Poor Family Chapter 857

  Chapter 857 Raiding Luo City

The first batch of 300 Xixia troops who went up the mountain were also very cautious. Of course, they also discovered the fortifications on the mountainside. They did not dare to make a surprise attack, they could only dawdle up the mountain, let alone retreat. Caught off guard, seized the fortifications.

The Song army's fortifications were divided into five sandbag walls, and two hundred soldiers were hidden behind each sandbag wall. Zhang Hua squinted his eyes and stared at the Xixia soldiers who were getting closer. He had already entered a hundred steps away, but Zhang Hua still did not give an order Shooting, there are only a few hundred people on the other side, if you shoot at close range, there will be no accidents.

  Ninety steps….eighty steps…seventy steps….fifty steps…

  The other party finally couldn't bear it any longer and let out a low growl. When three hundred soldiers charged suddenly, Zhang Hua also shouted: "Shoot!"

  A thousand soldiers leaned out from behind the fortifications, and fired arrows and crossbows at the Xixia soldiers fifty steps away five times. For a while, arrows were like a rain of arrows, and they shot at the Xixia soldiers on the mountain road intensively.

   This round of arrows caught the Xixia soldiers by surprise. The soldiers screamed and fell down the hillside when they were hit by the arrows.

  The armor of Xixia soldiers is also mainly leather armor. Even the most elite iron kite cavalry can't do all the armor. They can only use iron plates or heart-protecting iron mirrors to protect the vital parts.

  Shan Yujun is the lowest-level soldier in Xixia. The armor they wear is a single-layer armor, which is relatively crude.

The crossbow shot through the shield and armor, and the snow and fog filled the air for a while. The 300 soldiers were shot and killed more than 150 people in the first round, and wounded more than 100 people. The remaining 50 soldiers were frightened. Desperate, turned around and fled

Zhang Hua did not give them a chance, and ordered to throw giant logs. Dozens of giant logs fell down, and a string of soldiers were knocked over. Several enemy soldiers shot at them, and the soldiers of the Xixia Army fell to the ground, and the last batch of soldiers were all killed.

   "Go up and catch some wounded soldiers and come back!"

  Dozens of soldiers rushed out and killed all the wounded soldiers who were still alive, leaving only three slightly wounded enemy soldiers to bring them back.

   "Immediately take it down for interrogation, I want to know how many enemies are down the mountain."

   "Follow the order!"

   Several soldiers took the enemy soldiers down.

   At this time, Zhang Shun heard the news and rushed to the defense line in the middle of the mountain. Zhang Hua hurried forward to report to the general about the situation of the enemy's first attack.

  Zhang Shun frowned slightly, "Why did only 300 people attack?"

   "The humble officer estimates that the enemy army wants to sneak attack. Too many troops will easily expose the target. If 300 people can attack the gate of the village, many of our defensive measures will fail."

  Zhang Shun nodded, "You are right, but when it comes to defensive measures, why didn't the thorns work?"

   "Reporting to the general, the enemy army went up the mountain along the edge of the mountain path, not in the middle of the mountain path, and only launched an attack at the end. The thorns had actually played a role at that time, but we have not paid much attention to it."

  At this time, the interrogating soldiers stepped forward and reported: "General Qi, the enemy soldiers have confessed that there are nearly 20,000 people at the foot of the mountain."

  Zhang Shun laughed, "As expected, Weizhou's army still wants to take back Tagouzhai, but it's a pity they met me, Zhang Shun!"

  Zhang Hua straightened his back and said: "General, I am confident that the enemy will not pass me."

  Zhang Shun patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "You can't just eat meat, but also give other brothers a chance to drink soup. If the enemy's attack is too tight, it's okay to retreat."

   "The humble job understands!"

  As soon as the words fell, there was the sound of rumbling war drums from the foot of the mountain. Gao Tingyi invested 3,000 soldiers and started the first large-scale attack.

Luocheng is a small city located fifty miles east of Weicheng. Its strategic value is far inferior to that of Xiacheng and Weicheng. Gao Tingyi led the army to attack the Tagou village, leaving only a thousand defenders.

   This is also Gao Tingyi's decision. No matter what, he must seize Taguazhai. As for Luocheng's life and death, he no longer cares about it.

  In the night, three thousand soldiers led by Niu Gao were rushing to Luocheng. At five o'clock, only three miles away from Luocheng, Niu Gao ordered the whole army to rest on the spot, and several scouts rushed forward to investigate the situation of the enemy.

  Even though it was already the fifth watch, Niu Gao was not in a hurry. He knew very well that sharpening a knife does not make a mistake in chopping firewood. He must make sufficient preparations for investigation before he can capture Luocheng in one fell swoop.

   Half an hour later, the scouts rushed back and reported their investigation information to Niu Gao.

  Luo City was completely beyond Niu Gao's expectations. It turned out to be a civilian city, not a military city. The city wall was only two feet high, and the entire city wall was built with rammed earth. The gates were made of wood, and there was no moat around it.

   "General Qi, only the north and south gates are guarded by more than a hundred soldiers. There are no guards on the walls, and there is not a single soldier on the east and west sides."

  Niu Gao asked again: "Is the city wall newly built?"

  The soldier shook his head, "At least it has been built for decades, and it is very dilapidated."

  Niu Gao was a little disappointed. He also hoped that Luocheng would be a fortified city, so that he would have a chance to fight fiercely, but he didn't expect Luocheng to be a dilapidated civilian city.

   Several subordinate commanders understood the mood of their superiors, and they all laughed and said, "Why don't we wait for dawn to attack once, and directly smash open the city gate!"

  Niu Gao shook his head, "We can't delay Dutong's plan, break the city now!"

  He immediately ordered more than 20 soldiers to take four thunderbolts and rush to Luocheng, and then ordered other soldiers to line up and slowly drive towards Luocheng three miles away.

The twenty soldiers were divided into two groups. Instead of going to the north and south gates, they set their sights on the east and west city walls. The city walls themselves were very strong when rammed with earth, but no matter how strong the city walls were, they could not withstand the erosion of time. The interior was already very crisp, causing the outer city to be cracked with more than a dozen large openings several feet wide.

  Some mischievous children have been able to use their thin bodies to get in and out of the wide openings, and the city gate is meaningless to them.

  Ten soldiers of the Song army on the east wall had arrived at the city under the cover of night without a sound. As expected, as the scouts observed, there were no soldiers guarding the top of the city.

   "That's right there!" The fire chief shouted in a low voice, pointing at the crack in the city wall.

  Several soldiers rushed forward immediately, and placed two serial thunderbolts in the gap. This kind of serial mines almost exploded together, but not necessarily so accurate, so they must be placed in a confined space to avoid being blown away.

   At this moment, someone on the city wall suddenly shouted: "There are enemies under the city!"

  Everyone was taken aback, only to hear someone yelling in the city, the fire chief was taken aback, and immediately ordered: "Light the fire!"

The soldiers flicked the torches on the ground, lit the matchlock, and the ten soldiers turned around and ran. As long as they ran ten feet away and crawled on the ground, they could usually avoid the shock wave of the thunder, but this time it was a city bombing. It is necessary to run a hundred steps away and crawl, so as not to be affected by the city wall.

At this time, hundreds of soldiers were already rushing to the top of the city, yelling and shooting arrows into the darkness one after another. A soldier of the Song Army groaned and fell to the ground. He was shot in the thigh by an arrow. .

  Two soldiers quickly helped him up, stumbled and ran forward, only about seventy steps away, when suddenly two earth-shattering explosions came from behind, and everyone fell to the ground one after another, covering their heads and backs with shields.

For a moment, dust and mud clods fell from the sky. After a while, everyone sat up slowly. Everyone was covered with a thick layer of dust, but they had no time to take care of it. They all turned their heads and looked at the city. A hole at least three feet wide was blasted open, and the city walls on both sides collapsed, affecting more than two hundred steps.

  Suddenly, there was another violent explosion from the west wall, and a thick black smoke rose into the sky, forming a mushroom cloud, but it dissipated quickly.

  Niu Gao jumped up a mile away, and roared, "Follow me into the city!"

   "Kill!" Three thousand soldiers shouted and rushed towards Luocheng.

  The 1,000 defenders of Luocheng could not withstand the attack of the Song army, and were defeated. After more than 700 people were wiped out, the last 200 people fled the city and evacuated to the east.

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end