Four hundred and twentieth eight chapters I am very relieved
Fang Xitong looked at the city wall, which was only a few hundred meters in front of him, and the countless Ming troops crowded under the city wall, with a smile on his face!
This battle was finally not in vain!
There are at least more than 15,000 Ming troops blocking the city wall, and there are also a lot of baggage. Now these Ming troops have fallen into complete chaos, and it is impossible to enter the city in a short time!
Next, what I have to do is to continue to advance, and then cooperate with the first brigade to completely defeat them!
At the same time, Hao Bainian from the east was also riding at the forefront of the army, and at the same time ordered the people around him: "Don't stop, rush over, ignore the surrendering Ming troops, and keep advancing!"
The huge dense phalanx formed by the two infantry regiments of the First Brigade and other directly affiliated troops crushed some of the defeated Ming troops along the way, and ignored the Ming troops on both sides who had dropped their weapons and knelt aside to surrender.
The soldiers continued to advance towards the city gate!
At this time, Zhu Zhihai also saw more than 5,000 puppet Tang rebels advancing rapidly towards the city gate, and the Ming army along the way couldn't stop them. If this continues, it won't take long for them to rush to the city gate.
, and then saw that his five hundred elite cavalry had entered the city, but he did not care that his more than two thousand Fubiao infantry were still outside, and immediately said: "Close the city gate immediately!"
However, although Zhu Zhihai wanted to order the city gate to be closed, in fact it was impossible to close the city gate at this time because the city gate was holed and crowded with countless soldiers, making it impossible to close the city gate!
After a while, when he saw that the puppet Tang bandits were less than a hundred steps away from the city gate, Zhu Zhihai immediately gritted his teeth and said: "Hurry up and fire the cannons and arrows. We must not let the puppet Tang bandits rush over!"
At this time, someone reminded him: "Are there many soldiers of our army outside the city? And more than 2,000 Fubiao people are also outside?"
Zhu Zhihai snorted coldly: "It is their honor to fight for the country and serve the emperor!"
After hearing Zhu Zhihai's domineering words, the people below immediately fell silent! How dare they speak?
It didn't take long for the Ming army's many bowl-mouth cannons on the top of Lipingfu city to fire, and many archers began to bend their bows and shoot arrows!
However, most of their shotguns and bows and arrows fell on the Ming army's own people outside the city, and very few of them actually fell on the formation of the Third Infantry Regiment!
After watching the Ming army firing artillery and arrows more than a hundred meters away, Hao Bainian raised his hand and ordered: "Stop the whole army!"
The current distance of more than 100 meters is still a safe distance. If we continue to advance, I am afraid that we will be attacked by intensive bows and arrows and artillery fire from the Ming army. If we continue to advance rashly, I am afraid that there will be heavy casualties. Although his first brigade has the strength
Quite a few, and their combat effectiveness is strong, but there is no need to suffer unnecessary casualties.
However, although he stopped chasing, he said: "Pull up the battalion cannon and prepare to fire. The musketeers and archers are ready to shoot the enemy troops outside the city!"
Taking advantage of the chaos to seize the city gate is not feasible, but there are tens of thousands of chaotic Ming troops outside the city. It would be a great achievement to annihilate them!
It didn't take long for other troops from the second brigade to arrive one after another!
At this time, the tens of thousands of Ming troops under the city wall were almost simultaneously attacked by double firepower from their own side and the puppet Tang rebel army. For a time, they suffered heavy casualties!
In order to survive, many people no longer bothered to call Zhu Zhihai a bastard. They also gave up the idea of entering the city and started running to both sides.
On both sides, there were actually puppet Tang rebels, but those puppet Tang rebels shouted: "Surrender without killing!"
Many Ming troops threw away their weapons and armor on the road, then ran to the formations of the new Tang Dynasty troops on both sides and knelt down to surrender!
At this time, as long as they can save their lives, they have so much to worry about!
In the chaos, not only many ordinary Ming soldiers and mid-level and low-level officers ran to both sides to surrender and save their lives, but even a few senior generals also ran to both sides in the chaos. It is not known whether they were voluntary or forced.
In the end, they were forced to throw away their weapons and surrender.
Song Tianbiao, who was flanking the left wing and accepted the surrender, saw several thousand households surrender directly with their own soldiers!
However, the battle was still going on, and the New Army of the Tang Dynasty could not allocate too many people to guard these prisoners. They simply asked them to throw away their weapons and armor, then tied each other's hands with belts, and then walked out in a line.
At the same time, they simply dispatched a very small number of troops to guard them!
The battle was still going on at the front, but at the rear, there was a scene like this. A dozen or even a few soldiers from the New Army of the Tang Dynasty were escorting hundreds or even hundreds of Ming Army soldiers to retreat!
Then he directly asked these Ming army prisoners to sit down in an open space. They were not allowed to move. If they moved, they would be stabbed with a bayonet!
This huge melee outside the city gate was fought in a confused and extremely chaotic manner. When the artillery on both sides stopped, and the muskets and bows and arrows also stopped, there were already people lying about a hundred meters away from the city gate.
The dead and wounded of the soldiers!
Most of their casualties were caused by the new army of the Tang Dynasty, some were caused by the Ming army on top of the city, and some were even caused by their own fighting in order to fight for the advancement of the city.
The place was full of dead and wounded, at least two thousand people!
There were more than 10,000 people blocked outside the city. Where did the rest go?
A small number took advantage of the chaos and entered the city, while some took advantage of the chaos and fled to both sides, and quite a few surrendered on the spot.
Now these Ming army prisoners are divided into several large groups and sitting in the fields outside the city!
After the sound of weapons and artillery subsided, Hao Bainian and Fang Xitong briefly discussed and decided not to continue the siege, but to gather their troops first, clean the battlefield, and wait for His Majesty's arrival!
After all, everyone has been fighting for a day. The soldiers of both the first and second brigade are actually exhausted and have suffered a certain amount of casualties. They need time to rest and recuperate.
As for the siege, tomorrow is not too late!
At about nine o'clock that night, Li Xuan also arrived with the main force of the Chinese army, and immediately listened to the post-war reports from Hao Bainian and Fang Xitong!
"In the battle outside the city, our first and second brigades fought hard and wiped out at least 3,000 enemies. Most of the Ming army's casualties were concentrated outside the city wall!
In addition, our army captured about 3,000 Ming troops, and about 5,000 Ming troops escaped!"
"The battle at that time was too chaotic, and the time given to our army was too tight. Otherwise, the results of the battle would have continued to expand. In addition, our army also successfully intercepted a batch of Ming army baggage. According to estimates, the Ming army was successfully transported into the city.
There should be only 60% of the baggage, but the intercepted baggage is still outside the city wall, and we have not been able to capture it. I am afraid that the Ming army will take advantage of the night to rush to transport these baggage. In this regard, our department has arranged for troops on duty to monitor closely.
We will never let the Ming army take back the baggage!"
"As for the casualties of our army, the casualties of our first brigade are not large, the total casualties are about two hundred!"
At this time, Fang Xitong also said: "Our second brigade suffered slightly greater casualties, with a total casualty of about 400 people. In addition, the 7th Infantry Regiment also suffered more than 300 casualties. The casualties of the 7th Infantry Regiment were mainly those from the charge. It was too chaotic at the time, and after rushing into the Ming army's formation, it was unable to retreat in time, and thus suffered a double blow from the firepower of both the enemy and ourselves!"
The casualties of the 2nd Brigade were mainly concentrated in the 3rd Infantry Regiment. The 3rd Infantry Regiment fought hard for a day and went through many battles. The total casualties were not small!
Li Xuan said at this time: "Thank you for your hard work, my dear friends. In today's battle, you have shown the style of my great master of the Tang Dynasty. I am very pleased!"
"Next, let the soldiers have a good rest and make the best preparations for the general attack!"
After listening to the post-war report, everyone did not disperse, but continued to fight at night, discussing how to attack Liping City in the future!
"Our army has attacked Lipingfu City once before, and our army has been stationed in the city for a period of time before. We are quite familiar with the city's defense settings. In a short period of time, the Ming army is unlikely to greatly improve the city's defense. Setting it up will be of great benefit to our subsequent attacks!"
"It is worth noting that the Ming army in the city has a lot of artillery. This West Route Ming army was assembled by Zhu Zhihai from all over the province. It has many artillery, including several hundreds of kilograms of artillery, and tens of kilograms to hundreds of kilograms. There are even more bowl-shaped cannons ranging in weight. These artillery pieces will be the first and biggest threat we face in our subsequent siege!"
As the head of the senior generals of the army, Hao Bainian continued: "If we want to attack Liping Fucheng, we must use our army's artillery superiority to suppress the enemy's artillery and provide sufficient cover for our troops to climb the city. As long as our troops to climb the city Once we reach the top of the city, the quality of our troops is enough to win a hand-to-hand battle at the top of the city!"
Zeng Ziwen also nodded and said: "Yes, in the early stage of siege, artillery suppression is extremely important. At the same time, in order to successfully conquer the city, our army must also concentrate its heavy armor units. The heavy armor sword and shield wielders of each unit can be used intensively. As long as we invest 500 heavy armored infantry at one time, we will definitely be able to establish a stable position on the top of Liping City, so as to receive the subsequent main forces entering the city!"
"In addition, this time we also plan to put the grenadiers into the front line of siege operations. The grenades should be able to inflict intensive damage to the enemy in the first time. At the same time, the grenadiers are far more elite than the musketeers and can Cooperate more effectively with the sword and shield soldiers to fight!"
In the battle on the city, the core of the hand-to-hand combat is no longer the spear soldiers, because the spear soldiers cannot be used at all on the narrow city wall.
The best unit at this time is the sword and shield soldier wearing heavy armor!
Musketeers can also be used, but grenadiers are more useful!
After everyone discussed it, they dispersed to make preparations.
Early the next morning, Li Xuan walked out of the Chinese army tent, and then led a group of senior generals to the top of a hill where they were ambushed, looking at Liping City still bathed in the morning sunshine!
According to the plan made last night, it will not take long for the new army of the Tang Dynasty to launch a general attack on Liping Fucheng!
The ability to capture Liping City, severely damage or even completely annihilate the Ming Army on the West Road, and even the length of time it takes to capture Liping City is directly related to the subsequent survival of the Tang Dynasty and cannot be ignored!