The siege of Fengzhou is still continuing. Compared with the fierce fighting on the first day, today's battle is not so bloody. This is due to Tiecha's huge contribution to the defense of the city, so that Xue Yantuo's soldiers have no chance to board the city.
"Kill--"
Several militia soldiers roared and pushed the iron fork with all their strength. The siege ladder set up on the top of the city gradually left the top of the city and tilted outward. A dozen soldiers on the ladder screamed loudly and followed the siege ladder.
They were pressed down by heavy ladders. The siege ladders were poorly made and most of them were damaged after heavy falls and could no longer be used.
However, a small number of ladders were still erected and they were re-engaged in the siege battle. In one morning, nearly 300 of the 400 siege ladders were overturned by the Tang army's iron forks. Xue Yantuo's army suffered heavy casualties.
But soon, the Tang army discovered another weakness of the siege ladder. The rungs in the middle of the ladder were easy to break. Xue Yantuo's army used slightly thinner pine wood as rungs. Under the pounding of huge rocks, it was easy to break.
The distance between them is two feet. As long as one of the rungs breaks, the entire siege ladder will basically be scrapped.
The Tang Army's boulder no longer aimed at the soldiers on the ladder, but directly hit the rungs. As the rungs broke, the boulders wrapped in broken wood continued to hit downwards. The soldiers below were unable to dodge and were hit by the boulders.
, screaming and rolling down the city.
Just when Xue Yantuo's army was gradually at a disadvantage in attacking the North City, the attack on the West City also quietly kicked off. One hundred soldiers slowly stepped forward carrying extremely thick battering rams, and one hundred soldiers on each side held up their shields to protect the siege.
The soldier was like a giant millipede crawling in the wilderness outside the West City.
In order to protect this battering ram team, Xue Yantuo's army dispatched another thousand archers to protect them. The thorns and pits outside the west city have basically been leveled. There is no need to worry about the safety of the feet, but the threat comes from above the head and above the city gate.
A thousand Tang soldiers were waiting with heavy crossbows in their hands, and seventy or eighty kilograms of heavy stones were piled directly above the city gate.
At this time, Guo Song also came to the top of the West City Gate. He could see that the opponent did not have much confidence in attacking the North City Gate. Basically, he was attacking the city to delay the Tang army and provide a cover for the West City's battering ram.
Whether the West City battering ram can succeed has become the key to this battle.
Xueyantuo soldiers sped up, and they were getting closer and closer to the city. Thousands of Xueyantuo archers started running. They rushed to the bottom of the city and fired arrows at the top of the city. The crackling arrows hit the battlements or flew over the top of the city.
Landed in the city.
The Tang army did not fight back. They hid behind the battlements and waited calmly for the battering ram team to approach. There were also a thousand of them, but only 500 soldiers fired the crossbows, and the other 500 were responsible for cocking the crossbows.
The crossbow used by the Tang army was a three-stone crossbow. This type of crossbow was also called a Qianzhang crossbow. A strong soldier lay on the ground, pulled the bowstring with both arms, stepped on the back of the bow with both feet, and exerted force with both hands and feet at the same time to string the bow.
One of the two soldiers fired, the other cocked, and the two heavy crossbows were used alternately.
The crossbow can penetrate iron scale armor within a hundred paces, and its penetrating power is extremely powerful. The wooden shields and leather armor of Xue Yantuo's soldiers may be barely able to withstand it at a distance of 150 paces.
There was no time to stop the firing of such a powerful crossbow, not to mention that the Tang army was ready to launch a counterattack within a hundred steps.
Two hundred steps...one hundred and fifty steps...one hundred steps...
Liang Wu couldn't help but look back at Guo Song. Guo Song nodded, and Liang Wu immediately shouted: "Shoot!"
Five hundred heavy crossbows appeared at the crenel at the same time, shooting at the 'millipede' together. The powerful crossbow arrows penetrated the wooden shield and leather armor. There was a scream inside the millipede, and the soldiers holding shields on the outside fell down one after another.
, like an insect with its outer shell peeled off, the huge battering ram and hundreds of soldiers were immediately exposed to the sun, and also exposed to the crossbow bolts of the Tang army.
Xue Chake in the distance was so angry that he yelled, "A bunch of useless things, where are the bows and arrows for cover? Damn Ada, I have to chop off his head!"
Xue Chake hated the archers so much that they couldn't shoot intensively, but they had to give the Tang army an opportunity to take advantage of them?
As a coach, Xue Chake is indeed not qualified. He does not understand the arrangement of arrow arrays. He must shoot in turns to form an impeccable dense arrow rain array, making it impossible for the opponent to raise his head and shoot.
However, the three-stage archery formation requires a long period of rigorous training, which cannot be achieved by these Xueyantuo herdsmen as soon as they go into battle.
The 500 Tang soldiers on the top of the city exchanged for another heavy crossbow that was strung. When a burst of crackling crossbow arrows were fired, they immediately leaned forward and fired 500 powerful crossbow arrows at the running enemy soldiers.
Xue Yantuo's soldiers on the giant tree were hit by arrows one after another and fell to the ground screaming. The giant tree lost its balance and fell to the ground thirty steps away from the city gate.
At this time, Guo Song also took action. He stretched his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot an arrow at the enemy commander who was commanding the archers. The commander on horseback was about to send a hundred soldiers to take over the giant tree. Guo Song shot
The arrow came to his eyes instantly.
‘Poof!’ The arrow pierced his throat. The captain covered his throat, turned over on his back and fell off his horse.
The giant tree fell to the ground and the commander was shot dead. The soldiers lost their purpose and command and began to be at a loss. Many soldiers turned around and fled.
The target of the heavy crossbow on the top of the city turned to the enemy archers below, and five hundred powerful crossbow bolts were fired. Xue Yantuo was caught off guard and was shot down in large numbers. The team was in chaos, and the soldiers rushed back and fled.
Xue Chake was stunned and couldn't say a word for a long time. The battering ram he had placed great hope on was easily broken. They were completely defeated in this battle.
At this time, Yantuo Manshan once again persuaded him, "General, the Tang army obviously knew that we were going to attack the city gate and was fully prepared. If I hadn't guessed it, the inside of the city gate should also be blocked by big rocks and break through the city gate."
It's useless, don't let the soldiers suffer unnecessary casualties anymore, withdraw the troops!"
The siege ladder was ineffective, and the siege ram was tightly guarded by the Tang army. Seeing the casualties of the soldiers increasing, Xue Chake had lost all confidence and could only sigh, "Send my order to stop the siege."
!”
‘Dang! Dang! Dang!’ The bell rang to withdraw troops.
Xue Yantuo's army outside the North City was relieved and retreated towards the formation with its wounded soldiers like an ebbing tide.
Today's battle lasted for more than three hours. Xue Yantuo's army successively invested more than 13,000 people, and suffered more than 5,000 casualties. Among them, the number of people killed in battle was not large, only more than 1,900, and the remaining more than 3,000 people were
Injuries, most of which involve broken arms and legs, are splinted and can be cured after two or three months of training.
But even so, the two-day siege battle had killed more than 4,000 Xue Yantuo's troops and injured nearly 5,000 more. Nearly half of the 20,000-strong army had been killed, and five thousand captains were also killed.
Only then did Xue Chake realize the serious consequences. Not only did they fail to capture Jiuyuan City, they also suffered nearly 10,000 casualties. The chief had to skin him.
At this time, hundreds of soldiers sent to Feng'an County also came back, bringing back some very crude belongings. The county town was deserted, and all valuable things were taken away by the people. There were only tattered beddings, rotten sheepskin, and some tattered furniture.
.
They dug hundreds of pieces of coarse cloth from the cellar of a large family, which was their only harvest.
Xue Chake looked at a pile of dark and rough cloth rolls with tears in his eyes. Is this what they gained from nearly ten thousand casualties?
In the afternoon of that day, Xue Yantuo's army finally gave up their illusions and slowly withdrew. The thundering drum, also called the Victory Drum, sounded on the top of the city. The sound of the drum was strong and powerful, filling the whole city. It told the people and soldiers in the city that they had won.
.
The whole city was celebrating. Soldiers hugged and cheered on the top of the city. The people rushed out of their homes, beat gongs and drums, and sang and danced in the streets. Children ran in the streets and alleys cheering, "We have won! We have won!"
The entire Jiuyuan City was immersed in the great joy of victory.
.........
The morale of Xue Yantuo's soldiers was low, and the hearts of the soldiers were generally filled with dissatisfaction and resentment. They were originally herdsmen from various tribes, not professional soldiers. The soldiers had their own food, horses and armor.
They paid a huge cost to the tribal leaders, and the profit was their income from plundering Fengzhou.
They came with high hopes, but in the end they found nothing and returned disappointed. Many soldiers were injured. You can imagine the anger in their hearts.
The introverted soldiers are in a depressed mood, sighing all day long, and don't know how to go back to explain to their families, while the grumpy soldiers curse every day and go around looking for trouble.
Deputy General Yantuo Manshan was very busy trying to appease the soldiers every day, while General Xue Chake became a hands-off shopkeeper. He ignored everything and drank whenever he stopped to rest. He was extremely drunk every night.
Early that morning, they arrived at the Yellow River and were ready to cross the river. Each sheepskin raft was fully inflated. They brought 400 large rafts with them, which could carry two thousand cavalry across the river at a time.
By noon, five thousand cavalry had passed through. At this moment, countless Tang Army cavalry suddenly appeared on the low hillside not far behind them, and a low horn sound sounded.
Ten thousand Tang Army cavalry came overwhelmingly, and Xue Yantuo's soldiers were immediately in chaos. Their morale had completely collapsed. No one thought of resisting, and they fled in all directions. Many soldiers were desperate and even jumped into the Yellow River in an attempt to swim to the other side, but were soon trapped.
The Yellow River swallowed it up.
This was the consensus between Duan Xiushi and Guo Song, and they attacked halfway.
Xue Chake was the first group to cross the Yellow River, while Yantuo Manshan was responsible for cutting off the rear and was still on the other side.
Xue Chake was so anxious that he stamped his feet, but was unable to do anything. He watched helplessly as the soldiers on the other side wailed helplessly, and were finally slaughtered one by one by the Tang army.
Xue Chake was like a thousand arrows piercing his heart. Suddenly, his throat felt sweet, a mouthful of blood spurted out, his vision went dark, and he fell on his back.
In the autumn of the eleventh year of the Dali calendar, Xue Yantuo's army of 20,000 plundered Fengzhou. They encountered stubborn resistance from the Fengzhou Tang army at the foot of Jiuyuan City. Xue Yantuo's army retreated with heavy casualties. Then, during the retreat, they were attacked by 10,000 Shuofang cavalry.
In the end, only 5,000 people of Xue Yantuo's army fled back. This was an unprecedented defeat since Xue Yantuo's revival.