Chapter 165: Doorway
On the same day that Master Bao returned to Xi'an, Zhang Hu had arrived in Qinzhou.
It's not that Zhang Hu didn't want to attack Gongchang. Of course, the food, wealth, and population of the city were much more than other places. Looking at the high walls of Gongchang Mansion, Zhang Hu couldn't help but recall the good time he spent in Baoning Mansion. Looking at the cannon fodder around them, with a wave of their hands, the soldiers from each battalion rushed the common people from the old camp to attack the city.
More than 100,000 people were stationed at the gate of Gongchang City, and as far as the eye could see, it was boundless. A large number of people emboldened people. Although there were no siege equipment, they just built a lot of long ladders temporarily, and everyone carried them and rushed down the city. Zhang Hu thought, at worst, tens of thousands of people would die. When the defenders were almost exhausted, several combat barracks stepped on the corpses and went up... But the cruel reality soon shattered the beautiful fantasy: rain poured down from the wall. Under the heavy firepower, the common people fell to the ground in pieces like wheat under a sickle. Before they even touched the base of the wall, about two thousand people were already lying dead on the spot - the crowd was so dense that the archers on the wall could hardly reach the ground. There is no need to aim, just a rough shot can often achieve good results. What's more terrible is that these people have neither large shields to protect nor can they wear armor. Even the clothes they wear are in tatters. The defenders only need half a bow. It can be knocked down by a downward shot, which consumes very little physical strength. Zhang Hu carefully observed several defensive archers behind the formation: after twenty or thirty rounds, the shooting rhythm showed no sign of slowing down at all!
No, the defenders at the top of the city can attack unscrupulously without being suppressed! So Zhang Hu gathered all the archers in the army and went forward to shoot cover. Just after two rounds of arrows were fired, wailing sounds were heard one after another from the archers - it turned out that the defenders had not deployed their crossbowmen until this moment, and they disappeared among the battlements one by one, paying no attention to the people who came over, calm and calm. Aim at your own archers!
Bows and crossbows are all long-range strike weapons, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of bows and arrows is their fast shooting speed, but their disadvantage is that they require long-term and arduous training - without more than a year of rigorous training, it is difficult to shoot arrows accurately, so the archers in the army are often gathered together to carry out coverage overviews. shooting. The disadvantage of the crossbow is its slow rate of fire. In one time of cocking, aiming and firing, a skilled archer can calmly complete five bow shots. But at the same time, its advantages are also huge: first of all, it is the armor-breaking ability. It is difficult for ordinary bows and arrows to penetrate iron armor, and even steel plate armor is vulnerable to crossbows! The second is accuracy. There is a mountain (sight) on the crossbow, and the accuracy is incomparable with that of a bow and arrow that relies entirely on the shooter's experience and skills. The third is stability. When the bow is fully drawn, it must be fired as soon as possible. Few people can keep the bow fully ready for a long time. However, the crossbowman holding the crossbow can calmly aim and wait for the best opportunity. Most importantly, training costs will be greatly reduced: with the help of Wangshan, any ordinary person can achieve good results with a little training (so the use of crossbows was banned in Europe for a period of time on the grounds that "the meanest serfs can easily kill Kill a noble knight who has undergone many years of hard training" - of course, it is precisely for this reason that crossbows have become more popular).
Zhang Hu's archers were covered by large shields, but when shooting, they had to jump out from behind the shields to draw their bows and aim. This gave the defenders' crossbowmen, who were waiting for work, an excellent opportunity. In order to facilitate the drawing of the bow, the archers only wore half leather armor - even iron armor was vulnerable to crossbow arrows, let alone leather armor! Of course, an archer who is shot in a vital part will die on the spot, but even if he is only hit by an arrow in his limbs, he will be crippled for life. After dozens of archers were shot down, Zhang Hu reluctantly withdrew the archers.
More serious than the loss of life is the blow to morale. The common people who were lucky enough not to be shot braved the rain of arrows and put up long ladders on the moat and ran over crying for their fathers and mothers. From time to time, someone in panic would step on the air and get stuck, and then try their best to escape from behind. The arrows at the top of the city were unable to stop a group of people stumbling over each other. You dragged me to the ground and fell into the trench one after another...
Zhang Hu came out of the army and cavalry around him. He was good at horseback riding and slashing people with knives. Until this time, he still didn't have much experience in attacking fortified cities - several cities in Sichuan were captured through surprise attacks and internal countermeasures. So, Keep watching silently. More than an hour passed, and thousands of soldiers and more than a dozen ladders slowly gathered under the wall. I finally understood: In this way, Gongchang Mansion may not be able to be defeated, and the defenders who pose no threat can act unscrupulously. How can we fight this battle if we stick our heads to attack? As if to confirm his idea, a long line of white water vapor suddenly evaporated from the front line of the city, and then pairs of defenders carried cauldrons and poured water down the city - they didn't even bother to throw stones. , boil water directly on the wall and pour it down! From time to time, defenders would poke their heads out to look down on the wall, holding on to the wall with one hand and waving desperately with the other, directing the guys who were boiling water to pour it into crowded areas...
Under the wall there was a howl of ghosts and wolves.
The soldiers supervising the battle were waving sticks, swords and guns in the safe area, and were still driving the people towards the city. The frightened people huddled in piles, cowered and hid, and finally had to run towards the city under the rain of arrows, like a herd of sheep surrounded by wolves. The corpses along the way and the companions struggling and wailing in a pool of blood shocked them greatly. The most terrifying thing was the guys who came back from under the wall and were like ghosts after being doused with boiling water. Some of them had most of their hair falling off and their faces were covered in blisters. Some of them had large pieces of scalded skin and tender red flesh hanging on their bodies. When exposed, a layer of yellow liquid emerges, and some fall down while running. Every time they struggle and roll on the ground, a piece of flesh will be left behind, but the people who are screaming are completely unaware...
Finally, fear slowly began to overwhelm the spirit, and the crowd became hysterical. More and more people no longer ran towards the city wall, but scattered aimlessly to the wings. On both wings were Fang Ge's battalions responsible for supervising the battle and interception. Zhang Hu immediately looked over there on the temporary mound that served as the general's platform, and quickly came to the conclusion: If no measures are taken, the large number of people will break through Fang Ge's position sooner or later - and then everything will be too late. Got it! It seems that attacking a city is not as simple as using tens of thousands of dead bodies to build a wall. Finally, King Zhang sighed sadly: Retreat your troops.
A crisp golden sound sounded, and a clearly audible cheer erupted from the city wall, occasionally mixed with various kinds of curses.
The rain of arrows fired from the wall slowly became sparse, and then stopped altogether. The injured people lay all over the ground. They knew in their hearts that even if they struggled back, King Zhang would not be able to support him, so they just lay down and resigned themselves to fate. There are many uninjured civilians who are among them with a sense of luck, and they don’t want to go back again - the living example is around them, they can just go back to work as cows and horses, and eat wild vegetables, but in the next battle, they are likely to be like those around them Just like the guy, he was buried under which city for no apparent reason! Some of the soldiers supervising the battle were eager to perform their duties. They ran forward with knives and identified them in the crowd. When they saw nothing serious, they stabbed them hard...
"Ah!" With a scream, a guy who had just stabbed him was knocked down by a strong force. After struggling for a few times, he fell silent. Half of a crossbow arrow was stuck in his chest - the defenders on the wall were reluctant to give up their precious Crossbow arrows are wasted on the old and weak, and the thieves and soldiers are of course perfect targets. A dozen guys who ran into the crowd of civilians to finish off their wounds were shot down one after another, so the others fled en masse. The civilians who were lucky enough to save their lives burst into cheers and praises, and everyone who could still speak was there. He shouted to the top of the city with all his strength, telling his misery and misfortune, and expressing his endless gratitude to the officers and soldiers for saving him from the tiger's mouth.
Zhang Hu's team has disappeared from the end of the field of vision. Dozens of thick ropes were thrown down from the wall. One or two hundred officers and soldiers were lowered down the city one after another and came among the people. Under their command, the people who had managed to escape with their lives gathered the dead and injured together and laid them out side by side, and then the exhausted ones were also gathered together. The people who were sitting on the same spot had just let out a long sigh of relief, and before they had time to sigh that they had finally saved their lives, they were horrified to see that the officers and soldiers had surrounded them on all sides, followed by a shrill whistle, The sharp sword light flashed in the crowd again!
The screams, begging for mercy, curses... finally fell silent. The officers and soldiers talked, laughed and cursed as they trudged through the pile of corpses and carefully inspected each corpse. When they found someone who could be used, they would call their companions to work together to cut off the head. Occasionally, if they looked at someone of suitable stature and age, but the head was so mangled that they could not be identified, everyone would sigh in regret.
In this battle, Zhang Hu left behind more than 5,000 pieces of baggage and was of course disgraced. However, in the long period of time that followed, Zhang Hu discovered a very interesting phenomenon: as long as he did not touch those fortified cities, Ningyuan, Tongwei, Qin'an and other counties were simply fat sheep without the ability to resist. Although all the officials and wealthy families had fled, and the common people who could escape had fled into the mountains, but this was still a county town, and food and tools that could not be taken away were everywhere, waiting for you to pick them up!
At this moment, Zhang Hu was hesitating outside Qinzhou City, should he try fighting again?
Zhang Hu was hesitating, and several reconnaissance cavalry sent out sent back news one after another: Erliguan on the other side of Fengxiang Mansion was heavily populated with troops, and the military camp stretching for more than ten miles was directly connected to Dashan Pass. If he marched by force, he would definitely encounter a series of encounters. bloody battle. On the contrary, Malingguan, a natural barrier at the junction of Hanzhong Prefecture and Gongchang Prefecture, was deserted. Several scouts even ran all the way to Feng County without encountering any interception - judging from the situation, Fengcheng was also an empty city!
Zhang Hu was illiterate, so he asked his master to use a red pen to mark these places on the map he had found at the Qin'an County government office. He looked at it for a long time. Gradually, he seemed to realize something, so he grabbed the pen and clenched it with his fist on the map. Previous stroke: This... is clearly leaving a way for this great king!
However, will these dog officials dig a big hole for themselves ahead? Zhang Hu fell into deep thought. Niu Youtian was even more confused than Zhang Hu, but Fang Ge woke up the dreamer with a few words: "Brother, don't you remember how you got to our Sichuan Province!"
yes! When the army was launched earlier, there were few people, and the counties along the way were all eager to go to Linxian County as soon as possible. Now that they have grown stronger, their opponents have been replaced by provincial government-level dog officials. They are probably also looking forward to leaving as soon as possible! No matter what, let’s go from Liangdang to Hanzhong via Malingguan! Then whether to go to Huguang or somewhere else, we will make plans then!
Because Zhang Hu was blocking the road, the report of Gongchang Prefecture's victory and his head were not sent to Xi'an, the provincial capital, until Zhang Hu entered Hanzhong Prefecture. Even though Zhang Hu lost more than 5,000 people, the heads he handed over were only over 500 levels. Most of the dead were old and weak, so handing them over to the Ministry of War would not only fail to count, but would also greatly affect the significance of this good news. The Shaanxi Dusi Mansion picked out half of them, and only about 220 people were sent to the capital - except for the 20 or 30 archers who were shot to death by crossbows, the others were of course all civilians who were coerced.
As Zhang Hufang Ge expected, it was easy for the army to enter the two empty cities of Fengxian and Liuba in "Lianke" Hanzhong Prefecture. However, when they tested in the direction of Fengxiang Prefecture, they encountered another disappointment at Dashan Pass. Then on the way to Hanzhong Fucheng along the Baoshui River, at Hutou Pass and Jitou Pass, we once again saw the spectacular scene of a forest of flags and swords and guns reflecting the sun. The strange thing is that there are heavy troops in the north and south, but the officers and soldiers never step out of the border to attack, and they just watch helplessly as they rob the surrounding suburbs! After several intentional tests, Zhang Hu completely understood: the dog officials just wanted to send him away quickly!
