The huge fireball exploded after hitting the ground, and a large amount of gunpowder, sulfur, fire cloth and other flammable materials poured out, which was ignited by the flames and immediately formed a sea of fire.
A group of militia soldiers rushed forward. Several militia soldiers blocked it with shields to prevent the fireball from exploding. The other two soldiers used long forks to push the burning fireball into a large circular pit nearby. Five or six soldiers used shovels to burn the ground.
Gunpowder and other materials were pushed into the circular pit.
At this time, several militia soldiers carrying soil swarmed up and dumped the soil into the circular pit. The fire was extinguished instantly, the circular pit was filled with soil, the soldiers stepped on it with their feet, and the burning fireball was destroyed.
The other eight fireballs were extinguished by militia soldiers in the same way.
"here we go again!"
The soldiers shouted, and this time eight clay pots filled with kerosene roared over the city wall and crashed into the open space inside the city.
“Prepare the dirt!”
Niu Gao shouted, and hundreds of soldiers pushing wheelbarrows were eager to try. Thousands of soldiers carrying earth loaders were also waiting in formation. The clay pots shattered on the ground, and kerosene poured out. The soldiers swarmed forward and covered them with thick earth.
It was covered up, and the soldiers worked together, using shovels to load the soil mixed with kerosene onto wheelbarrows and transport it away.
With tacit cooperation and good training, even Zheng Ping, who has always been picky, gave Niu Gao a thumbs up. He has a keen eye for control and knows people. This Niu Gao has really strong organizational skills.
Of course, this is also related to the strength of the crowd. There were only a few hundred people in Jianxiao Pass at the beginning, and there was no time to deal with the pouring kerosene.
But for the attacker, this is called clearing the city, clearing out the crossbowmen and soldiers in the city to prepare for a large-scale siege. Otherwise, thousands of arrows will be fired in the city, which will pose a huge threat to the attacker's soldiers.
At this moment, huge war drums were beating outside the city. The fire attack on the city did not stop, but the attack outside the city had begun.
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
Amidst the sound of huge war drums, five thousand crossbowmen took the lead in formation. They knelt down on one knee two hundred steps away, raised their crossbows and fired at the top of the city. Five thousand crossbow arrows shot towards the top of the city like a storm.
The soldiers squatted down one after another.
"Bed Crossbow and Divine Arm Crossbow Shooting!"
Five hundred crossbows and a thousand divine arm crossbow soldiers fired together, and powerful black crossbow arrows roared down from the sky, so dense that it was suffocating. The crossbowmen screamed and hit the arrows, and more than a thousand people were killed by the arrows.
Li Liangfu turned a blind eye and shouted, "Attack the city!"
‘Woo——’
Dozens of deep trumpets sounded, and five thousand Xixia soldiers rushed out carrying siege ladders, rushing towards the city wall like rising tide and crossing the hundred-step line.
The bed crossbows and divine arm crossbows were still shooting at the Xixia crossbowmen below the city. After several rounds of shooting, more than half of the five thousand Xixia crossbowmen had been casualties and had to request a retreat. Seeing that the siege soldiers had rushed to the city, Li Liangfu agreed.
The crossbowmen retreated.
More than two thousand crossbowmen retreated in panic, leaving corpses on the ground.
After the crossbow battle ended, the war turned to the siege battle. The three thousand defensive bows on the city top were used. The three thousand soldiers were all new recruits. They squatted behind the city head, lined up in two rows, and fired arrows at the bottom of the city together.
The long arrows fell like raindrops, with extremely strong penetrating power. The Xixia soldiers' armor could not withstand them, so they could only rely on their shields to block them. However, the arrows penetrated every hole, and even the shields could not resist them.
Groups of soldiers fell down amid screams, and countless more soldiers rushed up.
One hundred siege aircraft were mounted on the city head, and five thousand soldiers climbed up bravely. What greeted them was a torrential rain of rolling wood and rocks. Without the threat of bows and arrows under the city head, the crossbows and divine arm crossbows were removed and replaced with
A total of 3,000 defenders were deployed on the four-mile-long city, divided into 100 groups, each group consisting of 30 people to deal with a siege ladder.
Chen Qing saw that the city was quite crowded and only half of the opponent's trebuchets were left, so the threat was low. He immediately ordered: "Withdraw the city's bows and release arrows under the city!"
"The commander has an order, the bows of the city guards should be withdrawn to the bottom of the city to release arrows!"
Zhang Min, the commander of the crossbowmen, shouted: "The archers guarding the city, withdraw with me!"
He led three thousand archers and quickly withdrew down the city along the corridor. The city suddenly became less crowded. A hundred groups of soldiers performed their duties, and a thousand soldiers were divided into ten teams. Under the leadership of Yang Zaixing,
Continuously maneuver and run on the top of the city to provide support at any time where danger arises.
Both sides were fighting bloody battles above and below the city. Soldiers kept falling from the top of the city and the stairs. Li Liangfu could see it clearly, and he coldly ordered: "More 5,000 soldiers will be sent forward. Those who attack the top of the city will be rewarded with a hundred dollars. The first to attack is
Those at the top of the city will be rewarded with thousands of coins!"
‘Woo——’
The horn of reinforcements sounded, and the second batch of 5,000 Xixia soldiers came up like a tide. They also carried a large number of siege ladders, bringing the number of attacking soldiers below the city to more than 8,000, and the entire hundred steps were densely packed with enemy troops.
Soldiers, under heavy reward, Xixia soldiers attacked frantically regardless of the situation.
Siege ladders were constantly overturned and fell, and new siege ladders were constantly being hung up. The soldiers of the Xixia Army were mainly party members. They were extremely brave and brave, risking life and death and desperately charging towards the top of the city. Gradually,
, rolling logs and rocks doesn’t work either.
Chen Qing has moved to the observation tower. From here he can see the entire battlefield more clearly. He has enough troops. The key is how to use them to maximize the destruction of the enemy.
He took out a command arrow and handed it to the messenger and said: "Inform Commander Zheng to deploy nine thousand soldiers to release arrows and crossbows in the city, using the three-three formation!"
Yang Yuanqing is in charge of the battle at the top of the city, Zheng Ping is in charge of deployment below the city, Niu Gao is in charge of militia support, Hu Yanyun is in charge of medical logistics, and Zhao Xiaoyi is in charge of order in the city. Each general performs his or her duties.
As the commander-in-chief, Chen Qing is responsible for assessing the situation and arranging operations for each army. This is called tactics. The battlefield situation is changing rapidly. The Song army must immediately come up with countermeasures, plug loopholes, give full play to their strengths, and respond to changes in the situation without change.
Only by responding to ever-changing changes can we remain invincible.
No matter how the situation changes, they must stick to the bottom line, adhere to principles, and never compromise or give in. This is to respond to changes in situation by remaining unchanged.
But on the battlefield, we must adapt to changes, we must not be pedantic, we must not be slow, and we must quickly and decisively solve new problems that constantly arise.
For example, if there are too many people at the top of the city, it will be crowded, causing reinforcements to run too slowly, delaying the opportunity to fight. This is a loophole. Then the loophole must be plugged immediately, the soldiers with crossbows must be withdrawn, and the clutter at the top of the city can be cleared up. This will plug the loophole.
For another example, if he found that the enemy troops were too numerous and too dense under the city, he would have to use weapons of mass destruction, such as kerosene and firearms. However, Chen Qing considered the cruel situation he might face in the future, so he switched to
Thousand Arrow Array, this is also a weapon of mass destruction.
The reserve army was already ready, and Zheng Ping mobilized his troops. The three thousand archers from before were still arranged in one group, at the front, followed by two groups of crossbow troops, each with three thousand men.
‘Dong! Dong! Dong!’ The drum beat rapidly, requiring the nine thousand crossbow soldiers to quickly enter the state.
The arrow was cocked, the crossbow was raised slightly, the arrow tip was at a sixty-degree angle, and it passed the top of the city. The nine thousand army formation was silent.
‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’ The bang sounded suddenly.
Three thousand arrows were fired first, and the arrows, as dense as a dark cloud, crossed the top of the city and shot out of the city.
Then another dark cloud shot out, and just as the arrows flew over the city wall, the third batch of three thousand crossbow arrows shot out again.
There was still a fierce battle on the top of the city, but the dense Xixia soldiers outside the city suffered a devastating blow. The overwhelming arrows were shot down, and the shields were useless. The soldiers fell down one by one, wailing, and many soldiers were only injured at first.
, but the subsequent intensive supply of arrows caused the injured soldiers to be swallowed up by arrows in despair.
How could the eight thousand soldiers under the city stop the rounds of thousands of arrows? In just a moment, five rounds of forty-five thousand arrows were fired, and the originally dense team became sparse.
Li Liangfu was still hesitant. If he withdrew his troops, all his previous achievements would be wasted. But if he did not withdraw, the casualties among the soldiers would be too great. His hesitation would lead to a large number of casualties.
The generals were anxious and shouted: "Commander, give the order to withdraw the troops!"
"Send the order to withdraw the troops!"
Li Liangfu had no choice but to order the troops to retreat, "Dang! Dang! Dang!" The bell rang. The Xixia soldiers who were attacking on the ladder and the soldiers under the city were relieved and retreated step by step with their shields raised. The Xixia army had strict military regulations and when they retreated
You are not allowed to turn your back to the enemy, otherwise you will be killed without mercy.
But what sent them off was still the same Thousand Arrows. After two rounds of 18,000 arrows were fired, the Xixia soldiers were able to get rid of the attack of the Thousand Arrow Array. Chen Qing immediately ordered to stop shooting.
In the first attack, the Xixia army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, while the Song army suffered only a few hundred casualties. This is the huge deterrent effect produced by the extreme use of city defense warfare.
Li Liangfu deeply realized the tenacity of the Song Army, and also tasted the power of the young general of the Song Army. He dealt with it appropriately and was very organized. The famous generals of the Song Dynasty were nothing more than this. For the first time, Li Liangfu's heart was cast into a shadow.