Thousands of cavalrymen instantly increased their horse speed to the limit. People squatted half-down on their horses and urged their horses to charge towards the mountain city halfway up the mountain.
Almost in the blink of an eye, there was only a hundred feet away from the mountain city.
The war horses charge up the mountain from bottom to top. Naturally, it is difficult to maintain the speed of the horses. The mountain city is strong and cannot collapse under the charge of the war horses. So when we get here, we have to change our strategy.
"dismount!"
Xue Wanche gave an order to rein in the horse's reins and clamp its belly. The running horse stood up with a long neigh of "Herod". Thousands of cavalry have been in battle for a long time, and they are all brave and powerful people. Control the horse.
The technique was naturally so pure that thousands of war horses stopped halfway up the mountain.
Xue Wanche flew down from the horse, drew out the sword from his waist, and shouted: "Charge up!"
First he strode towards the mountain city.
The soldiers behind them all turned over and dismounted, drew their swords and followed closely. Another group of soldiers took off their polygonal shields from their horses and followed behind them.
On the other side, the defenders in the mountain city of Goguryeo found that the Tang army appeared under the city like divine soldiers descending from the sky, and they immediately became chaotic.
Hundreds of thousands of Tang troops were stationed on the west bank of the estuary of the Liao River, sharpening their swords with murderous intent. The entire Goguryeo knew that they were waiting for His Majesty the Tang Emperor to march in person. As long as the Emperor arrived in Liaodong, the Tang troops would cross with thunderous force.
Liaoshui.
Therefore, Goguryeo accumulated tens of thousands of elite troops in Far East City, an important town on the east coast of the Liao River estuary, trying to use the Liao River natural moat to block the Tang army's attack and drag the Tang army step by step into a protracted tug-of-war.
But who would have thought that before the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty arrived in Liaodong, the vanguard of the Tang army had already launched a surprise attack?
What is even more shocking is that the Tang army actually gave up the storming of Far East City, went up the river to the new city, and suddenly crossed the river to fight in front of them...
The mountain city garrison was not incompetent. He knew that Goguryeo's troops were weak in this area. Once the mountain city was captured, there would be no resistance within hundreds of miles behind, and the Tang army's cavalry would be able to drive straight in and attack its heart.
What is particularly important is that if this Tang army goes down the river and attacks Gaimou City, and cooperates with the main force of the Tang army on the west bank of the Liao River to attack from both sides, then Gaimou City, one of Goguryeo's most important towns in Liaodong, is likely to fall.
Once Gaimou City fell, the Liaodong Great Wall, which was highly expected by Goguryeo to be able to stop the Tang army, was in vain. It consumed countless manpower and material resources, but was reduced to a decoration at the beginning of the war.
Therefore, he must hold on to the new city and at the same time send people to warn Gaimou, Xuantu, Baiyan, Anshi and other important garrison towns.
Fortunately, although the Tang army was fierce and powerful, the Tang army in front of them was only a cavalry force of several thousand men and did not have heavy siege equipment. Although there were not many defenders in the new city, there were not many due to the danger of the mountain city.
Possibility of losing ground.
As long as the Tang army does not have follow-up reinforcements, he might be able to defeat the Tang people's vanguard in one fell swoop, make a great contribution, and receive awards from the Treasure King and Da Molizhi...
The guard general was in high spirits. After overcoming the initial fear, he stood at the top of the city, raised his arms and shouted: "Meet the enemy! Meet the enemy!"
The soldiers also ran to the top of the city. Looking at the Tang army charging towards them on the hillside, they quickly drew their bows and fired arrows. Arrows rained down from the top of the city like locusts.
The equipment of the Tang army has been improved. Although the light cavalry does not have heavy armor, the vital parts of the chest are protected by small steel plates, which are decorated on the leather armor. When charging, they are not afraid of the enemy's oncoming fire.
Even if an arrow occasionally hits an arm or a calf, it does not hurt anyone's life.
Therefore, the momentum of the charge continues unabated.
The Goguryeo soldiers on the mountain city were not afraid. They still drew their bows and arrows unhurriedly and shot arrow after arrow. The walls of this mountain city were high and thick, and even heavy siege equipment could not be conquered for a while.
, let alone a group of cavalry carrying horizontal swords?
Even if I give you a bite, you won’t be able to bite it off...
Approaching the city wall of the mountain city, the power of the arrows on the city wall was getting stronger and stronger, and the momentum of the Tang army's charge had to be slowed down. Although the iron armor protected the vital parts, the arrows could still hit the arms, calves and other parts, causing damage. Xue Wanche was carrying
He slashed away an arrow with his horizontal sword, turned around and shouted: "Shield-bearer, charge forward!"
The dozen or so shield-men behind were ordered to raise their shields, and the hexagonal shields were put together to form a larger shield. The arrows from the city head hit the shield like raindrops, making a tinkling sound.
He kept going, but was unable to hurt the shield bearer under the shield, so he rushed to the mountain city despite the rain of arrows.
This kind of shield is specially designed and forged by the weapons supervisor for siege troops. Together, it is not afraid of attacks from arrows and rolling wood. Even ordinary stones cannot cause damage to soldiers, and it can easily break into local cities.
The Goguryeo soldiers on the city were lying on the wall, looking at the Tang army who had arrived at the bottom of the city, stroking their heads, puzzled.
The main force stopped charging dozens of feet away. Although the arrows could be shot, they were too far away and had little power, making it difficult to cause damage. And these dozen soldiers carried shields and came to the city...
With a dozen or so of you, do you really want to chew a gap in the city wall?
This kind of tactics is unheard of...
Under the city wall, relying on shields for cover, several soldiers took out steel drills and used hammers to hammer the steel drills into the gaps in the stones of the city wall. Unlike the Tang Dynasty, which generally used blue bricks to build walls, most of the mountain cities in Goguryeo were built with bricks.
They are all made of piled stones according to local conditions. Although the construction speed is faster and the cost is lower, the bonding between the stones is very loose. After all, the natural stones will inevitably cause uneven edges after being mined, which is difficult to
Make it a perfect fit.
The steel drill was driven into the gap to loosen the adhesive between the gaps, and then a piece of stone was pried off little by little. A gap appeared at the bottom of the solid city wall. Then the gunpowder bag prepared in advance was simply inserted
After opening the gap, the long fuse was ignited, and more than a dozen soldiers quickly retreated with their shields on their backs.
The Goguryeo soldiers on top of the city were even more confused. What kind of tactics was this?
A moment later, there was a dull sound, and the whole earth seemed to shake. A large piece of the city wall seemed to have been violently arched from the ground by some monster, and then collapsed in an instant, with rubble flying. The soldiers on the city wall were caught off guard and were
It was thrown into the air, and then landed among the gravel, falling to pieces.
All the Goguryeo soldiers were frightened. They had never seen such power of heaven and earth. Could it be that there were thunder gods and earth dragons helping the Tang army?
The solid city wall actually fell apart in an instant...
Amidst the black smoke, Goguryeo had not yet recovered, and Xue Wanche had already led the Tang army to attack. With their waists crouched, cross swords in their hands, they quickly rushed to the gap in the city wall despite the rain of arrows, and crossed the gap to kill them.
Entering the city, the chaotic Goguryeo army was so frightened that they could not organize an effective counterattack. The wolf-like Tang army broke into the formation and slashed and killed them. Their stumps and broken arms were thrown around, and red blood sprayed everywhere.
The Tang army's ordnance and equipment, and the quality of individual soldiers were superior to the Goguryeo army. In addition, the Goguryeo army was shocked to death and morale collapsed. The Tang army burst into the city and rushed to kill them. They were immediately defeated. I don't know who shouted and threw it away.
The weapon ran away, and the other soldiers followed suit. In an instant, the entire army collapsed and fled in all directions.
The Tang army was not willing to fight. After repelling the Goguryeo army, they divided their troops into several groups and went to the city in search of water and food. They looked back to look after the horses and pursued the fleeing Goguryeo soldiers, chasing them and driving them away, setting fire to them everywhere.
After all the Goguryeo soldiers in the city were killed, the Tang army, which had replenished water and food sources, led by Xue Wanche, bypassed the flaming new city and headed west along the Liao River.
Although many small mountain towns along the way received the beacon signal sent out before the fall of Xincheng, they did not expect that the Tang army actually shot a cavalry of several thousand people across the Liao River and broke into the heart of the country, and the troops left behind in various mountain towns
There were not many, so they were caught off guard and were captured by Xue Wanche. Several mountain cities were captured one after another, killing people and beacons everywhere.
Along the way, the Tang army relied on fighting to support the battle. They went into battle lightly and did not carry a single drop of food supplies. Every time they captured a mountain city, they were replenished. Food and war horses were replenished at any time and at any time. Their combat power was still strong, and the momentum of the charge did not diminish at all.
They fought with overwhelming force to a place less than ten miles away from Gaimou City.
When Xue Wanche ordered his people to light wormwood trees on the mountain ridge behind Gaimou City, the fire and smoke soaring into the sky caused the main force of the Tang army more than ten miles away from the Liao River to receive the signal. The entire Tang camp began to move slowly, and was ready at any time.
Forced crossing of the Liao River, preparations for a flanking attack.