That night, ten heavy trebuchets finally arrived at Chitang Pass. Niu Gao immediately ordered that after a brief overhaul, the siege trebuchets launched an attack on the city overnight.
Outside Chitang Pass, ten heavy trebuchets rumbled towards Guancheng. On top of Guancheng City, more than a thousand soldiers defending the city looked at the huge trebuchets, like giant beasts, and their legs could not help but tremble.
, Guancheng was in chaos, and deputy general Wang Jingfeng ordered all supplies to be moved back, except for twenty medium-sized trebuchets.
Twenty medium-sized trebuchets are ready. This kind of trebuchet can throw thirty kilograms of heavy objects 150 steps away. Zhang Zhongfu also knows that the power of the trebuchet is too small. In order to increase the range, Zhang Zhongfu used Jin Guo craftsmen.
The invented cowhide fireball.
This kind of cowhide fire ball is actually an imitation of the fire cloth ball of the Song Army. The Song Army used fire cloth to tightly wrap a cloth ball. The Jin Kingdom did not have fire cloth, so they wrapped it layer by layer with raw cowhide to make a ball with excellent elasticity.
, weighs about twenty kilograms, and is covered with kerosene.
The biggest advantage of this kind of cowhide fireball is its good elasticity. Although its range is only one hundred and fifty steps, it will continue to bounce forward and stop after it reaches a mile away.
Wang Jingfeng watched the enemy trebuchet getting closer and closer. He had to seize the opportunity and immediately shouted, "Launch!"
The defenders' twenty medium-sized trebuchets launched simultaneously, throwing twenty bright red fireballs into the sky. All eyes above and below the city were fixed on the fireballs in the sky.
The fireball fell at one hundred and fifty steps, then bounced high again, continuing to move forward at a very fast speed.
Ma Wei, the commander of the trebuchet, saw the fierceness of the opponent's fireballs. It was too late to place the blocking wooden frame in front of the trebuchet. He shouted, "Shield formation!"
Thousands of soldiers raised their shields and gathered together, quickly forming ten huge shield arrays. The roaring kerosene balls hit the shield array heavily, making a loud sound of 'Bang! Bang!', and the kerosene balls bounced high again.
It started and passed over the head of the trebuchet.
At this time, two thousand Song soldiers from the rear came up carrying a huge baffle and placed it in front of the trebuchet. Now they were no longer afraid of the enemy's flaming balls.
The first round of fire oil ball attack was a near miss, but the Song Army no longer gave the opponent a chance to launch a second round. Ten heavy trebuchets were launched at the same time, and ten thin-skinned fire oil cans rose into the air. Each fire oil can
It weighs about eighty kilograms, and there is a fire burning outside.
Seven of the ten huge kerosene jars hit the top of the city, and the other three smashed into the city. The jars shattered, and the kerosene poured out. They were immediately ignited by the fire on the fragments, and the city above and below suddenly turned into a sea of flames.
.
The soldiers of the Confederate Army on the city wall rushed forward with wet bedding in an attempt to put out the fire with the wet bedding. They had not yet learned how to put out the fire with mud and sand, but they were already very proficient in using the wet bedding to put out the fire. It did have some effect, and the raging flames dimmed.
Already.
But the speed of extinguishing the fire was far less than the firing speed of the Song army. Just after one round was fired, the second round was launched. In this round, ten fire oil cans hit the city head, and the fire ignited again on the city head.
.More than a hundred fire-fighting soldiers turned into burning men and fled down the city wailing.
Then the third, fourth, and fifth rounds of trebuchets were fired, and the entire city turned into a sea of fire, with thick smoke billowing and flames flying, and all the soldiers were forced down the city.
The trebuchet continued to move forward a hundred steps and threw dozens of fire oil cans again. The city also turned into a sea of fire. Twenty trebuchets were engulfed in flames. Three hundred barrels of gunpowder stored under the city were ignited, causing an earth-shattering explosion.
, forming a huge mushroom cloud.
The defenders were so frightened that they retreated one after another. There was not a single soldier within two miles of Nancheng.
Niu Gao waved his hand, "Deploy the bow and arrow array, put on the battering ram!"
Ten thousand crossbowmen rushed forward and formed a large array of crossbows about a hundred paces away from the city wall. A hundred soldiers held a huge battering ram and ran towards the city gate.
At this time, the trebuchets were still firing, throwing bundles of wheat straw weighing hundreds of kilograms into the city. The fire became even more intense, making it impossible for any hiding soldiers to gain a foothold.
‘One, two, three!’ the soldier shouted, holding the battering ram and rushing towards the city gate.
"Boom!" There was a loud noise, the city gate shook violently, and dust fell from above.
"Come again!"
Hundreds of soldiers took dozens of steps back holding the battering ram, shouted, and rushed forward holding the battering ram.
"Boom!" There was another earth-shattering muffled sound, and the city gate was slammed open.
You can see raging fire and thick smoke filling the city. Dozens of soldiers moved two large stones to block the city gate.
At this time, the Song army's offensive stopped, and everyone was patiently waiting for the fire to diminish.
At the fourth watch, the fire gradually became sparse, and Niu Gao immediately ordered: "Go out with the crossbows!"
Thousands of crossbowmen fired arrows into the city together, and a huge cloud of arrows flew into the sky, shooting three rounds in a row to ensure that there would be no ambush.
Niu Gao waved his sword and said, "The army enters the city!"
One thousand soldiers carrying planks entered the city first. They moved very quickly and used planks to pave a three hundred paces long boardwalk in an extremely short time. They were followed by five thousand heavy shield troops who entered the city. They held short spears and held high weapons.
They were running with heavy shields, and behind them were ten thousand cavalry, followed by ten thousand crossbowmen, and finally ten thousand infantry with spears.
Of course it's not that fast, and the valley can't accommodate that many people.
In the valley, the soldiers of the Heavy Shield Army were arranged in fifty rows with hundreds of people in a row, and they advanced rapidly. Behind and on both sides of the Heavy Shield Army were 10,000 cavalry. The army advanced extremely quickly, continuously occupying military camps and warehouses.
, it can be seen that the CCP troops withdrew in a very hasty manner. The warehouse door has not yet been opened, and many personal belongings in the barracks have not been taken away.
There was still one mile away from Beicheng Pass, and suddenly dense arrows came from the front. Ten thousand soldiers from the Xie army gathered here, and launched a sudden attack on the Song army with bows and arrows.
However, they encountered the cautious Niu Gao. Niu Gao insisted on not using cavalry to attack, but using soldiers with heavy shields to clear the way, just to guard against enemy bow and arrow attacks.
The soldiers of the Song Army shouted, raised their shields to resist the bows and arrows, and moved forward step by step. They were still dozens of steps away from the enemy's bow and arrow formation. Suddenly, a cavalry force shot out from both sides and rushed into the enemy's bow and arrow formation.
They charged into the group of archers like tigers and sheep, killing enemy corpses all over the field and blood flowing like rivers.
In a large formation of eight thousand bows and arrows, two thousand cavalry entered. In just a moment, the archers collapsed, crying and wailing as they desperately ran for their lives to the top of the city. The soldiers on the top of the city did not allow them to come up, and used shields to hold them back.
The corridor was crowded with soldiers, begging and crying loudly.
Zhang Zhongfu sighed and ordered: "Open the city gate!"
After giving the order, he quickly climbed down the ladder to Guancheng, got on his horse, and fled north with more than a hundred soldiers.
At this time, the city gate could not be opened. The city cave was crowded with soldiers and the gate was blocked. The way up to the city was blocked and the way out of the city was blocked. Thousands of soldiers from the Confederate Army fell into despair.
A general rushed over and shouted: "The commander-in-chief has ordered that those who surrender will avoid death!"
The Song cavalry shouted together, "Those who surrender will avoid death!"
In an instant, the enemy soldiers were all kneeling on the ground. All the soldiers threw away their weapons and raised their hands.
As the sky gradually dawned, the North Gate opened wide, and a group of soldiers from the Confederate Army were escorted out by cavalry. All kinds of soldiers and armor, supplies, and food and grass were seized and piled up like mountains.
In this battle, the Song army wiped out 10,000 enemy troops with less than 100 casualties, captured more than 7,400 of them, killed more than 2,000, and fewer than 100 escaped with the general Zhang Zhongfu.
The Song army immediately went north and occupied Xiurong County and Dingxiang County in Xinzhou. At this time, Niu Gao received news from the scouts that a Khitan cavalry of more than 10,000 people was coming from the direction of Daizhou to kill Xinzhou.
