The ship quickly slowed down, and Yang Yuanqing hurriedly reached the bow. He found that the fleet was still one mile away from the south bank. The charred trees on the bank were clearly visible. Thousands of Tang troops were densely packed on the bank, with their crossbows and crossbows drawn up, ready for battle.
But the current danger does not come from the Tang army on the shore, but from the thick layer of viscous black oil floating on the river. Half of the ship he is on has sailed into the black oil circle, and the bow and
The sides of the ship on both sides were covered in black oil.
Yang Yuanqing was secretly surprised. This was the way he used to deal with Li Mi, but the Tang army used it to deal with him. However, it was night time and difficult to detect, but now it was daytime. He could escape in time. Yang Yuanqing immediately ordered, "The ships are running rampant, speed up."
Get out of the oil zone."
The big ship slowly turned around and sailed sideways to the east. In just a moment, the big ship Yang Yuanqing was on left the oil slick area. He turned around and looked around. Several warships parallel to his ship had also left the oil slick area.
But the ships from behind kept coming.
Yang Yuanqing immediately decided, "Light a fire and burn some oil!"
The order was given, and dozens of rockets were fired at the oil slick on the river. The oil slick went "boom!" and the ground burned. It spread rapidly and black smoke billowed, turning the river nearly a mile near the south bank into a sea of fire.
The burning river surface was the best warning. Boats going south stopped on the river one after another, waiting for the fire to subside. The fire burned for nearly an hour before gradually extinguishing.
The fleet began to regroup and move closer to the shore. Arrows were flying like rain for a while, and the two sides started a fierce battle at Mengjin Ferry.
"Stop the Sui army!"
Wang Huaiwen, the commander-in-chief of the Tang Army, shouted loudly: "The enemy troops are not allowed to go ashore!"
The Tang Army's garrison at Mengjin Ferry consisted of more than 5,000 men, 3,000 crossbow troops and 2,000 cavalry. They poured thousands of barrels of kerosene on the river outside the ferry to form the first line of defense.
Three thousand crossbowmen were deployed. When the Sui army's warship slowly docked, the Tang army on the shore fired a volley of arrows. A dense rain of arrows hit the ship, mixed with countless rockets.
The Sui army on the warship also launched a counterattack, shooting arrows like rain towards the shore. The more powerful thing was the stone robe on the ship. With a huge impact, stones weighing dozens of kilograms hit the Tang army on the shore.
Almost every boulder knocked over several people, and there were screams on the shore. Tang Ping's crossbowmen suffered heavy casualties.
Under Shipao's intensive offensive, the Tang Army's crossbow troops were forced to retreat. An opportunity for landing appeared on the shore. Yang Yuanqing was watching the battle from a large ship behind. He had already seen about two thousand cavalry lined up hundreds of steps away.
, obviously preparing to launch an attack on the Sui army that landed.
"First go up to the five hundred heavily armored Mo Dao army!"
Yang Yuanqing's order was given to the main ship to wave the flag and the two warships carrying Modao soldiers to dock first. Five hundred heavy armored infantrymen holding Modao soldiers came ashore facing the arrows and began to line up to attack the Tang army.
The arrows of the Tang army could not penetrate the heavy armor of the Modao army. This was the first time for most of the soldiers to encounter the Modao army of the Sui army. Such soldiers who were not afraid of arrows made them retreat in fear, and there was a commotion in the camp.
The general, Wang Huaiwen, was a Sui general. He knew that these were heavy armored infantrymen holding racquet blades. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, this type of heavy armored infantry was used to deal with the nomadic people in the north. However, the glaive blades in the Sui army were thinner and longer.
"The general is afraid of the disadvantages of sending out cavalry!" A general also felt that something was wrong, and he quickly reminded Wang Huaiwen.
Wang Huaiwen stared at it for a long time and then resolutely ordered: "Cavalry attack!"
Two thousand cavalry suddenly launched into action and rushed towards the heavy armored infantry of the Sui Army who had just landed, trying to use their speed and impact to knock the heavy armored infantry down the Yellow River.
But in the end, the Tang army's cavalry was severely damaged. The heavy armored infantry withstood the attack of the Tang army's cavalry. They slashed with swords. Under the light of the swords, they were invincible. Five hundred heavy armored infantry advanced like a wall, killing the cavalry and horses until their corpses piled up and blood flowed into rivers.
.
"General, withdraw!"
All the generals shouted anxiously. Wang Huaiwen took one last deep look at the five hundred heavy armored infantry. His eyes showed disappointment. He was unable to catch a single heavy armored infantryman. Seeing that the two thousand cavalrymen had suffered heavy losses, they were completely defeated.
The momentum was rising, and more and more Sui soldiers holding giant shields and spears began to land.
As a last resort, Wang Huaiwen had to order: "The whole army retreats!"
More than a thousand cavalry and less than three thousand crossbowmen quickly evacuated the battlefield.
Since the main force of the Tang army did not participate in the battle, the battle at Mengjindu was destined to be just a small harassment battle. It could only delay the landing of the Sui army, but it could not prevent the main force of the Sui army from landing.
When many Sui troops came ashore, Wang Huaiwen, the general of the Tang army, saw that the situation was over, so he led the Tang army to quickly evacuate the ferry and retreat south.
The 50,000-strong army of the Sui Dynasty began to land in a mighty manner. At this time, the three-pillar beacon was lit on the beacon tower a mile away, quickly transmitting the information that the main force of the Sui army had appeared to the Tang army camp in Luoyang.
...Early the next morning, Wang Huaiwen led the retreating Tang army back to the Luoyang camp. In the past two days, the Tang army did not attack Luoyang and began to prepare to withdraw from the camp to the west. When Li Shimin heard the news that Wang Shichong had removed the imperial title, he immediately realized that the Sui Dynasty
The main force of the army is about to send troops, and removing the imperial title must be a condition for Yang Yuanqing's offer.
As the Sui army sent troops, the battle situation began to become subtle. The situation of Tang Qiang and Zheng Weak was suddenly reversed. The situation began to be unfavorable for the Tang army. Xu Shiji led 20,000 Sui troops on the west route in the Hangu Pass area, while Yang Yuanqing's tens of thousands
The main force came from Yanshi County and attacked from both sides. The Tang army lacked strategic depth and this battle was bound to be defeated.
In the big tent, Li Shimin and dozens of generals were listening to Wang Huaiwen describe the details of the Battle of Mengjin, especially the Modao heavy armored infantry. Everyone was listening with rapt attention.
"The opponent's heavy armored infantry only had 500 people, but their combat effectiveness was quite strong. Their racquet blades were thinner and longer than the ones I knew, and seemed to be sharper. The 500 people withstood the impact of the cavalry and fought as a group.
, killing two thousand cavalrymen and causing heavy casualties."
At this time, a soldier walked into the tent, holding an old-fashioned racquet blade in his hand, which was actually a single-pointed double-edged sword.
Wang Huaiwen took the 30-pound racquet blade and continued to everyone: "The Sui army's racquet blade is three feet longer than this one, and the blade is two feet longer. It must be thin and light, and the blade is also thin, but it feels very
It’s hard and sharp. I haven’t seen the real thing, but I feel that making a Sui Army clapping blade requires very good iron quality and craftsmanship, and our craftsmen may not be able to make it.”
At this time, another soldier came in. He also had a slapping blade in his hand, but the slapping blade just now was thinner and longer. It was exactly the same as Wang Huaiwen's description. Many of the generals exclaimed.
Wang Huaiwen's eyes widened. He slowly took over the long racquet blade, waved his ears, and said excitedly to the generals: "That's it, it's exactly the same as the Sui army's clapper blade. It's indeed a good sword!"
He suddenly became confused again, where did this racquet come from? He asked Li Shimin with some confusion, "Is this what His Highness wanted to seize from the Sui army?"
Li Shimin took the clapping blade and shook his head and said: "This clapping blade was actually made by the swordsmith of our weapons supervisor last month."
There were exclaims in the big tent that their own craftsmen could actually build it. Wang Huaiwen was extremely excited, "Your Highness, can we also form a heavy armored infantry like the Sui army?"
Li Shimin smiled bitterly and sighed slightly: "I hope so too, but it's unrealistic. To be precise, this knife is not called the Pai Blade, but the Mo Dao. It has extremely high requirements for both iron quality and forging technology.
, We began to pay attention to this Sui Army's heavy-armored Mod Sword Army more than a year ago, and I specially gathered the best swordsmen from the Chang'an Ordnance Supervision."
Speaking of this, Li Shimin was a little discouraged. He sighed and said: "It's a pity that I don't have a prototype knife, let alone forging technology. The Sui Dynasty kept it very secret. Tang Feng tried his best and found nothing. Our intelligence
Just like General Wang, he only knows that it is extremely long, extremely thin, extremely hard and sharp, and knows nothing else about it, so
It took our swordsmiths more than a year to finally build such a Mo Dao, and we also made their heavy armor, but the problem is that we don't have time and so many outstanding craftsmen to build one.
The heavy-armored Mo Dao with 3,000 men will take at least two years and exhaust the power of the entire Tang Dynasty before it can succeed."
King Qin's words made everyone feel a little heavy. Yuchi Gong asked curiously: "Your Highness, is the Sui Army's heavily armored Modao Army invincible and has no way to restrain it?"
"No! The Sui army's heavy-armored Modao army also had natural enemies. When attacking Dou Jiande's camp, Dou Jiande's army used bed crossbows. It is said that hundreds of heavy-armored Modao troops were killed. It may be a bit exaggerated, but bed crossbows
Iron arrows can indeed penetrate the heavy armor of the heavily armored Mo Dao soldiers, so I found a way to deal with the heavy armored infantry."
Speaking of this, Li Shimin smiled slightly and said, "Actually, there are many other ways. For example, if we dig a big hole so that they fall in, they will not come out, and then burn it with kerosene, and they will die as well. Everything in the world always falls one after another.
There is nothing invincible in the world, and the Sui army cannot sweep across the world with just one heavy armored infantry. As long as we are vigilant, we can minimize casualties and losses."
The atmosphere in the military tent became heated again. At this time, a soldier rushed in and reported: "Your Highness, there is urgent information from Hongnong County!"
Li Shimin took the intelligence and read it over, his face suddenly became solemn, and he said slowly to the generals: "Xu Shiji led his army into Hongnong County to cut off our retreat."
Li Shimin sighed. Now that things had happened, he couldn't help but withdraw his troops. He immediately ordered: "Pass my order to evacuate the army to Hongnong County!"
As Yang Yuanqing's army crossed the river, the Tang army realized that it could not capture Luoyang. In order not to be cut off by the Sui army, Li Shimin was forced to order a withdrawal. The 70,000 Tang army evacuated towards Hongnong County and withdrew the battlefield to Hongnong County.
Evacuating Luoyang does not mean they gave up on the Central Plains. Preserving the occupation of Hongnong County became the top priority of the Tang army. A big battle between Yang Yuanqing and Li Shimin was about to begin in Hongnong County.