Fire oil tanks are most suitable for fighting in narrow spaces. They are also easy to obtain materials and simple to make.
Households in the city cannot do without candles and kerosene for lighting at night, and all kinds of pressed oil are not cheap; most households use small pottery or porcelain pots and urns as oil bottles, with narrow openings.
The fire oil jar is a pottery urn and porcelain jar collected on the spot, filled with about half or one-third of the flammable pressed oil, and a cloth ball is used to cover the mouth of the bottle; the oil will naturally impregnate the cloth ball. When used, it is folded with a fire
Just light the cloth ball and throw it at the enemy soldiers' feet.
In this way, two large barrels of kerosene can be used to make hundreds of kerosene cans. This not only saves kerosene, but also makes the fire attack range more precise. There is no need to worry about the fire spreading and accidentally damaging your own formation. At the same time, the throwing distance of the kerosene can is far away.
It can be reached by pouring kerosene directly.
Xu Huai ordered a fire attack. Forty guards were divided into two teams, with a few serving as throwers and others forming a formation to cover. They advanced from the narrow passage reserved above the city wall to both ends.
Light the fire oil can and throw it accurately at the enemy soldiers; if one is not enough, throw it again; if two are not enough, throw it again; half a kilogram of oil and one fire oil can is enough.
If the enemy soldier is holding a heavy shield with a large covering area, and the kerosene can is smashed on the shield, as long as the body is not poured with kerosene, he will not be too panicked for a while; but the vast majority of enemy soldiers, especially
They were the elite red warriors and crossbowmen who dismounted and entered the city to fight. They watched the fire oil cans being thrown at their feet. If they couldn't fly accurately, they couldn't block them with their shields. They couldn't avoid the fire oil splash in the narrow and crowded space.
In an instant, clusters of fires would be ignited, and anyone would be scrambling to put them out.
However, as the kerosene cans were continuously thrown, the kerosene was poured on them, and the fire spread. In the blink of an eye, the enemy soldiers would turn into burning figures.
The enemy soldiers must react quickly and jump off the two-foot-high city wall to still have a chance to survive. At this time, the defenders only need to use heavy shields to suppress the enemy soldiers, while the rear crossbowmen take advantage of the chaos and continue to output,
You can quickly clear out the enemy soldiers between the two horse-walled war tents, and then advance to the next war tent...
The city walls on both sides of the North City Tower seem to be more than a thousand steps long, but between every two horse-faced walls of the Huaichuan City Wall (also called piers), they protrude from the city wall like the city tower. In addition to strengthening the structural strength of the city wall, there are also
The dead corners of the city wall are eliminated to facilitate crossbowmen to shoot enemies in the attached city, and war sheds and watchtowers are built on the piers, which are important defensive nodes of the city wall). There are only six walls on one side of the north city at a distance of 150 steps.
The pier and war shed, a turret, were strictly guarded by the defenders to resist the enemy's attack.
Although the bodyguards around Xu Huai dispatched very few troops, with only about twenty soldiers in one group, it was difficult to pass quickly through the city wall full of obstacles, but they used fire attacks to clear out dozens of enemy soldiers on a section of the city wall.
, naturally also greatly boosted the morale of other pier guards.
Zhong Changqing, Mo Li suddenly saw that nearly two hundred generals were killed and injured in the four sections of the city wall in just one cup of tea. They had to order the soldiers to temporarily withdraw from the other sections of the city wall to adjust their deployment and replace them with soldiers.
The shield bearers ascended the city to fight.
Xu Huai used fire attacks to slow down the enemy's attack, giving the defenders a chance to breathe and boosting their morale. He found that the enemy did not have heavy siege equipment. Dozens or even hundreds of people could just stay calm and simply guard the piers.
, the turret is not difficult.
No matter how strong the enemy is, they can't launch a fierce offensive in front of the city wall that is full of obstacles and has extremely narrow attack channels.
In comparison, when the enemy rushes to attack the city wall, the most important shielding device is the shield.
Not only did the defenders have a larger defensive area, but they were heavier and more resistant to impact, such as shield carts, iron pulleys and other war equipment to suppress the enemy soldiers' attack. The crossbowmen fired arrows from the flanks.
If the defenders can keep their composure, what else is there to fear?
A white fish belly appears in the east. Under the clear morning light, mist spreads over Ru River, Huai River and other rivers. Several warships appear and disappear, like arrows leaving the string, heading towards the Nancheng Pier of Huaichuan River. .
When the prisoner scouts on the north bank saw this scene, they blew their whistles loudly before galloping north.
Knowing that the reinforcements from Chushan had arrived, Zhong Changqing looked at Mo Li and said, "General Yan, there is no point in fighting anymore!"
Mo Li suddenly guessed that the first batch of Chushan reinforcements rushing over to help would not be too large, but the North City was still under the control of the defenders, and there was no hope of occupying the North City Wall in a short time.
Although gaps have been opened in the east and west cities, the key nodes around the city towers and turrets have still not been captured, and a smooth passage into Huaichuan City has not been opened.
If we send people to cross the wall at this time, if we cannot capture a city tower after an hour or two, the soldiers entering the city may be wiped out by more and more reinforcements from Chushan.
Although he was unwilling to do so, Mo Lihu nodded to Zhong Changqing, indicating that he could withdraw his troops and retreat.
…………
…………
For the defenders, the casualties in the battle to defend the city were tragic. More than 800 people were killed in just one night, and there were countless wounded. However, they saw the enemy abandoning crude equipment and thousands of corpses under the city and hastily retreated north. Let's go, thunderous cheers erupted from the city wall.
At this time, the fire that had been burning in the city for half the night was gradually extinguished.
Although most of Huaichuan City was destroyed by fire, with shocking burning ruins and collapsed shacks everywhere, and more people became homeless refugees overnight, Huaichuan City was saved after all.
In the eyes of countless people, there is both worry about the future and relief that they have survived.
Of course, there were also heavy casualties in the city, with burnt corpses being carried out from the scene of the fire.
Meng Jie, Xu Kang and others finally understood at this time that Xu Huai's statement that there were still six to seven hundred ambush troops north of Huaichuan was a lie, but it was no longer important.
They were forced to stay at Beicheng Tower for only half a night, and witnessed the extremely cruel offensive and defensive battles with fear. This was an experience they had never had in their lives. Only then did they realize that in the past, they thought they could point out the country after reading a few military books, and thought they could casually say a few words about "attacking the heart". How ridiculous it is to think of yourself as a military commander because you are the best.
Xu Xin'an led the first batch of reinforcements into the city, but there was only one battalion. After receiving the message in the middle of the night, Xu Xin'an urgently mobilized all the elite troops near the inspection envoy's office in the capital, and took eight rowing oar speedboats to rush to the 200-mile waterway. Came from the mouth of Shixi River.
The generals took turns manning the oars, and when they arrived at Huaichuan City, they were exhausted. After entering the city, they first took over the defense of the east and west cities, and then the defenders who suffered heavy casualties went down to the city to rest.
Chushan collected hundreds of boats in the early stage, most of which were small wooden boats. Very few of them could be transformed into qualified warships. At that time, in addition to more than a thousand infantry who continued to take boats from Luoshan to Huaichuan, they also arrived from Zhouqiao, Xinyang and other places. The two thousand cavalrymen who gathered and marched westward through Luoshan arrived at the dock on the south bank of Huai River before noon.
Xu Huai ordered all the war horses and a thousand generals to be stationed outside the south bank. Only a thousand soldiers crossed the river and entered Huaichuan City.
There are 3,000 Chushan elites and more than 2,000 defenders in Huaichuan City. Xu Huai is not afraid that the captives will rush to attack in a short period of time. The most urgent thing to do next is to move the people in the city to the Huai River immediately.
South Shore evacuated.
It is not enough to evacuate people from Huaichuan to the south. Huangchuan, Guangshan and other places also need to immediately evacuate people to Jinghu, south of Jiuliguan.
Huaichuan is already in ruins. Most of the houses in the city have been destroyed by fire. One hundred thousand people have no shelter. The enemy army will come back at any time. They immediately organize the people to cross the river and evacuate south. Meng Jie and Xu Kang can understand, but Huangchuan and Guangshan
Located south of the Huai River, it was also necessary to immediately evacuate all the people to Jinghu North Road. They hesitated a little and asked: "Do I need to report this matter to Xiangyang first?"
Back at the office, Xu Huai could not rest yet, but he was full of energy and could stay up for several nights. At this time, he was still full of energy and was arranging many things.
"Of course we have to ask Xiangyang before we start moving. We are just preparing urgently at this time." Seeing Meng Jie, Xu Kang was confused. After sitting for a few times, Xu Huai sighed softly and explained, "The Xuanwei Army suffered too many casualties.
, defending Huaichuan City cannot really stabilize the hearts and morale of the people in Guangzhou south of Huaichuan. As there is no longer a threat to the right wing, the best outcome is for Ge Yu to lead his troops and safely withdraw from Ruyin through Yingshui.
Next, Yue Hailou will send troops to Chushan City without any scruples. Chushan is really unable to defend two fronts. All the remaining soldiers on the Huaichuan, Huangchuan, and Guangshan frontlines can only retreat to Qianli Pass to ensure that this winter, the prisoners will be captured.
The soldiers cannot penetrate into Jinghu North Road to disturb people's livelihood..."
Liu Xian and Fu Qian acted rashly, causing the main force of the Xuanwei Army to be wiped out. This dealt a much more serious blow to the barely formed Huaishang defense line than adding insult to injury.
As for the Bianliang Chu army to the north of the Huai River, the Yan Ji surrendered troops and horses, and the Yan army on the east side of Chihu Road totaled 160,000 to 70,000 troops, they all came to life at this moment.
Xu Huai now even needs to consider whether Pinglu and Gongxian are not defended, or the southern army in Chihu West Road Town slows down the attack on Pinglu and Gongxian, and transfers more troops to the southern front. The situation he will face throughout the winter is extremely bad.
, much more severe than imagined.
The only option is to abandon the eastern section of the Huaishang defense line and gather the limited troops and horses at Jiuli Pass. It is inevitable that Luoshan and other cities will also be abandoned, and more troops will be gathered to defend Xinyang, which is easier to defend and harder to attack.
The enemy was able to repel the enemy this time, but it was because the enemy was in a hurry and had no preparation.
Now that there is no threat to the north of Huaichuan, Yue Hailou can lead 50,000 to 60,000 troops and horses, and with the cooperation of the Chihu elite cavalry, advance towards Qingyi Ridge, Shimen Ridge and Chushan New City.
They were fully prepared, either directly transporting war equipment from Chenzhou and other places, or driving a large number of captured craftsmen to use local materials to build trebuchets, shield vehicles and other war equipment; with plenty of time, and with the cooperation of the Red Husband Cavalry, they could
Form a well-defended company camp in front of the walled city, and then attack the city calmly.
Even if Xu Huai has no doubt that he can hold the front line of Qingyi Ridge, Shimen Ridge and Chushan City, the casualties will definitely not be small. How can he still have the energy to take care of the eastern section?
