The main cavalry force of Mo Lihu and Zhong Changqing's force mainly stayed in Jiaopi, Chaiji and other places in the afternoon to pursue, intercept and intercept the defeated troops; especially the cavalry was always the main force in encirclement and defeat.
After Kuo Ti's troops rested for a while, the first group came to cover up the attack on Huaichuan City, with only a thousand men and horses.
Kuo Ti led his troops to cover up the city of Huaichuan. He confirmed that there were some good soldiers in the city and the defenders had a strong will. However, the number of men and horses was extremely limited and it was impossible to guard such a long city wall at the same time, so he sent most of the troops to rush directly.
He launched a strong attack under the city, leaving only more than 200 soldiers to stay on the flat hillock about three miles away from the north gate of Huaichuan to supervise the battle.
Kuo Ti never thought that the Southern Dynasty would have an established cavalry force north of Huaichuan!
He had thought about the Southern Dynasty's troops on the south bank of the Huaihe River. After hearing the news of Liu Xian's defeat at Jiaopi, he might immediately reinforce Huaichuan. Therefore, the scouts he sent arrived near Huaichuan City before dark.
It was also the first time to send people to keep an eye on the banks of the Huai River and the mouth of Rushui.
However, who would have thought that when Xu Huai learned about Liu Xian and Fu Qian's rash dispatch of troops, he would personally lead his bodyguards to pursue Jiaopei. He would arrive at Rushui Deng just in time for the main force of Xuanwei's army to be defeated and the Chihu scouts to move south.
shore?
On Pinggang, a few soldiers on the periphery first saw Wang Ju, Guo Junpan, Zhou Jing, Wang Zhang, Wu Chihai and other generals divided into three teams, launching a cone-shaped offensive formation from the north, and then they were shocked to hear something strange.
He yelled; most of the soldiers dismounted and rested, their vision was limited and they didn't know what was going on for a while.
Kuo Ti, who was watching the battle in the north city of Huaichuan on the south side of Pinggang, heard the movement and rushed to the north side. He saw clearly that Wang Ju, Zhou Jing and others were holding the heavy front and long spear under their armpits. The distance was less than 200 steps.
, Zha Mao yelled: "Hoar, ah, the Nanbarbarians are sneaking up on you, quickly retreat!"
No matter how brave Kuo Ti was, he only dared to pull the reins, roar loudly, and turn around.
The first batch of Kuo Ti's troops came to cover Huaichuan City. They mainly used more mobile light cavalry. Most of the soldiers wore leather armor. Only Kuo Ti, his generals from hundreds of households and a small number of elites wore iron armor.
It also makes them stand out.
Guo Junpan and others drew their bowstrings, and immediately dozens of sharp arrows were shot at Kuo Ti and his horse.
Although Kuo Ti was wearing iron armor and heavy armor, he fled south and lowered his body, but the arrows held by Guo Junpan and others were both accurate and powerful. Although most of the arrows were blocked by the armor, two arrows still hit the target.
On the crook of his leg, there were two sharp, three-edged arrows that broke through the armor and shot into his back, causing Kuo Ti to groan and growl in pain.
However, Kuo Ti dismounted his horse and was extremely handsome. He was hit by dozens of arrows and still galloped forward without panicking Kuo Ti off his horse.
Most of the captive soldiers had no time to mount their horses, and watched helplessly as three teams of elite cavalry were like three sharp sharp knives, thrusting toward Pinggang under the dim moonlight.
Arrows like a swarm of locusts came over, and the unsuspecting soldiers fell down one after another.
The long knife shone with a cold light under the moonlight, and chopped off the heads of the panicked soldiers.
With the spear, Ma Shan stabbed fiercely, directly piercing the captive soldiers who had panic in their eyes.
The captive soldiers who had come back to their senses panicked and mounted their horses. No one dared to stop at all. They just galloped desperately to the outside to avoid being swept into the torrent and facing the enemy.
The swords, spears and spears that were slashed at him were powerless to fight back.
Wang Ju, Guo Junpan, Zhou Jing, Wang Zhang, and Wu Chihai led their troops to kill the captive soldiers on Pinggang. Without stopping at all, they just rolled through Pinggang like a raging current and continued toward the bottom of Huaichuan City like a flood.
Coming galloping.
The distance from Pinggang to the northern city wall of Huaichuan is only three miles. The war horses galloped at full speed without even half a shot of effort.
In the north city of Huaichuan, a small number of two hundred soldiers had climbed onto the city wall to fight, and there were more than three hundred soldiers riding under the city, holding bows and shooting arrows to provide cover.
Although the soldiers under the city had some reaction time, this time was not enough for them to gather together for a counterattack. They did not even know how many reinforcements were coming from the north. They were hesitant and frightened, hesitating whether to retreat to the two wings or resist on the spot.
.
They also didn't know that the general Kuo Ti was wounded by an arrow and was forcibly dragged away by his own soldiers to escape. Several generals from hundreds of households were leaderless and had no way to get together in a hurry to formulate countermeasures. They could only fight on their own.
Scattered with bows and arrows, hoping to repel the attacking cavalry.
More than 300 soldiers were scattered under the city, unable to form a dense suppressive rain of arrows. How big of a threat was there?
The bodyguards around Xu Huai all wore scale armor and pierced armor, which were much more protective against arrows than leather armor. The attacker in front lowered his body and leaned against the horse's neck to cover his face.
Waiting for a vital point, he waved his sword, clamped his spear, and rushed directly to the city to capture the soldiers and fight them head-on.
The cavalry under the city were originally lined up in a line under the city. After fighting closely, they were cut into pieces. More than a hundred people were quickly killed. The remaining cavalry had to abandon the captive soldiers trapped at the top of the city and rush back in a hurry.
Escape outside.
Seeing the reinforcements coming from the north, they killed the captives and cavalry below the city and routed them. The morale of the defenders on the city wall was also boosted, and they all launched a counterattack by attacking the captured troops on the city wall.
No matter how strong the elite Chihu troops are, they are still human beings. At this time, they have no idea how many reinforcements from the Southern Dynasty have arrived, or even whether there is any unexpected situation in the Jiaopi area. Seeing that the men and horses in Pinggang and the city are being killed one after another,
How could the people who climbed the city not panic?
Seeing that the situation was not right, the captive soldiers in the east and west cities also fled to the periphery. When the situation was unclear, evacuating the battlefield was the best choice they could make.
In order to bypass the obstacles and capture the North City as quickly as possible, the soldiers who climbed the city on the northern city wall scaled the city at multiple points to fight. Now that the morale of the defenders was greatly boosted, they were immediately cut and surrounded at the top of the city.
Except for the soldiers at both ends of the city wall who had the opportunity to jump off the wall with ropes and escape, the remaining hundreds of soldiers could only hold on and resist stubbornly...
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"What a strong man!"
Meng Jie, Xu Kang and others had been in fear for a long time. When they saw the reinforcements descending like divine soldiers from the sky, killing the captives and making them run like wolves, they were completely defeated. Their instincts were filled with excitement, they slapped their buttocks and screamed, wishing they could go out and kill the enemy with their swords.
Xu Huai ordered the city gates to be opened to welcome reinforcements entering the city.
Wang Ju, Guo Junpan, Wang Zhang, Wu Qihai and other generals led more than 200 cavalry into the city. There were still several small groups of cavalry left outside the city, heading north into the darkness of the night as suspicious soldiers.
Wang Zhang, Wu Chihai and other generals led their troops and horses to rest under the city. Wang Ju and Guo Junpan climbed to the north tower. At this time, the remaining prisoners at the top of the city were almost gone.
Encirclement and annihilation.
In less than an hour, nearly half of the 600 defenders in Beicheng were killed or injured, and the casualties were quite heavy.
Especially the Sidu Sword archers affiliated with the county captain had inferior weapons and seldom practiced. Nearly one-third of them died in the battle, and almost all of the remaining ones were injured.
The battle situation in the east and west cities was better, but it was also the sword archers belonging to the county captain who suffered the most casualties.
The casualties of the Xuanwei Army's regular soldiers were relatively light. After all, they drilled diligently and fought according to the city, and the captive soldiers did not have any siege equipment. If they were killed and defeated in such a short period of time, they would really be worthless trash.
Already.
The casualties among the soldiers traveling to the camp and the generals escaping from the defeated battlefield were more limited.
Most of the sword archers of the county captain were local people. For those who died in the battle or were seriously injured who had to go down the city wall, Xu Huai and the county magistrate Han Qiwen immediately allocated 30,000 yuan from the county treasury to the county government to distribute the money to their families as compensation.
In the rush and chaos, although there are many people fishing in troubled waters and pretending to be the family members of fallen soldiers, it is difficult to distinguish them in detail at this time, but for example, asking people to fish in troubled waters and defrauding thousands of money, calming people's hearts is the most important thing at the moment.
.
Although Han Qiwen had previously summoned the heads of the clan heads who had taken refuge in Huaichuan to urgently recruit the village soldiers and villagers they had in hand to participate in the defense of the city, each family had verbally agreed with it, but after an hour, the county government really responded.
Less than a hundred people gathered.
Panic will not be completely contained just because Xu Huai stands on the tower.
Xuanwei's army was defeated. Who dared to believe that the sparse defenders at the top of the city could finally defend Huaichuan City?
Who wouldn't think that when the city is destroyed, having thirty or fifty soldiers with them will give them a better chance of survival?
But in the dark, each family is delaying in handing over the soldiers and villagers. What can Han Qiwen and others do?
They only have about a hundred government officials under their command, and they have to maintain order in the city and stop people from flocking to Nancheng. They have no ability to recruit them by force.
Furthermore, the county government has no statistics on the people in the refuge city, and the streets where refugees gather are also in a mess.
Even in the process of fleeing, most of the rural soldier organizations were scattered, and most of the tens of thousands of refugees had no conditions to live together in groups. The local rural gentry may have dozens of thirty to fifty good bodyguards around them, but
Most of the rural people who had been trained as rural soldiers were scattered in the streets and alleys, enduring hunger and cold.
At this time, no one took the initiative to respond to the call. Even if the county government wanted to recruit people by force, where would they start?
Now three hundred Chushan elites killed the besieging soldiers and fled. They entered the city to reinforce the defense. They also said that more soldiers and horses were fighting with the prisoners outside the city. The soldiers fled from the north city and the east and west cities. Hundreds of ferocious soldiers fled.
They were surrounded and annihilated on the city, and the north city gate was opened. Under the light of bonfires and one after another, a large group of elite cavalry entered the city, which was witnessed by all the soldiers and civilians in the city.
At least at this moment, the soldiers and civilians in the city saw hope of defending Huaichuan.
Some people who know the truth of the death of lips and teeth, on the one hand, sent their villagers to the city to help defend, on the other hand, they took the initiative to call more villagers to participate in the defense of the city, including many passionate and brave people...
