On the northern slope of Longshouyuan, the autumn wind is bleak.
Later Zhao's 40,000-strong army arrived at Chang'an City. Huan Xi, who had previously agreed with Shi Bao that he would fight him outside the city, did not break his promise. As the main gate on the west side of Chang'an slowly opened, 10,000 elite Jin troops rode back to the city. Form a formation.
The chilling atmosphere filled the entire battlefield.
Seeing that the Jin army had few soldiers, Shi Bao couldn't help but feel secretly happy.
However, when the city rolled out vehicles one after another to protect the two wings of the Jin army, Shi Bao couldn't laugh anymore.
There were vehicle formations on both sides for defense, and the city wall behind them, which meant that the Hou Zhao army could only attack from the front.
Huan Xi, on the other hand, placed the most elite three thousand soldiers at the forefront of the expedition against Shu.
Looking at the large shields in the front row of the Jin army and the numerous spears, Shi Bao couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
There was no shortage of cavalry in Shibao's army. Although they were limited by Hou Zhao's lack of horses and did not have the ability to run long distances, they were enough to complete the rest of the cavalry's tasks on the battlefield.
Such as using mobility to fight with the enemy, and in the chaos of the battle, waiting for opportunities to find the enemy's weak points to penetrate.
But the prerequisite for all this is that the Jin army takes the initiative to attack.
Now Huan Xi had his back to the fortified city and had taken a defensive stance, clearly waiting for Shi Bao to attack.
As for the harassment by cavalry and shooting, not to mention that there were also archers in the Jin army's formation, and there were also archers on the city wall behind them.
It is said that force starts from the ground. Although stirrups have been widely used, after all, they are not more suitable for exerting force from down-to-earth.
Therefore, in the standard equipment of the Tang Dynasty, the foot bow was often one stone, while the riding bow was only seven dou.
The draw force of the bow determines the range. If Shi Bao's cavalry doesn't come forward to harass them, they will have to be greeted by the Jin archers on the city wall and in the military formation.
Huan Xi and Shi Bao had different goals. Shi Bao wanted to recapture Chang'an, which destined him to be passive on the battlefield and could only take the initiative to attack.
Under such circumstances, the advantages of cavalry could not be used at all.
Now, Shi Bao lost his arm before fighting and could only rely on the infantry in the army. But if you think about it carefully, fighting the enemy with the rain of arrows shot from the city wall would still put you at a huge disadvantage.
Shi Bao doesn't understand. Since you, Huan Xi, are going to be a tortoise, huddled in your shell, why don't you also put up a car formation directly in front.
But soon, Huan Xi gave Shi Bao the answer.
"Look! Who are the people on the wall!"
In Hou Zhao's army, there were exclamations one after another, and the formation was in chaos.
Ma Qiu looked up and saw that the walls of Chang'an were filled with old, weak, women and children of the Jie tribe, all of whom were clearly Zhao Jun's family members.
Behind the Jin army came the shouts of Zhao Jun’s family members:
"Son (husband, father)! Don't work for Shi Bao anymore! The Jin army didn't make things difficult for us. General Huan also said that he would allocate fields to us so that we Jie people can live a good life!"
The Jin army could not understand the Jie people's language, but they could sense that there was already a commotion in the Hou Zhao formation.
The old and weak women and children on the city wall shouted back and forth more than ten times, and under Wang Meng's instructions, they sang a song about the Jie people lamenting the separation of flesh and blood. Their plaintive voices almost affected even the Jin army, let alone the Zhao army. .
Shi Bao knew that he could no longer hesitate. If he continued to delay, he was afraid that his soldiers would be dispersed before the war started.
"Drumroll! The advance army marches in!"
Shi Bao shouted loudly that he had no idea at this moment and could only hope that the soldiers would cover up and kill the Jin army outside the city, and they could take advantage of the victory to enter the city.
However, as the Zhao army got closer to the Jin army, the plaintive singing on the city wall became louder and louder to Zhao Jun's ears.
Previously, the morale of Zhao's army was low, and a large number of soldiers fled. It was Shi Bao who used bloody methods to suppress it and brought 40,000 infantry and cavalry to Chang'an City.
Now, under this plaintive singing, Zhao Jun's last remaining will to fight was disintegrated.
The troops of Hou Zhao and the former troops who came out of the battle abandoned their helmets and armor. They waved their arms high and shouted for the Jin people not to fire arrows. They actually ran towards the Jin army with bare hands.
This was not the first time Deng Xia encountered this situation.
After Huan Xi gave an order, he immediately rode out, shouted with a loud voice, and shouted for the surrendering troops to disperse to both sides.
The Jie people's language that Deng Xia temporarily memorized last night was not proficient in it, but combined with the gestures, it was enough for Hou Zhao Jiangzhu to understand.
Shi Bao saw the former army surrendering in front of the enemy's formation, and his eyes turned red with anger.
"Arrow! Shoot arrows! Shoot them to death for me!"
Shi Bao roared and shouted, but only a few arrows were shot out. When Shi Bao looked back, the formation of archers behind him had already dispersed.
In fact, it was not just the archers. The Zhao troops who stayed in the formation fled to all directions, and were completely defeated for a while.
This scene also fell in Huan Xi's eyes. The reason why he did not arrange a car array in front was because he was waiting for this moment.
"The enemy army is in chaos! The whole army listens to my general's orders! Beat the drums! Kill!"
With an order, the Jin army marched out to the beat of drums and charged towards the chaotic Zhao army.
The outcome of this battle was determined long before Shi Bao was deceived by Huan Xi into going to Chencang, when Huan Xi successfully passed through Ziwu Road and captured Chang'an without bullying Zhao Jun's family.
Not to mention the Han people, even the Jie people had to be on tenterhooks under Shi Bao. Shi Guang, the eldest son of the whole family who had been killed by Shi Bao before, even had the same surname as Shi Bao.
Shi Bao was horrified, knowing that the defeat would be irreversible. Just as he was about to flee, a steel knife was placed on his neck.
The change came so suddenly that even the guards around Shi Bao had no time to react.
"Ma Qiu, what are you doing! Are you going to surrender to the enemy too?"
Shi Bao was merciless when killing people, but now that his life was in danger, he was frightened and frightened. Even when he asked Ma Qiu, his voice was trembling.
Ma Qiu held the steel knife and smiled at Shi Bao:
"The king's guards are now pointing their swords at the general. The general is frightened, fearing that he will accidentally hurt the king. Please give the king an order to have the guards abandon their weapons."
As he spoke, Ma Qiu exerted some force, and the steel knife in his hand cut the skin of Shi Bao's neck, causing blood to ooze out.
Shi Bao was in pain and turned pale with shock and said:
"Put down your weapons, everyone."
The guards looked at each other, and finally threw their weapons on the ground unwillingly.
Ma Qiu hijacked Shi Bao and left the siege of the guards, and came under the protection of his close associates. Only then did he answer Shi Bao's previous doubts:
"Your Majesty, don't talk nonsense. You will always be loyal to the Shi family, so how can you betray your country and surrender to the enemy?
"It's just that the king had previously intended to send troops to attack Yecheng. At the end of the day, he was secretly ordered by the emperor to take the king to Yecheng to plead guilty. If the king has anything to say, he should go and explain it to the emperor."
Hearing this, Shi Bao knew that his life was not in danger for the time being, so he regained his courage and cursed Ma Qiu fiercely.
Ma Qiu just smiled. Seeing the Jin army getting closer and closer, he did not dare to delay. He immediately hijacked Shi Bao and headed for Weibei under the protection of hundreds of horsemen.
Since Huan Xi had occupied Chang'an, there was no reason to ignore Tong Gui.
At this time, going east from Tongguan was bound to be a dead end, so Ma Qiu prepared to cross the Wei River north and cross the Yellow River through Puban.
