Chapter 978
: The Government Troops Returned in vain
Chapter 978: The Government Troops Returned in vain
"Ohh Ohh ohh!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Jingnan,
In the open space outside the west gate of Linshan County, flags were flying and drums were beating. The imperial army heading south, more than 100,000 elite soldiers from the Beijing camp, had already lined up outside the city, like a dormant giant beast lying across the wilderness.
Looking from afar on the wall of the west gate, the Taiping Sect defenders were already on full alert. The dark masses of soldiers defending the city had already deployed themselves, with crossbows strung. Behind the battlements, rolling logs, stones, kerosene and other items were ready, just waiting for the officers and soldiers to come and die.
on the city wall,
The Taiping Sect's left protector had a solemn expression on his face. He looked at the dense crowd of soldiers outside, which he could not see the end of. In addition, the banner of Marquis Luo Yun was erected in the center of the formation. Obviously, Marquis Luo Yun was right below.
"Report, the Left Protector, the East City, South City, and North City garrison commanders have come to report that the soldiers outside the city have lined up outside the city, and, and..."
The altar master who came to report was trembling with his lips and pale face, as if he was frightened, and his voice was trembling. The left protector was already nervous at this time, staring at the army outside the city intently, and when he heard the cowardly voice of the messenger, his face was not in a good mood.
When Chang Hao, the commander of the West City, saw this, he immediately shouted and scolded;
"You bastard, what are you afraid of? Tell me now."
Under the harsh rebuke, the messenger trembled all over and replied;
"Left Guardian, Captain Chang, the South City and North City have reported that there are about 100,000 soldiers outside the city, and there are 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers blocking the East City Gate. The soldiers have surrounded the county city and there is no way for us to retreat."
It was an almost shrill cry, set against the deathly silence of the Taiping sect members around him. Chang Hao was shocked. How could it be possible? He walked over in an instant, kicked the man, and cursed;
"Bullshit, although we were defeated in the battle of Anyang Mountains three days ago, the imperial court also won a tragic victory, with at least 100,000 casualties. Their total army heading south was only over 300,000, with at most 200,000 left. Could it be that those many troops you just mentioned just now fell from the sky?"
He was so angry that he kicked a few more times, then turned around and said to the left protector and the hall master and incense master around him;
"Left Protector, don't listen to his nonsense. You brothers have seen how many soldiers there were in the last battle. Even if Daliang City still has soldiers, they are just exhausted and can't be used for any major purpose."
"Master Chang, how can I speak nonsense? Send someone to verify it and you will know that at the South Gate, the soldiers in the army formation have erected a "Duan" character, and outside the North Gate, the soldiers in the army formation have erected a "Yin" character. The East Gate is no exception. It is the General Hu Shoucheng of the Beijing Camp who is in charge of the Dingbei Army."
The messenger got up from the ground and wiped the sweat off his face. His face was pale but his expression was firm. Zuo Ling had a bad feeling in his heart. Luo Yunhou was a master of military tactics. A secret report came from the capital saying that the reinforcements were only 300,000 soldiers from the capital camp. Now, looking outside the city, he could clearly see the army of more than 100,000 soldiers in full formation.
He An at the north gate and Zhao Ze at the south gate were both his trusted aides, and they would definitely not spread the news carelessly. If that was true, where did Luo Yunhou's troops come from? Could they really be heavenly soldiers? The originally fearless Zuo Hufa felt a little scared. Now that things had come to this, he could only fight to the death.
"Well, yes or no, we are already in this situation. Even if it gets worse, what can we do? Soldiers are also flesh and blood. Even if Marquis Luo Yun is famous all over the world, can he still fly into the city? Listen to my orders and prepare to meet the enemy."
"Yes, Left Guardian,"
Everyone looked solemn and clasped their fists in response.
The war drums boomed and the mournful horn sounds resounded through the sky.
On one side of the city, the officers and soldiers
Zhang Jinyu, wearing armor and an iron helmet, personally led his troops to test the strength of the thief generals defending the city. Behind him followed His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin. At this moment, Zhou Ding looked nervous, his face was pale, and his hands, full of blue veins, tightly grasped the reins, looking around anxiously.
Perhaps the time has come.
not far away,
Several messengers, carrying flagpoles on their backs, rode up on horseback to report.
"Report, Lord, General Duan, General Yin, and General Hu have come to report that they have already assembled their troops and left the camps. They are just waiting for the time to come and the whole army will attack the city at the same time."
Zhang Jinyu raised his head and looked to the east. At this moment, the morning sun was rising, with a hint of morning mist, protruding from the mountains in the east. Fortunately, the sun was not strong, so he ordered;
"Where is the Left Guard?"
"The end will be here."
The left guard clasped his fists behind him and responded.
"I order you to lead the crossbow army formation, combine it with the large shield army formation, and go forward to suppress the top of the city."
"Yes, I will obey your orders,"
Left Guard General Feng Zhuang clasped his fists and received the order, then rode away, ready to assemble his troops for battle. Then, another military order was issued.
"Where is the Central Guard?"
"The end will be here,"
"I order you to control the siege troops and the second wave of attack."
"Yes, Lord, I will obey your orders."
Another man was ordered to assemble the army.
Zhang Jinyu was still a little hesitant in the end. Although it was a test, he still had to show his power. This battle still needed brave generals. In this case, he looked at General Yang Shixiong of Dong'an and ordered;
"General Dong'an, lead the troops to engage in battle. If there is an opportunity, attack. If not, conserve your strength and bring more shields."
"Yes, Lord Marquis, I will obey the order."
Yang Shixiong held the big knife, clasped his fists heavily, and turned to leave. However, when he left, King Jin was a little confused. Would the casualties of arranging General Yang's elite soldiers to attack the city be too heavy? After all, it was the first day of the siege. Was it too hasty to attack so fiercely? When he was thinking about the Marquis's intention,
suddenly,
The trumpets suddenly sounded behind the battle line.
In the front line, the large shield army, which had been prepared for a long time, had already arranged its formation, forming a tortoise shell-like square, and slowly moved forward. The left guard Ma Cheng personally led the troops behind the formation and shouted,
"The whole army advances, with shields arrayed 150 steps apart to protect the archers and crossbowmen, and advance."
Following the order, the 20,000 front troops began to move to provide cover, advancing only a hundred steps, leaving gaps between the troops.
Feng Zhuang, the Central Guard General, waved his hand, and the first wave of the attack was launched by the siege arrow tower vehicles and siege vehicles. The four arrow tower vehicles moved in opposite directions. The towering arrow tower was already one body higher than the city wall, and it was covered with shooting towers. It was tall and huge, but unfortunately it moved slowly, and needed a large number of civilians to drag it back and forth. Then it slowly approached the two sides of the city gate. Downstairs, there were dense shield soldiers guarding.
In the middle of the four arrow tower vehicles was an extremely large siege vehicle, made of sturdy logs, with the body of the vehicle wrapped in heavy iron sheets. Inside the vehicle were two rows of laborers pushing it, and outside was a circle of large shield soldiers protecting the laborers as they pushed forward.
"Hey, push harder,"
Although the movement was slow, they were slowly approaching the city gate.
on the city wall,
The left protector looked at the towering arrow tower car slowly approaching, his face was grim, he didn't expect the court soldiers to bring so many siege weapons, seeing that the soldiers were close to the shooting range, he immediately ordered,
"Prepare the crossbows, aim at the high platform of the arrow tower, shoot from 200 steps up, and release."
There was a sound of bowstrings snapping, and more than ten crossbows shot out heavy arrows with unparalleled momentum, directly penetrating the high platform of the arrow tower. The crossbow soldiers on the platform screamed and fell to the ground, leaving no trace of their bodies.
"Keep drawing the bowstrings, Archery Tower, the rest of the crossbowmen, get ready, 220 steps ahead, gather your fire, ready! Fire."
There was another whistling sound, and a rain of arrows rose from the city wall and fell into the army formation in an instant. The unprotected archers fell down, while the soldiers in the shield formation in front were unharmed.
"Pace forward quickly, form a formation thirty steps away, and prepare the archers to shoot."
There was almost a death gap. After all, the range of the city wall was higher than that of the city, so they could only move forward at the cost of losses. Although the officers and soldiers had not yet fought back, the tragic atmosphere was already overwhelming. Zhang Jinyu stood on the command platform, watching the army in front slowly approaching the city wall without changing his expression. As long as the archers of both sides shot at each other, they could buy time for the siege ladders. Now was not the time for Yang Shixiong to go out, but looking at the heavy casualties of the archers on the arrow tower, Zhang Jinyu frowned. He did not expect the bed crossbow to be so powerful.
"My Lord, why don't you fight back?"
The King of Jin was very anxious. Many people had died, so why didn't they fight back?
"Your Highness, please do not be anxious. We are not at the best range yet. Shooting now will only waste arrows. Once we are within range, we can use our large shield to protect ourselves and achieve a counterattack."
The King of Jin seemed to understand but not quite. He only looked ahead, hearing screams.
"Raise your shields and line up, archers throw their weapons, release."
They almost held on until they were a hundred and fifty steps away. The two armies were facing each other, and even the faces of the soldiers on both sides could be seen clearly.
Dense arrows shot out from the army formation, covering the city wall, and it collapsed in an instant. Chang Hao's eyes widened and he shouted;
"Sword and shield soldiers line up to protect the city walls."
But before he could finish his words, his feet began to tremble.
The siege vehicles had already reached the city gate. They shouted slogans and pushed the logs hard to hit the city gate. One by one, the whole tower was shaken. The guard of the Taiping Sect tower was not to be outdone.
"Kerosene ready, pour!"
Streams of black kerosene poured down and landed in the area below the city. Then he personally took out a rocket and drew the bowstring, laughing grimly.
"Rocket, release."
For a time,
Arrows rained down, drawing black arcs in the air and shot towards the siege vehicle. Although the soldiers raised their shields for protection, unfortunately, the large shields stained with kerosene and the iron sheet of the siege vehicle were covered with a layer of grease, which exploded when exposed to fire.
It immediately became a sea of fire. The soldiers screamed, dropped their shields, and fled in all directions. Unfortunately, they could not escape the arrows and became their dead souls.
The soldiers inside the iron sheet didn't feel the heat at all. They pulled the rope hard, raised the battering ram, and smashed it down. The city gate shook and made a dull sound.
Behind the city gate, many Taiping sect members used logs to prop up the gate and formed a human wall to press down on it, hoping to ease the looseness of the gate. Both sides were struggling, and if there was any slackness, the city gate would be lost.
Almost the moment the two sides engaged in battle, the fighting became intense.
"Come on, throw rocks down, don't let the siege vehicles get any closer."
The incense master felt the city wall shaking more and more, his face looked extremely ugly, and he ordered his men to gather the troops and horses, carry the huge stone to the top of the city gate, and throw the huge stone down. With a loud "bang", the iron sheet in front of the siege vehicle was smashed and broke, revealing the people inside. A rain of arrows covered them, and the people inside were shot to death.
Seeing the effect,
The incense master's face lit up with joy, and he continued to order people to throw huge stones in the same way.
unfortunately,
The soldiers under the city were not to be trifled with. The crossbowmen on the arrow tower close to the city noticed the situation below the city gate and immediately turned their crossbows to fire at the city gate tower. The Taiping sect members who were carrying huge stones were hit by arrows and fell to the ground with screams. Even the incense master who was a little excited just now almost died here. Fortunately, he hid behind the battlements.
Through the gaps in the battlements, I could see the officers and soldiers on the arrow tower being sent away by crossbows in the blink of an eye. It was extremely tragic.
Under the city,
Zhang Jinyu saw that the time had come, so he took the red flag beside him and waved it left and right twice. Yang Shixiong's troops in the front army immediately moved quickly. A large number of soldiers carried ladders and rushed towards the city wall, ready to engage in close combat.
When the entire army rushed through the shield formation, all the soldiers shouted and immediately dispersed, then rushed to the city wall, set up ladders on the battlements, and the soldiers below climbed up with shields raised. From a distance, the densely packed soldiers climbing up looked like ants.
"Quick, pour the kerosene down, set the fire, prevent the fire."
The bandits defending the city were not to be outdone. They kept throwing down thunder stones, rolling logs, kerosene and gold juice. The officers and soldiers who were clinging to the city screamed and fell from the ladders, dying miserably.
Some of them were fast enough to climb up the city wall, but were surrounded and killed by the bandits who had been prepared. Others, before dying, used their long swords to hack and kill the bandits. The flashing of swords and the shouting of killing were deafening. Blood flowed down the city wall, forming streaks of blood in the cracks of the wall, which was extremely strange.
The same was true for the other gates, but from the South Gate and the East Gate, the Taiping Rebellion Army did not gain any advantage and was suppressed. Fortunately, the city walls were high, so they fought to the end.
"Report, Left Protector, the South City Gate is in danger, Hall Master Zhao has called in the reserve troops, and the officers and soldiers have already climbed onto the top of the city wall,"
Zuo Ling's mind was tense. It was the first time he had seen such a way of dealing with the enemy. They used elite soldiers to attack the city right from the start. With so many casualties, wasn't Marquis Luo Yun afraid of being suspected by the court? Looking at the blood-soaked messenger, he thought Zhao Ze must be very anxious.
"You, go to the city and quickly mobilize 20,000 troops to directly press on the city wall. You must defend it."
"Yes, Left Protector."
The messenger, the incense master, clasped his fists, held the bloody long knife, and immediately went down the city wall with his personal soldiers.
Zuo Ling looked towards the city wall again.
Many officers and soldiers actually rushed up, Zuo Ling's face turned cold, he drew out his long sword and shouted;
"Brothers, follow me and kill."
"Kill!"
As the Taiping Sect's Left Protector moved, the reserve troops on the west wall formed a dense battle formation, pushed towards the wall with shields and spears, forced the officers and soldiers who climbed the wall back, and then cooperated with the sword and shield soldiers to surround and kill them. After a while, the wall was cleared.
This scene,
Yang Shixiong, the general of Dong'an who was commanding the city, saw this. A trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes. He was about to rush forward with his sword, but was stopped by his deputy general.
"General, the enemy army is strong and has been fighting for two hours. There is no reduction in the number of soldiers on the city wall. It seems that the Marquis and His Highness have underestimated the enemy's strength. General, look, our brothers are almost gone."
Yang Shixiong suddenly looked back and saw that of the 30,000 brothers who had followed him, less than half were still standing. The ground was littered with corpses, and the 20,000 soldiers who had come to reinforce him were still fighting hard. But why did the enemy troops on the city wall not decrease in number?
"Send a message to the left guard Ma Cheng, and have him cover the city wall with bows and crossbows, quickly."
"Yes, General."
The deputy general responded loudly, but when he really went to the left guard army, he found that the shield formation they maintained was already sparse, with broken corpses and shield fragments everywhere, as well as strings of giant arrows hanging on the corpses. These were all caused by the crossbows on the city wall. If such a heavy iron shield could not stop them, how could they suppress the city wall?
How could this happen!
After the battle,
Zhang Jinyu, who was originally relaxed, now had a gloomy face. He stood in the high tower and looked at the long city wall. The Taiping Sect's bandits were densely packed and running back and forth. The bandit army did not decrease. It was unbelievable. Could the leader of the Taiping Sect, Chu, still leave so many soldiers in the county city?
It seems,
When the leader Chu left, he probably didn't take the remaining elite soldiers with him, and left them all behind. Together with the so-called slave soldiers around the Taiping Sect, there were at least hundreds of thousands of people in the city.
Staring at the top of the city,
Many Taiping sect bandits, empty-handed, embraced the officers and soldiers who had climbed up the city wall and jumped off the city wall together. It was so tragic and heroic. This battle could not be won.
"Ningbian, prepare to sound the horn. Send someone to notify the three generals to return to the camp immediately for discussion. By the way, ask Song Da to prepare a military doctor to treat the wounded."
"My Lord, we have been fighting for four hours. Are we going to retreat now?"
Ningbyon looked at the battlefield. Both sides had fought to this point. Many people had already climbed up to the top of the city wall and were struggling to hold on. If they withdrew, the losses would be huge.
"The enemy army has a large number of soldiers and horses. Those people on the top of the city have no soldiers and horses to support them. The crossbowmen have broken their formation. Fighting further will only increase casualties. The siege vehicles have been burned to ashes."
Zhang Jinyu looked at the city gate, where the fighting was most intense. Three of the four arrow towers had been destroyed, and the other was also crumbling. The siege vehicles were engulfed in a sea of fire, and a raging fire was ignited. How could they fight any further?
Ning Byeon nodded, sighed, and left the command desk.
Then, the sound of the gong spread throughout the battlefield.
The soldiers who were fighting immediately formed a battle array and slowly retreated. The Taiping rebels on the top of the city wall were relieved when they saw the soldiers withdrawing. They all roared loudly.
As if it was pre-planned, the fierce battles at the city gates gradually came to an end. Smoke filled the air, broken limbs were scattered all over the ground, the walls were all bright red, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood, especially at the city gates, there was a nauseating smell of burnt barbecue.
"My Lord, are we defeated?"
The King of Jin was a little dazed at this time. Seeing that Marquis Luo Yun was about to leave the command platform, he felt a little sad. So many people died and so many siege equipment were lost, and they were retreating now.
Zhang Jinyu turned around, looked at the pale face of King Jin, and consoled him;
"Your Highness, it is not a defeat. The siege is not a one-day effort. A victory or defeat in one day does not count as a defeat. However, we underestimated the enemy's strength. Now we are in a dilemma."
Zhang Jinyu felt a little bit of a toothache. He didn't know who the leader of the Taiping Sect, Chu, would leave behind to lead the army. He really spent a lot of money.
"Uh, Lord, wait!"
(End of this chapter)