The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 120 Stabilizing the Front Lines

Because the recent attacks had been very short, the Chang'an army launched its offensive before 8 a.m., catching the Xiliang army off guard. In the rush, the Xiliang army lost control of two streets, allowing the Chang'an army to advance more than 300 meters. However, with the support of reinforcements from the rear, the Xiliang army quickly regained its line and firmly resisted the Chang'an army's attack.

Seeing the battle unfolding before him, Gongsun Zan sensed something was amiss. The situation in the southern city was very strange; he and the Xiliang army seemed to be locked in a stalemate. Something was wrong. After careful consideration, Gongsun Zan quickly realized that this was a trap set by the Xiliang army for him!

Once he understood, Gongsun Zan ordered Song Zhang, who was in charge of the attack on the north city, to intensify the attack and put more pressure on the Xiliang army in the north city.

At the same time, he ordered all the troops remaining in the main camp, including the supply troops, to be deployed to the attack on the eastern city, and to make sure the city was captured today. The tense situation in the southern city made Gongsun Zan realize that he had fallen into a trap set by Guo Si and Li Jue, and could neither advance nor retreat.

The current battle situation is very clear: the South City is a bait set up by the Xiliang army. Giving up directly is obviously impossible, but advancing is not feasible in the short term. Gongsun Zan is now in a dilemma, finding the situation unappealing yet difficult to abandon. He has no choice but to maintain the current situation in the South City and focus all his efforts on capturing the other city gates. Only by doing this can he break the current stalemate.

Unless forced into a corner, Gongsun Zan would not allow his soldiers to make meaningless sacrifices. After the morning's battle, he had figured out the Xiliang army's plan. He had to admit that Guo Si and the others' plan was really good. Using close combat to offset the Chang'an army's firepower rest was a really good idea.

But was Gongsun Zan the kind of person who could be led by the nose? Obviously not. While intensifying the offensive in other directions, Gongsun Zan also ordered five Shenwu cannons to be brought into the city. He wanted the Xiliang army to test the power of the Shenwu cannons' close-range shot.

"Send a battalion to attack eastward along the city wall, putting pressure on the flank of the Xiliang army and preventing them from concentrating on dealing with the attack from outside the city," Gongsun Zan said to his division commander.

"Yes, General," Division Commander Fu An replied.

As Lu Zhi's student, Gongsun Zan's brilliance had always been overshadowed by Lu Zhi, which was a good thing for Gongsun Zan. As a suddenly rising warlord, others knew very little about Gongsun Zan, which introduced some uncontrollable factors into Li Jue's plan. That is, Gongsun Zan was not someone who would be led by the nose by his enemies.

Therefore, in this battle, Li Jue was already at a disadvantage.

When the Xiliang army of Tianshui City deployed one-third of its forces to the south city, Gongsun Zan, who understood the Xiliang army's plan, suddenly slowed down the attack on the south city and instead strengthened the attack on other directions. At this time, the Xiliang army had shot itself in the foot and dug a pit for itself. With the pressure on other directions increasing, the forces in the south city dared not be easily moved. Once they were moved, Gongsun Zan would likely take the opportunity to pounce.

Having figured things out, Gongsun Zan didn't care what the Xiliang army thought. He ordered the troops in the south city to wait for reinforcements, such as the Shenwu Cannon, to arrive before continuing the attack.

More than half an hour later, the Xiliang army on the front line of the South City discovered that their enemy had come up again, but this time the enemy in front of them did not attack directly, but observed from more than a hundred meters away.

"Send a platoon up to probe the enemy's position," a battalion commander in charge of the attack said to his company commander.

A minute later, a platoon of Chang'an soldiers appeared on the street; they were a fire reconnaissance unit.

The Xiliang army had poor discipline; some soldiers picked up their matchlock guns or crossbows and fired at the Chang'an army on the street without orders from their officers.

Their position was exposed in an instant. Seeing the enemy's position revealed, the Chang'an Army platoon leader at the front immediately led his soldiers to hide in the blind spots on both sides. The Xiliang Army soldiers were wondering what was going on when they suddenly saw the Chang'an Army soldiers behind them open a cloth on the vehicle. Damn! It was a Shenwu cannon!

The Xiliang soldiers cursed, "It's the Divine Might Cannon! Run!" Someone shouted, but it was too late. The loaded Divine Might Cannon fired in just three seconds. With a deafening roar, the house where the Xiliang soldiers had been firing was riddled with holes. At such close range, the power of the Divine Might Cannon's shot was truly immense.

The soldiers in the front platoon were a little stunned. The power was simply astonishing. They could clearly feel the shells flying over their heads, as swift as the whistling wind.

With the help of the Shenwu Cannon, the Chang'an Army advanced more than 500 meters in less than half an hour. The Xiliang Army was struggling to hold on. The power of the Shenwu Cannon was truly astonishing. Several times, the Xiliang Army tried to counterattack and destroy the Shenwu Cannon. However, the streets were filled with defensive positions formed by a large number of Chang'an Army musketeers. If the Xiliang Army appeared on the open streets, they would be courting death.

After several attempts, not only did they fail, but they also suffered heavy losses. The Xiliang army had really dug a huge hole for themselves.

"Li Jue, didn't you say this plan was foolproof? What's going on now? Why, why!" Guo Si roared at Li Jue. Two-thirds of the troops in the southern city were Guo Si's men. When he received the reports of his men's casualties, Guo Si's heart was bleeding! Not counting yesterday, even today, Guo Si had lost nearly four thousand men in the southern city alone. At this casualty ratio, how could this battle continue? Especially the enemy's Shenwu cannons. One of Guo Si's generals tried several times to organize troops to attack and destroy the Shenwu cannons, but failed. With the support of the Shenwu cannons, the Chang'an army completely ignored the houses. When they encountered stubborn houses, they simply bombarded them with a single shot, and there was no obstacle left.

“I didn’t expect Gongsun Zan to react so quickly, and even to fire the Divine Martial Cannon directly,” Lu Jue said to Guo Si.

"Do you know what! Just because you didn't expect it, I lost four thousand men! Four thousand men! There are still two hours until dark, and who knows how many more we'll lose!" Guo Si roared at Li Jue.

"Guo Si, don't push your luck! You agreed to this plan when it was formulated. Besides, aren't my troops also fighting bloody battles on the front lines?" Li Jue said to Guo Si, "Furthermore, as an ally, I have given two-thirds of my troops to aid you. What more do you want from me!"