Eight hundred and seventieth chapters people are more important than horses
Young Master Liu said that he would attack the city in half an hour, but there was no delay for a quarter of an hour.
When the sundial's hour hand stayed at its proper position, Liu Dashao gave a command and the sound of war drums sounded outside the city.
Facing Gulan City, Liu Mingzhi only dispatched 30,000 cavalry led by Duan Buhan, and the rest were infantry. Facing the city, the advantages of the cavalry could not be used at all, and they would become a living target for others.
The soldiers of the Western Expedition Army may have deeply understood Liu Dashao's tactics of using troops. If nothing else, they were covered in arrows and crushed with the advantage of their equipment.
Especially after Ye Baotong, Cheng Kai and the others received the command from Young Master Liu, the arrows in their hands were directed towards the city wall as if they were free of charge.
Each of the 40,000 archers consumes 40,000 arrows with one arrow in an instant.
Shanlebie, the guard of Gulan City, felt fear for the first time. Shanlebie, who was hiding on top of the city tower with his shield, looked at the soldiers under his command huddled in the crenellations of the city wall and did not dare to move, and his heart was filled with clouds.
There were only 20,000 shield soldiers in the 70,000-strong garrison. Shanlebie's heart bled in pain when he heard the screams of the archers under his command who were instantly pierced by two or three feather arrows when they tried to fight back.
The advantages of equipment differences are fully reflected in this short moment!
Gumo Rongrong was also stunned as she stared at the arrows that were shooting at the top of Gulan City, covering the sky and the sun. She finally understood why Shacheng was captured in less than half an hour.
According to this plan, there was no close combat at all and the defenders on the city wall were suppressed by the rain of arrows so that they did not dare to show their heads. It would be unbearable for the city not to fall under such an offensive!
Liu Mingzhi looked at the situation on the city wall with a calm expression. In less than half a stick of incense, the continuous shooting of 40,000 people divided into four horses had consumed a full 600,000 feather arrows.
"Send the order to Ye Baotong, advance the catapult fifty steps to replace the kerosene bombs!"
"Got the order!"
In just half an hour, 1,600 catapults advanced fifty steps toward Gulan City under the cover of shieldmen and stopped.
Torches with black smoke were crackling and burning, and wine jars containing kerosene used by the people for lighting were ignited by the torches and thrown onto the city wall.
As soon as the wine jar hit the city wall, a raging fire broke out, and the guards of Gulan City instantly became burning men and screamed on the city wall.
Liu Mingzhi closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "Your Royal Highness, please send an order to General Zha Sang to break through the city gate immediately, and the ladder will begin to attack the city under the cover of the archers!"
"yes!"
Gu Mo Rongrong immediately rode towards Zha Sang's phalanx and rushed to deliver Liu Dashao's order!
“&……￥%%#&”
Liu Mingzhi suddenly heard the galloping horses and shouts of killing coming from both sides and glanced towards the top of the city. Unexpectedly, Shanlebie dared to let his cavalry out of the city to meet the enemy.
However, there are only 70,000 garrison guards in the entire Gulan City, and the cavalry can only be 10,000 at best. It is impossible to have more.
Sure enough, the scouts rushed over: "Report! Five thousand cavalry rushed out from the south gate and north gate of Gulan City and rushed towards our army's formation!"
"Ning Chao!"
"The end is here!"
"Lead 10,000 light cavalry and 5,000 heavy cavalry to intercept the enemy troops coming from the north gate. The light cavalry is responsible for reducing the speed of the enemy cavalry. Do not engage in close combat with them. Encircle them and the heavy cavalry will charge immediately!"
"Got the order!"
"Han Peng!"
"The end is here!"
"He also led a group of cavalry to intercept the enemy cavalry at the south city gate!"
"The general will get the order!"
Liu Mingzhi took out his telescope and looked at the tower above Gulan City. Shanlebie's back was huddled behind the wall, and he felt a little solemn. Finally, he met an opponent who prevented him from wasting his brain power!
After pondering for a moment, Young Master Liu directly sent an order to Song Qing just to be on the safe side!
"Vice General Song!"
"The end is here!"
"Lead five thousand swordsmen to help Ning Chao!"
"Got the order!"
"Feng Buer!"
"The end is here!"
"Rush to Han Peng's aid!"
"You two can save the war horses from the Western Regions as much as you can. If you can't kill them all, you can't let your brothers trade their lives for war horses!"
"Got the order!"
As Liu Mingzhi expected, neither Han Peng nor the light cavalry led by Ning Chao were any match for the Gulan City cavalry. The riding skills of the people from the Western Regions were so superb that it was dazzling.
Fortunately, the two of them had already received the order and did not let the light cavalry come into contact with the enemy at all. They directly crossed each other and detoured, wrapping the enemy's five thousand cavalry in it!
The circle gradually shrank, leaving Gulan City's cavalry without enough range to charge their horses.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Ning Chao and Han Peng waved their command flags slightly, and the light cavalry immediately spread out and revealed a gap.
Upon seeing this, the Gulan City cavalry thought that the enemy had made a mistake, and immediately rushed towards the gap under the leadership of their leader. However, the heavy cavalry who were ready to attack immediately surrounded the gap with thunderous momentum.
In terms of speed, the heavy cavalry is not as fast as one-tenth of the Western Region cavalry, but once they get into close combat, the difference will immediately become apparent!
The battle between the cavalry can be described as horrific. The heavy cavalry's horses easily penetrated the leather armor of the Gulan City cavalry, but the scimitar in his hand could only leave a white mark on the enemy's thick armor.
What made the Gulan City cavalry dumbfounded was that the necks of the Dalong heavy cavalry officers were protected by masks on their helmets, so there was no way they could attack!
Listening to the screams of the soldiers under his command, a man in command of the cavalry shouted in Western dialect.
"Attack their horse legs, don't engage in close combat with them, we have to give full play to our advantages!"
In the stunned expressions of the Dalong soldiers, the Gulan City cavalry once again showed their superb riding skills. The scimitars in their hands were hung on the side of the horse's belly without hesitation and slashed at the legs of the Dalong heavy cavalry.
The war horses neighed and howled, and many heavy cavalry were thrown out and rolled on the ground several times before stopping.
These heavy cavalry who fell to the ground immediately found a slightly open place to huddle up according to the training method, and used thick heavy armor to protect their vital parts from being trampled by the hoofs of the war horses.
Ning Chao looked at the more than 2,000 Gulan City cavalrymen who rushed out of the heavy cavalry phalanx by cutting off the horse's legs with dumbfounded eyes. He finally understood why the commander paid so much attention to the cavalry in the Western Regions!
The heavy cavalry, except for their horse legs, was basically all covered in heavy armor. In such a desperate situation, the cavalry of Gulan City could still find a way to break out of the encirclement by cutting off the horse's legs. It was simply incredible!
Ning Chao waved the command flag in his hand: "The light cavalry surround the enemy cavalry to prevent them from coming back, and cover the heavy cavalry brothers who have fallen off their horses to evacuate!"
After giving the order, ten thousand light cavalry immediately surrounded the Gulan City cavalry. The heavy cavalry who fell under their horses immediately began to support each other and withdraw from the battlefield.
As for the warriors and soldiers lying on the ground whining, they did not dare to stop even though their hearts were bleeding from pain.
Although they feel sad for their mounts, they also know that this is a battlefield, and the most important thing is to preserve people!
They also did not dare to disobey the commander-in-chief's orders. Before setting off for the expedition, the commander-in-chief repeatedly warned the cavalry soldiers.