At the same time, several stone bullets also hit the water in unison, causing waves to hit the leading ship directly on the shore.
The soldiers of the Northern Zhou Dynasty on the boat had either been hit by arrows and fell into the water, or they were raising their shields in a hurry to block them, so they did not notice the stone bullets falling. The boat suddenly lost control and rushed ashore. After it ran aground, it would not be easy to pull it into the river again.
In it.
The ships behind continued to rush forward, and the Zhou crossbowmen also seized the opportunity to shoot arrows.
"Shield!" Dai Cai yelled.
The soldiers behind him pulled the ropes at the same time. The ends of the ropes were fixed with shields placed diagonally on the city wall. The shields were erected directly, blocking the gaps in the battlements and in front of the crossbowmen, just in time to catch the wave of arrows.
arrow.
With the last experience, or more accurately the experience of shooting at the enemy, of course there is no telling who shot it, everyone has credit for this random arrow. For these new recruits, there is nothing better than
This boosted morale even more. Soon the second round of arrows was thrown out. The arrows broke through the air and stuck densely on the water. Of course, many landed on the ship, directly hitting the ships in front.
Tie up into a hedgehog.
At the same time, stone bullets also flew over. This time there were not just five, but also a sixth, a seventh, and gradually up to the tenth. Although the subsequent stone bullets were uneven, some even landed on the ground.
It hit the ground and did not hit the water at all, but this also made the Han soldiers burst into cheers, because it meant that the Han soldiers who followed behind could at least successfully throw the stone bullets.
There was not much time and opportunity left for them. Even if they started operating for the first time, they could only succeed and not fail. Otherwise, if the stone bullet fell on the city, even if it rolled directly from the trebuchet, it would be counterattacked.
If you come here, you will hurt your own people, and it will also hit the already nervous and fragile mentality of the Han soldiers.
Dai Cai breathed a sigh of relief.
But soon he didn't dare to relax.
Because more Northern Zhou ships had entered the moat, and some simply transferred soldiers and horses ashore.
Cavalry, here comes the cavalry.
Dai Cai frowned.
For a strong city like Ma Tou, the cavalry has little effect, but if Dai Cai just defends behind closed doors, the enemy's cavalry can completely bypass the city and cut off the Han army's transportation road behind the city!
Barrier roads, this is the meaning of the existence of Matou City, and this is also the meaning of Dai Cai standing here.
The cavalry, even if there are only two or three hundred cavalry, is enough to pose a threat to the Han army's grain team.
But do I really want to go out of the city to fight?
"The governor is the enemy's cavalry."
The person who spoke was a man named Du Meng. Among the eight tribes of the Ba people, he was the most adept at fighting. Because he once led the establishment of the Cheng Han Dynasty, he should be considered to be relatively large among the Ba people. Naturally, there were also many in the Han army.
Among the few brave soldiers, Du Meng was one of them, specially transferred to serve as the captain of Dai Cai's personal guard.
No matter how stretched the troops and horses in the hands of the imperial court are, it is impossible to really give Dai a group of cucumber eggs. After all, Ma Tou City is also the front line.
"I know." Dai Cai said.
I'm not blind, so I still need you to remind me.
Of course, he knew better that Du Meng wanted to hint at his enemy's possible actions.
"Please lead five hundred troops out of the city to intercept them," Du Meng said immediately.
"Five hundred people can't stop us," Dai Cai said directly.
Not to mention that you, the five hundred people, are all new recruits.
Du Meng gritted his teeth: "Then we have to stop it, sometimes for a while."
"I'll give you a thousand men." Dai Cai waved his hand, "block any possible movement of the enemy's cavalry for at least one day!"
Du Meng was startled for a moment, then said anxiously: "Governor, that's not possible, the number of defenders is not large to begin with, we can't take such a risk!"
"Are you not confident in yourself, or in someone's trust?!" Dai Cai didn't even look at Du Meng, and walked back and forth, actually venting his anxiety by pacing.
The pressure Dai Cai was under at this time can be imagined, but he could not vent his worries and could only use this method.
Du Meng solemnly raised his hand: "Thanks for the general's trust!"
Dai Cai waved his hand.
There are four to five thousand defenders in the city, and one thousand is not even half. But Du Meng also knows that Dai Cai cannot really give him eggs. There must be some among these thousand soldiers and horses.
War-worthy soldiers, these veterans or soldiers with even a little bit of battlefield experience, are much better than those who have never been on the battlefield.
Cold weapon warfare tests courage and discipline, and veterans often do better than recruits in this regard. After all, recruits may be "newborn calves not afraid of tigers" at first, but if they really see bloody scenes, I'm afraid
This is another idea.
Just look at the new soldiers with trembling legs on the top of the city.
If he wanted to go out of the city to fight, a thousand men would be almost all the troops Dai Cai could bring out.
After watching Du Meng turn and leave, Dai Cai took a deep breath and looked down the city.
He firmly believed that reinforcements would definitely come, but how long did he have to hold on?
The sky was getting darker and darker, but the Zhou people's attack had just begun.
This night, I wonder if I can hold on?
What Dai Cai didn't know was that at this time, a small boat docked on the Huai River bank below the city.
Several cavalry generals came forward at the same time: "See you, General!"
A man stepped off the boat, it was Wang Gui, the general of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who was in charge of the battle in Huaibei. This pillar of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was also looking at the Matou City with his sharp eyes at the lights that were gradually lighting up in front of him.
The city of Ma Tou City is high and the pond is deep. In fact, Wang Gui had no hope of being able to break Ma Tou City.
As Li Xingchen guessed, Wang Gui did have the idea of attacking Ma Tou City to attract the main force of the Han army to move westward, thereby reducing the pressure on the Xuzhou front line. However, the army in Huaibei was not very large in strength, and there was a shortage of weapons and equipment.
There were not many, so when Wang Gui moved to a long-distance battle, he only carried a total of 2,000 cavalry, which was still far behind the more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry that Li Xingchen, Yang Su and others had guessed.
It was precisely because the entire army was made up of cavalry that Wang Gui was able to move from Qingjiangkou to Wukou so quickly.
Of course, he also paid a heavy price for this, because he had basically mobilized all the brave men among the cavalry. Therefore, the Northern Zhou cavalry who stayed at Qingjiangkou not only lacked strength, but also lacked experienced people among the cavalry.
After being easily penetrated by the Yulin cavalry, they were overwhelmed by the large formation of Han infantry that rushed up from behind.
If it were the Xianbei cavalry, even if only the two thousand cavalry under Wang Gui were allowed to return to the team, the Han army might face even greater trouble in the Battle of Qingjiangkou.
There are gains and losses. If Wang Gui wants to lead the Han army, he must be prepared to pay a considerable price.
At this time, what Wang Gui was thinking about was how to maximize the small number of troops including the Ukou garrison.