The main force of the Liao army pressed forward heavily, so Dong Kuang no longer dared to ignore it, and quickly mobilized the troops and horses at the north gate to deal with the current battle. Sun Tu, on the other hand, made a decisive decision to go to Ximen after seeing this change. He always felt that the real focus of the Liao army today should be on the east and west cities!
After only a few words of explanation to Dong Kuang, Sun Tu hurriedly led the people down to the city, following Wu Song and the others towards the west. Less than half an hour later, as soon as he saw the west wall in front of him, he heard bursts of killing sounds coming from outside. The sound was actually not much lower than when the Liao army attacked the north gate. This made him even more energetic, and he galloped towards the city wall with his horse flying.
When Sun Tu took three steps and two steps at a time to rush up to the city, he happened to see a few nooses flying up from below and firmly holding them between the battlements of the female wall. This made him instantly understand that it should be the legendary man who could do this. Feiyanqi, who climbed the city by rope, took action here.
This is indeed the case. Although the simple pontoon bridge built with aerial ladders allowed the Liao army to pass through a moat several feet wide, it still had shortcomings, that is, the load-bearing capacity of the aerial ladders was not enough, and it was impossible for those who rushed to hit the car or hit the wood. Lu Gong's chariot and other siege weapons passed through. So what the Liao army can do at this moment is to go to the city in the simplest way, that is, by relying on Feiyanqi's superb skills.
Under the west gate, there were more than a thousand flying swallows swarming up. They had already abandoned their horses and walked, but they still had strong steps, rushing towards the city like tigers and leopards descending the mountain. The specially made ropes, which were as thick as arms, were thrown up high by them, and flew up to the city wall several feet away. Then they were put right between the battlements, and they were fixed with a tight pull. Live, allowing these elites to quickly climb straight up on the rope as if they were walking on flat ground.
Just the skill of throwing the rope with one hand and accurately roping it into the city battlement is something that even a strong man cannot do, let alone that they can use this to quickly climb the city like an ape. The garrison at the top of the city only saw this scene, and their faces turned pale with fright, and they screamed again and again. It wasn't until someone shouted loudly, asking them to cut off the ropes, that the soldiers realized what they were doing, and hurriedly slashed the ropes with their swords. .
However, these ropes were specially made by the Liao army. They were not only extremely long and thick, but also extremely tough. The rope was soaked in tung oil for several months, steamed and dried several times before it was officially distributed to the elite soldiers of Feiyan Cavalry. How could it be cut off with just a few sword blows? Although the soldiers hurriedly chopped with all their strength, they only left a few holes in the rope, and there was still a long way to go before completely cutting the rope.
But time and circumstances obviously gave them no chance to break the rope. Because the Liao army below had fired a large number of arrows directly upwards, several soldiers who were just cutting ropes were accidentally shot to the ground. And their screams made the others panic, and they subconsciously hid back. Naturally, fewer people would cut the rope.
However, the seven or eight-foot-high city wall could not stand under the feet of these flying swallow cavalry soldiers who were like apes possessed. In just a moment, the first Liao soldier emerged from below. Although he was immediately stabbed with a spear by the defenders who rushed to the city wall, at that moment, several more people emerged from below, and one of them suddenly jumped up and stood firmly at the top of the city. , where the sword flashed, two people who were just about to attack him were killed.
The soldiers of the victorious army were stabbed and fell to the ground.
This man's sudden landing on the city was naturally a great encouragement to the Liao army, but to the defenders, it was undoubtedly a heavy blow, which made them all confused. Fortunately, at this moment, Wu Song and Lu Da led the Qingzhou soldiers to rush over quickly. Seeing that he was about to jump down, Wu Song rushed towards him with a single step. He blocked his attack with the sword in his left hand, and the sword in his right hand flew out like lightning. With a pop, he was gone. He was given a big disembowelment and made to fall on his back with a scream.
The Liao army that jumped up next to him was quickly caught by Ruda, who was rushing towards him and waved his Zen staff. Once the 60-pound Zen staff in his hand was activated, it became extremely ferocious. He only heard endless whining and strange roars, and not a single Liao army who came up to the city could stand still. They were all swept away.
But the two of them could only take care of one side after all. Now there are Liao troops emerging everywhere along the entire city wall of nearly seven or eight miles. How can they be completely blocked by the two of them with one stick and two swords? After only a while of fighting, the city wall defense line was finally broken open a little, and then three, five, ten people... Liao troops kept coming into the city, quickly forming a queue, and killing the defenders until they were unable to resist.
At this time, the real gap in combat power between the two sides was revealed. Although the number of defenders was ten times that of the Liao army, they still could not withstand their continuous march on the city. Even in the panic, some people were killed by the enemy and kept retreating, giving up more space on the city head. out.
"Qingzhou Army, covered with crossbows!" Following Sun Tu's loud shout, the Qingzhou soldiers, who were at a loss at first, decisively retreated, and then many of them showed off their continuous crossbows. Without any hesitation, they Shooting random arrows towards the city wall ahead.
Arrows like rain flew over the sky, causing the enemy and us to scream in agony at the same time, and the offensive and defensive formations newly formed by the Liao army also dispersed. The ones who were even more horrified were the officers and soldiers of the Victory Army. They really didn't expect that the Qingzhou soldiers, as their allies, would release such random arrows without any regard for their own safety.
As the saying goes, bystanders know everything. After Sun Tu climbed up the city wall and saw such a scene, he did not join the battle group as quickly as others, but carefully watched the situation here. However, they discovered that the reason why the Liao army was able to continuously expand its advantage was that the defenders did not dare to shoot arrows at will because their brothers were in front of them. This allowed them who went to the city with only short weapons to even the distance between the two sides, and then relied on With its own excellent combat power, it is natural that it will have the upper hand.
Therefore, he made a prompt decision and asked his soldiers to cover the enemy decisively and indiscriminately, suppressing the enemy's arrogance first, and then making further counterattacks.
After receiving Sun Tu's order, the officers and soldiers of the Qingzhou Army did not hesitate at all. They made full use of the lethality of the crossbows in their hands and fired waves of arrows continuously. Not only did they shoot down the Liao army that had entered the city, but also the ones who had just entered the city. The guys who popped up from below were shot down one by one, and the situation was reversed in an instant. The only price was to shoot down hundreds of victorious troops as well.
But at this time, Sun Tu could no longer care about these details and shouted an order again: "Kill them and wipe out the Liao army. No one will be left behind! Guard the city wall!"
Although the Qingzhou soldiers were few in number, they fought bravely and well organized. They often marched together in groups of three or five.
With the retreat, their combat power was comparable to that of the undefeated army, which could be called stragglers. In addition, the Liao army had just been severely damaged, and they really couldn't react for a while. They couldn't resist it, and all those who went up to the city were killed. , those who emerged from the rear were fired at with crossbows, allowing the defenders to regain control of the city wall.
It was only then that the victorious troops defending the city woke up from their dreams and charged forward with loud shouts. They cooperated with the Qingzhou Army to defend the city wall and once again launched a new round of tug-of-war with the enemy. At the same time, most of the anger and hostility that had just arisen in their hearts had dissipated. After all, judging from the current results, Sun Tu's order was undoubtedly the most correct. Otherwise, I am afraid that the city wall here would really fall. Compared with the survival of the city wall, the lives of more than a hundred brothers are nothing.
But even so, the danger here has not yet passed, because the Liao army's offensive has not stopped, and many soldiers are still climbing up the rope. Obviously, they also had a death order and wanted to climb to the city at all costs. And at this moment, the Liao army below also realized that they could no longer hold back, so the dense rain of arrows was thrown up again. This time, they didn't even care about hurting their own people, and once again caused serious trouble to the defenders. They were distracted and self-defeating, leaving them in a panic.
Above the city wall, Wu Song was running as fast as he was flying. As he moved his swords, he kept cutting down and kicking down the rising enemies. However, his face became serious for a while, and he suddenly shouted: "General, if you continue like this, I'm afraid I won't be able to defend you." It’s been too long, I need to think of something.”
"This rope is really strong, and it took a lot of effort for the Sa family to break one." Luda also loudly agreed at this time, and at the same time, he swung his Zen staff hard and knocked over the Liao army who was coming up the city. Smash down the city.
Sun Tu's eyes were fixed on the dark ropes, and suddenly his nose twitched again: "What a strange smell... This rope is really weird. Do you have a torch? Bring it quickly and light it to try!"
Upon hearing Sun Tu's order, soldiers immediately lit torches from the rear and brought them up. Someone else took them and came to the rope. The moment the firelight came into contact with the rope, a surprising scene happened. The dark rope as thick as an arm suddenly ignited with a flame, and quickly spread down the rope body. Then, the Liao army who was climbing on the rope and heading straight to the city let out a burst of screams.
In an instant, everyone quickly understood. This rope, which is almost not afraid of being chopped by axes, has such a big weakness: it is afraid of fire! It turns out that these ropes have been soaked in tung oil for a long time and have long since absorbed the oil. Coupled with being steamed and dried many times, they have become a flammable object. Just a spark can quickly turn it into a rope. The long torch, not to mention being deliberately lit now.
At this moment, the situation was reversed instantly. Without any further orders from Sun Tu, the surrounding defenders lit torches decisively and moved towards the rope. A moment later, dozens of blazing fire dragons were hung on the west wall of Zhuozhou, and the Liao troops hanging on them let out a series of screams and let go, falling down one after another, either dead or disabled.
This hard-earned opportunity to go to the city finally failed completely, and the crisis in Xicheng was finally resolved.
At this time, the sun is slowly turning westward, and another day of offensive and defensive battle is about to end with the coming of night...