Chang Yu's troops brought from Beijing are all one-in-a-million. They must be big, strong, and have enough fighting spirit and morale. The only shortcoming is the lack of actual combat experience.
The battle with Li Guo in Jiaocheng was the true debut of this team. The heavy casualty ratio made Chang Yu see clearly the gap between actual combat, and he made up his mind to sharpen his sword.
At the beginning of the war, if the battle was fought under the palace name, it would definitely cause serious casualties. Chang Yu was reluctant to give up, after all, he was a direct descendant.
But at this time, the rebel army has already seen its decline, so it is the best time to sharpen the sword by sending troops to the outside to pick up leaks.
"Prince Jin, if we were you, we would go out of the city to kill the generals right now!" Chang Yu looked at Zhu Shenxuan, who had been in a nervous and excited mood, and laughed, then turned and walked south along the city wall.
Kuang Ren and other archers followed closely behind, leaving a stunned Zhu Shenxuan looking around at the servants around him, not knowing what to say.
There is a turret at the southwest corner of the city wall, which is usually used for observation and armament storage.
Chang Yu climbed up the stairs, accompanied by Kuang Ren and three masters of archery. Others were on guard outside the turret, while downstairs there were guards with swords on guard.
The wind was strong at high altitude. Chang Yu stood leaning against the railing. He could hear the sound of killing. He looked around and saw that the Ximen bandit army had begun to retreat step by step. However, the killing at the South Gate was the fiercest. The enemy and we were fighting hard in the trench area.
For a while, there was no distinction between superior and inferior.
Chang Yu frowned and stared at the battle in the south of the city.
The Great South Gate has always been the main point of attack for the rebels. No matter how Li Zicheng deployed his troops to attack other gates, Chang Yu concluded that he would definitely use this gate as the main point of attack.
He had good reasons. First of all, the north gate had been eliminated from the rear. The moat outside the west gate was the main channel of the Fen River. The river was wide and deep. Once the suspension bridge was cut off and the river water broke through the ice, it would be extremely difficult for the rebels to transport their supplies across the river and attack the city.
As for the east gate, although there are fewer trenches than the south gate, and the moat is of regular width and depth, but if the rebels want to pass, they must first go around the trench of the south gate. The officers and soldiers feel that it is impossible for them to easily do so.
So instead of going to all this trouble, why not level the trench outside the South Gate and attack the city directly!
Therefore, Li Zicheng's main force has always been deployed here. At this time, Liu Zongmin, the first man under his command, served as the main attacking general, and Li Guo and others served as deputy generals.
Deploy heavy troops and mobilize baggage to prepare for lunch. After lunch, they will attack the three gates together, trying to break through the gate, or at least reach the bottom of the city!
Who would have thought that while they were still preparing, suddenly the drums beat like rain on Taiyuan City, and the city gates were wide open. The officers and soldiers actually crossed the river and entered the trench position to launch an active attack. Of course, it was a long-range attack, allowing him to prepare and wait in the trench position he had originally occupied.
One of the vanguard troops sent out received heavy losses and retreated continuously.
What do you mean, why did you suddenly take the initiative to attack?
Naughty!
When Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin were stunned, they were happy to send troops to teach the officers and soldiers a lesson for this naughty little man.
Unexpectedly, suddenly there was a loud killing sound in the west of the city, and then news came from the east that officers and soldiers came out of the city to attack!
Surprised, Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin and others were overjoyed. The officers and soldiers actually took the initiative to fight, and if they didn't eat the meat delivered to their door, they would be punished by God, so they immediately ordered an all-out counterattack.
The war breaks out!
Liu Zongmin commanded his men to counterattack head-on, and Li Guo led the two wings to assist. Their goal was to break through the outer fortifications of the South Gate in one go and cross the river to the city.
Li Zicheng stayed behind the formation, observing the overall situation with a group of military advisers. His expression was heavy but he could not hide a hint of joy, but he was also puzzled in his heart as to why the officers and soldiers were so proactive.
However, after half a stick of incense was passed, Li Zicheng and others were still doubtful, and the trace of joy disappeared. The battle reports sent by Tanma from time to time made their faces extremely embarrassing.
Xicheng officers and soldiers dispatched nearly 30,000 to 40,000 troops. Gu Ying and Luo Hu were gradually defeated. Dongcheng officers and soldiers dispatched nearly 30,000 troops. Chen Yongfu was unable to resist and was already in decline!
Li Zicheng and the other generals were surprised by the strength of the officers and soldiers. They expected that the number of officers and soldiers in Taiyuan City would be more than 50,000 at most, but now it seems that the total number of officers and soldiers in the east and west cities alone is 60,000 or 70,000, and the number of officers and soldiers who are fighting fiercely with his main force on the opposite side is the same.
There are more than 30,000, so there are actually 100,000 officers and soldiers in Taiyuan!
Li Zicheng felt a chill in his heart. He miscalculated every move and made mistakes every step of the way. The Battle of Taiyuan was so confusing. He looked towards the south gate city and saw the crowd of people. Zhou Yuji, are you a roadblock?
Seeing that both wings were invincible, the current main force could not attack for a long time, which made Li Zicheng more and more impatient. He could only know the battle situation on the east and west wings from the mouths of the messengers, but the battle situation on the Great South Gate was clear under his nose...
The officers and soldiers fought shamelessly and cunningly. They first rushed into the trenches to approach the rebel vanguard, using bows and arrows as a guide to trigger a battle. When the rebels launched a massive attack, they retreated several trenches to lure them forward.
Separated by trenches, the two sides did not come into contact for a short period of time. They only fired at each other with bows and arrows. However, when the rebels used bows and arrows to suppress the officers and soldiers and built a wooden bridge to allow the infantry to advance, they suddenly found that the officers and soldiers had stopped fighting and there was little resistance. The vanguard thief general Liu Tichun was shocked at first.
, and then scolded the officers and soldiers for being shameless. It turned out that the officers and soldiers were picking up arrow feathers shot by the rebels.
Borrowing arrows from a straw boat?
Damn it, even the straw boat was saved, it’s so shameless to just eat fruit!
Moreover, during the fierce battle, there was still time to take advantage of this, so the officers and soldiers had to wonder whether they had tumors growing on their heads.
The reason why the officers and soldiers dared to take advantage of the fierce battle was naturally due to their premeditation and the favorable location.
Because the two sides are separated by a complicated trench, which is more than three meters wide, it is not easy for the rebels, whether they are infantry or cavalry, to rush over. They must first build a wooden bridge, and there are reserved trails for the officers and soldiers, so they can advance and retreat freely. Of course,
When retreating, those trails will be dug immediately.
Seeing the officers and soldiers taking advantage so shamelessly, Liu Tichun was furious and ordered his troops to rush over quickly.
At this time, the officers and soldiers came over again and fired fiercely, causing heavy losses to the rebels. For a while, they didn't even give them a chance to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
However, this style of play will not last long in the end. Close combat is inevitable, it is only a matter of time. Li Zicheng in the rear can also see this, so he is not too worried, but is worried about the situation on both wings.
It is said that the rebel army has more than 200,000 troops at this time, so he can immediately mobilize troops to support the two wings.
But don’t forget that when Li Zicheng left Xi’an, although he claimed to have an army of one million, his total strength was only 60,000, of which 20,000 were led by Liu Fangliang on the east road, and his main force was only 40,000. This also shows that his original intention was fundamentally
It's not like the propaganda video says that they are going to attack Beijing's serfs and turn them into singers. They are just out to sweep up and stabilize the situation around the territory. As for attacking the city of Beijing all at once, I have never even dreamed of it.
At this time, although they were picking up rags along the way, surrendering troops and adding refugees to the number of two to three hundred thousand (it is said that when Taiyuan City was destroyed and Ningwuguan was defeated, the number of people reached more than half a million), these cannon fodder were used to carry bricks, shake and cheer.
It's okay, but it's really hard to use.
At this time, the fighting spirit and morale of the Taiyuan officers and soldiers were rare to him in the past few years. Judging from the number of times they took the initiative to fight, it was not just a hard fight, but a ruthless fight.
Two-thirds of the 40,000 main force fought fiercely at the south gate, and one-third faced off at the west gate. As for the east gate, almost all of them were newly recruited troops. The three gates attacked together and mobilized 100,000 troops. They already had all the troops they had on hand.
All the troops have been occupied, and the remaining refugees are just cannon fodder, and there is no way they can intervene at this time.
In this fierce battle, both sides used all their troops. The enemy and our troops attacked two hundred thousand troops and fought bloody battles outside the city.
As long as the main force captures the south gate, the two wings will have the power to assist. It doesn't matter whether they win or lose. Li Zicheng gritted his teeth and ordered Liu Zongmin to attack fiercely.
Chang Yu, who was on the southwest corner building, looked far away from the South Gate battlefield, until he reached behind the rebel formation, trying to find Li Zicheng, but even after using his clairvoyance for a long time, he still couldn't find it.
Then he withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the battlefield outside Zhenwu Gate, with a smile on his lips.
"Report, Lord Factory, the King of Jin has led his servants out of the city"! A guard in royal robes hurriedly came to report.
Chang Yu was startled, then smiled and looked down the city, just in time to see a cavalry of about 200 people galloping out across the moat.
Brother-in-law, take care! Chang Yu said silently.
"Report, Mr. Factory, the enemy at the east gate has been defeated!" Another messenger came to report.
Chang Yu was shocked. In his opinion, the bandit army attacked from three gates, and the Great South Gate bore the brunt. Its main force was the most difficult to deal with. However, the South Gate was well-fortified. Although it was difficult to deal with it, it could not suffer any big losses.
There is a small difference in strength between the 20,000-strong east gate bandit army and Niu Yong guarding the gate, and the fortifications are simple, so it should be difficult to attack.
Although there is Luo Hu's Zhenshan Camp in Ximen, he is personally in charge and has the strongest troops. He also has more than ten thousand cavalry. It is impossible to stop the rebel army if they are crushed. Therefore, he is confident enough to achieve the first victory in Ximen!
But he didn't expect to hear that the Dongmen bandits were defeated first, and Niu Yong took the first credit. This really surprised him.
"East Gate, who is the leader of the thieves?" Chang Yu asked.
"Go back to the factory, Lord, the thief is hanging up the white flag, Chen!" the Jinyi Guards messenger said hurriedly.