Chapter 418 Siege
Six more days have passed since Zhang Chong asked Jushou last time.
At this time, it was already the fifth day of July in the first year of Taiwu, and more than a month had passed since June when they swore for the Northern Expedition, but the Taishan Army was still trapped under Zhending City.
The Taishan Army still besieged Zhending City and did not launch a forceful attack. But this does not mean that the Taishan Army did nothing during this period. In fact, at the end of June, the day Zhang Chong asked Jushou, the Taishan Army had just completed a beautiful annihilation.
It turned out that on the same day, a military report from Jingxing Pass was also delivered to Zhang Chong. This was sent by Le Jin, the left-behind general at Jingxingguan, and he was talking about the same thing.
Just the day before yesterday, Le Jin had just repelled an enemy force that was trying to read out from Jingxingkou. It turned out that the flag was the enemy force from Taiyuan.
Sure enough, with Zhang Chong's siege finally settled, not only Lu Zhi in the north could not sit still, but also Taiyuan, which had been watching the war in Hebei, began to take action.
Unlike most people who think that Jingxing is just a pass, Jingxing is actually a traffic artery shared by Taiyuan and Changshan Kingdom.
Since it is a passage, there are entrances at both ends. The pass in the west, that is, the side near the Taiyuan Basin, is called Xigu Pass. It is the key pass for Taiyuan to resist enemies coming from the east.
To the east of Jingxing Road, the pass close to Changshan Kingdom is called Tumen Pass, which is what we often call Jingxing Pass, and our Lejin is stationed here with five hundred soldiers.
Some people may ask, since the Jingxing Passage is so important, why didn't Le Jin go directly to Xigu Pass in the west and directly defend the enemy at the western foot of Taihang Mountain? If we only defend Jingxing Pass, wouldn't we put the enemies to the west into the Taihang Mountains?
In fact, this is considered from an economic point of view. When defending such a long valley, you usually only need to defend the passes close to the entrance, because if you defend directly at the exit, the pressure will be particularly high in order to supply food to the defenders on the opposite side.
On the contrary, as long as the entrance to one side is guarded, if the enemy wants to attack, they will have to maintain the long and difficult valley supply line, which will put pressure on the opposite side.
Therefore, Le Jincai only needs to guard Jingxing Pass.
There were two waves of people attacking Le Jin. One group was from Baodu Mountain, which was less than five miles away from Jingxing Pass. They originally occupied Jingxing Pass. Later, when they saw Le Lin's attack, they thought it was the arrival of Han soldiers and hurriedly fled to Baodu Mountain.
Later, these mountain huts saw that not many people came in, and once again made noise and went down the mountain to attack the pass. But such a mob was no match for Le Jin and his 500 cavalry troops.
Yue Jinshuai's three hundred cavalry came out of the pass. In less than a moment, they defeated thousands of Shanliao and captured two hundred and returned.
But soon, news came from Le Jinwai's sentry in the Taihang Mountains, saying that a Han army with countless flags was crossing the Mianman River and heading towards Jingxing Pass.
Mianmanshui is a valley river originating from the western foothills of Taihang Mountain. During Han Xin's last battle, the so-called water was Mianmanshui.
And once the ferry crosses Mianmanshui, it's only two days' journey from Jingxing Pass. If you're quick, you can get there by traveling day and night.
Therefore, Le Jin hurriedly ordered a sentry rider to go to Zhending's base camp to ask for help, while preparing for war in the pass.
As the most important pass for the Taishan Army on the west side, Jingxing Pass must be defended no matter what, otherwise the Northern Expedition will really end here.
Because the Han army had to cross the river for a long time, Le Jin's sentry cavalry could not accurately estimate the size of the Han army. But just in terms of the number of people crossing the river, there were at least four to five thousand soldiers.
Such a huge force is undoubtedly very stressful for Le Jin. He has a total of 500 people at his disposal, and he really has to fight ten of them to compete.
But Le Jin is not without good news.
One is that he took the lead in defeating the Baodu Mountain forces five miles away on the flank before the war. If when he fights the Han army later, these gangsters from Baodu Mountain come out to attack Jingxing Pass, then he will really be helpless.
Another point is that west of Jingxing, there are mountains and complicated roads, which is very unfavorable for the deployment of large troops. In other words, the number of people deployed by the Han army on one side was only the same as that of Yue Jin, and the numerical advantage on the opposite side could not be expanded at all. So for Le Jin, it’s not that there is no need to fight.
Finally, there is another point, that is, the Taiyuan Han army came from afar and the supply line was very long. As long as he Lejin defends Jingxing, the supply of food and fodder for the Han army on the opposite side will be very long. At that time, when the reinforcements from the rear are large, they can go around the back of the Han army from the direction of Baodu Mountain and cut off their supplies.
But these are all conservative, but Le Jin wants to take the initiative.
Le Jin knew that the king had high hopes for him, otherwise he would not have pulled him from the Cavalry Army system to the lower part of the account, so Le Jin himself had a strong desire to make contributions.
Therefore, after setting up the defense of the city gate, Le Jin personally took two sentries out of the gate, lurked in the mountains and forests, and personally observed the movements of the Han army.
That night, Le Jin came back.
After having a general observation of the Han army, Le Jin made the following arrangements for his five hundred cavalry.
He ordered all the cavalry under his command to dismount and fight, and then all the general's 700 horses gathered together. Then they divided up dozens of people, each holding a drum, and quietly drove the horses into the valley to hide.
At dusk on the second day, the Taiyuan Han army arrived at Jingxing Pass.
Le Jin first tied all the 200 Shanliao prisoners to the gate, making the Han army think that there were still soldiers defending the gate. Then he took the entire army of 450 armored soldiers out of the pass to fight with the Han army.
Le Jin formed a square array of ten rows with fifty people in each row at the foot of Jingxing Pass. This width just closed the road, and the thickness of ten rows also allowed each row to still fight alternately and ensure rest.
The Han army did not know the details of Jingxing Pass.
In fact, they didn't even know that this level had been captured by the Taishan bandits until they arrived at the place.
However, the leader of this side was proud of his large number of troops. Seeing that the Taishan bandits in the city gate actually chose to go out to fight in the field, he didn't think much and started to move with the army to fight with the Taishan bandits.
The front rows of both armies were all armored soldiers, and they would huddle together, beating and pushing each other in the crudest and crudest way.
Le Jin has been standing at the head of the sixth row. There is a small slope here, allowing him to have enough height to observe the changes on the battlefield.
Soon, it was getting darker and darker. Seeing that the time was almost up, Le Jin hurriedly blew the horn.
The passionate horn soon spread to the nearby valley. The cavalry officers who had been prepared long ago beat the war drums directly, and then the remaining officers mounted their war horses and drove the entire army's war horses towards the battlefield at high speed.
For a moment, the sky and the earth were filled with the roar of war drums, dust filled the sky, and the earth moved.
At this time, the sky was dark, and the Han army saw that the Taishan bandits were fighting fiercely, so they all thought that the enemy was prepared. As expected, a large-scale cavalry regiment was heard galloping towards them. Not knowing the details, they thought it was an ambush from the opposite side, so they fled in a hurry.
Seeing that the Han army was defeated, Le Jin ordered a fierce pursuit of the Han army.
But Le Jin's commander, Huang An, advised Le Jin not to pursue further.
Huang An is a student of the third phase of Hengxingjun, and is now responsible for the main song of the cavalry. He said to Le Jin:
"General, as the saying goes, don't pursue the poor enemy. To the west of Jingxing, the mountains are high and the forests are dense, and there are large armies lurking at any time. Even if the opposite side is defeated, how can we not be careful that others are tempting me to go deep? The reason why Zhao Xie and other generals were defeated by Han Xin at Jingxing , isn’t it because of his plan to lure the enemy deeper? Now that our troops are weak and the city gate behind us is a prisoner’s gate, how can we know that there won’t be one or two who will escape? If we continue to chase, how about cleaning up the battlefield and returning to the pass to wait for reinforcements?”
What Huang An said was very reasonable. Le Jin was not a person who refused to listen to advice. He knew that the risks would outweigh the benefits if he continued to pursue it.
So Le Jin ordered the troops to retreat, cleaned up the battlefield, and returned to Jingxingkou with the thirty surrendered Han troops. As soon as they came back, they saw that several Shanliao people had somehow managed to break free from the ropes and were about to flee. Le Jin was secretly shocked, knowing that he had been greatly helped by Huang An. As a result, the two became closer, and Le Jin stopped fighting in the field and only waited for reinforcements from the rear to arrive.
Soon, an army of two thousand people came from Zhending, and the general was Li Damu, a powerful general in the army.
Just when Li Damu and Le Jin were preparing to leave the pass to fight the Han army, the spy report had already reported that the Taiyuan Han army had retreated and retreated to Xigu Pass.
In this way, the Taiyuan Han army's attack ended in an anticlimactic manner.
But they didn't know that if they retreated here, they would harm the Zhending friendly forces to the east.
……
July 5th, morning.
When the Han army at the top of the city saw the Taishan army below the city placing more than ten flags representing the identity of the Han army in Taiyuan under the city, and seeing dozens of Han army heads, they were all panic-stricken.
Obviously, from what the thieves below the city said, combined with the heads of those flags, their Taiyuan reinforcements were defeated.
After realizing this bad news, many Han soldiers on the city felt like they were mourning for their heirs.
Not everyone can be as determined as Tian Kai and others. In fact, Zhending City is already at the end of its tether.
During the nearly month-long siege, the Taishan bandits on the nearby slopes continued to use long bows to shoot at the Han troops on the city wall. Up to now, the number of casualties of the Han army has risen to 600, accounting for one-tenth of the total force in the city.
This kind of passive beating is very damaging to morale. Compared with a month ago, the morale in the city has hit rock bottom.
But now, after seeing the reinforcements destroyed, Chengtou's morale once again fell from the bottom to the abyss. Because their only hope is also lost.
After being besieged, they had completely lost contact with the outside world. So they didn't know that on the north bank of Hutuo River, General Lu Zhi of Zhenbei had prepared an army of unprecedented scale. So they didn't know that the Taishan Army only defeated the Taiyuan reinforcements, but was not able to annihilate them.
At this moment, many officials on the top of the city had their last nerve crushed. They didn't want to suffer anymore, so they looked at the bottom of the city and jumped down.
The lucky ones just broke their legs and cried. But some were unlucky enough to hit the deer antlers under the city, and their whole bodies were hung on the sharp wood, with water flowing all over the ground.
But more often than not, the person's liver and brain are directly bruised and he dies.
The Han troops on the top of the city kept jumping into the city, making the atmosphere in Zhending City even more terrifying and depressing.
Knowing that his mood was not right, Tian Kai, who was resting in the city, hurriedly led his troops to the city to suppress it. After replacing a group of city soldiers, he barely managed to drive away the feeling of defeat.
But the Taishan Army did not give the Han Army in Zhending City any rest. Today is the day of their general attack.
As the sixty-four cowhide drums in the Chinese army's tent began to beat, the Taishan Army on the front line began to take action.
Six huge nest cars like giant beasts were slowly moving from outside the camp. Each nest cart has twenty oxen pulling it in front and fifty laborers pushing it behind.
These six giant nest cars were lined up along the west side of Zhending. After half an hour, they finally moved to the top of the city.
At this time, the Han army at the west city gate was already in chaos. The officials kept giving military orders to their subordinates:
"Send fire arrows at them."
So, after some panic, the Han army organized the first wave of counterattack.
Hundreds of rockets pierced the sky and shot at the nest car on the opposite side, but with little effect. These nest carts are all wrapped in cowhide on the front, so how can they be useful?
Seeing that the rocket arrows were useless, he quickly said with a clever soldier:
"Hurry up and move the logs and put them all outside the city."
In this way, a large number of logs were moved, and they were all placed horizontally outside, blocking the giant nest car from approaching the city head.
This trick really worked, because the logs blocked the giant nest car under the city and it couldn't be pushed.
Just when the Han army secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a rapid sound of gongs suddenly came from below.
Then the Han army saw a huge wooden plank suddenly lowered from the chao chariot on the opposite side, and it was just buckled on the top of the city.
There were a few unlucky Han soldiers who had no time to hide and were hit by wooden boards, causing their brains to burst.
Obviously, the place where the Taishan Army's plank originally fell should be more than ten feet behind the city wall. But because the Han army used logs to block it, it has just been placed at the top of the city. Although it is not as strong as expected, it is enough.
After the long wooden planks were put down, a group of Taishan Army warriors wrapped in iron armor were directly revealed. They were either holding giant axes or sabers in their hands, and they jumped out as soon as the plank hit the ground.
These selected trappers quickly stood on the top of the Zhending city. Three or five of them formed a small formation and pushed forward to both sides, leaving enough space for Pao Ze in the rear to jump into the city.
But not everything is so smooth. The six-seater giant nest car is really useful for the four-seater.
One of them was not far enough away, and the long board that was put down could not reach the city wall. In the end, the soldiers in the chariot could only stare at the Han army at the opposite city wall, but could not move forward.
There is another one that is even worse. The Han army guards on the top of the city don't know why, but they left kerosene. As soon as the wooden planks were placed on the chariot, the man from the opposite side threw a load of kerosene.
The earthen jar collided with the iron clothes of the Taishan Army soldiers and was shattered to pieces.
But the black kerosene also flowed all over the soldiers.
Then there was a burst of fire from the Han army on the top of the city, and the tragedy happened.
Without exception, all the ten soldiers in the chariot were burned to ashes. They wailed and jumped off the chariot to end their lives.
What's even more tragic is that the interior of the nest car is not fireproof, so the fire quickly spread to the interior. In the end, except for the ten soldiers near the bottom exit who escaped with their lives, forty of the fifty-man soldiers were directly burned to death.
The giant nest car is also like a lit torch, releasing light and heat, and also amplifying human fear and cruelty.
This is just a corner of the battlefield, but the more brutal battle continues at the top of the city.
(End of chapter)