People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1647: Heavy Cavalry Tramples, Light Cavalry Cuts

On a rainy night, Cheng Wuting, standing on the south wall of Xishi Pass, felt terribly chilled.

The sudden explosion caused half of the north gate's city wall to collapse.

What was even more terrifying was that the heavy cavalry that rushed in afterwards charged fiercely throughout the entire city.

Although Xishi Pass is not big, it is not small either.

It is more than a mile long, with four layers of inner walls.

Next to the inside of the city wall is a large open space, with a thousand soldiers standing in it, ready to reinforce the city wall at any time.

The other soldiers stood in the city further behind, quickly moving various crossbows, shields, and various city defense equipment.

The other inner quarters and under the south city wall were densely packed with more than two thousand soldiers.

There were more than 500 soldiers on the city wall, including the soldiers who had been sent out to investigate and mobilize troops, as well as Cheng Wuting's personal guards. There were at least 5,000 people densely packed together.

Outside Xishi Pass, military camps were scattered one after another, with a total of 10,000 people, all obeying Cheng Wuting's orders.

Of course, on the entire Luo River Plain, 50,000 people were under the command of Cheng Wuting.

But half of them were at Yanling Pass and were directly commanded by Lou Shide.

Cheng Wuting had only 25,000 men directly under his command, but there were another 10,000 men stationed in Mianchi further east, and they could not be mobilized at once.

After all, no one expected that Xishi Pass would be on the verge of falling in such a short period of time.

Yes, it's about to fall.

The heavy cavalry rushed directly into Xishi Pass, killing and trampling quickly on the central main road, and were forced to stop when they rushed to a place close to the South Gate.

However, just as the soldiers on all sides went up to surround and kill them, more heavy cavalry came from behind.

Cheng Wuting looked at this scene in disbelief. He didn't know how Li Xuan managed to get so many heavy cavalry.

You know, in today's Tang Dynasty, heavy cavalry is almost a type of military force that is about to be eliminated.

The flanking attack of light cavalry is the mainstream on the battlefield today.

But you have to admit that in such a limited space, once the heavy cavalry charges, it is really difficult to stop them.

However, just as Cheng Wuting was commanding his men to fight against these heavy cavalry, more light cavalry rushed in directly from the gap in the city wall on the north.

Countless crossbow arrows fell like a rain of locusts. The soldiers who were fighting with the heavy cavalry did not react in time and were immediately cut down one after another like wheat.

Rushed into Xishi Pass, then quickly occupied the southern city wall and fired crossbows from the southern city wall.

Cheng Wuting's men were soon forced to withdraw from the southernmost courtyard.

More black-armored cavalry rushed into Xishi Pass.

Then they rushed directly from the side of the heavy cavalry along the central avenue, and many soldiers who were entangled with the heavy cavalry were directly knocked over.

Even though the shields in their hands could resist crossbows, they were simply unable to stop the charge of long spears.

Although more black-armored cavalry rushed in, Cheng Wuting's men began to retreat rapidly in Xishi Pass.

It was at this time that four simple catapults pulled by horse-drawn carriages were sent into the gap in the north city.

Then, under the command from the top of the city wall, they quickly adjusted the height and direction and directly bombarded the enemies farther away.

Originally, Cheng Wuting was guarding the city wall and had prepared a lot of rolling stones, but now, all the rolling stones he prepared were used by Li Xuan's men.

Cheng Wuting raised his head and looked at the remaining half of the city wall in the south, which had been completely occupied by black-armored soldiers.

Surrounded in the center by the crowd was a general wearing black clothes and black armor.

But that person was not Li Xuan.

Cheng Wuting made a detailed analysis of Li Xuan's men, and found all the generals in the Qianniu Guard to identify the man, who was Su Baotong.

Grandson of Su Dingfang, Duke of Xing.

Su Dingfang, just the name made Cheng Wuting's breathing pause.

Because it was only a few months ago that he fought with Su Dingfang's apprentice Pei Xingjian.

Although Pei Xingjian occupied Yangzhou and assembled an army of over 50,000 in a very short time, in fact, except for the four Zhechoufu in Yangzhou and more than 10,000 veteran soldiers, the rest were new recruits.

But even so, Pei Xingjian relied on these 10,000 old soldiers and won several battles in the beginning. But unfortunately, when half of these old soldiers were consumed, the other new soldiers could not take over at all.

Only then did Su Dingfang send his men to force their way forward step by step, and finally directly broke through the city of Yangzhou.

A group of these old soldiers followed Pei Xingjian to retreat to Maoshan, while more of them took a boat out to sea.

Cheng Wuting also didn't understand why Pei Xingjian and Li Chongzhao didn't go out to sea by boat, but instead ran to Maoshan.

Could they still run from Maoshan to Huainan?

In any case, Pei Xingjian’s affairs have nothing to do with Cheng Wuting anymore.

What Cheng Wuting needs to deal with now is Su Dingfang's grandson, who is also a tough guy to deal with.

Su Baotong is not only the grandson of Su Dingfang, but he has also been with Li Xuan for many years and has learned a lot about military tactics from Li Xuan over the years.

To be frank, when it comes to large-scale troop combat, Su Baotong is the best learner around Li Xuan.

The heavy cavalry charged in front and trampled on the enemies.

The light cavalry penetrated and cut in from the rear, and surrounded and killed the enemy from both sides.

Long spears, crossbows, and rolling stones constantly cut a bloody path through the shield-holding defending soldiers.

Soon, the cavalry followed and charged in, blood splattering everywhere.

During the fighting, the battle line quickly moved southward.

War is the best place to test one's ability, and Su Baotong has already shown a bit of the demeanor of a famous general.

……

Cheng Wuting saw it clearly that if the situation continued like this, it would not be long before his people would be completely driven out of Xishi Pass.

Although Xishi Pass is higher in the north and lower in the south, it is almost impossible to recapture such a pass if it falls into the hands of someone like Li Xuan who is best at attacking and defending cities.

Cheng Wuting gritted his teeth and said, "Quick, transfer more people into the city. This city must not be lost. Even if all of us die, we must take this city back."

"Yes!" His personal soldiers immediately turned around and left. In the military camp outside the city, when Yue Ju entered the city earlier, Cheng Wuting had already started to prepare.

It was just that Li Xuan arrived too quickly. Although the soldiers in the barracks had already begun to prepare, their full body armor, lances, horses, shields, and crossbows were not ready yet.

There was no time to worry about anything now, and Cheng Wuting was mobilizing more people into the city.

He must stop Li Xuan from occupying Xishi Pass, or more precisely, stop Li Xuan from occupying Xishi Pass quickly.

Once Li Xuan breaks out of Xishi Pass, he can roam freely in the vast Luo River Plain.

That was the fighting method he was most accustomed to.

Back then in Changzhou, Li Xuan actually defeated ten thousand with one thousand men, and thirty thousand with three thousand men. He had many such achievements.

Cheng Wuting was really worried that Li Xuan would charge out before they were ready, and then trample the allied camp for 600 miles, forcing the army to retreat. In that case, Cheng Wuting would be finished.

Just at this moment, a "creaking" sound came from the south wall.

Then, the Fuyuan crossbow pulled by four horse-drawn carriages appeared in Cheng Wuting's sight.

In a very short time, the Fuyuan crossbow was unloaded from the carriage and then quickly moved to half of the city wall and fixed there.

When Cheng Wuting saw this scene, his eyes jumped involuntarily.

Large machines like the Fuyuan crossbow and the catapult are not actually that lethal.

Their real power lies in cutting and blocking, especially when used in conjunction with cavalry tactics, which can be life-threatening.

The crossbows and catapults in front were clearing the way, and the cavalry behind immediately rushed in. With a slight sweep of the lance blades, countless throats would be torn apart immediately.

Cheng Wuting did have Fuyuan crossbows and catapults, but these things were all under the north wall. Once the north wall fell, light and heavy cavalry immediately followed and rushed in, so he had no time to use these things.

Only the crossbows carried by the soldiers could pose a threat, but the problem was that Li Xuan's charging troops were heavy cavalry.

Hand crossbows have little effect against heavy cavalry.

Even if the heavy cavalry landed, they were still heavy infantry, and the crossbows and arrows had little lethality.

But don't forget that Li Xuan's men also have crossbows, and Cheng Wuting discovered that the crossbows under Li Xuan's men have a longer range than theirs and can load more crossbow arrows.

Cheng Wuting's face was already very ugly, and at this moment, he suddenly looked up.

I saw Li Xuan at first sight.

……

"Da da da!" Countless black cavalrymen rushed towards Xishi Pass, and the one leading the front was none other than Li Xuan.

The further they went, the faster the cavalry in front became, while the cavalry in the middle slowed down.

At this moment, the cavalry on both sides quickly passed through the middle, then formed a narrow formation in front, and quickly charged towards the main road ahead.

Li Xuan stopped his horse completely at the city gate. Looking at the dozen or so buildings in the entire city gate, his face suddenly became gloomy.

These things should all be dismantled.

But then, his expression calmed down.

We are fighting now, so there is no time to tear down the wall.

And as more and more black-armored cavalry joined the battle, they were quickly pushed to the south gate.

Soldiers kept rushing in from the south gate, but were soon shot and killed by crossbows from a distance.

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the opposite city wall.

Cheng Wuting, dressed in red and golden armor, with a large banner beside him, looked at the whole situation with a pale face.

He couldn't defend this city.

Li Xuan turned quickly and headed towards the city wall.

"Marshal!" Su Baotong immediately bowed.

"You command!" Li Xuan waved his hand and quickly walked to the Fuyuan crossbow on the side.

The four Fuyuan crossbows that were originally firing suddenly stopped.

Li Xuan nodded slightly, then looked forward and said, "From now on, don't worry about the middle, all crossbows should be fired towards the courtyard walls in the east and west directions to open a path to the city wall.

Only if we occupy the city wall, we can kill all the soldiers in the city and those rushing in from outside."

"Yes!" Following Li Xuan's order, more than a dozen soldiers began to quickly adjust their direction.

A crossbow arrow flew out, and in the blink of an eye it had crossed a distance of two hundred steps and hit the crowd on the steps diagonally opposite the city wall.

Suddenly, several soldiers were shot through by arrows.

Immediately afterwards, more crossbow arrows were shot out.

They began to clear a path under the city wall. Su Baotong immediately sensed an opportunity and quickly commanded the heavy cavalry to charge towards the steps of the city wall, cutting off the right-hand guard soldiers under Cheng Wuting's command diagonally again. The situation suddenly became clear.

Cheng Wuting's men could have quickly reinforced the city walls, but when the steps on the city wall were covered by Fuyuan crossbows, they could no longer provide support.

At this time, more rolling stones hit the top of the city, each time bringing out a large piece of blood and flesh.

The situation has collapsed.

Like a snowball, it rolls faster and faster.

As the number of soldiers on the city wall decreased rapidly, their support for the courtyard also decreased rapidly.

Finally, the heavy cavalry rushed to the city gate...

Cheng Wuting turned around and looked outside the city wall, at the soldiers climbing up quickly with ropes. A trace of sadness flashed through his heart. It was all over.

At this moment, with a "buzz" sound, a Fuyuan crossbow arrow shot from a distance.

At the most critical moment, Cheng Wuting turned his head and a crossbow arrow from Fuyuan flew directly past his ear.

With a creaking sound, Cheng Wuting turned around in horror.

The big banner has fallen.

At this moment, on the opposite wall, Li Xuan suddenly gritted his teeth and shouted: "Revenge for Emperor Zhongzong, kill!"

(End of this chapter)