Chapter 713 Attack from both sides

Chapter 713 Attack from both sides

Chapter 713 Attack from both sides
On March 21st, Liu Ling led his troops to launch an attack.

However, they had not yet reached the city wall, but were instead fighting with the enemy on the outskirts.

"Boom..." The thick wooden planks rolled down and pressed into the crowd with great force. There were constant screams and exclamations, and countless people suffered broken bones and tendons.

The soldiers were knocked dizzy, their formation was scattered, and they ran around in panic.

Shi Le's soldiers on the hillside took advantage of the situation and rushed down. Their morale was high, and they killed and hacked at the enemy. It was almost a one-sided massacre.

Liu Ling watched silently from the distant hillside.

In this kind of terrain, he didn't dare to attack directly along the hillside. He had to let the ordinary soldiers use their lives to consume a group of enemies. When their logs and stones were almost exhausted and they were too tired, he would send elite soldiers in heavy armor to charge straight in.

Now is the consumption stage.

This is the advantage of the defending side, but also the price in lives that the attacking side must pay.

The first group of soldiers who rushed up quickly dispersed.

Under the threat of sharp arrows from behind, they split to both sides, stumbled and fled in all directions.

Some people were stabbed to death by the enemy who were chasing them relentlessly.

Someone accidentally fell into the valley, and all that was left was screaming.

Some were lucky enough to escape and were taken in by soldiers from the rear.

After being received and reorganized, they had to continue, with no choice - perhaps they could choose to resist, but it was really difficult when the rear was suppressing the front, and the military law was extremely strict. Many soldiers knew they were going to be beheaded, but they still surrendered and waited for death with their eyes closed.
Liu Ling quickly gave the order to launch the second wave of troops into the attack.

These farmers, Taoist priests, bandits and even landlords' servants from Qingzhou rushed up with roars.

The enemy used various means to resist desperately.

The fighting went on for three days on and off. After paying the price of two thousand casualties, Liu Ling finally reached Jingxing Pass.

The terrain in front of the city gate is slightly wider, allowing for more troops to be deployed.

The auxiliary soldiers brought up the prepared equipment.

There were no complex siege equipment because the terrain conditions did not allow it.

Even the ladder truck cannot be built, only the ladder is available.

Catapults and other weapons are almost useless for sieges on flat ground, let alone in the mountains.

The Xingnu Wall cannot be unfolded or transported.

The smoke-generating vehicle is still being assembled on the hillside, but it is difficult to transport it up.

The trench-filling truck couldn't get up there, but fortunately there was no trench at Jingxing Pass.

The siege vehicle could only be built temporarily by cutting down trees in front of the pass, but there were no trees on either side and no wide space.

……

The pass was so painful. Without a doubt, the only way to attack the pass was to use the most primitive ant-like method, which was to fill it with human lives, and to use casualties more than seven or eight times the number of defenders in exchange for breaking through the pass - and it also depended on luck.

On the 24th, more than a thousand soldiers from the Changshan nobles arrived at the pass and were temporarily under the command of Liu Ling.

Old Liu was not polite at all and sent them up directly, and then used the Qingzhou soldiers to support them.

On the 25th, 1,500 soldiers from the Zhongshan nobles arrived to replace the Changshan soldiers who had suffered heavy casualties.

On the 26th, two thousand Hejian soldiers arrived...

The fierce attacks came one after another without stopping.

So far, the defenders as a whole have been able to handle the situation with ease, because Jingxing is very strong. Even though the area in front of the pass is open, it is still narrow and cramped compared to the cities on the plains. Only three to five hundred people can be deployed at a time, making it relatively easy to resist.

But after fighting for a few days, Zhang Jing, who was guarding the place, discovered that Shao's soldiers were endless and would not stop for a moment.

After they were dispersed, they were taken to the valley to be reorganized and restocked with equipment, ready to fight again at any time - many people with minor injuries were hastily bandaged and then sent back to the battlefield, obviously wanting you to die.

The defeated soldiers rebelled twice, but were quickly and severely suppressed. Human heads were hung on tree branches and scattered all over the mountains.

The defeated soldiers’ “weakness”—their families—may also be implicated.

Liu Ling was so "desperate" that Zhang Jing did not dare to take it lightly. He gathered almost all the young men he could recruit nearby, and even spared no able-bodied women, and sent them to the rear of the city to collect firewood, wash, cook, and take care of the wounded, in order to free up the men to guard the city and ensure sufficient rotation for the defenders.

In addition, he did not forget to ask Shi Le for reinforcements - no matter whether there were enough soldiers or not, it was always a good idea to ask for help first, what if there were not enough in the future?

******
On the 24th, Lu Ya had arrived at Shangai County with more than 2,000 people.

The county magistrate escaped over the wall and his whereabouts are unknown.

The county magistrate refused to surrender and was executed on the spot.

The county lieutenant hesitated for only a moment and was also beheaded.

Guo Rong controlled the entire county and summoned two powerful families he was familiar with, and got a thousand soldiers.

The other powerful families had already received orders from the county magistrate to conscript their men to march eastward to cut wood and build fences at the edge of the reed marsh as a precaution. But when they heard that the county had changed its flag, they immediately withdrew their troops and returned home to wait and see what would happen next.

The Huns suffered defeat after defeat, and by now this was the character of the local people.

When Guo Rong heard the news that the royal army had arrived, he immediately sent people out of the city with pigs, sheep, cattle and wine to entertain the troops.

The two sides met in the east of the city.

As soon as they met, Guo Rong was shocked.

Is this a royal teacher? He is worse than a refugee.

He was covered in mud, which had dried and stuck to his legs.

Many of their clothes, shoes and boots were damaged, and many people had lost their belongings.

The food we brought with us was almost gone, only a little bit was left.

Everyone was so tired that they collapsed on the ground and gasped for breath.

Guo Rong felt that if he did not take Shangai County, and allowed Wang Xiu to come and urge him, and recruited a group of men, he might not be unable to defeat the two thousand-plus Wang divisions in front of him. "General Lu." Guo Rong stepped forward and saluted, looking at the face of Wang division, and finally uttered: "Really an iron army."

"Don't waste time." Lu Ya glanced at him unhappily and said, "Hurry up and prepare some hot water and hot food so that the boys can have a good rest and catch their breath."

"Okay." Guo Rong did not hesitate and immediately sent someone back to pass the message, ordering the city to vacate houses and beds for the royal army to rest, and to recruit more people to prepare hot soup and hot meals.

"Is there an armory in the city?" Lu Ya asked again.

"No."

"Try to find some equipment and send it here. If you have armor, good bows, and draft animals, that would be even better."

"This is a bit difficult." Guo Rong said, "General Lu, why don't you stay for a few more days? I will send people to the rural forts to collect funds and perhaps we can get something. Under such circumstances, I believe the commanders of the forts will know the importance of this matter and will not make mistakes."

"No." Lu Ya said, "We can only rest here for one day and one night. We will send out troops to attack Jingxing Pass tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

"General, why are you so anxious?" Guo Rong advised, "The north and south routes of Jingxing Pass both meet here. As long as we occupy Shangai County, we can cut off the food supply route of the Jingxing defenders. Why take the risk? If we are defeated in the field battle, the enemy will be relieved by themselves, which is not worth the loss."

"You don't understand!" Lü Ya was too lazy to pay attention to Guo Rong. He looked very arrogant. He only heard him say, "We need to defend Shangai County, but we also need to send troops eastward. Do you know that Commander Liu is attacking Jingxing Pass fiercely?"

"I know." Guo Rong nodded subconsciously.

"Then do you know how many people will be killed or injured for every day of delay?" Lu Ya asked, "Although the food supply is cut off, the defenders of the city will not be out of food for a while. They may not know what is happening in the rear and will still defend the city with all their strength. Even if they know, it is only limited to the upper-level officers, and the soldiers are kept in the dark. No matter what, I will go east."

Guo Rong sighed and said, "Since this is the case, I can't persuade you any more. General, you can make your own decision. But, can you leave some people for me?"

"How much do you want?" Lu Ya asked.

"Five hundred people will be enough."

Lu Ya hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "I'll give you 500 people."

"Give me some more cheers."

"Did not bring."

Guo Rong was speechless and forced a smile, "Alright, let's do this. Five hundred people are enough. I will use these soldiers to visit the surrounding forts and explain the righteousness of the cause, asking them to send some men over to defend Shangai."

"Where is Shi Le?" Lu Ya asked again.

"In Xinxing. His side is not peaceful either. He also has to be on guard against the Xianbei people in Yanmen."

Lu Ya nodded and said, "Let's go into the city."

******
On the morning of the 25th, after a hearty breakfast, Lu Ya looked at the soldiers who had recovered some of their strength, waved his hand, and nearly two thousand people went out of the south gate, escorting some baggage vehicles and heading eastward - at this time, the battle at Jingxing Pass had become increasingly fierce.

Jingxing is a narrow mountain road sandwiched between two mountains with a landslide in the middle, about a hundred miles long.

The eastern entrance is in Hebei Province, and the western entrance is eighty miles east of Shangai County, Leping County, Bingzhou.

Actually, Jingxing Pass and Tianchang Town are both within Jingxing, but Jingxing Pass is more dangerous and Tianchang Town is not so dangerous. However, in theory, they can block each other - in the late Tang Dynasty, Wang Rong, the governor of Chengde Army, sent people to station troops in Tianchang Town to block Li Keyong, but they were defeated in the field battle and could not hold the military town.

Lu Ya led his army from Shangai County and marched along the post road. Along the way, he saw many able-bodied men and women transporting provisions on large and small carts. He went forward and killed them, then seized all the supplies.

The enemy was terrified. They really didn't expect that a troop would suddenly appear in the rear.

At first, they even thought that some powerful family had rebelled, but after hearing a few words with a foreign accent, they suddenly realized that Shao's troops had entered Bingzhou and the situation was hopeless, so they immediately dispersed, leaving behind their vehicles and food.

Lu Ya secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and led nearly 2,000 men and horses to fight and march. It took three days to travel 80 miles, and on the night of the 27th, they arrived a few miles behind Jingxing Pass.

Under the dark night, the soldiers hiding in the valley sat on the ground, chewing the captured jerky - the texture of the meat was a little strange.

After eating, continue to rest, and even sleep with your clothes on.

Lu Ya climbed up the hillside and waited patiently while observing the Jingxing Pass where the sounds of killing were deafening.

The army outside the city attacked all night long and showed no signs of stopping.

The troops in the city were also frequently mobilized, either for reinforcement or rotation.

If no surprise attack was deployed, this city would be very difficult to capture, and perhaps even tens of thousands of casualties would be required.

In the second half of the night, Lu Ya went down to the valley and asked the officers to wake up the soldiers one by one.

After half an hour, everyone checked their equipment, quietly left the valley, and climbed onto the post road.

The sound of rustling footsteps could be heard in the mountains, and occasionally the sound of weapons clashing could be heard.

After walking for a while, the torches were lit one by one.

Looking down from a high place, on the winding mountain road, a long dragon with bared fangs and claws was rushing forward at an extremely fast speed.

Many tents were set up behind the city gate to accommodate many wounded soldiers.

This is also a huge camp where craftsmen work day and night to repair equipment and armor, make arrow shafts, grind rolling stones, etc.

The strong women were also divided into several groups, taking turns pounding rice, preparing to send it into the city after dawn.

The space in the city gate is limited and cannot accommodate too many non-combat personnel, so this is the logistics base for the defenders.

The sound of breaking air was heard, and countless arrows shot in from the grass, hillsides, and post roads. There were constant screams in the camp, and dozens of people fell down in an instant.

"Kill the bandits!" Angry roars were heard, and countless Qingzhou soldiers rushed out from the darkness, killing the elderly and women, craftsmen and doctors, the wounded and the few guards used for suppression.

Amid the fighting, some people were carrying firewood and rushing everywhere.

Soon, flames broke out and burned fiercely.

The entire camp was in a state of disorder and collapse, with cries and screams piercing the sky.

The footsteps on the city wall suddenly became more frequent. Some people leaned out to look and shouted, but the only responses they received were arrows.

There is no doubt that the rear of the city was lost.

As for the defenders, they had lost more than half of their baggage carriers, their food supply and retreat routes were cut off, and they were now isolated.

(End of this chapter)