While the Northwest Army on both the north and south fronts launched a comprehensive blockade, the retreat of Pinglu Mansion was also proceeding in an orderly manner. In view of the fact that the Kaman people mobilized so many troops this time, dispatching four regiments at once, and there was also the Royal Guards Corps as a follow-up reserve team. Ling Tianzang passed through Wu Feng and Liang Chongxin, who were in charge of the Sanjiang Defense War on the southern front. Xue Ge sent a letter and agreed to use the plain land to effectively block the Kaman people's advance, and then use the Pinglufu city defense facilities to kill and injure the Kaman people as much as possible, try their best to dampen the Kaman people's spirit, and make strategic preparations for the future northern battle, if necessary You can give up Pinglu Fucheng at this time, but of course you must try your best to avoid damaging the morale of the people in Pinglu Fucheng.
The gentry and people in Pinglufu City had been severely weakened after experiencing the torture of the Taiping Army. They were even more frightened when faced with the approach of Kaman's army. When the Northwest Army asked them to evacuate first, the Northwest Army took on the heavy responsibility of defending the city. At that time, almost no one was willing to stay and advance and retreat with the Northwest Army. This kind of outcome is what the Northwest Army hopes to see. After all, the top management has decided to temporarily abandon Pinglu Fucheng. Letting these guys who have failed to achieve anything but fail more often than not leave will be more conducive to the two main army divisions stationed in the city plus a guard. United's full defense.
The success of the interception battle on the north and south fronts bought sufficient time for the evacuation of a large number of gentry and civilians in Pinglufu City. A Kaman light cavalry that attempted to break through and attack the Pingyao Granary west of Pinglufu City was ambushed by the Northwest Army on the chokepoint. The fifth division stood guard, with a force of ten thousand Kaman, Kaman light cavalry finally abandoned 3,000 horses and more than 2,000 corpses and fled back to the east in embarrassment, marking another strategic attempt of the Kaman people. Didn't succeed.
After three days of arduous marching, Kaman's army, which had escaped the harassment and sneak attack of the northwest cavalry, finally reunited under the Pinglufu City as they wished. More than 200,000 troops gathered under the Pinglufu City, which was not the first priority, allowing the troops stationed in Pinglufu to Both Shanzhu and Long Zizi in Lufu City felt the pressure, especially when they saw the Kaman people's sophisticated siege equipment being continuously transported from the east to Pinglu City, which made them feel that they had a task on their shoulders. of heaviness.
The Pinglu City Wall has been repaired and reinforced, and all kinds of defensive weapons have been carried to the top of the city without reservation. Various types of catapults, fixed and mobile crossbows, and mountains of rolling logs have been piled one after another. There were piles of lime bags, continuous piles of stones, and throwing spears and arrows. They even demolished many houses in the city, disassembled the wooden pillars and added a rough iron spear point to make them into pieces. A crude javelin. Regardless of victory or defeat in this battle, the Northwest Army will evacuate Pinglufu City, so everything in Pinglufu City has little preservation value. If it can be used, try to put it to use.
Kaman's army, which surrounded Pinglu City tightly like dark clouds, seemed to be sure to win. However, Nick, who arrived at Pinglu City, did not think so. The 30,000 light cavalry has always been a hidden worry in Nick's mind, especially the 30,000 nomadic cavalry. Their maneuverability allows them to cause a lot of trouble to his large but slightly clumsy army at any time. Behind Pinglu there is the Northwest Army stationed in Anyuan. Although intelligence shows that the Northwest Army in Anyuan does not have the strength to threaten our own army, the 100,000 nomadic cavalry who are traveling non-stop day and night are about to enter the old northwest based on time. Within the county, there is not much time left for oneself. If these 100,000 nomadic cavalry are really allowed to enter Anyuan, the threat to their own side will increase exponentially. So whether it is worth paying an excessive price to capture Pinglu needs to be carefully considered.
Just as the Kaman people were struggling to get through the three days from Qinghe to Pinglufu City, Tianshuifu City was also staged an extremely fierce offensive and defensive battle. The tireless Taiping people seemed to have made up their mind to take Tianshui City into their hands. In addition to sending an interception force of 30,000 people to contain reinforcements that might come from the east and south, this move actually seemed to the upper echelons of the Taiping Army. They are also a little cautious. In their opinion, at least in a short period of time, Northwest cannot gather much effective force in the entire Kansai region to support Tianshui. According to intelligence, Situ Jun's two independent divisions and a division of the Fifth Army have been completely eliminated. Entering Jincheng without warning meant that Li Wufeng would have to face attacks from all sides including Kaman, Situ Jun, Machi Khan and the Taiping Army. This made the Taiping Army even more excited.
The remaining 150,000-strong team devoted themselves to this crazy siege battle without exception. Their persistence made Qu Bo simply incomprehensible. With such a tragic loss, even if they captured Tianshui Fucheng, it would be more than worth the gain. , to sacrifice the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers for a city that was not stable even if it was taken, Qu Bo really couldn't understand why these Taiping people suddenly became so paranoid, fanatical and unreasonable.
However, the Taiping people's crazy paranoia did not affect Qu Bo's strategy in accordance with the established plan. In order to ensure the stability of the situation in Sanjiang and Tiannan in the south, the entire northwest is unusually unified on this point, that is, the northern line is on the defensive and can even make an appropriate strategic retreat, but it must ensure that Tiannan is stable and not threatened by the Machikhans. , the best way to ensure that Sanjiang becomes a barrier in the southern region of the Western Xinjiang Protectorate is to support the Lin family to continue to serve as a strong shield against the westward advance of the Machi Khans. Therefore, Qu Bo has already received clear instructions from Shangfeng to try his best to The elite force that kills and injures the people of the Taiping Sect should not care about the gains and losses of a city or a place. Although the words are vague, they clearly tell Qu Bo that Tianshui is not something that cannot be given up. It depends on the situation at the time. Even if you want to give up, you must To be valuable, that is to say, giving up must be in exchange for a considerable price.
Qu Bo had already understood this. After trying the lethality brought by the Taiping's Knox longbow archers, he immediately deployed counterattack measures. On the third day, the Taiping army once again used the longbow archers to attack the enemy. When his own side caused damage, he also quietly sent out the light cavalry regiment of the First Division, and suddenly opened the door for a surprise attack while taking advantage of the opponent's full attention on the offensive and defensive battle at the top of the city.
This sneak attack caught the Taiping Army by surprise, and it swept through the phalanx of longbow archers who had dispatched troops like a hurricane. The light cavalry equipped with sharp machetes suddenly broke into the archer camp. The shock brought by the Taiping Army on the offensive can be imagined. The massacre like chopping melons and vegetables almost killed the entire archer formation. The archer formation was stunned by this crazy attack and was almost defenseless. And there is no ability to resist at all. There is nothing we can do except for the wolves to rush and the animals to scatter.
This rout not only wiped out the Taiping Army's trump card, but also directly impacted the reserve formation originally deployed in the rear. The Taiping cavalry, which had been doing nothing for the past two days, was even more troublesome because it had been doing nothing for the past two days. Relaxed, they were unable to respond effectively in the face of the northwest cavalry that swept in like a whirlwind. The northwest light cavalry who were also killed took advantage of the opportunity to cover up the attack. This sudden shock caused losses to the Taiping Army not only in the number of soldiers. It also caused great damage to the morale of the Taiping Army.
After the light cavalry charged at the phalanx of archers from the front, they rushed north along the open channel where the Taiping cavalry had collapsed. They took advantage of the situation to break up a formation of ten thousand Taiping infantry, and then made a detour to break through. The weakly defended western defense line happily re-entered the city, returning home in triumph as if it had completed a honeymoon trip.
After receiving the news, the Taiping Army commander Yu Yongzhi personally visited Tianshui Prefecture to inspect the fighting situation. He was furious. The encirclement he had arranged, which looked like an iron barrel, was regarded as nothing by thousands of light cavalry. They were like tigers entering a flock of sheep. After the judge executed the captain of the cavalry team of 10,000 people who was responsible for guarding and protecting the archers, he personally re-deployed the attack plan, and a more violent and cruel siege began again.
The speed of the 30,000 rangers reinforced from Xikang set a new record in the history of the Northwest Army. It only took five days from receiving the order to prepare, to setting off, and then to enter the Tianshui territory from the northeast of Hanzhong, and this also included these three Wan Ranger quietly rested for the night at the junction of Tianshui and Hanzhong.
Yu Yongzhi stood under the city wall and stared at the tragic situation in front of him. He had never encountered such a hard nut to crack. He was also a veteran of the Holy Kingdom who had experienced many storms. Except for the time when he personally led the uprising In addition to the army's conquests, he also personally commanded the Battle of Heshuo, annihilating the empire's two main army legions in one fell swoop, thus laying the foundation of the Holy Kingdom in Heshuo. This was Yu Yongzhi's most proud masterpiece. But today, intelligence showed that there was only one division of the Northwest Army in Tianshui City, plus some security forces at most. With less than 30,000 people, his 180,000-strong army attacked for three days without being defeated. Instead, he lost 20,000 people. There are many people, especially the opponent's insidiousness and courage. He actually dares to send thousands of cavalry to launch a surprise attack in the encirclement of more than 100,000 people. Although this is because his subordinates underestimate the enemy and are too lax, but It is also related to the boldness of the other party.
In his heart, he didn't really advocate the Western Expedition to Tianshui, but the tense situation within the Holy Kingdom forced him and the Holy King to make such a decision. After the failed mutiny between Bo and Xu, the moderate faction in the Holy Kingdom was purged. It seemed that the radical faction headed by himself had the upper hand, but this did not ease the conflicts in the Holy Kingdom, especially after the food shortage problem became apparent. The voices of the moderates advocating for the lifting of the imprisonment of Bo and Xu are getting louder and louder. Public opinion naturally dare not say much about the Holy King, but the opposition to him is getting stronger. If a war is not used to divert the conflict, some food can be obtained as capital. , I'm afraid that it will be difficult for him to maintain his former glory in Heshuo.