The vanguard of the Northern Tang Dynasty landed on the shoal of the Yaolu Ferry, formed a formation and rushed towards the gate of the village.
Just as they were less than a hundred meters away from the village gate, the soldiers rushing forward suddenly found that their feet sank and their whole bodies began to slowly fall downwards.
After taking a closer look, the soldiers discovered that the road under their feet had been dug out of gravel and filler at some point, poured with river water, and then covered with weeds to form a road that looked solid, but was actually
A messy beach.
Seeing that the offensive of the soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty had slowed down, Yan Dafu, the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty who was responsible for defending the oar crossing, ordered his subordinates to beat the war drums again. The archers and crossbowmen came to the back of the wooden wall one after another, aiming at the muddy road and firing.
The vanguard of the Northern Tang army was stuck in the quagmire. Because they were wearing heavy armor, they could only use force to move forward slowly. Under the blows of bows and crossbows, there were many casualties.
Fortunately, Beitang's warships had not left yet, and the artillery on the ship's side aimed at the camp with full bombardment, which relieved some of the pressure on the landing troops.
On the high platform in Xiakou City, Guo Ziyi saw this shape and said with emotion: "Guardian General Yan Dafu can use the terrain to delay our army's offensive. This person must be a good general."
After a lot of effort and more than 400 casualties, the first batch of Northern Tang soldiers finally arrived at the gate of the camp.
When the Beitang Navy saw the former troops approaching the enemy camp, they were worried about causing damage to friendly forces and ordered a halt to the bombardment.
Seeing this, Yan Dafu walked out from behind the bunker where he was hiding from the shells, led the guards beside him, and ordered other troops to follow to defend the gate of the village.
The first confrontation between the armies of the Northern Tang Dynasty and the Southern Tang Dynasty began in Jiangcheng.
The general who led the offensive of the Northern Tang army was a sub-general under Li Siye named He Gongshu. He had been a member of the Anxi Army in the early years and followed Feng Changqing in the north and south. Later, he was promoted to Hexi due to his military exploits.
.
Along the way, he was first attacked by a small boat, and then he was covered in mud. He Gongshu's heart was full of anger, and he had nowhere to release his worries.
Seeing the enemies gathering, He Gongshu struck each other with his maces, pointed at the village gate, and shouted: "Attack!"
The soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty formed a team of five, with two shield soldiers in front, two spearmen on the sides, and a crossbowman in the back.
Each column moved forward, facing each other, forming a solid line of defense that firmly resisted the wooden wall of the camp.
The lower end of the large shield was pierced into the ground to resist the enemy's attack. The spearman threw out the hook, grabbed the pillar of the wooden wall, and pulled it back with all his strength, trying to open a gap in the camp's defense line, while the crossbowman filled the position behind.
shooting.
This method of warfare is especially effective for temporary construction or fence-type camps.
In addition, the medium-sized long guns of the Beitang Navy had already damaged the wooden walls of many camps during the sea bombardment, which made the defense of Yaoludu even more precarious.
Accompanied by the sound of weapons and shouts of death, it took only a quarter of an hour to row across a wooden wall damaged by artillery. Under the pull of the hook rope, it finally collapsed.
Seeing a loophole in the enemy's defense line, He Gongshu ordered the flag bearer to signal the attack. The Zhanfeng camp, which had been waiting for an opportunity, now moved forward in formation, followed the gap in the camp's wooden wall, and began to attack inward.
The Zhanfeng Battalion was the most elite unit in the Tang Army. The soldiers were carefully selected and their equipment was all heavily armored. Even their covers were made of fine iron.
In the military system of the Tang army, there was often only one front camp (50 people) for every 1,200 soldiers.
Moreover, the Zhanfeng Battalion under Li Siye was different from other armies.
The sergeants in Li Siye's front camp are all powerful warriors.
Except for the soldiers in the front row, who used large shields and long-handled iron bones as weapons, the remaining soldiers abandoned long soldiers and crossbows. Instead, everyone carried a small squatting tiger cannon, and another one on their backs.
A strange knife.
Every time the Zhanfeng battalion attacks, it resists with a shield array in front, causing the enemy troops to be squeezed backward and then gathered into a ball.
Then, the soldiers carrying the Crouching Tiger Cannon would clamp the cannon around their waists with both arms, then go to the back of the shield array and shoot the gathered enemy soldiers with shotguns, maximizing the damage to the enemy's troops and defeating the enemy's
will.
In the end, the soldiers abandoned the Crouching Tiger Cannon, took off the Mo Dao from their backs, took advantage of the enemy's retreat, rushed directly into the enemy's formation, and attacked with all their might, opening a bloody path for the follow-up troops.
This set of tactics was first created by Li Siye and later perfected by Duan Xiushi.
It was precisely with this kind of attacking force that when Li Siye attacked the enemies on Shannan West Road and Shannan East Road, except for the defeat in Fangshan, he was successful in the rest of the battles.
Soon, the heavy armored soldiers of the Zhanfeng Battalion rushed into the gap in the collapsed wooden wall. The soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty wanted to meet them and drive them out, but they were driven back by their powerful impact.
Gradually, the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty who were rowing across the river were pushed into a ball by the front camp, unaware of the tragedy that would happen next.
I saw dozens of soldiers in the front camp lighting the fuses of the Tiger Crouching Cannon one after another, then placing it on their waists, coming to the back of the shield formation, and using a close attack method, they aimed at the south pole outside the shield formation.
Tang soldiers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After hearing a deafening sound of artillery, shotguns like a steel storm swept across half of the battlefield, pulverizing all living creatures in front of the Zhanfeng camp.
Blood, minced meat and bones, shot by thousands of iron beads, instantly spread like rain in the air and fell to the ground.
The soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty who were lucky enough to escape were so frightened by the horrific scene before them that they stumbled to the ground, their legs trembled, and they could no longer stand up.
The soldiers a little further away were so frightened by the fighting that they dropped their weapons, turned around and ran away.
When He Gongshu saw that the front camp had opened up the battle situation, he raised his mace and strode forward while ordering the messengers to give orders to each banner and the whole army to charge.
The generals far away in Xiakou City probably knew that the battle was decided after hearing the firing of the Crouching Tiger Cannon.
Li Siye smiled and said to the others: "There is no army in the world that can still charge forward without escaping under the bombardment of dozens of squatting tiger cannons."
Guo Ziyi stroked his beard and said with a smile: "The Crouching Tiger Artillery is indeed a powerful weapon for attacking fortresses. But unfortunately, if it is a siege battle and the city wall is too high, it will be inconvenient for the soldiers to carry the artillery with them when they use ladders to climb, otherwise they will attack the city.
It will be much easier.”
Duan Xiushi, who was on the side, looked across the river and said, "Listen, the war is not over yet."
Li Siye was stunned and said: "How is it possible? The southerners are weak. Under such an offensive, will anyone continue to fight?"
Guo Ziyi looked into the distance, and the smoke above the oar ferry was still floating.
The sound of the second wave of firing from the Crouching Tiger Cannon could be heard faintly.
However, the shouts of killing in the ferry camp still existed.
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi frowned and said, "It seems that the fighting spirit of the Jiangcheng defenders is stronger than we imagined."