Chapter 625: Fierce Battle at Wuguan
Chapter 625: Fierce Battle at Wuguan (Part )
Qu Tutong's army was stationed in the rear, but he himself brought a team of personal soldiers to the city of Wuguan. He wanted to see with his own eyes how the Jin King's army broke through the pass.
After the Jin King's army captured the secondary pass, they were no longer in a hurry to attack the main pass, and the battlefield became temporarily quiet.
In the afternoon, a soldier came to report that several ditches had appeared in front of the pass.
Luo Shixin and his generals immediately rushed to the bottom of the pass to check the situation. Luo Shixin used his clairvoyance to observe the ground conditions in front of the pass and sure enough, the ground that was flat in the morning now had three large cracks, each about ten feet apart.
A local villager was brought in and bowed to Luo Shixin, saying, "General, those ditches have been there for a long time. They are drainage ditches. They are usually covered with stone slabs. When it rains heavily, the stone slabs are lifted to drain the mountain torrents and prevent the mountain torrents from destroying the road surface."
So that's how it is. Luo Shixin nodded and asked, "How deep is the ditch?"
"It's not very deep, about three feet, and about four feet wide. You have to jump over it."
Luo Shixin smiled happily and said, "Li Boyan wanted to use the ditch to hinder our battering ram attack, but it actually provided us with an opportunity."
Qu Tutong was more concerned about the clairvoyance in Luo Shixin's hand. He had heard of it a long time ago, but today was the first time he saw it with his own eyes.
He took the Clairvoyance from Luo Shixin and asked hesitantly, "Is this the legendary Clairvoyance?"
"General Qu Tu, give it a try!"
Luo Shixin taught Qu Tutong how to use the clairvoyance. When Qu Tutong saw the city wall right in front of him, he was so frightened that he trembled all over and almost dropped the clairvoyance in his hand.
There was shock in his eyes, "Is this true?"
Luo Shixin smiled slightly and said, "I was also shocked when I used it for the first time, but then I gradually got used to it."
Qu Tutong raised his clairvoyance again and looked carefully. The city wall appeared before his eyes again, so close that he seemed able to touch it with his hand.
Although it was better than before, Qu Tutong was still shocked and his arms were shaking slightly.
He took another close look at the leather-covered Clairvoyance in his hand and asked in disbelief, "How was this invented?"
"It's just a few crystal pieces. I don't know how they were made. It's very useful on ships."
"This is simply a treasure on the battlefield! With it, I can get ahead of others when escaping."
Everyone laughed. Qu Tutong was reluctant but had to return the Clairvoyance to Luo Shixin. At this moment, he suddenly found that the Xue brothers also had one in their hands. He was stunned.
"Does everyone have this clairvoyance?"
Luo Shixin smiled and said, "All the soldiers above the rank of Tiger Guards have them, as well as scouts and lookouts. If General Qu Tu is willing to be loyal to the King of Jin, then General Qu Tu will also have them."
Qu Tutong laughed dryly twice, then asked angrily: "Besides this, what else is there?"
Luo Shixin smiled slightly, "General Qu Tu will know tonight!"
At nightfall, the 30,000 Jin Wang troops were ready to go. Scout Captain Wang Jinming, along with three scouts and two firearms soldiers, carried a heavy iron fire bomb weighing 150 kilograms and moved cautiously up the edge of the hillside.
The moon appeared and disappeared in the clouds. When it came out of the clouds, the earth suddenly became bright, as if coated with a layer of silver light. Several people immediately lay on the ground motionless. The soldiers on the city wall watched the mountain road vigilantly, as they would notice any movement at this time.
Luo Shixin and all the generals were looking at the night sky. Soon, a large dark cloud flew over, making everyone secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
The moon went into the clouds, and the mountain road suddenly became dark. Li Jinming waved his hand and led the five people to quickly move upwards. At this time, about a hundred steps away from the city gate, they entered the first gully. The six people squatted in the gully. The surroundings gradually became brighter. They had to wait for the dark clouds to come again. When the moonlight was covered again, the six people began to crawl on the ground. Their clothes were exactly the same as the ground, and it was difficult for the soldiers on the top of the city to find them in the dim moonlight.
Under the cover of dark clouds in the sky, the six people were getting closer and closer to the city gate. It was not until they climbed into the last ravine that Luo Shixin breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that there was basically no problem.
The last ditch was only twenty steps away from the city gate. Unless they made a noise and were heard by the defenders on the city wall and the soldiers stretched their heads to look down, they would not be visible under normal circumstances.
Captain Li Jinming waved his hand and asked three scout soldiers to wait in the ravine. He and two firearms soldiers crawled towards the city gate first. Soon, the three of them leaned against the city gate with their backs and dragged the rope together, dragging the 150-pound heavy iron fire mine to the front of the city gate little by little.
Captain Li Jinming and two soldiers used an iron crowbar with a sharp tip to dig a one-foot-deep pit under the city gate, pushed an iron fire bomb as big as a pumpkin into the pit, and held the city gate tightly.
Li Jinming nodded slightly, and a firearms soldier pried open the wooden shell on the top of the firearm, revealing the fuse inside. They swung the fire starter and lit the fuse, which began to burn with a hissing sound.
"Run!"
Li Jinming gave an order and the six people ran together, but were immediately discovered by the soldiers on the top of the city.
"Who is it? There is an enemy!"
The soldiers defending the city raised their crossbows and shot arrows like heavy rain. Two firearms soldiers screamed and fell to the ground. The burly Li Jinming grabbed one of them with each hand and jumped into the second ditch, which was less than a hundred steps away from the city gate and still within the danger range.
At the same time, the alarm bells rang on the city walls, "Dang! Ding! Ding! Ding!"
The alarm bells on the city wall rang loudly, and countless soldiers immediately rushed to the top of the city wall.
At this moment, a strong flash of fire burst out, followed by an earth-shaking explosion. The earth was shaking. Qu Tutongchuo was caught off guard and almost fell down, but was caught by Luo Shixin.
A powerful shock wave shot up into the sky, carrying countless pieces of wood and stones with it, and the smoke enveloped the city walls.
Luo Shixin ignored the shocked Qu Tutong beside him and waved his hand and shouted, "Follow me and kill them!"
He was holding a shield and a spear, and was running in the front, followed by five thousand soldiers.
Five thousand soldiers of King Jin had already rushed to the foot of the city, but there was still no movement on the top of the city. At this time, the smoke gradually dissipated, and the city gate had disappeared without a trace. The city wall above the city gate was also blown down, revealing a gap three meters wide. The ground was full of broken wood, stones and human limbs. Under the moonlight, large amounts of shocking blood could still be seen. Many of the dead soldiers had no visible scars. They died after their internal organs were shattered.
The surviving soldiers were in a state of dementia and had no reaction to the incoming Jin King's army. The north gate in the distance had been opened, and a large number of soldiers defending the city were fleeing northward in panic.
Luo Shixin led the army and rushed into Wuguan City
When Wuguan was captured, Qu Tutong had no time to be shocked or emotional. Speed was of the essence at this time, and they had to rush into Guanzhong before the Chang'an army could react.
The 30,000 cavalry led by Luo Shixin and the 20,000 cavalry led by Qu Tutong galloped northward. The advantage of the cavalry's high-speed mobility was fully revealed at this moment.
In just two days, 50,000 cavalrymen arrived at Lantian Pass. The defenders who had retreated from Wu Pass had already been left behind. The Lantian Pass defender Dugu Lan was frightened by the 50,000 cavalrymen who were coming. He knew that even Wu Pass could not stop the enemy, let alone the small Lantian Pass.
What's more, the Guanlong nobles had already reconciled with the emperor of Luoyang. As a member of the Dugu family, there was no need for him to defend Lantian Pass to the death. Dugu Lan immediately abandoned the pass and fled with two thousand troops.
Fifty thousand cavalrymen then charged into Guanzhong. They split into two groups. Luo Shixin led thirty thousand cavalrymen to attack Puzhou Pass, while Qu Tutong led twenty thousand cavalrymen to attack Tongguan.
They did not rush to Chang'an. There were 200,000 troops in Guanzhong, of which 180,000 were deployed around Chang'an, and the other 20,000 were deployed in Tongguan and Puzhou.
Their top priority is to eliminate the defenders at the two passes and release the main force into Guanzhong.
(End of this chapter)