Chapter 479 Killing the Horse at the Gate of the City
Two simple arrow towers stood up outside the city. Dozens of soldiers with strong arms and good shooting skills climbed up and suppressed the fire coverage of the defenders at the top of the city through rounds of shots, disrupting them.
counterattack rhythm.
At the same time, the advance on the ground continued. Taking advantage of the gap time gained by the offensive on the arrow tower, sacks filled with earth and rocks were transported to the front line and piled into the inner trench already close to the city wall.
On the top of the city, Xu Wei, who was in charge of the town, saw that the ditches and fences outside the city were being filled in and pushed down layer by layer, and he felt very anxious.
As a veteran of North Town, he is better at running in the field, but he lacks unique insights and experience in the defense of city fortresses. In the current battle, he can only make a satisfactory response. There is nothing that goes beyond the routine.
An effective trick.
The defenders at the top of the city saw that although the enemy troops outside the city were hindered by the defense and could not directly attack the city wall defense, they were also advancing rapidly and steadily, but their own side had no means of stopping them at all, and they were all in a very bad mood.
of tension.
In addition, the cavalry team that rushed out from the east of the city was defeated by the enemy and retreated, which further aggravated the anxiety of the guards and made the atmosphere in the city even more solemn.
Compared with fierce and arduous battles, this kind of tension and dignified atmosphere actually damages morale more seriously. What is more torturous than being in suffering is knowing that suffering is coming soon but being unable to reverse it all.
This will cause people to lose their goals and lose their fighting spirit.
Therefore, all famous generals who are good at city defense must not only be proficient in various offensive and defensive tactics, but also know how to grasp and motivate the emotions of their soldiers. Not everyone has the kind of calmness that does not change even when the mountain collapses.
When faced with an enemy siege that is several times or even ten times greater, being able to avoid being frightened to the point where your waist and knees are weak is already a sign of courage, and being able to hold on to your sword and gun and keep fighting is even more courageous.
Morale suppression is a very mysterious thing, and it is difficult to explain it clearly in words. It often requires the generals who command on the spot to feel and judge. But when the naked eye can judge it through some signs, it means that the situation is very serious.
.
Li Tai saw that every time a round of arrows was fired from the arrow tower, the defenders on the city wall, regardless of whether they were overtaken or not, all hid behind the battlement bunkers in a tacit understanding for several seconds, just like the kind of people who were wandering around.
The man who urinates frequently between his work station and the toilet.
So he formed his men and horses into a well-defined formation, and advanced in batches. Newly built siege equipment such as chariots and ladders were also sent to the front line one after another.
This kind of superposition of pressure is very effective. It can continuously attack and lower people's expectations about the fate of their situation. The defenders on the city top showed signs of being agitated, either firing their bows out of rhythm, or shouting loudly.
While drinking, he threw down wood, rocks and other objects that resisted the enemy.
This is a sign that the psychological pressure has reached a limit and has to be vented through some meaningless actions.
In fact, the best way to deal with fear is not to face fear directly. Gather all the defenders on the city wall and watch the enemy advance step by step. It is like letting a condemned prisoner look up at the guillotine as it slowly falls down inch by inch. It is better to
They arrange various tasks to keep them busy, which seems to be maintaining their physical strength, but in fact it is overdrafting their morale.
Xu Wei, the commander on top of the city, also noticed the passivity of the soldiers, so he shouted loudly: "The cavalry left the city earlier, and several soldiers have successfully broken through the bandit blockade and asked for reinforcements from Guancheng. You can hold on for a while longer.
Guancheng reinforcements will arrive soon!"
As soon as these words came out, the faces of the defenders on the city improved slightly. Another guard looked down and saw the enemy advancing into another trench. He couldn't help but sigh with regret: "I should have dug more trenches before."
The trenches will be dug, so that the reinforcements will arrive before the rebels get close to the city!"
This is also meaningless nonsense. If they can dig this trench all the way to the bottom of Tongguan, then the Western thieves will have to hit each step as soon as they get out of the pass. That's a fart. I'm afraid they won't be able to advance in this life.
After the two sides started fighting for nearly two hours, the layers of fortifications set up by the defenders were finally leveled, and the attackers could reach the city directly.
Li Tai immediately ordered Gao Le to lead the two thousand men and horses who had been recuperating in the rear to rush forward. The strong soldiers rushed to the front with big shields, covering the rear soldiers and projecting all the siege equipment forward.
, at the same time, the crossbowmen also formed a battle formation and fired fiercely at the top of the city.
Soon, the space under the city wall was like snowflakes flying all over the sky. From a distance, it looked like a swarm of flying mosquitoes. Most of the space arrows would fail, but the atmosphere created was enough to make people...
Terrified.
Some large shields were like hedgehogs standing upright when they rushed under the enemy's city wall. The strong soldiers holding the shields were shocked by the constant impact of arrows and their mouths and noses were bleeding. But it was still extremely dangerous at this moment, and they were still
A new offensive needs to be launched as soon as possible in an effort to reverse this situation of being passively beaten but unable to fight back.
With the combined efforts of everyone, two ladders transformed from grain trucks rushed against the city wall. At the same time, many simple ladders were also erected on the outside of the city wall.
At this time, the two arrow towers were struggling to shoot at the enemy city wall. At the same time, the two teams of rangers who had been waiting on the side of the battlefield also galloped around the city wall and continuously fired their bows towards the city head.
Under the suppression of these two rounds of long-range firepower, the counterattack of the defenders at the top of the city suddenly stalled. This gave the siege soldiers below the city an opportunity to climb up the ladder to the city wall with steel knives and short spears in hand.
The defenders on the top of the city were able to detect the enemy soldiers climbing through the slight trembling of the city wall, but because the enemy's arrows were so heavily covered, they were unable to stand up on the top of the city. After the soldier commander shouted and reminded them,
Only then did they suddenly remember that they also had large cowhide shields to deal with this situation, so they all stood up with the large shields on their heads, holding spears and thrusting downwards to fight off the enemy.
At this point in the battle, any tricks are useless. What is competing is the willpower of the warriors on both sides.
As the defenders at the top of the city resumed their organized counterattack, a large amount of wood, sand and gravel fell from the top of the city. Even if they were protected by armor and shields, the huge force could not be offset, so many siege soldiers climbed up the ladder.
They fell down one after another, and the hooks thrown on the top of the city were constantly cut off. Few soldiers were able to rush to the top of the city.
But this round of attack was not without success. Under this cover, the two assault vehicles successfully rushed to the enemy's city gate and violently collided with the city gate.
Accompanied by muffled thunderous crashes, the entire city tower trembled, and the weathered soil outside the rammed city wall continued to peel off. The defenders on the top of the city also panicked due to the trembling feeling coming from their feet.
Change and live up to the bravery of the past.
"Continue to attack, the first one to get there will be heavily rewarded!"
Liang Shiyan, who was supervising the battle in front of the formation, took this opportunity to shout loudly. This time, he selected dozens of soldiers with spears to rush onto the cloud chariot. While stabbing the defenders at the top of the city with their spears, they climbed up quickly, and soon they were along the way.
The big spear cut through the gap and jumped to the top of the city. The big spear in his hand blocked the attack and pushed back the enemy troops that were swarming in front of him, so that he could gain a foothold for those behind him who were climbing up the city.
"Beat the drum and attack!"
When Li Tai saw that the front had already attacked the city, he was immediately overjoyed. He quickly waved his hand and ordered, and asked the reserve soldiers to join the attack one after another to capture the city in one go.
The enemy captured the city, and the general who defended the city, Xu Wei, was complaining in his heart. While waving his sword to stop the retreating soldiers, he organized an elite squad to prepare to lead his troops to charge back and kill the enemy troops who came up to the city.
However, morale was low, the situation became more corrupt, and various efforts had little effect.
However, at this moment, the sound of galloping horse hooves suddenly came from the direction of the river valley in the east of the city. When Xu Wei of Zhencheng heard the sound, he was stunned for a moment. After a moment, he burst out laughing and shouted to his subordinates: "
It's reinforcements, reinforcements are coming! The bandits in the east of the city have no horses, so reinforcements must be coming! Sons, guard the city wall and kill these bandits!"
When the soldiers who were already in a state of collapse heard this shouting, it was difficult to tell whether it was true or not, but they were still subconsciously willing to believe that it was beneficial to them, so they all cheered up and shouted loudly for the organization.
Fight back.
At this time, the gap captured on the top of the city had expanded to more than several feet, and nearly a hundred soldiers rushed to the top of the city. However, as the enemy's counterattack became more fierce, this space was suddenly compressed by nearly a foot, and there were even several
The soldier was pushed directly off the top of the city.
"You can't retreat, you can't retreat! There is a way forward, but you will die if you retreat!"
Gao Le, the fierce general who followed the army to the top of the city, was now tightly squeezed by several soldiers on the inside of the battlement. He had to use his arms to support him and was able to get some room to move.
But in this small space, he couldn't use his long spear at all. Gao Le simply held his sword and walked against the wall. He kept slashing and charging, and even rushed into the enemy's formation for more than several feet. There were fierce enemy soldiers in front and behind, but Gao Le
He was completely unafraid, with a steel knife in one hand and a short spear snatched from nowhere in the other hand. The swords and spears were stabbed together, and soon a bloody clearing was created around him.
The soldiers who were squeezed in the rear immediately seized this opportunity and killed all the dozens of enemy soldiers who had been separated. They quickly joined Gao Le and continued to kill the enemy.
Xu Wei of Zhencheng made a mistake. He Ruodun and others in the east city actually had horses, and they were funded by the defenders. From the three hundred light cavalry before, they captured more than twenty war horses that were injured but still usable. But there is another point.
That's right, reinforcements have really arrived.
More than a thousand soldiers of the Eastern Wei Dynasty rushed along the river valley towards Yan Hancheng. They encountered the scouts sent by He Ruodun a few miles away. As the warning came back, more than 500 soldiers here were also quickly sorting out.
Equipment warfare.
"Our armor is crude and we don't have many soldiers, so I'm afraid we won't be able to fight against the bandit cavalry. Why don't we retreat to the slope..."
When Han Xiong learned that there were thousands of thieves, his expression changed slightly. Even if he wanted to evade the attack temporarily, after all, there was a huge gap in strength between them. If they really fought, it would be a disaster.
After hearing this, He Ruoden glared and said angrily: "No! I have promised Master Lang that I will kill the thieves city. Now if I can't even stop the reinforcements of the thieves, how can I return to Master Lang with a face?"
As he spoke, he took out the thirty pairs of armored swords, took out one and threw it to Han Xiong and said in a deep voice: "You, a man from the west of Henan Province, performed well in the front battle, and you are worthy of the master of my family."
Armor and sword, quickly put on your upper body. If you run away timidly later and fail to live up to my husband's gift, if you don't die in this formation today, you will definitely die by my sword in the future!"
After hearing this, Han Xiong was extremely embarrassed. He had been guarding the border for many years and was also a famous general with a powerful reputation in western Henan. Even though Daxingtai treated him with courtesy when summoned, he did not want to be yelled at by this ignorant guy.
However, when his eyes fell on the armor sword with its unusual shape and exquisite craftsmanship, he was immediately attracted to it and couldn't move away at all. When he came back to his senses, he saw that He Ruoden had already put on his armor and mounted his horse, holding his bow and pointing at them.
: "The river here is narrow, and the thieves' cavalry may be fierce, but it is not difficult to stop them. I will weaken the enemy's spirit first, and you can quickly put on the formation and prepare for battle!"
As he spoke, He Ruoden and a dozen of his subordinates rode towards the incoming bandit army, and the elite soldiers who stayed here also put on their armor. Seeing that Han Xiong was still a little confused, some soldiers came forward to help him.
Wearing heavy armor, he gave a quick explanation of the array and the use of the sword.
If he were an ordinary soldier, it would be difficult for him to accept this kind of on-the-battle professor, but Han Xiong was a brave warrior, and he would soon understand it after just a few tips.
He has also fought in heavy armor, but the fine armor on his body is slightly different from the cavalry armor, and is more in line with the needs of infantry combat. This is really unusual nowadays when the cost and value of infantry are lower than that of cavalry.
, even Han Xiong felt that mere infantry were not worthy of specially developed and refined armor.
Before he had time to savor the work, the sound of horse hooves on the opposite side was already approaching, and He Ruoden was waiting to leave and return. He was so grand and grand when he left before, but now he was in such a mess that even the duck was shot by the pursuers from behind and had no time to right it.
, just galloping all the way, twisting his expression to signal for a quick formation here.
However, the enemy formation behind him also seemed quite messy, and the speed was not very fast. Especially because he had to be wary of He Ruoden and others turning around to shoot at any time, so he did not dare to close the distance too close, so he deliberately controlled the speed of the galloping horse, so that the following
Lu Yi's entire cavalry formation was implicated. However, this was not a big problem. After all, the number of enemies in front was too small, and with Yan Hancheng at their back, they were basically lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Thirty heavily armored elite soldiers were arrayed horizontally, with two levels at the front and back. Han Xiong, who was not familiar with such fighting, was placed in the back row. Seeing the enemy troops in front of him approaching, Han Xiong suddenly saw a strong wind behind him.
More than a hundred archers and crossbowmen fired one round at a time, immediately dealing a violent blow to the enemy's front line.
The enemy also had rangers shooting, but those stray arrows struck the hard iron armor without causing any damage. Due to the casualties of the troops in front of them, the momentum of the troops in the rear was not as fierce as before. Under the same heavy armor,
When the formations collide, the speed has been lost and there is no time for the second round of speed increase.
"drink!"
The infantrymen in the front formation shouted, and took a step forward with their left leg. At the same time, they swung down the saber in their hands. Han Xiong in the rear formation only saw a flash of cold light, and there was already a flower in front of him. He concentrated again
When I looked at it, I saw that seven or eight of the enemy's riders and horses who had been rushing to the front were all killed on the spot. Their bodies were split on the ground, and the blood and blood of the internal organs of the men and horses were also scattered in a pool!
"hiss……"
Even though Han Xiong had been in battle for a long time and was used to seeing life and death, when he saw this scene, he couldn't help but gasp. But soon a strange excitement came to his heart. He saw heavy armor on the left and right.
The infantrymen crossed in front, and he stepped forward between the two infantrymen in front and slashed down with his sword.
There was a slight stagnation in the hand at first, but as the blade split this barrier, the subsequent fall could be described as smooth. Seeing the enemy soldiers and horses splitting in front of him, Han Xiong felt a rush in his mind.
It was so hot that I couldn't help shouting loudly: "What a knife!"
Not only is it a good sword, it is simply a murder weapon. Not only Han Xiong, a fierce general who came into contact with the sword for the first time, couldn't help but marvel, the enemy soldiers were even more shocked. They didn't even react at all. How could they rush to the front?
His companions suddenly lay dead on the ground?
After all, war horses are not humans, and even if a human is running with all his strength, he still needs a certain amount of time to absorb the force if he wants to stop the momentum.
Therefore, even though the heads of the warriors in front had been dismembered, the knights on the back road were still unable to change direction or stop. They just rushed forward according to the inertia, and were then killed by the heavy infantrymen who were crossing with their swords. It seemed as if
It was like lining up to die, the scene was bloody and weird.
These soldiers also tried to attack the enemy on the opposite side with bows, knives, spears and other weapons in their hands, hoping to kill the enemy before the indestructible blade fell. However, any of their attacks would be useless if they landed on the heavy armor.
There were several loud collisions, but they could not cause effective damage to the enemy. In the end, the blade fell down unstoppably.
It was not until more than 200 enemy soldiers had died that the entire formation was finally settled. At this time, the two rows of heavy armored infantry had already marched several feet away, and there was a scarlet blood under their feet, which made people afraid to take a closer look.
The heavy armored infantrymen and the sabers in their hands were also covered with a thick layer of plasma, making them look more like demons who killed people like mowing grass.
"Spare your life, spare your life!"
As a soldier on the opposite side trembled and screamed, he turned his horse's head and ran to the rear, more and more enemy soldiers who were killed and frightened turned around and fled, not daring to stay on this breathtaking battlefield any longer.
, and this bloody and cruel river valley battlefield may be a lingering nightmare in their hearts for a long time to come!