Aspirations for Nation and Beauty

Chapter 18: Section 4 Spear and Shield

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Early the next morning, Wu Feng ordered Xiao Tang to make good logistics arrangements in the rear. He and Cui Wenxiu led the second, third, fourth brigade and the two reorganized regiments of soldiers to the west city wall. Mulige led the first brigade, the fifth brigade and the other two reorganized brigade to stay in the city on standby. Waiting until noon, there was not much movement from the enemy, and Wu Feng also felt a little strange. In fact, the infantry of the Luobi people had not arrived yet due to their speed, and Kuerdo and others did not plan to conduct a siege on the city that day. They are also preparing to rest for a day before launching an attack—

The day of October 12th passed peacefully, and both parties seemed very calm. But Wu Feng knew that this was just the calm before the storm. He believed that the enemy would not drag on like this, as it would not be good for them -

The sun finally rose on October 13th, and the enemy troops outside the city finally made some movement. Wu Feng stood on the tower and stared at the enemy camp in the distance. What was supposed to come was finally coming. With the sound of low horn horns, soldiers in the enemy camp continued to appear on the horizon, and more and more, the infantry were arranged in neat square formations, taking solid steps, and the dark masses were advancing towards each other one after another. Qingyang Fucheng rushed over. On both sides of the infantry were cavalry phalanxes. Tall and burly soldiers were wrapped in iron armor. Fat and strong horses roared and galloped. The hoofbeats of thousands of horses were so neat and orderly, like a The sound of the giant stepping on the earth made the earth tremble -

The Luobei people's riding skills are indeed well-deserved. Just from their skillful horse-control skills, it can be seen that they are worthy of being the best among the nomadic people. Wu Feng couldn't help but secretly admire them. Kurdo also deliberately put up a powerful formation, hoping to destroy the opponent's momentum. The soldiers on the city wall were a little shocked. Wu Feng and Cui Wenxiu also sensed the enemy's intentions. They patrolled along the city wall quietly, joking with familiar soldiers from time to time. The soldiers saw their commander's calmness and composure. Their demeanor and mood quickly calmed down, and they concentrated on preparing for battle—

As the shrill trumpet sounded, the Luobei infantry held their leather shields high and carried sandbags on their backs and launched the first wave of attacks. The cavalry also lay on their horses, divided into several groups and took turns carrying sandbags on their backs, rushed to the moat, and threw sandbags into the river. Some other soldiers also raised their shields and drew their bows to cover the attack. If you want to attack the city wall, you must first solve the moat. This is a problem that everyone knows. The question is how much it will cost to fill this moat. It is not something that ordinary people can predict -

Wave after wave of offensives were like a tidal wave. The officers on the city wall were running back and forth, waving their weapons, and kept shouting at their soldiers. Wave after wave of arrows poured down, constantly attacking. Flowers of blood spattered under the city, and the giant trebuchet was even more terrifying. Stones the size of millstones were thrown high and fell accurately into the enemy camp, causing huge damage. Soldiers were often hit with both men and horses. Bones were broken, tendons were cracked, brains were spilling out, and blood and flesh were blurred. It was horrific, and screams, groans, and cries came one after another—

The day passed quickly. When the sun in the west was gradually setting, the Luo Bei people's retreat horn finally sounded. The soldiers on both sides breathed a sigh of relief. The Luo Bei soldiers quickly evacuated from danger like the ebb of the sea. area, gather the whole team outside the dangerous area, count the number of people, then maintain the defensive formation and retreat slowly -

Wu Feng, who was standing on the city tower and had been paying close attention to the development of the battle, also breathed a sigh of relief. The fighting power of the Luobei people should not be underestimated. Their iron-like discipline and fearless spirit are indeed not something ordinary teams can possess. No wonder Able to win repeated battles—

There was not much suspense in the first day's battle. Without solving the moat problem, the advantage of the defending side was very obvious. After taking inventory of the battlefield, Cui Wenxiu reported the situation to Wu Feng. He found that 168 of his own people had been killed and 325 injured, including 117 seriously injured. The enemy is estimated to have killed more than 4,000 people and injured countless others—

After listening to the report, Wu Feng nodded and motioned Cui Wenxiu to sit down, "Wenxiu, I'm afraid the war will become more and more difficult and cruel. Today's results were caused when the enemy was unable to fight back at all. You go down We must warn all soldiers not to have paralyzing thoughts, and to strengthen their defenses at night to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of the loopholes. The enemy's combat effectiveness is well-deserved, and our troop training must be strengthened after the war." Cui Wenxiu saw that although his commander was very confident about the enemy's combat effectiveness Appreciation, but without any worry, his heart was still full of confidence that he would win, and his originally uneasy mood suddenly relaxed. He suddenly discovered a fact that he had never noticed. Whenever he listened to the previous sentence, which was better than his own, After being arranged by his boss, who is nearly ten years younger, he always feels indescribably relieved, as if everything is under his control and there is nothing to worry about. Maybe this is his natural leadership charm -

The gloomy weather cannot stop the fighting spirit of both sides. When the dark sky turns white again, it heralds the arrival of a new day and the bloody battle between the two sides will begin again. As the horns of cows whined outside the city, the war drums on the top of the city also started beating, and the offensive and defensive battle between the two sides began again -

The Luobi people's attack has obviously changed today. The dense phalanx has been replaced by a looser echelon attack. Dozens of large wooden shields made overnight have also been carried out. These large wooden shields are four meters high and three meters wide. Each dozen soldiers pushed forward and moved forward, which can effectively defend against the attacks of enemy bows and crossbows. They lined up every three wooden shields, and the soldiers carrying sandbags hid behind them and slowly pushed forward until they reached the moat. On the other side, the soldiers behind the wooden shields threw sandbags into the river. Then, the soldiers retreated holding the wooden shields. This method can effectively protect the soldiers from being killed by bows and arrows -

However, Wu Feng had already taken precautions against this kind of attack. On the night before, he transferred three more giant trebuchets from the other three walls overnight, so that the number of trebuchets on the west wall reached ten. Four, he ordered the soldiers operating the trebuchet to concentrate their efforts on accurately bombarding the wooden shields. The wooden shields often collapsed after withstanding several blows from boulders, and the soldiers hiding behind were exposed to the arrows. Immediately turned into a pile of corpses. But that's it, the Luobi people's progress in filling in the moat has been greatly accelerated, and the intensity of their attacks on the defensive soldiers on the city wall has also been greatly increased—

The fierce battle continued until the afternoon. After dozens of large wooden shields were left intact and nearly 5,000 corpses were left behind, several sections of the moat to the west of Qingyang City were finally filled in. The sky gradually darkened and the troops retreated. The horn sounded again, and after the Luo Bei soldiers retreated, only dead bodies, broken weapons and siege tools were left on the ground, a mess. This time, although the Luobei people withdrew their troops and returned to the camp, they stationed a cavalry unit to monitor the Wufeng side. They probably wanted to prevent the guarding side from taking advantage of the cover of night to re-drain the moat. It seems that this moat is wide and deep. It also really caused the siege party who lacked siege tools to suffer enough, so that they had to take precautionary measures to avoid the losses during the day in vain -

When night fell completely, Wu Feng had dinner and ordered the guards not to follow him. He walked up to the west city wall alone and looked into the distance. The Luo Bei camp a few miles away was ablaze with sparks. He calmed down and listened carefully, and even You can hear the neighing of horses. With the blazing torches on the city wall and looking at the corpses everywhere under the city, Wu Feng felt a surge of sadness for no reason. Even Wu Feng himself was a little surprised by his own mood. Tomorrow will be the most difficult and cruel day. How many brothers I know well will sacrifice their lives and blood to defend this city and the people of this city. This city wall will become the silence of tomorrow's history. witness. Shaking his head, as if to get rid of the decadent emotion that was written in this article, he took two deep breaths, stood in the middle of the tower, and couldn't help but let out a loud roar. The soldiers patrolling around him looked at his young age in amazement. The coach, Wu Feng ignored him and stared at the Luobei Camp in the distance, thinking silently in his heart, let the storm come more violently, ask the world, who is the hero, just look at the Ming Dynasty -

In the Luobei camp, Kurdo, Geya, and Haxian were also patrolling various units overnight, and constantly encouraged the soldiers who were already red-eyed. The soldiers had high morale and asked to serve as vanguards. The three were very satisfied with taking the lead in launching the attack, and asked the soldiers to seize the time to rest, stay in good condition, and prepare for tomorrow's battle. The three of them returned to the Kurdo tent and discussed and decided to launch an attack with all their strength tomorrow, trying to resolve the battle in half a day -

"This is a day I will never forget. Even many years later, the scene of this day still appears in my nightmares." - Li Wufeng - Excerpted from "Swinging to the World - My Memories" -

At 10 a.m. on October 15, 691 in the continental calendar, the decisive battle began. In order to ensure that he could capture the city within one day, Cuerdo even ordered 40,000 light cavalry to abandon their horses and launch a general attack with the remaining 20,000 or so infantry. Under the escort of more than 30,000 cavalry, more than 60,000 Luobi soldiers roared and shouted, pushing city vehicles, carrying ladders, carrying wooden blocks, waving weapons, densely packed like ants, attacking Qingyang City Ximen launched a charge. Wu Feng, who originally had a regiment of soldiers as a reserve, saw this formation and had to move all his troops to the city in order to withstand the enemy's first charge -

The first wave of attacking infantrymen held up their leather shields and braved the rain of arrows, and soon swarmed under the city wall. However, the soldiers defending on the city wall suffered heavy casualties under the attack of rolling logs and stones. There were not many left. Seeing this situation, Erdo immediately ordered the cavalry to advance. Since the Luobei light cavalry all brought their own bows and arrows, Erdo ordered them to approach and use bows and arrows to suppress the enemies on the city wall. Under bursts of arrow rain, the soldiers defending the city wall There were also heavy casualties. Wu Feng immediately ordered all the trebuchets to focus on bombarding the approaching enemy cavalry troops. Amidst bursts of "crunching" sounds, huge rocks fell from the sky, smashing the cavalrymen and horses who entered the trebuchet range into a pulp. , this move immediately had a very good effect. When the cavalry saw that their comrades were smashed to death by the falling boulders as soon as they entered the trebuchet range, they reined in their horses one after another and did not dare to get too close. In this way, although there was no threat from the boulders, , but the threat to the Imperial soldiers on the wall is also greatly reduced—

However, the infantry attack under the city did not weaken at all. Wave after wave of soldiers rushed to the city wall and kept erecting the ladders. City assault vehicles also continuously attacked the weaker areas of the city wall, and some of the city walls were already shaking. The fierce Luo Pi soldiers stared with blood-red eyes, biting their weapons in their mouths, and braved the rolling logs, stones and even boiling oil smashed on the city wall to climb up crazily. The defensive soldiers on the city wall were also furious, firing bows and arrows. Rolling logs and rocks poured down. Once a Luobei soldier broke through the defense and rushed to the city wall, the soldiers next to him would not hesitate to raise their weapons and rush to fight desperately. Everyone knew that once the enemy successfully rushed to the city wall, that is, The time has come for the annihilation of the whole army—

Looking at the increasing number of casualties among his subordinates, Kurdo remained expressionless and continued to order the retreating troops to regroup and organize another attack. He even ordered officers below senior generals to personally lead the attack. Under the personal leadership of the officer, the morale of the already slack Luobi soldiers was boosted again. The impatient Hasian ignored the dissuasion of Kurdo and Geya and went out personally, leading a group of Luobi soldiers to attack. When he saw His deputy commanders all took the lead, and the Luo Bei soldiers were so excited that they swarmed forward risking their own lives. Suddenly, an unnoticed gap appeared in the northwest corner of the city wall. Ha Xian, who was commanding at the bottom of the city, Immediately discovering this, he took three steps and two steps at a time and arrived at the northwest corner of the city wall. The soldiers behind him immediately set up the ladder. He climbed up to the city wall with a few leaps. Several imperial soldiers around him immediately screamed wildly. They rushed up, but they were no match for Hasian. When they met, they fell under the sword of Hasian. The Luo Bei soldiers under the city wall also followed the trend. The soldiers defending nearby could not resist and retreated steadily. Seeing this A section of the city wall was about to be lost. At the critical moment, a burly figure appeared next to the imperial soldiers who fell one after another. "You go deal with those people, I will deal with this person!" The soldiers who followed immediately acted like hungry tigers preying on sheep. They usually pounce on the Luo Bei soldiers who are constantly climbing up—

The reinforcements came from Wu Feng's Guards, led by Private Kang Jianguo, who was the first to challenge Wu Feng. He is now the squadron leader of the Guards Squadron. After that challenge to Wu Feng failed, he challenged Wu Feng. Wu Feng was so impressed with his admiration that Wu Feng also felt that his martial arts foundation was quite good, so he taught him all his own martial arts in addition to internal martial arts, because internal martial arts are laid down by each individual since childhood and cannot be modified at will. Over the past three years, Kang Jianguo has trained very hard, and his martial arts has also improved by leaps and bounds. Especially the "Blood Killing Sword Technique" taught to him by Wu Feng in a targeted manner, he has practiced it to perfection -

Ha Xian also saw that this man was no ordinary person, and he wanted to capture the thief first, so the two immediately fought together. The Luo Bei soldiers behind Ha Xian were unlucky, because the guards brought by Kang Jianguo were all selected from the best in the army, and they had all been taught by Wu Feng personally. Their martial arts were no small feat, so they were immediately These ordinary Luobei soldiers quickly killed each other. Ha Xian, who was fighting fiercely with Kang Jianguo, sensed that something was wrong. Knowing that he might become a prisoner of the enemy if he did not escape, he forced Kang Jianguo away, jumped up to the top of the city, jumped twice, and jumped again. Go down the city wall. The surrounding imperial soldiers also discovered the problem here and came to reinforce them. The originally dangerous gap was finally blocked again—

Kurdo, who was paying close attention to the development of the battle situation in the city, discovered that Hasian had broken through the gap in the northwest corner, and immediately ordered Geya to lead the elite troops to attack the southwest corner, the weakest part of the city wall. On the one hand, it could reduce Hasian's pressure, and on the other hand, it would also I want to use Hassan's first breakthrough to cause the opponent's attention to focus on the northwest corner, and my side will just open the gap from the southwest. But he did not expect that in just a short time, the soldiers who broke through from the northwest corner would be wiped out, and Hasian was forced to retreat. The offensive and defensive battle in the southwest corner became more intense, and Ge Ya's personal participation in the battle also greatly inspired the fighting spirit of Luo Bei soldiers. Since the terrain in the southwest corner is relatively low and the city wall is thinner, the offensive and defensive battles between the two sides were unprecedentedly fierce. Under the leadership of Ge Ya, the Luo Bei soldiers charged in waves. Several sections of the city wall changed hands several times, but after Cui Wenxiu Under the tenacious defensive counterattack, the defense line never collapsed. Ge Ya also had several head-to-head confrontations with Cui Wenxiu, but neither took advantage -

The fierce battle continued until the sun went down in the afternoon. Both sides paid a heavy price. The battle was always in a stalemate. In the end, Kurdo saw that it was impossible to win and had to order the troops to withdraw and regroup.