Dongfang Jing asked: "Zhiran, what's the difference?"
Zhao Ran couldn't explain so much, so he just said: "It must be here. Wu Huawen is really taking a risk. He only has one night to cross the river here. At dawn, he will definitely be noticed by our army's sentry tower. It's just a one-two punch."
How many people can he cross over a foot-wide iron cable bridge? The political strife in the Western Xia Dynasty must have overwhelmed him."
Dongfang Jing agreed: "Even if he is allowed to cross the river, it will be difficult to go back. From crossing the river to breaking into Hongyuan, and then safely withdrawing from there, he only has less than a day and a night. As long as there is a slight delay,
, he will definitely not be able to go back. Even without your information, he is taking too big a risk, almost desperate, using troops so dangerously, he must be a good general."
Zhao Ran said: "I just don't know if he will lead the army personally."
Dongfang Jingdao: "Most likely he leads the army personally. To be fair, he always takes the lead in every war. He did this during the Ming Dynasty, it was the same in Tubo, and it was the same in Xixia. Therefore, he is very popular with his subordinates."
Zhao Ran said: "That's just right. Don't even think about going back if you come here this time."
In order to ensure that Wu Huawen's entire army crossed the river, the Ming army remained as usual on the surface. They neither paid special attention to the Dege Valley nor relaxed about it. They patrolled when it was time to patrol. Everything was as usual. They just hid two monks here and paid attention to each other the whole time.
progress.
Late at night the next day, Zhao Ran received a flying talisman from Dongfang Jing: "Wu Huawen has crossed the river, with a total of 800 infantry, including the elite Bubazi under his command, and no less than ten Buddhist monks."
A two-foot-wide iron cable bridge can cross 800 infantry in one night. This is already the limit. Those Buddhist monks must have played a great role in it.
Zhao Ran quickly informed Pei Zhongze and transferred all the Hongyuan militiamen who had already sneaked into the city to station under the city wall. They distributed military armor and weapons overnight and placed magical weapons to defend the city.
After the arrangements were completed, Zhao Ran handed over the responsibility of city defense to Pei Zhongze and Yuan Hao, and left Hongyuan City himself.
As he left, the city gate behind him closed heavily.
When the sky darkened, the people in Hongyuan City found that the four gates were closed, and the inspection team of the White Horse Courtyard Square Hall was inspecting everywhere, requiring all people to return home immediately, and no one was allowed to go out without special reasons.
After the streets and alleys were cleared, the Taoist priests of Baima Academy went out together to sound gongs along the streets to inform every household about the Xixia invasion. They also recruited men and strong women from each family according to their household registrations, and thousands of them were recruited.
Under the city, they helped transport supplies and carry the wounded, while women helped cook and treat the wounded.
In less than half an hour, Xixia troops were discovered outside the south gate. Eight hundred infantry came in groups, starting with more than ten monks and more than twenty cavalry officers.
Surrounded by the cavalry generals was none other than Wu Huawen, the commander of the left wing of the Baimaqiang Supervisory Army Division.
Under Wu Huawen's urging, the brigade arrived in front of the south gate. There were no flags and honor guards, no formations to call for formation, and no "general's name". The time was tight and it was impossible to besiege the city and set up camp patiently.
A member of Dusi stood next to Wu Hua's tattoo and said: "Commander, the door is closed, so you can't rush in."
Wu Huawen said: "It's also common sense. If nothing unexpected happens, seize the time to break the city."
The monks who were gathered around him immediately separated horizontally, and several cavalry generals turned their horses and mobilized the soldiers from behind.
The four monks separated horizontally recited Buddhist mantras, and several rays of light rose up in the sky. This was the light shield of the army, which could intercept the Taoist spells that caused large-scale damage. For any spell with large-scale damage, the attack interception points are scattered.
Even if it is not a breakthrough force, it can be effectively intercepted by using this kind of mana light shield.
Of course, when encountering magic weapons such as magic crossbows, the effect of light shields is not so obvious, and it is necessary to rely on the soldiers' personal magic shields and other magic weapons to resist. For the army, the most fearful thing is to be in the unprotected environment.
Under such circumstances, they suffered a large-scale magic attack. As for the death of several or dozens of soldiers during the battle, this was a normal battle loss.
After the light shield was propped up, a monk took out a golden pestle from the storage artifact. This golden pestle was as thick as a fist and about three feet long. A team of foot soldiers put on heavy armor and carried the golden pestle.
He sped up and ran towards the city gate, preparing to knock it open.
Until now, there was still no movement on the city wall.
Wu Huawen saw that the city wall was not high, only about two feet, especially the three-foot wall on the upper level was clearly separated from the lower level and had the color of fresh mud, so he ordered: "Climb the wall at the same time."
A young general dismounted and led fifty light-armored soldiers to the city. Two people served as stools, and one person stepped on them. With a strong push, more than ten strong soldiers were sent to a high place at the top of the city. They could reach out and hang on the edge of the city wall.
Climb upward.
At the same time, Bu Bazi, who had knocked on the door, arrived at the city gate carrying a golden pestle. He heard a muffled sound, the city gate shook slightly, and a lot of dust fell.
The team of foot soldiers shouted chants, stepped back more than ten steps, accelerated again, and rushed towards the city gate carrying the golden pestle.
Pei Zhongze hid on the city wall and sighed softly to Luo Zhiqing: "The people named Wu did not attack the city with all their strength. Only more than sixty came. There is no other way. Let's fight."
Luo Zhiqing licked his lips, nodded and stood up. A sword beam as wide as the door board struck at the group of soldiers rushing towards the city gate.
Pei Zhongze also stood up and waved vigorously, and the Toad Palace Fairy's bronze mortar hit the leather drum. Amidst the sound of the drum, the Hongyuan militia wore armor and held firm, gave a shout, and all entered the fighting position.
Pei Zhongze quickly activated the array talisman, activating all the military weapons.
Fairy Toad Palace watched the two armies confront each other curiously, and then knocked three times with a copper mortar. According to the agreement, after three drum sounds, arrows were fired. So where the drum sounded, dozens of arrows were shot at the climbing Xixia Bu.
Postscript.
Some of these arrows were separated by the light shields on the wrists of the Bubazi who climbed the city, some were inserted into the leather armor they wore, and some arrows with greater strength and accurate shooting angles were shot into several Bubazi.
Five or six people were shot down immediately from the neck or arms of the enemy, and the remaining few jumped up and climbed onto the top of the city. The militia on the top of the city immediately started a commotion.
Pei Zhongze was very helpless. There were only about ten people in Bubazi's first wave to climb the city. They didn't use ladders. They only climbed halfway up with a few simple climbs. This can only show one thing. The combat power of this group of militiamen is really strong.
It's too bad!
Moreover, this shower of arrows was not shot well, was inconsistent, and the coverage was not concentrated. It was completely different from the performance of the militia archers during training. This is the reason why I have never experienced a battle formation. Otherwise, I am nervous.
A dozen training officers kept shouting loudly, and asked the militiamen guarding the city to form a group of three or five, with spears and short knives in coordination, and go forward to fight fiercely with the few foot soldiers who climbed the city.
Fortunately, Zhao Ran had the foresight to transfer the gang of tough bandits from Jundu Mountain Bandit Village into the militia in advance to serve as the backbone, otherwise the commotion at the top of the city at this moment would have been enough to cause even greater chaos.