A few days later, the Southern Tang army departed from Wen County and headed for Jiangcheng.
The army marched to the south gate of Jiangcheng. General Sun Pin rode up to the high ground and looked towards the direction of the city.
More than a year ago, when Laigui was defending Jiangcheng, a battle broke out with Guo Ziyi's tribe here. Together, more than 100,000 soldiers from both sides were buried under the city.
Nowadays, Jiangcheng's defenses are riddled with holes, with traces of battles everywhere, and many walls have collapsed. Although they have been repaired afterwards, they still look shaky.
Seeing this, Sun Pin smiled and said to the other generals: "Jiangcheng's city defenses have been seriously damaged. There is no time to fully repair them, so there is no danger at all."
The generals of the Southern Tang Dynasty were immediately full of confidence when they saw that Jiangcheng's defenses had been reduced to this point.
On the other side of the high ground, Li Mi pressed the Buddha's dust and looked at the scene of fallen leaves blown by the wind without saying a word.
Xue Nanyang stood beside him, covered in armor. He looked at the tent behind Li Mi and saw a group of alchemists busy carrying something.
Li Mi turned around and said to Xue Nanyang: "Today the wind has turned from the southeast, which is a good sign."
Xue Nanyang: "Please tell me what you need to do, sir."
Li Mi: "General Xue, I don't want to tell lies. What you are going to do today may lead to a narrow escape from death. If you succeed, the people in the north will be defeated, and Jiangnan will be able to earn peace for at least ten years."
Xue Nanyang: "Sir, the general is a warrior. From the moment he joins the army, he will not care about life and death. As long as he can repay the general's kindness and keep the peace of Jiangnan, even if the life of the general is lost, it will not matter.
It’s worth it.”
Li Mi sighed and said in a deep voice: "The battle will begin later. General Xue will wait for Pindao to send a signal... Remember, the chance to win is fleeting and only happens once. If you miss it, you will never get it again."
Xue Nanyang bowed and saluted and responded.
On the tower at the south gate of Jiangcheng, Guo Ziyi looked at the Southern Tang army outside the city and asked Duan Xiushi beside him: "Are the ambush troops ready?"
Duan Xiushi bowed and replied: "The deputy generals Han Xuji and Bai Yijun have already led their troops to ambush the east and west sides of Liangcheng. They will surround and suppress the enemy troops just waiting for the battle to begin. In addition, Chu Gongzhao led three thousand Qingqi from the Kuangya Trail.
Detour to the rear and prepare to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's retreat route."
Guo Ziyi nodded: "Okay, just wait for the enemy to fall into the trap."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of intensive drumbeats on the battlefield, and the three-jing phalanx of the Southern Tang Dynasty's former army, carrying various siege weapons, began to attack Jiangcheng.
Upon seeing this, Guo Ziyi explained to Duan Xiushi: "Pay attention to the number of defenders on the city wall, and control the number of troops fighting at the same time to a certain number. Don't let the enemy see any flaws."
Duan Xiushi nodded in agreement, then turned and left.
Kong You walked over from the side and looked at the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty who were attacking like a tide under the city wall. He asked Guo Ziyi: "Commander, you might as well guess where the enemy will focus their attack?"
Hearing this, Guo Ziyi pointed to a section of the crumbling city wall and said: "The enemy also has gunpowder. If they want to invade the city, the quickest way is to blow up the city wall... I have prepared several sections for collapse before the war.
The city wall was deliberately not repaired carefully and was used as bait, just waiting for the enemy to take the bait."
Kong You turned around and saw that the main offensive force of the Southern Tang army was indeed placed on those sections of city wall. He couldn't help but smile and said: "The commander's ability to release bait really impresses me."
The army of the Southern Tang Dynasty approached the poorly repaired city wall. They first erected wooden fences and rope nets to block arrows and stones falling from the top of the city wall. Then soldiers dug holes under the city wall, buried gunpowder barrels in them, and then filled them with soil.
Step firmly, finally light the fuse, and then escape backwards from the explosion range.
Only a few loud bangs were heard, and the crumbling city walls collapsed in the explosion.
Seeing this appearance, the troops of the Southern Tang Dynasty cheered in unison, and their morale was greatly boosted.
When General Sun Pin saw a gap in the city wall, he immediately ordered the front army and the left and right armies to press forward together to occupy the gap in the city wall as soon as possible, and then start a decisive battle with the defenders in the city.
A large number of soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty flocked to the gap in the city wall. The soldiers responsible for fighting the front line originally thought they would encounter strong resistance from the defenders, but unexpectedly entered the city through the gap and did not encounter too many attacks.
Thousands of soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty squeezed into the interior of Jiangcheng through the narrow gap in the city wall.
The general of the Southern Tang Dynasty who was responsible for commanding the charge was overjoyed when he saw that the situation was developing so smoothly. At the same time, he also ordered his soldiers to move forward hard and occupy the gap as soon as possible.
Kong You on the city tower saw more and more soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty entering the city, and said to Guo Ziyi: "There are enough fish in the net, it's almost time to pull up the first net."
Guo Ziyi nodded and said a few words to Captain Shang Ling behind him.
As for the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty below the city, as they were rushing into the city, sudden changes occurred.
Boom boom boom!
A series of loud noises came from behind the city wall.
There was nothing unusual about the large open space behind the city wall, but as soon as you step on it, a violent explosion will occur underground, knocking down the enemy soldiers above.
The soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty who suffered heavy casualties were not aware of the existence of landmines, so when they encountered this situation, they were immediately in chaos, and no one dared to set foot in the minefield again.
The general who was in charge of the command behind did not know the situation in the front, so he just forced the soldiers to rush over.
But the soldiers in front, if anyone dares to move forward, will be killed by landmines.
For a moment, the soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty who rushed into the city wall were in a dilemma, not knowing what to do.
At this moment, the artillery battalion under Guo Ziyi launched countless tiger cannons and long cannons from the city, and pointed the muzzles at the enemy at the gap.
The soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty gathered together. Looking down from the city, they could see the crowds of people, forming a dense formation.
In the face of artillery bombardment, such a formation is almost the best target. Often a single artillery shell can carve a bloody path through the enemy's formation and kill or injure dozens of people.
The gunfire sounded and the smoke filled the air.
The shot shells of the Crouching Tiger Cannon and the iron bullets of the Long Cannon were shot out together. The shadows of the cannonballs were everywhere, almost covering the entire sky.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Blood, broken bones, and severed limbs, accompanied by screams and cries, are splashing everywhere.
The soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty who rushed behind the city wall were covered by intensive artillery fire and almost no one was left alive.
After the smoke cleared, the area behind the gap was like a Shura field, with mutilated corpses everywhere, which was unbearable to see.
Faced with this sudden change, the morale of the Southern Tang soldiers under the city began to waver.
Just like the city wall at the entrance of Huangquan, no Southern Tang soldiers dared to enter even if there was a supervising team.
Taking advantage of the weakening offensive of the Southern Tang soldiers, the Northern Tang army above the city wall suddenly stepped up its counterattack.
A large number of arrows, stones, and gunpowder barrels were thrown off the city wall, causing huge damage to the Southern Tang army.
The soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty either fell into chaos or began to retreat. Everyone wanted to get away from this land of death as soon as possible.
At this moment, the south gate of Jiangcheng slowly opened, and the troops of the Northern Tang Dynasty lined up from the gate, and began a counterattack against the shaken soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
One side's morale was dampened, while the other side was recharging its energy. As soon as the two sides fought, they were immediately divided.
Although the elite soldiers of the Northern Tang Dynasty were at a numerical disadvantage, they almost overpowered the Southern Tang army and pushed the battle line forward.
Although occasionally there were soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty who wanted to form a formation to resist, but they were like splashes in front of the wave, fleeting.
At this time, in the Southern Tang camp, General Sun Pin saw the failure of the army's attack and roared furiously: "A bunch of rats! The number of our troops is several times that of the enemy, and this battle actually ended like this!"
Ignoring the commotion in the camp, Li Mi came to the back camp and said to Xue Nanyang, who was getting ready to go: "The time has come, and the next step is the only chance to win this battle!"
Xue Nanyang held up the horse and said to Li Mi: "Sir, the general and his eight hundred light cavalry have been prepared."
Li Mi: "Remember, when you enter the battlefield later, whether you are a soldier or a war horse, your mouth must be covered with wet cloth."
Xue Nanyang nodded in agreement.
Li Mi turned his head to the rear, where a group of alchemists were launching dozens of small long cannons from the rear camp.
Li Mi swept the whisk lightly and gave the Taoist salute to the alchemists.
The alchemists first returned the salute, and then slowly pushed the long cannon towards the front of the formation.
