"Indiscriminate bombardment" lasted for more than an hour, and more than 5,000 stone bullets were thrown at the city. During this period, the towers and buildings around the city wall suffered considerable damage.
Hedong City built Hedong City very solidly, as if it had foreseen the situation of being besieged by the trapped city in advance. Under the impact of a large number of stone bullets, only some spots and pits after heavy blows were left on the city wall. Not even a big gap. On the other hand, the stone bullets are relatively scattered. Without continuous attacks for days, it is basically impossible to knock down the city wall at once.
On the city, the casualties were not huge, but the blow to the rebels' morale was extremely serious. Although his sight was not very clear from a distance of seventy or eighty feet, the figures on the city wall could be seen clearly. Liu Chengyou could feel the panic, fear, and confusion of the rebels. The hearts of the people are unstable and the enemy is frightened.
The trebuchets stopped, the walls of the official army's stronghold were wide open, and the Longqi and Xiaodi armies, which were responsible for the offensive, also moved under the order. Protective equipment such as wooden oxen and wooden curtains were pushed in front, and the soldiers followed behind. More than a dozen moat bridges were also pushed to the bottom of the city to fill the moat. Several huge cloud carts were also operated by a large number of civilians, heading towards Pushing forward steadily, he opened his huge mouth and fangs towards the beasts one after another...
Nearby, long-range suppressive offensive methods such as bows and crossbows continued to unfold, and the crossbow arrows, which were as thick as spears, shot straight towards Pucheng with extremely strong lethality. Those who crossed the wall and the unlucky ones of the rebels were shot straight through, the screams were incomparable, and the misery was horrifying.
As far as siege is concerned, the official army has made sufficient preparations, especially in the preparation of these siege equipment. In order to build these war weapons, the price paid was not small. In order to alleviate the financial pressure, the craftsmen and labor were squeezed to the utmost.
Because the fortifications were built to force the city into submission, the official and army attacks were already very fast, but the deployment of weapons to attack the city would always take some time. During this process, even though the rebel guards on Pucheng were disorganized, under the pressure of Li Shouzhen's trusted generals and patrol inspectors, they still took up their weapons and reluctantly prepared for the attack. The chaotic situation The scene improved slightly.
The moat bridge was pushed into the water and firmly attached to both banks. The moat became a thoroughfare, and soldiers could pass by holding shields. The ladder is forced up to the city, and the ladder is climbed down. The offensive of the government and army is fully launched...
Li Shouzhen still stocked a lot of imperial equipment in the city. There were enough rolling stones, wood, arrows, gold soup, etc. For a time, a fierce attack and defense began on the front line of Pucheng. Above and below the city, bows and crossbows faced each other, arrows rained down, and the fighting was dramatic.
Moreover, due to the stronghold tactics of the official army, which greatly shortened the distance from Hedong City, it was always difficult for the rebels to respond in time under the attack of the official army.
Without paying a high price, some of the front-line attacking soldiers climbed to the top of the city. As for the city battle's attack and defense, once it reaches the point of close combat, it heralds the arrival of a new round of offensive stage. In the fierce battle, when there is no huge gap between soldiers and armor, it basically depends on the soldiers fighting bravely.
When it comes to the bravery of soldiers, the soldiers of the Forbidden Army, especially the Longqi and Xiaodi armies, are certainly not comparable to the soldiers of Pu. Limited by the upward attack, Pu Jun Yingcheng's advantage, and the strong crossbows of the official army could no longer provide covering support, the offensive and defensive situation quickly reached a stalemate.
The battle along the city wall lasted for nearly two hours, but they still failed to break through.
"I thought that Pu Jun's heart was broken. After the army climbed to the city, they could easily descend. I never thought that under the repeated attacks of the Forbidden Army soldiers, they could hold out for so long!" On the viewing platform, they watched the battle entangled, and the Forbidden Army's attack was obvious. Slowing down, Feng Dao, who was sitting aside, couldn't help but feel a little worried on his face, and turned his head to look at Liu Chengyou.
Liu Chengyou's face didn't change much. He was calm and didn't seem to be fake. After hearing Feng Dao's words, Liu Chengyou asked Yang Fang and Hu Yanke: "What do you think?"
Yang Bin's answer was very concise: "The rebels are outnumbered and our army is outnumbered. All we need to do is continue to strengthen the attack. If we lose one heavy force under the tidal wave of offensives, the rebels will definitely not be able to withstand it!"
"It's just that, the casualties of our army are difficult to control." Hu Yanke saluted Liu Chengyou and added to Yang Bin's speech. Obviously, he did not agree with it.
Later, under Yang Bin's Weiling eyes, Ziruo said to Liu Chengyou: "In my opinion, this is just a fight by the rebels in a corner. After this wave of resistance, they will not be able to last long. Even if we can stop it today, can we stop it tomorrow? Besides, I The army's siege weapon has not yet fully exerted its effect, so why use human lives to fill it?"
After watching the battle for a while, his uncle Gao Huaide and his men were among those participating in the attack. This wave of attacks lasted for nearly two quarters of an hour. The scene still looked intense, but the effect was not good.
After blinking hard a few times to relieve the fatigue in his eyes, Liu Chengyou asked, "What's going on in Dongcheng?"
After waiting for a while, Zhao Yan came in and reported: "There is a fierce battle along the city wall."
"The rebels have temporarily adapted to the rhythm of our army's attack. Before the anger they aroused dissipated, it would be difficult to defeat them and it would only be a waste of soldiers. It may be effective to increase the number of troops to attack, but I will not do it." Posted After two comments, Liu Chengyou directly ordered: "Ming Jin withdraws the troops and sends an order to all the armies to withdraw to the Walled City in an orderly manner, gather the soldiers and treat the wounded!"
With the sound of gold ringing, the first attack ended with the officers and soldiers taking the initiative to strike.
"Officials, why are you withdrawing your troops? The brothers have already boarded Pucheng. As long as they continue to attack, the rebels will definitely not be able to stop them!" In the imperial tent, uncle Li Hongjian walked in angrily with a bag under his arm, looked at Liu Chengyou and asked directly .
As the emperor's uncle, he was responsible for the deployment of the Imperial Palace, the camp, horse and infantry commander Yuhou, and the senior general of the Forbidden Army. He was in a high and powerful position and was proud of himself. But since joining the army, although the army has always been banned, I feel like a puppet on strings. The emperor has a hand in everything.
Today's assault on the city, in his opinion, would last until sunset at most, and Pucheng would be destroyed. As a result, Liu Chengyou called a halt, and the anger and dissatisfaction in his heart suddenly rose up.
"Uncle, sit down first." Liu Chengyou gestured to Li Hongjian calmly and said, "The thieves cannot last long. They only need to use some tactics to vent their anger. The results of the attack are unknown, but the casualties among the soldiers will be heavy. That's for sure."
"If we can break the city, what's the harm in killing a few more people?" Liu Chengyou's words obviously could not convince Li Hongjian, so he retorted.
Hearing this, Liu Chengyou's expression suddenly became solemn, and he reprimanded a little sternly: "The soldiers left their homes and followed me to quell the rebellion and served the country loyally. I should regard them as my brothers and sisters. My uncle is both a relative of the country and a general, and so on." If you don't show mercy, don't say it again, otherwise, you won't be spared lightly."
Liu Chengyou has put on a show deep into his bones. Even if he says it openly, when he is really desperate, see if the words "sympathetic to the soldiers" will come to his mind.
Faced with Liu Chengyou's sudden change of expression, Li Hongjian couldn't help but hesitate, but seeing his nephew's serious and serious expression, he finally swallowed his inner words.
After the war ended and the troops returned to the camp, Bai Wenke and other generals came to the camp. They were more or less unhappy. Seeing this, Liu Chengyou felt relieved, which showed that his fighting spirit was still high. Liu Chengyou's kind words calmed him down, and he said he would attack again tomorrow.
After a simple battle damage statistics, it was found that the Forbidden Army in Nancheng invested more than 7,000 sergeants to directly participate in the battle, with nearly 1,000 casualties. Of course, the rebels were not much better. On the Dongcheng side, the losses were slightly greater.
In today's attack, the official army obviously did not exert its full strength, but the depth of the rebels was basically tested. And Liu Chengyou didn't think of sparing any effort as soon as he came up. The siege of the city has been so long, and the officers and men need to be familiar with and adapt to the rhythm of the attack.
However, after testing the rebels' combat defenses, Liu Chengyou felt more at ease.
The autumn mood is getting thicker and the nights are getting colder. The "Qin Prince's Mansion" renovated by Jiedu Yamen is completely settled in a depressing atmosphere. In the hall, Li Shouzhen had a cold expression and sat high on the throne. All the civil and military officials gathered together in the river and remained silent.
Finally, a general with a bandage on his arm stood up. He looked aggrieved and said angrily: "Your Majesty, those catapults of the Han army must be destroyed. Thousands of stone bullets were thrown at them randomly, and the soldiers were completely discouraged. , how to fight, how to resist the Han army's attack on the city?"
Seeing his excitement, Li Shouzhen gave him a cold look and asked, "Don't you want me to lead the army out of the city? Can you destroy it? Do you dare?"
Faced with this question, the general held it in for a while, his face turned red, and he retreated.
Previously, the Han army had tried to destroy the wall built right under their noses. After several attempts, the result was that they were lured out to kill them, resulting in considerable losses. At the moment, trying to get out of the city, cross those "turtle shells", and destroy the heavy siege equipment of the government army is nothing more than a dream.
"Your Majesty, the officers and soldiers are well-armed and powerful. Looking at today's offensive, it is so fierce that our army tried our best to stop it. If we don't find another way out, I am afraid it will be difficult to resist for long. By then the city will be destroyed and people will die... .." At this time, a civil servant stood up, his tone was a bit sad, and his face was full of fear. There are also obvious "hints" in the words.
When Li Shouzhen heard what he said, he showed a ferocious look on his face and angrily shouted: "You are a bold traitor who is timid of the enemy and afraid of fighting. How dare you upset the morale of our army!"
After saying this, he ordered people to pull him out and kill him. The whole room was trembling with fear, but obviously, the shock effect was achieved in a short time, and he became even more eccentric after that. After discussing it for a long time, we couldn't come up with any solution. The predicament is like this, there really is nothing we can do about it, unless there is a drastic change...
After a night's rest, the Han army prepared their soldiers and weapons. When the morning fog began to lift, they started moving again. Yesterday's shelling of the city caused a lot of damage to the trebuchets. After repairs, nearly 300 of them are still available for use.
Liu Chengyou went to the viewing platform again and when he ordered the attack, he added: Use up all the stone bullets!
Then, Hedong City once again faced a baptism of artillery rain.
The rhythm of the attack was as before. After stopping the stone bomb attack, the rebels seemed to have gained experience and knew that the official army was about to charge into the city again. The soldiers who had avoided the impact were driven into the city one after another, waiting for the battle.
However, this time it was different. When the city was densely populated, kerosene bombs were used. The clay pot with flames was sent to the city at high speed. Under the sight of the rebel soldiers, it plunged into the crowd. The broken oil from the pot burst out, and the fire suddenly engulfed several rebel soldiers around it.
After that, one after another, densely packed, were thrown towards the city. Compared to the previous stone bullet attack, a more horrifying howl echoed throughout Pucheng.
"It's fierce fire oil!" someone exclaimed, with fear in his voice.
Hundreds of kerosene bombs were basically thrown into the city. The city walls, towers, houses and a large number of guards were quickly swallowed up without any precautions.
The fire is soaring into the sky, the smoke is billowing, the sky is high and the clouds are dark, and there is an illusion that the entire blue sky has been dyed black...
Looking far away at the figures fleeing and wailing in the sea of fire, Feng Dao couldn't help but tremble a few times on the viewing platform. His old face turned pale and his lips trembled slightly: "This move will harm Tianhe, so use it with caution!"
Liu Chengyou also looked a little serious, but at the moment, there was no time to show any mercy to him. War is a matter of harming the world. There is no room for mercy when fighting for one's life on the battlefield.
The success of this fire oil bomb was basically because it was unexpected and the defenders were unprepared. Otherwise, the effect would not be so good. But obviously, this kerosene bomb is definitely a weapon for offense and defense.
The city wall is built of earth and stone, and there are not many combustible materials except the towers, rafters and fences at the head of the city. Although the fire is strong, it cannot last long on the city. Taking advantage of the sudden heavy losses, the rebels were frightened and seized the opportunity to break through the city.
As the order to attack was issued, the Han soldiers, who were also a little stunned, followed yesterday's method and attacked Pucheng in an orderly manner, which was filled with heat waves.
Facts have proved that Liu Chengyou was too careful, and the fire on the city did not last long. However, the resistance of the rebels was also minimal, and everyone who was alive fled.
Very easily, the city gate was broken open...
