The sound of the horn sounded on the hillside, and in the chaotic front camp of the Jiangbei army, the soldiers of Liushenwuzhu received the order for the entire army to attack. The soldiers who were hiding in tents and being carried away by the fleeing crowd were immediately ordered to turn around and attack them.
The more than 50,000 infantrymen in the front camp turned around and rushed to the battlefield under the leadership of their respective generals, because they had been clearly informed that the opponent's cavalry only had 5,000 or 6,000 people, accounting for at most 10% of them. What's more important is that His Highness King Huai has arrived in person, and with him are his 5,000 military governor's personal guards. Their ghost-headed swords are merciless to deserters.
The whole army of the front camp was immediately dispatched, and 50,000 infantrymen rushed towards the Chu cavalry who were killing people in front of the front camp, and soon rushed back to the front line of the battlefield.
Hundreds of Chu army cavalry rose up to fight. They went too deep and were surrounded by countless infantry before they realized the danger. In an instant, these hundreds of Chu army cavalry were swallowed up by the black infantry, and each one was in chaos. The bodies were cut apart with knives, and more Jiangbei infantry rushed toward the dense cavalry area ahead.
"Bang bang bang!" Three yellow signal bombs rose above the city of Tanzhou.
As the signal flare burst into flower language in the air, the Chu Army's cavalry began to turn their horses and evacuate outside the camp. The Jiangbei Army's infantry shouted and rushed to catch up, but how could they catch up. After just a short cup of tea, the Chu army's cavalry left one after another and disappeared into the darkness outside the camp.
When Zhang Wenbiao arrived on horseback, there was no one in the front camp. Zhang Wenbiao looked at the mess in the front camp with a sullen face. The corpses of archers on the ground were almost biting into pieces by his steel teeth. The other party actually launched this night attack so easily when he was well prepared, and was able to evacuate safely after killing a large number of his archers. This was a slap in the face. A few slaps.
"Li Yuan, Li Yuan, I will definitely defeat you completely. When you become my prisoner, I will make you suffer the most humiliation in the world!" Zhang Wenbiao roared loudly.
Boom boom boom!
Suddenly, the roar that sounded from the top of the city in the distance seemed to be Li Yuan's answer to him. The next moment, the scream of artillery shells sounded above the head, like the song of death. The soldiers who had experienced the bombing in front immediately exploded. Suddenly, the psychological shadow suddenly infiltrated the reason, and he was tortured almost to the point of going crazy.
Boom! Boom!
Dozens of artillery shells exploded all around, causing people to flip on their backs and a wave of air. The soldiers screamed in horror and ran around, and it suddenly became a mess.
"Your Majesty, leave quickly! You can't stay here for long." The general beside him shouted.
Zhang Wenbiao tightened his grip on the frightened horses and shouted in a cold voice: "Why are you panicking? You are a coward. If God wants you to die, there is no point in hiding! You are all so panicked, how can the soldiers under your command not panic? Send me the king's order, Retreat in an orderly manner. The front camp retreats two miles. The generals are not allowed to leave first. You are not allowed to leave until all the soldiers have left. Don't worry, I will be here to accompany you. Is your life more valuable than my own?"
The generals were speechless and had to organize the soldiers to break camp and retreat. The explosions of artillery shells continued all around, and from time to time people were rolled up and blown up into the sky. Everyone was frightened. However, Zhang Wenbiao rode his horse and stood motionless in the area covered by the artillery fire of the front camp, with a resolute figure. Some of the generals and soldiers admired him, some were ashamed of themselves, and of course some secretly cursed Zhang Wenbiao as a lunatic.
Fortunately, the bombing stopped soon after. The bombing at the top of the city was actually to cover the retreat of the cavalry and prevent the other party from pursuing the city and blocking the cavalry from entering the city. Seeing that the opponent was not pursuing them, there was no need for bombing.
What's more, the new artillery shells have almost been used up. From the time it was developed to working overtime to manufacture it, only more than 600 pieces have been produced.
Tonight, more than four hundred were consumed in one night. Li Yuan did not want to use them all at once. It was not cost-effective to rely solely on artillery shells to kill the enemy. The correct way to use them was to attack the soldiers and horses under the cover of artillery shells, and the cannon barrel Don't consume too much of the usage. Once these are scrapped, it will be difficult to replenish them in time.
For the next whole day, Zhang Wenbiao's soldiers and horses were frantically cutting down trees and bringing them back to the camp to build siege equipment.
After last night's battle, Zhang Wenbiao felt an anger in his heart that could not be vented.
The generals under their command were also very emotional. They hoped to launch an immediate siege to attack the opponent's arrogance. However, the troops and horses with an absolute numerical advantage were attacked face to face by the opponent despite tight precautions. This was simply a shame and a great humiliation.
However, Zhang Wenbiao was angry, but he did not lose his reason.
He knew that without the assistance of siege equipment, it was absolutely impossible to attack the city. He has witnessed the fierce defensive firepower of the opponent. If he wants to capture the city and defeat his opponent, he can only achieve his goal by relying on the cover and impact of a large number of siege equipment.
Otherwise, the troops will be wasted in vain, but they may not be successful. If the troops are lost too much and morale is too great, they will suffer counterattacks from the opponent. Therefore, Zhang Wenbiao ordered to speed up the logging and construction.
By mid-afternoon, the two hills located within the military camp were already bare with not a single standing tree in sight. Not only the trees, but also the shrubs and firewood were all cut down, because the army needed to burn fires for cooking and bonfires for warmth at night.
Although the logistics troops and horses will also deliver firewood, charcoal and other materials, the consumption of more than 100,000 troops and horses cannot be achieved solely by logistics transportation. Grain and grass naturally require logistical transportation, but other things such as firewood, charcoal, and ropes often need to be solved by the soldiers and horses themselves.
Since the trees on the two hills in the camp were cut down, they had to turn their attention to the trees on some of the hillsides farther away from the camp. In fact, the geographical location of Tanzhou City is actually a flat land in the remaining veins of Hengshan Mountain. The surrounding hillsides are very hilly and are almost surrounded on three sides by the surrounding mountains.
Here, there is absolutely no shortage of trees and firewood, and there are dense bamboo forests on the larger mountains, which are more suitable materials for making equipment than hard trees. However, they were far away from the land of Pingchou, and they had to travel through rugged roads and long distances to carry them back to the military camp. As a result, efficiency and progress will be reduced.
In order to complete the construction of 1,000 siege catapults, 5,000 ladders, 100 rams and 30,000 chain shields as soon as possible. Zhang Wenbiao decided to increase the number of people involved in logging transportation to 100,000, so that logging could be carried out from the north and the east slope behind the camp at the same time, which would greatly speed up the progress.
One hundred thousand people felling trees, what kind of concept is that? There were soldiers like ants all over the mountains and plains. Hundreds of trees were cut down every moment, and hundreds of logs were transported to the camp every moment and piled up in a large open space in the middle of the camp. Like a hill.
Countless soldiers sawed, axed, carried, and assembled under the guidance of military craftsmen, and were busy building siege equipment. Everything went smoothly, and His Highness Prince Huai expressed great satisfaction after his inspection.
However, starting in the afternoon, bad news came one after another. There have been a series of attacks on several mountain slopes where trees are harvested. Someone was hiding in the mountains and forests, conducting sneak attacks on the soldiers and horses logging. In just half an hour, hundreds of soldiers who were cutting down trees were killed. And under the eyes of many people, he was killed by arrows flying out of thin air in the forest.
In fact, Zhang Wenbiao has already taken measures to ensure smooth logging. One hundred thousand people felled the trees, and the remaining thirty or forty thousand people assisted. Each soldier who felled the trees carried a weapon with him.
Once Li Yuan's troops launch a sneak attack and interfere, they can launch a counterattack on the spot and quickly form a superior force. Moreover, hundreds of scouts have been staring at the surroundings of Tanzhou City. Once Chu troops and horses leave the city in large numbers, they can immediately know the opponent's movements.
However, no matter how hard you calculate, you can't prevent attacks in the mountains and forests. But the attack in the forest was beyond the power of any number of soldiers. The feathered arrows and poisonous needles suddenly shot out from the mountain forest and tree crowns made all the wood-cutting soldiers tremble with fear.
After the news spread, all the soldiers on the logging surface were in panic. When they heard that there was any disturbance, they were all so frightened that they threw away their axes and big saws and lay on the ground without daring to move. However, the disturbance in the mountains and forests is always present. The mountain breeze blows, small animals run by, and birds fly by, which will cause panic.
