With his head full of confusion, Gong Langzhi's inspiring words finally defeated Tian Hongbin's final reason. The young and energetic governor had been determined to fight to the death since he seized power. At this time, he couldn't help but glance at Looking at the ruins of the collapsed city tower not far away, he showed a look of compassion and said with a sad smile on his lips: "If we lose this battle, I'm afraid that the one who takes control of Dongxi in the future will not be Peng Shiyu, but Tang Jun... ...Come on! Come on! Send the order from this governor! The whole army will leave the city and fight to the death with the Tang army! But Commander Gong, I hope you stay in the city. From now on, our Tian family will have to be looked after by you——"
Gong Langzhi interrupted without hesitation: "Captain! I and the Gong family all regard you as the commander-in-chief. The commander-in-chief is responsible for your life. As a general, how can you retreat? I have sent people back to the tribe to pass on the orders. If you die in this battle, you will be killed." The eldest son will inherit the family business, and he will take care of the Tian family for me. Please rest assured, Governor!
Governor, I am willing to lead the warriors of the tribe to follow the Governor to the death, and let's fight vigorously! Even if he died, he would still be upright! The gods of Wuxi are above, and they will take care of my people of the five races! "
Tian Hongbin had mixed feelings in his heart. Putting aside all the intrigues in the past, the resolute man in front of him with his head held high really brought him unprecedented courage and determination.
Looking at the flaming city, Tian Hongbin tightened his expression, gently raised his right hand, beat his chest three times with a serious expression, exhaled the turbid air in his chest and said: "Gong Dushi, I, Tian Hongbin, can recognize you. Such a hero, he will die without any regrets! Without further ado, we will assemble the army immediately and go out of the city to meet Li Yuan! Let all major matters be settled completely!"
"Yes!" Gong Langzhi responded loudly with his hands raised. Just as he was about to move, he caught a glimpse of the Wuping Army formation under the city making an unexpected move. It seemed that the coach Li Yuan on the opposite side had deliberately slapped Gong Langzhi in the face. Those who gave Xi The trebuchet that brought disaster to the city did not move forward under the pull of the war horses. Instead, it only slightly changed its direction and laboriously moved left and right. Soon, huge open spaces were opened everywhere in the Wuping Army array. .
"Commander, wait! The Tang army's huge stone forest has been exhausted! The trebuchet is not moving forward!"
Following Gong Langzhi's gaze, Tian Hongbin quickly turned his head and looked down the city. But seeing that the trebuchets in front of Wuping's military formation had just been pulled to both sides, suddenly a large group of black cavalry began to gallop out of the military formation. However, they did not form a formation, but just rushed straight towards the Xizhou City in an orderly manner. The sound of hoofbeats rumbled for a while. , causing the dust on the battlefield to fly into the sky, even covering the formation of the cavalry.
Tian Hongbin showed a trace of doubt on his face. He first subconsciously ordered all the barbarians to go up to the city to guard the city. Then he narrowed his eyes and said, "What trick is this Li Yuan going to use? Why can he use cavalry to attack the city? Isn't this looking for death?! Bow Crossbowmen ready!"
Before he finished speaking, he saw that the thousands of fierce cavalry of Wu Ping Army had only charged to a hundred steps away, and then suddenly divided into two teams, each turned a corner to the east and turned their horses' heads away, because the distance was already too close. At the city gate, the yellow sand that rose up all over the sky quickly hit the top of the city with a gentle breeze. Most of the barbarian soldiers lurking near the crenellations were unable to react in time. They almost all subconsciously blurred their eyes and were inexplicably panicked.
When the dust raised by the cavalry dissipated slightly, and Tian Hongbin and the barbarian soldiers on the top of the city finally recognized the situation below the city, they woke up from their dream and shouted that the Tang army was cunning.
The thrilling sound of drums and long horn blasts were heard from the opposite side, accompanied by the uniform and powerful shouts of the Tang army. Two hundred steps away from Xizhou City, the Wuping Army's armored infantry, as dense as a swarm of ants, suddenly gathered in a dark formation.
At the front of the military formation, four figures raised their swords high. The tiger-head armor on their chests and eye-catching black shirts represented their special status in this army.
Liu Jiangsheng, Chai Kewu, as well as Peng Shiyu and Zhu Kuangcong, who had just put on the armor of Tang generals, each of the four generals led the square formation. The decisive moment finally came.
Chai Kewu, who was ordered to be the commander in chief of the city siege, had a stern look on his face. He pointed his sword at the city head and roared loudly: "The commander-in-chief has ordered to conquer Xizhou!"
"kill!"
At the moment of employment, Li Yuan finally satisfied Zhu Kuangcong's desire to lead his troops to charge. He dragged his long sword to lead the soldiers, leading the dense Wu Ping army behind him to rush towards the city head like crazy. The more than a thousand soldiers at the front were all carrying long ladders about ten feet high on their shoulders. These long ladders were like a huge barrier, covering all the Wuping Army soldiers. In less than a moment, the attacking force had entered the city. Within the range of the head bow and crossbow.
"Fire the arrow! Fire the arrow!" Tian Hongbin opened his eyes wide and shouted, waving the blade in his hand. After giving the order, thousands of barbarian soldiers with crossbows immediately stretched out their arms, drew their bows and fired arrows towards the city. The arrows on the top of the city were missing, and together with the blowing arrows hidden in the darkness, they quickly pierced the charging Wuping army formation like a storm.
These long ladders held high above the heads of the Wuping Army officers and soldiers were not iron walls after all, and they could not stop the fierce arrow rain attacks. Soldiers kept screaming and falling to the ground on the charge. But even though some soldiers fell to the ground, today's Wuping Army still maintained their charging formation as if they had no regard for life and death, stepping on the corpses of their comrades one after another, with eyes burning like flames, always keeping a close eye on them. Biting the scarred city ahead.
Soon Wu Ping's army arrived at the wide and deep ravine in front of Xizhou City. It was Peng Shichou's classic plan for the city in the past - a "moat" without water, but Wu Ping's army was obviously prepared. , the long ladder they carried was not only used for climbing the city, the Wuping Army soldiers in the front row stopped at the edge of the deep ditch, trying to lower the long ladder to build a foot bridge.
However, because the offensive was too fierce, once someone stopped the charge formation of tens of thousands of infantry, the formation chaos caused was no joke. Soon many soldiers were squeezed and trampled to death by their comrades. Because they were too close to the city, all the long ladders had been lowered, and a large number of Wuping Army soldiers were completely exposed. At this moment, they became direct targets for the condescending barbarian crossbowmen.
"Hush, rest, rest!" Seeing such a great opportunity, the barbarian soldiers were unwilling to let it go. They immediately showered the Wuping Army who were busy building a bridge with a rain of arrows. Hundreds of Wuping Army soldiers who had finally passed through the foot bridge, Before they could even take a few steps, they were pierced by arrows and turned into hedgehogs. They screamed and died on the edge of the city wall only a few dozen steps away.
He was attacked head-on by the barbarians, and the surrounding soldiers had to pay a huge price every time they pushed forward. Zhu Kuangcong, who had blocked several rounds of bow and arrow attacks, saw helplessly that his soldiers suffered heavy casualties. He was so angry that his face turned red with anxiety, and at this time, the top of his head The sound of bowstrings tightening together was heard again.
At the critical moment, Chai Kewu, the siege commander behind, raised his arms decisively and gave the order. At this time, the five thousand Wuping Army archers were already within shooting range and were in position. They bent their bows and arrows, pointed at the city head, and began to fight back.
"Buzz!" Like swarms of migratory locusts rushing towards the top of Xizhou City, the crossbows made in the Tang Dynasty were much more powerful. Thousands of black arrows with rotating blades rushed towards the barbarians at the top of the city. The soldiers rushed over.
It stands to reason that the lethality of this kind of upward shot has never been high, but the barbarian soldiers still shrank their heads subconsciously. After all, most of their bodies were exposed, and no one was confident that they could catch the strong bows and crossbows of the Tang army. What's more, the distance was too close. It was the same as the way they attacked the Tang army just now, and the scene of thousands of arrows missing was equally terrifying.
