The chariot was getting closer and closer to the city wall, and when it was still only one foot and five feet away, the hurler lit the match of the porcelain fire thunder in his hand, and the captain next to him shouted: "Everyone get down!"
The surrounding soldiers lay down one after another, the match ropes were burning rapidly, and the nest car was getting closer and closer to the city wall, one foot, two feet...one foot...eight feet...
Just when the chariot was still eight feet away from the city wall, the match rope of the Porcelain Fire Thunder was burned to the red dot. The thrower roared, ran two steps, and threw the Porcelain Fire Thunder out with all his strength. The Porcelain Fire Thunder drew a parabola.
It accurately fell into the opening above the Chao Chariot. Standing above the Chao Chariot were a dozen extremely strong Shatuo men, holding spears in their hands. They rushed out at the moment when they were waiting for the overpass to reach the city wall.
The porcelain fire thunder just hit one of them on the head and rolled down at his feet. The moment it hit the ground, the porcelain fire thunder exploded with a bang. Fire light flew into the sky, poisonous nails shot out, and a soldier was lifted up by the air wave.
The surrounding wooden baffles were blown to pieces, and the top was immediately exposed to the eyes of the Tang army. More than a dozen soldiers were seen lying on the wooden boards, covered in blood. Some were dead, some were groaning in pain, and almost everyone was shot.
Hundreds of poisonous nails.
At this time, the thrower on the top of the city accurately threw the second porcelain fire mine into the stairwell of the nest car. The stairs inside were filled with Shatuo soldiers preparing to attack.
‘Boom!’ The porcelain fire thunder exploded inside the nest car, black smoke rushed out from the hole, and a shrill scream came from inside.
"Throw kerosene!"
The captain gave an order, and the soldiers quickly threw dozens of cans of kerosene onto the chariot. The thick black kerosene immediately filled the chariot. A soldier threw a lit torch onto the chariot, and the chariot immediately caught fire.
The fire spread quickly, and the flames rushed into the interior along with the kerosene. In just a moment, the several-foot-high nest car was suddenly engulfed in flames and thick smoke.
Two other nest carts met the same fate, and three nest carts burned under the city walls.
However, the Shatuo Army's attack continued. One siege ladder after another was put up on the city wall, and the soldiers began to climb the city.
At this moment, the trebuchet on the top of the city began to fire. After a series of orders, thirty porcelain fire thunders flew into the air and shot a hundred steps down the city.
The Porcelain Bottle Fire Thunder has been tested hundreds of times and is completely mature.
Huge porcelain bottles of fire thunder exploded above the heads of the Shatuo Army soldiers, making a huge sound - 'Bang!' The shock wave it brought had little impact, but thousands of fire mines were shot out along with the explosion.
The poison-quenched iron nails were very frightening. They shot around intensively, piercing the leather shields, the leather armor, and entering the enemy's body. A scream of fear erupted on the battlefield.
Although the projectile distance of leather shields and leather armors must be within thirty steps, more than 2,000 soldiers were still injured. Especially when this type of firearm was used in war for the first time, the fear it caused actually exceeded that of firearms.
The harm itself.
The soldiers shouted in fear. Some soldiers turned around and fled for their lives. Some soldiers were still at a loss in fear. Some even knelt down and prayed to the gods.
The Shatuo soldiers below the city were in a mess, but the trebuchets did not stop. The second round of trebuchets was launched, and another thirty huge porcelain fire lasers were fired towards the city, and once again exploded above the heads of the Shatuo soldiers, a ball of trebuchets.
The dazzling red flames suddenly appeared, just like the devil suddenly descended. Along with the black smoke, countless poisonous nails were shot in all directions.
Large areas of Shatuo soldiers were shot by poisonous nails. Their leather armors and helmets could not block the penetration of poisonous nails. The severe pain and fear caused the soldiers to scream in despair.
The fighting will of Shatuo soldiers was finally shattered by fear. Countless soldiers shouted hysterically: "The devil is coming! The devil is coming!"
For a time, the army was defeated like a mountain. The Shatuo army screamed wildly, stumbled, and ran desperately. The whole army fled in extreme fear. The Tang army took the opportunity to fire a volley of arrows. The Shatuo soldiers who were running were hit by arrows and fell to the ground.
number.
Zhu Xiejinhai was also stunned by the sudden appearance of flames above the soldiers' heads. Seeing that the situation was not good, he hurriedly ordered a retreat.
In the first attack, the Shatuo Army suffered casualties of up to 5,000 people. Of course, the main injuries were injuries from arrows and poisonous nails, especially poisonous nails. Although the poisonous nails did not cause death, the soldiers were in pain and could only rely on themselves.
The toxins were eliminated bit by bit from the body, and the combat effectiveness was lost for at least half a month. However, in the eyes of the soldiers, they were cursed by the devil, and many soldiers died in fear.
Zhu Xiejinhai became afraid of the porcelain fire thunder used by the Tang army, and he had the idea of retreating.
After an attack failed, the Shatuo Army temporarily stopped attacking Dunhuang. The tragic defeat in Zhangye a few years ago had taught the coach Zhu Xie Jinhai enough lessons. He did not dare to attack Dunhuang lightly again, for fear of the enemy's new weapons.
Will cause greater casualties.
But after Zhu Xiejinhai received the report from the military doctor, he realized that it was not a demon possessed, but a new weapon used by the Tang army, which was the same rocket that destroyed the speculative stone.
He suddenly felt a little regretful that he shouldn't have thrown away that special crossbow arrow.
At this time, a soldier came to report, "Reporting to Ye Hu, there is an urgent military situation in Jinchang County!"
There were 500 Shatuo troops stationed in Jinchang County. This news shocked Zhu Xiejinhai. Could it be that the Tang army had begun to attack Guazhou?
"Where is the emergency military information?"
The soldier handed over a roll of parchment. Zhu Xie Jinhai unfolded the parchment and took a closer look. It was indeed an urgent military situation. About thousands of Tang Army cavalry appeared on the east bank of the Mingshui River.
Mingshui is the boundary river between Guazhou and Suzhou. In other words, the Tang army is preparing to attack Guazhou, or in other words, they are preparing to support Shazhou.
At this time, a thought suddenly flashed through Zhu Xie Jinhai's mind. Isn't this a military exploit sent by Changshengtian? It is no longer realistic to attack Dunhuang City, but he can't explain why he just withdraws his troops back to Shatuo. Since there are thousands of Tang Army cavalry
Appearing on the grassland, doesn't this give Shatuo Army a rare opportunity?
At night, Zhu Xie Jinhai paced back and forth in the camp, repeatedly weighing the pros and cons. He finally changed the target of this expedition, which was the thousands of Tang army reinforcements gathered at the border of Suzhou and Guazhou.
In order to prevent the prey from feeling in danger and fleeing back to Jiuquan City or Ganzhou, Zhu Xie Jinhai formulated the strategy of "building plank roads in the open and hiding in the warehouse secretly".
He secretly ordered Captain Zhu Xiebaozhen to lead five thousand Shatuo cavalry to leave the camp at the third watch and rush to Suzhou without anyone noticing.
Zhu Xiejinhai hated siege warfare very much. He longed for a decisive battle with the Tang army on the grassland and gave full play to the powerful cavalry combat capabilities of Shatuo's army, instead of jumping off his horse, climbing the wall to fight, and using his own disadvantage to fight the Tang army.
Now that there is an opportunity in Suzhou to take advantage of Shatuo's cavalry, how can he let it go so easily?
Suzhou, Yumen Army Garrison, this is a garrison located at the junction of Suzhou and Guazhou. It is located on the Suzhou side. There are 30 troops stationed in it. In recent years, the Tang Army and the Shatuo Army have lived in peace. Shatuo Army
The army did not cross the border and went south, and the garrison was basically safe.
But at this time, there were 8,000 Tang Army cavalry stationed next to the fort, which was less than 300 miles away from Shazhou. If an urgent call for help was received, the cavalry would be able to advance into Shazhou in just one day and one night.
The commander of the cavalry is Luo Daxiao, the military envoy. He is also an old subordinate who has followed Guo Song for many years. He is from Fengtian County, Chang'an. He is more than thirty years old, tall and burly, with a thick beard. He is the first batch of soldiers appointed by Guo Song.
Shi, ranked fourth, behind Liang Wu, Yao Jin and Li Bing.
The military envoy is actually the general. Above the Zhonglang general, according to the regulations of the Hexi Army, the Zhonglang general can only lead two thousand people from his headquarters, and the Lang general can only lead his own thousand people. Only the military envoy is not allowed to lead troops.
Quantity limit.
Although Luo Daxiao did not control one side like Yao Jin, nor did he follow Guo Song on many expeditions like Li Bing, Luo Daxiao was still able to stand alone. He guarded Badou Valley for a long time. Guo Song evaluated him as both stable and prudent.
He was highly regarded as a man of great secrecy but good at adapting to changes. It was for this reason that Guo Song gave him the task of leading the army to support Shazhou.
The task is very arduous. It is necessary to avoid direct combat with Shatuo's main cavalry, but also to effectively rescue Shazhou. This depends on the wisdom of the general.
Luo Daxiao firmly grasped the essence of the Fengzhou Army and the Hexi Army back then, which was that intelligence came first. As long as he could grasp the enemy's movements at any time, he could take care of both sides.
This is also the reason why he stationed his army in the Yumen Army Garrison. There are five faith eagles in the Yumen Army Garrison. The scouts take the faith eagles to the front to investigate the situation. After releasing the faith eagles, Luo Daxiao can control Shazhou and Guazhou at any time.
state situation.
In the early morning, a garrison soldier rushed to Luo Daxiao's tent and shouted: "General Luo, there is a red mailbox!"