At the beginning of the hand-to-hand combat under the city wall, the Song army naturally had the upper hand.
The narrow cross-section of the corridor effectively protected the Jin army from attacks by bows and crossbows, but it also seriously hindered their speed of dispatching troops. Moreover, Chen Gui's interesting designs always had some simple and practical effects.
For example, a thin wall in front of the city gate effectively concealed the opening and closing of the city gate like a screen wall, making it impossible for the Jin people to observe the closing status of the city gate at all. Therefore, they were almost caught in a surprise attack at the beginning and were almost blocked at the entrance of the corridor.
It was not the first time that Emperor Zhao watched the battle from a close distance on the top of the city wall, so he only took a few glances to confirm the battle situation before squinting his eyes to the north. From this position, he could clearly see the general platform set up by Wanyan Wushu in the distance, and because Wanyan Wushu led the crowd forward to watch the battle, Zhao Jiu could even vaguely see the dense crowd of Jin generals under the flags of the Jin army's general platform.
Without anyone's guidance, Zhao Jiu immediately realized that the historical enemy of his own body, as well as Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and others, that is, his old friend Wanyan Wushu from Huaishang, should be there.
"Your Majesty." It was unknown how long it had been, when most people's attention was on the city walls, the Minister of War Chen Gui, who had hurried back from supervising the dispatch of troops to the west of the city, suddenly stepped forward and lowered his voice behind Zhao Jiu. "This is a good opportunity..."
Zhao Jiu obviously hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head firmly: "No hurry!"
Chen Gui immediately shut up.
This veiled conversation was obviously concealed, but except for Scholar Kobayashi, almost no one noticed or paid attention to it, because the battle situation outside the city was excellent and progressing rapidly. Fu Qing had basically suppressed the Jin army and began to tear the walls of the corridor with grappling hooks.
But the good times did not last long. As they were talking, the situation on the battlefield below gradually changed... From some point on, the people pouring out of the corridor were no longer ordinary Jin soldiers, nor were they Zhang Yu's insignificant reinforcements. Instead, they were elite Jin warriors in full armor, and they came in groups!
By the way, the Song army was not unfamiliar with this kind of armor... because the Jin people could have such outstanding armor, which was directly related to the craftsmen looted from Dongjing City. Even if we ignore the gourd-shaped helmets, the rest of the armor parts on these Jin soldiers were simply the most traditional and proud infantry armor of the Song army!
At this time, the imperial guards and the personal soldiers under the command of the various commanders in the city were wearing this kind of armor.
However, precisely because they were familiar with and understood this type of armor, the Song army instinctively fell into panic, because they knew very well how powerful this armor was. Thousands of armor plates, weighing from more than 50 kilograms to more than 60 kilograms, were stacked layer by layer, covering almost the entire body except for a few parts such as the elbows, armpits, and ankles!
Moreover, those who can use such armor and move freely must be elite soldiers selected from ten or even a hundred miles away.
Relatively speaking, although the thousand soldiers of Fu Qing's army had armor, it was just ordinary single-layer iron armor. Although it was also carefully selected, it must be remembered that the army in the imperial camp had only spent half a year in peace in Nanyang. It was actually expanded after the capture of Xiangyang. How could an army of thousands, no matter how elite it was, be compared with the enemy?
Not to mention weapons. Because they were fighting in a narrow city, in order to facilitate close combat, Fu Qing's troops brought mostly swords... How could they be used against the enemy's lamellar armor? How about sharpening the swords?
As a result, the situation on the battlefield outside the city turned around almost instantly, and the civil and military officials watching the battle on the city wall became worried.
Chen Gui did not dare to neglect it. He hurriedly sent people to the west and south to check the battle situation there. At the same time, he hesitated for a moment before speaking again to Emperor Zhao, who remained calm:
"Sir...hand-to-hand combat is not good, why not let Commander Fu enter the city temporarily?"
"What if the enemy takes advantage of the situation and chases us in?" Hu Yin suddenly interrupted and asked without waiting for the official to say anything. "What if they seize our city gate?"
"It's okay. The city gates are well equipped. If they chase us, we can kill them all with just a few hundred soldiers." Chen Gui responded immediately, as if he was confident.
"What about the corridor?" Hu Yin looked at the complex city defense buildings behind him and almost instinctively believed the other party, but continued to ask.
"I just thought about it. We can wait until the tunnel is close to the city wall, and then drop rocks from the city wall to temporarily block the tunnel exit." Chen Gui immediately answered. "Then we can add some more poles overnight and hit the top of the tunnel from the top of the city wall. If all else fails, we can use a hook rope to hook the tunnel from the top of the city wall... This is actually very effective, because the hook rope is equipped with the pulley made by the official before, and it has great strength. It can tear open even the strongest tunnel."
Hu Yin remained silent.
Besides, the two ministers were both in the palace. Hu Yin, Chen Gui and Lin Jingmo were the three people with the highest political status in the city. After the two men finished their conversation, Scholar Lin did not say much, so everyone naturally looked at Emperor Zhao.
However, Emperor Zhao turned around and did not look at the civil officials. Instead, he looked at Wang De: "Did Lord Wang seem to want to make a suggestion just now?"
"Yes!" Wang De responded quickly. "The emperor said before that if Commander Fu fails in the battle, I will go to rescue him. However, since Minister Hu and Minister Chen have a good idea, I dare not say more."
"Can you deal with these armored soldiers under the city?" Zhao Jiu asked seriously.
"Infantry armor." Wang De, who was as strong as a bear, glanced at Hu Yin and answered quickly. "I am not afraid of swords, but I am most afraid of hammers and long axes... I have two hundred Beiwei soldiers under my command, but there is not a single cavalryman. They are all wearing heavy armor and using long axes like me! If the emperor allows me to go to the battle, as long as I lead these two hundred Beiwei soldiers with long axes, not to mention bringing General Fu back safely, I can easily sweep the several corridors under the city!"
Zhao Jiu had no expression on his face and nodded in public: "Then I will stay here and watch the general sweep the city."
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