Just as the house was mobilizing all its forces to prepare for the upcoming defensive battle, the few hundred remaining Crusader cavalry that had a chance to escape also joined their main force twenty miles away from Partridge Pass.
Seeing that the 5,000 elite cavalry who had been in high spirits when they set out now actually fled back like a bereaved dog, and there were only less than 500 men left, the Crusader Army commander Mao Neng was shocked and angry at the same time. The intelligence obtained by the scouts was that it was an empty city. Why did the situation change drastically in just two hours? If we don't figure out where this problem lies, this battle will simply not be able to continue.
While dispatching scouts to conduct reconnaissance immediately, Mao Neng and his deputies, another captain of ten thousand men and a captain of ten thousand cavalry, carefully questioned the hundreds of remnant soldiers who had escaped. Because the encounter was so sudden, neither side had any preparations, and the inexperienced Taiping cavalry only focused on the fight in front of them. Until the defeat, they did not figure out how many men the opponent had and what the composition of the troops was. But based on the narrations of so many people, the three generals soon came to a unified understanding, that is, the opponent's strength is not too strong, otherwise they will definitely follow them. Moreover, no enemy infantry was found, which means that the opponent is also very powerful. It might just be the vanguard coming to seize the fortress.
But how many enemy follow-up troops are there? And how far are they from Partridge Pass now? This made the three of them think a lot. After all, they had not experienced a real big battle and lacked the experience to judge the enemy's situation. The three generals finally decided to send more scouts to understand the situation and to immediately advance to Partridge Pass. However, in view of the role of cavalry, the three of them felt that it was better to let the cavalry and infantry maintain normal marching speed and march towards Partridge Pass together.
The three people's inexperience and cautious and conservative thinking caused the Taiping Army to lose the best opportunity to capture Partridge Pass, because it turned out that at that time, the cavalry led by Shenei was less than 2,600, plus the entire city's cavalry. There are less than 4,000 old, young, women and children, and they lack necessary defense facilities. Just some bows, arrows and crossbows cannot have much effect. At this time, the Taiping Army has a strength of 25,000 people. The follow-up inside the house The troops are still forty miles away. If the leader of the Holy Army can boldly invest at this time and devote all his strength to the attack on Partridge Pass as quickly as possible, the strength of less than 4,000 people will not be enough. To withstand it.
But history has no what-ifs. No one can predict what impact this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will have on the Taiping Army. But what is certain is that the Taiping Army will pay an extremely painful price.
After receiving the emergency order, the three regiments of the Independent Second Division immediately accelerated their marching speed. As required by the order, they ran as fast as possible, "even if they ran until they had only one breath left, they had to reach Partridge Pass with a sigh of relief." "(Language in the command inside the house) Marching quickly, it took only more than an hour for Shilidi to arrive outside the west city gate of Partridge Pass. At this time, the Taiping Army had just arrived outside the east gate of Partridge Pass and set up their formation. .
The general of the Taiping Army quickly saw the strength of the troops stationed on the city wall. Among the blood-stained robes were actually some civilians in casual clothes. Even so, the soldiers on the city wall still seemed sparse. . Without much hesitation, General Mao Neng waved his hand and launched an all-out attack with a force of ten thousand people. In his opinion, it might only take one or two charges to defeat the weak defenders on the city wall.
Seeing the Taiping soldiers rushing up with ladders in the dark, three thousand soldiers in formation raised their bows and set arrows at the same time, blowing up bursts of arrow rain, suppressing the defensive soldiers on the city wall until they could not even raise their heads. . While dodging the whizzing arrows, She secretly complained in her heart. She didn't expect the enemy troops to come so quickly and in such large numbers, far beyond his expectations. How could his side still survive in this situation? He has no idea how long he can hold on. Should he consider taking the initiative to evacuate to preserve his strength? This idea flashed through Shi Nei's mind like lightning, and was immediately rejected. Not to mention whether he would be pursued and eliminated by the enemy in pursuit of victory. Master Li's level alone would probably be insurmountable. Anyone who escapes from the battlefield should be killed according to law. ah!
Abandoning other unrealistic ideas, the inside of the house became more relaxed. There was nothing serious except death. Even if you wanted to die, you had to die in a decent manner. Don't lose the face of the Northwest Army. He took a long breath and used an iron shield to protect the inside of the house. He bent over and came to the crenellations of the city wall. Groups of Taiping soldiers had already approached the base of the wall. The ladders they held high were slowly erected, and they moved closer to the city wall step by step. The defending soldiers kept shooting arrows or crossbows, but that didn't have much effect. The faces of the people hiding by the crenellations already showed expressions of despair.
He sighed softly, and there was nothing he could do about it. This is the cruelty of war. Just now, his side was so proud of the spring breeze and the horse's hooves were light. After a while, it immediately turned upside down, and he became a drowned dog.
As the shouts gradually approached, the ant-like enemy soldiers finally launched their final attack. Shenei cheered up and raised the nine-ring sword in his hand. All the soldiers' eyes fell on the commander's shining blade. with a tragic look on his face, waiting for the last moment to arrive.
"Division commander, look!" Suddenly, the soldiers around him pointed behind him in surprise. He turned around blankly and saw countless soldiers swarming up the two wall ladders. In a moment, they had already entered the city wall. Even though they could see that they were very tired, the fact that so many new troops had been added out of thin air made Shi Nei unbelievable for a moment.
"Division Commander, are we doing nothing wrong?" The three panting men came to the house and bowed in front of the house. The house had mixed feelings. For a moment, there were no other unnecessary words. They just waved their hands and let them enter the position. Only then did it truly fall.
The soldiers who had no time to rest immediately caught up with the first wave of attacks. Countless ladders were raised and set up beside the city wall. Wave after wave of bow and arrow attacks also began to slow down, so as not to cause accidental damage to their own side of the siege soldiers. At this moment Only true face-to-face hand-to-hand combat begins.
Unexpectedly, the opponent's reinforcements would come up at this critical moment. The Crusaders, who still attacked according to the original plan, immediately suffered a heavy blow. As you can imagine, the defensive force that originally only had about 3,000 people suddenly increased to 16,000 people. The offensive and defensive forces were greatly imbalanced, and the consequences were also disastrous.
One after another, the ladders were smashed or pushed down, and boulders fell like hail. Corpses were soon strewn under the city wall, and the blood spilled everywhere was enough to form a moat. The Taiping soldiers who were lucky enough to be able to rush to the top of the city wall were immediately surrounded by superior forces and fell under the knife. The archers who were ready also spread out according to the formation and began to launch long-range attacks on the endless stream of Taiping soldiers under the city wall. Strikes, high and low shifting, switching between strengths and weaknesses, and waves of arrow rain caused far more damage than the Taiping archers had just attacked the defenders on the city wall.
It was not until the archers suffered counterattacks from the opponent's archers from high places that the Taiping Army commander Mao Neng realized that there seemed to be something wrong with his judgment. It seemed that the enemy's strength was far less weak than what he had just observed. The number of soldiers on the other side seemed to have increased several times at once, and they continuously beat the soldiers on their own side, causing great damage to their own troops.
The other two 10,000-man (cavalry) captains also discovered the problem, but it was already more than an hour later. The 10,000-person team invested had already lost nearly 70%, but there was no response. If they were to attack again, it would be very difficult. It's hard to say how effective it will be. The three generals also had disagreements over the follow-up attack. Wan Qizhang advocated continuing to strengthen the attack and not losing opportunities. Once the enemy established a firm foothold, it would be more difficult to deal with it. He believed that the remaining 10,000 troops should also be put into the attack, striving to make a single blow. Conquer Partridge Pass, but another ten thousand captain firmly opposed it. He believed that the current situation between the enemy and ourselves was unclear, and continuing rashly would only bring greater losses. He should retreat first and make a decision after obtaining accurate information about the opponent.
Mao Neng was in a dilemma. Retreat. It was hard to explain why he had to go back in despair after suffering such huge losses. Attack. Without powerful equipment, some crude ladders alone would not be able to achieve good results, let alone now. The enemy has obviously been strengthened. He even suspected that the previous performance of the opponent was an illusion. It was very likely that he had set up a trap to lure him into the bait, relying on the city wall to support his side to consume his own effective strength.
While Mao Neng was still having a headache over which opinion to adopt, the scene on the battlefield changed dramatically.
Schone has never been a kind person who is used to being beaten passively. After the three infantry regiments took over from the cavalry that he led as a temporary defensive force, he had already begun planning a crazy counterattack. He already had a good idea of the battle situation. With three regiments of infantry as the backbone of the defense, the enemy's crude siege weapons and equipment seemed so powerless. So how to unexpectedly deliver a fatal blow to the opponent became the current consideration. The problem.
The opponent's commander obviously lacked combat experience. An infantry force of ten thousand people lined up in front, while thousands of archers lined up in the front line of the infantry without any cover, while the cavalry was placed in the back line. While organizing defense, he ordered the replaced cavalry to seize the time to stand by and rest, ready to go into battle at any time.
As time went by, the enemy's 10,000-strong army that was thrown into the attack was at the end of its strength, and its decline was obvious. As the fortress gate suddenly opened, the cavalry, which had been prepared for a long time, rushed out and plunged straight into the opponent's center.
The Taiping Army, which was about to withdraw its troops and return to the formation before making a decision, was suddenly disrupted by the sudden charge. Facing the cavalry sweeping in like a rolling tide, the unprepared siege infantry was instantly swallowed up by the wave of cavalry. Here, even the archery camp, which had no time to react, was rushed to pieces.
When the opposing commander shouted hoarsely and ordered the infantry to form a defensive formation, the unstoppable cavalry had already pressed against the panicked infantry defense line with an overwhelming force. It only caused a few small waves, and the infantry defense line collapsed completely, lacking combat experience. The formation of soldiers was dispersed in an instant, and the entire battlefield collapsed like an avalanche. Taiping soldiers were everywhere running for their lives. Officers could not find the soldiers, and the generals could not find their subordinates. Everything was disrupted. Looking at it, Looking at it, all that could be seen was a bunch of chaotic soldiers like headless flies. Even the five thousand cavalry troops who were still maintaining an orderly formation were about to be overtaken by the frantically retreating soldiers. They were still calm. Mao Neng immediately ordered the front cavalry team to change into the rear team and retreat immediately, while he personally organized the infantry to form a formation to resist, in order to buy some time for the cavalry to retreat.