Thirty thousand Tang troops appeared about 40 miles away from Jincheng, the capital of Silla. The capital was in chaos. The princes and nobles packed up their treasures and tried to escape outside the city. However, the city gate was closed. Prime Minister Jin Liangxiang was worried that the morale of the army would be affected, so he gave the order not to do so.
Open the city gate and don't let anyone out.
There was a huge crowd at the city gate, and there were a lot of curses, but the city gate still didn't open, so the nobles had no choice but to go home and wait for the news.
At this time, there was also a fierce debate in the Silla court about how to deal with the Tang army. Some wanted to defend the city and wait for reinforcements to arrive, while others thought that the city could not be defended and it was best to go out for a decisive battle.
Finally, the three great ministers of Silla, Kim Yang-sang, Park Na-joo, and Xi Wanxiang, reached an agreement and sent troops out of the city to fight. They were all pragmatic. If the army was defeated, they would still have a chance to surrender and save their families. But if the city was destroyed by the Tang army,
If they break through and the Tang army rushes into the city, their family will suffer disaster and they will have no chance to surrender.
Thirty thousand Silla troops left the city from the south gate and headed towards the Tang army, which was already twenty miles away.
The 30,000 Tang Army quickly sent 30,000 troops to the peninsula through the cross-sea transportation of Tamna Island. This was not a long-distance project like Li Chengshi's army. This was a matter of crossing a strait. The Tang Army not only delivered 30,000 troops
, and also delivered 20,000 war horses.
Ma Lin personally led an army of 30,000 people on a mighty march. He was less than 20 miles away from Jincheng, the capital of Silla, when he suddenly received news that the main force of the enemy army, about 30,000 people, was found in front.
Ma Lin really didn't expect that the Silla army would come out of the city to fight. He was also preparing to use firearms to show off his power and fight a beautiful siege battle.
However, it would be better to send it to the door. Ma Lin thought for a moment and sent for the deputy general Hao Tingyu. He said to him: "The general can lead 10,000 cavalry and go around behind the enemy. Watch my signal arrow rise, and the general can attack from behind."
Enemy, our army will win this battle."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Hao Tingyu clasped his fists in salute and immediately led 10,000 cavalrymen to detour southward.
Ma Lin ordered 20,000 troops to rest where they were, and raised a banner of 30,000 troops to confuse the enemy.
An hour later, 30,000 Silla troops appeared seven miles away. The leader of the Silla army was Park Jung-sun. He was from the holy Park family and was also the son-in-law of Prime Minister Kim Yang-sang. With these two top-level connections, he took the place of the sent troops.
Jin Zhenzhi of the Tang Dynasty became the commander-in-chief of the Silla Army.
Park Jung-sun is about thirty-five or sixteen years old and has been serving as a general of the palace guard. He only participated in the bloody massacre to suppress the Baekje uprising last year and has no actual combat experience.
However, the family system of Silla is comparable to that of the Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the Central Plains. The hierarchy of nobles is strict. The military commander can only be the highest-ranking Holy Bone family. The selected commander must represent the interests of the three major Holy Bone families at the same time, so he is the direct son of the Park family.
, Park Jung-sun, who is the son-in-law of the Kim family and has been an officer in the military for a long time, became the only candidate for the coach. His brother married a daughter of the Hae family, so the Hae family, one of the three holy bones, also supported Park Jung-sun.
Coach.
"Woo——" Silla's horn sounded, and the main force of the Tang army was discovered in front.
A spy came back and reported, "Commander, there are many soldiers of the Tang army holding double flags, so it looks like there are 30,000 troops. In fact, the opponent only has 20,000 troops, 10,000 infantry, and 10,000 cavalry."
Pu Zhengshan laughed and said to everyone: "I just said that the Tang army's attack from Tamluo Island was completely a sneak attack. If you want to sneak attack on Jincheng, how can you have 30,000 troops? 20,000 troops is already the limit."
He immediately issued an order: "Call the troops to assemble and prepare for battle!"
The 30,000 Silla troops also gathered quickly. The 30,000 troops formed a "pin"-shaped structure. Park Jung-san led 10,000 infantrymen as the central army, and the other two troops of 10,000 people formed the two wings.
The Silla army was all infantry. Compared with the Japanese army, the Silla army was obviously more like the Central Plains army. The soldiers were mainly spear soldiers and sword and shield soldiers. There was no cavalry. Silla was really too small to raise cavalry.
Of course, compared with the equipment of the Tang army, Silla was still far behind. The 30,000 troops led by Ma Lin were the elite of the Tang army. They were all tall and powerful. The soldiers were generally over 1.8 meters tall, wearing iron armor and iron helmets.
, holding a spear and a sword in his hands, and a bow and arrow on his back.
Not only are their equipment superb and their bodies strong, but the soldiers have experienced hundreds of battles and have strong combat experience and formation coordination.
The two sides were three miles apart, and the Silla army took the lead in launching the attack. Thirty thousand Silla troops marched forward, and the sound of "Boom——" the horn blew in the mine field.
Ma Lin also ordered: "Infantry in front, cavalry in the back, march towards the enemy!"
The Tang army also moved forward in formation. The two sides were getting closer and closer. They were three hundred steps apart. Ma Lin ordered: "Infantry bows and arrows shoot!"
This is a traditional tactic of the Tang army. When the infantry is marching, it is temporarily changed to archers. This requires repeated training so that all soldiers know how to carry out military orders.
The red and yellow flags are waving, which are the tactical orders for the use of bows and arrows during the march.
The 10,000 Tang Army infantrymen stopped on the ground, squatted down, put their spears on the ground, took off the long bows on their backs, and carefully pulled out the explosive arrows. All soldiers had undergone strict training and were able to control explosive arrows.
Park Zhengshan immediately shouted: "The Sword and Shield Army runs and attacks!"
Each of the three armies of 10,000 people had 3,000 sword and shield troops running, and a total of 9,000 sword and shield troops were running. They used the shields of the sword and shield troops to resist the Tang army's bows and arrows, and then charged into the Tang army's archers.
Ma Lin sneered, turned around and ordered: "The cavalry is ready to attack!"
Ten thousand cavalry were divided into two teams, on both sides of the Tang army's archers, and they were ready to attack.
The Silla army was getting closer and closer, and they were only eighty steps away from the Tang army. Suddenly, the Tang army fired thousands of arrows, and 10,000 explosive arrows were shot at the opponent overwhelmingly.
Looking at the arrows shooting from the sky like raindrops, the Sword and Shield soldiers raised their shields to meet them, but they never dreamed that the arrows used by the opponent were no longer traditional arrows.
The explosion arrow hits the shield and explodes immediately. Not only does the shield explode into pieces, but the hands behind it are also blown off. If the shield is too close to the face, even the head will be blown apart. Even if the explosion hits the ground and explodes, it will also explode.
The enemy's legs were blown off. In an instant, there was an explosion and screams. The Silla soldiers behind were so shocked that they stopped in their tracks.
Before the smoke cleared, the second round of tens of thousands of explosive arrows came. These were old version of the explosive arrows, which exploded when they hit the ground. In the explosion, more than half of the nine thousand sword and shield soldiers were wiped out, leaving less than half.
Three thousand people were so frightened that they turned around and fled.
What Ma Lin was waiting for was the opponent's escape. He immediately ordered: "Blow the horn and the cavalry will attack!"
"Woo——"
The Tang army's deep horn sounded, and the 10,000 cavalrymen split into two groups and charged out, like two unstoppable spears, rushing towards the running enemy army.
Explosive arrows usually only fire two rounds. The 10,000 infantrymen also shouldered their bows and arrows, picked up their spears, and charged towards the enemy with shouts.
The Silla soldiers were frightened and trembling. Under the coercion of the generals behind them, they fought tremblingly.
The two sides were fighting in a melee. Ma Lin saw that the opponent's morale was low, so he immediately ordered: "Fire nine gunpowder arrows!"
Nine gunpowder arrows flew into the sky, and 10,000 Tang army cavalry quickly appeared. "Woo--" the horn sounded behind them, and the earth began to shake.
Ten thousand Tang Army cavalry came overwhelmingly from behind. Pu Zhengshan, who was supervising the battle behind the army, turned around and saw the Tang Army cavalry coming one mile away. He was so shocked that his heart almost stopped beating.
The 20,000 Tang troops in front of them are no longer their opponents. If another 10,000 Tang troops come, they will be completely defeated.
More than 20,000 Silla soldiers were attacked from the front and back by the Tang army. There was a chaos. They could not withstand the attacks from the front and back. The army finally collapsed. The 20,000 soldiers abandoned their helmets and armor and ran for their lives in all directions.
Ma Lin issued a killing order, and 20,000 cavalry chased and killed the fleeing Silla soldiers, while 10,000 infantry followed behind to kill no one.
The horses of the Tang Army's cavalry far exceeded the legs of the Silla soldiers. If they caught up, they would be knocked to the ground with a knife, or pierce the back of the heart with a spear, and then continue to chase. If they were lucky enough to survive, they would not be able to escape the Tang Army's infantry behind them.
Hunt and kill.
After the Tang army chased them for more than ten miles, there were no more fleeing Silla soldiers. Even the commander-in-chief Park Zhengshan was knocked off his horse by a Tang army young general, and then another shot killed him.
An hour later, 30,000 Tang troops came to the city. Although there were still thousands of soldiers in the city, the Silla court completely collapsed and collectively decided to surrender.
The city gate opened, and King Huigong Jin Ganyun had a gold seal hanging around his neck. Dozens of his concubines followed him, followed by Prime Minister Jin Liangxiang, and then hundreds of court officials and nobles came out of the city to surrender.