Tibet

In the morning, three Tang Army cavalry rushed from the north, rushed to the foot of Yunzhong County, waved and shouted: "The Uighur army is coming to kill! The Uighur army is coming to kill!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"

A rapid alarm bell sounded on the top of the city. At the same time, the people working outside the city dropped their work and ran into the city.

Yunzhong Governor Gao Xiuyan and Deputy Governor Zhang Guangsheng both rushed to the city head.

After a winter of careful preparations, the defense of Yunzhou Dudufu has been perfected. The entire Yunzhou Dudufu has 40,000 troops, including 30,000 troops in Yunzhong County and 10,000 troops in Mayi County.

After the beginning of spring, all the defenders at the northern frontier withdrew. These defenders could defend themselves against a small group of rangers, but they could not defend against an army of more than 10,000 people, and they would all be killed. Therefore, only the beacons on the mountains were left, and the rest All soldiers retreated to Yunzhong County.

At this time, the beacons on Baishan Mountain dozens of miles away were clearly visible on the top of the city. The smoke was lit, and three pillars of black smoke shot straight into the sky, indicating that the large group of nomadic cavalry had entered the border fortress.

The reporting soldier knelt down on one knee and reported: "To the Governor, we have seen with our own eyes that there are more than 100,000 cavalry camped at the foot of Baishan Mountain for the night. They will kill them soon."

Gao Xiuyan and Zhang Guangsheng looked at each other, and sure enough they were here.

Gao Xiuyan immediately ordered: "Level 1 combat readiness!"

"I understand the humble position!"

Zhang Guangsheng is the deputy general. He is responsible for the arrangements. Level 1 combat readiness is the highest level of combat readiness. Twenty thousand soldiers rushed to the top of the city, and there were 10,000 soldiers on standby.

In addition, in addition to 30,000 regular soldiers, Yunzhong County also recruited 30,000 militia troops. After a winter of hard training, they were able to go to the city to fight together.

The militia soldiers were also responsible for carrying supplies and operating large trebuchets. Yunzhong County was once the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and its momentum was extraordinary. The perimeter of the city wall was more than thirty miles. The city wall was tall and thick, and the city head was three feet wide. Sixty large trebuchets were deployed. machine and sixty large artillery pieces.

At this time, 20,000 Tang troops and 20,000 civilian regiment troops were waiting on the top of the city. The watchmen pointed in the distance and shouted: "Captain, they are coming!"

Gao Xiuyan raised his clairvoyance and looked into the distance, only to see a black line appearing in the distance, which was twenty miles long. This was indeed the size of a hundred thousand troops.

He immediately ordered: "Light the beacon!"

There are also beacons in Yunzhong County, but as the chief general, Gao Xiuyan must personally confirm that there are more than 100,000 troops.

The tallest building in Yunzhong County is the beacon. Several soldiers lit three pots of wolf smoke. The wolf smoke is made from dried wolf dung. Its characteristic is that the smoke gathers and does not disperse, rising straight into the sky, unlike cow dung smoke that disperses.

Three wisps of wolf smoke were lit. Soon, the beacons on the White Wolf Fort in the south were also lit. One beacon after another, the beacons in Mayi County were also lit. Half an hour later, the beacons on the top of Taiyuan City were also lit.

A few miles outside Yunzhong County, 130,000 nomadic troops were spread out like a carpet in the vast wilderness, and the nomadic cavalry dismounted to rest.

Dengli Khan, surrounded by hundreds of people, inspected Yunzhong City three miles away. The tallness and solidity of Yunzhong City gave him a headache. They were light troops going south. They didn't even carry tents, let alone siege weapons. .

After looking at it for a long time, the only solution was to cut down the trees and break open the city gate. As for the moat, just fill it in.

And he had enough troops to divide his troops and go south. Khan Denli turned back and silently ordered to General Meili Qu Yan: "General Qu Yan can lead 20,000 cavalry to continue and capture tens of thousands of Han people to use as human ladders to go up the city! "

"Follow the order!"

Qu Yanmo, General Meili, soon led 20,000 cavalry to continue southward, heading towards the hinterland of Hedong.

Denli Khan was not idle. He ordered his soldiers to look for big trees, and ordered a hundred thousand troops to prepare bags of sand and soil to fill the moat.

As night fell, the nomadic cavalry outside the city were like revolving lanterns. One group left and another came again, throwing sandbags into the moat.

Arrows rained down on the enemy cavalry from the top of the city. Although they accidentally hit the horses, the effect was not great. These nomadic cavalry all had superb riding skills. They put sand bags on the horses' backs and hid under the horses' bellies. , arrows can't hurt them at all.

You said you can shoot an arrow at a war horse and make the horse fall to the ground. It was possible before, but starting from the Turks, they also learned the art of armor making. The war horse's head was covered with strong and thick leather armor, and the chest and neck of the war horse were also tied. Without the leather armor, the saddle on the back is like a shield to protect the horse. A few arrows on the horse's butt won't have much impact, not to mention that there is still a sand bag on the back.

The only place that can really hurt a war horse is its front two legs, but when running at high speed, the probability of hitting a horse's legs is too low, so arrow shooting on the city top has basically no effect, and only a few were injured overnight. Hundreds of war horses.

One hundred thousand troops rushed back and forth transporting bags of sand, filling the moats on both sides of the suspension bridge overnight. At dawn, the suspension bridge suddenly burst into flames, and hundreds of bags of kerosene set the suspension bridge on fire.

It is normal for the Uighur army to have kerosene. This was the kerosene that the Sogdians brought from the country of Bakhan and sold to them, and then resold it from Uighur to Youzhou and other vassal towns.

The fire burned for an hour, the iron chains were burned, and the suspension bridge suddenly fell, hitting the piers heavily.

Gao Xiuyan calmly stared at the enemy troops under the city. It seemed that the city was in great danger, but in fact he was not worried at all. The Tang army had not started to counterattack yet!

The opponent's intention has been very obvious, and they are preparing to attack the North City Gate. Of course, there are towering trees around Yunzhong County, and it is easy to find a strong tree.

At noon the next day, a low horn sound suddenly sounded outside the city, "Woo——"

Then the dull sound of the big drum also sounded, "dong-dong-dong-"

Gao Xiuyan immediately ordered the entire army to go to the city. All 30,000 soldiers went to the city. 20,000 militia soldiers also took their positions. With their crossbows shining and spears like a forest, the soldiers stared at the city with murderous intent.

Five hundred firearms soldiers were deployed above the city gate, in groups of two, holding crossbows and explosive arrows, waiting for the siege soldiers to come forward.

At this time, the 100,000-strong army had already assembled and began to approach the city wall step by step. Once the city gate was breached, the 100,000-strong army would swarm into the city.

Perhaps the Uighur army also saw the trebuchet on the city wall. They stopped advancing when they were still five hundred steps away from the city wall. At this distance, neither trebuchet nor crossbow could hurt them.

The overwhelming black cavalry were arranged in ten square formations, which was extremely spectacular.

At this time, Denli Khan waved his sword and said, "attack with the battering ram!"

The team moved out of the way, and three hundred soldiers appeared holding a battering ram that was seven feet long and five feet thick. The front of the battering ram was slightly sharpened, and a pig iron head was installed.

One hundred soldiers held the wooden stick, and two hundred soldiers held their shields high, forming a shield wall on both sides, and began to rush towards the city gate quickly.