Chapter 287 Battle under the City
Feng Zhang fired three shots in total.
The shells manufactured by Shen Yuexi far surpassed the Tiger Crouching Cannons at the foot of the city in both range and power. Feng Zhang could fire his cannons before they even reached their target. The enemy's Tiger Crouching Cannons moved very slowly, making them completely unable to evade the bombardment from the city walls. Feng Zhang easily destroyed the three foremost cannons.
The Qi army seemed to be caught off guard by the cannons on the city walls. After a moment of panic, they regrouped and pushed the remaining nine-door tiger squat cannons toward the city walls. It seemed they were planning to attack the city overnight.
Torches below the city were like stars in the sky. Tens of thousands of King Qi's troops were lined up outside the range of arrows, with war drums beating, preparing to attack the city.
"My lord, we have run out of ammunition." Feng Zhang turned and shouted to Xiao Zhuo.
If he had enough shells, he could even destroy the entire enemy army.
Xiao Zhuo said coldly: "Open the city gates, and the infantry will attack."
Qiu Liming nervously looked at the Qi army arrayed outside the city walls and said, "My lord, our soldiers are unable to fight against the enemy..."
"The range of the Tiger Crouching Cannon exceeds that of a bow and arrow. If we are trapped in the city, we will be waiting for death," Xiao Zhuo explained, then waved his hand and said, "Open the city gates. I will lead the infantry to attack."
Qiu Liming stopped Xiao Zhuo and said, "My lord, I am willing to be the vanguard and follow you into battle."
Xiao Zhuo raised his hand and patted Qiu Liming's shoulder armor. "We are not fighting to the death. We need to hold on until Yue Xi succeeds. You lead the cavalry and wait inside the city. Remember this."
Qiu Liming nodded to show that he understood.
Xiao Zhuo then said to Chen Lan who was standing beside him, "Sister, I have to lead the infantry to fight at the foot of the city and will not be able to check the enemy's movements. Everything depends on you commanding from the top of the city."
Shen Lan said nervously: "Brother-in-law, I know."
At this moment, everyone knew that the outcome of this battle would determine everything. Unexpectedly, Xiao Zhuo entrusted her with this important task at this critical moment. She was so nervous that her mouth went dry.
Watching Xiao Zhuo and Qiu Liming walk towards the city, Chen Lan whispered, "The enemy is sending out cavalry, change the light to red..."
…
Under the Qi Wang army's flag, Song Zhen said to his generals, "Don't attack the city. Wait until the Tiger Crouching Cannons are in place and knock down the city walls, then lead the army to attack the city..."
As he was giving his orders, a scout came running in with a report: "Military Advisor, the enemy city gates are wide open, and infantry are pouring out. Three white lights are lit on the city walls, and I don't know what they mean."
Song Zhen waved his feather fan, unsurprised, and said to his attendants, "Xiao Zhuo knows he can't stop the Tiger Crouching Cannon, so he can only fight with his back to the wall. Gentlemen, lead your troops to meet the attack and repel the enemy."
He didn't know what the lights on the city walls meant, but he had many soldiers and generals on his side, so he was not worried.
One general laughed and said, "Xiao Zhuo is truly making a last-ditch effort. How can his soldiers stand up to our Dingbei Army? Previously, they tried to storm the camp, but we killed thousands before they fled into the city. Now we have reinforcements from the King of Qi, so we can win the battle tonight."
Several newly arrived generals were eager to make a contribution, so they led their troops to attack first.
The Qi army was met by a row of large shields. These shields were pressed tightly together, and in the light of the fire, they resembled a long iron wall pressing down upon the Qi army. The men behind the shields were protected from head to toe, and the Qi army's dense stream of arrows clanked and clattered against the shields, making no harm at all.
This line of large shields pressed forward, keeping the Tiger Crouching Cannons out of range. If the Qi army wanted to attack the city with cannons, they had to break through this shield wall first.
Everyone saw that these large shields looked familiar, as if they belonged to the Qi Wang army, so they asked the soldiers to report to Song Zhen.
Song Zhen smiled bitterly.
Previously, Xiao Beiheng led his infantry to attack Xiao Zhuo's camp with large shields, but was fooled by Xiao Zhuo and threw away all the large shields. Now these large shields have become Xiao Zhuo's tools to resist them.
He ordered his messenger: "Bows and arrows are useless, so order the infantry to attack."
After receiving the order from the military advisor, the Qi Wang army shouted and rushed forward with swords drawn.
When they were halfway through the charge, the huge shields on the opposite side separated a little, and black iron bars extended out, like the fangs of a beast.
One of the Qi generals, charging in the vanguard, had suffered a loss from a repeating crossbow. The moment he saw it, he knew it was a repeating crossbow. His wits flew out of his chest, and he turned and ran. Other soldiers recognized the repeating crossbow and turned to run, some falling flat on their faces before they could even run. Only those who didn't recognize the repeating crossbow continued to charge forward.
Rows of cold stars flew out from the shield wall, scattering the Qi army charging in the front. In the blink of an eye, nearly a thousand men were killed or wounded, and the place was in chaos, with screams of agony. The rest, terrified, fled for their lives.
The Qi King's army was defeated in the first charge, and the scouts reported this to Song Zhen.
After hearing this, Song Zhen was furious and said, "How could it be so useless?"
He had previously believed he had seen through Xiao Zhuo's scheme, but ended up setting a fire in Yuan Valley, nearly burning the King of Qi and his son to death. Although the King of Qi did not punish him, he himself was quite concerned.
Now that the King of Qi was recovering from his injuries in the rear, Xiao Beiheng had gone to accompany him. With tens of thousands of troops and artillery support at his disposal, he was eager to prove himself, yet he was being manipulated so uncomfortably by Xiao Zhuo. He could see the city right before his eyes, yet he couldn't take it.
Although he was furious, he was not a foolish man. After calming down, he instructed his men, "Xiao Zhuo is using shields as a wall to stop the cannons from attacking the city. We can have the cavalry flank them from both sides and attack them together with the infantry. Large shields move slowly, so attacking from both sides will break the shield wall."
The generals were impressed and led their cavalry to attack.
At this time, the white light on the city wall turned red. Song Zhen saw it and was startled. He said, "This is a signal."
As soon as his cavalry marched out, the lights on the city walls turned red, clearly signaling Xiao Zhuo's army fighting below.
The cavalry of King Qi's army in the front were unaware of this. They rode their horses through the edge of the shield wall and attacked Xiao Zhuo's infantry behind the shield wall.
Just as they were about to charge, they saw several rows of soldiers behind Xiao Zhuo's infantry turning around, picking up wooden poles over ten feet long from the ground, placing the back ends against the ground and pointing the sharpened front ends diagonally forward, forming a row of barricades.
The cavalry of King Qi's army refused to give in and charged towards the rear of Xiao Zhuo's army. The first row of cavalrymen who rushed forward were stabbed and thrown to the ground. The cavalrymen who followed behind rushed into the crowd and began to slash and kill with their swords.
Chen Lan saw from the top of the city that the enemy cavalry had rushed into the rear of Xiao Zhuo's army, and the enemy infantry also began to approach the front of Xiao Zhuo's army. Seeing that the 10,000 infantry led by Xiao Zhuo were about to be completely surrounded, he hurriedly ordered the soldiers to change the lights to yellow.
The city gate slowly opened, and Qiu Liming rushed out of the city gate on his horse, turning back and shouting, "Follow me to fight."
With the sound of horse hooves, five thousand cavalrymen of Xiao Zhuo's army swarmed out of the city, following Qiu Liming, and rushed towards the rear of the cavalry of King Qi's army with swords in hand.
Xiao Zhuo, who was in the battle formation, saw the yellow lights on the city walls and knew that Qiu Liming had led the cavalry out of the city to charge. He shouted, "All troops, listen to my order! Retreat."
The shield wall began to slowly retreat, like an iron chain slowly closing in, cooperating with the cavalry rushing out of the city on both sides, and instead surrounded the cavalry of the King of Qi's army.
Song Zhen stood on a high place and saw all this, and he stamped his feet and sighed.
His infantry, fearful of the crossbows, were unable to break through the shield line, while his cavalry were completely surrounded, becoming the enemy caught in a pincer attack. In the flames, horses neighed and fell, the battlefield billowing with dust and the roar of slaughter. It wasn't long before Xiao Zhuo devoured his cavalry.
Just when he was at a loss, a messenger came on horseback in a hurry, holding the King of Qi's token in his hand:
"The King of Qi orders the entire army to cease attacking the city immediately. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed!"
Song Zhen was as if he had received a general amnesty, and he quickly shouted to his attendants, "Sound the horn! Sound the horn quickly!"
He didn't know why the King of Qi ordered to stop the siege, but if he continued fighting, he would not be able to face the King of Qi.
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