Xi Junmai summoned fifty soldiers with strong skills and bravery, who were called "first to die". They were all wearing armor, holding shields, and holding gunpowder. The artillery began to adjust its barrels and fired continuously at the walls on both sides of the city gate.
, one after another kerosene bombs hit the city wall and the city head, all were burned in the fire, and the defenders on the city suffered heavy casualties.
The newly recruited soldiers were unable to exert their fighting power for a while, and they had no time to take care of the dead soldiers of the Tang army who were crouching behind the city and using huge wooden shields to cover their bodies. They approached the city gate. Until the Tang army climbed up to the city gate with their dead soldiers, the soldiers on the city
Only then did he realize that the arrows were tilting down like raindrops of stones, but the Tang army had already hid in the city gate cave.
The garrison on the city felt something was wrong, but the city gate was sunken inward, making it difficult to attack from the top of the city. If one opened the city gate from the inside, it would be an act of seeking death...
Fortunately, the Tang army did not confuse the defenders for too long.
These first soldiers were all trained for a long time and specialized in the job of burying gunpowder. They used a spiral pointed cone to screw it into the green brick, and then used a hammer to hit other parts of the brick.
Crush the green bricks that are tightly embedded together. As long as one green brick is broken and removed, the other green bricks will be easily taken out one by one.
In a few moments, two large holes were opened at the corners on both sides of the city gate. The Tang army buried all the gunpowder into the four holes. Although gunpowder is extremely powerful, it also pays attention to the burial method. It is not just digging a hole and burying it.
Gunpowder can exert its greatest power. Except for the navy, how can other troops understand this matrix form of explosive reaction?
Wait until the fuse is laid, light it, and then all the "first climbers" retreat with huge wooden shields.
"Puff, puff, puff!" The arrows above the head hit the wooden shield like raindrops of stones, and the dead soldiers of the Tang army spread their legs and retreated at full speed.
"boom!"
A dull sound seemed to shake the bottom of my heart, and I saw that the strong and towering city gate suddenly expanded and shattered like a block of tofu. Huge blue stones and broken green bricks were thrown in all directions to the west. Originally,
The standing city gate turned into ruins in an instant, and the charred bricks and stones were rising like a dark cloud with strong gunpowder smoke.
The city gate, which was built with an adhesive mixed with glutinous rice slurry, lime and other substances, could not withstand the huge force generated when hundreds of kilograms of black gunpowder were blasted. It was easily blown to pieces, and the stone and blue bricks turned into a pile of ruins.
.
The Goguryeo defenders were first stunned by the threat of heaven and earth. When they realized that the city gate had collapsed, a huge gap appeared in the entire city wall defense line.
Launch a surprise attack at the city gate.
The hoplite unit has actually disappeared from the current military order of various countries. Although it has strong defense and is almost invulnerable, it moves slowly and has poor maneuverability. It is almost equivalent to a living target on the battlefield and can only be passively beaten.
However, the navy is still equipped with a heavy infantry to carry out offensive tasks, especially against the barbarians who are disadvantaged in combat. It can often achieve miraculous effects. In the past, in Silla and the Japanese country, the heavy infantry of the navy had established a
It was a great effort and many heads were killed.
At this moment, the heavy infantry launched a surprise attack towards the city gate, and the artillery behind them fired shells near the city gate to delay the defenders' rescue. They actually achieved a "beggar's version" of infantry and artillery coordination...
All the elite troops in Pingrang City went north to pursue the main force of the Tang army, trying to delay the return of the Tang army. The defenders left in the city could not be called elite. At this moment, the city gate was suddenly blown open by the Tang army, and a huge gap suddenly appeared in the complete city wall defense line, which was in urgent need of help.
The defenders came to intercept, but the defenders were stunned by the Tang army's kerosene bombs and missed the opportunity to fight.
When they reacted and went to intercept them, they were first bombarded by the artillery of the Tang army. Finally, they rushed to the city gate and faced heavy infantry armed to the teeth. Swords and axes were chopped on the thick armor of the Tang army.
, a string of sparks came out and left a mark, but the Tang army was unscathed. But the Tang army slashed with a backhand sword, and there was a rain of blood. The Goguryeo soldiers disemboweled and left limbs everywhere.
However, the Goguryeo soldiers were also brave. Although the weapons in their hands could not cause effective damage to the Tang army, they still rushed forward without fear of death. They relied on their local numerical advantage to block the heavy infantry at the city gate. Both sides stepped on the city gate.
The stone and blue bricks of the door collapsed, and a bloody battle began.
Although the Tang army had the advantage in armor, the city gate was narrow and the troops were insufficient. For a time, it was blocked by the Goguryeo defenders and it was difficult to advance.
But behind them, countless navy soldiers had already assembled, rushing towards the city gate like a tide.
*****
The army retreated all the way north and soon reached the Yalu River area.
The news of His Majesty Li Er's death is still tightly concealed, not daring to reveal anything. Not to mention that once this news is leaked, it will cause a huge blow to the morale of the army. With the morale of the army being weakened, the army has no fighting spirit and can only flee.
It might give the enemy pursuing behind him an opportunity to take advantage of it. Just the violent shock it would cause after the news was leaked and spread back to the country made Li Ji dare not take any risk.
Originally, the city of Chang'an was in turmoil, and many people were eyeing the position of the crown prince. The kings of the clan were ready to make a move, but because of His Majesty's prestige, no one dared to act rashly. Once they learned that His Majesty had passed away, those people no longer had any scruples, fearing that
Overnight, the city of Chang'an was reduced to ruins by endless fighting.
And it is very likely that this turmoil will spread, leading to chaos in China and war everywhere in the world...
However, even if Li Ji was still anxious and expected to lead his army back to Guanzhong to stabilize the situation as soon as possible, the Goguryeo cavalry chasing behind him made him quite afraid.
He wanted to turn around and fight the enemy decisively, cut off the tail regardless of casualties, and then embark on the return journey without any distractions. However, the Goguryeo cavalry refused to fight and stayed far away; but when the army set off to the north, the enemy lingered on.
, if you are not careful, you will be harassed by it, and it will be very annoying.
With no choice, Li Ji had no choice but to command the army to retreat in turn according to the original organizational structure of each department, with one group retreating and the other group rearing. They marched alternately in this way, and the progress was slow.
Walking to the bank of the Yalu River, the river is frozen and covered with snow, and Bobi City is in sight in the distance. Mountains surround both sides of the Yalu Water, leaving only one access to Bobi City, and only one army is left to guard it after the army has passed.
This city can cut off the enemy's pursuit, and the army can travel lightly and quickly return to Yingzhou.
When the army crossed the frozen river and entered Bobi City, the enemy army did not pursue them as closely as before, which made Li Ji a little confused...
"Send out scouting horses quickly to check the enemy's movements."
Li Ji had always been cautious, but the enemy's abnormal behavior made him smell something unusual.
But before the scouts could set off, they received a message from the navy.
…
"The navy actually ignored the general's order and attacked Pingrang City without permission? Damn it! Could it be that Su Dingfang relied on Fang Jun to protect him and became lawless?"
In the Yamen Office of Bobi City, Yu Chigong, who was still recovering from his injuries, was sitting sideways on a chair. After hearing the report from the naval captain, he immediately cursed.
Qiu Xiaozhong also looked gloomy and said dissatisfied: "Who does Su Dingfang think he is? Hundreds of thousands of troops besieged Pingrang City for two months without being defeated. Is it possible that with the power of a mere navy, they can achieve the feat that hundreds of thousands of people failed to defeat? Of course.
I am really blinded by my achievements and my heart is darkened. If I wait until he fails to defeat me, but loses my army and generals under Pingrang City, I would like to see how the imperial court will deal with him!"
The rest of the generals, except Cheng Yaojin who was silent, Xue Wanche and Ashina Simo stayed out of the matter, all expressed their dissatisfaction.
It wasn't that he had any deep grudge against the navy, but Su Dingfang's behavior of disobeying orders and sending troops privately made everyone sense a strong crisis.
Hundreds of thousands of troops indeed besieged Pingrang City for two months without defeat. Now that His Majesty died, he had to withdraw his troops and return north, defeated. However, Pingrang City experienced a fierce attack by the Tang army in these two months. The city was destroyed, the soldiers were lost, and the strength was reduced.
It has already been greatly damaged.
If we weren't worried about changes in Chang'an due to His Majesty's death, Pingrang City would have been destroyed in just ten days and a half.
Now that the army is returning north, the navy is launching a fierce attack, and Goguryeo has also sent an elite cavalry force of tens of thousands to harass the army. Pingrang City must be empty of troops... although it is unlikely that Pingrang City will be captured by the navy.
, but this possibility does exist.
What if the navy is really unlucky and the battle to level Rangcheng really depends on it?
At the beginning, both the government and the public, all factions in the army excluded the navy, just for fear that the navy would seize the merits and become stronger. Now the war has been going on for more than half a year, and everyone is like a wolf and a tiger, but they have been smashed and bloody under Pingrang City.
, even His Majesty passed away. This large group of world-famous generals still don’t know how to explain themselves to the world after returning to the capital. As a result, even the merits of the Eastern Expedition were taken away by the navy...
Everyone wiped their necks together, how can they show their faces?