On the day Xiahou Ninghan and others rushed back to the expedition camp, hundreds of thousands of Turkic troops also marched to Zijin Pass and completely blocked all roads leading to the east and west.
It was only two hours before she might not be able to come back.
Li Jiangyao secretly said that he was lucky. After praising and comforting everyone, he hurriedly said goodbye to Xiahou Ninghan and headed to the Zijin Pass Command Guard Post.
At this time, the Turks had already begun to take action.
Standing on a high observation tower, Xu Youchang pointed at the enemy troops opposite and smiled bitterly at Li Jiangyao: "Jiang Yao, look at this, how does it look like a Turk who only knows cavalry warfare? The offensive layout and advancement steps are simply like the Holy Tang. A replica of!"
Li Jiangyao put his hand on his eyes, observed carefully for a while, nodded and replied: "You are right, the Turks have really learned well. Looking at their posture, they should be planning to conduct a long-range war of attrition first."
"I have already prepared giant crossbows and trebuchets." Xu Youchang said in a deep voice: "The two sides are attacking each other with weapons. Although we have a geographical advantage, our goals are relatively fixed and we are easily vulnerable to devastating blows from the enemy. Therefore, I also asked the craftsmen and civilians responsible for repairing the city wall to gather together."
Li Jiangyao agreed with this, observed for a while, and said, "Have you figured out the enemy's number and deployment?"
Xu Youchang shook his head: "The latest information was sent back from Liangzhou by Yuduoluo's people five days ago. When the Turkic army arrived here today, they specially raided our scout observation posts in advance, so so far, I have not Know Ronia’s specific arrangements.”
Li Jiangyao looked very calm: "Then let's watch while fighting. How is the morale of the Fifth Army?"
Xu Youchang smiled and said: "There is nothing to say about morale. The Fifth Army of Jushi and the Sixth Army of Nulang were both formed during the Yarumqi Mountain period. The Sixth Army became famous in the last battle in front of Zijin Pass. In addition, it was upgraded to a heavy armored infantry corps, so it suddenly became the main ace in the eyes of the headquarters. This made the Fifth Army who were at the same time very unconvinced. Now, the Fifth Army, from the general to the soldiers, He keeps clamoring all day long about killing the enemy and making meritorious deeds."
"Isn't this an opportunity to make meritorious deeds?" Li Jiangyao smiled: "If the Fifth Army can try to hold off the Turks or even defeat the enemy, it will be very beneficial to our subsequent counterattack."
Xu Youchang was stunned when he heard this and looked at Li Jiangyao in disbelief: "Counterattack?"
Li Jiangyao nodded firmly: "Yes, counterattack. When Ronya cannot attack Zijin Pass for a long time, we will launch a decisive counterattack!"
"How far will the counterattack go?" Xu Youchang became excited: "Or rather, where will the counterattack go?"
Li Jiangyao withdrew his gaze from a distance, faced his good brother, and said: "As far as we can progress, we can progress as far as we can! Fight wherever we can! It's best to counterattack to the imperial capital!"
Xu You said happily: "Jiang Yao, are you kidding me? Are we really going to start the process of strategic decisive battle?"
Li Jiangyao nodded slightly: "Good brother, I am serious. After losing the Ghost Desert in Western Xinjiang, the Turks are about to make their second fatal mistake. This time, I will not let them go. Of course, the premise is We must first secure Zijin Pass and Shengyuguan, and maintain sufficient combat power."
Xu Youchang made a standard gesture of standing at attention and said loudly: "Please rest assured, sir! I will live up to my humble position and keep the purple gold!"
Li Jiangyao laughed loudly when he saw this, and reached out to pat Xu Youchang on the shoulder: "You guys, as soon as I heard that we were going to counterattack, you were as excited as anything, and you acted like an adult with me again."
Xu Youchang chuckled and said: "Don't tell me, I have been looking forward to counterattack and regaining the imperial capital every day for these years, and my hair is almost turning gray. Jiang Yao, what are your plans? Tell me."
Li Jiangyao nodded in understanding: "I feel the same as you. I don't think about driving away the Turks completely and restoring the peace of the Holy Tang Dynasty. Now that all the elites of the Turkic Empire are out, I hope they can defeat us in one battle so that we can open up the The lifeline of the west. However, this is also a big gamble. Once the gamble fails, the fighting spirit of the Turks will be completely destroyed. Therefore, the day they fail at Zijin Pass is the time for our counterattack."
He paused briefly and continued: "Currently, in addition to the Fifth Army guarding Zijin Pass, we also have your First Army, the Princess's Third Army, the Sixth Army, the Eighth Army, and Ninth Army. I am considering that in the early stage of the defensive battle, the Fifth Army and the Eighth Army should be carried out as much as possible, and the first, third, sixth and ninth armies should not be moved for the time being. What do you think?"
"Okay!" Xu Youchang responded solemnly: "Although it is an extremely difficult task to use only two armies to resist the opponent's attack of 200,000 to 300,000 people, but in order to ensure that the counterattack force is strong enough, what can this tough guy say? You have to chew it too!”
Li Jiangyao said sincerely: "Brother, I have to bear the pressure on you again this time. Over the years, fortunately you have been by my side and helped me share a lot of things."
Xu Youchang's eyes were slightly moist, and he said solemnly: "Jiang Yao, I should be the one to thank you. If it weren't for you, I and the three thousand brothers in the forward camp would have become horse thieves and robbers long ago. Let alone what we are today. In this way, as a soldier, you can openly and honestly regain the Western Frontier, and even the Holy Tang Imperial Capital. To be honest, the pressure on you is much greater than mine."
Li Jiangyao nodded vigorously, tried hard to hold back the tears of emotion, and said with a smile: "I'm afraid we are getting older, why do we suddenly start to reminisce about the glorious past? Hahaha, let's be more realistic. , think about how to deal with Ronya, speaking of it, he is really not an ordinary person."
Xu Youchang smiled along with him and agreed: "I have never dared to look down upon this Prince of the Temple. Putting aside the grievances of the country, Ronya is indeed a respectable opponent, courageous, witty, experienced, and brought out The soldiers and generals are all brave and good at fighting."
Li Jiangyao pointed to the giant crossbow division and trebuchet division being deployed in the distance: "As you said, as an excellent general, Ronya is very good at learning war in war. He is not like those in Durham People only know how to stick to the traditional Turkic fighting methods and falsely elevate them to military honors. On the contrary, the Prince of the Temple is always observing us carefully and even imitating us in order to learn from the advantages and find flaws. Including that The second prince Tanli, who is not good at fighting, is also constantly learning and improving. Look at them, now they all know how to measure the range of the giant crossbow and trebuchet, and then gradually start shooting, which is really awesome."
Xu Youchang reminded: "Jiang Yao, the other side will start attacking soon, you'd better go down. This observation tower will definitely become their key target, and it's not very safe."
Li Jiangyao smiled faintly and said: "It doesn't matter. I am also used to being on the battlefield, so this small scene is nothing. Friend Commander, you can go and command and deploy, don't worry about me."
Xu Youchang knew that his persuasion was in vain, so he didn't say anything more. After obeying his orders, he turned around and left the observation tower. He summoned the commanders of the Fifth Army, the Eighth Army and the trebuchet position behind the city wall to prepare for the opponent's long-range weapons. Start an attack.
Half an hour later, the Turks' first kerosene bomb rose into the air and hit the wall of the northern section of Zijin Pass. Immediately afterwards, the second, third... hundreds of kerosene bombs and stone bombs pierced the sky and roared.
Almost at the same time, hundreds of flying stones instantly rose from Zijin Pass, attacking the Turkic army head-on.
The sound of huge bow strings buzzed, and the crossbows and ballistae from both sides also joined the battle group. Crossbow arrows like javelins, dense as rain, shuttled back and forth in front of Zijin Pass.
As Xu Youchang expected in advance, the Zhenjiang Army had a geographical advantage, and the impact of the giant crossbows and trebuchets was much stronger than that of the Turks. However, their weakness is also very obvious, that is, Zijin Pass has a fixed target and can easily become the target of key damage to the opponent.
More than an hour passed. Although the Turkic long-range troops suffered considerable losses, they also smashed Zijin Pass with scars.
Xu Youchang couldn't help frowning and scolded fiercely: "Damn it! The Turkic ghosts have indeed moved all their old guns here. After fighting for so long, they still have such a dense amount of ammunition, as if they can't use it up. of!"
Li Jiangyao had already arrived beside him at this time, and the previous observation tower had been completely destroyed by the opponent's stone bullets.
He asked in a deep voice: "What's the damage?"
"There are six places where the city wall has gaps or been destroyed," Xu Youchang responded: "But fortunately, the enemy did not plan to send troops to attack the city directly, so our craftsmen can repair it calmly."
Li Jiangyao stared closely at the trebuchet position in the distance: "Ronya did it on purpose! He smashed the city wall and asked you to repair it, and then he smashed it after it was repaired. The other party obviously wanted to use long-range weapons to repeatedly consume our The resources, the will to torture us.”
Xu Youchang sneered and said: "Huh, the nine ways to attack a city are to exhaust the enemy first. These Turkic ghosts have really made progress. However, our preparations are by no means less than theirs. Let's see who can't afford to exhaust them first!"
Li Jiangyao looked a little solemn: "It is better to destroy things quickly than to repair them! You must tell the commander of the craftsman team to allocate manpower reasonably now. There are still many bad battles ahead. Don't use up all your strength at the front."
"Understood!" Xu Youchang agreed, then turned around and gave a few instructions to the ordering soldiers, emphatically reminding the craftsmen team to pay attention.
Li Jiangyao added: "I suddenly remembered something. You ask the craftsmen team to seize the time to bury some large tanks under the city wall, and send people to monitor the movements underground day and night."
Xu Youchang understood: "Do you suspect that the enemy may want to dig a tunnel?"
"Ronia has even learned the nine methods of attacking the city, what else is impossible?" Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "From now on, we must completely imagine the other party as a combination of Shengtang and Turks. Any possibility is To be considered.”
