Since the capture of the Southern Bandits, no commercial travel has been allowed. The North City Gate facing the Yellow River and the East City Gate facing the Hulao Pass in Gongxian County are also tightly closed during the day, prohibiting people from entering or exiting.
At this time, ordinary civilians must either flee westward with their families and mouths, as far away from the captive soldiers in the east as possible, or stay in villages or cities protected by earthen fences or city walls. No one dares to do so at this juncture.
Pass through the city and pass the village towards Hulao Pass, Xingyang, Zhengzhou and other places in the east.
Therefore, even if King Jing Zhao Tuan does not conceal his identity from the people in Gong County, there is no fear that the news will leak out in a short while.
A large group of Japanese soldiers appeared on the north bank of the Yellow River. At this time, the defenders who had not yet arrived at Gong County had changed. They determined that there was no problem with the ice, so they followed the established plan, first stepped on the ice to the south bank, and then
Then he advanced along both sides of the Yiluo River toward Yanshi in the southwest direction.
Of course, the soldiers would not completely let go of Gong County. Three to four hundred cavalry separated from the large army on the east bank of the Yiluo River, passed through the frozen wetlands and sparse forests, and approached the Gong County city.
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The cavalry finally stopped in front of a woods about 300 steps away from the north gate of Gong County.
Compared with the flanking cavalry that Xu Huai and his companions encountered at the southern foot of Jingong Mountain in Jincheng, Shuozhou, which was composed of soldiers attached to the tribes of Semu, about 300 to 40% of the more than 300 captive cavalry were wearing armor.
In addition to carrying swords at their waists and riding bows, these armored cavalry also carried long weapons such as halberds, swords, and cross swords, as well as foot bows and square shields with longer bow tips hung beside their saddles.
"The soldiers and horses commanded by the Red Husbands have various names, such as light cavalry, infantry fighting and siege armored soldiers. However, when the Red Husbands rose up in Mobei, there were only thirteen alliances at the beginning, and these thirteen
The troops of the tribe have been fighting in the north and south in recent years, and they have continuously selected elites from the surrender army to supplement them. Their combat effectiveness is the most elite - these troops should be the elites of the Chihu clan."
Xu Huai introduced the situation of the red cavalry parked outside the city to King Jing Zhao Tuan and said,
"If the thieves chief wants to block Yanshi with troops and horses, the passage between the southwest of Gong County and Luoyang will inevitably encounter the elite vanguards of the Qinwang Army of the Five Routes such as Qin Feng and Yan Xiao. They cannot all be formed with soldiers from various tribes.
At this time, it is not surprising that some of the elites of our clan who are strong in combat will serve as the backbone of the side troops..."
The cavalry approaching Gong County stopped outside the woods. They did not give up their vigilance just because they had a glimpse of the defenders in the city. Most of them sat firmly on their saddles and stopped in the distance to look over. In the end, there were only about twenty cavalry.
Continue to drive your horses towards the city.
"These twenty-odd horsemen all have longer bows hanging next to their saddles. They should be good shooters among the Red Husbands," Xu Huai said to King Jing Zhao Tuan. "The Red Husbands surrounded the enemy with soldiers and horses.
Finally, people who are good at shooting will first dismount and shoot at the enemy, trying to kill as many enemy troops as possible to shake their fighting spirit, so as to reduce the pressure for the subsequent attack and lay the foundation for an easy defeat. Everyone in Chihu is good at riding and shooting.
The selected archers are excellent in archery. Your Highness, we have to stand back and watch the battle!"
The crenellations of the Gongxian city tower are wide on the inside and narrow on the outside, which can usually block most of the arrows.
The vast majority of archers shoot at each other in front of the formation, winning more by numbers, suppressing the opponent with dense arrow rain. Archers who can accurately shoot from a hundred steps away are extremely rare in any army.
character.
However, Xu Huai still did not dare to be careless when he saw more than 20 red cavalrymen who were good at shooting approaching the city with their infantry and bows.
He took a shield from the soldiers behind him and pulled King Jing Zhao Tuan back slightly to avoid his face being exposed from the crenellation.
Although King Zhao Tuan of Jing Dynasty was a pampered person, he was already quite calm with his ambitions among the princes and ministers. In addition, he had the experience of being in danger a few days ago, and under the escort of Xu Huai and his troops, he ventured into the blockade of the soldiers. Arriving at Gong County, King Jing Zhao Tuan was already quite calm and composed as he watched the soldiers approaching the city.
He did not forget to pull Gao Huihong, the magistrate of Gongxian County, who was a little pale, and asked him to stand back a little. He also ordered several guards to use shields to protect Gao Huihong, Qiao Jien, Chen Yougui and others to prevent them from making any mistakes. .
Gao Huihong, Qiao Hongen, Chen Yougui and others woke up in shock and advised King Jing Zhao Tuan to go down to the tower to take shelter temporarily.
King Jing Zhao Tuan shook his head and said: "The country is in danger, and it is necessary for the ministers and soldiers to work together and risk their lives to fight for the court. I want to share my father's worries, how can I spare my life and not dare to face the arrows of the captors?"
Regardless of whether it was true or false, Gao Huihong, Qiao Hongen, and Chen Yougui all showed excitement on their faces. They were willing to break their bodies for the sake of the country, and no one dared to escape down the tower alone.
More than 20 red cavalrymen stopped outside the area of an arrow. After dismounting, they replaced their rifles with longer range and stronger penetrating power, and fired arrows towards the wall.
Sharp arrow clusters were first shot scatteredly on the wall, making a "pop" sound, and the bricks and stones were shattered - this was just the shooting point calibrated by the soldiers, and soon the arrows fired became more and more accurate.
A sharp arrow shot directly onto the city wall through the crenel, which was quite easy to prevent. There were also some arrow clusters that crossed the crenel and were thrown at a certain angle, which was also very accurate.
The soldiers of the mausoleum guarding army usually do not participate in the defense of the city. Qiao Jien and Chen Yougui were also delaying. At this time, they did not make up their mind to let the mausoleum guarding army climb to the top of the city to participate in the defense.
At this time, the garrison at the top of the city was still mainly composed of county archers and temporarily recruited rural warriors. Most of the soldiers did not even have the simplest leather armor, let alone an iron helmet to block arrows.
No matter how nervous the soldiers in the front row are, and they still know how to use the walls and wooden shields to block them, the soldiers in the back row are seriously lacking in vigilance.
The guards on the city wall were too dense, which seriously limited the field of vision of the soldiers in the back row. When the arrows were thrown, they had no time to dodge, and soon someone was hit in the face or neck by sharp arrows.
The vast majority of people who were hit by arrows were only injured, causing the arrow clusters to break through their skin and penetrate into their bones. They screamed in pain, and the city was panicked for a moment.
Several military officials from the County Weisi wanted to show off in front of King Jing and many princes, so they shouted loudly in the chaos and urged the crossbowmen to pick up their crossbows and fight back against the soldiers under the city.
There were not many defenders on the city who were good at using foot bows, but they had more than a dozen divine arm crossbows that were easy to operate.
The Divine Arm Crossbow is very powerful. It has the strongest penetrating power at a distance of sixty or seventy steps. However, beyond this distance, the penetrating power and rate of fire are greatly reduced, and it cannot threaten the captives a hundred steps away. Soldier archer.
"Do you want to give them some color?" Seeing Wei Daya leading dozens of soldiers to climb the city wall from behind, Guo Junpuan took two Zhemu walking bows and walked to Xu Huai, preparing to hand him a strong bow. Xu Huai asked in a low voice.
They stood on the city wall that was more than three feet high, and had an advantage in shooting with their bows. Even with ordinary Zhemu walking bows, the effective range could be extended by twenty or thirty steps.
Xu Huai shook his head and said: "The bandits have no intention of attacking Gong County for the time being, we still have to let them pass first!"
Seeing the scene, King Zhao Tuan also looked over expectantly, and Xu Huai explained again,
"I sent dozens of soldiers to the top of the city to prevent the soldiers from attacking the city. Now it seems that the soldiers have no intention of attacking the city, and His Highness is standing on the tower like a needle in the sea, making a hasty formation, and the soldiers' minds are stable.
Seeing that there is no opportunity to take advantage of it, the soldiers will definitely go around the city, so don’t worry about it for now!”
King Jing Zhao Tuan nodded, understanding that the bandits were strong at this time. They had only been in the city for two or three hours and had no preparations. It was not appropriate to provoke the bandits yet. He pointed at the few panicked defenders and ordered the defenders to avoid shooting.
The county captain and military officials who fought back asked Xu Huai with some concern: "Are these people worthy of use?"
"You can use it if your Highness is willing. Besides, it seems that Your Highness has nothing to pick and choose at this time!" Xu Huai said with a smile.
Seeing that Xu Huai didn't care at all about the panic of the defenders at the top of the city, King Jing Zhao Tuan also calmed down completely and said with a smile: "You still said that I am the Dinghai Divine Needle, but I said that you are my Dinghai Divine Needle; as long as you are here, I will
I believe that Gong County will be able to defend it and defend it very well!"
"Your Highness is ridiculous." Xu Huaiqian said.
At this time, King Jing Zhao Tuan looked to the left and right, and said loudly to Qiao Jien, Chen Yougui, Gao Huihong and others: "Xu Junhou is the son of Jingsheng Army Commander Wang Xiaocheng. He was killed by a traitor when he was young, so he had to hide in the grass, but it is difficult to bury real gold in the loess.
He repeatedly made great contributions in suppressing bandits in Tongbai Mountain and in Yunshuo border provocations. At a young age, he was appointed as the Marquis of Yu, the tenth commander of Tianxiong Army. He is a rare young hero in Vietnam. After Xu Huainan returned, he was incorporated into Hu Kai
Hu Shijun served under his command and appointed a new magistrate of Chushan County and Chushan Capital Inspector. He trained Hu Shijun and commanded five thousand elites. He could have made great achievements in resisting the bandits, but he turned against the enemy in Yanling.
At that time, I met me. In order to avoid the enemy, I was traveling to Gong County, and it was difficult to return to Caizhou for the time being. I will now entrust the defense of the city to Xu Junhou, and all the generals and military officials will be under the control of Xu Junhou. You are not allowed to interfere without authorization.
Do you have any opinions?"
Xu Huai's general position was no less than that of Chen Yougui, who was the commander of the army guarding the mausoleum, and he had many military exploits to back it up. It was very justifiable that King Jing Zhao Tuan sent Xu Huai to take charge of the defense of the city.
The county soldiers and the tomb-guarding troops were under the command of the county captain and the capital commander Chen Yougui and others. In theory, they should also obey Xu Huai's arrangements.
However, considering that the next offensive attracted by Gong County will be extremely fierce and even tragic, it is far from enough to limit the existing garrison in Gong County to general control such as command and mobilization.
King Jing Zhao Tuan now wanted to relieve Chen Yougui, the county captain and others from commanding the army, and put all the defenders under Xu Huai's direct jurisdiction, so that Xu Huai could completely rearrange Gong County's city defense affairs.
"In emergencies, extraordinary methods should be used. Please appoint His Highness Zhang Xin Junhou as the military envoy to supervise and kill all officers and soldiers who disobey military orders, disobey His Highness's orders, and escape from battle..." Xu Huai did not look at the faces of Qiao Jien and others, and asked in a deep voice.
King Jing Zhao Tuan sent Zhang Xin to supervise the army and enforce military law.
