Tibet

Li Sheng stared sharply at the centipede team of Xuanwu Gate. After entering the hundred steps, he shouted: "Everyone, hold still!"

The soldiers of the Yan army struggled to lift the battering ram with both hands and could only walk sideways. The walking speed was very slow, which gave Li Sheng a bolder idea.

There are still fifty steps to the moat.

Li Sheng shouted, "Shoot an arrow!"

Five hundred large yellow crossbows were fired together, and the long and heavy arrows came out with great power, and instantly shot in front of the enemy a hundred steps away. The powerful arrows shattered the shields and penetrated the leather armor of the soldiers. The soldiers screamed and fell to the ground one after another. The captain at the front was also shot through the chest by an arrow.

With one round of powerful crossbows, 30% of the soldiers were killed. The remaining soldiers could no longer hold on, and the 8,000-jin battering ram crashed to the ground.

The soldiers and shield bearers were so frightened that they turned around and ran away. In the second round, five hundred arrows were accurately fired. More than a hundred people were all shot through the back with long and heavy arrows, and no one escaped.

"Enter Flying Tigers!"

Li Sheng gave an order, and twenty soldiers threw down several long ropes and climbed down the ropes. They ran with long iron chains in their hands, and the ice surface made a clicking sound.

At this time, the enemy soldier closest to the battering ram was more than a hundred steps away. General Wang Qi realized something was wrong and shouted: "Follow me!"

He urged the horse to gallop, followed by one or two hundred people running behind him. Hundreds of paces away, three thousand troops also rushed toward the battering ram.

Three groups of people are fighting for the battering ram on the ground.

At this time, Li Ye opened his bow and nocked an arrow, and shot out an arrow. The arrow was so fast that Wang Qi couldn't dodge and was shot through the neck by the arrow. He screamed, turned over and fell off his horse.

Five hundred large yellow crossbows were fired one after another, killing most of the running Yan soldiers, and the remaining soldiers turned around and fled back in fright.

The trebuchet continuously shot gravel. The soldiers running from the north were beaten to death by the roaring gravel. They screamed and fell to the ground. The soldiers behind were so frightened that they quickly fell down.

Twenty Flying Tigers soldiers rushed to the battering ram and wrapped an iron chain around the hammer several times. The iron chain went through several handles. Hundreds of soldiers on the city wall pulled the iron chain together. The Tiger soldiers pulled hard on the other end of the chain, and the two ends worked together, and the battering ram was slowly pulled toward the moat.

After a moment, the battering ram was pulled onto the ice of the moat. Twenty Flying Tigers soldiers on the bank grabbed the tail of the battering ram and pulled hard on the top of the city. The head of the battering ram was pulled up high, and the iron on the top of the city As soon as the chain was released, the hammer head pulled up high hit hard, 'Boom! ’ It hit the ice with a loud thud.

Just listen to ‘Crack! Click! ’ There was a series of cracking sounds. The ice had been treated in advance. It could not bear the heavy weight of eight thousand kilograms. The ice suddenly broke and the battering ram fell into the river.

Twenty Flying Tigers soldiers quickly climbed onto the rope and were pulled up to the top of the city by the soldiers.

Fanglin Gate and Xuande Gate were two other tactics. The centipede team that attacked Xuande Gate rushed onto the ice, but although the ice had been manipulated, it did not crumble and collapse like the Xuanwu Gate ice surface.

There is a difficulty in using a battering ram to attack the city gate, and that is the suspension bridge. The suspension bridge is the last defense of the city gate. You can't get around it. You have to climb up and saw off the iron chains on both sides, but it is very unrealistic. If you climb up, you will be killed. Random arrows shot into hedgehogs.

It is unrealistic to attack wood. The suspension bridge in Chang'an City not only has iron wedges that go deep into the wood, but also has a layer of iron sheet on the outside. The iron sheet and the iron chain are integrated, so it can't be cut continuously.

Li Guiren also knew that the suspension bridge in Chang'an was difficult to destroy, so he simply ordered to use a battering ram to destroy the suspension bridge. This was a cruel and violent but simple and convenient method.

The battering ram hit the bottom of the drawbridge directly, and only heard 'Crack! ’ With a sound, a big hole was hit from the bottom of the suspension bridge.

"Come again!"

The commanding lieutenant shouted, and the Yan army soldiers backed away holding the battering ram. When their bodies were exposed outside the suspension bridge, more than twenty cans of kerosene were suddenly thrown from the top of the city, hitting the soldiers and the ice hard. On the ground, the clay pots shattered and the soldiers, battering rams and ice were covered in kerosene.

A torch was thrown down, ‘Boom! 'The fire burned, and dozens of soldiers suddenly became burning men. Their heads and bodies were engulfed in flames. They dropped the battering ram, screamed, turned around and ran towards the shore. After escaping for more than 20 steps, they fell headlong. He fell to the ground, curled up by the fire.

The battering ram also crashed to the ground, and the pig iron head at the front hit the ice hard. Thousands of kilograms of force caused the ice to crack. The ice layer broke. Amidst the screams, the battering ram and the soldiers They fell into the icy water together, and the fire was still burning on the ice.

The battering ram army attacking Honglin Gate was even more dramatic. When the Long-legged Centipede team rushed to the moat, the suspension bridge suddenly fell down. The running battering ram army could not hold back and rushed directly onto the suspension bridge, marking the first school. Before the captain could think about it, he made a decision immediately and shouted, "Speed ​​up and open the city gate!"

Two hundred soldiers shouted in unison, holding the battering ram and slamming it fiercely at the city gate. Unexpectedly, the city gate suddenly opened, the battering ram hit nothing, and the team rushed directly into the city. The drawbridge was raised again, and the city gate Closed, only a scream could be heard from the city.

There were three thousand Youzhou cavalry standing in the distance. They were waiting for the city gate to open. However, there were poisonous iron caltrops in the grass in front of them, so they did not dare to get too close. They all immediately stood 500 steps away, gearing up and waiting. Unexpectedly, There was a jaw-dropping scene, as if a lamb had run into a wolf's den.

The soldiers were stunned and even Li Guiren was speechless for a long time. This scene was simply unbelievable. He had to admire the Tang army's boldness and quickness. This opportunity was seized very accurately. The battering ram army would have been in time if it had been earlier. If they stopped, the suspension bridge would knock over the battering ram soldiers later. The Tang army took advantage of the fact that the ten thousand kilogram battering ram was difficult to stop and directly captured the battering ram.

All three battering rams were lost, the soldiers could not attack the city, and almost all 6,000 people were killed or injured. The remaining 20,000-odd troops looked towards Li Guiren.

Li Guiren stared at the fire still burning on the ice of Xuandemen. He suddenly understood why the Tang army was not afraid of attacking the city gate. They had extremely sharp kerosene weapons and the battering ram was useless to them.

Li Guiren sighed and ordered: "The entire army retreats back to camp!"

"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The retreat bell rang, and the siege soldiers retreated one after another. Less than 2,000 of them were left, more than 3,800 were killed, and the three battering ram armies were also completely destroyed.

The army retreated back to the barracks, and Li Guiren rushed to Dongda Camp to plead guilty to An Lushan.

An Lushan was watching the battle by the lake yesterday. The cold air invaded the dragon's body and he felt a little sick. He was wrapped in a thick quilt and sneezed one after another, and his whole body was trembling with fat.

After a while, he slowly stopped sneezing, waved his hand and asked: "Victory or defeat is a matter of military strategism. If you can't attack Chang'an, I won't blame you. I just have two questions. First, tell me. Why can’t the soldiers attack the city?”

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I asked the soldiers who were attacking the city in detail. According to them, the Tang army had a long-handled axe-hand. As soon as the siege ladder was set up on the top of the city, the long-handled axe-hand cut off the top two rungs. , the soldiers cannot use the force under their feet, so naturally they will not be able to get up."

An Lushan nodded, "I see. It seems that the siege ladder has many fatal flaws. We can no longer use it. We must try our best to change it to a cloud ladder."

"Your Majesty is right, the siege ladder cannot be used anymore."

An Lushan added: "My second question is, where did the kerosene for Li Ye's army come from? I have never heard of it in Fan Yang for so many years."

Li Guiren bowed and said: "It should have been brought by Li Ye from the river. I heard some Sogdian merchants say that this kind of kerosene is produced in the Western Regions and is abundant in the food country. Your Majesty can ask the Sogdians to buy it for you. That way We have that too.”

An Lushan nodded, "Since it is available in the Western Region, I will arrange for someone to buy it."