bookcurios Chapter 207 Attacking Luancheng
Chapter 207 Attacking Luancheng
The princess's personal guards came and frightened Zhou Tong who had just arrived.
"Quick, stop the princess' carriage, it's dangerous here!"
Zhou Tong's shouting was a bit hysterical, but it did not stop the carriage from moving forward, but instead it was met with the whistling of a cannonball.
The shell landed about seven or eight meters away from the carriage, overturning the princess's carriage on the spot. The frightened horse neighed and dragged the carriage for dozens of meters.
"Quick, save the princess!"
Oh my God, the princess's carriage overturned, it was like the sky was falling.
Not only Zhou Tong, but Mao Wang was also anxious.
He brought his men to the carriage, grabbed the frightened horse tightly, and then hurried to check.
The carriage's axle was damaged by the bomb. Although it was protected by steel plates, the broken wood and shrapnel pierced the people in the carriage and made them bleed. For a moment, it was impossible to tell who was the princess and who was Hongniang.
The one who was seriously injured was Hongniang. She had her back to the side of the carriage and when the explosion happened, she was able to withstand the blow.
Although Li Shuya was also injured, she felt much better.
……
When Zhao Sheng led his men to the military town, he found that the remains of the soldiers had been buried and no bodies were abandoned in the wilderness. Zhao Sheng had a high opinion of Zhang Xiaosi's army.
"My Lord, the food supply has been affected. There is no more food left here."
"They have big appetites. How did they carry away so much food?"
"The Zhang family army has 40,000 to 50,000 men, and they are all cavalry. They have war horses!"
Zhao Sheng understood the meaning of the words and realized that he was being carried by a horse.
"Order Fu Yonggang to take his men to guard the military town, and we will go to Dingzhou."
Zhao Sheng didn't dare to stay too long. After hastily arranging these people, he went to the Dingzhou camp with his personal guards.
Before dark, Zhao Sheng arrived at the camp. He originally thought it was the Giant Tree Camp, but in fact there was only a light cavalry general in the camp.
"I don't know if it's because the Prince Consort has arrived and there's no food left in the army. I'll arrange to make some right away."
For safety on the road, Zhao Sheng brought more than a thousand people with him, including debugging workers.
Xu Weishi is not very old, with a handsome face, about thirty years old, and his strong muscles make him look very skinny.
"General Cheng has returned to the county?"
Zhao Sheng noticed that the number of people in the camp had decreased a lot. There were 100,000 troops stationed there before, but now there was only one third of that.
"Military intelligence has emerged in Anping Town, and General Cheng has led his men to quell the rebellion."
"Anping Town? How many enemies are there?"
"The spies' report isn't clear, but there are probably over 20,000 people."
"No, there should be more than 40,000 people. General Cheng will suffer if he goes there. Do you have a receipt for the battle report?"
"Never!"
"How long have you been there?"
"Two days!"
As the two were talking, a man arrived and said, "General Xu, General Cheng sent a letter saying that the enemy in Anping Town has left. There are about 40,000 to 50,000 of them. They are probably heading towards Jing County."
Zhao Sheng thought about it. Although the population of Jing County was small, they were well-equipped with weapons. He didn't care about the more than 40,000 people. Besides, Cheng Jushu's army was chasing them.
So he didn't think about it anymore, ate his meal and rested in the camp for a night.
The next day, the sun was already high in the sky when Zhao Sheng finally got up.
"Prince Consort, are you going back today?"
"Yes, I've been out for a while. I need to go back and make some arrangements. The situation in Weizhou is getting quite tense."
Zhao Sheng talked to Xu Weishi with a smile, looked at the coarse flour cakes and millet porridge on the table, picked up the porridge and drank it, without eating the cakes.
"Okay, let's go!"
Zhao Sheng shouted to Liang Dong who was walking outside the tent, and also greeted Xu Weishi.
The Dingzhou camp was more than a hundred miles away from the county seat. When they arrived at the edge of the county seat, it was already the end of the afternoon.
"My Lord, something is wrong. The flags on the county city wall have been changed, and the gates are closed."
"Stop talking, something must have happened. Let's take a detour and go back to Luancheng directly."
Zhao Sheng felt an inexplicable sense of uneasiness in his heart, but he stopped worrying about it and was eager to go home.
Thousands of men and horses quickly bypassed Dingzhou County and headed straight for Luancheng.
As they approached the north of Luancheng, the thick smoke irritated the nostrils of Zhao Sheng and his group.
"Liang Dong, get the Gatling ready, let's go take a look!"
Zhao Sheng was a little panicked. He didn't know what was happening in the city, but he saw that the city gate was broken.
He fished out a rifle and a wheel pistol from the carriage and stood on the roof directing the guards.
Zhang Xiaosi saw the army attacking the city gate. He was happy that he could celebrate the victory in Luancheng tonight, but then he saw a thousand people running over from the side, with loud gunfire, and charging into the crowd of Zhang's army.
……
Besides, Shi Ge received the order yesterday. Today, the main gate he will attack is the west gate, and the person who cooperates with him in the siege is Yuan Shan.
Shi Ge saw that the city walls were too high and it was not suitable to attack the city, so he suggested a surprise attack at night.
Yuan Shan also discovered at this time that Lu Zhi at the South Gate was all talk and no action, and had no intention of a forceful attack.
"General Yuan, this Lu family kid thinks we're idiots, sending us to our deaths while he hides away and enjoys his leisure time."
"Lu Zhi is too abominable. How about we launch a feint attack, 300 meters away from the city, and randomly deploy fortifications."
Siege strategies can be roughly divided into four types: storming, siege, luring the enemy, and surprise attack.
Mechanized equipment specially used for attacking cities can effectively directly destroy the city’s defense system or assist in the attack. Common siege equipment includes: battering rams, ladders, moat crossing equipment, catapults, etc.
Individual soldiers also have ropes, poles, bouncing poles, etc.
The ? people are good at sneak attacks using ropes, poles and other means. In broad daylight without any equipment, a strong attack is tantamount to suicide.
So they began to prepare equipment for a night attack.
Unexpectedly, after noon, the number of troops on the city wall decreased, and news came that the north gate had been breached, and troops from the south and west gates were dispatched to provide support.
Seeing the opportunity, Lu Zhi came over to discuss and decided to attack from the west gate.
The strategic principle states: Concentrate your forces as much as possible at the point where you are ready to launch a decisive strike.
Therefore, if the enemy is visible and I am invisible, I will be focused and the enemy will be divided.
I am divided into one, and the enemy is divided into ten. Therefore, if ten attack one, I will be numerous and the enemy will be few. If I can use the many to attack the few, then the enemies I fight with will be limited.
The original three-sided attack situation in the afternoon suddenly turned into a two-pronged attack. Zhang Xiaosi's attack was the most effective because they had cannons.
Lu Zhi and Shi Ge attacked the most fiercely, reaching the city wall several times in a short period of time, but were driven off the wall several times.
Beneath the city walls, corpses lay strewn like rice stubble after an autumn harvest, densely packed and devoid of any sign of life. Atop the walls, blood flowed like a winding stream, staining the ancient blue bricks with a mottled, luminous crimson.
"Bam—"
Another body that was brave and fearless but failed to cross the threshold of life and death was thrown heavily off the city wall by the defenders of Luancheng. When it came into close contact with the cold earth, a fine and tragic blood mist erupted.
The soldiers under the city knew from the familiar equipment and uniforms that those who fell were brothers who had fought side by side with them. Their hearts were heavier than the land soaked in blood.
As the night deepens, the cold wind is quietly gathering momentum, foreshadowing that tomorrow morning, these fallen warriors will be frozen by frost and snow, becoming the hardest sculptures on the battlefield.
At that time, transporting these remains will no longer require laborious lifting. Only a rough rope will be needed to drag their cold bodies across this war-torn land.