While Gao Jingshi and others were stalling for time in the government office, Lingyun City was already in chaos.
In the state government office, the inner circle was Gao Jia's servants who were guarding the main hall gate. They were surrounded by Huang Ma's wolf soldiers who poured into the government office. Surrounding Huang Ma's wolf soldiers were the Gao family's servants and Cen Ling's soldiers who had just arrived. The wolf soldiers confronted him.
The rest of the city is divided into two sides, with the Chengbi River flowing from north to south as the boundary. The east of the city is now occupied by Cao Ke's territorial soldiers and horses, and the west of the city is occupied by Huang Ma's wolf soldiers. Several major Tumu wolf soldiers are still unaware of the great changes in the state government, so together with Huang Ma's troops, they are working hard to build a temporary defense line along the river.
It's not that Cao Ke didn't want to attack, but there was only one bridge on the Chengbi River connecting the two and a half cities in the east and west. The bridge had no official name, and the locals just called it "Tusi Bridge", also called Guanqiao.
This bridge is a stone bridge. If we say it is wide, it is quite wide, close to three feet. But this width is only a relative concept. It is enough to surpass others in normal times, but it is not enough when both sides have armies and go to war.
The Chengbi River is not wide at all. The width of this section that flows through the city is basically about twenty feet. In later generations, it would be about sixty or seventy meters wide.
If there is no enemy on the opposite side, the wolf soldiers on both sides can almost swim over with bare hands. Although heavy weapons are not allowed, they can still carry a bamboo spear so that their hands are not empty.
However, now there are enemies closely guarding both sides of the river, which is very difficult to handle.
The wolf soldiers on Huang Ma's side have not received clear combat orders yet, and are currently in a state of comprehensive defense. Naturally, they will not easily cross the river to attack. Moreover, their strength is now at a disadvantage, and they cannot cross the river to attack unless they have to.
On Cao Ke's side, he wanted to attack by force, but he was afraid that the command he had finally obtained would be shaken with the failure of the attack. The wolf soldiers were essentially the chieftain's private soldiers. He took over the command, but in fact this warrant only gave him a basis for reasonable and legal command.
The wolf soldiers themselves did not obey his orders because of the order. The main reason why they were willing to obey the orders was that the four chieftains of the Cen family had made it clear that they would obey the order. They just did not dare to disobey the chieftain of the Cen family.
It is precisely because of this unstable factor that Cao Ke can only forcefully launch an attack at Tusi Bridge. He knew in his heart that if the bridge was captured and the army crossed the Chengbi River, the overall situation of Lingyun City would be decided; but if the bridge could not be captured, the two sides would have to face a stalemate across the river, and things might still change.
But the Tusi Bridge is only so big, and there is no difference in the amount of troops that both sides can invest. Moreover, there is not much difference in the combat effectiveness of the wolf soldiers on both sides - they are both soldiers of the Tusi in Western Guangxi, and they fight in private from time to time. Lord, who still doesn’t know who’s worth?
So Cao Ke, who had the advantage of troops but could not effectively deploy, was blocked at Tusi Bridge. The fighting on the bridge was obviously very fierce, but in fact, only a few dozen people were invested at one time. You and I fought for a long time, and we only counted them. It was found that the total casualties on both sides did not even exceed a hundred.
Cao Ke was so anxious that he almost had blisters on his mouth, and he was worried and annoyed at the same time. He should have known that he should have brought some of the bodyguards with him. It's not that Cao Ke thought that the melee fighting ability of the bodyguards was even better than that of these wolf soldiers. , but they are equipped with palm mines, and they are also special versions.
Due to the limited power of black powder, if the gunpowder alone is used to injure people, the effect will be a bit ugly, so these personal versions of the grenades of the Gao family are all filled with ceramic fragments, which can be described as extremely vicious. If a few were dropped on such a densely populated battlefield, the effect would be astonishing.
However, this is just a matter of thinking about it. The main task of the servant guards must be to protect Gao Qiang, and now the situation in the state government is like a sandwich. You are on one level and I am on the other. The stalemate may turn into a melee at any time. This Why would the servants and guards be transferred here at this time? Even if Gao Jingshi gave an order, Gao Zhang might not be willing to comply.
The reason why Cao Ke is more anxious than his opponent is because he has another disadvantage, that is, he currently occupies the east of the city, while the position of the state government is in the west of the city. If he doesn't kill him quickly, who knows whether the opponent will come to a death trap. , let’s concentrate our forces to conquer the state government first?
The master is still in the government office, what will he do then?
If Gao Pragmatic is captured, this battle will be a fart! Not to mention that group of chieftains are all in the state government now. If the state government fails, the wolf soldiers behind Cao Ke will mutiny in a minute.
A wise man will surely make a mistake if he thinks a lot. Whether Gao Pragmatic is playing tricks or plotting, he is far from what Huang Ma can match. However, Gao Pragmatic is still a mortal after all, and he still has weaknesses after all.
His weakness is that he doesn't know the soldiers - maybe he knows the soldiers strategically, but obviously not tactically, because although he has a clear grasp of the forces in the city and has arranged multiple means to ensure that he can control these forces, but He ignored the issues of terrain and troop deployment.
He only calculated that his power must be at a clear advantage, but did not calculate whether these powers could be effectively deployed. As for Gao Zhang, who knew the soldiers himself, firstly, due to his identity restrictions, he had to protect Gao Pragmatically, and secondly, Gao Zhangshi also needed him to stand by his side to prevent Huang Ma from misjudgment, so although he was the best commander However, he could not go out to command the battle in Cao Ke's place.
If there are no further variables, this incident will exceed high pragmatic expectations.
However, a change finally occurred. Not long after Cao Ke was so anxious that the wolf soldiers in Lingyun City in the west of the opposite city suddenly broke out in civil strife. A wave of nearly a thousand wolf soldiers suddenly appeared inexplicably under the command of several leaders. Shouting something loudly, he rushed towards the wolf soldiers posted along the river, and the two sides started a fierce battle while Cao Ke was stunned.
However, Cao Ke's stunned state only lasted for a few blinks. He immediately became excited and shouted loudly: "Cen's wolf soldiers obey the order! With the Tianzhou wolf soldiers as the main force, they immediately launched a general attack and waded across the river with bamboo spears. , give me a strong attack! Five taels of silver for one head!"
When he originally said to attack by force, the wolf soldiers, no matter which family they belonged to, looked reluctant and looked at the trusted subordinates sent by the four chieftains. However, when Cao Ke said the last words, all the wolf soldiers His eyes changed immediately!
"Diaochai, did I hear wrongly?"
"Fifty taels of silver for one head? Gao Andai is so damn generous!"
"Kill the street kid across the street!"
"Take that old mother in your mouth, don't compete with me!"
"Kill, kill, kill, kill! Those in front, get out of the way quickly, don't delay me in grabbing the head!"
Cao Ke was stunned again. Looking at the wolf soldiers who seemed to have lost their command but whose combat effectiveness was obviously over the top, he thought to himself: Damn it, did I make too big a deal? But for him, the imperial officers and soldiers are rewarded twenty taels for killing a rebel... These wolf soldiers are really...
It’s really cheap and easy to use!
Although he has no command experience, what he can barely count as "war experience" comes from his father Cao Gan telling him stories, but the current situation is too obvious - the opponent's defense line along the river has collapsed without a fight due to civil strife. , and each of our own wolf soldiers has really turned into hungry wolves, howling and jumping into the river with bamboo spears, fighting bravely to be the first to arrive without any need to command.
Two cold weapon troops were fighting in close combat. What were they fighting? In addition to the number of people and equipment, morale is almost the decisive factor, and the number of people is now our own advantage. Although the equipment is at a disadvantage because of the need to swim, the opponent is attacked from both sides, so at least it can be even, right?
So, how can we lose this battle when the morale of our own wolf soldiers is at an all-time high?
Cao Ke took a deep breath, wiped his sweat quietly, and said to himself: Finally, I didn't embarrass my father...
