Chapter 373: Cannon Fire Melts the City

Under the mediation of Wang Xuance, the Yanqi Guizi coalition army and the Tang army joined forces, and after the tripartite coalition army captured Yiwu, it went west to Gaochang.

This Yiwu city is only more than 2,000 garrisons, and in the face of the Chen soldiers arrayed and the fierce tripartite coalition army, the courage is lost. When the Tang army was preparing to attack the city, the gate of Yiwu City was opened, and the defending generals inside opened the city and surrendered.

The army occupied Igo bloodlessly.

Yiwu was the second largest city in Gaochang, and after the Tang army left 10,000 soldiers and horses here, it went westward to kill.

However, when the army faced Gaochang City, it couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

I saw that this Gaochang city is nearly ten zhang high, made of loess and wood. On the city wall, sharp wooden nails nearly three feet long that sloped downward were arranged in a disorderly manner, and a moat nearly two zhang wide and nearly one zhang deep meandered around the city, and the city gates were closed on all sides, and I did not know whether they were blocked behind the city gates. A Gaochang soldier and a Turkic soldier armed with bows and arrows shuttled through the city from time to time, patrolling back and forth.

Seeing this situation, even Hou Junji, who had a cold face, couldn't help but curse secretly: "This group of shrunken turtles! ”

Although it is not difficult to capture this city with less than 20,000 people in the army of 100,000 on his side, I am afraid that these 100,000 troops will definitely suffer heavy losses if they are attacked. At that time, he could not explain to Li Shimin.

What made Hou Junji feel even more uncomfortable was that the non-commissioned officers of the gendarmerie battalion patrolled the camp every day, and as long as there was any violation of discipline, these non-commissioned officers of the gendarmerie battalion would take the person concerned to the camp where the gendarmerie battalion was located and punish him in accordance with military regulations.

This was originally a matter of course, but most of the officers punished were his descendants of Hou Junji, and even his son-in-law Helan Chushi was given ten rods by these military police for drinking in the army.

In Hou Junji's eyes, these gendarmes, scouts, and artillerymen, as well as Su Dingfang and Wang Xuance, are all Zhang Yunwen's people, and they are all involved with Zhang Yunwen. And Zhang Yunwen has some festivals with him. Most of the people in this gendarmerie battalion who dealt with him Hou Junji were supported by Zhang Yunwen.

Therefore, Hou Jun pondered how to get it back once.

However, when Gaochang City had not yet been captured, Hou Junji did not dare to blatantly deal with those "Zhang Yunwen's people".

Ten miles west of Gaochang City, the army set up camp. There is a river called Jiaohe that flows slowly and has an abundance of water, especially in summer, when the snow melts in the mountains, and the Jiaohe River is surging enough to provide drinking water for an army of 100,000.

Arrived at the city of Gaochang, the army set up camp, and three days later, Hou Junji organized men and horses to carry out a siege. The 10,000 siege army was composed of 6,000 Yan Qi Qi soldiers and 4,000 Tang soldiers.

Because they did not carry large-scale siege equipment, they only relied on hundreds of ladders, and the soldiers of the Tang Army and the coalition army began a heroic siege battle. And Hou Junji sat in front of the formation, silently watching the siege. Observe the intensity of the opponent's counterattack.

When the 10,000-strong besieging army rushed to the moat, it was covered by a rain of arrows from the soldiers at the head of the city. There was a river in front, and there was a crowd of people in the back, and the soldiers who rushed to the front fell one by one, or fell into the river.

Seeing this situation, after attacking for half an hour, Hou Junji ordered the troops to be withdrawn. By this time, the moat was already full of corpses.

"General, why don't you continue to attack the city?" After collecting the troops, Hou Junji ordered the soldiers to return to the camp and start resting. And Hou Junji's henchman asked Xin Fang'er dissatisfied.

Helan Chushi on the side also said: "Yes, general, why don't you attack the city again, as long as you can work harder and work hard, you will definitely be able to capture Gaochang!" ”

Hou Junji shook his head: "Although it is easy for the army to take this city, how dare I attack with all my might?" You also saw the strength of those Gaochang soldiers to fight back just now, and more than 1,000 people were killed in half an hour, which shows that these Gaochang people are prepared to make a fool! The army forcibly attacked the city, and there were too many casualties, it was really not advisable! ”

When the two heard this, they immediately stopped talking.

In this way, the Tang army confronted the defenders of Gaochang City for several days in the Jiaohe camp.

Finally, five days later, Hou Junji gathered all the generals under his tent in the camp. His gaze slowly swept over each general, Hou Junji was silent for a long time, and suddenly shouted: "Xue Wanjun, the general of the Right Tun Guard, obeys the order!" ”

"The last general!" Xue Wanjun came out of the queue and hugged his fists.

"Xue Wanjun led 30,000 elite cavalry, and the soldiers pointed to Pu, Jinman, and Luntai, and swept away all the cities and settlements in Gaochang, leaving garrisons along the way, establishing large camps, and guarding against the Western Turks!"

"Order!" Xue Wanjun saluted and retreated into the queue.

"Su Dingfang listens to the order!"

Hearing Hou Junji call his name, Su Dingfang couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then came out and hugged his fists and said: "The end will be!" ”

"Let you act with General Xue and be his vanguard!"

When Su Dingfang heard this, he couldn't help but be slightly disappointed, but the military order was like a mountain, and he did not allow him to refuse. At that moment, he hugged his fists and said: "The last general will take the order!" ”

This attack on Gaochang City is the focus of destroying Gaochang, but now Hou Junji sent Su Dingfang elsewhere, obviously not wanting him to make meritorious contributions.

Next, Hou Junji made a series of arrangements, both to attack the city and to guard against Tibet, and its ultimate goal was to quickly fight and take this Gaochang.

Because it has penetrated deep into the Western Regions, reached the hinterland of Gaochang, thousands of miles away from the Central Plains, logistics replenishment, grain supply is very difficult, often transporting 100 stones of grain and grass will consume 90 stones, plus in the desert, bandits are rampant, and the huge logistics supply has made Chang'an feel the pressure. Therefore, Hou Junji must fight quickly.

However, in the face of this nearly ten-zhang city wall, how can we solve it quickly? Hou Junji fell into deep thought.

Such a stubborn siege is not what Hou Junji wants to see, as a general, if he fights a battle that kills a thousand enemies and loses eight hundred, then there is no doubt that the battlefield battle is a failed battle.

At this time, Hou Junji thought of the artillery battalion. When he first set out on the expedition, Li Shimin said that this artillery battalion was used for siege and field battles. But in fact, the field battle was not fought much, and Hou Junji did not want to use the artillery battalion during the siege, so as not to let these "Zhang Yunwen's people" share the credit, so the artillery has been idle there.

This idleness made the non-commissioned officers of the artillery battalion talk a lot.

"Didn't General Zhang say that only General Cheng didn't like to use artillery, but liked to use catapults? Now why doesn't General Hou use our artillery to attack the city? ”

"I heard that General Hou and our General Zhang only seem to have some festivals, is it because of this, so General Hou won't let me wait to make a move?"

……

Hou Junji, who overheard these discussions, sneered, Since you want to go, then go, but before attacking the city, you have to give me a military order!

So, after the artillerymen made a military order, they could finally show their skills.

In addition to the 10,000 troops left behind in the camp, the remaining 50,000 troops came to the city of Gaochang in a mighty way, and the Chen soldiers lined up. The artillerymen pushed ten cannons of several thousand pounds and carried mortars to the front of the line.

Looking at the neatly arranged Tang soldiers in front of them, the Gaochang soldiers and Turkic soldiers at the head of the city couldn't help but tremble. Since the last time Hou Junji attacked the city, he has not continued to attack. But the more quiet it is, the more uncomfortable it will be for them, and who knows when the Tang Army will attack with all its might? Now, 50,000 troops are coming to the city, and the day has finally come.

However, these Tang people lined up under the city, but they did not attack, but launched iron cylinders of different sizes. There are still people standing next to the iron tube, what is this for?

No matter how confused the people at the head of the city were, the following artillerymen had already set up a position under the leadership of Zhang Hun, and the rest was to wait for the main general to give the order to open the cannon. All the artillery was concentrated in one place, and among these artillery, the cannon was directly facing the city gate, and the mortar was placed about thirty feet in front of the cannon, facing the city.

Zhang Hun walked up to Hou Junji, hugged his fists and said: "General, the artillery battalion is ready, please give the order to open fire!" ”

This Zhang Hun is the righteous son of Zhang Liang, the general in charge of the water division, and he is a clever person, and Hou Junji also admires this person a little.

"Now that you're ready, let's fire!" Hou Junji nodded and said lightly.

Zhang Hun saluted, rode his horse back to the artillery position, and shouted: "Prepare—"

Suddenly, the heavens and the earth seemed to be suddenly quiet, except for the sound of hunting and hunting from the wind blowing the flag.

"Fire!"

With an order, the ten cannons erupted a dazzling burst of flames and an earth-shattering roar, showing the power of this hot weapon to everyone for the first time. It is also Hou Junji and the Tang army that are far away, nearly a hundred feet away from the artillery position, if they are closer, they are shocked by this huge cannon, I am afraid that all the soldiers and horses under the crotch will be frightened.

Ten cannons kept firing, and after firing ten shells in a row, they stopped.

And those mortars completely became a foil in the roar of the cannons. Moreover, the city was filled with smoke, and it was impossible to see the target of the shooting, so after two rounds of fire, it stopped, and only the cannon was firing.

As the smoke of gunpowder was gradually blown away by the wind, everyone once again saw this once more than ten zhang high, extremely strong Gaochang City.

I saw that most of the ten-zhang city wall had been blown down, extending three zhang upwards from the position of the city gate, and this area had disappeared and was divided into sand in the artillery fire. In other places, huge potholes appeared on the city wall, and through the holes, it seemed that you could see the situation in Gaochang City.

This kind of scene made Tang Jun gasp. Only those artillerymen looked indifferent, as if they were accustomed to seeing this terrifying destructive power.

"What are you doing in a daze, since the city wall has been breached, you won't kill it! Where's Xin Fang'er? Hou Junji had also seen the power of this artillery, but at that time it was not as big as it is now, and after a little shock, he shouted loudly.

Xin Fang'er, who had a black beard, heard Hou Junji's voice, and immediately came to his senses, and rode his horse to Hou Junji: "The last general!" ”

"Make you the vanguard and lead the troops into the city! Quickly wipe out those who dare to resist in the city! Hou Junji said loudly.

"The last will be ordered!" After Xin Fang'er saluted with a fist, he returned to his own camp and shouted loudly: "Brothers, come with me and go into the city!" ”

After the soldiers let out a roar that rushed into the sky, they rushed over the half-destroyed city wall where Xin Fang'er was often located.