Guancheng is shrouded in a blanket of white snow, with brown wooden buildings, white stone fences, cyan brick houses and yellow earthen walls faintly visible.
The mountain road in front of Guancheng has been blocked. Tax collectors and tax collectors used to collect money here, but they have disappeared. They must have retreated to Guancheng.
There are actually people cutting trees in the snow in the mountains!
Judging from experience, it should be that the defenders recruited the people of Yique County to prepare wood for them to repair the city wall.
So are the county soldiers and local villagers also recruited? It is very possible! Even if they are not there yet, they will probably be there soon.
Wang Chong sent more than a dozen horsemen forward. After only a few dozen steps, the two horsemen suddenly fell to the ground. The knights jumped up to avoid the flying arrows. The horses fell to the ground in pain, and their legs seemed to be broken.
broken.
More arrows flew from the hillsides on both sides, and the knights ran away, leaving several corpses behind.
"The thieves are already prepared and cannot be captured, so withdraw!" Wang Chong regretfully gave the order.
The soldiers of the Leopard Cavalry City were a little reluctant and wanted to fight on foot in armor. The Tibetan people became more barbaric and wanted to attack the mountain.
Wang Chong looked at their bow legs and gave up.
If Marshal Shao were here, he would probably agree with Wang Chong's opinion. Forget about the Tibetan people, the cavalry in Leopard Cavalry City are all carefully selected and their riding skills are absolutely excellent. It would be a pity to lose them here.
Many of them have been riding horses since childhood and have some problems with their posture. Some of them were poor before and had no money to equip saddles and stirrups, so they just rode bareback. Although their riding skills are excellent, their bone development is not healthy.
Such cavalry can dismount and fight on foot, but the infantry can still be defeated. How easy it is. At least when the Mongols conquered Egypt, the two sides met in a valley. The terrain was unfavorable. Both the Mongols and Mamluks dismounted and fought on foot. The Mongols were defeated.
The whole army was almost wiped out.
The Mamluks were professional warriors who had practiced martial arts since they were young. They dared to fight and fought hard. The Changzhi Army were also professional warriors who had fought with high intensity for many years. They also dared to fight and fought hard. There was no need to fight on foot with them.
More than three thousand cavalrymen fled in a flash, leaving only countless horse hoof prints in the snow.
Wang Chong calculated the supplies he carried. He had only been out for two days, and the cheese, milk powder, dried meat and other food he had on him could last for eight or nine days. He brought a lot of soybeans and black beans, which are for horses, and people can't.
Eat, I also collected a little corn in the suburbs of Luoyang before, which is enough for the horses to eat for a while.
If you are not in a hurry to go back and replenish your supplies, you can continue wandering in the wilderness and look for opportunities to annihilate the enemy.
What? A heavy snowstorm? It is common for soldiers to march and fight, eating ice and sleeping in the snow. Li Keyong often sends troops during heavy snow seasons. The animals in Hedong can tolerate it, but you can't tolerate it?
On the way back for a stroll, Wang Chong also received a messenger. To his surprise, it was not news from Fu Cunchen of the West Route Army, but from the Fanhe side of the East Route Army: a soldier from the Longrun Division of the Yumen Army.
The troops went to take Shenyuan Pass, but the main force had already moved towards Yanshi.
Combined with the orders received previously, Cai Songyang, Yang Sheng, and Long Run were attacking from a flank, so it was clear what they needed to do.
"Find a secluded place to camp and restore your power."
"Reconnaissance cavalry is sent out to expand the search range."
"Gather as much food and grass as possible, and don't leave them for thieves."
…
"General Ma, we cannot open the city." Duan Ning said at the top of Luoyang City: "Hu Zhen was not allowed to enter the city yesterday. Although there was an excuse that he was not allowed to open the door at night, it was already a disgrace to Hu Zhen. If he is really allowed to enter the city,
With the Changzhi army on our side, I will die without a burial place."
Ma Sixun's expression was not very good. He had been sitting on the wall for so long, and he seemed to be forced to take sides. He looked at Duan Ning with suspicion. He was hesitant last night and wanted to open the door, but didn't want to. In the end, Duan Ning strongly advised him not to.
He also said that there were Xia troops nearby, and Hu Zhen did not dare to stay for a long time and would leave. He would wait until the situation of the battle becomes clearer today before making further calculations.
This guy must be hiding something when he goes to the summer camp to talk about something.
But now is not the time to fall out. Ma Sixun thought for a moment and said, "Is there only one way?"
Duan Ning took a step back, bowed and said, "If the situation is like this, it is up to General Ma to make the decision."
Ma Sixun felt a surge of energy and blood, and he almost drew his sword and struck the guy. But he finally had some sense, swallowed his breath, and turned his head to look outside the city.
The battle outside the city has entered a fever pitch.
Within the ruins of Beicheng, sergeants from Xia and Liang were fighting fiercely at the street entrance.
Cai Songyang used dilapidated houses as city walls, piled a lot of rubble and wood at the street entrance, and built a camp gate. At this time, the two sides were fighting at the camp gate.
Needless to say, in this kind of terrain, there is no formation at all, it is just a small group to cooperate, so the killing is a chaotic battle.
The street entrance was also narrow, and the Changzhi Army could not invest many soldiers and horses. They only sent out a few hundred sergeants, who coordinated with each other to advance.
The Liang thieves were indeed elite. As soon as the two sides fought, the Tiande soldiers blocking the camp gate were somewhat unable to withstand the enemy. They suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat step by step.
"Where's the archer? Shoot for me!" Cai Songyang roared angrily and charged forward with a long spear in hand.
On top of the collapsed ruins on both sides, on the beams of half-intact houses, and even behind the windows, the local villagers drew their bows one after another, and arrows fell like raindrops, stopping the enemy's advance.
Cai Songyang had just stabbed one person to death when he saw a Liang soldier rushing towards him from the front left. The man was holding a heavy sword and was about to kill him. Upon seeing this, the soldier subconsciously went forward to meet him, but saw the man make a feint and let him pass.
The spears and swords brought by the soldiers were slashed down hard, and the soldiers' heads flew high into the air.
Another sergeant pushed forward, and with just one blow, he was hit hard in the chest. He endured the severe pain and used the huge force he burst out before death to hug Liang Bing on the opposite side. Cai Songyang drew out his sword and
Stabbed the thief to death from behind.
These thieves are really good at martial arts, but their strongest thing is probably their experience, their intuition of life and death, they are very good at it.
Just now, Cai Songyang, a famous Liang soldier, fought with a sword, and he was able to escape two consecutive fatal blows, only to be killed by the third blow. This is actually incredible. Two soldiers with similar martial arts skills faced each other in a life-and-death fight, and many times they were separated at once.
To determine victory or defeat, a second blow is rarely needed - a sergeant who needs a second blow to kill the enemy generally cannot survive for long. In a fight between professional warriors, where life and death are determined, the requirement is to be steady, hard and fast.
The arrows fired by the local men of the Xia army drove back the Liang soldiers' offensive. The Liang soldiers also called in archers from the rear to fight back, and the shots were so accurate that Cai Songyang was hit by an arrow and was extremely annoyed.
Valley pot
"The streets are narrow, and there is nothing to show for it. One man is responsible for it, and the thief cannot control it! Follow me and charge!" Cai Songyang picked up an epee and shouted.
"One man deserves it!"
"One man deserves it!"
More than two hundred soldiers, wearing armor and carrying swords, followed him.
A Liang man from the military academy went even further. He stripped off his armor in the middle of winter, loudly encouraged his morale, and then charged forward with his naked body exposed, not avoiding the sharp blade coming from the opposite direction.
The two armies fought head on.
Ma Sixun's face turned pale when he saw it at the top of the city. Judging from the bravery shown by both sides, it was much stronger than the Youguo army he had at hand.
He could see that the Xia Army could not defeat the Changzhi Army. It was entirely because of that lunatic Cai Songyang who fought to the death, took the lead and boosted morale, so that he could hold off the Changzhi Army's offensive. And even so, he was repulsed several times.
They even retreated in a small area, relying entirely on the archers on both sides of the street to kill the sergeants of the Changzhi Army who rushed in with their bows, and then stabilized their position.
"Damn it, you don't even want your life, you're all crazy!" Ma Sixun cursed in a low voice, concealing his uneasiness.
Duan Ning's eyes shone brightly when he saw this. If he could command these sergeants and march across the battlefield, he would be able to show off his ambitions.
On a temporary high platform further away, Kou Yanqing frowned.
After attacking for so long, although he had the upper hand and suffered fewer casualties than the opponent, he still couldn't defeat the Xia thieves, which made him very upset.
The Xia thieves have been rising for so many years and are used to winning battles. There is always a sense of energy in their chests to support them. They will not accept failure until they have to, so they will stalk and fight to the death. This type of enemy is what he hates the most.
"If it were a field battle on plain ground, we would have dealt with them long ago." Kou Yanqing snorted coldly.
Hu Zhen remained silent, sometimes making a fist with his right hand and sometimes releasing it.
After persuading Kou Yanqing to lead his army back to Luoyang, he actually still had some expectations. As a result, the first thing did not go well. Ma Sixun and Duan Ning never opened the city. This is an attitude in itself.
He hasn't paid much attention to the soldiers in the city - well, even though they are soldiers he trained, the Changzhi Army can scare them away by sending thousands of people in formation. The key is that there are still a lot of supplies in the city, which he urgently needs.
of.
He also had many plans. After Zhu Youning's troops came, they also needed food and grass supplies. On top of the Changzhi Army's baggage vehicles, there were only more than 5,000 grains and beans, which was enough for them, but with the addition of Zhu Youning's
Five thousand soldiers are only enough for half a month.
If some more people from Xu Huaiyu come back, the food and grass will be even more insufficient. And the area around Duji seems to have been raided by Xia thieves, and few grains of food can be found at all. As a result, the entire army can only retreat southward.
Go to the Yique Pass area for supplies.
"It's all the fault of Ma Sixun and Duan Ning that the situation in Heluo has reached this point!" Hu Zhen cursed bitterly, already looking for a scapegoat in his heart.
Kou Yanqing seemed not to hear Hu Zhen's words and still watched the battle carefully.
To be honest, he doesn't want to fight. Cai Songyang is indeed a strong general, and Xia Thief is not a weakling who can be defeated in one blow. How long will the street fight last? I'm afraid it will be at least three days.
He felt that there was no three days left to wait, and the current situation could be said to be very dangerous.
Where are the other two summer thieves?
…
Outside Shazha City, a fierce siege battle had just ended.
Nearly 20,000 people from the Dingyuan Army and Shaozhou Tuan Tuan Villagers took turns attacking. After making heavy sacrifices, they finally overcame the thorn that had blocked them for several years.
Hu Zhen and Zhu Youning had a very good idea. They mobilized 3,000 You national troops and 2,000 native Tuan peasants to go east. The remaining 2,000 You national troops, 1,000 soldiers, guarded Shazha, and 1,000 soldiers returned to Xiban.
With the cooperation of Xiang Yong, it is better for the Xia army to enter the Luoshui River Valley if they continue to defend these two areas.
But there is a saying in the art of war: "When a general leaves the army, he can be attacked quickly."
Zhu Youning led his men and ran away. Although he must have used words to show off, do you think the remaining defenders were stupid? They were able to resist for a while and killed many Xia troops, which was quite interesting.
Wang Yu was wrapped in the woolen robe given by Shao Shude and looked at the corpses on the ground with some sadness.
He was saddened by the death of Sergeant Dingyuan and Shaozhou Xiangyong, and also saddened by the death of Liang Jun.
Killing, killing, killing, killing, why bother?
The king of Xia is in a great position this year, so why bother causing more casualties? He obeyed the fate and surrendered with armor. With King Xia’s kind temperament and broad mind, do you still have to worry? If you really have the ability, serve the king of Xia, and you will be granted the title of wife in the future.
Yinzi waits for noisy things.
King Xia doesn’t have much knowledge!
"Give them a hot meal and don't humiliate them." Wang Yu pointed at more than a thousand prisoners in the distance and ordered.
The news of Zhu Youning's quiet departure was informed by Duan Ning, and then reached Li Tangbin at a speed of five hundred miles.
Wang Yu's Dingyuan Army had just retreated to replenish itself and was stationed in Xiao County. After hearing the news, they immediately dispatched and stormed the bandit stronghold. They first raided Huixi Ban, which was relatively weak in resisting, and then surrounded Shazha City, capturing and killing thousands of people in one fell swoop.
Public.
After wiping out this bandit army, there will be almost no resistance in Yongning, Fuchang, and Shouan counties, so they can be taken over by the army. Then they collect food and grass, recruit concubines, and go down the Luoshui River, heading straight to Luoyang.
The whole journey is more than 160 miles, and it would normally take six days to arrive, but at this time——
"Shaozhou Xiangyong will stay here to guard the prisoners and escort the food and grass." Wang Yu ordered: "Dingyuan Army, take a short rest and then follow me to march. Don't bring the baggage. We will advance quickly with light troops. Let's go to Luoyang.