Five hundred steps, four hundred steps, three hundred steps, two hundred steps
As the battering ram gradually approached the city gate, the entire battlefield and the top of the city became silent, with hundreds of thousands of eyes staring at this siege centipede.
There was only one hundred and fifty steps away from the city, but there was still no movement from the Tang army. Khan Denli looked at the city with squinted eyes. He felt something was wrong. One hundred and fifty steps later, the opponent did not shoot arrows or stones. What did they want to do?
Do you want to attack with fire?
Thinking about it, this was the only possibility, but Dengli did not recall the soldiers. He wanted to take a look at the Tang army's defense method. Was it using fire?
After a hundred steps, the Tang army at the top of the city still didn't make any move. Dengli gritted his teeth and ordered: "Blow the horn and order them to charge!"
"Woo--" A low horn sounded, urging the battering ram to speed up, and the soldiers holding the battering ram suddenly started running.
Fifty steps later, we were not far from the moat, and there were only the last dozen or so steps left. At this moment, the commander-in-chief Gao Xiuyan on top of the city finally gave the order to launch!
"shooting!"
Two hundred and fifty explosive arrows were fired at the 300-man battering ram team at the same time. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" A series of explosions sounded, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. There were screams. Three hundred soldiers were killed on the spot.
More than 260 soldiers were killed, and the remaining soldiers fell to the ground groaning. No one could escape back to the team. The scene was bloody, the battering ram also rolled into the moat, and gunpowder smoke filled the battlefield.
The whole world seemed to be at a standstill. Whether it was the Uighur cavalry, the Hele cavalry or the city defenders, they were all shocked and dumbfounded. They had never seen such a powerful and sharp firearm.
Denli Khan was also stunned. A cold air came from the soles of his feet. After a long time, he gently waved his hand and said, "Pass my order, and the army will retreat ten miles!"
Dengli Khan had realized that it was impossible for the battering ram to break through the city gate, and Yunzhong County could not be captured. The Tang army had such powerful weapons to defend the city, which meant that they would not be able to attack the city.
The 100,000-strong army retreated backwards. The originally high morale was now dead. Only the Tang army on the top of the city cheered. They were able to force the opponent back without losing a single soldier, which made everyone ecstatic.
That night, General Meili Qu Yanmo led more than 16,000 people to escape in embarrassment. They were ambushed by the Tang army in Bailangsai Canyon. The Uighur army lost nearly 4,000 people and retreated in embarrassment.
Qu Yanmo told about the terrible weapon they encountered, the iron fire thunder. Half of the soldiers who lost their lives were killed by the iron fire thunder rolling down from the canyon.
In the big tent, although the generals were afraid, no one dared to propose withdrawing to the grassland at this time.
All eyes are focused on Denli Khan, only he can decide everything.
Dengli Khan thought for a long time and said slowly: "Although the weapons of the Tang army are powerful, if there is a spear, there must be a shield. It's just that we don't understand the situation, but our friends should know how to deal with it. Let's divert the army to Youzhou!"
That night, more than 100,000 Huihe troops retreated north. Feihuxing and others were not familiar with them, so they diverted to Junduxing and headed for Juyongguan.
In Jingxing, a 30,000-strong Tang army was moving rapidly through the cliffs of the Taihang Mountains.
This army was the North Route Army led by Li Sheng. They were responsible for advancing from Jingxing into Hebei, and together with Lei Wanchun's army, they attacked Li Baochen's troops from the north and south.
The 30,000 Tang troops fought with overwhelming force along the way, seizing passes and even taking Niangzi Pass in half a day, killing the enemy troops and fleeing. They would soon arrive at Tumen Pass, which is the exit of Jingxing.
The leader of this army is Li Sheng, and his deputy is veteran general Wang Sili. Of course, with Wang Sili's seniority, Li Sheng should be his deputy, not him.
It was just because Li Ye had decided to retire Wang Sili and named him General Zuo Weiwei and Minister of Military Affairs.
But Wang Siyi was unwilling to give up. He knew that even Guo Ziyi could stand up to his old age, but he was younger than Guo Ziyi, but he had to retire from office. The fundamental reason was that the regent and the court did not believe in him.
Because he was from Goguryeo and because of the influence of his brother Wang Siyi, he lost the trust of the regent and the court. This made Wang Sili, who had been loyal to the court his whole life, unbearable. He repeatedly wrote to Li Ye, hoping that he could be allowed to lead troops.
Go to war.
Li Ye finally gave Wang Sili a chance to prove himself and asked him to join Li Sheng as his deputy, and Wang Sili agreed without hesitation.
Of course, Wang Sili was sixty years old after all, so it was a bit difficult for him to serve as deputy general. Li Ye also appointed Long Xiang General Dong Hui to assist Wang Sili.
At noon that day, 30,000 troops arrived at Tumen Pass, crossed Tumen Pass and entered Hengzhou.
Tumenguan is built on the mountainside, with a long slope going up and a very long slope on the opposite side.
As a pass, it is not dangerous, but it is the only passable road, so for a long time, Tumen Pass existed as a tax customs. Merchants passing here had to pay taxes and could not escape.
Tumen Pass can be said to be the last line of defense for Jingxing. The Guanlong Army has conquered this pass many times in the past and is very clear about its strengths and weaknesses.
The biggest advantage of Tumen, or it can be said that it is the only advantage, is that it is located at a commanding height. The slopes on both sides are 30 degrees. From this angle, it is very difficult to climb up Guancheng with a ladder.
But its weaknesses are also obvious. Guancheng is too small, has no depth, can only accommodate a hundred soldiers at most, and has no protection. It can be seen from both the front and the back.
The entire pass can be suppressed with long-range weapons such as bows and crossbows. If attacked with fire, the city will be even more difficult to resist.
Li Sheng smiled in a low voice and said to Wang Sili: "I guess there is some kerosene stored in the pass. When we hit the door, the other party will throw kerosene and burn us. How about taking the pass from a long distance? What do you think, General?"
Although Wang Sili was the deputy general, Li Sheng respected him very much and discussed everything with him, which made Wang Sili very embarrassed. Therefore, he would try his best to support Li Sheng when he made decisions at critical moments.
Wang Sili nodded, turned around and shouted: "General Dong!"
Dong Hui quickly ran over and said with a smile: "What are your orders, old general?"
Dong Hui was very young, less than thirty years old, but he had followed Li Ye for a long time. He started as a soldier and rose to the rank of General Long Xiang step by step in more than ten years.
Above Zhonglang is the general, and the generals are divided into four levels: General Feixiong, General Baotao, General Longxiang, then General Dutong, and above that is the general.
The generals are also divided into three levels, the generals of Zhenrong, the generals of Zhenjun and the generals of Zhenguo. The next ones are the generals. Currently, Li Ye is the general of Tiance.
General Longxiang belongs to the second rank of generals, and the next higher level is General Dutong. Currently, Li Sheng is General Dutong.
Wang Sili did not have a military position, and his position as General Zuo Weiwei was only a ceremonial position. Li Ye just gave him a chance to prove himself, but after all, he was old and covered with injuries. If he performed well, after the war, let him
If you become a civil servant, at least you won't retire.
So in a sense, Dong Hui is actually the supervisor of the army. No matter whether Li Sheng or Wang Sili want to support their own troops, these 30,000 Guanlong troops will not listen to them and will only follow Dong Hui's command.
Li Sheng and Wang Sili both knew this very well, so they were very polite to Dong Hui and would not put on airs in front of him.
Wang Sili smiled and said: "Take out the poisonous smoke quiver that I asked you about yesterday! I will use it to break the level today."
Dong Hui glanced at the pass, immediately understood and said with a smile: "Old General, wait a moment, I will make arrangements right away!"
The poisonous chimney of the Tang Dynasty was actually gunpowder mixed with a large amount of oleander powder. There were two forms. One was a hand-held throwing tube, which was shaped like a beer bottle and was a paper tube.
The other type is the poison smoke quiver, which is long and thin, tied to the arrow shaft, and used to shoot into the room from a long distance.
Not long after, a group of two thousand crossbowmen appeared two hundred steps away from Guancheng. They held large shields in their hands and carried crossbows and quivers on their backs. The quivers were all filled with Dugu quivers.
The soldiers squatted on the spot, inserted their huge shields into the mud, and used the shields to block their vital points. At this time, more than a hundred crossbow arrows were fired from the top of the city. 'Pop! Pah! Pah!' hit the shield, and a soldier was exposed.
The man outside was hit by an arrow in the shoulder, screamed in agony, and huddled up.
"Whoever is hit by an arrow, get down quickly!" Zhonglangjiang shouted.
The soldier who was hit by an arrow raised his shield and retreated slowly. He was hit by an arrow in his shoulder and could no longer pull the crossbow string.
All the soldiers drew their crossbows and put on the poisonous smoke quivers. General Zhonglang shouted: "Light the fire and shoot freely!"
The soldiers pulled out the tack sticks, flicked them, lit the match ropes one after another, and put the tack sticks aside. The slow-burning tack sticks could ignite five poisonous smoke quivers.
The soldiers raised their crossbows, adjusted their gaze towards the mountains, and pulled the hanging knives. "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two thousand quivers of burning poisonous smoke were shot toward Guancheng in an overwhelming manner.
