Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 793 Battle of Zhenxi Fort ([-])
Warm blood gurgled from the corpses of more than 3000 cavalrymen and [-] war horses, melting the frozen soil on the surface. The greedy earth sucked the hot blood hungrily, but the flowing blood was always more than it could swallow. many.On the ground, a red pond first formed, and then a river spread in all directions until it formed a sea of ​​steaming human blood.

Ditches have been dug in front of all the parapets. The four bastions serve as the core of the defense. The trenches in front of them are also very wide and deep. The widest part is three meters, and the deepest part is about two meters. This is mainly for Prevent the enemy from rushing directly to the fort wall by using the human ladder.Just after the cavalry of the Liao army rushed past, the infantry of the Liao army rushed towards the fort wall. When Fei Chengwa jumped down the ditch on the right, she thought she was safe. He put the shield on his head and quickly touched the corner of the wall.

According to his experience of several previous sieges, as long as he can touch the city wall, unless the defenders stick their heads out to attack, nothing can hurt him.Fei Chengwa has participated in many siege battles, and he knows that as long as he is close enough to the edge of the trench and puts the shield on top of his head properly, even falling rocks and rolling logs will not easily hurt him.

It's just that this time Fei Chengwa just hid, when a violent wave of crossbow arrows shot from the side, Fei Chengwa quickly rolled over against the wall to hide, and then with a pale face, she stooped to look sideways. There is a row of crossbows facing here on the parapet, and the defenders there are condescending, firing row after row towards the bastion wall.Not only was there no one protruding above Fei Chengwa's head to attack, nor was there any wood or stone thrown down, but like him, the infantrymen of the Liao Army who touched the horizontal parapet along the trench were shot one by one by crossbow arrows on the side parapet. Died under the walls.

More and more crossbow arrows were shot from the left wing.The companions in Fei Chengwa's left hand were knocked down one by one. Fei Chengwa crawled towards the corner of the ditch with hands and feet. The crossbow arrows kept whistling past him or over his head. Fei Chengwa crawled forward desperately. The companions next to and in front of him kept screaming and fell, writhing in pain beside the other corpses.

The corner was right in front of him, Fei Chengwa jumped over it, rolled over on the spot and ran across the corner.The two crossbow arrows chased the route he had traveled just now, and hit the land in front of Fei Chengwa's eyes with a puff.Fei Chengwa, who had narrowly escaped death, looked at the pit on the ground and let out a long breath. Just as he raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead, he felt a strong attack, as if someone had pushed the back of his head violently. .

Fei Chengwa shook her head dazedly to shake the mud off her mouth, only feeling the coolness on the top of her head.When he looked up, he realized that his helmet had rolled down a few meters away, and there was a hole in the top.After thinking for a while, Fei Chengwa suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and turned his head sharply to look back.

Far behind Fei Chengwa was a similar horizontal parapet, which was also full of crossbows.He was shooting fiercely in the ditch in front of him. In the ditch in front of Fei Chengwa's eyes, there were also layers of dead Liao troops, just like the ditch he had just escaped from.

Fierce crossbow bolts rushed towards him.Fei Chengwa curled her body into a ball and hid behind several corpses. Many people around her were wandering around in the trench like headless chickens, trying to find a safe place to hide from the crossbow arrows, but they were all shot mercilessly. die.The Liao army in the trapezoidal area was so beaten that they couldn't hide, and they were used to jumping into the trench naturally. After an unknown Liao army officer saw the situation clearly, he desperately whipped and pulled his subordinates who did not obey orders.

"You can't go down the trench, that's death." The sentence has not yet been finished.A giant crossbow shot into his neck from the side. The officer's head flew into the air with its mouth wide open, and flew in a curved line more than ten meters away. Reluctantly fell to the ground.

Deng Chongxuan and Wang Chao, who were excited on the podium, observed the movement of the enemy for a while, and then looked up into the distance, where there was the handsome flag of Brother Yeluxiu, which seemed to be waving hurriedly at this moment.The drums of war also beat more intensely.The opponent seems to want to rely on the influence of handsome flags and war drums.Come and reinvigorate the troops and save them from panic.

From Yeluxiu's point of view at this time.As long as the army under his command can get close and start a war of attrition with the Suzaku Legion, it won't be long before the entire front of the Suzaku Legion will start to collapse due to insufficient troops.On the contrary, once you stop at this time, the sacrifice just now will be in vain.

This idea is because Brother Yeluxiu still thinks that the central defense of Zhenxi Fort can be taken by a sudden attack after sacrificing a certain amount of manpower, and seeing that the vanguard is already very close at this time, so he is even more reluctant to give up .

Seeing that the Chinese army was not moving forward, Brother Yeluxiu anxiously urged the flag drummers to encourage them to move forward, and even sent several teams of scouts over in one breath, telling them to go up directly to deliver orders.But his efforts were in vain, the main force of the central army failed to keep up with the footsteps of the front army, and some officers who responded to his call brought their own troops and were mercilessly shot to death in the open area in front of the bastion together with the front army.If he had a telescope and could clearly see the battle situation under the castle at this time, he would not have given such an order and killed so many people in vain.Too bad he didn't.

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"Retreat, retreat, withdraw!"

Finally, after a while, Brother Yeluxiu realized that the situation on the front line was extremely bad, and he uttered these words with difficulty. A shrill golden voice sounded, which passed through the battlefield several miles wide, faintly sent to the front.

The company commander of the trebuchet company looked at the passage ahead calmly. The Liao army began to flee backwards. They ran as fast as they could throw away their armor and armor. The people in the front had already passed through the first gap. Running on his back in the northeast direction.In the company commander's field of vision, all the soldiers of the Liao Army who were still able to move shouted and fled as quickly as possible.The fast crossbows on the bastion kept firing, and the Liao army who ran to the end laid down them row by row.The giant crossbow never stopped firing. From time to time, a series of three or four people were shot into pieces by the giant crossbow and flew into the air, but the enemy troops rushed towards the gap regardless.

"The No. [-] gunpowder bag is ready for the body attack." The calm voice of the platoon leader sounded behind the company commander of the trebuchet company.

The interception and shooting to divide the enemy's front has already been completed. The enemy's central army is retreating out of the shooting range of the Suzaku Legion's catapults. Now is the time to chase and kill the fleeing enemy. The company commander of the catapult company looks at the low wall The human heads surging in the passage yelled loudly without looking back: "Launch."

Amidst the roaring and bombing, nearly a hundred fleeing Liao army soldiers were killed on the crowded passage, and the rest stepped on the dead bodies of their companions and rushed out frantically.Trebuchets bombarded the target area continuously with gunpowder packets. After several rounds of intercepting shots, hundreds of dead and dying people formed a human wall between the passages.

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At the beginning of the war, the trebuchet launch position on the slope of the bastion was the most intense area for both sides to attack and defend. The trenches outside the trebuchet launch site also had more dead bodies than other places.

In order to make the throwing of the trebuchet more accurate, it should be erected as high as possible.But the city wall of Northwest Fort in the town is too narrow to fit.Therefore, two semi-circular parapets were built on the side wall of the bastion as launch positions for trebuchets, but because of the rush of time, the height was only about one meter, and the trench dug outside the small semi-circular fort was less than two meters deep. , In this way, the wall of the trebuchet launch site became relatively low, so more Liao soldiers tried to climb into the bastion from here.

For the defending Suzaku Legion, the small platform protruding from the edge of the trebuchet launch site can also be used. It can also eliminate the dead corner of the bastion's shooting area. The small semicircle platform protruding from the edge can accommodate ten A fast crossbow shooter, the platform under their feet is suspended above the trench, and it is not protruding a few meters away, so it will not affect the shooting range of the 50-meter-long horizontal parapet.

Dozens of long gunners guarding the trebuchet at the side of the trebuchet launch position were wearing heavy armor, standing behind the trebuchet and preparing for defense. There were still many feathered arrows falling on their armor and at their feet.There were also three or four fast crossbowmen squatting on the side of the trebuchet and shooting down.

In this battle, many soldiers of the Liao army were extremely brave and fearless. They used their companions to climb onto the parapet of the catapult launch position, trying to interfere with the catapult launching gunpowder packages.But these attempts were also thwarted by the spearmen protecting the trebuchet positions. The spearmen defending the trebuchet launch positions condescendingly pinned down all the Liao soldiers climbing up the wall. The Suzaku Corps trebuchet company almost never From the beginning to the end, it never stopped throwing gunpowder packs.

The [-]st Battalion, [-]st Company, and [-]st Platoon Leader of the Infantry Brigade, Liu Kun, was ordered today to lead his platoon members to protect the catapult position on the right platform. At this time, he knelt on one knee by the wheel of the catapult, holding a long gun in one hand and a crossbow in the other to search for target.Platoon Commander Liu had a few listless arrows on his armor, and a few swinging knives and throwing axes under his feet, but none of these could harm him.The most dangerous blow he had encountered today was the heavy javelin thrown over. The javelin flew past Platoon Commander Liu's helmet and pierced a trebuchet operator behind him.

Right now the morale of the Liao army has begun to collapse, but even at this moment, there are still people trying to climb up from the wall of the trebuchet launch site.Platoon Leader Liu finished shooting the four crossbow arrows, quickly took out the four crossbow arrows from the side quiver and installed them. At this time, another pair of hands climbed up to the wall, and a human head emerged from the section of the wall between the hands. .

Not bothering to use the spear, Platoon Leader Liu casually shot a crossbow arrow, and shot it directly through the man's mouth that was waiting to roar.Before the man fell, he saw a pair of hands appearing beside the wall. He put the crossbow on the ground with his left hand, and picked up the long spear with his right hand. When the man's eyes just came out of the wall, he stabbed it suddenly. go in...

(End of this chapter)