Under the city of Liyang, blood flowed everywhere, and corpses lay everywhere.
Siege is not something that cavalry is good at. The advantage of cavalry is that it can move easily and come and go like the wind. On the plains, cavalry has a huge advantage over infantry, especially when the cavalry launches a group charge. Facing an insurmountable city wall, the cavalry could only dismount and use infantry methods to attack the city, which would inevitably have a greatly reduced effect.
However, the current situation forces the two generals of Bingzhou Cavalry, Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng, to have no other choice. Nearly 200,000 Hebei troops are on their way back. If Liyang fails, the army will be forced to go another way, which is dangerous and unpredictable. ! Therefore, even if the cavalry were converted into infantry and seriously lacked experience in attacking cities, they had no choice but to bite the bullet at this moment!
In this way, the thirty thousand Bingzhou cavalry abandoned their horses and became infantry, and rushed towards Liyang's city gate like moths throwing themselves into fire. Their courage was admirable. Even after paying a heavy price, they still refused to give up, attacking the not-thick city gate of Liyang one after another
In Liyang City, 10,000 soldiers from the Bingzhou Battalion and 4,000 cavalry from the Scout Battalion and Hurricane Battalion have gathered. Five generals, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Zhao Yun, Xue Lan, and Li Feng, have gathered in the city. According to Zhou Yu's military order, Zhang Liao will be the unified commander of all ministries in this battle. People and horses, with Zhao Yun as his deputy.
In addition to the more than a thousand former Hebei soldiers who surrendered when the city was broken, more than 15,000 soldiers in Liyang City have already made full preparations to firmly defend the four gates of Liyang City!
If there are not enough garrison tools, demolish civilian houses to use them; if there are not enough arrows, use them from the baggage warehouse; there is no need to worry about food, the amount of food and grass piled up like gods in the granary in the city is enough to feed the defenders for three years! Zhou Yu's military order is very simple, that is to defend Liyang! Not a single soldier of the Hebei Army would be spared unless they took a trail and returned to Jizhou.
At the beginning of the battle, the weakness of Bingzhou's soldiers who were not used to fighting on foot was fully exposed. In a hurry, they could only use the huge felled wood as a battering ram. Their marching coordination and fighter timing were insufficient. Under the counterattack of the defenders, tens of thousands of people suffered heavy casualties.
However, after several attacks, the soldiers of Bingzhou gradually mastered the key points of infantry siege and became proficient in cooperating with each other. The casualties were greatly reduced immediately, but the threat to the city gate became more and more serious. Originally, they could not touch the city at all. The huge wood of the door also hit the city gate several times! Every blow hit the hearts of the Jiangdong Army soldiers guarding the city, making their blood flow double!
The four gates of Liyang suddenly opened. Four generals, Zhao Yun, Xu Huang, Xue Lan, and Li Feng, were neatly dressed and each led five hundred light cavalry. They came straight out and fought against each other. They were so fierce and unstoppable. The horses were quick and sharp, and the sharp swords were soon covered with the blood of the Bingzhou soldiers. The Bingzhou soldiers who were struggling to attack the city were unable to resist and had to flee. The offensive that finally exerted its power was immediately thwarted!
Afterwards, Jiangdong Qingqi only chased and defeated Bingzhou's troops, then returned to the city shouting victory. Xia Zhao's face was livid with anger. He had just assembled thousands of elite cavalry and mounted their horses to prepare for a counterattack. At this moment, he could only watch the enemy's figures disappear inside the city gate, and only the wind and sand were flying on the battlefield. Seems to be mocking their incompetence.
For two consecutive days, the Bingzhou soldiers failed to break through Liyang's city, but were repeatedly counterattacked by the Jiangdong Army's cavalry, losing five to six thousand men and horses. These were all cavalry warriors who were able to maneuver freely on horseback! Although heartbroken, Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng were still gritting their teeth and fighting hard, because they knew that if they could not capture Liyang, they would not be able to return to Bingzhou smoothly! If Yuan Shao were blamed and accused of ineffective combat, even his superiors and senior officials would not be able to protect them!
Under their desperate efforts, although the four city gates of Liyang were not captured, the south gate was damaged beyond recognition and was about to shatter!
Naturally, the defenders noticed this and strengthened the defense force at the south gate. Most of the few defensive equipment were concentrated at the south gate. They used force to fight against force, but they did not let the Bingzhou soldiers touch the south gate again. !
The South Gate, which was about to be broken, was like a magnet, seducing the eyes of Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng. They sent a steady stream of troops to attack the South Gate, hoping to enter Liyang City from the South Gate. The results disappointed them again and again, forcing them to continue gritting their teeth and persevering.
On the fifth day of the attack, Li Yang was still in the hands of Jiangdong Army! At this moment, the Bingzhou soldiers' offensive had collapsed. After repeated fierce battles, the defenders were exhausted physically and mentally and were unable to leave the city to counterattack. The two armies rested for half a day.
Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng knew in their hearts that if there was no further progress in the attack on the city, they might have to find another way back to Bingzhou. Even if the road was much more dangerous, it would be better than losing their lives in vain under Liyang City! Unless the Hebei army arrives, Liyang can only be conquered with a strong force.
Soon, a piece of news came like a thunderbolt from the blue, which immediately shattered the last glimmer of hope in Xia Zhao and Deng Sheng's hearts!
Just one day ago, on the Yellow River and JishuiIn Wuchao between them, the Jiangdong Army came after them. The various units of the Hebei Army rushed to fight and were defeated by the Jiangdong Army!
In this battle, the Taishi Ci Division of the Jiangdong Army was the first to attack. Although the soldiers were brave, their troops were insufficient. The Hebei Army gradually stabilized its position. , Wei Yan tribe came in succession, and the morale of Taishi Ci tribe was greatly boosted. Taishi Ci's killing was rising. He rode alone like a Wuhuan cavalry formation, rushing left and right, as if entering an uninhabited land! After beheading four Wuhuan cavalry generals, Taishi Cifang defeated the cavalry formation and returned to his headquarters.
At that time, the Jiangdong Army's Lu Su, Lu Meng, and Chen Wu tribes came to kill one after another. The Hebei Army was in chaos. Seeing that Jiangdong's soldiers and horses were gathering more and more, and everyone was brave and fighting for the lead, which made the Hebei Army officers and soldiers frightened. Although Yuan Shao tried his best to stabilize the situation, it was in vain.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the cavalry of the Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes immediately fled. Under the attack of various units of the Jiangdong Army in turn, the Hebei Army finally collapsed! Jiangdong's army then launched a pursuit, and the yellow land was suddenly dyed red with blood!
Wuchao is located in the hills and has a stronghold. The terrain is relatively dangerous. Yuan Shao urgently led the elite of the Chinese army to retreat into the stronghold to temporarily avoid the attack of Jiangdong's army. But he doesn't know that this is a dead end!
Jiangdong Army General Gao Shun led the camp to surround Wuchao, and did not attack for the time being. He would only wait for the other soldiers to separate the Hebei Army's brigade and annihilate them one by one, and then concentrate their forces to attack Wuchao.
Yuan Shao ruled Hebei for many years and trained many dead soldiers, all of whom served in his personal guard. At this moment, seeing that the situation was not right, Yuan Shao's advisers Guo Tu and Xin Ping advised him to concentrate all his efforts on breaking out of the encirclement while Jiangdong's troops were dispersed. It would not be too late to raise troops for revenge after returning to Yecheng. If you stay in Wuchao for a long time, you may be surrounded by Jiangdong's army like an iron barrel, making it difficult to fly!