It was precisely after seeing through Cook Shu's plot that Fan Wenzhong risked being punished by the court and mobilized the troops of Nine Cities.
As long as we can keep Zhenjun City, even if we lose several other cities, it is still worth it.
Just as he knew that Xie Cang was leading an army to rescue Zhao Ang and Zhou Yan's troops, Fan Wenzhong made no move to send troops.
This battle of Ningzhou must be fought at a large scale. If it were a matter of gains and losses per soldier, Ningzhou would not be able to resist Da Rong's army for so many years without losing.
It's not that Fan Wenzhong doesn't want to rescue Xie Cang. Unless Xie Cang can really bring the people out, he will still send troops to respond.
But the chance of this happening is very small.
Now that Da Rong's siege troops have temporarily retreated, the 70,000 troops hidden by Ku Shu, not to mention all gathered together, there are at least 10,000 to 20,000 vanguards.
A rough calculation showed that the total number was at least 40,000 to 50,000. Under such circumstances, how could Xie Cang's mere 8,000 troops break through the encirclement?
Although he felt a little sorry for Xie Cang by doing this, for the sake of the overall situation, Fan Wenzhong could only sigh helplessly.
His troops are always ready for defense.
At this moment, a cry of surprise sounded.
"Quick... look, that's Lord Xie. Lord Xie really brought the person out."
Fan Wenzhong raised his head sharply, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Because in front, about two miles away, the rescue force, which was originally besieged and almost completely wiped out, actually broke out of the siege under the leadership of Xie Cang.
Xie Cang galloped wildly, carrying a person on his horse. At this time, Xie Cang's long hair was flying, and the armor on his body turned into blood armor.
Behind him, there were only less than a thousand horses left, and Xie Cang, Zhao Ang, and Zhou Yan combined had at least 20,000 troops.
But now, in less than half an hour, there were less than a thousand left, which was enough to show the brutality of the battle. In the distance, densely packed Daerong troops were approaching quickly.
At this time, Fan Wenzhong was not confused. He made a prompt decision, opened the city gate, and personally led 10,000 troops to respond.
Don't underestimate this mere 10,000 troops. These 10,000 soldiers and horses are the elite of Zhenjun City. Among the 300,000 troops in Ningzhou, their combat power ranks among the top three.
These more than 10,000 people are all soldiers recruited by the local Ningzhou. Since ancient times, Qing, You and Ningzhou have many strong and strong men, the folk customs are fierce, and they are better at riding and shooting.
Under the training of Fan Wenzhong, they can be said to be the tiger and wolf divisions of Ningzhou, known as the Tiger and Leopard Army. Not only can they defeat one against a hundred, but they can also defeat one against five.
What he is best at fighting is this kind of tough battle!
After quickly reuniting with Xie Cang's remaining cavalry, the Tiger and Leopard Army led by Fan Wenzhong quickly took over the battlefield.
As soon as the two sides came into contact, the strength of the Tiger and Parlor Army was quickly proven. Facing the 40,000 to 50,000 Tai Rong army, the Tiger and Parlor Army actually had the upper hand, with a vague fighting posture.
Without this posture, the court would not have been able to quickly form an army of more than 5,000 with Fan Wenzhong.
The Tiger and Leopard Army is the army of Daliang. It is the only specially approved army. Except for the emperor's transfer order, it is fully under the jurisdiction of Fan Wenzhong in Ningzhou.
This kind of privilege naturally attracts the envy of many people, but this is just a thought.
The Tiger and Leopard Army was originally established to serve in border defense and has strong combat effectiveness, but to put it bluntly, this kind of army is destined to end up on the battlefield.
If anyone covets the Tiger and Leopard Army, it is not impossible, but he must guard the border.
Just let your good life go and go to the border? This is not idleness.
Therefore, after thinking clearly about the cause and effect, people in the court could only feel sorry for this tiger and leopard army.
The fighting between the two sides was fierce, and the soldiers watching the battle were filled with excitement.
If it weren't for Fan Wenzhong's order, each of them would have wanted to fight.
Being able to fight happily is what they dream of.
Although it seems that the Tiger and Leopard Army has the upper hand for now, Su Qi'an can see it.
This advantage is just an illusion. The fighting power of the Tiger and Leopard Army really shocked everyone.
But after all, in terms of strength comparison, the difference is too big. Not to mention the follow-up reinforcements, as long as time drags on a little longer, the Tiger and Leopard Army may really be surrounded.
And this is exactly the purpose of Cook's technique. After dealing with Fan Wenzhong for so many years, how could he not have heard of the name of the Tiger and Leopard Army?
Hearing that the Tigers and Leopards were on the scene, Cook was so happy that he gave an order early in the morning to abandon the pursuit of the remaining soldiers and use all his strength to encircle and suppress the Tigers and Leopards.
As long as we wait for a while and wait for the follow-up army to arrive, a full 100,000 troops, this Tiger and Leopard Army is not what we talk about.
If this can destroy the Tiger and Leopard Army, it will have a huge impact on the morale of Zhenjun City. They may suffer heavy losses and be unable to recover.
The Tigers and Leopards, who had the upper hand, started to fight and retreat after blocking for a moment.
Fan Wenzhong is not a brainless young man like Zhao Ang or Zhou Yan. He knows very well what the mission of the Tiger and Leopard Army is.
As long as Xie Cang and the others are safe, the Tiger and Leopard Army will never show mercy and retreat quickly.
The idea was good, but under the desperate delay of 40,000 to 50,000 Tai Rong troops, the Tiger and Leopard Army was still entangled.
After retreating less than a mile from the city gate of Nancheng District, they were caught up by the follow-up troops and entangled.
Su Qi'an, who was standing on the tower with a solemn expression, gave an order to a captain.
"The heavy ballistae is ready. Give me a volley of fire. The archers will keep an eye on the distance and provide support at any time."
The captain looked troubled, not because of Su Qi'an's order. Long before Fan Wenzhong left the city, he handed over the command of Nancheng District to Su Qi'an.
No matter what order Su Qian gave, they must execute it.
The captain was worried that although the heavy ballistae could kill and injure the enemy, the tiger and leopard troops were still fighting with the enemy. If they injured one of their own, it would be difficult. This accuracy was still difficult to master.
As for the archers, the effective range of bows and arrows is only within 100 meters. Even the best marksman in Zhenjun City is only 120 meters away.
At present, the distance between the Tiger and Leopard Army is at least more than 300 meters, so this kind of support is almost negligible.
Su Qi'an could see the captain's embarrassment, but at this moment he couldn't care less.
Even if one of your own people may be accidentally injured, it is better than watching the Tiger and Leopard Army be wiped out.
"What are you waiting for? I am ordering you as the supreme commander. Execute it. Go! If anything goes wrong, I will take care of it!"
Su Qian's voice was several octaves higher, and his tone was even more cold.
The captain was obviously frightened by Su Qi'an's behavior. He had never seen a military advisor or a scholar with such a bloody side.
He nodded quickly and quickly passed on the order.
After a while, behind Su Qian, in an open space, at least twenty heavy ballista vehicles were pushed out.
Working in groups of three, the soldiers bowed and pulled strings very skillfully, under Su Qi'an's order.
Sixty strong crossbows shot out in volley.
The crossbow without any obstruction directly penetrated the armor of the Da Rong soldiers, stabbing three or four people in a row, which was a real shock.
Because of the first salvo, in order to minimize accidental injuries, the height of the crossbow was deliberately raised.
The first round of attacks did not hurt any of our own, but due to the increased height, the accuracy dropped too much.
Of the sixty thick arrows, only one-third hit, while the rest missed.
In the face of an army of 40,000 to 50,000 people, this level of attack was a bit unsatisfactory, but it served as a certain deterrent to the vanguard.
The speed of the pursuit slowed down significantly. Taking advantage of this gap, some of the Tiger and Leopard troops broke away from the fight and returned to the city as quickly as possible.
After one round of volley, the second round, the third round... densely packed arrows continued to shoot out rapidly.
With this intermittent help, the distance traveled by tigers and leopards also shortened during the day.
From more than three hundred meters to about two hundred meters.
At this time, Su Qian ordered the archers to release arrows.
Arrows flew out all over the sky, which looked quite spectacular from a distance, but the actual effect was very poor.
It would be good if only 1% of the 10,000 vanguard troops at the front could be shot.
It doesn't matter whether the shot hits or not, what matters is the psychological pressure on the enemy.
The battle between the two sides does not have to meet and have a real fight with swords and guns to be considered a battle.
Psychological warfare, strategy, shock, pressure, etc., are also factors that determine the direction of war.
The Tiger and Leopard Army is worthy of being the Tiger and Leopard Army. With this kind of support, it is able to break out of the tight encirclement. Although they are fighting from time to time, the fighting between the two sides is much less.
But this was not a happy time. The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry got closer and closer to the city gate, and the pursuing Da Rong troops became even crazier.
It is no exaggeration to say that for every meter shortened by the Tiger and Leopard Army, several soldiers were killed on the road.
Seeing the soldiers who continued to die in battle, Su Qian's heart was filled with anxiety.
He had used all the moves he could, the distance had been shortened to one hundred and twenty meters, and the sky was full of arrows, finally exerting his power.
However, the Tai Rong army that was chasing here faced the rain of arrows, and even if they died, they would be able to exchange for one, and it was likely to completely annihilate the Tiger and Leopard Army.
Looking at the tiger and leopard soldiers falling down under the city wall, Su Qian shouted.
"Tong Zhan, bring me a bow!"
Tong Zhan, who was responsible for protecting Su Qi'an, threw the big bow behind him towards Su Qi'an without saying a word.
Su Qi'an took it and the next moment, he carried it directly to the tower and tore open the cloth wrapping the bow.
A big black bow appeared. This bow was not amazing, it could even be said to be very ordinary. The materials used looked cheap at first glance.
The only thing that surprised people was that this bow was very big, twice as big as those held by the archers.
Su Qi'an drew the bow with her left hand and drew an arrow from the arrow basket with her right hand, doing it in one go without any unnecessary movements.
Pull the bowstring forward.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three arrows flew out at high speed, and the wind whistled by. If you listened carefully, there seemed to be a metallic screeching sound in the wind.
The arrows were very fast, but in just a few seconds, three arrows directly hit the three Dai Rong cavalry.
They were all facing each other. The three of them fell directly from their horses and were quickly trampled into a pulp by the horses behind them.
Su Qi'an's move immediately stunned everyone present. They were not only amazed at Su Qi'an's superb shooting skills.
What was even more shocking was that the distance just now, if they saw it correctly, was at least one hundred and twenty meters.
