Chapter 376: Battle of Rangcheng

The setting sun is like blood. The military flag on the Rangcheng city wall is already broken, but it is still fluttering in the wind. The words "Yuan" and "Bridge" above are vaguely visible. After a day of bloody battle, the city is still in Yuan Shu's hands.

Looking at the messy corpses everywhere under the city, Zhang Ji's pupils slowly began to shrink. His heart was in pain and bleeding. These were all the good men of Xiliang who had followed him for a long time. They were stained with blood on the battlefield and died in Jingzhou. They would never return to their hometown in this life.

"Ah~~~" Zhang Ji whistled to the sky, and the tragic bursting from his chest infected Zhang Xiu behind him. Zhang Xiu's handsome face turned red. He raised the tiger-headed golden spear in his hand and shouted loudly: "Swear to break Rangcheng!! Swear to break Rangcheng!!"

Inspired by Zhang Xiu, thousands of Xiliang cavalry raised their swords and shouted in unison: "Swear to break Rangcheng~~Swallow to break Rangcheng~~", with a majestic voice, and a surging sound, which came into the ears of the Rangcheng defenders.

Yuan Shumi's general Qiao Rui had a gloomy face, holding the battlements of the city walls tightly with his hands, wishing to kill Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu with his eyes. Although the battle to defend the city in the past few days has barely blocked the attack of the Xiliang army, the defenders also suffered heavy losses. The arrows, rolling wood, stones and other objects used to defend the city were exhausted. Qiao Rui had ordered the demolition of the people's roofs and chose their thick wood to be used as rolling wood.

Qiao Rui was from Ruyang, Runan. He was brave and had brute force. He made a steel gun, and usually thirty or fifty people could not get close to him. Since Yuan Shu expanded his troops in Nanyang, Qiao Rui has been the vanguard of Yuan Shu's men, and has made many contributions to his expeditions and confrontations in the north.

Qiao Rui waved his hand, and a military Sima hid his body between the walls, placing a wolf-tooth arrow, secretly pulled the iron-tooth bow in his hand, aimed at Zhang Ji, then a cold light flashed in his eyes, let go of his right hand, and the wolf-tooth arrow shot out from the darkness.

Zhang Ji was immersed in the passionate atmosphere created by the Xiliang army. He thought that he should do his best to capture Rangcheng tomorrow, then turn his troops to attack Wancheng, and gain a foothold in the wealthy Nanyang County. Zhang Ji was slightly out of his mind. At this critical moment, the deadly wolf-tooth arrow shot like lightning. When Zhang Ji found out, he had no time to hide, and could only see the wolf-tooth arrow shot into his chest.

Zhang Ji shouted "Oh" and turned over and fell off the horse. Zhang Xiu and others rushed forward and carried his body back to the camp. Because the wolf tooth arrow was at the center of the center, Zhang Ji could not survive the midnight and died of blood in the wound. He went to meet Dong Zhuo underground.

Before Zhang Ji's death, he solemnly handed over the command of his army to his nephew Zhang Xiu, who knelt in front of Zhang Ji's couch and accepted it with tears.

On the second day, Zhang Xiu ordered the entire army to stop siege for one day and hold a funeral for Zhang Ji. Qiao Rui saw it from afar on the city tower and couldn't help but feel happy. Yuan Shu had already transferred all the main troops to Xuzhou to attack Liu Bei. The guards in Rangcheng were half less than before. If the Xiliang army continued to attack like this fiercely, the city would be broken in a few days. Seeing that the Xiliang military camp was snow-white, it was thought that the main general must have been injured and had no leader, and maybe they would withdraw soon. Then Rangcheng would have defended it.

In the early morning of the third day, before the sun rose to the horizon, Zhang Xiu summoned officers at all levels in the army to discuss matters. Zhang Xiu first glanced at everyone's face with a sharp gaze, and then said in a deep voice: "This is a chaotic world, the world is broken, and my uncle unfortunately died of a villain. We should fight hard, break the small city in front of us, and avenge our uncle! The reputation of the Western Liang Iron Cavalry should not be destroyed in your and my hands!"

Everyone was wearing plain clothes, and the crowd was excited and shouted: "Revitalize the power of our Xiliang army, break through Rangcheng, and take revenge for the first lord!"

Seeing that the fire had arrived, Zhang Xiu said loudly: "Okay! Let our enemy kneel down at the feet of our Xiliang Iron Cavalry today, and tremble when he hears our name in the future!"

Then, Zhang Xiu arranged the order of siege. This time he decided to do his best to make a thunder attack. All the soldiers and siege tools gathered at the east gate with a slightly lower height in the city wall, and continued to siege the city with wheel tactics.

This move really worked. The defenders of Rangcheng had already become a little careless and thought that the Xiliang army would retreat soon. Unexpectedly, when the sky was dawn, the overwhelming Xiliang army came over, and they were all brave and everyone took the lead. The attack power was like a huge wave. As soon as the front wave retreated, the more fierce rear waves hit him again.

Rangcheng is not a fortress without any strength. In such a violent storm, the pressure of the East Gate defenders suddenly increased by more than ten times. There was no time to adjust in a hurry, and the brave Xiliang soldiers climbed to the top of the city. Zhang Xiu led the way and then jumped to the city wall. A tiger-headed gold spear was like a life-threatening ghost, constantly devouring the lives of the defenders.

The more and more soldiers of the Xiliang army were pouring on the top of the city. The defenders began to panic, and then they fled in panic. When Qiao Rui organized a personal army to come over to reinforce, Xiliang soldiers had already opened the east gate. Just outside the city gate, the rumbling sound of horse hooves came to his face. The Xiliang cavalry was about to enter the city. The sound of horse hooves shocked Qiao Rui's soldiers in his heart and fled in their arms. Qiao Rui could no longer command and could not hold the sky alone. In desperation, he had to lead his personal guards to escape from the Ximen.

Zhang Xiu stood majestic on the east gate tower. The cool morning breeze made his battle robe constantly motivate and dance. What he saw was a one-sided battle, and the Western Liang Iron Cavalry was trampling on the lives of the defenders cruelly and ruthlessly.

At this time, a red sun finally burst out. Zhang Xiu turned around, stared at Chaoyang, and murmured to himself: "Uncle, my nephew is avenging you!"

After saying that, Zhang Xiu slashed out with a knife. Amid the howling wind, the sharp blade twisted the face of Sima who was kneeling in front of Zhang Xiu and shot Zhang Ji. With a "puff", the man's huge head rolled to the ground, and a burst of passionate blood spurted out, forming a large piece of blood mist in the air.

Zhang Xiu immediately ordered that military discipline be strictly restricted, and that only enemy soldiers could be killed, and that the people were not allowed to harass the people. Sometimes there were soldiers who violated military discipline. Zhang Xiu was merciless and immediately ordered to be dragged out and beheaded. This move shocked many generals who were still dissatisfied with Zhang Xiu, and he would never dare to disobey his orders again.

After Rangcheng was down, Zhang Xiu turned his attention to Wancheng, the county seat of Nanyang County.

At this moment, Yuan Shu's focus was not on Rangcheng, but on Xuzhou. In Xia Pi, Yuan Shumi's lower general Zhang Xun led the five generals of Ji Ling, Lei Bu, Chen Lan, Le Ju, and Cao Bao, and led an army of 100,000, which was confronting Liu Bei's army.

I know what happens next, and listen to the next chapter to explain it.
Chapter completed!