Zhang Zhao finally understood another reason why Li Shengtian insisted on dumping these people to him. He also had a headache looking at the tall, short, fat and thin people in front of him with different shapes.
The so-called Buddhist lurkers who came to Pianzhou City (Yingjisha) from Ya'erkan (Yarkan) turned out to be poor people who were eager to escape to Khotan and live a stable life.
They were indeed indigenous people living in these places, but they were oppressed by the Kara Khanate because they refused to convert to Tianfang religion. Originally, they thought of simply escaping to Khotan, but Li Shengtian refused to accept them.
.
Because if they leave, when Ya'er sees the distance to Pianzhou City, it will definitely be occupied by the converted Ge Luolu and Uighurs recruited by Kara Khan.
If this happens, the pressure on Khotan will be great. I am afraid that this time it will not be a battle of Shule, but a direct battle of defense.
And these people are not fools. Li Shengtian repeatedly refused them entry into Khotan, and only made the leader a minor official and gave him some salt, food and cloth. Why? They must know.
Do you think there can be no resentment in their hearts? Can there be no people who secretly convert but don’t say anything?
If they got into the Khotan army, they might complain or even leak information, so Li Shengtian simply threw them to Zhang Zhao and let him take care of them, keeping out of sight.
So as soon as he learned about this situation, Zhang Zhao decisively changed his strategy. The people were so mixed, and pretending to be an elite would not last long. He simply set up camp three miles away from Shule City and came to a stronghold to fight.
Battle.
He wants to turn himself into a nail under Shule City. Doesn’t Ittihad want to be at an angle with Fort Yusuf and Fort Esquesa? Then Zhang Zhao will be stuck outside the south of Shule City. No
If you pull out this nail, Shule City and these two fortresses will no longer become horns.
Besides, he only needs to persist for a few days. He can build a simple fortification and even scare and beat him.
Therefore, what Ittihad saw at the top of the city was not to fill in the trenches and build siege equipment, but to build a stronghold.
The sharp copper whistle sounded, and the flag-bearer quickly shook the flag from side to side.
After seeing the flag swaying left and right, the small phalanxes on both sides of the recognition flag shouted slogans to each other, and the three scattered small phalanxes merged into a large phalanx.
'Dong dong dong!' The drums at the top of Shule City also sounded. A very inconspicuous small door creaked open, and a group of about four to five hundred cavalrymen galloped out one after another.
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Don't even think about grabbing the city gate. This kind of city gate is usually located in a very remote place. There are enemy towers exposed on both sides and turrets at the corners, which are full of archers.
Even if you grab it, there are usually urns or very narrow and complicated passages inside, and you will most likely die if you go in.
This is different from the siege battle that Zhang Zhao imagined before he traveled through time. The siege battle in his imagination must be that the attackers are attacking the city with ants, and the defenders are throwing wood, rolling stones, and gold juice at them as if they don't need money.
p>
But in fact, this kind of siege is rare. It usually breaks out at a critical moment of life or death, or when the siege party has a huge advantage.
Most of the time, as is actually the case today, the attackers first clear out the enemies outside the city, and then go to a certain place to establish a stronghold.
The defender will send troops to harass at this time. After the harassment fails, they will use strong bows and crossbows on the city head and a small group of cavalry that can go out to fight with the attacker. The satellite fortress outside the city will also cooperate with the city.
Combat.
As for closing the four gates tightly and holding on to the whole city, that is only a last resort. The passive feeling of being isolated and helpless, and being threatened at any time, is a test of morale.
In history, many cities have reached this point and cannot be conquered, so only those isolated cities that hold on for a few months will be written down in history, because it is indeed very difficult.
Five or six hundred cavalry are still very impressive when running. The ground is shaking and dust is flying. What you see is not the charging horses and knights, but ghosts looming in the dust.
‘Boom!’ Yan Jin shot a long arrow with bright tail feathers. The arrow also made a sharp whistling sound, which immediately attracted everyone’s attention.
"Forty steps!" He shouted, which was used to mark the distance. When the enemy rode here, the phalanx would fire thousands of arrows.
Adumu also looked at the opponent's mark, but he didn't take it seriously.
At this time, crossbows had not spread to the West on a large scale. They knew that Peach Blossom Stone had a very powerful crossbow, but they had no idea how powerful it was.
"The armored ones are in front and charge with their spears. The unarmored ones take out their bows and follow my orders and shoot together. The fifty men behind are dismounted and change their steps with bows and arrows. If we can't charge away, use heavy arrows to kill them.
Life!"
There is no problem with Adumu's arrangement. The charge of five or six hundred cavalry is very powerful. If it is an ordinary team with dozens of infantry fighting hundreds of cavalry, it is likely that there is no need to actually fight. The charging posture alone can defeat them.
The infantry were frightened. When the time came, the armored cavalry in front rushed forward with their spears, and the formation was broken.
When the armored cavalry charges, the light cavalry behind them will circle the infantry square in a semicircular running route, constantly shooting arrows to harass and reduce the opponent's morale. If they encounter those with incomplete armor, they can also cause considerable damage.
Kill.
Generally, when the battle reaches this point, the isolated infantry phalanx is likely to collapse, and if it has not collapsed yet, the time has come for the remaining 50 infantry bows and heavy arrows to come into play.
This kind of heavy arrows that are ejected do not rely on armor-piercing to achieve damage, but rely on weight to hit people. Iron lumps smaller than a baby's fist fall from the sky, swollen hands and heads, and break heads.
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However, all of this is based on Adumu's beautiful idea, and the template he simulates is also the infantry of the Persian Samanid Dynasty that has begun to decline.
This Persian in his thirties has never seen the heavy infantry of the Tang Dynasty!
With a sound of 'Buzz!', Adumu and his cavalry had just passed the marked arrow, and the sound sounded like a swarm of bees leaving their nest.
The few armored knights who rushed in front and wore large iron plate armor fell to the ground. Adumu even saw the bloody arrows shooting out of the chest of the armored knight in the front.
The peach blossom stone crossbow is so powerful? This is not armor-piercing, but it is about to penetrate the body!
In panic, there was another buzzing sound, and the second wave of crossbow arrows arrived again!
At this time, as the four or five armored cavalry in front fell down, the charging cavalry formation became somewhat chaotic. Many light cavalry who were originally supposed to be behind were also exposed, and were suddenly shot to the point of being knocked off their feet.
The injured horses screamed and ran all over the ground, and the cavalry who had been hit by arrows also moaned and screamed loudly. Some people and horses lying on the ground blocked the continued charge behind them, and the formation was completely chaotic.
Taking advantage of this chaos, Ma Yaozi shouted and led the fifteen archers behind him to fire their first salvo.
The ones who were shooting just now were 60 divine arm archers. They used a two-stage shooting method, with 30 people shooting in one round. Due to the loading problem, archers were needed to make up for the pause in the middle.
"Quickly spread out, spread out on both sides, get close and shoot at them!" Seeing that the round of bows and arrows from the opposite side killed more than a dozen people on his side, Adumu shouted with eyes wide open.
There were not many armored cavalry in front of him, but now almost all of them were shot down by the crossbow arrows from the opposite side. It was impossible to charge forward. The only way was to rely on the large number of people and overwhelm the opponent with the number of arrows.
Moreover, due to the lack of strength of the horse bow, it can only be fired close to each other. If it is fired from a distance, it is almost equivalent to suicide.
If we say that the Kara Khanate is indeed an empire on the rise, it is no wonder that they will occupy all three treasures in the Anxi River in the future.
Although the chaos is now like this, they killed thirty or forty people without firing an arrow, but the remaining people are still relatively calm and obey Adumu's orders.
The light cavalry began to disperse to both sides, bypassing the middle road that was already blocked by the corpses of men and horses. They formed a linear charge route and surrounded the infantry square on the opposite side.
The fifty people at the rear, armed with hard bows and heavy arrows, were also preparing to dismount and form formation under the officer's call.
This chapter has been completed!