A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 392 Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry
Twilight Quadruple.

North of Luoyang, on the east bank of the Chan River, the sounds of battle shook the heavens.

Countless heavy artillery pieces and ballistae were relentlessly bombarding Qianjin Fortress. Fifty-pound boulders whistled as they slammed into the fortress walls; the head-sized stones smashed through the battlements, instantly creating gaps and sending debris flying.

When it hits the fortress wall, even the thick rammed earth fortress wall will leave a dent.

Not far from the fort,
Two hundred and fifty men pulled one seven-gun caravan, and two men were assigned to fire it.

"put!"

As the red flag waved, a fifty-pound cannonball, carrying the force of wind and thunder, whistled and lightly struck Qianjin Fortress, sending countless rocks flying and dust billowing.

Thirty seven-pointed cannons fired simultaneously.
Behind them were a hundred men pulling and firing a 25-pound five-pronged cannon, as well as a hundred single-pronged cannons and other weapons.

With each drumbeat and the waving of the red flag,
Even with bullets flying everywhere, the defensive structures on Qianjin Fortress, such as the rope nets and wooden beams, were completely useless. Even the parapet on the city wall was riddled with holes.

"Quickly send a signal to the King of Qin, requesting his immediate assistance."

Qu Tutong's face was cut open by flying stones, and his face was covered in blood. He had not expected Wang Shichong's siege to be so fierce, almost as if he would break through the city in one go.

More intense drumming followed.

Wang Shichong waved his hand under the Golden Guard banner.
The eight-bow crossbow was brought up; it was larger, had a longer range, and used thicker arrow shafts than the three-bow ballista.

With a shout
The eight-bow crossbow emitted a trembling sound like a dragon's roar, the arrow shafts as thick as cart spokes tore through the air, and arrows as large as giant axes shot rapidly toward the castle.

After the castle's parapet was breached by the 7th-rank cannon, a soldier from Yizhou, wielding a large iron-clad shield, still couldn't withstand a single blow.
After piercing through the iron-clad shield, the giant crossbow bolt went straight through the armored Yizhou infantryman, impaling several men behind him and turning them into bloody gourds. Finally, it pinned them, along with a few others, to the parapet behind him.

Eight-bow crossbows, three-bow eight-ox crossbows, long-range crossbows, wooden single crossbows, bamboo pole crossbows, and large bamboo pole crossbows, all used for dense attacks.

Qu Tutong wiped the blood from his face and looked at the Zheng army that stretched like a forest below the city.

The flames of war were lit for the third time.

"The valiant cavalry of Wei and Zhao, and the powerful crossbowmen of Jianghuai, truly live up to their reputation!"

Dou Gui, the Right Minister of the Yizhou Circuit and Duke of Zan, ran over carrying a large shield. "Minister Qu Tong, it's too dangerous on the city wall. Wang Shichong actually has so many heavy cannons and crossbows. Let's block the city gate and defend it to the death."

Qu Tutong looked at Wang Shichong's banner in the distance outside the fortress and said in a cold voice, "The King of Qin is leading his troops here. How can we block the city gates and guard the city like turtles?"

"If Wang Shichong has the guts, let him attack. The Prince of Qin will arrive just in time to catch them off guard."

"This is the third beacon fire, and there's still no movement. If the King of Qin arrives too late, we'll all be killed in battle."

Dou Gui was not afraid of death. In April of the second year of Yining, 50,000 Ji Hu invaded Yichun. He led his troops to fight them. When they encountered the Ji Hu, the Ji Hu occupied the high ground and set fires and shot arrows. Dou Gui's troops retreated. He killed fourteen of his generals and promoted a junior officer to replace them. He personally led several hundred cavalry to supervise the battle. Amid the sound of war drums, the Tang army rushed towards the enemy and defeated the Ji Hu, beheading more than a thousand and capturing more than 20,000.

Even a ruthless man like Dou Gui was somewhat intimidated by Wang Shichong's heavy artillery and crossbows. He hoped to wait for Li Shimin to arrive before launching a counterattack.

Now we can't even stand firm on the city walls.

"Hold on a little longer, the King of Qin will be here soon."

outside the city,

Looking at the crumbling Qianjin Fortress, Wang Shichong couldn't help but reveal a hint of smugness in his eyes.

He was able to hold Luoyang for so long because if he hadn't come north from Jiangdu with the Jianghuai infantry and archers to reinforce the city, Luoyang would have been captured by Li Mi long ago.

Having defended the city for several years, they had accumulated a considerable number of powerful weapons.

These winches, crossbows, and heavy artillery pieces are effective defensive and offensive weapons. These things couldn't be manufactured in a day or two; deploying them now for a fierce attack on Qianjin Fortress would be extremely effective.

"The entire army will be rewarded after capturing Qianjin Fortress."

"If we storm Qianjin Fortress, we'll have mutton soup tonight!"

The war drums beat even louder, resounding throughout the heavens and earth.

Wang Shichong also pushed the archers down to the city walls, and the infantry began pushing forward moat carts and siege ladders.
Dark clouds loom over the city, threatening to crush it.

The western sky was ablaze with fiery red clouds, burning half the sky crimson.

On the east side of the battlefield, the sky was gradually darkening.

After the Tang army passed the White Horse Temple, the sounds of battle could already be faintly heard.
As dusk fell, the beacon fire on Qianjin Fortress to the west stood straight as a pillar, billowing thick smoke, a sign of urgency.

"Stop advancing!"
Don your armor!

Two thousand Xuanjia cavalry dismounted.
The auxiliary soldiers took the black armor that had been transported along the way from the packhorses and began to armor the black armor soldiers.

Black clothes, black armor, black flag.

Qin Shubao, the commander of the Xuanjia Cavalry, was even more heavily armored, wearing two layers of armor: a Persian iron chain armor underneath and a fish-scale gleaming armor on the outside, along with a black lacquered horse lance, a large iron-bound spear, double maces with gold-plated roof tiles, a horizontal sword, a short sword, two bows, a crossbow, and two quivers of arrows.

One shield.

After donning the armor weighing several tens of kilograms, Qin Qiong seemed to have grown taller.

There were seven or eight different weapons, each one a deadly weapon.

Cheng Yaojin, Duan Zhixuan, Zhai Changsun, and others had also put on their gear.

Two thousand men, all dressed in black armor.

One thousand elite light cavalry and one thousand armored cavalry.

Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin commanded the heavy cavalry, while Duan Zhixuan and Zhai Changsun commanded a thousand light cavalry.

Wu Heita followed Qin Qiong, and Niu Jinda followed Cheng Yaojin.

Li Shimin also donned black armor, accompanied by four generals: Qiu Xinggong, Yuchi Gong, Hou Junji, and Xu Luoren.

"Mount!"

Two thousand armored soldiers mounted their horses.

One thousand light cavalrymen led the way, followed by one thousand heavy cavalrymen.

More infantry and cavalry followed.

The young King of Qin held a longbow, exuding confidence.

Two thousand cavalrymen approached the battlefield, but only moved slowly, without rushing to charge.

As they drew closer to the battlefield, the sounds of fighting grew louder and louder.

They finally saw Qianjin Fortress, riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse, which had been relentlessly bombarded, and they also saw Wang Shichong's great banner.
His troops had already advanced, and the archers were firing volleys.
Light infantry had already pushed trench wagons, battering rams, and ladders closer to the fortress. They had filled in several sections of the trenches and erected numerous trench bridges.

Ladders have already been pushed to the base of the fortress walls and are being set up.
Zheng Jun has already begun swarming up ladders to attack the city.

Just as Li Shimin had predicted, he arrived at the perfect time, neither too early nor too late.

Arriving too early would alert Wang Shichong, who would then retreat to Qingcheng Palace; arriving too late would leave Qianjin Fort vulnerable to attack, putting the Tang army at a disadvantage. Now is just right.

Li Shimin waved his hand, and Xu Luoren, who was holding Li Shimin's banner high, tilted the banner forward.

Army attack!

Li Shimin took the lead and charged down, followed closely by Yuchi Gong with his spear and Qiu Xinggong with his long sword.

The Xuanjia cavalry began to accelerate!
The cavalrymen's black cloaks billowed like a black mist.
The sound of iron hooves, which began like a light drizzle on the eaves, quickly transformed into the raging torrent of the Yellow River, a dark torrent rushing towards Zheng's army.

Wang Shichong turned his head.
I saw the Kuroshio Current surging in.

The Tang army has arrived.

Wang Shichong was not surprised; when the first wisp of smoke was lit at Qianjin Fort, he knew that the Tang army would come to his aid.

He observed carefully and estimated that there were only two thousand light cavalry, nothing to fear.

"Where is General Ge Yanzhang, the Valiant Cavalry Commander?!"

"Chen is here!"

"You lead a thousand cavalry forward to entangle them, and I will send infantry to follow up and encircle them."

At this moment, beneath Qianjin Fortress, Wang Shichong had deployed his elite forces, a full 30,000 strong troops, and did not take the 2,000 Tang cavalry seriously.

Li Shimin took the lead.
The previous experience of being surrounded did not make the King of Qin timid and hesitant.

Ge Yanzhang led a thousand cavalry to meet the attack head-on, also charging ahead.

Li Shimin held a large bow, nocked four arrows from dozens of paces away, and shot them out on instinct. After shooting the first arrow, he didn't even look at it, and then nocked two more arrows and shot them in quick succession.

Three shots in quick succession.

Ge Yanzhang dodged the first arrow, but the second one came flying. He used his spear to block it, but then the third arrow arrived.

Unable to dodge in time,

It hit him directly in the face, causing him to fall from his horse.

As Li Shimin galloped on his horse, he drew his bow and fired three arrows in quick succession. This time, the three arrows shot down three people: one arrow shot down the flag bearer behind Ge Yanzhang, and the other two arrows killed two flag guards.

The warhorses galloped,

The two armies charged close.

Yuchi Gong wielded his spear and thrust swiftly, felling several men in succession. Qiu Xinggong, also on horseback, brandished his long-handled broadsword and hacked and slashed, killing many. The two of them slaughtered a group of Zheng soldiers who were trying to rescue Ge Yanzhang.

Li Shimin immediately bent down and lifted Ge Yanzhang from the ground.

I intended to behead him.

It turned out that the arrow had hit his brow bone, and although he was bleeding profusely, he was still alive.

Taking advantage of his unconsciousness, they took out a leather rope, cut his hands behind his back, tied him up, and threw him to Hou Junji behind them.

At Qianjin Fort,

Qu Tutong shouted, "The King of Qin is here! The Xuanjia Cavalry is here! Victory!"

The Tang army on Qianjin Fort saw the Xuanjia cavalry charging in like a black tide. After passing the Zheng army's light cavalry, they quickly split into two groups and circled around to the left and right.

“It’s an armored cavalry unit, with the light cavalry following behind the armored cavalry!” Dou Gui laughed.

The King of Qin kept his heavy armored cavalry hidden behind his light cavalry.

At this moment, the light cavalry split to the left and right, and the armored cavalry finally came into view.

The heavily armored cavalry, both rider and horse clad in armor, had completed their acceleration and began their full-speed charge; they were like moving lumps of iron.

Unstoppable.

The armored infantrymen of Zheng's army behind Ge Yanzhang, caught off guard, were no match for these iron-clad lumps.

The heavily armored cavalrymen were like tigers among sheep, rampaging through Zheng's infantry, killing and wounding anyone they bumped into.

The light cavalry spread out on both flanks and charged into Wang Shichong's artillery and crossbow positions. Most of the artillerymen and crossbowmen were lightly armored or unarmored.

Unable to withstand the charge and trampling of the light cavalry, they scattered and fled.

The infantrymen pushing trench wagons, battering rams, and ladders below the fort were also swept away in a chaotic retreat.

Without formation, scattered infantry can hardly withstand the charge of cavalry. Even light cavalry is not something that scattered infantry can withstand.

Wang Shichong's expression changed drastically.
Unexpectedly, the fierce general Ge Yanzhang was shot down in a single encounter, and his flag also fell.

Even more unexpectedly, Tang Tong was so cunning, hiding heavy cavalry behind the light cavalry, and there were so many of them.

A thousand heavy cavalrymen—that was something Wang Shichong dreamed of possessing but could never have.

To the east, smoke and dust rose.

Li Shimin's main force arrived, numbering in the tens of thousands, including infantry and cavalry. Li Yuanji, Luo Shixin, Liu Hongji, Xie Shufang, and others led their troops to attack.

At Qianjin Fort,

Qu Tutong laughed loudly and shouted excitedly, "Open the fortress gates! Everyone, follow me and charge out! Kill!"

Dou Gui also shouted that he should charge out of the city.

Attacked from both inside and outside!

Fifty thousand Tang infantry and cavalry faced off against thirty thousand Zheng troops.

Wang Shichong watched as the heavy cavalry pierced through the infantry he had sent out to intercept them, then glanced at the approaching dust cloud to the east.
There were also Tang troops who broke out from Qianjin Fort.

He slapped his thigh in frustration.

He realized that this was all Tang Tong's scheme. If it were a direct, open-field battle, his 30,000 elite troops could still put up a fight, but now, after a day of siege...
The troops scattered again, and there was no time to form a battle formation.

"Withdraw, immediately retreat to Qingcheng Palace."

Wang Shichong retreated decisively and without hesitation.

However, many people were unable to evacuate in time, and Wang Shichong could no longer manage them.

The Imperial Guard banner moved south, and Zheng's army hastily retreated amidst the sound of bugles.

(End of this chapter)