Chapter 90: There are no good people in Luoyang City
Chapter 90: There are no good people in Luoyang City (Additional chapter for the leader, I am a book-eating beast)
On the chaotic battlefield, Zhang Fang laughed cruelly.
When he saw Shangguan Si's general flag for the first time, he almost thought he was seeing things.
Who is Shangguan Si, and is he qualified to command tens of thousands of troops?
I still remember that at the end of last year, Shangguan, who was a staff member of the Yi government, was transferred to the imperial guards. He was known as the "general", but the number of soldiers he led never exceeded 5,000. He was also clumsy in command and was often caught and beaten badly by others.
His abilities are just so-so.
After urgently interrogating the captives, Zhang Fang learned that Shangguan was in charge of the city, which made him laugh and cry.
At the same time, a surge of ambition also arose. Perhaps he could send out cavalry to seize the gate at lightning speed and try to take Luoyang.
Once this thought came to my mind, I couldn't suppress it.
The generals were even more excited and clamored to enter the city.
They covet the wealth of the rich and powerful.
They want the treasures in the palace.
They would rather see the noble ladies who were once unattainable being ravaged beneath them with tears in their eyes.
Just thinking about it makes me so excited that I can hardly control myself.
The robbery at the beginning of the year ended abruptly and it was not very satisfying!
As a result, the proposal to seize the city was passed by everyone without any opposition.
Zhang Fang did not waste any time and immediately sent Zhi Fu to gather the cavalry and rush towards the Daxia Gate.
At that time, the fastest fleeing soldiers had already rushed to the vicinity of the city gate. The gatekeepers strung their bows and crossbows and looked at Shangguan Pu in unison.
This man is Shangguan Si's cousin. He is leading two thousand people waiting inside the gate, ready to respond at any time.
Shangguan Si made it very clear that if he did not come back, the city gates could not be closed, so as to avoid being "harmed by villains."
Shangguan Pu understood that his brother did not completely trust Wang Yan, Mi Huang, Man Fen and others, and was worried that they would take the opportunity to close the city gates and seize Luoyang.
He carried out the order resolutely, and when everyone looked at him anxiously or even tried to remind them, he turned a deaf ear and just looked outside the city.
The rumbling sound of horse hooves gradually approached.
Anyone with a little experience would know that the enemy, having won a great victory, sent out cavalry to try to seize the gate.
"General, once the fleeing soldiers charge in, no formation can be maintained and everything will be in chaos..." Someone couldn't help but stand up.
Shangguan Pu hesitated slightly.
While they were hesitating, the first wave of defeated soldiers had already rushed in, scrambling for a way through, and almost blocked the city gate.
"General, the door can't be closed, let's shoot the arrows." Someone else urged.
Shangguan Pu's face was extremely conflicted and he couldn't make up his mind.
After just a moment's delay, the surging fleeing soldiers had already disrupted the archers and swept them away in a rush.
"It's over..." Shangguan Pu's mind went blank. Surrounded by his personal soldiers, he stumbled and fled backwards.
******
When Shao Xun met Mi Huang, the 3,000 soldiers of the lower army had already been prepared and were waiting for orders in the camp.
"Shangguan saw that the enemy had come from afar and had a weak force, so he took advantage of their numbers and led more than 10,000 troops out of the city through the Daxia Gate to fight the bandits. It looks like we are going to be defeated, and I don't know how many men can come back. Young master, please lead the army out of the city quickly and advance to the Daxia Gate to defend it." Mi Huang said anxiously, with sweat all over his forehead.
"Why don't you close the city gates?" Shao Xun asked as he ordered the officers to form up.
The three thousand soldiers who had been ready for battle jumped up, organized themselves into groups, and left the city in batches.
"Shangguan Si's men are guarding the Daxia Gate and it can't be closed." In fact, Mi Huang had really thought about this problem and concluded that Shangguan Si was not that stupid and had already made arrangements.
"What does the governor want to do?" Shao Xun, who was already fully dressed and had a red headband on, asked solemnly.
"You can make your own decision, sir." Mi Huang said decisively: "You go to Daxia Gate first, and I will lead the rest of the people to follow."
"Okay." Shao Xun originally wanted to ask him if he dared to take the risk, but when he heard Mi Huang say that, he stopped talking nonsense and, surrounded by the soldiers of the teaching team, he jumped on his horse and rushed out.
Jinyong City is very close to Daxia Gate and we arrived there in a moment.
When he saw the defeated soldiers rushing into the city, Shao Xun's face changed.
Plans cannot keep up with changes. Now all plans have come to nothing. We must stop the chaos first.
"Archers, step forward and shoot!" He gave the order decisively.
The former owner of the building, Li Chong, realized the seriousness of the problem.
Without any further instructions from Shao Xun, he immediately ordered the crossbowmen to step forward and fire crossbow arrows to stop the fleeing soldiers.
At the same time, the archers, who had been expanded to 200, were divided into three parts. One hundred of them cooperated with the crossbowmen in the front, and the remaining one hundred were divided into two groups, trying to climb to the top of the buildings on both sides and shoot from above.
This can not only stop the fleeing soldiers, but also kill the enemy troops that may follow.
He has a very clear mind and can draw inferences from one instance to another, which is very rare.
"Yu An!" Shao Xun shouted.
"I am here."
"Take a hundred men, search for Roman carts and ox-carts, and bring them all to the street corner to build a fortification."
"As ordered."
After giving instructions to Yu An, Shao Xun called the messenger and ordered him to return to Jinyong City immediately and ask Governor Mi to bring the chevaux de frise.
After everything was arranged, he drew his heavy sword and ordered the sword and shield men to go in front, followed by the spearmen, and be ready for battle.
Chen Yougen, wearing heavy armor, led a hundred elite soldiers from the teaching team to surround Shao Xun.
In all the battles in Luoyang, Sima Shao was wounded five times, which was shocking.
This cannot go on.
Who knows if a stray arrow will take Shao Sima's life next time? This is something he cannot accept. He is still waiting for Shao Sima to fulfill his promise and divide the land among his brothers.
"Woo..." A dull horn sounded, followed by a barrage of arrows.
The fleeing soldiers who were rushing back fell to the ground one after another like wormwood encountering a strong wind.
Archers are generally veteran soldiers.
They watched all this with indifference and kept shooting.
On both sides of them, a team of infantrymen had already stepped forward with spears, stabbing to death any fleeing soldiers who had managed to survive, and slowing down their pace, buying more time for the archers.
A moment later, some more archers climbed onto the roof. They leisurely drew their bows and arrows, occasionally shooting at the fleeing soldiers, but most of the time they kept their eyes on the city gate.
"Mi Huang, you will not die well." Shangguan Pu shouted in grief and anger among the crowd of fleeing soldiers.
Shao Xun noticed him, handed the heavy sword to Chen Yougen, and then drew his bow and arrow.
"There are no good people in Luoyang City." He sighed softly.
The bowstring was released, and the long arrow flew through the air and hit Shangguan Pu in the face.
Arrows were still raining down, corpses were strewn all over the Imperial Street, and blood was flowing like a river.
The person in front fell down, and the people behind stepped on the corpses and stumbled forward.
Someone was blown away by the long arrow, but he was not dead yet. He was still struggling to get up and try to escape.
Some people were crawling on the ground, wailing and crying, begging their brothers to let them pass.
Some people even rammed into the houses on both sides in an attempt to escape.
But it was all useless. The archers were just like enforcing the night management discipline of the military camp. Anyone who was running around, regardless of friend or foe, would be shot dead.
Humans are fragile, and there will come a time when their blood will run out.
After being hit head-on by archers and suffering hundreds of casualties, the fleeing soldiers finally came to their senses and stopped rushing back.
Shao Xun called the messenger and gave him some instructions.
Soon, more than a dozen people climbed onto the roofs on both sides and shouted loudly.
"If you run around like that, you will be killed!"
"Return and kill the enemy, and you will be rewarded with a higher level!"
"The cavalry is coming in a hurry, but the horses are not strong enough!"
"The streets are narrow, perfect for killing enemies!"
Under their repeated shouts, the defeated soldiers looked at each other, at a loss as to what to do.
In the end, some of the old soldiers in the central army gritted their teeth and turned around, the spearmen took the initiative to step forward, and the rest cooperated with each other, quietly waiting for the judgment of fate.
The defeated soldiers who were not from the central army were infected by them and also tremblingly searched for weapons on the ground, preparing to fight with the Western soldiers.
"Clop..." The sound of horse hooves is approaching my ears.
In an instant, the first batch of dozens of riders rushed in.
When he saw the densely packed spears, he was greatly surprised, but it was too late to slow down and he crashed directly into them.
There was a lot of chaos for a while.
The Western cavalrymen who were in the front fell to the ground one after another, and those behind them slowed down in a hurry, but behind them, there were more cavalrymen coming and they were all crowded together.
For a moment, the narrow streets and city gates were filled with the neighing of war horses and chaos.
"Kill the bandits!" Archers on the roofs on both sides fired continuously, staring at the cavalrymen sitting on horseback, who were obvious targets, and called out their names one by one.
The defeated soldiers recovered.
The brave ones directly used their spears to stab and knock the cavalry off their horses.
Others used knives to chop at the horses' legs. When the horses, in pain, threw the cavalrymen off their backs, other people who had been waiting for a long time rushed forward and hacked the cavalrymen to death with their knives before they could get up.
Unfortunately, double-sided stirrups and high-bridge saddles had not yet been invented at that time, so the cavalry's legs and waists could not effectively leverage force, making combat extremely difficult. They also made themselves a large target, so they fell to the ground one after another and were hacked to death by the fleeing soldiers.
It was almost a replica of the battle of Jie Bridge between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan - the cavalry in the front were killed on a large scale by bows and crossbows, and the corpses of people and horses formed an obstacle. The cavalry in the back were still rushing forward, but could not speed up, and were eventually hacked and killed by Yuan Shao's infantry and suffered a great defeat.
Now it has some meaning.
The city gate was filled with Western cavalry.
Someone realized something was wrong and dismounted, trying to fight on foot.
There were also people sitting stupidly on horseback, urging loudly.
The defeated soldiers killed more than a hundred cavalrymen in a row, and their morale gradually rose. They shouted and rushed towards the city gate, stabbing with spears, beheading with ring-handled swords, and some even launched sneak attacks with hidden arrows. Their coordination became more and more proficient.
Infantry, how could they have such an easy chance to kill cavalry? No problem, just kill them, they are no match!
"Beat the drums and march!" Shao Xun took back the heavy sword and gave the order.
"Boom boom boom..." The sound of drums rumbled.
The soldiers of the Kingdom Army lined up in neat array, holding their sharp spears, and ran in small steps towards the Great Xia Gate.
The archers also gathered together one after another.
Without anyone in command, they would work in groups, aiming at the enemy cavalry still sitting stupidly on their horses, and shoot them one by one.
The enemy cavalry outside the city seemed to realize that something was wrong and turned their horses around and retreated.
The enemy cavalry in the city screamed in fear and tried to escape, but they had no chance.
At this point in the battle, there was no suspense anymore, it was almost a one-sided massacre.
(End of this chapter)