Chapter 587 The thunder is loud and the rain is small
Author: gusty wind
Chapter 587 The thunder is loud and the rain is small
There are over ten thousand soldiers, boundless. Li Shan has heard this sentence in his previous life. In this life, he also saw more than ten thousand Turkic troops led by Ashina She'er outside Guantao City. But he didn't know this sentence until today.
The words may not be correct.
Yesterday, the three thousand Turkic soldiers seemed overwhelming to Li Shan, but today, he realized that this was called overwhelming.
There is only a small distance within the shooting range around the fort, and the fort itself is like a small sailboat in the vast ocean. Looking around, there is no grass, no ground, and even no ground in the distance.
You can't even see the sky. This is called connecting the earth to the sky.
Within sight, there were only the dark masses of Turkic cavalry, and in his ears, apart from the heavy breathing of the soldiers, there were only the shouts of the enemy cavalry.
Li Shan tried hard to hold his nerve and did not ask Zhang Shigui, who was standing aside, questions such as "Can we hold on?" In Guantao City that day, although Tian Liuan was probably weaker than Zhang Shigui in terms of ability, the number of troops in Guantao County was still very high.
Enough, and I have the confidence and certainty to hold on even when faced with the siege of tens of thousands of troops, but now...
"Is it more than 50,000?" Xue Wanche, who has been at war with the Turks for many years, couldn't help but ask. The number 50,000 was mentioned by Li Shan at Yanmen Pass the day before yesterday.
Zhang Shigui hesitated for a while, "There should be more than 60,000 to 70,000 people."
Li Shan naturally didn't know how to predict troops, but he understood that Xue Wanche and Zhang Shigui were both famous generals in the early Tang Dynasty. It was difficult for them to estimate the number of enemy troops, which only meant that the number of incoming enemy troops far exceeded their expectations.
"Not necessarily." Zhu Wei consoled him: "The tribes in the grassland are numbered by tribes. The largest ones number in the tens of thousands, while the smallest ones number only one or two thousand..."
Li Shan burst out two words from his teeth, "Mayi."
Zhu Wei suddenly realized that the Turks wanted to attack Hedong, so they could not let Mayi go and only attack Guji Town. Therefore, the strength of the Turks' troops sent this time should not be limited to those outside the stronghold.
Zhang Shigui and Xue Wanche both glanced at Li Shan. You swore that the Turks would not attack in advance, but they did attack in advance. You said that the Turks would not attack as a whole country, but they really did attack as a whole country...
Wang Junhao on the side was thinking expressionlessly, wondering what Su Dingfang in Yanmen Pass would think, and what Guild Ling still in Chang'an would think...
At this time, the guards outside reported, and Wen Bang strode over.
"Did you ask?" Xue Wanche asked eagerly. In yesterday's battle, more than a thousand enemy troops were killed and hundreds captured. After interrogation, he learned that the upper-level Turks had issued an order to take Li Shan's head.
Li Shan can understand this, it must be Jieli Khan... But what Li Shan can't understand is that besides killing Yu Sheshe, he has always only targeted Jieli Khan. Now there is Tuli Khan secretly causing chaos.
There are various tribes outside that have different intentions. Why would Jieli Khan dare to invade the whole country? Isn't he afraid that something will happen?
Today, the Turks invaded the country in large numbers. Xue Wanche personally went out to the stronghold and captured several scouts. He only asked about the news that Tuli Khan also sent troops, leaving the rest to Wen Bang for interrogation.
Wen Bang faced Li Shan, lowered his head and said: "I have already told you that Yugu Zai, the only son of Jieli Khan, returned north to Wuyuan County via Lingzhou in mid-April. He committed suicide in the king's tent yesterday. Jieli Khan was furious.
, the whole country came to attack, and each tribe was allowed to take it for themselves, only asking for..."
Li Shan touched his neck and asked, "Just ask for someone's head to sacrifice his son?"
Now Li Shan really regrets it. When he returned to Chang'an more than two months ago, Ling Jing mentioned that there might be hidden worries about forcing Yuan Junzhang to surrender last year and killing Yu Sheshe.
Yu Sheshe's death forced Tuli Khan to openly break up with Jieli Khan early, triggering civil strife in the Turks. However, it was also Yu Sheshe's death that forced Tuli Khan to send troops together.
Tuli Khan could ignore how Yu Gushe died, but no matter from which point of view, he could not openly let go of Li Shan, who was sworn to Jin Lan with him.
Of course, the trigger was the death of Yu Gushe. Although this guy was completely disgraced, his identity as the only son of Jieli Khan was very important. His suicide gave Jieli Khan an excuse to have a seizure...
My mental quality is so bad!
After thinking about it in his mind for a moment, Li Shan sighed, "Only if Han Xin can endure the humiliation of his crotch can he become one of the Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty. This guy has no courage at all!"
Even though Zhang Shigui has a cautious temperament, he is still worried now, so he couldn't help but glance over... How can you say such a thing?
Isn't this all artificial?
Li Shan took a deep breath and suddenly remembered that Yu Gushe had no tendency to commit suicide in Chang'an, and he had returned to Wuyuan County for so long before committing suicide. What a coincidence, it just gave Jieli Khan an excuse to send troops.
If Jieli Khan can invade the east of Hedong, he will definitely be able to win over all the tribes. Maybe there will be some backup plan that can completely overwhelm the Tuli Khan who is gradually gaining momentum.
Wasn't it suicide?
Li Shan was still thinking about these messy things. The Turks had begun to organize an offensive. Guji Town was backed by a hill, so there was no need to worry about it. There were three walls on the south and east sides. Although there were a thousand infantry, more than a thousand cavalry, and five hundred civilians inside,
However, the castle itself is not large in scale and has no ordinary residents. It is just a military fortress and is relatively convenient to defend.
Troops had been arranged on the three city walls long ago. Zhang Shigui only waved his hand, and there were personal guards around him to convey orders. He only stared at the Turkic army in the distance.
Suddenly thinking of something, Zhang Shigui looked back and whispered: "None of the personal guards of the King of Handan will participate in the battle. They will only stay in the stronghold on standby."
Xue Wanche nodded and said: "If the Turks knew that King Handan was here, they would attack fiercely and not retreat."
Li Shan's mouth twitched and he didn't say anything. He had really become a disaster star!
But since everything had been entrusted to Zhang Shigui, Li Shan was not prepared to interfere and went straight down the city wall with his guards to observe the battle situation from a slightly higher place.
In fact, we couldn't see much, and there wasn't even a fierce battle. The Turkic cavalry approached, trying to suppress the city wall defenders with arrows, and then sent the infantry to transport ladders to attack the city. This is almost the same as today's steppe tribes attack.
The way of the city, ants attached.
But ant attachment is also very particular. Cloud ladders are only the most basic method. Other siege methods and equipment are a bit difficult with the capabilities of today's grassland tribes.
This is also the reason why the Turks repeatedly invaded Hedong, but not many cities were lost. At that time, Liu Shirang held on to the new city for more than a month, and the Turks had difficulty breaking the city. At that time, Jieli Khan still had Gao Kaidao and Yuan Junzhang
These Han warlords did not lack troops with experience in siege.
In the distance, I saw flags fluttering on the top of the city, and a large number of stones and logs poured down, knocking down the infantry who were about to climb the ladder. At the same time, a large number of Tang soldiers straightened up, holding crossbows, and sprayed a black rain of arrows.
Compared with archery, Tang soldiers are generally difficult to compare with the Turks, but crossbows are an exception. This is the most advantageous weapon for the Tang army to defend the city and has the greatest advantage.
Generally speaking, the range of bows and arrows is about sixty to one hundred steps. The riding bows used by Turkic cavalry are horn bows, which have a slightly shorter range, while the effective range of Tang crossbows exceeds one hundred and fifty steps.
Moreover, it is not necessary to have any precise shooting skills when shooting on a large scale. What's more, Guji Town is built on the mountain and is already condescending, so the range of both sides has slightly increased or decreased.
A cloud of black crossbow arrows were projected out. Li Shan could not see any results, but he could clearly see the Turkic cavalry fleeing outwards.
Zhu Wei clicked his tongue and said: "Fortunately, Dalang was alert and had someone send crossbow arrows in advance."
Li Tang followed the Sui Dynasty, and people were not allowed to hide armor, crossbows, and weapons. Now that the war is in chaos, other things are okay, but crossbows are strictly prohibited.
Li Shan murmured: "Why is it so...the thunder is loud and the raindrops are light?"