The war in Fengzhou has entered the twelfth day. Within twelve days, the Turkic army launched a total of four large-scale attacks, but all four attacks failed miserably. The Turkic army's casualties have reached as high as 40,000, while Dali City's
The defenders suffered more than 6,000 casualties, and the war gradually became intense.
The wilderness was strewn with corpses, with broken limbs and arms everywhere. The land outside the city of Dali was dyed red with blood. Hundreds of nest carts and ladders collapsed in the wilderness. They were like warriors who died in battle, looking at Dali in despair.
The red flag of the Sui Dynasty is still flying on the top of the city. The weather that often occurs in the season is the same as the wind and sand in autumn, which are the characteristics of Fengzhou, but the fog will not last long and will dissipate after dawn.
The war stopped for one day, and the eight thousand defenders on the city were huddled up against the wall and sleeping, covered with sheepskins and thick blankets. At this time, a violent vibration woke up the soldiers from their dreams. On top of the city,
The bell also rang, 'Dang! Dang! Dang!' The piercing sound of the bell woke up all the soldiers. The militia soldiers who were resting under the city also quickly rushed to the top of the city and entered their respective combat readiness positions.
Thick beef-like fog filled the inside and outside of the city wall, and nothing could be seen dozens of steps away. Only rumbling sounds were heard, and the soldiers were talking about it, but everyone was full of doubt and vigilance.
If the enemy was attacking the city, why was there no drum sound for the attack? They had fought countless battles with the Turks, but no attack without drum sound had ever happened.
In the heavy fog, the flag on the command tower lost its effect, so we could only rely on passing orders. Yang Sien, the city guard general, galloped over on horseback. He shouted loudly: "This is a sneak attack by the enemy, and the trebuchet is firing!"
At the sound of the order, the trebuchets began to creak and twist, and the long arms suddenly bounced up, flying huge rocks into the vast fog. In an instant, screams came from the fog.
The news came that there were really enemy troops coming.
, the soldiers of the Sui Army cheered up, drew their bows and fired arrows, and rain of arrows shot out of the city. Almost at the same time, overwhelming arrows flew out of the fog, and dozens of Sui soldiers were caught off guard.
Screaming and being shot down.
Amid a roar, hundreds of boulders flew out from under the city, and hit the city with a 'boom!'. One boulder shattered the battlements, sending more than a dozen Sui soldiers flying away, and another boulder hit the city.
Hit by a trebuchet, the trebuchet suddenly fell apart, huge logs hit the Sui army's heads, and screams continued to sound.
The thick fog reversed the situation of the battle, and the siege force, which had been at a disadvantage, began to gain the upper hand. Instead of beating drums and trumpets, the Turkic army quietly launched a sneak attack. Two hundred trebuchets were thrown into the battlefield.
Turkic troops throwing stones
The machine was smaller than that of the Sui army. It was a human-pulled launcher. A trebuchet required hundreds of people to pull it, and its range could reach 250 steps. Under the cover of heavy fog, they had already arrived 200 steps away, heading towards
The city of Dali launched a fierce attack.
After more than ten days of fierce fighting, the Turkic Army also gradually discovered some defensive loopholes of the Sui Army. Most of the Sui Army's trebuchets had a range of about 400 steps, with the shortest being 300 steps, while the longest distance of the stone cannons was no more than 300 steps.
One hundred steps, then between one hundred steps and three hundred steps
A gap appeared, and crossbow arrows could be used to make up for it a hundred steps away, but the period between two hundred and three hundred steps was the weakest link in the Sui army's strike force. After all, the destructive power of the crossbow could not be compared with that of the trebuchet.
In comparison, and the Turkic army used Domeng defense,
The so-called dou meng is actually a large leather shield, named after its appearance, which cannot be penetrated by a dou g crossbow or stone cannon. It was the invention of more than a dozen craftsmen from Mayi County who fled to Turks.
It is very useful to defend the Sui army's crossbows. The crossbow has lost its power.
The two hundred trebuchets of the Turkic Army began to exert their power, and huge boulders hit the city wall heavily, causing the city bricks to break and the wall to dent. The Sui army and militia soldiers defending the city suffered a large number of casualties due to the impact of the boulders, and the city
The Sui army's trebuchets were constantly hit and destroyed.
Yang Yuanqing had already appeared on the top of the city to watch the battle. His eyes were stern and there was worry in his eyes. This was the first time in more than ten days of attack that the Turkic army used trebuchets to attack the city. They also used the fog as a cover and no longer used people.
The subtle tactical changes of the Turkic Army in naval tactics made Yang Yuanqing feel an invisible pressure. He knew very well that this foggy weather would continue for at least half a month, which would make the defense of the city encounter great difficulties.
Yang Yuanqing is not worried about Dali City, he is worried about several other cities. The defense capabilities of the other cities are not as good as Dali City. Can they support it?
The Turks have always been weak in siege ability, but the powerful siege ability displayed by the Turks this time was beyond Yang Yuanqing's expectation and completely subverted his concept. Five years ago, the Turks' siege weapons were very crude.
, this can be seen from Xue Yantuo’s siege weapons at that time, but only in a few short years, the Turks
The manufacturing capacity has improved by leaps and bounds. This can only show that the fleeing Sui people have brought great changes to the Turks. This is also the main reason why the Central Plains Daluan will give opportunities to the nomadic people every time. Not only the defense capabilities of the Central Plains are reduced, but also all kinds of
Advanced technology was introduced to the grasslands, making the people of the grasslands stronger.
Yang Yuanqing sighed slightly. The defensive national policy that the Central Plains people believed in could not fundamentally solve the problem. The Xiongnu left, and the Xianbei and Rouran people came. The Xianbei people went south, and the Turks came. After the Turks left, there will be Uighurs in the future.
, Khitans, nv real people, Meng ancients, Manchus, overlords of the grassland are always emerging one after another, and the national defense policy will always be passive.
At this time, a huge boulder hit a depression in the eastern section of the city wall. The heavy impact made the city wall no longer able to hold on and collapsed suddenly. The crossbow screamed and fell down the city, and a large amount of soil poured out from the city instantly buried them.
.
At the same time, the Sui army on the top of the city shouted, and ten black behemoths appeared in the heavy fog. The Turkic army's siege ram appeared. These giant beasts, which were two feet high and four feet long, were slowly approaching the city wall.
Come on.
The battering ram is made of a thousand-year-old giant wood in Yin Mountain. The hammer head is made of cast iron and is hung on a huge bracket with an iron chain. It is equipped with a roof to protect against bows and arrows. There are six huge wooden wheels below, usually made of hundreds of wooden wheels.
It was pulled by more than a few oxen, but after entering the range of bow and arrow shooting, it was pushed by more than a thousand people.
This kind of battering ram is usually used to hit the city gates, but the city of Dali has a high suspension bridge and the back of the city gates is sealed with huge rocks. There is no point in attacking the city. The Turkic army instead used it to hit the city walls, causing the walls to collapse and making it easier for them to attack the city behind.
The Turkic army rushed to the city.
The dense impact of boulders has caused the city bricks to become loose. If the battering ram is used to impact again, the city wall will inevitably collapse.
Yang Yuanqing stared at these ten huge battering rams with stern eyes. He had already planned a defensive strategy and was waiting for the opportunity to appear at that moment.
The moat has dried up, and the Turks have laid thick wide wooden boards on it, so that the huge battering ram can pass through the moat smoothly. Arrows rained down from the top of the city. More than a thousand Turkic soldiers used giant shields to cover them and pushed the battering ram.
Continuing forward, they finally managed to withstand the city wall, but the width from the moat to the city wall was only one foot and five feet, which made the huge body of the battering ram straddle the moat.
Yang Sien stared closely at these ten behemoths. When they all stepped onto the moat, he gave the order, "Light the fire!"
Hundreds of torches were thrown into the dry moat. In an instant, the fire in the moat was raging. The fire was raging and the flames were rising. The wooden planks laid on the moat were burned one after another. Four or five battering rams fell into the moat, facing their heads.
The battering rams were stuck vertically in the ditch, the battering rams fell off and rolled aside, and the battering rams were quickly engulfed in the fire.
More than 10,000 Turkic soldiers suffered numerous casualties. They howled and struggled in the fire, and were eventually devoured by the fire demon. The remaining thousands turned around and ran away, forgetting to defend themselves, and were shot down by the Sui army's arrows.
Amid the rising flames, the fog gradually dissipated, and the Turks' two hundred trebuchets also withdrew from the battlefield before the fog dissipated.
The sun dispelled the fog, and the fire slowly subsided. The charred corpses of the Turkic soldiers and the remains of ten battering rams were stuck in the moat, with green smoke curling up and emitting a pungent stench.
The empty wilderness appeared again in front of the Sui army. The Turkic army had retreated to the camp. Shibi Khan Duji stood on horseback in front of the camp, staring at Dali City from a distance. Although he had lost more than 40,000 people in eight days, he attacked the city.
The hammer attack also suffered a failure, but the thick fog that appeared in the early morning allowed him to find the opportunity to attack Dali City, and he began to brew the next large-scale attack in his mind.
At this moment, a cavalryman rushed over quickly, got down and immediately reported: "Qi Khan! The third prince has captured Yongfeng City."
Duo Ji was overjoyed. The victory over Yongfeng City meant that he had opened a gap in the Battle of Fengzhou. He immediately ordered: "Order Du Bi's army to continue southward and be sure to capture Hekou City!"
Du Ji's confidence rekindled in his heart. As long as Hekou City was captured, the passage southward would be opened, and he could lead his army to attack Lingwu County. Yang Yuanqing's defense of Dali City would be meaningless, and he would inevitably abandon the city and go south.
The terrain of Fengzhou is not as flat as the grassland, especially in the south. It is almost all low hills and large forests. Of course, there is no problem for the Turkic cavalry, but for a large number of tents, sheepskin rafts, siege engines, etc.
However, the baggage vehicles cannot cross over and can only use the flat roads in Fengzhou.
Dali City is a north-south road, and Yongfeng City is an important town guarding the North Chi Road. Jiuyuan City is a large city guarding the Nanchi Road. Finally, the meeting point of the North-South Chi Road is Hekou City. Taking the Hekou
The city can directly cross the Yellow River to the south, and then to the south is Yima Pingchuan, directly towards Lingwu County.
Compared with Jiuyuan City, which is strong and tall, Yongfeng City is much easier to attack, so the Turkic army chose to take the North Chi Road to attack Yongfeng City. Now that Yongfeng City has been captured, only the Hekou City remains.
Duo Ji looked at the fortified Dali City, and he began to hesitate in his heart. Did Yang Yuanqing know that Yongfeng City had been lost?
At this time, his eyes fell on a goshawk flying from the south.