Seeing the waves of cavalry pouring from the low ridges and shallow hills towards Lanzhou City like a violent flash flood, the generals of the Qing Shun Army stood in front of the city tower and were trembling with anger.
The Shun Army of the Qing Dynasty, as the Shuozhou Han Army, rose to prominence in the past twenty years in suppressing the Fanhu rebellion in Xishan. Although it suffered repeated blows due to the southern invasion of Datong and the defection of the Chihu people, the losses to the core generals were not heavy. .
Regardless of their merits and achievements, these people still have rich combat experience.
And everyone has calmed down a little from yesterday's chaos and rage.
Kelan (Lanzhou City) has sent a large number of people into Guanjuan Mountain to spy on the enemy in the past twelve hours. Langu, Ningwu, and Loufan have also sent people to contact Weiwei, and at the same time, more soldiers have fled. When I came back, I almost figured out some things.
Although Cao Shixiong and Meng Jian both suspected that this was a military operation after Xu Huai arrived in Fuzhou to urge the Gu family to unite with the remnant Khitan clan and target Taiyuan, they were still able to confirm that after the fall of Taohua Chongzhai, they were currently passing through Taohua. Chong, Minglu Village entered Lan Valley and Guanlui Mountain in the west of Kelan. There were about 4,000 enemy troops.
Of course, there are too few troops stationed in Caocheng Village, and they have long realized that Caocheng Village cannot be defended. However, Langu, Loufan, Ningwu, Minglu, Guangwu, Yangkou and other fortresses are strong and have many troops stationed there. For the time being, they can still Can't see what could go wrong.
Especially after the enemy forces that invaded Minglu Village last night took a detour to the vicinity of Caocheng Village, the scouts they sent have yet to see any signs of large groups of troops attacking Langu, Ningwu and other strongholds.
It's snowing again today and it's sunny again, so the view is excellent.
At the eastern foot of Guanchuan Mountain from Huanglongpo to the east, the terrain has very limited undulations. Standing at the head of Lanzhou City, the generals could overlook Huanglongpo Station and the temporary camps nearby.
What's more, they are in the north. There are several sentry forts in the boundary ridge between Kelan and Ningwu. The field of view is wider. It can be roughly confirmed that the enemy troops currently entering Huanglongpo at the eastern foot of Guanlun Mountain are only about two thousand.
The dog thief Xu Huai only had so many men and horses, and he dared to press directly under the Lanzhou City, treating the Lanzhou defenders as if they were nothing. Old and new hatreds were intertwined. How could the generals of the Qingshun Army be calm?
Lanzhou City is currently the headquarters of the Cao family and the Qingshun Army. In addition to five thousand infantry, Cao Shixiong also imitated the military system of the previous dynasty and concentrated the Qingshun Army generals and their families in Lanzhou City and nearby Fen. Among the many villages in the water valley.
In doing so, Cao Shixiong wanted to transform all the generals of the Qing Shun Army into professional soldiers who would be loyal to him for life. On the other hand, Cao Shixiong strictly implemented the military household system of brotherhood, father death and son succession, so as to ensure a continuous supply of energy for the Qing Shun Army. Obtain qualified new soldiers.
At present, the Chihu people have very low restrictions on the surrender forces in these aspects, and even do everything possible to encourage each family to expand their armaments and strengthen their strength; they are extremely connivant to the surrender forces to loot and even kill the areas they occupy for food. state.
Yesterday, Cao Shili's troops were ambushed at the Zhufeng Gorge Road west of Huanglongpo and suffered a devastating blow. Cao Shixiong and Meng Jian speculated that after Xu Huai arrived in Fuzhou, he pushed the Fuzhou army to join forces with the remaining Khitan troops, possibly gathering 20,000 troops Ma took advantage of Daolanzhou to raid Taiyuan. In addition to quickly sending people to various places to report and request reinforcements.
The most urgent thing to do is to evacuate all the generals and soldiers from the villages near Lanzhou City overnight into the city to organize them.
It may be difficult for thousands of generals and soldiers to form a formation out of the city to fight in a hurry, but standing on the city wall to participate in the defense is more effective than ordinary people or even rural soldiers, and the battle is much braver.
This means that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.
Taiyuan City's ability to hold on to this day mainly relies on the coordinated defense of the families and children of the Forbidden Army.
Although the sons of the Qing Shun army generals could not rush out of the city to fight, they could stand on the city wall instead, and the five thousand defenders could escape.
Now Xu Huai, a thieves, has more than 2,000 soldiers and horses at the eastern foot of Guanhui Mountain, and he dares to force himself under Lanzhou City. Isn't this bullying Lanzhou's people?
"What does this thief want to do?" Cao Shixiong looked at Meng Jian and asked.
"The traitor Xu Huai wants to attack Taiyuan, but he cannot ignore the fact that his retreat will be blocked by Lanzhou," Meng Jian frowned and analyzed, "He led his cavalry to attack the city. He should have blocked our troops in the city.
After the Fuzhou Army and the remnants of the Khitan troops arrive, they will be replaced and rush to attack Taiyuan!"
The Gu family's troops in Fuzhou were mainly infantry. In the wind and snow, in the ice and snow, it was difficult to imagine that the Fuzhou army would attack deep into Taiyuan alone.
Although the remnants of the Khitan clan still have thousands of elite cavalry, Meng Jian speculated that even if they made up their mind to attach themselves to the turbulent Southern Dynasty at this time, they would not be able to use their few remaining elite combat forces to undertake a raid like Taiyuan.
A dangerous combat mission that could very well result in the destruction of the entire army.
Xiao Linshi might go astray, but among the generals under Xiao Linshi, who would be willing to sacrifice their lives for the Southern Dynasty at this time?
The old grudges and grudges have not yet been settled.
The only reasonable speculation is that the Gu family and the remnants of the Khitan clan thought that the Southern Dynasty could still survive, so they might send troops into Lanzhou to contain them to show their stance. If they saw that the situation was not good, it would be convenient for them to withdraw from Lanzhou.
, you won’t suffer a big loss.
Only Xu Huai, who never knew how to write the word "death", would think of rushing to Taiyuan without his life.
Since the first northern expedition against Yan, Xu Huai and Tongbai Mountain Soldiers have risen rapidly, and this is not the first time that they have gone astray.
To be honest, if the returning generals had not confirmed that the ambush was led by Xu Huai himself, Meng Jian would not have dared to guess that the ambush's ultimate intention was to attack Taiyuan.
Cao Shixiong nodded slightly and agreed with Meng Jian's judgment.
"Jie Shuai, what are you still hesitating about?" the bearded general stamped his feet and yelled. "In a hurry, we couldn't figure out the enemy's situation. We shouldn't attack Huanglongpo, but girls and children ran to the city to defecate and pee. Jieshuai
If I can bear this tone, I, Zhou Huan, can’t bear it anymore!”
"Zhou Huan, I will lead you to lead 1,500 infantrymen out of the south city to form a formation. If the enemy approaches the city, you will lead the troops to fight with them. In addition, you must not act rashly - can you listen?"
Cao Shixiong stared at Zhou Huan and asked in a deep voice.
Cao Shixiong was a little worried about the grumpy Zhou Huan, but Shili died in the battle, and Meng Ping and the rising star Cao Cheng led the troops outside. The brave generals who charged into Shuozhou were actually led by Zhou Huan; Zhou Huan's troops were also among the current defenders of Lanzhou City.
The most powerful in combat.
Although Cao Shixiong was worried, he had to use Zhou Huan at this time.
"Zhou Huan is a bit impatient, but he is not an idiot. He still understands these principles." The bearded general stamped his feet and shouted.
In addition to Zhou Huan leading his troops to prepare for battle in Nancheng, Cao Shixiong also ordered another general to lead 500 infantrymen out of the city to form a formation in case of unpreparedness.
In Lanzhou City, Cao Shixiong could directly mobilize more than 5,000 infantrymen out of the city to fight.
If they really let Xu Huai block the city easily, not only would Zhennan Zong's palace not be able to explain it to him, but Zhou Huan and other generals would also probably have a hard time holding back. They were venting their dissatisfaction by treating Meng Jian like this yesterday.
Cao Shixiong now also needs to confirm whether the many previous speculations are reasonable through engagement and the strength of the engagement, instead of huddled in the city and guessing.
Now no one dares to easily deny the strong combat effectiveness of the Chushan Cavalry. Although the number is small, the combat effectiveness may not be much worse than the elite cavalry of the Chihu people of the same size.
However, Cao Shixiong is not afraid of fighting against the city.
On the one hand, he transferred more crossbowmen and a limited number of dozens of crossbows to the west city and the south city wall. On the other hand, he arranged for the infantry leaving the city to carry side carriages, iron pulleys, heavy shields and other war equipment under the city.
Form a formation, and at the same time order groups of infantry to stand ready inside the city gate, ready to take turns and respond.
They were so tightly deployed under the city. If Xu Huai, a dog thief, rushed directly to the city, Cao Shixiong would ask him to taste that the bones in Lanzhou were still somewhat hard, and he was not allowed to gnaw them just because he wanted to.
The Chushan Cavalry, which was like a torrent, stopped about six miles away from Lanzhou City, gathered and dispersed, and finally the groups of cavalry were divided into two large groups, with one group mainly concentrated on a flat hill in the southwest of Lanzhou.
It is about two thousand steps away from the Qiao Tower in the southwest corner of Lanzhou City. Since we are attacking the west gate directly, we can also attack the south gate together with another group of cavalry concentrated in the south direction of Lanzhou City.
"What do they want to do?" Seeing that the main force of the Chushan Cavalry stopped to reorganize their formation so far away, but still stopped approaching the city, Cao Shixiong looked to his left and right in confusion.
He is also a determined man, claiming to be one of the heroes of the world, but he suffered too many losses at the hands of the thief Xu Huai, and Xu Huai's use of the army was indeed unreasonable and god-like.
It was so unpredictable that he couldn't maintain his confidence at this time.
However, Meng Jian and others were unable to answer Cao Shixiong's question.
Cao Shixiong couldn't figure out Xu Huai, how could they figure it out?
If so, would Lanzhou suffer so many losses and suffer such big losses at the hands of this thief?
"Jie Shuai, look over there!"
Someone pointed to the south of the city, and a dozen cavalrymen galloped out from the Chushan Cavalry Formation, galloping towards the south city gate.
At first, the distance was far and the faces of these people could not be clearly seen, but as the dozen riders came closer and closer, and when the faces of some of them could be seen clearly, Meng Jian almost groaned.
"Jie Shuai, it's the second young master, the young master! That thief Xu Huai put an iron chain on the neck of the second young master, the young master!" Someone at the top of the city shouted in grief and anger!
"Commander Jie, please quickly order Zhou Huan to withdraw from the city. Don't fall into the trap of Xu Huai's dog thief!" Meng Jian shouted hastily, urging Cao Shixiong to withdraw his troops and horses from the city immediately.
"Shut up!" Cao Shixiong roared and ordered Meng Jian to shut up, shouting, "Prepare your armor and horses, and all the generals will follow a certain person out of the city to kill the dog thief Xu Huai! I will not give up until I kill this thief today!"
Why didn't Cao Shixiong want to withdraw Zhou Huanqi's troops?
The key is, even if he could bear to see his two sons die at the hands of the thief Xu Huai in front of Lanzhou City, would Zhou Huan, who had already led his troops in formation in the city, obediently obey his orders and withdraw to the city?
Zhou Huan would not withdraw, and he could not let Zhou Huan and his troops die outside the city.
Zhou Huan led his troops to save his two sons, Cao Shixiong, and were annihilated by Chushan's superior troops in front of Lanzhou City. However, Cao Shixiong ordered the city gates to be closed. Looking at all this, which military general would obey his orders in the future?
?
The only correct choice at this time was to use military children to guard the city wall. He personally led 5,000 infantrymen to fight to the death with Xu Huai. Even if all 5,000 infantrymen were killed, Chushan's cavalry would still be maimed and destroyed.
Only in this way will the foundation of the Qing Shun Army not be shaken.
Even if Lanzhou City is temporarily captured, there is no need to worry about it, but he, Cao Shixiong, cannot be treated like a rabbit and dare not kick him back!
