The distance between Jincheng and Dingyang City is about 120 miles, and this section of the road is also a gentle area at the eastern foot of the Altyn Mountains and the western section of Danghenan Mountain. However, Murong Yan planned to cover such a small distance in two days; of course, if he let the heavy troops and craftsmen march slowly behind and led the soldiers to march in a hurry, then it would not take even one-tenth of the time.
The reason for moving forward so slowly is that this section of the road is mainly composed of gentle grasslands and hills. There are many jungles and severely wind-eroded hills on both sides of the road. As long as the Sui army ambush one or two thousand people in a secret place, they will be able to defeat them. He could destroy all his baggage; secondly, his mission was only to contain the Sui army led by Mai Tiezhang, so for the sake of safety, he did not use a rapid march, but instead advanced steadily step by step. This can not only effectively prevent the baggage from being ambushed, but also enable the entire army to maintain strong combat effectiveness. It can also prevent enemy troops from moving north.
However, marching in icy weather still consumes a lot of energy for humans and animals. Seeing that it is getting late, the exhausted soldiers are eagerly waiting for the general to give the order to rest. But Murong Yan had no idea of stopping and resting at this time.
A captain of ten thousand men named Bei Gongxiong rode up to Murong Yan and asked, "General, we have traveled more than seventy miles today. Do you want to camp and rest?"
Murong Yan looked at the sky and said, "It will get dark in about an hour, so we can still walk another twenty miles today."
Bei Gongxiong hesitated for a while, then whispered: "But general, the soldiers are very tired!"
Murong Yan glanced at him coldly and said: "The war is very likely to break out tomorrow. Even if there is no war, the Sui army occupying the city will not be able to let us rest in peace. So we will walk an extra twenty miles today. The soldiers will be able to travel twenty miles less tomorrow, and their combat effectiveness will be guaranteed. Pass on the order and continue marching."
"General, I will obey your order!" Bei Gongxiong had no choice but to pass on the general's order.
The soldiers were almost frozen on horseback. When they heard that they had to continue moving forward, they all complained incessantly. However, after the order was issued, they could only force themselves to march.
After walking about five miles, the soldiers came to a river. Perhaps because of the hot springs on the mountain, the large drop in the river bed and the rapid water flow, the river was not frozen by ice and snow. The soldiers were tired and hungry at this time. Seeing the gurgling river in front of them, many soldiers ignored the general's orders and cheered, rushing forward to drink water. The team suddenly became chaotic.
Murong Yan was furious and whipped the soldiers who were rushing: "Get back all of them!"
At this moment, an arrow shot from the dense forest nearby, hitting the back of Murong Yan's neck. He let out a muffled groan, covered his neck and fell off the horse.
The soldiers who dispersed in a hurry did not notice anything unusual about the general, but Murong Yan's soldiers did. At first, they thought that the general had suddenly fallen off his horse. When they were about to dismount and help the general, they saw an arrow piercing through him. Blood was pouring from the general's neck. They were so frightened that their eyes widened and they all shouted in horror: "There is an enemy, the enemy is attacking!"
Before he finished speaking, there were sounds of killing in the dense forests on both sides. "Woohoohoohoo" was a masterpiece, and the two cavalry was like sharp arrows, and the jungle rushed into the Tuguhun army from the left and right jungles.
The general on the left is tall and bearded, holding a big iron spear, which is the Sui army's commander Mai Tiezhang; the general on the right immediately hangs a long sword and holds a big bow, it is Zong Luohu, who was just now Murong Yan was killed with one arrow and fell from his horse.
In order to completely annihilate Murong Yan's 20,000-strong army, Mai Tiezhang brought all the male soldiers who could fight. The total strength was 12,000, and they were divided into four armies to lurk here. At this time, the left and right armies were on both sides. Under the leadership of the people, they killed the Tuyuhun army with great force.
The Tuyuhun soldiers were in chaos because they were rushing to drink water. When they were suddenly attacked, they were all frightened and tried to escape along the original route. The soldiers in a mess pushed each other and countless people were pushed to the ground. Afterwards, they were trampled alive into a pulp. Suddenly, screams and cries echoed through the sky.
The life and death of the general Murong Yan was unknown, and no one commanded the soldiers to fight. As a result, the leaderless Tuyuhun soldiers were defeated in the chaos. They were killed by the two most powerful armies. The corpses were piled all over the mountain road and the snow was stained red with blood.
"Abandon weapons and dismount, and those who surrender will not be killed! Abandon weapons and dismount, and those who surrender will not be killed!" Xue Wanjun, who was lurking in the north, led 3,000 men and horses and rushed from behind the heavily wind-eroded hills, cutting off the retreat route of the Tuyuhun soldiers. The soldiers shouted in the language common to Tuyuhun while killing the deserters.
The soldiers of the Tuyuhun army had no way to go and there were enemy troops behind them. With no way out, they abandoned their weapons and surrendered one after another. Countless people surrendered.
The defeat of the Tuyuhun army was already doomed at the moment when the soldiers were scrambling for water. Even if Murong Yan did not die, he could not save the army. The soldiers did not know how many troops the enemy had at this time. They were just running for their lives in a hurry and had no intention of resisting. .
Although there are many brave warriors in the army who are not afraid of death, and generals like Bei Gongxiong who are good at conquering and fighting bravely resisted, but when these people wanted to fight to the death with the Sui army, they were coerced by their own defeated army and fled for their lives. Even some The brave warrior who was not afraid of death broke away from the defeated army and fought head-on, but he was defeated by the four fists and ended up with his body in a different place.
When Xue Wanjun cut off the enemy's retreat and Hanliu attacked from the front, Zong Luohu and Xue Wanche each led a victorious army soldier, specifically targeting the Tuyuhun army soldiers who had the tendency to form a group. Once there was any sign of gathering into a group, they He immediately used his troops to kill him.
The battle gradually came to a halt in less than an hour. More than 3,000 soldiers led by General Bei Gongxiong and others who had resisted were slaughtered. Groups of surrendering soldiers surrendered their weapons, mounts, took off their armor, and were captured by the Sui Dynasty. The soldiers gathered around and waited for disposal.
"General, Murong Yan's body has been found!" Shortly after the war ended, a group of soldiers came to report with a corpse on their horses.
Mai Tiezhang glanced at the corpse with an arrow in his neck and asked, "Are you sure it's Murong Yan?"
A general replied: "It is indeed him. His soldiers killed dozens of our brothers in order to fight for the body! Later we asked many prisoners and they all said it was Murong Yan."
"Bury him on the spot." Mai Tiezhang ordered.
Xue Wanjun said from the side: "General, maybe you can use his head to ask for credit from the king."
"It's not necessary!" Mai Tiezhang shook his head: "Destroying this army is a great achievement, Murong Yan is not important."
Han Liu stepped forward and said: "General! We have captured more than 7,000 soldiers, more than 1,000 heavy troops and craftsmen, and there are also many tents, food and dried meat! As for the corpses and deserters, there is no time to count them."
Mai Tiezhang nodded, looked at Xue Wanjun, and ordered: "You lead your troops and wounded soldiers to clean up the battlefield, and tomorrow morning, escort the prisoners and supplies to Dingyang City."
"General, I obey!" Xue Wanjun also wanted to fight in Jincheng, but he was not happy to stay, but the military orders were overwhelming. At this time, General Mai Tiezhang had already given the order, so he had no choice but to accept the order.
Mai Tiezhang said to Zong Luohu again: "General Zong, without further delay, we will march through the night and strive to meet the king in hunting for the golden city."
"Here!" Zong Luohu responded and immediately went to prepare.
Two moments later, eight thousand elite soldiers prepared enough dry food and arrows, and galloped northward, one man and two horses.
. . . . . . . .
At the beginning of the offensive by Mai Tiezhang and others, when the sound of killing outside Jincheng was loud, the Sui army's catapult array had already suppressed the Tuyuhun defenders to the point where they could not raise their heads. The endless ice bombs blasted the Tuyuhun soldiers in the west and south cities. The casualties were heavy and the troops were demoralized. The situation of being unable to fight back also brought the entire city's military and civilians to the brink of collapse.
Since the beginning of the war, the battle flag on the base of the West City Tower has been changed more than ten times. Whenever the flagpole is interrupted by flying ice bullets, Tuoba Yuan immediately has the flag re-erected.
Of course, erecting the flag is not just to look good, but to build up the morale of the military and the souls of the defenders. As long as the flag is flying in the air, the soldiers and civilians in the city will know that Xicheng has not fallen. Otherwise, it means that Xicheng has been lost, which will make the soldiers and civilians even more panic and fearful. By then, let alone resisting the enemy, mutiny may even occur.
The above principle is the same for any country and any army, especially the generals and soldiers of the Central Plains Dynasty, who pay special attention to military flags and commander flags that are spiritual symbols. Tuoba Yuan, who was guarding the west, and Murong Yong behind him, did not hesitate to give in. In order to set up this battle flag, they lost two thousand people this afternoon alone.
Many of the most elite and loyal soldiers, even if they were dead, were still guarding the flag with mountains of corpses, suffering heavy blows from ice bullets.
"How long has it been?" On the Jinglan car outside the city, Yang Ji looked in the direction of the city wall and asked Kong Desao beside him without looking back.
As the war continues to this day, Kong Desao's mentality is constantly changing. First, he is not adaptable, then he is adapting, then he is supposed to kill the enemy, and now, he is numb. He even feels that if he is faced with the huge army at this moment, he That’s ok too.
After hearing Yang Ji's inquiry, he immediately looked at the hourglass and replied: "Your Majesty, the time is already at the end of Youshi and is about to enter Xushi." He looked at Yang Ji and reminded: "Your Majesty, catapult. The attack has been going on for nearly an hour, and now it’s less than a moment before the agreed time for the attack.”
Yang Ji immediately waved his command flag and said loudly: "Give Xue Shixiong an order to have the Modao Army guard the Jinglan Chariot Formation and advance, and the infantry prepare to capture the city."
"Dong dong, dong dong, dong dong dong -" This is the sound of the drum that orders the catapult to stop attacking and start a trap battle. The army operating the catapult heard this order and threw the ice bombs, and then stopped the attack. The battlefield also became quiet at this moment.
Xue Shixiong drew his sword and ordered his second son, Xue Wanshu, "General Xue, it's up to you."
"I will obey your orders!" Xue Wanshu was wearing heavy armor and holding a Modao sword in each hand. Only his eyes were exposed, and his eyes were filled with cold eyes. Behind him stood a Modao formation composed of five thousand people.
Each Mo Dao formation consists of hundreds of people in a row. The first three rows are Mo Dao soldiers wearing heavy armor, the next three rows are crossbow soldiers with horizontal swords, and the back four rows are light armored sword and shield soldiers.
Xue Wanshu raised the Mo Dao high, and the five thousand soldiers simultaneously burst out with an earth-shattering roar: "Kill!"
"Kill!" Xue Wanshu waved her Mo Dao, and the five Mo Dao formations advanced like a wall with sharp arrow formations.
Behind them was the Jinglan chariot formation, with cavalry guards on the left and right sides.
At the same time, Qian Shixiong in Nancheng also heard the sound of drums and gave the order to attack. The five Modao formations, led by General Song Laosheng, suddenly launched into action, guarding the Jinglan chariot formation with a mountainous momentum and marched towards Dangjincheng.
Tuyuhun in Xicheng and Nancheng breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the Sui army changing its lineup. They were not afraid of a strong attack by the Sui army. What they were afraid of was the Sui army's bombardment as before. The feeling was really disappointing.
