Chapter 473: Fierce Attack and Defense
now,
Kublai Khan, who was far away in the Yuan army's tent, saw the flames in Bianliang City rising into the sky, and suddenly felt an ominous feeling in his heart.
The reality was just as he expected.
The previously open city gate was quickly closed by the Tang army, and the brazier on the city wall burned brightly, illuminating the surrounding area like daylight.
Those Yuan troops who had not yet had time to enter the city, after a brief period of shock, were violently attacked by arrows that rained like raindrops from the top of the city.
And the more than 30,000 Yuan troops who had entered the city were in a desperate situation.
Most of the 30,000 yuan army were killed in the fire and the encirclement and suppression by the Tang army. Only a few soldiers survived and chose to surrender.
The entire area where the Bianliang East City Gate is located is filled with a disgusting burning smell, and from time to time there is a smell of meat wafting in the air.
Kublai Khan was not a stupid person, and he immediately realized that he had fallen into the trap of the Tang army in the city to lure the enemy!
What made the Yuan Shizu even more furious was that Dong Wenbing, whom he had always trusted, was still trapped in the city, with his life and death uncertain.
That night, under the orders of Kublai Khan, the Yuan army launched several fierce sieges.
However, the Tang army was well prepared and well-garrisoned. The Yuan army charged repeatedly but was repulsed, unable to shake Bianliang City at all.
"Commander Shen deserves a lot of credit for luring the enemy last night." Wei Qing was in high spirits today and said to Shen Lian with a smile.
Shen Lian smiled slightly, a trace of contentment flashed in his eyes.
The Jin Yiwei under his command have long understood the various trends of the major families in Bianliang City.
Just as Wei Qing had worried at the beginning, some unscrupulous Han people wanted to contact the Yuan army outside in order to dedicate the city.
Therefore, after discussing with Shen Lian, Wei Qing decided to take advantage of the situation.
Thus, there was the secret letter that Kublai Khan saw.
I didn't expect this plan to be so effective, directly wiping out 30,000 Yuan troops.
The next day,
Kublai Khan listened to the advice of his ministers and decided to adopt the strategy of piling up soil and pulling out the camp.
As long as the mound is higher than the Bianliang city wall, they can be condescending and deploy archers to fight against the Tang army.
As this order was issued, tens of thousands of Yuan soldiers rushed to the front of Bianliang City like ants.
They wielded hoes and shovels and began to dig out the soil and pile it into mountains more than ten meters high.
Facing this scene, Wei Qing's expression became more solemn.
He knew that if the Yuan army succeeded in building these mountains, the subsequent defensive battle would be extremely difficult.
Although he had ordered the archers in the army to kill the working soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty, he had little effect.
These mountains of earth were different from siege engines and could not be burned with kerosene. We could only watch helplessly as they gradually approached the city wall.
certainly.
Wei Qing is not the type to sit back and wait for death.
After becoming aware of the Yuan army's intentions, he immediately ordered his men to deploy the catapults they had already built to the forward positions.
These catapults, which can throw kerosene and stone bombs, have a range of up to 300 paces.
Once hit by it, even a warrior wearing heavy armor will most likely die!
Originally, Wei Qing planned to use these catapults as his final trump card.
However, facing the Yuan army's pressing pressure, he had to use this trump card in advance.
same day.
On the city wall of Bianliang, stone bullets rained down on the earth mountain that was being built.
The catapults worked day and night, and the roar shook the world. The process of earth mountain construction was seriously hindered.
The soldiers of the Yuan Dynasty who were responsible for the construction suffered heavy casualties. Hundreds of soldiers died here, and there were widespread complaints.
However, Kublai Khan was unmoved and still ordered his soldiers to continue building the mountain.
Only this time, the working soldiers were replaced by Mongolian soldiers from Mongolian soldiers.
In the eyes of Kublai Khan, the death of some Han people was nothing more than a trivial sacrifice.
Finally, after three days,
Under heavy casualties, the Mongolian and Han armies struggled to complete ten earthen hills that were taller than the Bianliang city wall.
Thousands of archers were deployed on each earth mountain, forming a tight fire suppression on the Bianliang city wall.
At this point, Kublai Khan finally showed his fangs again and launched a more violent siege.
The completion of Tushan enabled the archers of the Yuan army to engage in crossfire with the Tang army.
At the same time, countless Yuan soldiers tried to climb the city wall in an attempt to break the city in one fell swoop.
For a time, the fighting was unprecedentedly fierce.
At the critical moment, Wei Qing personally led an elite force to the city wall and successfully drove hundreds of Yuan soldiers off the city wall who had gained a foothold.
But today, the Tang army suffered heavy casualties, almost at the same level as the Yuan army!
If this continues, it will only be a matter of time before Bianliang is captured.
Wei Qing stood on the city wall, a flash of light flashed in his eyes, and a bold plan came into his mind.
At night.
Hundreds of Tang troops were lowered down the city wall by ropes and quietly sneaked out of the city.
I saw that these Tang soldiers were all carrying something heavy.
As the general in charge of this night attack, Wang Yuan did not forget to sternly warn his soldiers:
"Be sure to bury this thing in the earth, ignite it and evacuate quickly, and never look back!"
He knew full well that these backpacks contained gunpowder.
At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, although gunpowder had been invented, the gunpowder weapons at this time were not yet perfect and had limited power. They could only scare horses.
But after Lin Chen arrived, black gunpowder was produced in large quantities and its power increased greatly.
This time Wei Qing's right army carried a large amount of black powder.
It was originally used to blow up city gates, but now it can be used to blow up these mountains.
As for the Yuan army.
The Yuan army soldiers were exhausted from the hard fighting for days, and there were not many soldiers patrolling the earthen hill.
After all, the earthen hill was so solid that it could not be easily destroyed by human power, so no one expected that the Tang army would risk going out of the city for a night attack.
Therefore, Wang Yuan and others' actions were quite smooth.
After quietly killing several night patrol soldiers, they began to bury the black powder explosives they carried into the earthen hill.
After working for more than half an hour, Wang Yuan, who received the signal, gave an order and the gunpowder was ignited!
When Yuan Wang Yuan and his party were taken into the city, they heard a deafening explosion behind them, like thunder in the plain, shocking people!
Tonight, Kublai Khan was destined to have trouble sleeping.
When he learned that the earthen hill he had worked so hard to build was blown up by the Tang army, he was first stunned and then furious, and couldn't help cursing:
"Damn Han people, how dare you do this!"
He ignored the embarrassment on the faces of his Han ministers and decisively ordered a strong attack at night!
No matter what the cost, he must capture Bianliang and annihilate the Tang army of more than 100,000 people!
Kublai Khan directly abandoned the previous strategy and turned to force the attack with the advantage of numbers!
This change really achieved remarkable results.
Although the Yuan army paid a heavy price in casualties, the Tang army's city defense force only had half of its troops left.
…