Although Hulao Pass is more important, the defender of Xingyang, more than 30 miles southeast of Hulao Pass, had long surrendered. At this time, the army captured Zhengzhou again, whether from the Fangouling camp or Zhengzhou City, Yangzhou
Tang'ao Camp will be very convenient for mobilizing troops, horses, and war equipment to support Cao Shixiong's attack on Hulao Pass via Xingyang.
As the weather gets warmer, the ice on the Yellow River north of Hulaotou will also become thinner. Even in previous years, the weather in the Hehuai area has suddenly warmed up after entering February. When will it be difficult for men and horses to step on the ice to escape the tiger?
Lao Pass was something that no one could predict. Mo Lihu finally decided to lead more than 800 cavalry and transferred 2,000 surrender troops from Xingyang. Together with Cao Shixiong's troops, they bypassed Hulao Pass and advanced towards Gong County.
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It was said to be in a hurry. Although no equipment was prepared, only some simple ladders and hooks, the soldiers who gathered outside Gong County on February 6, the eighth year of Tianxuan County, except for more than 1,500 elite cavalry, stood guard on two sides.
On the other side, they kept an eye on the city gate and warned the defenders not to dare to go out lightly. There were more than 9,000 siege troops and horses, which was much higher than the defenders.
Even though he had an absolute advantage in military strength, Cao Shili, as the siege general, never thought of encircling Gong County from all directions and then organizing a strong attack.
On the morning of the 6th, most of the troops arrived at the gate of Gong County. Cao Shili sent his direct troops into the camp that had been repaired overnight to seize the time to rest and recuperate. The pioneers sent the newly attached Xingyang troops to surrender, and directly attacked Gong County from the most open north side.
Launch an offensive.
The forward scouts of the Western Army's reinforcements had already passed through Tongguan and entered the area east of Hangu Pass. They were temporarily blocked by the soldiers and horses in the Mengjin and Yanshi area and could not advance westward. However, Cao Shili knew that every day of delay would
, the reinforcements of the Western Army between Mengjin and Hangu Pass and entering Luoyang City will quickly pile up in hundreds or even thousands every day.
Cao Shili also knew very well that the number of Red Hussars entering the west of Yanshi was limited, and the terrain between Yanshi, Mengjin, Luoyang and other cities was undulating. No matter how elite the Red Hussars were, it would be difficult for them to compete with several times the number of soldiers.
How long will the Western Army last?
The time left for them to storm Gong County is very limited!
The methods used by Cao Shili to control Xingyang's surrender troops to attack the city were the same as when they were controlled by Chihu's East Route Army commander under the city of Zhengzhou, and were even more harsh and brutal.
Outside the north city of Gong County, Cao Shili divided the two thousand Xingyang surrender troops into two groups:
A group of troops took the capital team as a unit and launched a strong attack directly from the west wall.
If this group of troops failed to attack the city wall, they would flee in panic and the whole team would be killed; if they attacked the city wall and failed to seize enough heads of the defenders, they would be driven down by the defenders, and all the officers and soldiers would be killed.
Incorporate into other capital troops to continue the siege.
Another group of men and horses carried dustpans, bamboo baskets, poles and other tools, and together with thousands of villagers captured from surrounding villages, together with women and children, dug soil and filled it under the east city wall.
Cao Shili wanted to fill a ramp under the east wall of the North City.
When Xingyang surrendered, a small part of them were soldiers from the Southern Dynasty's Jinxiang Army, and most of them were county sword archers and soldiers from the countryside. They were afraid of the strong Chihu troops and strong horses, so they surrendered without a fight. At this time, they still did not dare to resist Cao Shili's toughness.
Brutal means.
Under the threat of the swords and bows of the supervising team, the soldiers of the Xingyang surrender in front of the wall in the western section of the North City held high wooden shields and long signs, surrounded by simple ladders, and pressed straight down to Gongxian City.
However, under the rain of locust arrows, they entered the city and put up the ladders on the city wall. As soon as the Xingyang descending army climbed up the ladders, logs and rolling stones were rolled down and smashed. Most of the people had not climbed a few steps high.
It was smashed down.
Human flesh and bones cannot resist wood and stone, and the shields in their hands can only withstand arrows. Even if some people are not killed on the spot, they are all smashed to pieces with muscles and bones broken, and they are wailing. If they dare to run back, there will be people behind the formation.
They were the sharp swords and crossbows of the supervising team; even if a small number of soldiers climbed up to the crenellated wall by ladders, sharp spears and spears were waiting for them to stab them fiercely from the crenel mouth.
For the Xingyang surrender army with low combat effectiveness, the nearly three-foot-high city wall stood in front of them like a natural chasm that they could not cross in their lifetime.
In just half a day, under the wall of the western section of the north city of Gong County, there were three to four hundred corpses of the Xingyang surrender troops, piled up mixed with hammers and rolling stones, and their flesh and blood were blurred.
The queen fled in a hurry due to casualties, but Cao Shili ordered them to be mercilessly killed in front of the formation.
Since he suspected that Xu Huai and others from Tongbai Mountain might be in Gong County, Cao Shili certainly did not expect that the two thousand Xingyang surrender troops could storm Gong County.
On the one hand, he wanted to use Xingyang's surrender troops to consume the defenders' war equipment, physical strength and morale, so as to reduce the difficulty and casualties of the Han army's attack on the attached city of Lanzhou.
On the other hand, he wanted to directly show the cruelty of the Xingyang surrendering army, which suffered heavy casualties but was unable to resist.
The inability of Xingyang's surrendering army to resist included two aspects: one was the inability to resist in the face of the defenders and the solid city walls of Gong County, and the other was the inability to resist in the face of Cao Shi's altruistic brutal drive and strict military orders.
The purpose of this is to make the soldiers completely numb in the face of tragic casualties and life and death, so that they realize that they are like ants whose lives are worthless. Even if they die, they can only blindly follow military orders.
…………
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Compared with the tragic casualties of the Xingyang surrender, the casualties of the defenders riding on the city were negligible, but the defenders and generals were not at all happy, and were even quite frightened.
Most of them could clearly realize that the cruel and tragic siege had just begun, and the scene before them only showed how cruel this war would be.
Zeguo's country has entered the war map. How can the people live in peace and harmony? Don't rely on the king to talk about the matter of making a marquis.
Of course, the situation before us cannot be said to be "ten thousand bones withered". Even compared to the Red Hu people's southern invasion this time, three to four hundred people died under the city, it is so insignificant from a purely numerical perspective.
The problem is that all of this is displayed naked and bloody in front of the defenders.
If it weren't for the fact that most of the soldiers who guarded the mausoleum, who were strong but had never seen blood, had been forced by Xu Huai to leave the city despite the harassment of the enemy's cavalry, and they could be considered to have taken over the enemy, many people would have suffered at this time.
Can't stand it any longer.
However, it was precisely because they had been forced out of the city by Xu Huai that many of the defenders knew very well that the scene before them did not mean that they would win easily. On the contrary, the scene before them showed more of the enemy's determination to attack the city.
So determined and ruthless.
In the morning, these soldiers were not so much here to attack the city as they were here to die, and they were driven into the city to die without the ability to resist.
Facing the first battle of the enemy's strong attack, King Jing Zhao Tuan did not hide in the palace, but climbed to the North Tower in person to supervise the battle. Seeing this scene, his face became tense for a while; Qian Shangduan, Qiao Jien, Gao Huihong, Chen Yougui and others
His face turned a little pale.
More than a thousand Xingyang troops and thousands of captured villagers had no protection. They were suppressed by bows and crossbows on the eastern section of the city wall. The movement of digging and transporting earth to the bottom of the city was very slow at first.
King Jing Zhao Tuan, Qian Shangduan and others, their attention had been attracted by the almost massacre-like defensive battle in front of the west city wall before noon. Only then did they notice the troops descending in front of the east wall to capture the people | transporting earth to fill the slope
The speed of the road is much faster than at the beginning.
Faced with the suppression of crossbows at the top of the city, the surrendered prisoners who were filling the ramp in front of the eastern section of the city wall initially thought of using shields to cover themselves, or taking shelter in tree hollows. However, they became more cautious when approaching the city wall, and of course the speed
Not fast.
Xingyang surrendered the army and captured the people. At this time, driven by the supervisory team from the rear, they already ignored the suppression of bows and crossbows on the city wall, and numbly took dustpans and bamboo baskets to carry the wall down the city, even though people around them kept being shot to the ground.
Two to three hundred people were shot by arrows and fell to the ground without immediate death. There were howls and groans, but all of this was to force the troops to surrender, and the captives became even more indifferent, indifferent, and even
The prisoners and wounded soldiers who were not dead were thrown directly into the mound.
On the one hand, it is really unbearable. On the other hand, arrows are limited and cannot be wasted without limit on the captives who can be driven to the city. As long as the enemy does not directly approach the city, the defenders on the east wall will
They no longer used crossbows to shoot at the captives who were transporting soil.
"The enemy cavalry is waiting in front of the city. We can't go out of the city to harass. At this rate, the ramp will be piled up before noon tomorrow!" King Jing Zhao Tuan frowned and looked at Xu Huai and said.
Although Xu Wujiang and Qian Shangduan assisted in deploying defenses these two days, in the current situation, King Jing Zhao Tuan could only place his confidence in Xu Huai.
"Tianxiong's army was defeated in Datong. Generals such as Ge Huaicong were weak and incompetent. Cao Shili's troops were still able to kill the enemy bravely. However, he was so ruthless in running the army at this time. He was quite methodical and could be said to be a good general. However, he wanted to borrow
To attack Gong County by filling up a narrow earth slope, you really underestimated your highness because there is no one around you!" Xu Huai smiled lightly and said, "And the more urgent they are, the more it means that the Western Army is approaching Hangu Pass, and your highness can do it
Peace of mind!”
"Tomorrow, the captive soldiers will be piled up on a hillside and we will attack from here. Many of the defenders are not good at fighting. I would like to ask Xu Junhou to be more specific about how to deal with this." Qian Shangduan said.
"There is no clever way. If the captured soldiers attack by force, we will fight soldiers against soldiers and generals against each other and knock them down from the city. Why should we be afraid?" Xu Huai said.
Seeing that Xu Huai didn't answer Qian Shangduan's question directly, King Jing Zhao Tuan said: "Xu Huai, please stop being so pretentious. If you speak more clearly, Shang Duan and I can sleep more soundly at night..."
"
Xu Huai said: "The main thing is that the generals guarding the mausoleum dare to fight the enemy, which is what I just said, 'army against army, enemy against general', then there will be no fear and no worries - when it comes to specific measures to take action
, it is really a small trick: we build another climbing road behind the city wall, and the soldiers storm the city wall. We can quickly mobilize reinforcements from the city to climb the city wall, and still ensure the advantage of defending the city. In addition, we can use bamboo and wood overnight
Build two or three watchtowers in the city, and let archers mount them to support the city wall with their bows and crossbows. Then the soldiers will not be able to take any advantage of us except to kill them!"
Deep down in his heart, Lu Xiong certainly hoped that he would be more receptive and appoint King Jing of Xu Huai to succeed Dabao. Now he stood up and said: "Speaking of which, it is too urgent to capture soldiers. If they can drive away the villagers, they will be around the city wall."
Build more ramps. When the time comes to attack together, we may still be overwhelmed and it is easy to make mistakes. At present, the captives only have time to build one ramp, so there is nothing to fear. The remaining army can also rotate the various units to defend this section.
City Wall. After experiencing this bloody battle, I believe that the remaining troops can truly become the warriors that His Highness relies on..."
