Chapter 695 Blood Snow
Heavy snow fell on the Heluo Plain, covered in silver.
Zhang Chong stood outside the golden tent with a serious expression.
At this time, he saw more than ten waves of cavalry rushing from the south, and he guessed in his heart that this was a report from the attacking armies.
Sure enough, those knights started shouting from far away:
"We, the Flying Tiger Army, ask for a battle from the king..."
"I, Wei Bojun, ask for a battle from the king..."
……
As a result, on the horse racing track arranged in the camp, there was an endless stream of cavalry from all armies, and calls for battle came and went.
The generals who stayed near the golden tent all looked at the king and asked him to make the final decision.
Zhang Chong pursed his lips, feeling the coldness of the snowflakes falling on his face, and roared:
"Fight!"
There was a brief blank moment, followed by a roaring mountain and tsunami. Everyone near the military tent raised their arms and shouted:
"Fight!"
Then, the 300 cowhide drums arranged on the slope of the Beimang Mountain Base Camp began to beat slowly.
Slow at first, then urgent, and finally forced into a rumbling thunderous roar.
Not only were the falling snowflakes trembling, but the sky and the earth were changing color.
In the spring of the third year of Taiwu's reign, on April 14, in the suburbs of Kyoto, there was a drumbeat.
The armies of Mount Tai, with fine armor shining like the sun, and armor like the sea, surrounded the capital in three layers.
That day, the weather was not going well, there were thick clouds, a strong wind, and heavy snowfall. The sky and the earth were the same color, covered in silver. However, Taiwu's people, with their morale as high as a rainbow, were not hindered by the snow. They fought bravely to take the lead and braved the snow to attack the city.
Its momentum is like a tiger descending from a mountain, its fierceness is like a hurricane rolling over the ground, and the bloody battle under the city is extremely heroic.
……
The sound of the war drums of the Chinese army reached the Feihu Army outside Xiamen in the north.
Xu Huang was pacing back and forth under the large cloak.
At this time, the troops attacking Xiamen stopped there because of a sudden heavy snowfall.
Those present were all veterans and knew that this kind of weather was not conducive to siege.
Not to mention that it was spring and April this year, summer was already approaching. None of the armies had any winter clothes in reserve. The few they had were leftovers from before, which could not supply the entire army.
Then after it snows, the ice will make the walls slippery. The siege party will not be able to stand firmly on the top of the city. Therefore, even if they attack the city, they may only have a window period when it is still snowing. If they miss it, at least several people will be killed. The Japanese cannot attack the city.
The last thing is the most serious, which is the impact of abnormal weather on the morale of the army.
No matter how the Taishan Army promotes a certain degree of "scientific" teachings, it cannot be denied that they are people of this era. They have been immersed in the atmosphere of mysticism since childhood, and this thing has long been infiltrated in their thinking patterns.
At this time, in their view, this was the destiny of the Han Dynasty. It snowed heavily in April, a strange sight that has not been seen for many years. Who would not be frightened to see it?
As a result, all the attacking troops of the Flying Tiger Army hesitated to advance.
In fact, let alone these officials, he had just made a lot of determination to let his troops go to the base camp to ask for a fight.
Without him, it wasn't that Xu Huang was afraid of death, he was afraid that his brothers below would suffer heavy casualties.
This is also a shortcoming of the Taishan Army, that is, in most cases, the general is too cautious because he is worried about too many casualties and will be punished.
Everything has two sides. The Taishan Army loves its soldiers as much as its children, so naturally it is not willing to put its children in danger.
However, the military has always said that it is kind but not in command, because not all battles are magical battles. In most cases, everyone needs to survive.
But...
Xu Huang murmured as he looked at the thunderous cheers of the Han army on the city wall in the distance, and murmured:
"But this fighter plane only lasts for a moment."
Suddenly, the Chinese army's war drums came loudly. Xu Huang jumped up. He immediately got on his horse, turned around, picked up his Tiger flag, and rushed forward like an arrow.
Galloping like lightning, he carried the military flag and ordered to the army ahead:
"Siege the city, attack the city, attack the city!"
After three calls to attack the city, the Flying Tiger Army's own war drums also began to beat, and the same drum sounds sounded from all sides.
This is the response of the troops under the city to the drumbeat of the base camp.
At this moment, the war drums were beating and military orders had been issued. The siege army, which was still hesitating at first, understood what it meant and began to prepare their formations in an orderly manner.
At this time, the heavy snow in the sky fell heavier and heavier, falling on the shoulders of these children of the Taishan Army from all over the world, and soon fell into small piles.
But soon, these snowdrifts fell to the ground again as the children of Taishan Army ran, and then they were stepped on heavily by the Taishan Army officials behind them, turning black.
This time, the attacks launched by many Taishan troops on Kyoto were very targeted.
They gradually arranged their forces from the original northeast corner to the east of Kyoto. In particular, the collapsed northeast corner became the key target of the Taishan Army.
Obviously, whether it was because of the betrayal of the Gongqing's disciples in the past few days, the Taishan Army suddenly seized Kyoto's biggest defense loophole.
It turns out that the northern and southern walls of Kyoto have military roads directly connecting the northern and southern palaces. Among them, the South Palace leads to the South City Wall, and the North Palace leads to the North City Wall.
Therefore, when the Taishan Army focused on attacking in the north, Zhu Jun could easily mobilize military support from the Beigong to the top of the city.
And if attacking from the east and west, since they cannot directly connect to the north and south palaces, the reinforcements will need to take detours from the north and south first, which will greatly increase the rescue time.
Compared with the width in the east, there are a large number of gardens and forests outside the city in the west, which greatly affected the military deployment of the Taishan Army.
Therefore, the east side became the main attack surface that could best utilize the Taishan Army's advantages.
And this task was undoubtedly handed over to Zhao Yun's Crane Control Army.
At this time, Xu Huang felt a little sour in his heart when he heard the heat wave's killing cry coming from the east.
But he quickly cheered up and said to his left and right:
"We don't believe it. Our Flying Tiger Army cannot be the first to board the city."
"Pass, tell the brothers in the former army, whoever can make me proud of Xu Huang this time, I will give him the good wine I have hidden in my home in Yecheng."
The people present shouted, of course they understood that the wine Xu Huang mentioned was indeed wine, not wine. It was an opportunity.
Therefore, the front army fought bravely, first using catapults to bombard the rafts and oars on the North City, and then suppressing the arrows of the Shengsheng Army on Jinyong City.
This time the Flying Tiger Army used specially made stone bullets. Each one weighed a hundred kilograms and could fire fifty steps. These stone bullets were polished by civilians. With the participation of a large number of people from the capital, the Taishan Army's manpower There has never been so much.
A large number of stone bullets accurately bombarded the rafters and oars on the city wall. The flying wood chips and stone fragments caused splash damage on the city head, and there was a bloody wailing everywhere.
The Taishan Army's stone-producing machine was no longer used every day or two, so the Han Army naturally responded.
Soon the defenders on the top of the city moved out bags filled with chaff and piled them on the top of the city to reduce these splash damage.
Under the cover of the stone machine at the rear, the Taishan Army rushed forward pushing siege equipment such as ladders, bridges, ramming poles, goose carts, and tunnels.
The Taishan Army's ladder is not a simple ladder, but a huge movable platform. Driven by the huge wooden wheel below, the ladder was slowly pushed up to the top of the city.
Behind each ladder were twenty crossbowmen, twenty archers, and sixty assaulters.
After the ladder is erected at the top of the city, the archers will first circle with several people to protect several crossbowmen, and then the crossbowmen will use arrows to suppress the counterattack on the top of the city to cover the assaulters climbing the ladder.
It was very inconvenient for the previous commando members to hold a stick with one hand, climb a ladder with the other, and have to hold a knife in their mouths.
Later, the craftsman camp improved the card frame and added an iron ring at the back, so that the arm could be wrapped around the card frame, and then the hand would be free to hold the knife, which greatly increased the speed of climbing.
While the ladder trucks were transporting the Taishan Army to the city, the other troops also transported various siege facilities to the city.
A troop transportation road was built in it. The Taishan Army used a kind of shack called a "dongzi". These mobile shacks could be spliced into a channel, and the roofs were covered with wet blankets or cowhide to prevent rockets. Then the Taishan Army could move through this cave. The troop transportation road was built all the way from the military camp to the city.
There is also a giant crash car, the entire head of which is made of a whole log. The officials can pull the log to hit the city gate by pulling the rope tied to the end of the log.
But obviously, this kind of impact is useless, because the city gate hole behind Xiamen has long been sealed. The log hit the city gate and did nothing but shake off a cloud of dust.
While Taishan's army was trying their best, the Han army on the tower also saw their tricks.
Regarding the ladder truck below, they threw torches down and used giant bumping bars to crash the ladder that had been built on the top of the city.
In this way, more than ten ladders were destroyed in about half an hour.
But as much as the Han army destroyed here, the Taishan army doubled the delivery.
Relying on the construction of one hundred thousand civilians at the rear, various siege materials were continuously transported to the city.
At the same time, Xu Huang saw that the previous caves were so useful, so he added two more. So under Xiamen, the three long troop transportation roads were like three giant dragons, continuously pouring supplies into the city.
Zhou Ang, who was on the top of the city, already knew that he could only let the dead soldiers lower the city and burn the troop transportation roads from the inside, otherwise Xiamen might not be able to defend it.
He roared:
"I want a hundred people who are risking their lives, who will take it?"
Before he finished speaking, hundreds of people raised their hands.
Four days ago, the emperor's first stop was to visit them at the North Gate to express condolences. They had already promised to die for the emperor.
At this moment, Zhou Ang looked at these people with tears, and finally selected a hundred elite men and ordered General Liu Yan to lead them to lower the city to burn the cave.
In this way, hundreds of dead soldiers were lowered into the city with ropes tied around their waists, and then started a fierce and bloody battle with the Taishan Army below the city.
The Han troops on the tower roared when they saw Pao Ze fighting for his life below, and continued to shoot arrows to cover them, regardless of the arrows on Jin Yong's wall.
The Han army in Lucheng was heroic. They continued to attack the siege facilities regardless of casualties. Some people even cut off the ropes around their waists in order to move. This meant that their way back was cut off and they would surely die.
And what did they get in exchange for their deaths?
When the last dead soldier rushed into the cave with a torch, the flames only burned a short section of the long troop transport road and then went out.
So what we get in exchange is tragic but useless.
The bloody battle after the siege continued.
After all, every siege battle is a test of the endurance and courage of both sides. Death always comes quietly, taking away his life inadvertently, and finally taking away his life.
Xiamen's garrison has changed two rounds, and the snow on top of the city is thick, but the fighting is still not over.
At this time, everyone suddenly heard a roaring mountain and tsunami coming from the northeast. It turned out that the Taishan Army on this side finally rushed to the top of the city.
Under the leadership of a brave general, the Taishan Army rushed to the top of the city along the collapsed northeast corner, and then launched a desperate attack with the Han Army.
This time, Zhu Jun in the city was also alerted, and he quickly asked Yu Fan to bring Jianghuai tooth soldiers to support him.
At the same time, the Han army generals on both sides of the North Gate and East Gate also mobilized the big yellow crossbows to the northeast.
Relying on concentrated firepower and being condescending, coupled with the slippery place where the collapse occurred, the Taishan army was quickly killed and retreated from the city.
At this time, there was no joy of victory on the faces of the Han troops. Looking at the Taishan Army outside the city, everyone felt heavy.
This big man is really at his end.
……
Night fell quickly, and this night was torturous for everyone.
The Taishan Army outside the city did not have enough winter clothes, but fortunately they had enough firewood to light a fire.
On cold snowy nights, they huddled in their tents, gathered around the campfire, and sipped the warm mutton soup, which was enough to make them endure.
But the Han army on top of the city was in a worse situation.
In terms of supplies, those inside the city are always not as sufficient as those outside the city. At first, they couldn't even find a bonfire sent to the top of the city to keep warm. The sergeants searched around before they found a vacant house owned by a minister. Finally, they unloaded it and chopped it into firewood, so they could barely keep warm.
That night, the emperor sealed hundreds of warriors from the four cities, indicating that he had been paying attention to the situation on the city.
A little later, the food delivery team organized by the palace also delivered buckets of hot soup to the top of the city, which comforted the loyal and loyal Han soldiers who were shivering.
But no matter how warm my heart is, I can't bear the wind and snow this night.
The morale of the Han army on the city wall was low.
At this time, Zhou Ang was still deploying some capable officials and preparing to organize a night attack team.
It was obvious during the day's battle that both the troop transport road and those catapults were too great a threat to the city's defenses. If they were not destroyed, the city would definitely not be able to defend itself.
So this time Zhou Ang organized more than a thousand troops to prepare for the attack on the city, but before they could reach the trebuchet, the snow on the ground reflected the light, reflecting the countless cavalry rushing in the darkness.
These Han troops leaving the city collapsed in panic before they came into contact with the sudden cavalry of the Taishan Army.
Finally, except for Zhou Ang and more than ten people who went to the top of the city in baskets, more than a thousand people left the city and disappeared outside Mocheng.
Sitting on the basket, watching the wails one after another in the darkness, Zhou Ang cried silently.
And this is the first night of heavy snow.
In the next three days, heavy snow fell for another three days. At this time, the Taishan Army had already given up the siege and all hid in the camp.
But the Han troops on the tower did not dare to go down to the city. At this time, their swollen hands could no longer hold weapons.
Although the emperor came to the city one after another in the past three days, the officials were no longer as excited as before.
The cold finally extinguished the passion in their hearts.
They will still respect the white-haired emperor in front of them, but they are already tired of all this and just hope that the war will end as soon as possible.
And it was also in this atmosphere that in the northeast corner of Kyoto, near the corner of Taicang, the earth and rocks first loosened and finally collapsed.
After a moment of silence, a black face with mud on his face popped out, and then disappeared again.
After a while, more than a dozen capable naked men climbed out of the hole one after another, and then took bags of armor from the hole. Then, after they finished wearing them, they covered the potholes and were alert to the surrounding areas.
Finally, more and more figures emerged from behind them, more and more.