Suddenly, there was a thunderbolt in the city. Starting from the city gate, many places on the avenue exploded, and flames and thick smoke rushed up.
The debris and soil flew everywhere, injuring a few nearby Khitan cavalrymen. A heat wave quickly spread to both sides, and the hot wind blew away with thick smoke. Suddenly, both the men and horses were startled, and the horses ran away in panic. The gunpowder was buried too shallowly in a hurry, and the explosion power was very limited, but the smoke was terrible, and it rushed into all the gaps in the streets and alleys along with the heat wave.
The entire avenue near the city gate seemed to be suddenly covered with thick fog, as if clouds from the sky had fallen, making it impossible for the men and horses to tell east from west in the smoke.
At this moment, drums suddenly sounded on both sides, followed by heavy and orderly footsteps, as if countless infantry teams were running up. There were also loud sounds of killing, bowstrings crackling, arrows flying in the thick smoke, and screams.
After the explosion, the city was in chaos.
Xige, a Liao general who had just entered the south gate of Zhuozhou and was near the city gate, heard footsteps and saw thick smoke everywhere. He shouted to his subordinates to go north first, not wanting to fight with the infantry at this time.
At this time, someone suddenly shouted in Khitan: "It's bad, we have been ambushed, the king is asking us to run away quickly.
There were people everywhere giving such orders, and it was hard to see who was shouting in the thick smoke. They were shouting as they rode their horses, and the shouts whistled past. The Liao army was caught in a dilemma and shrouded in smoke, and soon it was in chaos.
Kill, kill. Shouts of killing were heard all around, along with the clanging sounds of metal colliding and people screaming in pain. The soldiers everywhere started fighting.
Xige wandered around the city for less than two incense sticks, and most of his men had already dispersed, and no one knew where they had gone. At this time, the smoke was slightly dispersed by the wind, so he led his troops back to the city gate.
Just as I approached the south gate, I suddenly saw a large group of Zhou army infantry standing in horizontal and vertical square formations in front of me, not moving at all.
Xige wanted to order the heavy cavalry to clear a way out of the city, but at that time there were no organized heavy cavalry units and the cavalry from various divisions were mixed together. The soldiers could not find their leader and had to follow Xige's large group and go with the flow.
Shaxige shouted.
The Liao cavalry in front ignored their formation and rode forward one after another. Those in front drew their bows and arrows, ready to rush in and shoot.
A general of the Zhou army drew his sword and raised it, shouting: "Shoot!" The light soldiers of the Zhou army in the front row raised their bows and arrows at the same time as they raised their swords. A burst of arrows were shot at a distance of twenty steps. The heavy arrows had a strong ability to penetrate armor when shot at close range. In an instant, the cavalry of the Liao army fell to the ground, as if they had been hit by a storm.
The Zhou general who shot the arrows pointed his sword forward again. The front row squatted down, and the back row fired another volley.
After two rounds, the Liao army turned their horses around and stopped charging forward. At this time, the bowstrings in the Zhou army camp sounded more frequently, crackling and clacking. Countless black dots flew into the air, gliding in the air, and then accelerated and fell diagonally to the ground, like a heavy rain. Some arrows deviated and fell on the roofs of houses, breaking the roofs with a clanging sound, like hail.
The Liao soldiers waved their swords and weapons around their heads, as if they were trying to shoo away flies, and from time to time, people would cry out in pain and fall off their horses. In the midst of the smoke, arrows were like locusts, and this was truly the most unbearable place.
Suddenly, the gong at the city gate rang out, and the small drum began to beat rapidly. Suddenly, a tiger square flag in front of the army fell forward and lay flat on the side. The soldiers shouted "Kill, kill", and the infantry picked up their swords and guns and slowly marched forward.
Seeing this, Xige turned his horse around and headed north again. The other riders had lost control of the order and just followed wherever there were more riders.
This group of Liao troops had been stationed in Youzhou for many years and were familiar with the city where the Han people lived. They immediately rushed eastward to find other city gates. They rode their horses and did not go through the alleys, but only on the streets for easy mobility; the streets on the southeast side of the city were full of Liao cavalry.
Xige and other large groups of people rushed to a street in the east, and saw a chaotic crowd of soldiers.
A Khitan general in front rushed forward without saying a word, and his followers behind him also rushed forward. Seeing this, the Zhou army infantry, which was in a mess and out of formation, turned around and ran.
The Khitan general in front of Yawei let out a strange cry, chased after a footman with an iron bone sword in his hand, and smashed it skillfully. With a loud bang, the helmet of the Zhou army footman fell down.
The general killed one man, and his mount slowed down a little; the Liao cavalry next to him had already passed by, holding a spear and charging straight at the back of a Zhou soldier who was running. The soldier looked back as he ran, and saw the Liao cavalry getting closer and closer, so he raised his head and shouted, running with all his might. But a moment later, the Liao cavalry had caught up, raised his spear and stabbed it sideways, deeply piercing the soldier's back.
There were a few Zhou soldiers around. Seeing this, they wanted to surround the Liao cavalry and pull them off their horses, but they immediately heard the sound of bowstrings. The Liao cavalry who had followed them started shooting arrows, drew their swords and rushed forward, slashing wildly from above.
The Zhou infantry scattered and fled into the alleys. Two of them broke open a door and fled into a house. The Liao cavalry wrapped pine branches in oilcloth, lit them on the fire, and threw several torches onto the roof.
The riders rushed forward and passed two wider streets, only to see a canal blocking the way ahead. Beyond the street was a stone arch bridge over the canal. Unfortunately, in front of the stone arch bridge, there were at least a hundred people in a square formation, with their spears densely packed together like a forest.
The Liao cavalry rushed over, shooting arrows from their horses, and the Zhou army also fought back with bows and crossbows. Xige had already ridden his horse to the front, looking back and shouting: Kill that group of people and horses!
The general asked for a fight, and quickly led his soldiers to the front, braving the arrows. The Zhou army light soldiers who were shooting arrows in front fled to the sides, and the troops behind immediately raised their long spears more than ten feet long and formed a dense formation to wait for the battle.
The Liao cavalry at the front rushed to the front, hurriedly reined in the horse, let out a neigh, raised its front hooves high, and dropped heavily. Immediately, several long spears stabbed over and pierced the horse's chest. The warhorse turned around and ran away in pain. The Liao cavalry's riding skills were quite good, and he was able to stick to the horse's back and didn't fall off. But the horse didn't run a few steps before its front hooves fell to the ground. The Liao cavalry rolled off the horse and arrived in front of the Zhou army. Immediately, a blood mist rose up and screamed and screamed.
The Liao cavalry dared not advance in front of the battle formation, and shot with bows and arrows, with arrows flying everywhere.
At this moment, another group of Liao cavalry suddenly rushed from the street next to them and charged at the flank of the Zhou army. With a clanging sound, the Zhou army's hundred-man formation was torn apart, and the Liao cavalry in front immediately charged again. After a while, the Zhou army collapsed, and the strength and weakness immediately reversed. The infantry fled to the bridge one after another, and many were squeezed into the canal.
The soldiers in the canal were covered in filth and walked towards the other side. The water was not deep, the deepest part was up to the chest, but it was very dirty. It seemed to be a drainage canal, where a lot of dirt was usually thrown into it, and it would only be washed away from the city when it rained heavily.
When the Liao army chased to the arch bridge, they saw more Zhou army infantry square formations on the other side, stacked layer by layer, with a large depth. This scene made people completely lose the desire to attack.
Xige followed the army to the bridge and looked at the situation on the other side. He also looked at the canal in front of him. The water in the canal was not deep, but the trench was very deep. If the cavalry went down, it would be difficult to climb up. Fortunately, it was not wide.
Xige immediately shouted: Xilie, leave here and find a bridge somewhere else. Otherwise, tear down the house and build a bridge somewhere else.
The Liao troops on all sides fought on their own, and it was almost impossible to tell who was whose. It seemed that there were Liao cavalry everywhere, and it seemed that there were Zhou troops everywhere, and there was no way to communicate at all.
The people sent out could not find the right place and were ambushed along the way. There were also people from Youzhou who could speak Khitan and spread false information everywhere. Some Liao army generals wanted to obey the orders from their superiors and run in the direction of the orders, but they usually bumped into their own people. The troops were confused.
There were still a large number of Liao cavalry surging on the north-south main roads; but a large number of Zhou army infantry were advancing along the way from the south gate. There were a lot of Zhou troops at the south gate, with a large formation of 500 people, advancing back and forth layer by layer. The sound of footsteps and drums was so loud that it was frightening.
The Liao cavalry were attacked from both sides, and a large group of them rushed northwards, and had already attacked the fence outside the Zhou army camp. There were many flags and tents in the central army camp, but few people were seen outside, and they had already withdrawn.
At this moment, there was a sudden bang of firecrackers, followed by the sound of drums, and then the sound of horse hooves in front.
After the Zhou army retreated to the north of the city, they gathered together and launched a counterattack.
The young general in the lead was Dong Zunxun, who was wearing double heavy armor, wrapped like an iron dumpling, and riding a purebred tall giant horse, leading his army to charge. Dong Zunxun was wearing heavy armor, but his movements were still very flexible. He drew his bow and shot, and with two clicks of the bowstring, two Liao cavalrymen more than 20 steps away fell off their horses one after another.
The two armies were already close to each other. The Liao army did not fight back with bows and arrows when they were shot. Instead, they immediately picked up their long and short weapons, sped up their horses, and seized the opportunity to gain momentum.
Sure enough, a moment later, the Zhou army cavalry had already rushed in front of him. Dong Zunxun threw away the expensive carved bow in his hand and drew the sword from his back. The long sword on horseback could only be easily drawn from the back. With a clang, the weapons collided and sparks flew.
The guards around him also rushed forward, and the two sides passed each other alternately like lightning. A Zhou army knight stabbed the Khitan cavalryman in the abdomen with a lance, and immediately gave up the lance, but another iron bone whistled towards him, and he had no time to dodge, and was hit in the face, and immediately screamed. The iron lump like a large garlic hit his nose and blood splattered immediately.
The cavalry on the street were slashing and killing frantically, and their iron hooves trampled the flesh and blood on the ground like mud.