In city attack and defense wars from ancient times to the present, if the city gates were opened and the enemy broke into the city, the battle was declared a failure, and there were almost no street fighting counterattacks.
Yang Ye was outside the imperial city, looking towards the south of the city. There was dust and fog over there, and the rumbling of horse hooves and noisy voices from afar made him feel dull. In the distance, the damaged houses made the city look particularly desolate. The Zhou army had completely captured the south city, and the news had been received here.
Yang Ye was not in charge of the defense of South City. He was shocked to hear the news of the city's fall. He had indeed witnessed the combat effectiveness of the Zhou army with his own eyes, but he still found it hard to believe what was happening right now. The capture of Dragon City Jinyang in half a month was bound to shock the world. I'm afraid there is no one who doesn't feel the same way as he does, as if they couldn't believe it.
After being shocked, Yang Ye hurried to the imperial city. At this time, he originally wanted to participate in the decision-making of the central government, but when he arrived at the gate, he stopped because he saw a group of heavy cavalry at the gate.
The Northern Han Kingdom's most well-equipped heavy cavalry, which usually only accompanies the emperor in his personal expedition, is now gathering and deploying its troops toward the gate of the imperial city. It seems that the emperor is going to put up a final resistance.
This kind of thing is originally very tragic and moving. Yang Ye is also a military general, and he always respects those brave soldiers who dare to fight to the death, but at this moment he does not have that kind of mood, and he does not know why.
The result was obvious. Yang Ye felt that a decisive battle between this small number of heavy cavalry and the Zhou army would not have any impact on the war.
He did not go to the imperial city to ask for an audience, but wandered around the surrounding streets for a long time with a few riders. The heavy cavalry was still gathering, and men in heavy armor were galloping along with the crowd.
Yang Ye suddenly questioned what benefits this civil war would bring to ordinary people. The nobles wanted to maintain their wealth and power, and the generals could fight for military merit. But what could a soldier get if he went into battle with his head raised and was killed by someone? And the people in the city, once a war broke out, even eating and drinking would be difficult, and they would have to endure a long period of hardship.
Yang Ye held his breath and watched the movement in the south of the city for a long time, then looked back at the tall tower of the imperial city. He shook the reins, turned his horse's head and immediately arrived here.
Inside the Imperial Palace of the Northern Han Dynasty, Liu Jun hid his hands in the wide sleeves of his dragon robe and was shaking.
Why is Jinyang so unbearable? It can be captured in just half a month. Liu Jun is angry and afraid, his face is as white as paper. Where is Feng Jinke, who is supervising the battle in the south of the city
The ministers below looked at each other, no one said anything. Finally someone said: Feng Jinke was guarding the South City, and he might have died in battle.
The ministers stopped talking. Everyone knew that the Northern Han Kingdom was destroyed by war, which was the most complete destruction. At this time, no one even had the power to make demands and could only let the Zhou army do whatever they wanted. Others had taken Jinyang through war and no longer had to worry about the situation of anyone in the Northern Han Kingdom.
Liu Jun asked, "Where are Liu Jiye and Yang Ye?"
Still no one said anything, so finally an eunuch said: "Shall I go to the southeast of the city to pass on the imperial decree and summon Yang Ye to an audience?"
Liu Jun waved his hand: It's too late. He looked back at the generals in the hall, pointed at one and said: General Li, are you willing to help me resist the Zhou army outside the imperial city gate
The general was slightly startled, then strode out of the queue, clasped his fists and said: "I will fight for your majesty to the end."
The frightened and helpless Liu Jun felt a little relieved after hearing this, and praised: "A loyal minister is known in times of adversity. It is worthy of the Liu family's warm food and fine clothes to treat you well."
General Li's face flushed with praise from the emperor, and he patted his chest and said: "I am loyal to the emperor and I will serve you. My life belongs to you." If the Zhou army wants to enter the imperial city gate, they must step over the bodies of me and others.
Good Liu Jundao, you should leave the palace immediately and lead the heavy cavalry. Don't let me down.
General Li received the imperial edict and left the palace. He immediately reorganized his cavalry and deployed them in battle formation on the wide road.
Ahead was a long street that seemed to have no vitality. The rumbling sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and the soldiers of the Northern Han army sat on their horses silently, waiting.
Finally, a chaotic Zhou cavalry appeared at the end of the long street. The Zhou cavalry was light cavalry, and only the key parts of the horses were covered with leather armor. The horses were getting closer and closer, and even the shouting and yelling of the Zhou generals could be heard clearly. The chaotic cavalry stopped advancing one after another two hundred steps away. General Li of the Northern Han army thought they were going to reorganize their formation, but unexpectedly, the Zhou cavalry changed direction at a crossroads and rushed in from the east and west.
Soon, hurried footsteps sounded from behind, and lines of infantry spread from the street like a flood. The main street was full of people, but it felt very empty, because apart from the neatly-organized army, there was no civilian, and the crowd was very monotonous; the countless armored soldiers, the clattering footsteps were very huge, as if a heavy cloud was pressing down on the ground, making people feel suffocated.
The Zhou army wanted to use infantry to fight against our heavy cavalry. General Li loudly encouraged the soldiers, saying that as long as the brothers fought bravely, they would be able to defeat the Zhou army and let them see the fighting power of our great Han warriors.
The troops under his command were indeed the elite of the elite of the Northern Han imperial army. The cost of one knight was comparable to that of an entire team of ordinary soldiers. General Li also knew that the combat effectiveness of this heavy cavalry was no less than that of the elite Zhou imperial army. But everyone was very silent, and their morale was indeed not high. Even the capital was breached, and people could not see hope, so it was difficult to have morale; it was already very good to be able to gather here to form an army.
Serving the country and repaying the emperor's grace, General Li waved his sword and shouted again.
As soon as the voice fell, there was a crackling sound denser than raindrops. General Li and others subconsciously looked up and saw that the sky was full of black spots, flying like a swarm of locusts. Those black spots were getting bigger and bigger, pouring down rapidly.
Arrows hit the armor one after another, and screams were heard from time to time. The Northern Han cavalrymen and horses were all armored, which had a high degree of defense against projectiles, but it was difficult for a person to have thick armor everywhere, so there would always be places that were easy to penetrate, so it all depended on luck.
Soon, the Zhou army's bowstrings rang again. The Zhou army always shot arrows like this, one round after another, with a pause in between to not shoot arrows, but once they were released, the arrows were very dense.
The heavy cavalry was used to charge into battle. General Li shouted: Attack!
The generals in front listened to the order and shouted to the horsemen to start driving the war horses. Suddenly, the heavy hooves roared, and the street seemed to shake. All the horse teams started to move together and jogged forward.
Kill! Someone in front shouted. But the vanguard of the Northern Han army did not sprint, but continued to move forward slowly, as if hesitating.
General Li shouted: Charge!
The front line of Zhou's infantry was full of spearmen, which is one of the best types of soldiers to deal with cavalry. However, they did not have the long spears that were more than ten feet long and were specially used to deal with cavalry, nor did they have chevaux de frise. They had spears, so this infantry square formation was not completely unbreakable. Especially the elite heavy cavalry of the Northern Han army, which had been through many battles, were very good at breaking through the formation.
The infantry of Huo Zhou suddenly shouted in unison, and the momentum was very majestic. The spears in the first three rows were leveled, and the spears in the back were tilted forward. Those slanted spears could not play any role in blocking the cavalry, but they looked scary. The infantry phalanx of Zhou was very scary at this time. There were dense spears around the camp, and the plate armor was shining with metallic luster. It looked like an iron camp. The army was neat and tidy, and the momentum was steady and majestic. It felt like a tough camp.
The Northern Han army's vanguard heavy cavalry rushed close to the infantry formation, but instead of accelerating the charge, they stopped on their own. The war horses ran slowly to the scene, afraid to move forward, and the knights on the horses were also afraid. Some horses were reined in, with their front hooves raised high and neighing. Some cavalry could not move forward and ran sideways to avoid the spears. Although the north-south street was wide, it was not wide enough for the war horses to move freely, and the cavalry could not make a detour. The cavalry behind ran over again, and suddenly stopped in front, and a collision occurred.
There were shouts and neighs of horses, and there was chaos between the two armies.
Seeing this, the Zhou general raised his sword and shouted: Prepare to attack!
After a while, the drums in the infantry camp began to beat rapidly, and the vibrations became a rhythm that could not be distinguished. A square embroidered tiger flag in front slowly leaned forward, and a loud shout was heard: Kill!
The Zhou army's infantrymen rushed forward, shouting. They still had fear on their faces, but their voices were fierce and they acted very bravely. The Zhou army was already sure of victory, and their morale was high. They charged forward without hesitation, and dense infantrymen quickly surged forward.
The Northern Han army was composed of heavy cavalry but they did not have heavy cavalry whose charge speed was almost stagnant. Originally, cavalry was the strongest type of soldier, but in this case it was not. The cavalry was at a obvious disadvantage against the infantry because the horses and men occupied a large area and were arranged relatively sparsely; while the infantry were shoulder to shoulder, with several people attacking one cavalryman together, stabbing the horses with their long spears. Even if the Northern Han army cavalry had three heads and six arms, they could not handle it. The iron spears stabbed the horses and men randomly, and screams were heard everywhere.
In just a moment, the Northern Han cavalry in front turned their horses around and ran away.
The cavalry was in chaos. General Li saw that the cavalrymen in front of him had turned back, and the generals around him shouted angrily. He was far away from the front line, but now he saw that his cavalrymen were coming back very quickly and the defeated troops had spread to the middle. General Li didn't say a word, but hurriedly spurred his horse to run back, wanting to get away from the fighting.
He was also a general, and he had fought in battles before, otherwise the emperor would not have called him. At this time, he really didn't have the heart to fight for his life. Although he kept shouting to boost morale, he was full of frustration in his heart. The country was doomed to be defeated, so what was the point of fighting? But at that time, facing the emperor's edict, he had no choice but to show his loyalty.
I'm afraid other soldiers feel the same way.
General Li did not say anything, but as the commander of the cavalry, he was the one the soldiers paid the most attention to. As soon as he ran, he was immediately noticed, and the army was immediately defeated and fled to the north.
The most elite and combat-capable heavy cavalry of the Northern Han Army collapsed at this moment.