The crossbowmen of the Wuping Army carried a full quiver on their backs. As soon as the first round of arrows was missed, the second row of crossbowmen stepped forward and fired the next round. They exchanged and took turns with almost no interruption. On the top of the city, The barbarian soldiers didn't even have time to breathe. They could only shrink their heads and hide behind the crenels. Their ears were filled with the sound of sharp blades piercing the air. They were frightened and did not dare to move under the cover of countless arrows.
"Quick! Cross the bridge!" Zhu Kuangcong's rough voice rang out from under the city wall. Suppressed by powerful bows and arrows, when the barbarian soldiers guarding the city could not raise their heads, the Wuping infantry on the moat took this opportunity to quickly cross the foot bridge. Rows of ladders stretched across the two ends of the ravine. In a short time, four soldiers Five thousand soldiers successfully reached the city wall.
How could Tian Hongbin, who was standing at the top of Xizhou City and commanding the war, not know what the Tang army wanted to do below? He watched thousands of Tang soldiers take the opportunity to cross the deep ditch and wide ravine and rush towards the surrounding barbarians huddled behind the crenellations. Roaring orders, blocking the enemy's advance at all costs.
"Swish, swish, swish!", the supervising team composed of the guards of the Dudu Mansion drew out their blades one by one, and crouched beside the crenellations with bared teeth. Seeing this, the barbarian soldiers, no matter how reluctant they were, could only grit their teeth and brave the dense rain of arrows. , desperately sticking his head out to shoot arrows under the city.
After barely staggering around and shooting two or three rounds of arrows, although many Tang soldiers were killed, the casualties of the barbarians themselves were even more severe. Down below, the Tang Army's crossbowmen fought back calmly in rows. There was originally a blind spot behind the crenel, but once a face or a half appeared suddenly, it became the best target because of its conspicuousness. The arrows used for suppression were instantly replaced. In order to kill the enemy accurately, in just a moment, hundreds of barbarian soldiers had arrows stuck in their faces and eyes, falling down screaming and wailing. Such vital parts were hit, and their combat effectiveness was immediately lost.
Tian Hongbin was so angry that his eyes almost burst into flames. He was accustomed to the old way of fighting in the mountains. As soon as he experienced his first city attack and defense, he felt deeply helpless and humiliated. He finally understood why others often said that the Han people were good at attacking cities. Seeing was believing. Today, the Tang army showed various methods that were unimaginable in the minds of the barbarians from the beginning of the battle.
The destructive trebuchets, the roaring plundering of the cavalry, the ant advance of the infantry, and the suppressive firepower of bows and arrows. These powerful attack methods were combined so skillfully by the Tang army. Putting aside the hostility for the time being, Tian Hongbin had to I admired the enemy coach Li Yuan, and this admiration also contained a little powerlessness, a sense of powerlessness against the huge differences between barbarians.
Gong Langzhi, who was standing one step away from Tian Hongbin, also felt very powerless. Everyone knew that the barbarian soldiers were far inferior to the Tang army in terms of armor and crossbows, and their experience in defending the city was far inferior. Although this battle was fought to the death, Faith, but among the barbarians guarding the city there are five thousand soldiers from their own tribe, and now they are all at the forefront, suffering the most heavy casualties. How can we not feel as sad as blood?
What makes Gong Langzhi most helpless is the ruins of the city tower not far away. As the most important defense facility on the southern city head, it could originally accommodate at least seven or eight hundred crossbowmen. It had secret openings on all sides. If the arrows failed to pass, the barbarian soldiers would not be so passive if they were not blasted by the Tang army with sky fire, so that they could only shoot arrows feebly on the bare city wall.
The two leaders sighed inwardly on the top of the city. The Wuping army's attack on the city had not slowed down at all. The soldiers had rushed to the city with thousands of ladders and quickly erected them against the wall. However, these ladders were similar to those used by the Tang army in the past. The formats are subtly different. The tops are actually equipped with hard iron hooks. As long as they are fastened to the edge of the city wall, it will be difficult to knock them down with just the manpower of the barbarian soldiers.
But there is one thing that is beneficial to the barbarians defending the city, that is, when Wu Ping's army begins to attack the city, in order to avoid accidentally injuring friendly troops, the suppression of bows and arrows must be stopped immediately, and individual soldiers must shoot accurately. But today, some of the crossbowmen in the Wuping Army simply carried their bows behind their backs. They pulled out their swords and turned into infantrymen and jumped into the torrent of attacks. They climbed desperately to the top of the city along the ladders they had set up.
The truly brutal siege finally began. Since the Wuping Army stopped covering the bow and arrow fire, the barbarian soldiers on the city finally dared to lean forward to resist the enemy. For a time, all kinds of weapons, in addition to swords, guns and bows, flying axes, javelins, and blow darts all swarmed the city. Wu Pingjun greeted him.
Although there were still Wuping Army crossbowmen sniping point-to-point below the city, the barbarians had to risk being sniped at any time to prevent the Wuping Army from attacking the city. In addition to shooting at the city, some even began to use heavy axes. They frantically hit the hook at the top of the ladder, or threw rolling wood and stones, and then poured the boiling hot oil and gold soup on them, in an attempt to strangle all the Wuping Army soldiers at the base of the city wall.
However, even though there were casualties, the Wuping Army's offensive became more and more fierce. Liu Jiangsheng, who was in charge of the siege equipment, had already made full preparations at the previous opportunity. With an order, a row of siege giant crossbows in front of the Wuping Army's formation began to attack. The iron ropes of the suspension bridge at the entrance to the city began to fire fiercely together. Within a moment, the iron ropes showed signs of loosening slightly, until the suspension bridge suddenly fell with a "squeak". The giant crossbow completed its mission and immediately withdrew into the formation.
The command flag was waved, and hundreds of strong sergeants began to shout and push the chariots to rumble towards the south city gate, slamming into the city gate crazily. Since the day the Xizhou City Gate was built, it has used double-layered thick wooden boards. Huge and heavy rocks have been blocked behind Shimen, which is considered to be solid. The carefully selected barbarians guarding the gate are also strong and ready with their swords in hand.
"Bang!" The three assault vehicles with huge spikes violently collided alternately, and several cracks inevitably appeared in the city gate. The surrounding barbarian soldiers were frightened when they heard this, and they shouted for reinforcements in barbarian language, but After all, it was a log that had been used for fifty years. Without waiting for the reinforcements to arrive, the city gate panels were quickly smashed into several pieces. The huge stone supporting the city gate at the rear also started to be pushed forward by the Wuping Army soldiers fighting with their bodies. Songsun moved towards the city, and the city gate was announced to be open. In an instant, Wu Ping's army poured into the city like a flood from a dike.
Although the offensive on the top of the city was more brutal, it also progressed rapidly. Soon after the city gate was breached, Zhu Kuangcong led hundreds of Wuping Army soldiers to the top of the city carrying battle flags. Tian Hongbin and the surrounding barbarians They immediately started a fierce close-quarters fight with Wu Ping's army. As the swords clashed, their bodies were quickly splattered with blood that made no distinction between the enemy and ourselves.
Gong Langzhi, who was also in a tough fight, saw that the city gate was broken and the city wall was lost. After fighting hard to reach Tian Hongbin's side, he hurriedly suggested that the entire army retreat to Wengcheng. After all, there were still many barbarian archers and crossbowmen on standby in Wengcheng. With the cramped terrain of Wengcheng, No matter how many soldiers and horses the Tang Army had, it would be difficult to spread out, but they could temporarily hold back the Tang Army's offensive.
How could Tian Hongbin not know that when he was about to give the order, he turned around and saw thousands of Wuping Army soldiers pouring in from the city gate. Under the cover of archers and crossbowmen, they were walking along the two narrow walls connecting the inner walls of the Wengcheng. The friendly troops above were attacking Wengcheng from a flanking attack, while the barbarian archers and crossbowmen hiding in Wengcheng were attacked from the front and back, and were hit by arrows from all directions. There was no chance for a stalemate at all, and most of them were shot dead.
Seeing that the Wengcheng would soon fall into the hands of the Tang army, Tian Hongbin stared and cursed repeatedly from a few dozen steps away. He looked at the corpses of the barbarians slumped into small hills in the middle of the Wengcheng. His teeth itched with hatred but he was helpless. At this time, the surroundings Almost all of them are tragic scenes of capture and fighting. Even I can't escape. The battle situation is so stalemate that it has already become chaotic.
Soon after, the long and narrow strip of the south city wall was densely packed with thousands of soldiers from both sides. The Wuping Army's bright flags and armor obviously accounted for the majority. The barbarian soldiers gradually fell behind and could only wait and see. Fighting and retreating, Tian Hongbin, who was in a desperate situation, had just tried his best to cut down several Wuping Army soldiers. When he was about to retreat towards the stone steps, he saw a shocking scene in front of him.
My nephew Tian Meng, who was supposed to be guarding the east city gate, appeared here with a pale face. His originally handsome face was completely unrecognizable. Even his two ears had been completely cut off, and the wounds were bleeding horribly. Xue, when he saw Tian Hongbin at this time, said with a miserable face: "The Governor... will eventually die! The east gate was taken away by Uncle Peng... Madam, Madam... .”
Before he finished speaking, Tian Meng had exhausted his last bit of strength, and his body fell backwards, like a puppet with broken strings, rolling down the stone steps and not knowing whether to live or die...
