On January 27th of the second year of Guangwu, amidst the howling cold wind, the Western Barbarian army launched an attack.
Hesitating that the Jin army had many scouts, the attack launched by the Western Barbarians was basically not sudden, and the imperial army on the opposite side had long been prepared.
This time, the various tribes of the Western Barbarians gathered nearly 400,000 troops, which gave them a huge advantage over the Jin army's 150,000 troops.
Of course, to give full play to the advantage of military strength, there are very high requirements for the command system and the command ability of the commander.
Although the Jin army has a small number of troops, it has favorable terrain and can resist the enemy in large and small cities along the way.
However, after all, there were too many enemy troops, so Zhao Yanxun had to retreat to the rear, and the two mountain forts were in an extremely dangerous state.
Facts have proved that Zhao Yanxun's choice was correct. The two mountain forts fell after holding on for three days.
Fortunately, the Forbidden Army cavalry broke off, allowing the officers and soldiers guarding the fort to withdraw, instead of being surrounded by the Western Barbarians.
Not only the two mountain forts were attacked, but the other forts did not hold out for too long, and some Zhao Yanxun simply gave up.
The wall of Wubao is too low, and the desperate attack of the Western barbarian soldiers makes it extremely difficult to defend it.
Except for the cavalry, the nearly 100,000 Jin infantrymen all retreated to the county and capital cities, relying on the fortified city to continue their defense.
Zhao Yanxun himself was stationed in the capital city, only fifty miles away from the front line.
Entering February, the weather is still cold, and the war in Tianshan County has become intense.
Hundreds of thousands of people are fighting desperately, and there is basically no room for strategic and practical combat. The two sides can only fight head-on.
However, the Jin army had a city to rely on, complete armor and weapons, and sharp weapons such as gunpowder, which caused great losses to the Western Barbarian army.
As of the fifth day of February, the Western Barbarian army had lost nearly 100,000 men, while the Jin army had suffered only less than 10,000 casualties.
Although the Western Barbarians still have a military advantage, they are somewhat lacking in stamina and their offensive is no longer as fast as before.
This is actually quite normal. After all, the more than 100,000 people killed or wounded were their most elite soldiers.
Without these people, no matter how many other armies come, the effect will not be very good.
In addition to the infantry attacking the city, the cavalry of the Western Barbarians army marched east and west in Tianshan County, and some even entered Beidi County.
Now the entire northwest has entered a state of war readiness. Under the arrangements of the Governor's Office, all cities, men, women, old and young, have participated in the defense.
Although there were tens of thousands of Western barbarian cavalry who entered Beidi County, they could not do much against the city where the people were holding on. Attacking by force was a stupid strategy.
In addition, it was early spring and the fields outside the city had not yet been cultivated, so these Western barbarian troops could not plunder anything.
With no other choice, these Western Barbarian cavalry could only choose to attack the city because they had no other choice.
Only by capturing the city can they have a place to stay and obtain supplies to continue fighting.
There was no other way, so these cavalrymen had no choice but to dismount, chop down trees and bamboos, and start building siege equipment.
The combat strength of tens of thousands of cavalry cannot be ignored, but when they dismount and attack the city on foot, at least half of their combat effectiveness is lost.
Although the number of soldiers and civilians guarding the city is only five thousand, they can use the geographical advantage to deal with them.
They were all trying to survive. Although the number of soldiers and civilians defending the city was small, they also showed great resilience.
However, despite the huge disparity in military strength, the county town was still captured, and none of the defending soldiers and civilians survived.
After capturing the city, the Western Barbarian army obtained a large amount of food, enough for them to eat for half a month.
But these people only repaired it for three days, and then set their sights on the next city. They had already tasted the benefits.
So while continuing to attack the city, they also sent people to the front line to send messages, so that more people could attack directly into Beidi County.
Instead of fighting with the Jin army in Tianshan County, Beidi County is naturally easier to attack.
However, when they attacked the two county towns, they encountered stronger resistance, and the Northwest Governor's Office sent additional troops here.
At the same time, a 2,000-strong Forbidden Army appeared in the north of the attacked county.
"Attack..." Commander Wang Zong shouted the military order.
This army of two thousand men is equipped with full-body iron armor, and its momentum is extremely majestic, which is extremely rare among the Forbidden Army.
It's just because this army is composed of all second-level Shence Zuowei, who were transferred from Hexi County half a month ago.
In addition to the Shence Left Guard, the Shence Right Guard led by Xu Yu has also entered Beidi County, but they are defending in another direction.
When two thousand infantrymen were discovered in the north, the Western Barbarian commander who organized the attack did not dare to neglect and immediately sent ten thousand people to stop the attack.
With five times the superior strength, and cavalry versus infantry, it seems very safe no matter how you look at it.
But in the end, the Western Barbarian army was defeated in less than half an hour, and the remaining soldiers fled directly back to the city.
It was obvious that the siege could not continue, so the commander immediately led his troops to leave and return to the city they had occupied.
But when they returned, they found that all the city gates were surrounded by Jin troops, and those who stayed behind could not get out.
There was no other choice but to attack and rescue the people in the city.
The troops besieging the city came from the left and right Shence Guards. Their total number was 8,000, and there were only 2,000 scattered throughout the city gate.
Although there are not many troops, they are absolutely elite. They are equipped with sophisticated weapons and armor, and their combat effectiveness is as high as the sky.
Although the Western Barbarian army was large in number, it was unable to deploy in a small area, resulting in extremely heavy losses.
Rumble…
From time to time there were explosions, which were the Forbidden Forces using grenades.
The Western Barbarians were unable to attack with force and suffered heavy casualties, forcing them to retreat.
As for those in the city, they can only hold on by themselves and wait for reinforcements...
There were almost 40,000 people when I came, but only 15,000 when I left. The time before and after did not exceed ten days.
After these people withdrew, the Imperial Army began to attack the city.
Their forceful attack was a real forceful attack. These people were like killing machines, and they stormed the city wall neatly.
Then, the real massacre begins.
In order to avenge the defending soldiers and civilians here, the imperial army killed all the Western barbarian soldiers in the city.
The entire city was shrouded in blood, and fires were burning in the open space outside the city. All corpses had to be disposed of to prevent infection with the zombie virus.
"It's a pity that the emperor's decree requires us to garrison Beidi County, otherwise I would have to go to Tianshan and kill all those bullshit kings and nobles of the Western Barbarians!" Wang Zong was angry.
He has always had a ruthless temper, and he can be so angry that he obviously really hates the Western Barbarians.
Sighing, Xu Yu said: "Beidi County is a big area, and it is not easy to defend against it. The burden on you and me is not light!"
Nodding, Wang Zong said: "Fortunately, the emperor sent us to the north in advance, otherwise the north may be in trouble!"
"Blood debts must be paid with blood, and the Western Barbarians won't be able to survive for long!" Xu Yu said in a deep voice.
Although tens of thousands of people broke into Beidi County, more people were actually blocked, and fierce fighting broke out all the time.
After a short rest in the city, the left and right Shence Guards deployed their defenses separately.
Although they are infantry, they have the horses provided by the Huns before, plus the horses captured from the Western Barbarians in the past few days, so the Shence Guards on the left and right have extremely strong mobility.
With them setting up defenses in the north, and with the strong defense of the cities in various places, the more than 10,000 Western barbarian cavalry felt that they had no chance to take advantage of them, so they had no choice but to withdraw to Tianshan County.
At this time, on the land of Tianshan County, a decisive battle concerning the survival of the two races was brewing to the last moment.