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Part Two: Seeing the Dragon in the Field Chapter 813: Attack and Defense of Luoyang (Part 2)

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    The key element of a city offensive and defensive battle lies in how to take advantage of one's own geographical advantages. Zhang Mingwu obviously has great experience in this regard. He did not line up all his troops on the city wall, but only placed a thousand troops on the city wall.  However, despite the strength of the army, two thousand minzhuang were sent to the city to assist in the defense. Two minzhuangs holding long wooden forks stood beside each of the five hundred shield swordsmen. The rest were in the back row, ready to throw wooden sticks and rolling stones at any time.  When the long ladder of Deyue King's army was thrown up to the top of the city, two minzhuangs holding wooden forks struggled to hold the long ladder. With a twist, they easily pushed the long ladder down. As for the shield swordsman, they were responsible for killing the people who slipped through the net.  The dead soldiers of the Yue King's army who came to the top of the city, and the other 500 East Palace guards who had originally set up a shield formation, put down their shields and used serial crossbows to kill the densely packed Yue King's soldiers under the city. After the crossbowmen retreated, another attack  Minzhuang stepped forward and threw logs and rolling stones. The various ministries cooperated with each other in a tacit understanding. As a result, the Yue King's army rushed to the city with heavy casualties, but they could not even reach the top of the city.

    "Ladder, go up, go up quickly!"

    Seeing that the forwards were suffering heavy casualties, Gan Zhuangwudeng, who took the risk and rushed to the city on horseback, immediately turned red-eyed and roared to urge the slow-moving siege ladder to move forward.

    Li Zhen dared to delay the siege despite the huge pressure, relying on sharp weapons such as siege ladders. However, the ladder, which was more than 20 feet high, had three floors. The top floor was surrounded by three-foot-high baffles.  There are ten archers gathered together. With the advantage of being much higher than the city wall, they can easily suppress the defenders at the top of the city. The lower level is basically flush with the city wall. There are fifteen shield swordsmen standing on it. Once the ladder is  When you get close to the city wall, you can rush up. As for the bottom floor, there is no one there when you are traveling. Only after the ladder is close to the city wall, the warriors following the ladder can rush to the bottom and rush up along the spiral passage on the bottom.  The first two levels are to maintain the continuity of the attack. This type of equipment is undoubtedly a sharp weapon in siege warfare. Of course, the siege ladder is not without its flaws. First of all, the manufacturing process is quite complicated, and it is also very bulky. It must be used in large quantities.  People push it to the city, but once it gets close to the city wall, it can immediately exert huge power, which is really unparalleled.

    "Prepare the kerosene bombs, throw them!"

    As soon as he saw the rumbling ladder coming, Zhang Mingwu couldn't help but smile, for no other reason than that this big guy covered in rawhide and seemingly able to set fire encountered an incombustible kerosene bomb, and he was a dead target.  , a role purely for giving credit. Zhang Mingwu had already prepared for this. After the ladder swayed along the embankment and passed the moat, Zhang Mingwu had already roared and issued an order before it even leaned against the city wall.

    ¡°Boom, boom¡­¡±

    Zhang Mingwu gave an order, and thirty of his strong men in the army threw the kerosene bombs with lit fuses towards the huge siege ladder. Three people waited on one. Although a few bombs missed, there were also several  The soldiers were shot dead on the spot by the crossbowmen on the top of the ladder, but most of the kerosene bombs accurately hit the target. The explosions occurred one after another, and the fire broke out in an instant, even though the officers and soldiers of the King of Yue on the ladder risked their lives.  Fighting, but unable to suppress the fire, it caused the fire to burn him. However, in a moment, the cross finally got close to the city wall. The siege ladders had all burned into huge torches, and the soldiers on them had  Not being burned, he jumped down like a dumpling. Not only did he die unexpectedly, but what was even worse was that the fire was introduced to the officers and soldiers below the city. The entire city suddenly became a mess.

    "pour oil!"

    Although Gan Zhuangwu's troops below the city were in chaos, Zhang Mingwu did not intend to give up. However, when he saw him smiling evilly and waving his hands, he roared again, and his soldiers who had been prepared for a long time rushed to the city carrying oil drums.  At the plate, the hot oil from the pot was poured down carelessly. In just a moment, the entire city was a sea of ????fire. The nearly 5,000 Yue King soldiers who rushed to the city were burned until they cried like ghosts and howled like wolves. They had to rush out of the sea of ????fire.  , ten pavilions have been damaged and more than seven pavilions have been damaged, and only a thousand remaining soldiers managed to escape back to the main formation.

    "Attack, attack again, don't stop!"

    Looking at the raging fire below the city, Li Zhen's full of complacency disappeared in an instant. First he was stunned and dumbfounded, and then his body suddenly trembled, and he roared angrily in embarrassment. He was really furious.

    After Li Zhen lost his temper, Li Su, who was ordered to attack in the second wave, was afraid, but he didn't dare to attack. However, he learned his lesson this time and did not dare to use the heavy siege ladder.  He directly leaned against the city wall, but placed all the ten ladders under his command by the moat to serve as arrow towers, and the important task of rushing the city was handed over to the three thousand infantry who carried the long ladders to rush the city. In this way,  The pressure on the defenders immediately increased a lot, and the casualties began to gradually increase. In particular, Minzhuang, who was not covered by armor, was shot dead by the crossbowmen on the ladder to the city. The battle seemed to be turning towards the end.  It was tilted in favor of the Yue King's army.

    "Replace with heavy bombs, target: city-rushing ladder, release!"

    Seeing that our side was under the pressure of the city-rushing ladder, we gradually became passive.Fang Xiaoshan, who was in charge of commanding the trebuchet, was anxious. He quickly rushed down to the barbican and shouted the order. Soon he saw a group of civilians in charge of the trebuchet carrying huge stone marbles.  , and quickly adjusted the throwing angle of the trebuchet. Amidst the sound of slogans, each stone bullet was two times larger than the original. The stone bullets, weighing more than a hundred kilograms, soared into the sky and crossed the city wall in a parabolic trajectory.  The thirty heavy trebuchets hurled more than ten rounds in a row, and finally destroyed the ladder of the Yue King's army lined up by the moat.  Most of the remaining three city-rushing ladders were still intact, but the crossbowmen on them were frightened by the power of the defenders' trebuchets. No matter how much the officers scolded them, they refused to go up again.  The ladder led to death, and the Yue Wang Army's originally smooth attack momentum once again came to a standstill. They could only rely on the long ladder to desperately attack. Under the heavy casualties, they gradually became unable to withstand it.

    By noon of the battle, Li Su had lost more than half of his troops. Seeing that the fortified city was difficult to move, his morale had been completely lost. He had to retreat to the main formation in embarrassment again. The second round of the attack ended in failure.  , but the condition and results were obviously much better than those of the first group. Not only hundreds of people were killed and injured, but even the powerful East Palace guards suffered more than 200 casualties, which further caused the Yue King's army to suffer.  What is encouraging is that the troops who rushed to the city attacked the city several times. Although they were unable to gain a foothold and were killed by the defenders, at least the Yue King's army saw a glimmer of hope of victory.

    "Father, please charge the city. I will not withdraw my troops until the city is breached!"

    Seeing that the two groups of troops charging into the city were defeated and returned, Li Chong could no longer keep his temper. He took a step forward on his horse, bowed and loudly called for battle.

    "Okay, my son dares to fight. As a father, I should beat the drum myself to cheer for my son!"

    Although after two battles, more than 7,000 troops were lost, Li Zhen did not relent, because in the previous battle, he had seen the hope of victory and was thinking about who to send in the third group.  When he went into battle, he was overjoyed to see his eldest son asking for orders so boldly. He gave a high-five and happily made the promise.

    "My child obeys your orders!"

    Li Chong had always regarded Li Xian as his imaginary enemy, and had always dreamed of defeating Li Xian on the battlefield. Now that he finally had the opportunity to compete with Li Xian, he was very excited. He agreed loudly and made plans excitedly.  The horse rushed back to the formation, gave the order, and his fifteen thousand elite troops began to press forward.

    ¡°Dong dong dong¡­¡±

    Li Chong's troops had just moved. Li Zhen, who was very excited, had already taken off his helmet, holding two drumsticks, and started beating the drums vigorously. Amidst the rumbling drums, the horns blasted shrilly.  , the fighting spirit soars into the sky for nine days.

    "Go and ask Wang Fangming to deliver all the bags I gave you to the city!"

    Seeing Li Chong leading his troops out, Li Xian couldn't help but frown. After taking a closer look at their military appearance, he immediately judged that this group of troops was definitely the most elite troops in Xiangzhou's army. He didn't dare to  He ignored it, waved his hand, and shouted, and the guards waiting beside him hurriedly accepted the promise, hurried down the city gate tower, and went to summon Wang Fangming without mentioning it.

    Li Chong's troops rushed very quickly, and their tactics were still the same as Li Su's before in charging the city. The difference was that Li Chong had as many as twenty ladders to rush into the city, and his troops' combat effectiveness was also greater than that of Li Su.  The headquarters was obviously much higher. Although Zhang Mingwu had mobilized a reserve team of 1,000 people and the trebuchets were firing at full strength, it was still difficult to completely contain the waves of Li Chong's troops.  A wave of strong attacks exposed several gaps in the city defense. At the last four moments of the battle, Li Chong's troops gained a foothold on the top of the city for the first time. Dozens of brave men defended the two long ladders at the breach to the death.  The covering follow-up troops rushed to the top of the city along the breach. The situation was already quite dangerous for the defenders.

    "Okay, go up, follow up, and kill Li Xian in the city. Anyone who kills Li Xian will be rewarded with tens of thousands of dollars and be granted the title of Marquis of ten thousand households!"

    Li Chong was originally commanding about a hundred steps away from the city. When he saw that his soldiers had already established a foothold on the top of the city, he was extremely excited. He rode his horse and led his personal guards to rush to the moat.  He shouted loudly and ordered a heavy reward, as if the city had been completely conquered.

    "Your Majesty, your Majesty has brought the cloth bag. Please let your Majesty know clearly!"

    The fierce battle on the top of the city was going on, but Li Xian remained unmoved and stood at the city gate tower like a mountain. Apart from occasionally taking action to deflect the incoming arrows, he did not interfere with Zhang Mingwu at all.  Command, even though the Yue King's army had occupied a small section of the city wall, Li Xian still stood calmly, as if nothing happened, until Wang Fangming led several servants and hurriedly arrived despite the drifting arrows, Li Xian's expressionless face  A faint smile appeared on his face just now
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