Sot sent 1,000 Kabul infantry to the test, while a battalion of the 6th Division of the Central Army plus 1,000 attached Western Regions troops were stationed in the town.

With a deliberate little resistance, they withdrew to the town and put the Kabul infantry into the town.

As soon as a thousand men rushed into the streets of the town, the defenders immediately appeared on all sides, and with the help of the fortifications and buildings, they condescendingly attacked the Kabul infantry.

This was a classic street battle, with Han and Western Regions forces looming through the towns, often sneaking up from behind the Kabul infantry and overhead.

Unlike the Central Army, the Kabul infantry were trained in street fighting, they stumbled like headless flies.

Only a hundred of these Kabul infantry were armed with the iron armor and shields of the regular army, and most of them were armed with rudimentary spears or double-edged knives, wearing leather armor or only military uniforms.

Such weak protection will only make them die faster in street fighting.

In the eyes of Sauter, who was fighting outside the city, it was a thousand people who had entered the town alive, and at first there were shouts of killing, but soon the sound became quieter until there was no more.

Sauter frowned, a small town, no more than two or three thousand defenders, so silently wiped out a thousand of his own infantry? Even a thousand pigs didn't catch them so quickly.

He waited a little longer, but still didn't come back alone.

This time, he sent 3,000 Kabul infantry to attack, asking them not to go deep into the town, but to start clearing the defenders from the edge of the town, and tearing down all the houses, anyway, on enemy territory.

This method really worked, at least there was no need to worry about the enemy on the back.

The Kabul infantry cleared the defenders of the city house by house, and although they still suffered casualties, they could at least exchange some of the defenders' casualties.

However, this was very inefficient, and the battle lasted until dark, and only half of the town was captured.

After the armistice between the two sides, the Han army and the Western Regions coalition army simply buried the sacrificed comrades, took the wounded brothers, and quietly withdrew at night.

After dawn the next day, when the Kabul infantry re-attacked, they found that there was no one on the other side.

Sauter finally captured the first town, but at the cost of nearly 2,000 casualties, the casualties of the Han army and the Western Regions coalition army were about 500 people, mainly from the Western Regions.

With this experience, when Sauter attacked the next town, he no longer invested a small number of troops, but directly started with 3,000 men.

And would rather waste time and destroy towns than risk going deeper.

Fighting all the way down in this way is exactly in line with the original intention of the Han army, which consumes time and the strength of the Kushan Empire.

Sometimes, the Central Army will take advantage of the night to increase troops in the city, and give the Guishan people a surprise the next day.

His vanguard suffered heavy losses, 10,000 casualties among the 20,000 Kabul infantry and 5,000 in the Herat, but his cavalry remained unscathed.

He used his cavalry to protect logistics and supplies, as well as to warn against Han troops that might appear in other directions, but along the way, it seemed that the Han army only wanted to use towns to slow him down, and there was no sign of ambushing him.

He asked Prince Bo Tiao for reinforcements, although Bo Tiao blamed him for making too slow progress, but everyone understands the principle of being careful, and Prince Bo Tiao thinks that fighting with himself is the biggest stupid thing the Han army has done.

He has an army of millions, how can the Han army consume himself?

He reinforced Sotch with 20,000 Sogdian infantry and 20,000 Punjabi infantry to Sote.

As a result, Sauter's strength was even stronger, losing 15,000 men, but replenishing 40,000.

The Sogdian infantry and the Punjabi infantry were far superior to the Kabul infantry, and they were much better equipped, at least everyone had iron armor.

The only drawback is that as representatives of the traditional Indian infantry, although the Punjabi infantry is wearing iron armor, they are barefoot, and they do not wear helmets on their heads, but turbans with their national characteristics, which have no protective effect.

Sauter knows the stubbornness and persistence of the Indians very well, but they also have the advantage that under the brainwashing of their religion, they are not afraid of death and are very brave in fighting.

After conquering more than a dozen small towns, the Kushan Imperial Army finally ushered in a large city, which was the last barrier between Guishan City, the capital of Dawan, and the Kushan Empire.

The geographical location is very dangerous, and the only way to go is strangled by the right, and both sides attach great importance to this city.

Its Chinese name is Xinwan City, which was renovated and expanded after the Han army established the Dawan Governor's Palace.

After the Sot soldiers approached the city, they did not rush to attack, but began to prepare for the siege.

The Kushan Empire inherited some advanced military technology from the Greeks and Persians, and still had a set of sieges.

Especially this time, when I went to the east along the way, it was indispensable to attack the city, so the preparation of siege equipment was relatively sufficient.

The reason why it took so long to prepare for war was that a large part of the time and manpower was spent on preparing siege equipment.

Sote's vanguard army specially carried some siege equipment and craftsmen, arrived at Xinwan City, set up camp outside the city, and began to assemble these siege equipment.

The first siege equipment, called the ballista, was similar to the central army's ballista, which used a winch to pull the strings, using the torsion rope technique passed down by the ancient Greeks.

The range is much farther than that of the Lianzhu ballista, and the power is also huge, suitable for siege and defense, with a range of up to 200 zhang.

The second kind of siege equipment is actually a manpower trebuchet, which is very similar to a thunderbolt, and the range is also very long, 50 catties of stone bullets are 300 zhang, and 100 catties of stone bullets can reach 200 zhang.

The third type of siege equipment is the most bulky, but the clever Kushan craftsmen also divided this big guy into several components, and when the time comes, they can be combined quickly and conveniently, which is definitely the earliest modular design.

This is the siege tower, which is divided into six floors, and the lowest part is the part that is driven by human or animal power.

The middle floors are equipped with ballistae and crossbows, as well as archers, and the top layer has a drawbridge, which can be directly attached to the head of the city for the siege infantry to ascend the city.

The outer layer of the siege tower is wrapped in animal skins, which is said to be used for fire prevention.

There is also a crash car at the bottom, which can hit the city gate or city wall.

Although it was a bit bulky, it was definitely a siege weapon, and when the three siege towers were all assembled, Sauter gave the order to attack.

The three siege towers were dispatched at the same time, surrounded by Sogdian and Punjabi infantry armed with large shields. This time, Sauter asked for 10,000 shields.

In the first wave of the attack, Sot committed 10,000 Sogdian infantry and 10,000 Punjabi infantry.

Behind the charging infantry, there were fifty ballistae and thirty manpower trebuchets, which were responsible for providing long-range cover.

(End of chapter)