In the early morning, the snowflakes had stopped, but the sky was still full of haze, as if it was about to kick off this tragic and fierce battle.
If Lingzhou dies, Xixia will die. This sentence has also foreshadowed that the upcoming battle to defend Lingzhou City will definitely be a fierce battle.
Outside the city, the Mongolian army camp, the desolate horn sounded, and the black and white banners fluttered in the wind. The locust-like Mongolian army came out of the camp in dense numbers. They gathered in front of the formation, one by one, each with a sword and a shield. , bows and arrows in hand, crowds of people, no one knows how many.
One after another, the trebuchets were pushed out. The huge machines were daunting and densely packed. There were actually two to three hundred of them. Between the trebuchets, there are hundreds of ballistas, also slowly moving forward.
In front of the trebuchets and ballistas, countless Mongolian troops stood solemnly carrying ladders. They looked at the Lingzhou City in front of them, ready to go.
Judging from the posture of the Mongolian army, it seems that they are going to capture Lingzhou City in front of them in one go.
The Xixia garrison at the top of the city looked gloomy. Looking at the endless Mongolian army gathering outside the city, the Xia army tightened their weapons and stood ready.
"So many trebuchets!"
On top of the city, Li Deren looked at the surging Mongolian army formation, his palms sweating. Among the Xixia generals next to him, many of them turned pale, some were breathing rapidly, and some were wiping sweat constantly. You can imagine the tension in their hearts.
Once the trebuchets attack together, the walls of Lingzhou City will probably be smashed down. The houses around the city wall must be in ruins. As for the Xia soldiers on top of the city, who knows how many casualties they will suffer?
I heard that the Mongolian army used five or six hundred trebuchets to defeat Yanjing City, the central capital of the Jin people. They smashed down the walls of Yanjing City in half a day and broke into the city. I don’t know if it’s true or not?
"So many soldiers attacked the city all at once. It seems that Genghis Khan is angry!"
Ning Zining stared at the endless sea of people outside the city with an ugly expression on his face.
When besieging Lingzhou City, the Mongolian army was going to repeat their old tricks and smash Lingzhou City to the ground.
"Ms. Ning, the city wall is dangerous, you'd better get down quickly!"
Li Deren's heartbeat accelerated and his breathing became rapid.
"Your Highness, you are here, where can I hide?"
Ning Zining calmed down and spoke calmly.
Li Deren looked at Ning Zining. The two looked at each other, both shook their heads and smiled, and looked outside the city again.
In the Mongol army formation, the sound of dozens of big cowhide drums was like thunder. The Mongolian army attacking the city began to move, with trebuchets in front and infantry behind. It came over like a tide and rushed forward, heading straight for the Lingzhou city wall. .
"Prepare!"
Li Deren looked solemn and shouted loudly.
The drums were beating loudly, and all the Xia troops on the top of the city clenched their shields and weapons. The crossbowmen loaded the crossbow guns on the crossbow cart, and everyone looked solemn.
"General Zhang, is there any way to deal with the Tatar trebuchet?"
Li Deren subconsciously asked Zhang Zhongxialai at the side.
"Your Highness, it should be okay."
Zhang Zhongxia personally commanded a 7-pound general cannon, adjusting the angle and loading ammunition with the gunner, meticulously.
Although he was born in the infantry department of the Jinling Jiangwu Hall, Zhang Zhongxia had practiced artillery both in the Jiangwu Hall and in the army, and as a military general, he was no stranger to artillery.
Even small artillery shells have an effective range of more than 300 steps. With so many large and small artillery pieces, it should be possible to win against almost the same number of trebuchets.
"It might work?"
Li Deren shook his head, what kind of answer was this?
The tranquility before the war always makes people restless.
On the city wall, Cao Youwan turned on his telescope and saw the dense artillery, carriages and ballistas in his field of vision, which made his heart beat loudly. He didn't know the range of the trebuchet, and the Xia army officers also had different opinions. Some said it was 300 steps, and some said it was 500 steps. Wouldn't this be within the range of a small cannon?
Once this big thing comes raining down, the artillery carriage at the top of the city will probably fall apart.
"Solid iron ball, reload!"
Cao Youwan stared closely at the Mongolian army's trebuchets and ballistae rolling in from the opposite side, and shouted loudly.
Cao Youwan's military order was passed down, and the Song Army artillerymen on the city became busy.
Li Deren, Ning Zining and other Xixia generals were stunned. There were still two or three miles away. What was the Song army going to do?
Can their so-called artillery fire such a distance?
"How far away is it?"
Cao Youwan turned around and asked about the lookout hand of Song Jun on the side.
"General, come out about two miles away!"
The lookout hand watched carefully and reported to Cao Youwan.
"Test the cannon!"
Cao Youwan decisively issued a military order.
At Erli, it was already within the effective range of the artillery, and it was completely possible to fire the artillery to attack the Mongolian army's trebuchet.
As the Xia Army officers on the top of the city watched in surprise, two general cannons opened fire at the same time. The smoke filled the air, and two seven-pound iron balls flew in the air, heading straight for the Mongolian army's trebuchet formation.
The iron ball came roaring, and an iron ball hit the bridge body of a trebuchet. The bridge arm broke and flew out. Several Mongolian gunners were unable to avoid it. They were smashed to pieces, and they were crushed to death or death under the bridge arm. Howling desperately, the trebuchet collapsed and scattered.
Another iron ball hit the frozen solid ground, bounced and flew, smashing a bloody alley in the Mongolian army's trebuchet formation, and finally hit the wheel of a ballista. The wheel was shattered and could no longer move.
Just two solid iron balls, several Mongolian soldiers fell in a pool of blood, the wounded screamed miserably, and the dead were so miserable that all the soldiers on both sides were shocked for a while.
"good!"
On the top of the city, Xia Bing's face was red and he couldn't help shouting loudly.
Li Deren, Ning Zining and others were stunned. A group of people lay on the city wall, staring outside the city with their eyes wide open.
There are so many trebuchets. Needless to say, the Song army is going to launch a salvo of artillery.
"Why are you dazed? Adjust the angle and smash all the Tatar trebuchets and ballistas to the ground!"
Cao Youwan glared at the flag officer beside him, looking serious.
"Remember, use the solid iron ball first, and only use half of the cannon each time!"
The flag officer nodded, raised the green flag and waved it, and then waved the red flag in his hand heavily.
Needless to say, this "Cao Erdan" is playing hard to get and playing second-hand.
The gunners adjusted the screw rod on the breech of the gun so that the height of the gun was almost the same. The Mongolian army's trebuchets and ballistae were so densely packed that there was no need to adjust the angle. The muzzles were faint and pointed forward.
The red-hot iron drills in the hands of the gunners were pressed on the fuses of the fire door.
"Peng! Peng! Peng!"
On the south wall, the defenders' twenty-five cannons roared almost simultaneously, the shells roared one after another, and small black dots flew in the air like flying fireballs, heading straight for the Mongolian army's trebuchets and ballistae in the wilderness.
The iron balls flew into the Mongolian army's trebuchet formation, flying wildly and destroying the artillery carts. Wood chips flew, and the wooden arms of the wooden planks were broken. More Mongolian army trebuchets and crossbow carts were smashed and overturned, and the Mongolian army's gunners and crossbowmen were There were heavy casualties, a collision of iron and blood.
The artillery kept roaring, and the trebuchets and ballistae were constantly knocked over, swaying, and torn to pieces. The Mongolian army's artillerymen and crossbowmen suffered numerous casualties. Flesh and blood were everywhere, and the wasteland was dyed red with blood. The Mongolian army's trebuchets outside the city were smashed one after another and were swaying. The Mongolian army's gunners were killed and injured, and everyone was horrified.
On the Lingzhou city wall, Xia Bing cheered loudly. The defenders cheered and cheered for the destruction of the Mongolian army's trebuchet and ballistae, and their morale was greatly boosted.
"well played!"
Under great pressure, Li Deren took out a breath and shouted excitedly.
When defending the city of Lingzhou, what they feared the most were the Mongolian trebuchets flying all over the sky. The defenders had no choice but to let the enemy bombard them indiscriminately. The city walls and residences in the city were smashed down, and the defenders were smashed. He was seriously injured and lost his combat effectiveness early.
Looking at this posture now, the Mongolian army's trebuchets have reached a range of three to four hundred steps, and there may not be a few left. If this is the case, he will be completely sure that Lingzhou City will be defended for several months.
The Mongolian army no longer had trebuchets, and the Xia army defended the city. The city wall was safe and sound. The Mongolian army relied on infantry to attack the Lingzhou city wall. Li Deren felt much calmer and more at ease.
"Your Highness, this is so satisfying! It's so unexpected!"
Next to Li Deren, Ning Zining was shocked, but his expression became much more relaxed.
The sharpness of the city's artillery was beyond his expectation.
Without the trebuchet and ballistae, the pressure of defending the city was much less. At least the soldiers don't have to worry too much when they stand on top of the city.
"This guy is so awesome!"
"Well done, it's so refreshing!"
Everyone in the garrison at the top of the city was in high spirits.
"Ms. Ning, go down to the city and prepare ginger soup and hot rice. This is a tough battle and I'm afraid it will last a long time!"
Li Deren's face was flushed. After giving the order loudly, he looked at the Mongolian army still rolling forward and shouted:
"Soldiers, prepare your shields! Be careful of the Tatar arrows!"
Li Deren's military order was passed down, and the defenders at the top of the city raised their shields to avoid being killed by the rain of arrows from the Mongolian army.
"Peng! Peng! Peng!"
The city was filled with gunpowder smoke, solid iron balls kept roaring out, and the Mongolian army's trebuchets were constantly being smashed. By the moat, the Song Army's artillery had fired six or seven times, and there were only a dozen or so Mongolian army trebuchets left. . And almost all the ballistae were destroyed.
"General, why are you only using half of the artillery?"
The results of the battle were outstanding, and the artillerymen of the Song Army were beaming with joy. Yang Daquan came up and asked Cao Youwan in a low voice.
The two grew up together, living and dying together on the city wall, and there were not so many taboos.
If 50 artillery pieces on the south city wall fire at the same time, wouldn't it be even more devastating?
"Brother, to deal with such a dense trebuchet, half of the artillery is enough."
Cao Youwan patted the young man on the shoulder and spoke softly, but his face was excited and his eyes were proud.
"When I was teaching martial arts in Jinling, the emperor once said that the purpose of war is to kill the opponent on a large scale and make the opponent lose the ability to resist. You see, although the Tatar army does not have the trebuchet, it has just Hundreds of people were killed or injured, and the war is still to come, so we have to save some ammunition.”
Yang Daquan suddenly realized it, his heart was chilling, he nodded repeatedly and walked away quickly.
Kill the opponent on a large scale and make the opponent lose the ability to resist!
The emperor is such a ruthless man!
