longer will it take to complete the production of the required items?"

  The old horse said: "At least two more days."

  Luo Zheng nodded and said in a deep voice: "Hurry up, you can have all the manpower and materials you need. You must complete the task within two days. If you can do it, I'll reward you with 10 taels of silver and two women."

  The old horse's face suddenly flushed with blood, and he chuckled twice, patting his chest: "General, rest assured, I guarantee the completion of the task."

  Lu Zheng nodded and took another look around the workshop, then left immediately so as not to affect the craftsmen's work.

  Only after leaving the workshop did his eyebrows furrow tightly together.

  Sun Jian's army was pressing in on the city walls, and time was truly of the essence.

  It's not that the Western Xia Iron Cavalry can't defend Xiao County, but Luo Zheng doesn't want to fight hard with Sun Jian.

  Taking advantage of the cavalry's strengths, yet using them to defend a city, is originally a losing strategy.

  If we must wait for the craftsmen to forge armor and equipment, how can Luo Zhen make such a low-level mistake. Just lead the army to retreat far away, and Sun Jian's army will follow behind, eating dust, even if they can't shake off the 3,000 Youyan cavalry, it doesn't matter.

  The moat has been filled up today, and tomorrow Sun Jian will surely launch a fierce attack on the city.

  When the two armies truly engage in close combat, the Western Liang army will inevitably suffer casualties.

  Luo Zheng didn't want to waste his soldiers' lives in this meaningless defense battle, so he was a bit anxious.

  Everyone has value in living, even if they die, they must die with a purpose.

  The army's casualties must also bring corresponding returns in order for the casualties to be valuable.

  Letting soldiers die on the city wall of Jiao County is utterly meaningless and will yield no returns.

  The next morning.

  Sun Jian indeed launched a fierce attack on the city, dividing the remaining 12,000 infantrymen into three teams of 4,000 each, and further divided them into two square arrays in front and behind, alternately launching a fierce attack on the east, west, and north gates of Qiao County.

  The war drums shook the sky, and the cries of killing filled the fields.

  Under the threat of the cavalry's sabers, the infantrymen from Kwantung gritted their teeth and charged forward with shields held high.

  A hail of arrows poured down, occasionally piercing the shields that were hard to defend against, and the unlucky infantrymen from Kanto were shot down to the ground.

  At last, with shields held high and ladders shouldered, the light-armed troops rushed to the foot of the wall, and planted their ladders against the parapet.

  Immediately following the light shield infantry, the halberdiers rushed out of the crowd and quickly climbed up the cloud ladder with their shields.

  But just then, a rain of hot oil and rolling rocks came pouring down again.

  The infantrymen of the Eastern Province who were squeezed under the city wall immediately fell down, and then dozens of fire arrows fell, the area below the city wall instantly became a sea of flames, countless soldiers fell in the fierce fire with a smell of charred skin and flesh spreading everywhere.

  As for climbing up the cloud ladder with swords and axes, they were like dumplings being rolled down by rolling logs and stones, falling with broken bones and tendons.

  Xia County is the seat of Yu Prefecture, the heart of a state.

  Although the defensive materials were not many, they could not be compared with those in the county town.

  On the wall, a pile of logs and stones and oil, if saved a little, can be used for three days.

  For an attacking army, these are the big killers.

  If these supplies were not consumed in one day, the besieging army would have to pay an unimaginable heavy price.

  The 300,000-strong Guandong Allied Army paid a huge price when they first attacked the Tiger Slope Pass. It wasn't until later, when the Western Liang army's supplies were almost depleted at the Tiger Slope Pass, that the Guandong Allied Army was able to climb up and engage in close combat with the Western Liang army.

  If there were sufficient defensive materials, Dong Zhuo would not have had to worry about the Guandong Coalition.

  No matter how fierce his attack is, just pick up a stone and throw it down, no need to fight to the death.

  When the sky is about to darken and the sun sets.

  After a day of fierce attack, Sun Jian's army left behind nearly two thousand corpses before retreating like the tide.

  During this time, the Guandong army had climbed up onto the city walls several times, but were each time driven off by the Xiliang army.

  Despite this, the Western Liang army also suffered dozens of casualties.

  Sun Jian and Cheng Pu each led a branch of infantry to kill the city head, after which Luo Zhen also personally went on the battlefield to fight, and Cheng Pu fought hard for more than ten rounds, being cut several times. If not for Xu Chu's desperate fight to retreat Sun Jian came to protect him, he would have been cut down by Cheng Pu.

  Lu Zheng's eyebrows didn't even twitch, and he continued to fight with injuries.

  The Western Liang soldiers saw the general being so brave and powerful, each of them had high morale and fought to the death.

  Sun Jian's miscellaneous army was no match for the elite iron cavalry of Xiliang, and they were quickly driven off the city wall.

  As soon as the sun set and Sun Jian's army retreated like a tide, the city walls immediately erupted in thunderous cheers.

  The inner courtyard of the Governor's Office.

  Luo Zhen drove all his attendants out, leaving only Xu Chu guarding beside the bed.

  A warm current like a clear spring flowed out from the bronze ring, passing through his limbs and healing the wounds on his flesh at a speed visible to the naked eye, which was left by Cheng Pu's several knife cuts.

  The rolled-up flesh crept back and quickly grew together again.

  After the scab fell off, the skin was intact and there was no trace of the wound.

  Xu Zhu was originally still puzzled, but at this moment, he saw this shocking scene and suddenly widened his eyes in surprise, finding it hard to believe.

  No matter how bold and uninhibited this man was, he was still shocked by such a bizarre event.

  By the time he came back to himself, Luo Zheng had already turned over and fallen off the bed.

  "This is my greatest secret, Zhong Kang, don't tell anyone."

  Luo Zheng casually instructed a sentence, actually even if someone knew it wouldn't be a big deal.

  In this era, people are ignorant and unenlightened, not open-minded and informed like in the 21st century. Such unimaginable things would only evoke reverence from others, rather than triggering a desire to seize them as they do in the 21st century.

  That's all just an attempt to win people over.

  Indeed, Xu Chu's tiger eyes flashed with a hint of emotion, and he said solemnly: "Don't worry, milord, I will keep this secret locked in my heart."

  Luo Zhen waved his hand and said, "You've been fighting for a whole day, Zhong Kang. Go down and rest now, recover your energy as soon as possible, and we'll continue the fight tomorrow. Just hold on for two more days, and we can have a final showdown with Sun Jian to determine the winner."

  Xu Chu bowed and retreated, but instead of resting, he stood guard outside the door.

  Lu Zheng moved his hands and feet, and found that his strength had increased again.

  This time he was chopped by Cheng Pu for several knives and was seriously injured. If it were someone else, they would probably have to lie down for a few months.

  However, after a full recovery from injury, the degree of increase in strength is also somewhat large.

  Lu Zheng thought about it and felt that the more seriously he was injured, the more his strength would increase after recovery.

  To be able to exchange more than ten blows with Cheng Pu without dying is already a tremendous improvement.

  When Luo Zheng arrived in this era, even a small soldier could cut him down with one knife.

  Now he can actually fight with Cheng Pu for over a hundred rounds without dying, which is quite an improvement.

  A night without words.

  The next day, Sun Jian led his troops to attack the city again.

  By the time it got dark, nearly two thousand corpses were thrown down again, and this time the Western Liang army also suffered nearly two hundred casualties. Moreover, the defensive materials inside the city were almost depleted, and at most, they could last for half a day before being completely consumed.

  The third day.

  Sun Jian continued his fierce attack, and the Western Liang army suffered a staggering loss of four hundred casualties.

  After the exhaustion of the city's supplies, the Eastern Foot Soldiers finally killed their way to the top of the city wall, engaging in a fierce and bloody battle with the Western Liang Army. Although they suffered nearly two thousand casualties, they also inflicted significant losses on the Western Liang Army.

  Up to this point, Sun Jian had lost more than half of his 15,000 troops.

  The eight thousand Western Liang iron cavalry had entered Central Plains and after a series of battles, they also lost more than a thousand.

  About three hundred strong men who followed Xu Chu were incorporated into the army, and there were only more than 7,000 soldiers.

  Into the night.

  Luo Zheng led more than a dozen military school students to guard outside the workshop in the north of the city.

  The old horse was exhausted, his eyes were red like peaches, he hadn't closed his eyes for three days and nights, and he had reached the limit of fatigue.

  "General, this is armor."

  Old Horse handed over a full set of iron armor weighing around 70-80 kilograms to Luo Zheng, although he was very tired, his expression was extremely spirited.

  Luo Zheng took the heavy armor, turned it over and looked at it for half a day before shouting loudly, "Good! With this armor on our soldiers, we will no longer fear bows and arrows. Let's see what those 3,000 Youyan cavalrymen can do to me!"

  More than a dozen Western Liang generals' eyes lit up one by one, revealing an intense and fervent gaze.

  Li Meng took the heavy armor from Luo Zheng's hands and weighed it. He was overjoyed immediately after.

  However, when Old Horse brought back a whole set of heavy cavalry armor, all the military officers were stunned.