The hooves of the horses galloped like thunder, and three hundred steeds lined up neatly, galloping all the way. The Xiongnu cavalry has always been well-trained, not to mention the elite of the royal court. Like a dark cloud, it raised a large piece of dust and drove towards the city gate in the distance.
This cavalry, starting from Lucheng, arrived at Taihang Pass in just two days. This is the main road to guard the Taihangxing. As long as the Taihangguan is taken, it will be able to control another road from Sizhou to Bingzhou. And Taihang Pass itself is not a strong city. If you come from the direction of Sizhou, and the pass is placed on the Xingdao, it can be said that one man should be a pass, and no one can open it; but if you attack from the direction of Bingzhou, it is only a small town. . Naturally it is not difficult to overcome.
However, when the siege began, Liu Meng, the leader of the thousand cavalry, found out that this closed city was completely different from what he had imagined.
The Xiongnu cavalry attacked the city, especially this kind of small city. The rain of arrows in the sky can make the soldiers at the top of the wall have no time to take care of those who are attacking the city, and the cavalry who come and go quickly can avoid the opponent's counterattack in time, and they are in an invincible position. With such a strong army, Liu Meng was confident that he could use a few waves of arrows to pry open the gates of Taihang Pass.
Unexpectedly, this commonly used tactic would not work at all! On the originally low city wall, a layer of parapet was added, which was blocked by arrow stacks, and it was difficult for the flying arrows under the city to hit the defenders on the city. Even worse, five shallow trenches were dug in succession about a hundred paces away from the city, each of which was only one foot deep and separated by less than five paces. But it became a trap that could break a horse's leg.
It is impossible to cross the horse, and it is impossible to turn back easily. As soon as they got up, they broke six or seven horses on this shallow ditch. Taihang Pass is built on a mountain, and the terrain is inherently uneven, and encountering such a defensive formation makes it impossible for the cavalry to perform.
Liu Meng just thought for a moment, and ordered his men to shoot immediately outside the shallow ditch. Unexpectedly, at this time, the city crossbow was fired from the watchtower in the pass!
The lookout tower was very strange in style. It stood on the city like a horn. Liu Meng thought it was a hastily built lookout tower. The four crossbows fired their arrows one after another, with an astonishing accuracy, almost hitting his mount.
In shock, Liu Meng quickly led his troops to retreat five hundred paces away. At such a distance, the cavalry can't reach the wall anyway, without the cavalry cover, let all the soldiers dismount to attack the city
Looking at the small city gate that looked like a hedgehog, the Xiongnu Thousand Knights finally shook his head. This is definitely not the defensive style of the Jin army. In the rear of Bingzhou, any defense of Xingdao should be aimed at the direction of Sizhou. Who would have set up an array outside the city early to guard against sharp knives coming from behind him? To be able to arrange this outside the city, and to target the cavalry precisely, proves that the people in the city have long been on guard against their army.
Such a rigorous preparation, if there are not more than a thousand people, a strong attack regardless of losses, it is impossible to win. And he doesn't have the capital to lose his soldiers now.
Turning the horse's head, Liu Meng ordered: "Take the way to Gaodu!"
The small Taihang Pass has become like this. Gaoducheng is the Taihang Xingwei City. Naturally, it is necessary to investigate it clearly. And now that the autumn harvest is approaching, if you are unprepared, plunder some peasants as pioneers and drive towards the city, relying on these people as cover, it is also possible to capture the city gate. Gaoducheng and Taihang Pass are the inside and outside of each other. If Gaodu is attacked, will the defense of Taihangxing really be impossible? As long as the other party probes, they will naturally be able to hit a carbine and seize the pass!
However, when they arrived at Gaodu, they were faced with a sight even stranger than Taihang Pass. Large tracts of grain in the fields have not yet been harvested, but not even a single farmer has been found for more than ten miles nearby. At some point, all the people near Gaodu moved into the city. In the face of the heightened and thickened city wall, the three hundred cavalry wanted to capture it, which was simply whimsical.
"Someone has detected our whereabouts! Where is the direction of Liangfu? Are there any signs of troops being dispatched?" How could Liu Meng not detect the problem. But along the way, they didn't even see a wolf smoke bonfire, and they came galloping quickly. How did the news reach Gaodu City
"No!" the scout replied, "The gates of the Liang Mansion have been closed all the time, and it seems that martial law is also under way. Even the two nearby villages are closed."
As a general under Liu Xuan's command, Liu Meng naturally knew that the prime minister was afraid of the Buddhist son of Liang Mansion, so he took advantage of the fact that the other party was abducted to the county town and came to attack Taihang Pass and surrounding cities. However, along the way, it surprised him. Where is this normal city? It is clearly a fortified city on alert during wartime. It was no longer possible to snatch, and the only option was to send heavy troops to guard the surrounding areas of Liangxing and besiege Sima Teng's army who wanted to return to Bingzhou. And this is not a decision he can make as a mere thousand riders.
"Return to Xiangguo immediately. If you want to capture the two kingdoms, you must increase your troops." Liu Meng simply ordered. Then he glanced at the city behind him and snorted coldly. When he turned around and led five thousand troops, he would not believe that he could not conquer this city!
"Others, quickly follow me back to the county town." When he saw everything in front of him, Liu Meng completely made up his mind. This time, even if there is Yan Ji's obstruction, we have to kill that kid named Liang! To make such an earth-shaking change happen in the vicinity of Gaodu, I am afraid that there is no one other than that Buddha. As expected by Xiangguo, this son is really a big trouble for his confidant!
As soon as the order came, the cavalry walked towards the road. Almost at the same time as the fast horse, the news also spread back to the Liang residence.
"The Huns have retreated?" This group of Huns walked so fast, which greatly exceeded Duan Qin's expectations. He originally wanted to hold back this elite cavalry from the county town, but unexpectedly, the other party only dropped a few corpses in front of Taihang Pass, so he simply returned home.
That's three hundred people! If the lord has not successfully captured the county seat, it will be troublesome.
However, the opponent was a fast-moving cavalry, and even if he wanted to stop it, he didn't have enough troops. Without hesitation, Duan Qin instructed: "Send a letter to the sentry on the mountain to inform the lord as soon as possible that the Huns are returning."
The sentry on the mountain is also a secret weapon of the Liang Mansion. On the peaks within sight, set up checkpoints and prepare several signals in advance. Once the enemy's situation is observed, the pine and cypress at the door will be brought down and a warning signal will be given. With such three or five sentries, messages can be easily delivered, and they are not as noticeable as Langyan. In this mountainous area near Liangfu, it is the most convenient.
It is precisely because of this that he was able to notify Guo County magistrate of Kaicheng to take refugees in nearby villages half a day in advance, and let Taihang Pass be prepared. And now, he wants to use the same method to let the lord get the news sooner.
I just hope that the lord can successfully seize the pass, and then there will be enough energy to encircle and suppress this group of cavalry!
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The sky was getting darker and darker. Halfway through August, there should have been more than half of the moon in the sky. However, there were many clouds tonight, obscuring the stars and moon, making the four fields pitch black.
On the top of the city, several torches were lit, and the shadowy shadows illuminated the figures of the guards. This is the first pass of Baixing, and it is also the strongest one. As long as there are hundreds of people defending, it can withstand several times, which is ten times the strength. However, in such a strong city, the elite Xiongnu soldiers who had just captured the city's head did not relax their vigilance. There are constantly people patrolling the top of the city, guarding this Xingdao, which is finally in the bag.
Of course, they didn't see any enemies.
The mountains were silent, and it seemed that all the creatures fell into a deep sleep, except for the occasional small beast that made a rustling sound. From Zi Shi to Yin Shi, the moon sinks to the west, and even those Xiongnu elite soldiers can't help but feel sleepy. At this moment, dozens of black shadows as thick as the night passed through the dense forest and came straight to the city wall.
This is not easy to do. Even the elite Xiongnu soldiers would turn a blind eye at night. This symptom is called "bird blindness", so every night, bonfires will be lit in the military camp to strengthen the guard to prevent the commotion of the soldiers who are blind as birds. Similarly, because of bird blindness, there are very few cases of successful night attack. If it weren't for the real elite soldiers, who would dare to lead a group of half-blind people to attack other people's camps
However, this group of people walked very briskly, as if they could see things in the dark night, and in just a moment of effort, they quietly and silently came to the corner of the wall. In the darkness, a pair of blue eyes flashing faintly fluorescent looked over. Those eyes are like wolf eyes that only appear in the wilderness, cold and sharp, without emotion. However, seeing these eyes, the people around him will feel at ease, just like the wolves following the alpha wolf, finding their own position.
There was no need to issue an order, and the group took action. Around the city wall, four tall and strong soldiers crouched down, and immediately someone stepped on their shoulders and climbed up. Just as he stood firm, someone else climbed up. The top of the wall was only two feet high, and the stacked human ladder easily hooked to the top of the wall.
Yi Yan grabbed the arrow stack with his left hand, and the hand crossbow tightly clenched in the other hand, with a single arm, jumped up against the wall! This was so unexpected that the soldier on the wall didn't even react, and the sharp arrow pierced his throat. At the same time, three of the same arrows shot out, and immediately three more fell to the ground!
At this moment, the first warning exclamation suddenly sounded. However, Yi Yan ignored it, and with a flick of his hand, the iron claw hook with a rope was firmly placed on the arrow stack. After the claw hook was placed, the soldiers under the city began to climb, and in just one breath, the number of people who climbed the wall doubled. First the crossbow, then the knife, this group of ferocious wolves easily crushed all the elite Xiongnu soldiers defending the city!
The entire city was boiling. There are constantly awakened soldiers trying to rush to the wall and destroy the enemy. However, after occupying the high ground, it was an unexpected night attack. Those soldiers who carried out from their sleep were not unable to stop Yiyan and others. A quarter of an hour later, the city changed hands!
"The camp is right, all the Xiongnu soldiers have been killed." A deployer stepped forward and whispered.
"Very good. Choose twenty to follow, and before dawn, be sure to capture another gate!" Yi Yan shook off the blood beads on the blade and replied coldly.
Like a tireless pack of wolves, they are attacking another city gate that is still sleeping!