The reinforcements from Shicheng arrived very quickly. Five thousand cavalry advanced first and went south along the east bank of the Fu River. In only two days, they crossed the Meishui River and entered Huangpi County to attack the soldiers and horses building fortifications in Changxuan Ridge.
Although the five thousand enemy cavalry were not enough to expel the Huaidong Army from Changxuan Ridge in the north of Huangpi City, or even to disrupt the Huaidong Army's attack on Huangpi City, it was enough to give the rebel general Sun Jichang hope to defend Huangpi City.
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Huangpi City is neither too big nor too small. There are two long streets connected to the four city gates respectively. One street is six to seven hundred paces long, and there are layers of obstacles piled up for those who want to force their way in.
There are many houses in the city. Although most of them are brick and wood structures, the fire prevention of buildings at that time should not be underestimated. The double-eaves resting on the top of the mountain and the high horse-head wall make it impossible to break through. If you stand on the outside and set fire to it, you can only burn a section of the house, but it is difficult to control the fire.
Shape into slices and burn Huangpi thoroughly.
In fact, the defenders were forced back from the city wall and even piled flammable firewood and beams into barricades and set fire to hinder the Huaidong Army's advance.
It is not a small courtyard that can be completely burned by setting fire. When attacking Huangpi City, even a fire attack can be effective in a short time. What's more, enemy reinforcements from Shicheng arrived quickly and were not sloppy at all, leaving people with nothing to do.
In addition to the 5,000 cavalry who first entered Huangpi to support the Huaidong Army, there were 20,000 reinforcements, mainly cavalry, coming from the direction of Shicheng. The soldiers and horses monitoring Hanjin City also saw the Han Dynasty.
The Jin garrison has made unusual movements out of the East City in the past two days, and it is likely that they will send a group of troops to join the Shicheng reinforcements...
Although the Huaidong Army was not afraid of fighting in the field with the Yanhu cavalry, the more than 20,000 enemy cavalry who came to the reinforcements obviously had no intention of fighting the Huaidong Army outside Huangpi City, but relied on their mobility in the hilly areas that was incomparable to the infantry.
Peeping at the flanks of the Huaidong Army, they pulled back and forth. Before Huangpi City fell, the Huaidong Army was unable to gather its reinforcements and press them into the corners of the mountains and rivers, so it was unable to attack Huangpi City with all its strength without any worries.
The number of infantry and cavalry that Lin Fu gathered in the Huangzhou War Zone was nominally only 60,000, but the actual total was 90,000.
In addition to staying in the main camp, troops were also sent to monitor the enemies in Hanjin and Tiemen to prevent them from moving. Therefore, troops and horses were deployed in front of Huangpi City, with Yu Wencheng and Zhang Gou as the main forces, plus the cavalry battalion to cooperate in the battle.
The nominal total number of troops is 40,000, but the actual strength is only 50,000.
"The old fox in Shewenzhuang will lead the main force of Shicheng reinforcements and will arrive at the outskirts of Shicheng before noon tomorrow at the latest." Gao Zongting pointed to the direction marked on the map and introduced the current situation around Huangpi, saying, "Five thousand enemies are riding with us.
After the Xuanling soldiers and horses came into contact, they retreated to Xiaonan. It is foreseeable that the main force of Shicheng's reinforcements will also enter Xiaonan first."
"There are 25,000 reinforcements coming from Shicheng, 20,000 cavalry are the elite of Yanbei, and 5,000 infantry are led by She Yuan. They must be the elite of the She family." He rushed back to the front camp to participate.
Chen Zhi of the military council said, "Hanjin and Huangpi are originally close to each other. Xiaonan is on the flank of Hanjin and Huangpi. If Huangpi City cannot be captured before the Shicheng reinforcements arrive, this battle will be difficult to fight...
…”
"You don't feel pain in your back even when you stand. If I were to fight, can you guarantee that we will win Huangpi before noon tomorrow?" Zhang Gou retorted to Chen Zhi. Chen Zhi and Zhang Gou were both from the refugee army. They had the closest relationship and spoke freely. Chen Zhi
He is a militant. If it were possible for him to work hard and attack at night, he would defeat the defenders and capture Huangpi before noon tomorrow. However, this was not Zhang Gou's style. He turned his head and spoke to the host of the military meeting.
Lin Fu, Ao Canghai suggested, "Huangpi can no longer fight. The soldiers and horses that penetrated earlier should also retreat from Huangpi City. They should shrink their defensive formations with Zhaohu Mountain and Changxuan Base as the center..."
Lin Fu looked at Ao Canghai and asked, "What do you think?"
"There is no rush to annihilate the enemy. Besides, our core purpose is to draw Shicheng's troops over," Ao Canghai said. "But it is not good to retreat too simply. I think this is good. Zhang Gou will take the lead in the long march."
Xuanling shrank and alerted the reinforcements from Shicheng coming from the north. Yu Wencheng followed the original plan to attack Huangpi, but he had to leave some extra strength..."
Shicheng is three hundred miles away from Huangpi, and only more than two hundred miles away from Fancheng and Zaoyang. If Yanhu had more than 40,000 elite troops in Shicheng, it would be difficult for Chaishan's soldiers and horses to pass through the hinterland of Suizhou - Shicheng's soldiers and horses
To draw them out and restrain them from advancing or retreating in the Huangpi area, this was the purpose of Lin Fu's violent attack on Huangpi from the beginning.
She Wenzhuang led reinforcements from Shicheng, but they were unable to get away from Huangpi. Su Tingzhan only had more than ten thousand soldiers and horses in Shicheng. Even if he was alerted to the existence of Chaishan's strange troops in advance, he would be helpless.
"This arrangement is good," Lin Fu said, "but we also have to consider the possibility that the enemies from Tiemen Mountain and Hanjin will gather in Huangpi..."
"Yes, Ye Jiluorong asked Shewenzhuang to rush to the east bank of the Han River. He couldn't just ask him to lead reinforcements to rescue Huangpi. If Yejiluorong handed over all the troops and horses in eastern Hubei to Shewenzhuang for control, he would have
It is possible to transfer all the soldiers and horses from Hanjin and Tiemen Mountain to Huangpi, and take the opportunity to restrain the main force of our army in Huangpi..." Gao Zongting said.
"If this is really the case, then we can take advantage of the situation to gather all the soldiers and horses monitoring Hanjin and Tiemen Mountain to Huangpi, and the water camp can also go ashore," Ao Canghai said with a smile, "In this way, shrimps and crabs
, they all have to be stewed in a pot and eaten!"
Lin Fu picked up the charcoal pen at hand, drew a line on the north and west of Huangpi City, and said: "The enemies of Tiemen Mountain are separated for us in the east. If we want to help Huangpi, we can only go around Xiaochang Shuangfeng Mountain. It will be late."
Come here. After Shewenzhuang leads the Shicheng reinforcements to Huangpi, they will not enter the city. Our army builds forts at Changxuan Ridge, and Zhang Gou leads his troops to shrink to Changxuan Ridge. Then Shewenzhuang may dig long trenches on these two lines.
Keep us out. Once Chaishan soldiers and horses attack Zaoyang and Fancheng and cut off their food routes, Shewenzhuang's first reaction is to retreat to the east bank of the Han River, relying on the Han River to retreat north or crossing the Han River and Yeji
After Luo Rong joins forces, it will be his best choice to retreat north. Therefore, we must deploy an elite team on the west side of Huangpi to be ready to cut in at any time and block Shewenzhuang's retreat to the east bank of the Han River!"
"Besides Zhang Gou, who else can compete with me?" Chen Zhi asked, leaning on the edge of the conference table and looking at the other generals eagerly.
"You are really worthless. I want to guard Changxuan Mountain. I am already separated from the east. How can I compete with you for the position in the west..." Zhang Gou said with a helpless smile.
Lin Fu looked at the water camp generals such as Ge Cunxin, Su Pinxiao, Hu Yuer, and said: "Chen Zhi, Zhang Jiheng, Zhang Gou, and Yu Wencheng will all be sent to fight in front of the battle. In addition to Zhao Hu's 10,000 Jiangning Forbidden Camp troops in the main camp,
, I don’t have the troops and horses ready in hand, so your water camp will mobilize 20,000 people ashore!"
Once the Chaishan soldiers and horses are dispatched and attack the hinterland of Xiangsui, they can shake the position of the defenders in eastern Hubei. The main force of the Huaidong Army on the front of Huangpi will attack very quickly without any delay or hesitation.
Even if the defenders of Hanjin abandoned the city and fled, Shuiying would not have time to clear the obstacles at the mouth of the Han River before pursuing them - clearing the obstacles at the mouth of the Han River, which is six to seven hundred paces wide, is not something that can be completed in three to five days -
The water camp is not the main force in this battle. The navy soldiers must also go ashore to be used as infantry camps at this time to make up for the lack of troops.
Although the soldiers of the water camp are not good at positional warfare, they are not much worse when used as reserve troops in pursuit battles.
Since Lin Fu gave such an order, Ge Cunxin and the Shuiying generals had no room for bargaining, so they agreed together and made arrangements.
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Shewenzhuang led the main force of the reinforcements and entered Huangpi at noon on the 27th. He asked Sun Sheyuan to lead 5,000 infantry to form a formation in the northwest of Huangpi. Meng An sent his generals to lead his cavalry to bypass both sides of Huangpi City and attack.
The flanks of the Huaidong Army forced the Huaidong Army to retreat from Huangpi City.
When infantry fights cavalry, one is to use favorable terrain, and the other is to use dense formations.
The Shicheng reinforcements, mainly cavalry, arrived. Naturally, the Huaidong Army, mainly infantry, could not spread out to besiege Huangpi as much as they wanted, so they withdrew from the North City, West City, and South City of Huangpi, leaving only about 5,000 troops and horses to shrink in the East City.
Form a formation, bite where you are, and refuse to retreat until you die.
Outside the east moat bridge is the position used by Yu Wencheng's troops to attack Huangpi City. It has strong protection and is surrounded by fences. It is also very close to the front base camp of Zhaohu Mountain, and there are 5,000 soldiers and horses contracted to defend it.
, without fear of a three-way flanking attack by the enemy from the north and south wings and the defenders crossing the moat bridge from inside the city.
She Wenzhuang came with reinforcements, mainly to relieve the danger of Huangpi. Furthermore, he also had to stand firm first. The Huaidong Army had 40,000 elite troops on the left and right sides. He wanted to eat the troops who were shrinking in defense outside the east city.
Five thousand Huaidong soldiers is obviously an impossible task.
"Many thanks to the King of Fujian for leading the troops to help!" Sun Jichang re-sent troops to occupy the four ruined towers and took control of the Huangpi city wall again. This made him feel more at ease. In only five or six days, the Huaidong Army was beaten so hard.
Sun Jichang felt embarrassed, but She Wenzhuang and his reinforcements arrived in time, so he couldn't just say thank you just to save face.
Naturally, Shewenzhuang would not lead his troops into the city. It was enough for Huangpi City to be guarded by Sun Jichang's troops.
In fact, Sun Jichang fought so embarrassingly because he concentrated all his troops in the city.
No matter how many troops there are, the Huaidong Army can block the four city gates and hold them in the city, but it will not be able to exert its advantage.
The deployment of city defense forces is usually based on one step of wall, one soldier and one auxiliary soldier. A six-mile city is about two thousand steps long, and four thousand defenders are barely enough to defend the city.
Sun Ji often went to Huangpi City and piled up 30,000 soldiers and horses. The garrison was not too few, but too many.
When the defenders were suppressed by the Huaidong Army's heavy crossbows, they had to retreat from the city head and retreat to the city for street fighting. There were streets everywhere in the east, west, north and south. If the houses and courtyards were not demolished, the total width of the battle line between the two armies would not even be enough.
One hundred steps.
With such a short front, the defenders simply cannot take advantage of the 30,000 men. Two hundred people can be crammed into the front end of the front. It seems that the Huaidong Army cannot take advantage of its strength, but the denser the defenders are packed in.
, the narrower the defensive surface, the stronger the blow from the Huaidong Army's fire oil tanks and the scorpion crossbows and tip crossbows fired from behind the formation.
Fortunately, Sun Jichang had enough troops in his hands, so he could take turns to engage in hand-to-hand combat, be able to withstand heavy casualties, and be able to block the Huaidong Army's offensive with his flesh and blood.
This is also the benefit of a narrow engagement area. The entire front line can only send three to four hundred people to fight closely. If 30,000 soldiers and horses take turns, they can only fight for a month.
However, once the Huaidong Army was asked to slowly compress the 30,000 defenders into a narrower and more compact space in the center of Huangpi City, the Huaidong Army was then asked to demolish the houses and houses near the city wall in Huangpi City, and use catapults and other heavy equipment
When the crossbow was moved into the city, Sun Jichang was afraid that it would be too late to cry...
Shewenzhuang was accompanied by Sun Jichang through every battle situation in Huangpi City. The more he looked at it, the more frightened he became. The reinforcements would arrive two or three days late, and Sun Jichang might not be able to hold on! In this case, the defenders still accumulated
There were more than 4,000 casualties. If Sun Jichang had only led 10,000 troops to defend the city, with such a high number of casualties, the Huaidong Army might have taken Huangpi long ago.
If you don't want to use the heavy crossbows and fire oil tanks of the Huaidong Army to act as a threat, it is a taboo to concentrate the troops and horses, and it is even more taboo to be trapped in a city that can easily be blocked by the Huaidong Army.
If the defenders are so crowded together that it is difficult to even turn around, and a boulder weighing more than a hundred kilograms is thrown at them, how many people will die in one fell swoop? If the morale of the soldiers can still survive at that time, they will already be called a rare iron army in the world.
Shewenzhuang did not blame Sun Jichang. These lessons were gained from the experience of the Zhejiang and Fujian Army at the cost of tens of thousands of lives. Sun Jichang had never experienced the Huaidong Army's siege except for the massive defeat when he besieged Yangxin.
ability.
But this time, Sun Jichang also learned his lesson. When Shewenzhuang asked him to send troops out of the city to set up camp, he agreed immediately without hesitation. Having tasted the power of the Huaidong Army's heavy crossbows, he would rather fight in the open with the Huaidong Army.
The Huaidong Army was forced into a narrow area and attacked fiercely with heavy crossbows without being able to fight back.
At present, the Huaidong Army has a troop of troops pinned outside the East City. Sun Jichang immediately sent two troops to the West City and out of the North City. Under the cover of the cavalry, they headed out of the West City to Hanjin and out of the North City to Xiaochang.
A long moat was excavated on the outside of the post road to enable the defenders to leave the city and spread out in the north and west of the city to avoid the possibility of the Huaidong Army being blocked in the city and fighting.