Chapter 260: The Battle of Taizhou

Taizhou is known as "the water and land are important, and the throat is based on the county". Several major water systems are bypassed from Taizhou City. Among them, there is a river that runs from north to south and runs through Taizhou City. When Zhangyang attacked Taizhou City, he used the method of water attack.

Now, this waterway has stumped the Tartar cavalry.

For convenience, many wooden bridges were built on the waterway, but now, within ten miles of Taizhou City, all bridges on the river have been demolished.

Cavalry wants to cross the river, but horses can't swim. It is impossible to do so unless they grow wings and fly over.

This is the sorrow of not having sailors. In the south, sailors are a very important force. If there are sailors, it is not a problem at all.

The tent had been raised, and I immediately thought about the plan for a long time. As soon as I started to implement it, I encountered resistance.

"Your Highness, we can only *** the city wall to the west." Qianhu, who was sent to the west, said back.

"What's going on?"

"The bridge on the river is gone, and we cannot reach the other side of the river." Qianhu said.

The bridge disappeared? What's going on? Although the end of the house is stupid, it is not hopeless. He feels a little conspiracy.

"Are there no bridge?"

"Not it. There are several bridges near the north and south city gates. But we are only two hundred steps away from the city wall, so we dare not get close to it."

Tang He demolished the bridge, but it was not all demolished. There were still several bridges very close to the city gate, which was convenient for the people. However, for the Tartars, it was a waste of money. Want to cross the river? First, ask if the Tianque gun on the city wall above you will be willing.

There are only two ways to cross the river and reach the other side. First, at the risk of being attacked by the other party, cross the river from a bridge that is only 200 steps away from the city wall, or go north and go around the bridge upstream.

"Order, three thousand-man teams will go around from the upper reaches, and the city gate on the east side will be responsible for the feint attack in the east tomorrow when the main attack will be taken." Wanzhetu said.

Although I encountered a little setback, I was more convinced that the other party had demolished the bridge on the river because of fear of himself. The demolition of the bridge will greatly affect the lives of the people on both sides.

The siege was only guessed correctly, which did affect the lives of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but it also affected the cooperation of the siege troops on both sides. They could not take care of each other and dispersed their forces. Three thousand cavalrymen could not complete the task at all. On the contrary, they were dispersed and were more likely to be defeated by soup and the food they were just a big meal on soup and plates.

"Mr. Tang was indeed a clever plan. The spy said that the Tartars divided some of their troops, about a few thousand people, and they touched upstream. They probably wanted to find a ferry or bridge to cross the river." Li Huafu and Tang He said in the brightly lit state yamen.

"The magic trick is not enough. If you want to talk about magic tricks, the elder brother is even more magic tricks. Every time we fight with the Tartars, we can predict the future. In addition, the firearms are advanced, and they will beat the Tartars to the point of being beaten." Tang He said, fighting under Zhang Yang was much better than following Guo Zixing.

"Let the soldiers rest on the city tonight, maintain their energy and deal with tomorrow's war." Tang He said: "We must also send sentries to prevent the Tartars from coming over in the night."

Although the weapons are advanced, the Tianque Gun still has one weakness. It cannot aim in the dark night, and the firepower advantage of the Tianque Gun cannot be exerted. Once the enemy approaches and fights with one hand, no matter how sharp the Tianque Gun's bayonet is, it is not as good as a big sword and spear. The ruler is shorter and more strength, so try to avoid night battles.

However, these are just prevention, because there is a circle of moats outside Taizhou City. The moat is not deep, but it is impossible to get water over. The water can't reach your chest before it reaches your chest. Besides, as long as the water flows across the river, it will make a sound, and as long as the sentry does not fall asleep, it will be easy to find.

A quiet night passed by the snoring of the soldiers guarding the city, and the sun gradually rose, and a new day came.

Tang He was already standing at the city wall in high spirits, looking at the Tartar barracks in the distance. He was very surprised that the Tartars did not move.

If the Tartars were just around the outside of the city and did not fight, then Tang He would be in a difficult position to ride a tiger. Although he was not afraid of the 20,000 cavalry, it would be very difficult to wipe out them completely. There were only 1,000 cavalry, and he could only chase them, but he could not catch up. Tang He's goal was to destroy all these Tartars under the city.

If the Tartars did not go out again, Tang He planned to send a small team of soldiers to call.

In this era, it is a very common thing to call out. Find some people with loud voices, and before they run to the other party's camp, they shout loudly outside the range of the bow and arrow, and ask all the female relatives of the three generations of direct lineages. They have physical relationships with each other. Moreover, this relationship is that they pity the other party and do not dislike the other party's old and ugly. Generally, they will anger the other party. Then, these people quickly run back. Their lip skills are much higher than those of their hands and feet. If they run slowly, they will die because they do not accumulate virtue in their mouths.

"Give me instructions and start the meal first." Tang He said.

After a night of sleep, I was already hungry. I had to eat my stomach first before I had the energy to fight the next battle, whether it was verbally or with my hands and feet.

The staple food was very rich. Last night, dozens of pigs were slaughtered, big bowls of pork stewed vermicelli, and big cakes, so you can eat it. The fragrance drifted into the tent of the Tartars with the east wind.

Fighting the Tartars requires a waste of energy and courage, so the soldiers' food improved, so later, the soldiers were very willing to attack because there were large pieces of pork to eat.

Those who have no good fortune are probably the one thousand cavalry teams, and the food they bring is fried noodles.

Although it is nutritious, it is not enough to take care of it. Each person is limited to one large bowl. If you eat too much, the Tartars will hit you and stretch your stomach and affect your shooting, which will be miserable.

After dinner, there was still no movement in the tent of the Tartars.

"Sir Tang, something seems wrong with this Tartar." Although Li Huafu was a civil servant, he also came to the city.

"Yes, I think I should send someone out to check it out to prevent the Tartars from cheating." Tang He replied.

At this moment, I saw a large area of ​​ragged people coming from afar, carrying large bags on their shoulders.

Refugees? Where did they come from? The soldiers on the city wall looked into the distance.

As they got closer and closer, the soldiers gradually saw it clearly and couldn't help but curse: "Dog Tartars, let the horse come over if you want to attack the city. Grandpa, if I'm afraid, it's your grandson. Your methods are so bad!"

The people carrying large bags were the nearby people. They were driven by the Tartar cavalry behind them, carrying large bags, taking the lead in the Tartars and preparing to fill the moat.

The people of Taizhou, Tang He, had already scattered the people on the Tartars' offensive route, some entered Taizhou City, and some hid in remote places. To the west of Taizhou is the Yangzhou border, these people were the people of Yangzhou, but were driven by the Tartars and went to Huangquan Road together.

Last night, the Endor Bad had an idea and came up with such an idea. The lives of the soldiers are precious, and those Han people are not. They found some Han people to take the lead and fill the moat so that they can attack.

Therefore, before dawn, he sent two teams of thousands to drive out the people, and finally found some cannon fodder.

The Tartars in the camp also began to move out.

Waiting for the people to cross the camp, the Tartars began to form teams in an orderly manner, and the siege of the city required infantry. Five thousand cavalry had already dismounted and became infantry. The front was one hundred ladders, followed by two thousand men. They were the first troops to attack the city, and the next one was the three thousand archers. They were responsible for covering the two thousand men in front. When necessary, they could also serve as reserves, attack the city heads and carry scimitars.

The cavalry troops are also ready for attack. They will rush to the city wall. After entering the range of bows and arrows, they will use bows and arrows to suppress the defenders on the city wall to create conditions for the attack.

Of course, all of this has a prerequisite, that is, the moat can be filled, otherwise it will not be possible to attack Taizhou City.

The people walked forward tremblingly, being pulled out of their homes, carrying large bags on their shoulders, filled with dirt, and they knew they were cannon fodder.

During war, no army will care about the lives of civilians. If they do not resist the brigade and do not fill the moat, they will be killed by the Tartars immediately. However, if they fill the moat, they will definitely be killed by the defenders in Taizhou. They are cannon fodder and are sent to death. The only difference is whether they die at the hands of the Tartars or at the hands of the defenders at the top of the city.

Because of their slow movements, several people have been killed by the Tartars behind them. They have no choice but to walk towards the city, waiting in their hearts, waiting for arrows flying all over the sky, which is their destination.

Step by step, they were approaching the city, and behind them were rushing their way forward, and they were also alert, preventing the opponent's attacks at any time, and ready to fight back with bows and arrows at any time.

There was no movement above the city wall.

"Sir Tang, General Tang, you can't let them get close to the city, let alone fill the moat." Li Huafu was about to be anxious with him next to Tang He.

Li Huafu had to be in a hurry. Now, the people have already walked into the range of 200 steps. If they do not stop them, they will soon throw the landblock into the moat.

If it were in peacetime, Li Huafu would never say that this is a war, a life-and-death war. Although those are innocent people, they have been driven away by the Tartars and become slaves of the Tartars. Even if they know that they are unwilling to do so, it will be very troublesome for the defenders. The blood of the defenders will flow in vain and they cannot be allowed to get close to the moat!

Tang He was also in a fierce struggle in his heart. He knew that filling the moat would increase the difficulty of his defense, but should those innocent people die? He vaguely realized that it was not necessary to go to this point. The Tianque gun was used to attack the Tartars, not to attack the common people. Now, the Tartars used the common people to fill the moat, on the contrary, it was still an opportunity.

The moat is a very difficult current for the Tatars to wade through. Before the moat is filled, the Tatars will not attack the city with all their might. Now it is an opportunity. As long as the Tatars see the people filling the moat, they will definitely come to attack at all costs.

Only when the Tatars attack with all their strength will it be a good opportunity to completely eliminate the Tatars!

Tang He had not given an order, but just looked at the Tartars in the distance.

Sure enough, seeing the people here getting closer and closer, only a few dozen steps away from the moat, Wanzheba gave the order to attack with all his might.

The teams behind several thousand-person teams began to move forward in an orderly manner, carrying a ladder at the front, and the archers behind them set up bows to provide long-range cover power.

The cavalry also gathered on both sides of the siege troops. They slowly passed the central infantry and prepared to shoot bows and arrows at the top of the city to cover the siege troops.

Everything is in accordance with the usual way of siege. Next, there is a blast of arrows and the most tragic battle for the city.

It’s a pity that Tang He didn’t give them this opportunity.

"Scattered fireworks, range, five hundred steps, *** Tartar retreat, Tianque gun, aiming, Tartars away from one hundred steps. Don't be hurt by accident." Tang He's calm voice spread throughout the city.

The entire military formation of the Tatars had been mobilized, and the siege battle officially began. What's ridiculous is that they didn't even have a chariot, only bows and arrows, so they just wanted to attack the city? They didn't even give Tang He the chance to set bows and arrows, because today was the east wind.

There were no large crossbows, no catapults, only bows and arrows, and their ranged weapons would not exceed one hundred steps. When Tang He saw that the Taurus cavalry in the front were approaching this limit, he issued a shooting order.

One hundred steps to five hundred steps, all the Tartars within this range, die!

"Boom, boom, boom." The scattered fireworks were fired first, and at the same time, countless muskets were also shooting the bullets of hatred towards the advancing Tartars.

He had no choice but to instigate the people to die. This behavior had already completely angered the defenders on the city. If Tang He had ordered the fire to kill the people just now, although they would also execute the orders and fire, they would definitely feel a heavy guilt in their hearts. Now, they have turned all those feelings into the courage and confidence to destroy the Tartars.

The cavalry in front was approaching the limit of bows and arrows. They had already pulled their bows while running. With the help of the horse's speed, they could fully shoot the bows and arrows to the top of the city, and the battle to attack the city was about to break out.

Suddenly, the sound of the sky above the city woke them up.

The Tartar at the front felt as if his body had been torn apart. Everyone got at least a few bullets. Before they could shoot the arrow, they fell to the ground and were trampled into meat paste by the horse behind them.

And the Tartars behind were treated more advanced: the rain of bullets of scattered fireworks.

The shells of the scattered fireworks are composed of countless steel balls, and the ballistic curves are simply falling from directly above the top of the head. Wherever they are attacked by the scattered fireworks, there is a bloody storm. Wherever they go, the Tartars fly everywhere.

The Tartars had long lost their enthusiasm for rushing forward. Seeing the death of the people around them was so miserable, they were already scared. This was not a war, it was simply a death to die!

What made the Tartars even more depressed was that the other party's rain of bullets seemed to have eyes, and they only greeted themselves, while the civilians at the forefront were unscathed!

Hearing the terrifying explosion above his head, the villagers were all shocked. They thought that their doomsday had come, and no one walked forward. They squatted on the ground, hugging their heads and trembling.

"Mr. Tang, the soldiers' firearms are really amazing. They seem to have eyes, only hitting the Tartars, and none of the civilians were injured." Li Huafu said in admiration.

The moment the Tartars rushed up, Li Huafu was also a little scared. After all, he was just a civil servant and could not stand the battlefield of war. He was frightened by the Tartars' momentum and wanted to escape back to the city tower. However, in a flash, the situation changed. The aggressive Tartars were immediately beaten to howl.

This kind of battle made people excited, and Li Huafu's fighting spirit was also aroused.

"Our cavalry can be dispatched, right?" Li Huafu continued.

Tang He has been observing the city wall. The Tartars were basically covered by artillery fire, but there were still many Tartars who did not come up and were not yet used to use cavalry. There were only one thousand cavalrymen. If the Tartars wanted to break through, these thousand cavalry could not form an effective encirclement.

"No cavalry, stop shooting!" Tang He shouted.

The sound of muskets and cannons on the city wall stopped.

Wanzhetu was supervising the battle at the end, and luckily outside the range of artillery fire at the city wall, he knew that Zhang Shicheng's army was equipped with firearms, but he did not expect that the opponent's firearms were so powerful that more than 10,000 troops were suppressed by the firepower at the city wall and could not lift their heads up. Every moment, a large number of soldiers fell to the ground.

Wanzhetu knew that this attack on Taizhou would probably go back in shame. He remembered Yuque's instructions before leaving: The task of your teams is to surround and restrain the troops of Taizhou, Xinghua and Salt Field, so that they cannot provide assistance to Gaoyou Mansion. Remember to make an attacking momentum, but you just need to surround it from afar. When you are not sure, don't approach the firepower range at the city gate to avoid unnecessary casualties.

There is no regret medicine in the world. The one who has finished it has already regretted it so much that his intestines are blue. To attack these places, you must be well prepared. I think that relying on the people I have captured to take the lead, Taizhou City can be easily captured. The facts prove that it is impossible.

Wanzhetu watched his soldiers fall down in a large area, feeling extremely distressed. He was about to order: to withdraw his troops! But he stopped when he heard the sound of muskets on the top of the city.

In this era, muskets are not a reliable weapon, and they often cause fire silence due to various problems. Moreover, filling ammunition is also a laborious task.

The muskets at the top of the city stopped, and it was very likely that the opponent's muskets could not be fired. Wanzheba looked at the large number of soldiers who fell to the ground and gritted his teeth and issued an order: rush, rush up and kill them!

The war drums were beating, and the soldiers saw the firearms on the top of the city and stopped shooting. They thought the opportunity had come. While charging, they bent their bows and arrows, and hit them back hard with their bows and arrows!

Seeing that the opponent was about to approach the range of the bow and arrow, Tang He issued an order again: Shoot!

Black smoke rose again on the city wall. It was the black smoke after the burning of gunpowder. After that, the end of the city knew that it was fooled.

This time, he made up his mind: withdraw!
Chapter completed!