Chapter 709 Man-made Misfortune

It turns out that Zhang An is not bragging. He has rich experience in the enemy. Under his arrangement, the military and civilians in Lingzhou performed their respective duties, and the preparations before the war were well. The city was full of stones and crocks, and all the bow and arrow bed crossbows and even rusty firearms that could be taken out to resist the enemy were used. Under the order, the Ming army also carried out one by one according to his requirements.

However, the facts have proved another thing. Shibie should look at each other with new eyes for three days. It is no longer the field cavalry that could only roar and plunder, or the army that used to do nothing to do when it saw the Ming army defending the city. In recent years, it has been painfully strengthening their baldness. With their ability to attack the city, they tried their best to give the Taran army the ability to destroy the city and pull out the fortress. A lot of training has been done in the introduction and manufacturing of various equipment and even the siege skills of soldiers. The Tatar soldiers and horses are no longer the ones Zhang An fought with a few years ago.

Moreover, although soft power is a kind of strength, the effect of hard power is more intuitive. Zhang An can keep the well arranged by the 10,000 Ming army in an orderly manner, but it is far from making up for the disadvantage of military strength. What is more difficult to make up for in a short time is the weakness of Lingzhou city defense; this state government with Ningxia Town as a strong shield has not worked on city defense and troops, but exists as a transit supply of Ningxia Town, which is the strategic rear of Ningxia Town.

Even in the pattern of the city, Lingzhou has broken the practice of not having a north gate near the border town. In order to facilitate access to Ningxia Town, Lingzhou actually has a north city gate. It can be seen that for Lingzhou, his positioning is not to guard it at all as a solid fortress, but to become a vassal of Ningxia Town in front of him.

The two southeast walls collapsed for some reason in the 13th year of Hongzhi, but even so, the court did not agree with the proposal of re-repair proposed by the governor of Lingzhou at that time, but hastily allocated 30,000 taels of silver to repair it. Thirty thousand taels of silver placed in two sections of the collapsed wall can only turn into a mixture of rocks, mud, long grass and branches. In later generations, it is a tofu dregs project. Generally speaking, the city defense of the city is a strong three-in-one soil mixed with glutinous rice juice. It is said that when it is completed, it can't be cut into half an inch with a steel knife during acceptance, which is as hard as steel.

Moreover, Zhang An and others also underestimated the confidence that they can take Lingzhou. This time, they will take this city regardless of any cost. Once Lingzhou is broken, not only can his soldiers and horses get a lot of supplies, but also can cut off the contact between Ningxia Town and the outside world, which is extremely beneficial to the subsequent attack on Ningxia Town.

38,000 soldiers and horses rushed in fan-shaped, which made the baldness and the lack of troops in the city, so he launched a fierce attack on the southeast and west three sides at the same time, with more than 12,000 soldiers and horses on each side. There may be only 3,000 or 4,000 soldiers facing the head of the city. In the further dispersion of the other party's forces, the advantage will be magnified. As long as one side of the three attacks breaks through the wall, the other two sides will have to reinforce, and Lingzhou will basically break through.

Zhang An soon realized the crisis. In the face of the tide-like surging of the Tazi cavalry, the only way to attack was archery. After shooting hundreds of Tsars, their advantage of riding and charging was reflected. While the reloaded archers shot arrows at the head of the city, thousands of cavalry had come to the other side of the moat, making What made people smack was that they didn't even get down the horses and directly drove the horses into the moat.

Horses can swim!

Zhang An's back sweated coldly. The matter of riding a horse to attack the city is ridiculous. When the Taran soldiers rushed to the city, Zhang An even had time to joke with his subordinates: "Can't the horse head cross the wall? Didn't they get off the horse and build a bridge when they get to the moat? At that time, these horses will be live targets. After being frightened, running around will make the Tatar formation chaotic. I don't know what the brains of the Tatars think.

The generals were deeply convinced and laughed and scolded repeatedly, but now, none of them can laugh. The Tatari used war horses to cross the moat, saving even building bridges. Although there are thorns and spikes at the bottom of the river, it is useless.

"Fight arrows, shoot arrows!" Zhang An roared in a gaffe. The soldiers at the head of the city gritted their teeth and made a dense rain of arrows on the dense horse heads and human hair on the moat. Suddenly, blood surged on the moat, and hundreds of tartans died under this round of dense shooting. But at the same time, the heavy archers by the moat also fired a round of arrows at the head of the city, shooting dozens of Ming troops who shot arrows down, losing their center of gravity and falling down the city.

Zhang An almost hit an arrow. If it hadn't been for the quick hand of a man behind him, a carved arrow would have hit his angry face.

"General, what should I do? As soon as the tars crossed the river, the bows and arrows were useless.

"What's the panic? Do the tazis have wings? Can they fly up such a high wall? If you pass the order, you can roll the wood and stone, roll the oil and boiling water, and smash it down without mercy. I'm afraid to see if these tars are not afraid.

With more than 3,000 casualties, the bald and rapid siege plan finally worked. A continuous stream of soldiers and horses poured into the bottom of the city wall. The high simple ladder was put on the wall, and the temporarily assembled iron hook on it firmly hooked the edge of the city wall. Nearly 400 cloud ladders on the three sides of the city wall climbed like ants. Climb. At the gate on three sides, dozens of strong men of the Tatars pushed the thick pointed giant wood and hit the gate. The heavily loaded archers below kept shooting arrows at the head of the city. The inhabiting attack made the thin strength of the Ming army seem to be overstretched.

The Ming army did not have many choices. They could only risk the feather arrows flying up and dump the rolling wood blocks into the boiling water under the city. The first priority was to resist the climbing Tatars. Fortunately, Zhang An was well prepared before the war. The wall was full of these materials to defend the city. After a wild smashing and lost, the Tatars suffered. The price fell down like dumplings on the Lantern Festival. Even with shields, it is useless. Large sections of wood can roll them from the ladder to the end.

But after all, there were a few people who fell to death. Many Tarot soldiers were just smashed their heads and broke their blood. The shield still worked more or less. When they were smashed down, they climbed up again, because the short horn behind them was a signal of a deadly attack. The eyes of the centurion and the governor team around them were bright, and whoever did not desperate would be immediately stabbed.

Waves of fierce attack machinery is going on. The city is already a mess. Stone and wood dead bodies and horse corpses are mixed together. The bright red blood is converging into a trickle flowing towards the moat not far away. The scorching temperature is roasting the battlefield without a trace of wind. It is as hot as a steamer, and the stones hit the shield. The dull sound on the card, the heavy cow-like gasp, the screams before death, the whining of bows and arrows are intertwined, and the air is as heavy as sticky blood. Tens of thousands of people seem to be wrapped in the quagmire of death and can't escape. I don't know when this nightmare will end.