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Chapter 855 Two-Wing Breakthrough (Part [-])
While the Tang soldiers and horses on the front were gathering, the Turkic cavalry on the flanks were already making preparations.

Tens of thousands of people conquered from nearby counties were driven by Turkic sabers, carrying soil bags, and paved a path among the reeds.

The common people became the best cover target for the Turks, and their soldiers mixed among the common people to avoid the arrows of the defenders on the opposite side.Of course, for these meat targets, the Han Chinese and the Turkic people have absolutely no mercy. Any common people who escape or hesitate will be beheaded immediately by their swords.

In Persia, they slaughtered more than a million people in the Western Regions. What are these people now?Although Li Tang sent people to rescue these people, the Turks ignored them.

Therefore, the Turkic people became more presumptuous when attacking the city.

It was already dawn, the morning wind was blowing, and the reeds were filled with moisture. The Turkic soldiers marched through the mud with their scimitars.

After two hours, they paved a road in the reeds, and then the Turkic cavalry in bright armor behind them stepped on the road suddenly, crossed the reed swamp, and assembled on the flat ground in front.Zhao soldiers who had been waiting all morning suddenly saw countless Turkic soldiers emerging from the reeds. They took off the grass circles on their heads and emerged from the reeds like ghosts.

At this moment, several generals of Zhao Jun who originally advocated attacking and preventing the Turks from paving the way in Luze were all pale. If they really entered Luze to fight, then Zhao Jun would be ambushed.

The general guarding the right wing, Wei Chigong, sneered and said, "Your Majesty really knows everything well, the Turkic people are really ambushing in Luze."

Turkic infantry and cavalry stepped across Luze and launched an attack.

Li Chongjiu, who was in the middle army, saw from a distance that the Turkic army had erected three banners here.Because they are condescending, the deployment of the Turks' troops is clear at a glance.The three-faced banner represents three generals.

The equipment of the Western Turkic cavalry is similar to the attached cavalry of the Eastern Turkic. The difference is that the helmet of the Western Turkic cavalry wears a mask to protect the entire head, and the breastplate protects the neck and upper body, and the front of the legs and knees. side, but behind him is not wearing armor.

At the same time, they are not equipped with leather shields and handguards. This is obviously for the convenience of archery. At the same time, the Turks are not equipped with long weapons such as spears and horses. Their weapons are only scimitars and bows.

Compared with cavalry, infantry has fewer troops, but it cannot be ignored.Especially the crossbowmen with white hats in the army, there are thousands of men and horses.These foot archers carried bows and arrows and carried double-ended spears on their backs for easy throwing.
This special attire caught Li Chongjiu's attention, and Pei Ji, who knew the details of the Turks, said, "Your Majesty, this is the servant army of the Turks. It is composed of Persian prisoners of war and slaves, but there are not many people."

Li Chongjiu nodded to Pei Ju. He knew that in this era, Persian archers with light armor could still be regarded as conscripts, while Persian spearmen and shield soldiers were improvised peasant troops.These infantry are a good supplement to the single infantry lineup of Western Turks.

Around the Persian infantry, there are a large number of Turkic infantry using slings and bows.The Turkic cavalry in heavy armor formed the front row. When the entire army advanced and approached the camp of Zhao Jun, the cavalry retreated to the two wings. Zhao Jun, who was expected to face the cavalry, saw the infantry dispatched to attack his own position.

Li Chongjiu looked at it for a while and said: "The Western Turkic soldiers and horses cooperate well with cavalry and footwork. They should have been honed in long-term combat." The Turkic infantry raised their heavy shields and approached Zhao Jun's camp.It can be seen that the infantry of the Western Turks is stronger than that of the Eastern Turks, at least not using leather shields.

The attack lineup of the Turkic army is indeed shocking.The orderly column made the deployment of troops neither crowded nor loose.The infantry phalanx has spears in the first row, heavy shields in the second row, and archers in the third, fourth, and fifth rows.Each infantry phalanx, with a centurion as a unit, advances slowly, and between each infantry phalanx, mixed with varying numbers of cavalry, cruising back and forth.

And farther away, the cavalry of the Turkic Army, like an endless ocean, was arranged in a scene like a steel forest and stood there.Although there were many soldiers and horses, they did not advance aggressively with a large number of people. Obviously, this Khan Tong Yehu was also good at generals.

The Turkic infantry did not rush forward, but Zhao Jun's soldiers were also ready for the wall.But seeing Yuchi Gong wave his hand, tens of thousands of Zhao soldiers entered the position.Zhao Jun's soldiers stepped on the wooden ladder to climb the upper plank wall briskly, while another wave soldier entered the lower plank wall, and all the wooden planks at the opening of the shooting room were pulled away.

The soldiers of Zhao Jun stretched their arms and stepped on the crossbows one after another, aiming at the approaching Turkic army from the shooting room, but the soldiers on the city wall prepared long spears, hooks and other equipment to deal with the Turkic attack on the city.More than [-] ballistas were cleverly hidden, and there was a row of trebuchets behind the city wall. All kinds of huge stones, kerosene bombs and other equipment were in place in the stone nest, just waiting for the Turks to attack.

After the Turkic infantry approached, the formation remained unchanged, and then began to clear the deer village in front.

When the Turkic soldiers approached two hundred paces, Yu Chigong waved his hand and gave the order to shoot.

"Karuya, shoot!"

Zhao Jun's crossbow arrows covered the entire sky, and the Turkic soldiers who held up their shields felt that the shields in their hands sank, and a row of arrows thumped into the shields.Dozens of Turkic soldiers were hit by arrows in their hands and feet and fell to the ground. Immediately, Turkic soldiers rushed up to take their place.

After a round of shooting, Zhao Jun's crossbow machine began to reload. Taking advantage of the shooting interval, the Turkic soldiers were extremely calm and did not rush forward.

Seeing that the Turkic people did not rush forward, Yuchi pressed his hand and ordered the second and third rows of crossbowmen waiting behind the city wall not to shoot arrows.The arrows on the ground were densely packed like weeds, and the Turkic infantry phalanx continued to advance.

"Put on the archers!"

Yu Chigong gave an order, and three thousand step bows climbed up the city wall from the bamboo ladder.

"Point rocket, scatter!"

After the rumble of the snare drum, the Zhao Junbu archer took out the arrow wrapped in cotton cloth, lit it on fire, raised the bow 45 to the sky and shot it upwards!
With Martian arrows, it jumped out of the wooden wall, shaking a dazzling red, and shot towards the neatly lined up Turkic phalanx with banners waving on the opposite side.

The Turkic soldiers held their shields high and squatted on the ground, but when the arrows with fire hit the ground, many Turkic soldiers jumped up on tiptoes to avoid it.There was a little commotion in the formation of the Turkic army, but only a moment later, the Turkic soldiers gathered again.

Yu Chigong looked at it and nodded, "Turkic people are smart, keep shooting!"

Zhao Jun's [-] archers continued to shoot arrows, while Zhao Jun's crossbowmen on the lower plank wall fired a second time after loading.

The casualties of the Turkic army are increasing, but they are within their acceptable range.Their soldiers held their shields high and moved forward with their necks stalked. The sunlight reflected by the armor and swords of the Turkic cavalry behind the array kept flickering. Obviously, they were very bored in the offensive battle participated by such infantry, so they were eager to move.But the whole front remained unmoved.

"shoot!"

When they approached the wooden wall for eighty steps, Turkic archers, spear throwers, and stone slingers began to shoot at Zhao Jun's city wall.

In the gap between the two armies, arrows crossed. The Zhao army was covered by the wooden wall, while the Turkic army was covered by the shield. Such a confrontation clearly gave the Zhao army the upper hand.The Turkic archers fell down one after another when they were shooting each other, and the soldiers on the side saw that Pao Ze died beside them, their spirits were tense, they just repeated the shooting action numbly, screaming one after another.

In the left-wing village on the other side, after the sound of rumbling drums, the Tang army also began to advance.At this time, the intentional Turkic attack had already begun for almost half an hour.

The general who attacked the left wing of the Tang army was Changsun Wuji, and the Tang army invested [-] troops here.The defense was Wang Mahan's [-] Yiwei Army.

Wang Mahan followed the village for fortification, built double-layer board walls on the outside, and used the courtyard of the village as a support point to fortify everywhere.

After the soldiers of the Tang Army assembled, the infantry picked up the heavy shields and carried the bamboo ladders on their shoulders to march towards the Zhao army's plank wall. Behind them, the bed crossbows and catapults transported from Chang'an were also pushed forward one by one, pressing towards the village.The ballista of the Tang army is also very advanced. When they first attacked Luoyang City, the catapults that the Tang army bombarded Luoyang City could shoot [-] catties of boulders and throw [-] steps. Shoot five hundred paces.
Soldiers of the Tang army pushed the bed crossbows and catapults, and kept approaching the village.

It can be expected that Zhao Jun's wooden wall, under such bed crossbows and catapults, is somewhat insufficient in defense.

However, Wang Mahan did not want to rely on the board wall to defend the left wing. He thickened the rammed earth wall inside the village as a second line of defense.On the roads in the village, he set up numerous roadblocks, making it look like a maze.

The Tang army's first wave of troops was about [-] people, and they stopped after approaching the village.The soldiers of the Tang army raised their spears and stuck them on the ground. When the wind blew, the spears that almost covered the plain swayed like a forest under the wind.

"General, the trebuchet and bed crossbow are in place!"

Changsun Wuji had no expression on his face, he glanced at the distance lightly and said: "What are you waiting for, let Zhao Jun see how powerful we are!"

There was a sharp whistling sound, and the soldiers of the Tang army held their breath as they watched the thrown stone cut through the sky above their heads and smash into this unknown village, making a soft muffled sound.

The soldiers of the Tang army under the trebuchet roared, pulled the stone cable, threw the stone to draw a parabola, and smashed into Zhao Jun's formation. The wooden houses swayed precariously for a while, and a cloud of dust filled the air.

Such a rock-throwing blow did not hurt a few people, but it could damage morale.

After Tang Jun shot two rounds from the trebuchet, Changsun Wuji pointed the flag forward, and the Tang Army's infantry phalanx began to move forward, but the trebuchet shot did not stop.

Li Chongjiu looked away from the battle on the left wing. Right now both the left wing and the right wing had already started, but Li Tang's main force in the center did not move at all.

"Could it be that Li Shimin's plan is to break through from the two wings?"

(End of this chapter)