September 20th was the third day the Turks attacked Mingsha Camp.
The extremely tired Liu Rengui rested against the wooden pillar of the archery tower, while the soldiers on the side were bandaging his wounds. In the previous confrontation, Liu Rengui was almost cut off from the back of the head with a long knife, so that his colleagues could kick him out. , but a long gash was also pulled out of his back.
After three days of fierce fighting, although the Turks' attacks became weaker day by day, to Zhang Zhongjian's and other Tang army generals' surprise, the Turks refused to leave and desperately attacked the Mingsha Camp.
The first sheep and horse wall has been destroyed by the Turks regardless of the cost. Behind the sheep and horse wall is a trench. On one side of the trench is a low wall. Now the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty rely on the low wall to confront the Turks.
Behind the low wall is the main camp of the Tang army. Behind the fence are piled a large number of various ordnance, such as horses and antlers, specifically to hinder possible raids by the Turkic cavalry.
On a slightly higher hill in the distance, Zhang Zhongjian was not afraid of the battle situation from a distance. He knew very well that if there were no accidents, although Dubu Khan had an army of 100,000, well, the three days of fierce battle had caused a lot of damage, and now it should be It was around 90,000, but it was almost impossible to break through the Mingsha Camp, which had no shortage of weapons, food, and morale.
After filling up the trenches and low walls, knocking down the low walls and fences, demolishing the fences and a large number of horse resistance, the Turkic cavalry, who lacked shields, had to complete all this under the cover of dense arrow rain, and then face the enemy again. Having been preparing for a long time, relying on the elite Tang army with Juma and Deer Antlers, if Dubu Khan really continues like this, Zhang Zhongjian is even sure of completing a great victory.
On the first day, the Tang army suffered nearly 3,000 casualties, but on the second day, it quickly dropped to more than 1,000. On the third day, there were only a few hundred people. The number of Turks' attacks did not decrease, but the intensity became lower day by day. This is why Zhang Zhongjian was puzzled. place...why did Dubu Khan insist on conquering the Mingsha Camp.
The Turks attacked Mingsha Camp, which was not beyond Zhang Zhongjian's expectations, but such a fierce attack surprised him very much.
Indeed, the main force of the Tang army was stuck in Mingsha. As a result, although the Turks occupied most of Lingzhou, they never dared to relax. But it was enough to just keep an eye on the Mingsha camp. Why did they have to attack it vigorously?
Even if the Turks destroyed the Mingsha Camp and defeated the Lingzhou Army for the third time in two years, and spread across Lingzhou and Huizhou, it would still be difficult to break through Yuanzhou and enter the hinterland of the Guannai Road.
The current governor of Yuanzhou is Zhang Shigui, a well-known civil and military general. In the past year or so since he took office, he has built checkpoints and trained soldiers. He has sufficient troops and good food and grass. The possibility of being attacked by the Turks is too small.
Moreover, in the past two years, Lingzhou and Huizhou were looted by the Turks and Liang Shidu several times. There really was not much for the Turks to rob.
All in all, the price paid was completely out of proportion to the possible rewards, which had to make Zhang Zhongjian suspicious. Therefore, Tang Jian was in a relaxed mood, while Zhang Zhongjian frowned.
"coming."
After hearing Tang Jian's reminder, Zhang Zhongjian looked carefully at the flags waving on the archery tower.
The most important function of the archery tower is not to allow the archers to be condescending, but to watch the battle and quickly transmit the enemy's movements to the commander through flags.
After a moment, Zhang Zhongjian chuckled and said: "It seems that Ashina She'er can't hold on any longer. The soldiers coming are Wang Zhangbing."
All the Turks are soldiers, but as such a huge khanate, the Turks naturally have standing troops, and unlike ordinary herdsmen, they at least wear leather armor and hold iron spears and lances in their hands to attack difficulties. In terms of combat effectiveness, it is much stronger than the ordinary Turkic cavalry.
"So what about the king's soldiers!" Zhang Zhongjian snorted, "Open the third hole and let them in."
Without the protection of the sheep and horse wall, the biggest impact on the Tang army was that it would not be so convenient for cavalry to attack, because the sheep and horse wall left many openings for cavalry to attack, but the low walls, trenches and already It is impossible to leave too many openings in a fenced camp, otherwise it will become the focus of the Turks' attack.
But even so, these openings are also key areas for Turkic cavalry to attack. Even if the Tang army deployed heavy troops here, the Turkic cavalry will still attack here, even at the cost of letting the king's troops go into battle.
Zhang Zhongjian sneered: "Let Kan Ling be prepared."
The royal troops of the Turkic Ashina royal family would not go out unless it was a war. In the few years of war with the Tang Dynasty, they only officially participated in the war twice, once in Guji Town and the other in Jingzhou.
The previous time, he was killed by Li Shan and Zhang Baoxiang and had to run away. It could be said that it was bad luck. Who let Li Shan shoot? But the last time, it was a head-on confrontation and he was killed by Mo Dao, who showed his sharpness for the first time in the North. Got to be devastated.
After carefully watching the flags waving behind him, Liu Rengui patted the pillar vigorously. He shouted loudly and asked the soldiers around him to gather their men and assemble the soldiers from the three nearby incomplete squads.
The Turks attacked fiercely for several days and had an advantage in strength. Moreover, because of the rapid movement of the cavalry, they occasionally turned to test the defense lines on the north and south sides. Therefore, Zhang Zhongjian did not dare to mobilize troops. He also had other arrangements, so he had to mobilize reserve troops from the rear to make up for it. However, Still leading the troops with the original generals.
Naturally, it was the rain of arrows that kicked off, but this time Liu Rengui quickly noticed the difference. The Tang army had sufficient weapons, and because it was an infantry bow with a long range, the first two waves of arrows covered it, but not many cavalry were shot down.
"There is actually armor." Liu Rengui was startled, "They are the king's soldiers...be careful not to show your head!"
Liu Rengui shouted loudly, but it was too late. The approaching Turkic cavalry bent their bows and fired arrows. This time they were not covered with arrows, but struck accurately... A bold Tang soldier stood by the low wall, covering his face with a shield. He tentatively waited and watched the battle, but an arrow accurately hit his shoulder, sending him flying back.
"Shoot the arrows, shoot the arrows!" Liu Rengui looked nervously at the flag waving behind him and felt a little relieved. He was responsible for the area with the greatest frontal defense pressure. If he was breached, even if he was expelled, he would suffer heavy casualties.
The flags from the rear were waving, reminding Liu Rengui that the Turks had divided their forces, and most of them were heading towards the third passage opening. The ones attacking from the front were probably... Liu Rengui looked up at the archery tower, and it should be about five hundred.
With a loud roar, Liu Rengui stood up, holding a shield in his left hand and a spear in his right hand. Hundreds of soldiers holding spears on the left and right stood up and stabbed forward.
Liu Rengui was not sure about other places, but the trench he was responsible for had almost been filled in. The trenches were filled with the corpses of Turks and shot horses, which allowed the Turks to fight straight to the low wall.
What suddenly appeared in front of him was a big man who was almost bald, with colleagues on both sides. Liu Rengui stabbed straight with the spear in his right hand, but was dodged by the opponent. Just as he was about to sweep across, the pain in his back made him groan. When his movements slowed down, the big man was about to pounce, when suddenly there was an arrow in his chest.
(End of chapter)
