Chapter six hundred and thirty fifth can not be avoided
The news that the Tang army in Hexi completely annihilated the Uighur army in Yunzhou and the Yuan family made the Uighur Changshou Tianqin Khan furious. It was related to the major interests of the Uighurs. The Uighur nobles asked to send troops to plunder Taiyuan, which shocked the people of the Southern Dynasties. Spring had just begun, and the Tianqin Khan could
The Khan then ordered the prime minister to march south to Hedong with 30,000 cavalry in full force, preparing to sweep across Taiyuan with a thunderous force and sweep away all the property and people in retaliation for the Hexi army's wanton behavior.
Prime Minister Chixin is about forty years old, with a medium to thin build, and pale skin without blood. He wears a leather hat, armor, and a long sword at his waist. He looks majestic.
His facial features do not look like those of Uighurs. In fact, he is half Sogdian. His father is a famous Sogdian businessman. He has been cultivating the grasslands for thirty years. He married a Uighur noble woman and gave birth to a son.
Today the prime minister shows his true heart.
With a wave of Chixin's war sword, the thirty thousand Huihe cavalry launched into action. The iron hooves of the war horses beat the ground, stirring up billowing yellow dust. The dust gathered together, covering the sky and the sun, and headed towards Yunzhong City...
Ten thousand soldiers on the top of the city stretched their bows and set arrows, six large trebuchets creaked and opened their throwing poles, and the Hexi Army was ready.
But the 30,000 cavalry stopped advancing when they were still 400 steps away from the city wall. They knew very well that the Tang army's crossbows were powerful, and any further advance would be in vain.
There is no moat in Yunzhong City. A dry ditch was dug under the high suspension bridge. At this time, dozens of cavalry rushed over, swinging iron hooks in their hands, and the iron hooks flew out one after another, just catching two iron chains.
, hundreds of cavalrymen came to support, and together they struggled to pull the rope, causing the chain to creak and shake violently.
On the top of the city, thousands of Tang soldiers were about to raise their crossbows and shoot, but they were stopped by Guo Song, "Don't shoot, let them pull you!"
There is an iron ring on the front end of the suspension bridge, and the iron ring is buckled on it. Two thick iron chains are connected to the two huge winches on the city wall. Every morning, the soldiers guarding the city push the winches to lower the suspension bridge. At night, they raise the suspension bridge again.
.
The only weakness of the suspension bridge was the iron ring that held the wooden sign. Under the strong pull of hundreds of people and horses, the iron ring began to deform. In the end, only a loud noise of "Collapse!" was heard. The joint of the iron ring broke, and two
The iron chains flew high, and the heavy suspension bridge suddenly fell, hitting the trench heavily. The 30,000 Uighur troops suddenly burst into cheers.
With a wave of his hand, Chixin made the Uighur army move out of the way, revealing a main road. Hundreds of soldiers walked up quickly holding a thick battering ram. There were soldiers on both sides holding their shields high to protect them. They were like a huge
Centipede, ran towards the city gate.
"Prepare the kerosene!"
Guo Song gave an order, and jars of kerosene were ready. At this time, the drums of the Huihe army were beating loudly, and hundreds of soldiers held battering rams and slammed into the city gate. Just as they approached the city gate,
More than a hundred thin-skinned clay pots were thrown down from the top of the city. The pots shattered and black kerosene covered the enemy soldiers and flowed in all directions. Dozens of torches were thrown down.
The Uighur Army soldiers and the ground burst into flames. The flames spread quickly and the entire suspension bridge also burned.
The soldiers below the city screamed in agony, fearing that they would turn around and run away with their bodies on fire, and the battering ram crashed to the ground. At this time, the soldiers of the Hexi Army on the top of the city fired a volley of arrows. The Uighur soldiers below the city were hit by arrows and were either burned to death or killed by the fire.
He was killed by arrows and fell into the fire.
The three hundred soldiers who stormed the city were all Uighur prisoners on death row. They could be freed by opening the door. Similarly, it was their fate to die under the city.
He watched hundreds of people struggling and dying in the fire without mercy. Now he knew that the Tang army soldiers used fire to defend the city, which was a bit troublesome.
Chixin quickly lost interest in Yunzhong County. Their target was Taiyuan City. He ordered: "Continue going south!"
Thirty thousand cavalry bypassed Yunzhong County and continued to rush south, stirring up billowing yellow dust and gradually disappearing.
Guo Song immediately ordered: "Send the order for the army to assemble!"
An hour later, Guo Song led an army of 30,000 men and also left Yunzhong County and headed south.
...........
Thirty thousand Huihe troops marched all the way south and entered Shuozhou that night. The Tang army had already prepared. The villages along the way were empty and everything had been removed. In the afternoon, they arrived at Mayi County.
Chixin stopped the army and sent dozens of soldiers into the city to investigate. He knew very well the methods of the Tang army. Since the Tang army was good at using fire, they would definitely encounter enemy fire attacks if they stayed in the city at night.
Not long after, spies came out and reported: "There is no one in the county town, and all the food has been taken away."
Chixin felt a little uneasy. The Tang army was obviously well prepared. The dry food they brought could not last for a few days. Are they going to return without success?
"Keep going south!"
Chixin ordered to continue southward. His next target was Shanyang County. Shanyang is the prefecture of Shuozhou and has the largest population in Yanbei. Most of the people in Yunzhou have moved to Shanyang County, which has a population of nearly 300,000.
The Hexi Army stationed five thousand troops here.
Although there are not many troops, it is not easy to capture Shanyang County. The biggest advantage of Shanyang County is the difficult terrain. Shanyang County is located at a high place, with slopes on one side and steep terrain on three sides. Although it is not convenient for the people to live in daily life,
For the sake of safety, everyone would rather be inconvenienced.
Chixin looked at Shanyang City from a distance and couldn't help but sigh. Not to mention that they didn't bring a siege ladder. Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to attack this county.
"Pass my order, the army will rest on the spot and set off early tomorrow morning!"
Thirty thousand cavalry camped at the Mayi River. There was a large meadow beside the river, covered with tender green grass. The horses were not short of food, but the food of the Uighur soldiers could only last for three or four days at most, and only some dry biscuits and dried biscuits were left.
Meat.
Chixin was really a little worried about whether their food could last until the end. Of course, if the food was really cut off, they could kill the horses, but until they were at the end of their rope, the prairie cavalry would never kill their brothers to satisfy their hunger.
Early the next morning, the army continued to move south. At noon, the army arrived at Loufan Pass. There were high mountains and cliffs on both sides of Loufan Pass. The mouth of the valley was initially wide for dozens of miles, but became narrower as it went. Finally, when it was two miles wide, a strong and tall tower was found.
Guancheng stands in front of you.
Since it is called Guancheng, it has the existence of a city. There are cliffs on the east and west sides, and there is a city wall on the north and south, about one mile apart. There are many buildings and soldiers' barracks built in this one mile long and two miles wide Guancheng.
Warehouse, sentry tower, water room, etc.
Loufan Pass can accommodate up to three thousand defenders. At this time, there are three thousand defenders in the pass. They are led by Zhonglang General Su Zhen. Su Zhen is a descendant of the famous general Su Dingfang in the early Tang Dynasty. He is skilled in bow and horse and has high martial arts.
He served as General Lang in the Fengzhou Army. After capturing Hedong, he was promoted to General General Zhonglang by Guo Song and led the army to guard Loufan Pass.
There are also two very large trebuchets on Guancheng. They were transported from Taiyuan City and installed directly on the ground. The long throwing rods are eight feet long. The trebuchets are four feet high. The base covers an area of one acre. They are huge.
It requires a hundred people to operate it.
These two super trebuchets can throw a large iron fire mine weighing 250 kilograms to 300 steps away, which is extremely intimidating.
Guo Song knew accurately that the Huihe army would eventually have to attack Loufan Pass. If they could not capture Loufan Pass, they would not be able to go to Taiyuan, so he placed the two most powerful trebuchets at Loufan Pass.
Chixin, the commander-in-chief of Uighur, immediately ordered his soldiers to cut down trees and build simple siege ladders. Yunzhong County could be avoided and Shanyang County could be bypassed, but he could not bypass Loufan Pass unless he directly gave up attacking Taiyuan and returned to Mobei.
But even if he was laughed at like that, he couldn't explain it to Khan.
The simple siege ladder made by the Uighur people is really simple. They find two straight pine trees as the left and right main beams, and then use belts to tie the thick wooden sticks tightly to the main beams to create a ladder, complete with nails.
All are omitted.
At dawn, the Uighur army built more than 300 simple siege ladders, and the prime minister sent 10,000 troops to attack Guancheng.
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
Amidst the fierce sound of war drums, 10,000 Huihe troops carried siege ladders and rushed towards Guancheng one mile away.
On the top of the city, Su Zhen, the lieutenant general, shouted loudly: "Prepare the trebuchets and prepare the crossbowmen!"
A thousand crossbowmen were ready, hundreds of people pushed the winches, and the throwing poles of the two super trebuchets were pressed down. Several soldiers put two large iron fire mines weighing 250 kilograms into the spoon-like throwing
In your pocket.
At this time, the 10,000 Huihe army surged in like a sea wave, and they had already rushed into the 300-step line.
"Light the fire!" Su Zhen gave the order.
Two soldiers lit the match rope with a fire stick. When the flames burned to the red line, they shouted, "Fire!"
‘Bang! Bang!’ Two large iron fire thunders rose into the air, passed over the city wall, and hit the enemy’s heads three hundred steps outside the city.
When they were still three feet away from the heads of the Uighur army, two iron fire thunders exploded almost simultaneously.