Northern Dynasties

Chapter 492 Capture Midtown
In the city of Heyang Pass, Xue Guyan looked cold and stern, pointed at several soldiers tied to the rack and shouted angrily: "Beat me, beat me hard! Sixty army sticks per person, not allowed!" Missed a note!"

As the soldiers came forward and waved their sticks to torture, several tortured people suddenly couldn't bear the pain and screamed for mercy, but Xue Guyan turned a deaf ear to this, looked around at the surrounding soldiers and continued to say in a deep voice: "The bandits The vicious battle is just around the corner. If anyone in the city violates the prohibition on drinking again, the first offender will be punished, and the second offender will be killed!"

Because of drinking, he himself returned from a big defeat on the south bank, he lost troops and generals, lost ground and fell into the city, now he hates this bad habit, and strictly forbids the guards to make this mistake and let the enemy take advantage of it.

Seeing the expressions of awe on the faces of the soldiers around him, Xue Guyan still felt a little unsatisfied, and continued to shout: "Although the bandit army is not strong, they are good at intrigues and tricks, especially when they attack at night, they are hard to guard against! So the night defense must Be more careful and cautious than in the daytime, and don't be taken advantage of by thieves!"

All the soldiers agreed with a loud bang, Xue Guyan nodded in satisfaction, went around the wall for another round of inspection, and then returned to the inner city to rest.

But after dinner, he always felt uncomfortable all over his body, especially there seemed to be thousands of insects and ants crawling between his throat and esophagus, which made him feel itchy and unbearable, wishing to pour down the strongest wine and drown them Disturbing glutton.

But when he issued a new ban on alcohol in Guancheng, it was hard to turn around, so he reneged on his promise and became fat. The stuffy feeling in the room was still not resolved after a while, so he ordered someone to fetch vinegar and sipped a few more times, trying to rely on that The sour feeling suppressed the dryness in the chest and abdomen, but when the sour feeling faded away, the alcohol addiction doubled up.

"Come, come here..."

Just when the defense line of rationality was about to collapse, and Xue Guyan couldn't help calling people to drink, a soldier rushed in from outside the door and shouted to Xue Guyan: "Report to General, the bandits from the south of the bridge are heading towards the Guan approaching, seems to launch a night attack!"

"Good time! Quickly put on my armor!"

Xue Guyan is fighting fiercely with the alcohol addicted demon at the moment, and urgently needs to distract himself. After hearing the news, his eyes light up suddenly, and the tricks of the secret enemy are as expected. In addition, there is a sense of satisfaction in defeating oneself. Before the battle started, he had already consciously won more than half of it.

At this time, the sky was completely dark, but there was moonlight shining on the sparkling river, although the vision was obstructed, it was not so dark that you couldn't see your fingers.

Xue Guyan climbed to the top of the wall, looked southward, and saw that the deck of the river bridge was fluctuating rhythmically, and the amplitude of the fluctuation was getting bigger and bigger. At the source of the fluctuation of the bridge deck, there was It was a series of black and thick figures, walking towards the Guanqiang, although the pace was very slow, but there was a sense of chilling.

"The dog thieves are so poor that they dare not form an array to attack during the day, but only dare to harass at night. Open the city gate and form an attack, so that these thieves will never return!"

Xue Guyan said with a sneer, and turned back to look at the soldiers in the pass. He personally selected the warriors and soldiers, and soon formed a 500-man infantry team, and then went out of the pass under the leadership of Xue Guyan himself. , in front of the pass to meet the enemy.

At this time, several bed crossbows newly erected on the Guanlou had been wound up with nooses, and the crossbow arrows were aimed at the river bridge in front of the pass, and they would deal brutal blows only when the enemy army entered the optimal range.

When it comes to city defense skills, the soldiers of the Eastern Dynasty, mainly composed of the soldiers of the Six Towns, are naturally not as proficient as the Kansai people, but the level of craftsmanship in the Eastern Dynasty far exceeds that of the Western Dynasty.

This kind of large bed crossbow placed on the Guanlou requires a few oxen to pull it to be wound successfully. One arrow shoots more than a hundred feet and can penetrate even armored men and horses. Although it also has the disadvantage of being inconvenient to move, it is Very scary defensive weapon.Especially in a place like the river bridge where advance and retreat must follow a fixed passage range, it is enough to make the invading enemy hate on the spot!
In the beginning when the three cities of Heyang were all guarding, Zhongli City naturally didn't need to place such a heavy weapon, but now that Nancheng has fallen, there is of course no reason to show mercy to the enemy.

When the enemy army was setting up defenses along the embankment, the bed crossbows on the city of Heyang Pass were also erected. There were ten bed crossbows lined up on the south wall of the pass tower, and the fronts of the crossbows all went straight to the line of the river bridge. The difference in angles and ranges are different, ensuring that within one mile before entering the pass, the enemy will be hit by crossbows at different positions.

The enemy gradually approached and soon entered the range of the bed crossbow, and there were soldiers at the top of the city asking whether to fire the crossbow.

Xue Guyan knew that the bed crossbow was powerful and powerful, but because it was too heavy, the shooting frequency was low. The interval between each arrow was almost more than a quarter of an hour. If the enemy army shot within the range, although it could be frightened back, But it was difficult to cause considerable damage, so he waved his hand to signal to wait a while, wait until the enemy army entered the range deeper, and then fired several crossbows together, causing the enemy's formation to be chaotic.

So the officers and soldiers in Guancheng waited patiently for the enemy to continue to advance, until the distance between each other was reduced to within a few tens of feet, and the specific arrangement of the enemy's front line could even be seen by the moonlight.

But it’s okay if you can’t see it. When he saw the familiar boxcar in front of the enemy, Xue Guyan suddenly buzzed in his head, and a fresh and strong sense of humiliation rushed into his heart. Pointing at the river bridge to the south, he shouted angrily at the same time: "Shoot! Shoot these thieves!"

hum!hum!hum...

Accompanied by a powerful roar, several powerful arrows that were no less thick than short spears shot out from the top of the city, heading straight for the river bridge shrouded in night.Then there was a series of dull vibrations on the river bridge, accompanied by a few short screams, and the crossbow arrows hit the targets on the bridge one after another.

"Follow me to kill the thief!"

Taking advantage of the tragic blow caused by the powerful crossbow to the enemy's formation, Xue Guyan took the lead and charged towards the south, and the five hundred strong soldiers who had been arrayed in the rear also scrambled to follow up, like an invincible torrent Straight down the river bridge.

However, as the distance between the two sides drew closer, Xue Guyan suddenly noticed that the situation seemed to be contrary to his imagination. On the bridge ahead, there was no scene of the enemy troops being in chaos due to the piercing of the crossbow, and there were no screaming and retreating enemies. Fang soldiers, that scene was deserted and weird.

But now that he has charged out, he has no time to think about it. He just continues to charge south, but he is a little dumbfounded when he approaches the enemy's target closest to Guancheng.

I saw that it was a carriage abandoned on the spot. The poor horse pulling the cart in front had already been shot and fell to the ground. There was also a gap the size of a fist in the north side of the tall carriage. Something is leaking out.Xue Guyan reached out to touch it, and immediately touched the river sand.

"It was..."

After realizing this, Xue Guyan suddenly thought that something was wrong, and immediately realized the enemy's method of avoiding the crossbow in Guancheng.

The bed crossbow is indeed powerful, but its shooting path is relatively fixed, and it always goes out of the river bridge deck.But this river bridge is not wide, and two cars driving together occupy most of the width space.

The boxcars driving ahead were not loaded with the silk goods that Xue Guyan had seen when he was by the Gushui River, but full of river sand.

Although these river sands are soft and soft to step on, when they are packed in a box and cage, they are so powerful that they can even pierce heavily armored men and horses, and even a crossbow can hardly shoot them through. , it is more difficult to damage.

Of course, it is not completely invulnerable, there is always a gap between the sand cart and the sand cart, and it is impossible to predict where the crossbow will fall on the bed on the top of the wall.Some arrows were shot directly into the cages filled with sand, while others were chiseled at the side or simply skimmed over obstacles and hit the soldiers.

But in any case, due to the blockage of sand carts, the powerful crossbows fired from the top of Guancheng City did not achieve the killing effect Xue Guyan expected at all, and it is even more unnecessary to think about the chaos in the formation.

Except for a few sand carts that were startled away by the livestock pulling the carts, and even the carts rushed out of the bridge and plunged into the rolling river, the soldiers behind the carts were not greatly affected.When Xue Guyan was still staring at the boxcar in a daze, several long-bladed spears stabbed straight from the side of the boxcar.

"Back, back for now!"

Seeing that the long-awaited and long-awaited ultimate move was so easily resolved by the enemy, Xue Guyan's bad mood can be imagined, his blood full of enthusiasm suddenly turned bitter, and he became more and more frightened by the enemy's tricks. He didn't want to stay in this fight anymore, he turned the long spear in his hand and stabbed to death the poor horse pulling the cart in front of the other cart, and then retreated to the rear.

The other soldiers who had followed so far saw the Lord General like this, so naturally they didn't dare to charge south foolishly, so they all retreated back.

Backing all the way to the front of the wall, Xue Guyan turned around and looked south of the bridge. Seeing that the enemy did not take advantage of the situation to attack here, he couldn't help but secretly rejoice.It seems that although the parallel sand cart successfully blocked the attack of these bandits, it also restricted them from advancing forward.

"The thief is cunning and cunning. I don't know if there is any other conspiracy hidden. Quickly inform the chief Sima of Beizhong City about the enemy here!"

If there is an upright battle with swords and guns, Xue Guyan is fearless, and dares to charge in any difficult battle.

However, the thief along the way is too cunning, and many methods are not in accordance with the routine, and often cannot be solved by martial arts alone, which inevitably makes Xue Guyan feel at a loss.

Therefore, despite common sense, he couldn't think of any other way for the enemy to pose a threat to Guancheng, but he didn't dare to be too big. It is difficult to deal with it on its own.

On the south side of the river bridge, Li Tai came out from the rear army formation more and more. When he walked to the front formation, he saw two armored soldiers were pierced through by a crossbow, and another man's knees were pierced by the arrow point, and he fell to the ground and fainted. Waking up, with a sad look on his face, he said in a deep voice: "The casualties should be transported to the rear first, ready to attack!"

He had seized a hundred bed crossbows from Nancheng before. Naturally, he would not ignore this great weapon when he conceived to continue the attack, but he could only minimize the harm of the bed crossbows, but he could not completely eliminate them.

The battlefield is so cruel, life and death are often just a thin line, and it all depends on luck.

Except for Han Xiong and his subordinates, the soldiers here are all family soldiers who have followed him for a long time. Even the Longyou athletes who have followed him for the shortest time have the battle of Jinyang to cultivate tacit understanding, and they have long been used to it. Absolute obedience to Li Tai's orders.

Even in the face of such a situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak, easy to defend and difficult to attack, when Li Tai decided to attack the north of the river bridge, these people had no doubts about it, and there was no need for the enthusiastic Xiao Yi to be righteous at all. .

The more so, the more Li Tai has the responsibility to lead the soldiers to create greater brilliant achievements, and to ensure their safety as much as possible.Of course, sacrifices are inevitable in this process, so let every sacrifice have greater meaning and value!
The sand truck in front was left on the bridge due to the collapse of the livestock pulling the cart. The soldiers did not go forward to clear it and continue to move forward. Instead, they stopped at this section of the river bridge and put the wood transported from behind on the bridge deck. Assembled and adjusted continuously, the sound of knocking and knocking could be heard far away in the night.

In front of Heyang Pass, Xue Guyan saw that the enemy army did not move forward, but the sound of beating and beating was heard continuously on the bridge, and he was full of doubts, even secretly guessing that the enemy army was planning to approach Heyang Pass Build a temporary camp fortress on the river bridge so as to continue to attack Heyang Pass?

Although this conjecture is a bit absurd, it is not impossible to think of the thief's endless tricks.During this waiting process, Xue Guyan ordered the crossbow at the head of the city to shoot several rounds at the bandits, but the effect was not as good as the first time.

After the bed crossbow is set on the top of the city, it is very cumbersome to move it, and the shooting path needs to be calibrated through the line of sight and markers. The night is now dark, and even with the thin moonlight, it is difficult to meet the requirements of bed crossbow calibration. A killer is useless for the time being.

After learning of the enemy's situation, Hu Lujin on the north bank did not go to Heyangguan City to supervise the battle, but stayed in Beizhong City for vigilance, but also sent a general to lead 2000 people to the south for reinforcements.

For a time, there were nearly ten thousand people inside and outside Zhongyu City, including the labor force of the civilian husbands.This city was originally located on the sandbar in the river, and it was the smallest among the three cities in Heyang. With so many troops stationed there, it immediately filled up the open space of the inner and outer city except for the houses and tents.

Seeing the top and bottom of the Guancheng and the soldiers on the side of the river island waiting for the battle, Xue Guyan's originally nervous mood regained his composure.No matter what other plots and tricks the enemy forces have, it is absolute strength that can really determine victory.

The garrison in Zhongyu City alone already outnumbered the enemy by more than a factor of [-], not to mention the tens of thousands of troops commanded by the Dendrobium Law Firm on the North Shore!When it comes to the intrigues and tricks in the battle, Xue Guyan thinks he is not as good as the thief general, but he has made up his mind to stay the same and respond to all changes. He just lures the crowd to stick to the gate, and wait until tomorrow is clear and sunny before making a counterattack.

Suddenly, there were several abnormal noises in the night in the south, and immediately there was a relatively clear sound of a heavy object entering the water, and an inconspicuous splash of water flashed away on the water surface tens of feet away from Guancheng.

Xue Guyan keenly captured this scene, and a few thoughts flashed across his mind, before he came to his senses: "The thieves are planning to attack the city with artillery carts!"

It's okay if you don't say this, as soon as you say it, all the soldiers who heard it around burst out laughing.Affected by this atmosphere, Xue Guyan couldn't help laughing. Originally, he was worried that the enemy army was planning some kind of vicious and tricky attack method, but he didn't expect that it was just an old routine like trebuchet.

He doesn't look down on the power of the trebuchet, but the distance between the two sides is here, coupled with the limitation of the bridge deck, it is difficult for the enemy to use a powerful trebuchet, otherwise the pawns who just pull the cannon bar will line up not open.

Just looking at the point where the stone cannon landed just now, one can tell that the range of the enemy's artillery vehicle that has been brewing for a long time is not enough to threaten Guancheng.However, if we get closer, there are still three unfired bed crossbows on the top of the city, which means three dead spots, and the enemy will have to use their lives to test them out, and they will also have to deal with the defenders who attacked and killed.

The previous apprehension was due to the unknown danger, but when he knew the enemy's attack method, Xue Guyan immediately felt relieved, and he didn't even bother to guard and prepare for the battle in front of the pass. Instead, he returned to the pass to rest and just Instruct the general here to kill and retreat if he sees the enemy approaching.

But just as Xue Guyan turned around and entered the closed wall, he heard exclamations from the soldiers on the wall. Before he had time to ask what happened, he heard a muffled sound from the side of the inner city. , Immediately there was a sound of wailing and screaming, and people and horses running away in a panic.

"what happened?"

Xue Guyan hurriedly rushed to the top of the city, pointing to a soldier commander who was staring at the night with his head raised and staring at the night, he asked a question in a loud voice.

"Yes, it's a cannon stone, a huge piece of cannon stone, it fell in the inner city..."

The soldier's tone was a little trembling, and he said with a look of surprise.

"Nonsense! How could it be a cannon stone..."

Xue Guyan stared and scolded angrily, he was not blind, just now he clearly saw the enemy cannonball falling on the river surface tens of feet away from Zhongli City, how could he cross the pass city and hit the inner city again!
However, as soon as he finished speaking, there was another sharp buzzing sound in the sky. He followed the sound and looked up, only to see a black shadow swiftly crossing his line of sight, and then heard a bang from the Guanlou. Wu Ying hit the roof of the Zhongguan Tower directly, and the entire Guanlou trembled visibly, and immediately a large piece of the building was smashed down with great force and collapsed.

"This, this...impossible, absolutely impossible! How could..."

Seeing this scene, Xue Guyan felt a bone-piercing chill pouring down from the top of his head, and then flowed all over his limbs, and his stiff body shivered uncontrollably.

Such an unreasonable scene, even Xue Guyan, the experienced general who dared to fight against Tianlei, was shocked, and the other soldiers who saw it were even more panicked, and many people even immediately thought of it. Is it the power of supernatural gods and Buddhas?Many people chanted the Buddha's name, while begging for shelter, while retreating to the rear.

"Don't go, don't go! The thieves must have used a cunning trick to follow me out of the city to kill the evil spirits!"

Xue Guyan is worthy of being a strong man who can't be struck by lightning. When he saw the chaos of the troops running around, he felt bad. He roared and rushed out of the pass city, shouting at the soldiers in front of the pass to go straight to the south bridge. Go up and kill.

At this time, on the south side of the river bridge, the carriage frame that had been left on the bridge was still there, but the river sand in the carriage had disappeared.Xue Guyan roared, smashed the car into pieces with a flick of the spear in his hand, and soon saw the enemy formation behind him.

These enemy soldiers each wore heavy battle armor, and in their hands were holding swords that looked like Zhanmajian but had other long blades. The battle seemed to make people feel inexplicable palpitations.On the bridge behind these enemy soldiers, there are two tall trebuchets, which must have been the source of the mighty cannon stones before.

But Xue Guyan had no time to take a closer look, the enemy soldiers had already come face to face, the long saber swung down suddenly, he was too busy here to block with a lance, and immediately felt his shoulders sink suddenly, the tiger's mouth trembled in pain, and the long lance unexpectedly He was chopped off his hand and hit the bridge.

"General be careful!"

The soldiers near the left had quick eyes and quick hands, and hurriedly dragged Xue Guyan, who had lost his weapon, back to the army formation, but one soldier was cut open by the enemy because he rushed too close, bloody internal organs flowed out, and he fell to the ground shortly after. .

There are also soldiers wielding their swords and guns and stabbing at the enemy soldiers, but the blades of the swords cannot break through the thick armor. To fill the gap, copper heads and iron arms continue to advance against the wall, beheading ruthlessly!

Seeing the ferocity of the enemy army, Xue Guyan was also shocked, holding a saber and almost rushed into the formation to destroy the enemy's formation, but all attempts failed.

If it was just a few ordinary heavy armored infantry fighting, he wouldn't be restrained, but the enemy army was well-organized and cooperated tacitly, and the jumping and rushing cooperation between him and the soldiers was useless under this offensive. Become weak and powerless, seeing dozens of soldiers died under the long knife, Xue Guyan could only grit his teeth to lure the crowd back temporarily.

However, just as they were retreating, there were two loud bangs from the enemy's rear. The huge cannonball landed at the same position as before. There were no new casualties.

However, the Guanlou, which had no way of avoiding it, was hit hard again. The whole Guanlou made a loud bang, the structure shook severely, and the roof eaves of the entire floor collapsed, as if it had been bombarded by thunder.

Although the Jinyang soldiers are brave, not all of them are as brave as Xue Guyan to fight against the thunder. The two consecutive bombardments shocked their hearts greatly, lest the next thunder would land On top of their heads, they all rushed out of the river island and fled northward along the river bridge. People were constantly squeezed off the bridge, and soon they were involved in the raging river.

When Xue Guyan led the crowd back to Guancheng, most of the guards on the wall had already fled. Seeing this scene, even if he still had the heart to stick to it, it was difficult for him to persist, so he could only rush into the gate and follow the soldiers to retreat north.

　I wish you all a happy Saturday. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)