Chapter 418: Seven Strongholds Destroyed in One Day
Chapter 418: Destroying a Village in One Day
The trench was filled with dirty and turbid river water.
As if sensing something, the river water began to surge in waves in an instant.
Above the trench, the sound of arrows breaking through the air could be heard continuously.
Outside the trench, screams and cries of pain were heard one after another.
The first wave to rush up was the Yingyang farming army.
The two rows in front held large shields, trying their best to block the arrows shot from the front and above.
When charging, there was a dense "thump thump" sound coming from the shield, which made people feel like peeing.
Behind the big shield, people kept groaning and falling to the ground.
It is true that the camp is not a city wall. First of all, it is not high enough. Secondly, so many people cannot stand on the wall, and the arrows shot from high above are not that lethal.
But people will still die!
This wave of them was the vanguard of the entire army and was given special attention. Dozens of them were knocked down on the way to the charge, and by the time they approached the trench, the casualties had exceeded a hundred.
"Get out of the way!" Squad leader Meng Chou yelled and rushed out with a sandbag on his back.
The shieldmen made several gaps in unison, and then adjusted their formation to block as much as possible the arrows shot from the front - their movements were a bit chaotic, perhaps because they did not practice enough, or perhaps it was because they were nervous and their movements were out of shape, but no matter what, they would have to pay the price in blood at this time.
The farming troops carrying sandbags had no protection and suffered alarmingly high casualties on their way forward.
Meng Chou lowered his head and ran with all his strength.
He looked crazy, his eyes were red, and he was shouting words that he couldn't even understand.
People kept falling around him, but he had no time to pay attention. After rushing to the edge of the trench, he threw the sandbag into the water with all his strength, then turned and ran.
There was a splash of water behind him.
The sounds of "plop" and "plop" were heard continuously. They were sandbags thrown by other comrades.
But they were not so lucky. Many people were shot dead on the spot, and some were even pushed into the trenches by people rushing from behind, shouting for help.
No one cares about them.
Sandbags fell from overhead like raindrops, gradually smashing it into the bottom of the water, becoming part of the trench.
The arrows shot from the wall became more frequent, but after a while, they decreased significantly.
Meng Chou was running back and glanced out of the corner of his eye, and saw the second group coming up.
The large shieldmen were in front, and the armored archers were behind. They slowly moved forward and shot arrows at the place where the enemy archers gathered to suppress them.
For a moment, arrows flew across the battlefield and people from both sides kept falling down.
"Boom boom..." The rhythmic sound of drums slowly came from far away.
Meng Chou took a look and saw that it was a newly made trench-filling cart. It was called a cart, but in fact it was just a clumsy thing with shields on the front, sides and top to block arrows, and it was pushed forward by soldiers from the inside.
After the enemy archers were suppressed, the trench-filling vehicle slowly approached the trench and slowly stopped.
"Boom!" A vertical wooden board in front of the car fell down, spanning the two sides of the trench.
The officers shouted and rushed out with more than a dozen people hiding in the belly of the car, throwing sacks filled with mud and sand, bamboo baskets filled with loess, etc. onto both sides of the wooden boards.
The enemy archers appeared again and shot arrows desperately.
The people who were filling the trenches suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat in a panic.
The covering Silver Spear soldiers saw the position of the enemy archers and immediately threw dense arrows at them.
People kept falling to the ground from the camp wall.
Meng Chou retreated to the starting point in shock, and finally turned his head to take a look.
At this time, his blood passion gradually subsided and he began to feel truly scared.
It’s great to be back alive!
******
As the commander-in-chief of the front army, Jin Zheng climbed up a high platform and looked out for a long time.
The first batch of Yingyang farming troops that set out had already retreated, with no less than 200 casualties - the injuries and deaths were actually almost the same, because there would be no one going to the battlefield to rescue them.
The second group that followed closely behind was composed of Silver Spear Army archers and young men from Heyang. They were even larger in size, with more than 1,300 people.
The archers were responsible for suppressing the top of the wall, while Ding Zhuang quickly filled the trench.
Thanks to their efforts, a considerable part of the trench was filled. When they retreated, they were chased by the enemy who rushed out from behind the trench wall, and no less than 300 people were killed or wounded.
The third batch of Heyang men went into battle.
They carried wooden boards and were responsible for covering the last section of the trench to prevent the uneven ground from affecting their movements.
After the drums sounded, more than a thousand people first ran in small steps at the orders of the officers, trying their best to maintain their physical strength.
After approaching the trench, he shouted and covered it with wooden boards.
Arrows were shot from the wall again, but they were much less frequent than before.
The young men who were filling the trenches were ecstatic and worked extremely skillfully.
The enemy troops behind the trench wall did not come out this time. Only some archers leaned out to shoot arrows, killing some people.
Cooperating with Heyang Ding Zhuang, a part of the Silver Spear Army archers were separated and shot towards the place where they poked their heads out.
The arrows were so fast and fierce that the enemy archers were soon silenced.
The rumbling sound of horse hooves could be heard.
The three hundred Xiongnu cavalry seemed to have been prepared for a long time. They suddenly rushed out from behind a camp gate and trampled on the retreating Heyang Dingzhuang.
The young men were caught off guard and fled backwards, crying and shouting.
As they ran around in panic, they even disrupted some of the Silver Spear Army's spearmen who were lined up on the outside.
The enemy cavalry took advantage of the situation and charged forward, shooting with bows and wielding sabers, taking lives with great pleasure.
"Buzz!" Dense arrows covered the area, and countless enemy cavalry fell off their horses under the close-range shooting.
By the time the Yicong army began to mount their horses and march out, the enemy cavalry could no longer hold on, gave up the pursuit, and fled.
The defenders opened another camp gate, lowered the trench bridge, and welcomed them in.
At the same time as the enemy cavalry charged, a group of infantry rushed out of the camp, carrying kerosene and firewood, and set fire to the wooden boards covering the trench and the two trench-filling carts that had not been pulled back in time.
The battlefield was engulfed in flames.
In the smoke, corpses were lying all over the place, which was creepy.
Jin Zheng stepped down from the platform and went into battle.
He glanced at him left and right, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
Jin Zheng didn't care about their thoughts at all. He personally selected a group of 600 soldiers and marched forward aggressively.
He first captured dozens of the fastest runners, then slashed with his sword, and the bloody heads instantly rolled to the ground, including several old Silver Spear Army soldiers who had escaped.
These people groaned but did not beg for mercy.
Even though he was taken away by the chaotic soldiers, he escaped and there is nothing to say.
Which battlefield doesn't have innocent people who died? You are responsible for your own actions. The law is merciless.
After killing the defeated soldiers, the others were taken in one by one and retreated to the rear for reorganization.
Jin Zhengze personally led 600 soldiers and drove the Ningping farming troops carrying sledgehammers and shovels to attack the camp wall in waves.
******
"Quick! Quick!" King Liu Fu of Bohai also came to the attacked camp and climbed up to look into the distance.
The fierce battle shocked him greatly.
It took the enemy less than an hour to create a path that led directly to the trench wall.
In a panic, Liu Fu began to transfer troops from other camps, especially archers, one team after another, the more the better.
The Jin army rushed forward again, with great momentum and courage.
When they got closer, they assigned two hundred archers as usual to shoot at the back of the trench and the camp wall.
The defenders fought back bravely, and the battle immediately entered a white-hot stage.
"Charge!" The Ningping farming soldiers roared in unison and charged forward with spears, hammers and shovels in hand.
They crossed the roughly filled trench and ran to the outside of the trench wall with ferocious looks on their faces.
Inside and outside the trench wall, spears were poking back and forth and swords were waving non-stop.
People kept falling to their knees, holding their stomachs.
People kept falling to the ground screaming.
People kept covering their chests, and the arrow feathers continued to tremble.
Others were wielding sledgehammers and shovels, trying to destroy the trench walls, but as they were destroying them, their bodies were pierced by spears and they fell to the ground.
The corpses piled up rapidly, almost reaching the same height as the trench wall.
"Kill the bandits!" A dazzling flash of armor appeared, and the Silver Spear Army warriors rushed over with spears and axes in their hands.
Relying on the protection of his heavy armor, Jin Zheng resisted the enemy's sword attacks and spear strikes, and rushed forward, crashing into the crowd of enemy soldiers behind the trench wall.
He swung the heavy sword quickly in his hand, like a child's toy. Wherever he passed, there was a bloody storm.
The soldiers of the Silver Spear Army climbed over the trench wall and fought with the enemy.
From the camp walls, stones, scalding water, and even tables rained down like raindrops, knocking the two sides who were fighting each other dizzy without distinguishing between friend and foe.
Outside the trench wall, the soldiers of the Ningping Colonial Farm Army were still destroying the trench wall, knocking it down and smashing it one by one.
Archers from both sides were still shooting at each other, and both suffered casualties.
The camp gate opened again, and hundreds of enemy soldiers swarmed out, preparing to attack from behind.
At this moment, the Yicong Army cavalry rushed out of the battle formation and rushed towards them.
The enemy soldiers hesitated, retreated in panic, and did not dare to leave the camp.
But as they retreated, the opportunity for battle was fleeting, and the fight under the trench wall was almost over.
Jin Zheng was like a devil. In the end, his heavy sword was stuck in the enemy's body. He drew out his ring-handled sword and killed several people in a row.
The enemy soldiers were beaten back by the silver spear warriors and scattered to both sides.
Jin Zheng was so angry that he chased after them, slashing them with his sword. In the end, he even captured an enemy schoolmaster and strangled his neck with his thigh-thick arms, breaking it violently.
The enemy soldiers on the camp wall shot arrows at him as if they had seen a ghost.
The shieldmen gathered around and tried their best to shield Jin Zheng.
The Ningping military farm soldiers brought a ladder and placed it on the top of the wall.
Countless armored soldiers climbed up holding short weapons.
The enemy troops on the wall retreated one after another, and were replaced by soldiers holding various blunt weapons.
They looked nervous and swallowed their saliva dryly. Occasionally, someone turned his head to look inside the camp, and when he saw the large number of spearmen and archers waiting in full alert, he turned his head back in despair, with a look of madness on his face.
"Swoosh! Whoosh!" Arrows kept flying past my ears, and from time to time someone would scream and fall to the ground.
The first group of Silver Spear Warriors have climbed onto the top of the wall.
Blunt weapons were swung down at the same time, sweeping them off the wall before they could even stand firmly.
Someone else rushed up, and this time fewer people were knocked down, so the two sides started fighting directly together.
The archers on both sides stopped and waited quietly for the outcome of this bloody battle.
Liu Fu watched from a distance and stamped his feet.
Messengers went up and down, constantly delivering orders.
A moment later, all the defenders on the camp wall were wiped out.
The archers below the wall were in commotion.
The officer raised his sword and killed several people who were shouting and screaming, and the rest of the crowd calmed down.
"Buzz!" A vast array of arrows rushed straight up and, at a very close distance, knocked down the standing Silver Spear Army warriors in large numbers.
Liu Fu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart soon rose to his throat again, because the second group of silver spear warriors climbed onto the top of the wall. They were wearing iron armor and holding large shields. While trying their best to block the arrows, they pulled the long ladder over and placed it on the inside side of the wall.
Some people even jumped off the wall, risking their lives.
There were also people holding bows, squatting on the wall, drawing their bows and drawing arrows repeatedly.
The defending archers were already scared to death. If it weren't for the officers supervising the battle, they would have run away by now. At this time, after being shot by arrows, they hastily fought back a few times, causing some casualties to the Silver Spear Army, and then they all fled in panic.
The defenders' spearmen lined up behind the wall also made a lot of noise and their formation was shaken.
More than a hundred Silver Spear soldiers who had entered the camp rushed forward with short weapons in hand against the long spear formation.
"Puff! Puff!" The enemy subconsciously thrust out with their spears.
Some of the sharp spear tips were separated by short weapons, some were blocked by iron armor, and others pierced in through the gaps in the armor plates.
The casualties of the Silver Spear Army soldiers increased sharply, but everyone was so blood-thirsty that they could not feel their comrades falling to the ground or the wounds on their bodies. They only knew how to kill, how to break through the enemy's long spears, how to close the distance, and then use short weapons to kill them.
People kept pouring in from the top of the wall behind me.
More and more soldiers went down to the camp, and some of them were assigned to open the camp gate.
A cavalry unit of the enemy rushed out, scattered these people, and trampled them wantonly.
The people behind continued to move forward without fear.
The space in the camp is narrow and the cavalry can't run at all. They can only sprint a short distance. What is there to be afraid of?
They surrounded the cavalrymen who had lost their speed, pulled them off their horses, and chopped them down with their ring-handled swords, slaughtering these arrogant Hun cavalrymen like slaughtering pigs and dogs.
The enemy soldiers guarding the camp gate fled in panic.
The Silver Spear Army warriors struggled to turn the capstan, and with a loud bang, the trench bridge suddenly dropped, splashing a cloud of dust.
The camp gate was opened again, and the Jin army, which had been waiting for a long time, swarmed in.
The enemy hastily organized nearly a thousand people and rushed forward. The two sides fought fiercely at the camp gate, and blood flowed all over the ground.
As the killing went on, the battle line moved closer and closer.
"Kill the bandits!" A thunderous roar came from the camp gate.
Covered in blood, Jin Zheng rushed into the crowd of enemy soldiers like a whirlwind, hacking left and right, fearless of death.
The Silver Spear Army soldiers, who had just lowered the trench bridge and opened the camp gate, attacked from the side. The enemy soldiers could not hold on and fled back.
The entire camp fell into chaos.
Liu Fu went straight down the platform and, surrounded by his personal guards, slipped away through another camp gate.
After he left, the defenders were left without a commander and they all fled in disarray.
They opened the gates of the camp and fled in all directions, looking panic-stricken and disorganized.
Most people retreated towards the central army camp, but when they arrived at the camp, they found that the camp gate had already been closed. What greeted them was a heavy rain of arrows. They immediately fell to the ground powerlessly, crying and shouting.
The Hun cavalry passed them and ran away into the distance.
The soldiers of the Silver Spear Army and the Military Farm Army rushed out of the camp gate and slaughtered all the defeated soldiers who had lost their fighting spirit.
When they were running towards the enemy's central camp in a rage with bloodshot eyes, they were sobered up by large numbers of arrows shot from the top of the wall.
After a cold snort, he cut off some heads and withdrew his troops.
Liu Fu returned to the central camp in shock and remained speechless for a long time.
Hold on and wait for help, hold on for nothing!
The outer camp was breached in just one day. How many days could the central camp hold out?
His confidence had been shaken.
(End of this chapter)