Chapter 913: Fight Again
It takes more than two hours for more than two thousand baggage trucks to cross the river, which means that the Anton Army's defense line by the river must be defended for at least two hours. This is a very difficult task. Fortunately, nearly 10,000 injured soldiers have already crossed the river and are rushing to the county town. After they arrive at the county town, they will take over the defense from the 2,000 soldiers defending the county town in order to replace the 2,000 fresh troops to support this side. war.
After Huang Wudie's army entered the defense line, several narrow passages were immediately blocked by Anton's army's baggage trucks that had been prepared. As for the nearly 3,000 assault cavalry outside, Huangfu Chaobo did not prepare for them to retreat together. On the other side of the river, their role by staying by the river was greater than after crossing the river, at least when Ji Ling's army besieged the county town of Yulou.
At this time, Ji Ling's army had arrived less than ten miles to the north, which meant that Ji Ling's army would arrive at the river in about half an hour. The 20,000 troops who entered the defense line were immediately arranged to eat and rest. When Ji Ling's army arrived, they would also join the battle.
Especially the 4,000 Yuan Rong crossbowmen, the 1,000 crossbowmen from Yulou City have also been mobilized, plus the 1,000 crossbows trapped in the camp, so there are 6,000 crossbowmen, plus thousands of various troops The archers among the soldiers and horses, everyone believed that these nearly 10,000 long-range troops would inflict fatal damage to Ji Ling's army.
As everyone expected, Ji Ling's army had already appeared in everyone's sight as soon as Youshi arrived. Like a red tide, the 70,000-strong army slowly surged towards the direction of the Anton Army, until it reached one mile outside the defense line. Then it stopped.
Ji Ling had already seen the defense line of the Anton Army. Facing the defense line in front of him, Ji Ling did not rush to attack. Instead, he asked the army to stop first and let the soldiers rest and eat for a while. Phantom Ling himself led the generals. Zhu Ma carefully observed the situation of the opponent's army.
At this time, Ji Ling's army still had more than 12,000 heavy infantry, 30,000 combat soldiers, 10,000 forest guards, and about 20,000 city guards and defenders, totaling 70,000 troops. The Anton Army opposite seems to have only between 40,000 and less than 50,000 soldiers, and judging from their uniforms, there are more than 10,000 ordinary guardsmen, and those who can truly be called elites are estimated to have more than 20,000 soldiers.
Although there are a large number of crossbowmen in the Anton Army, Ji Ling does not think that they can become a large army that can stop him. Of course, Ji Ling will not ignore the existence of these crossbowmen. In Ji Ling's view, even if he fills in all 20,000 city guards and defenders, as long as his 50,000 elites break through the defense of the Anton Army, the tens of thousands of troops within the defense line will become meat on his chopping block. Let yourself be slaughtered.
Watching the baggage trucks behind the defense line crossing the river in an orderly manner from several pontoon bridges, and then heading towards the direction of Julou County, Ji Ling knew that he didn't have much time left for him. There were more than 2,000 Anton Army soldiers. Of the baggage trucks, only more than a thousand are still on this side. The rest should have crossed the river. It seems that it will only take more than an hour for all of the baggage trucks to cross the river. By then, most of the Anton Army will He will definitely cross over and leave.
Although military books often say to attack halfway across the battlefield, firstly, I have no cavalry, and secondly, the Anton Army still has a line of defense here, so I must capture this line of defense as soon as possible.
Ji Ling observed for a while, trying to find some loopholes in the Anton Army's defense, but found that although the opponent's defense was far from impregnable, there was no gap to be found. It seemed that the only way to attack was to attack forcefully. , and one more thing, I never thought that the opponent would set up a defense line here. I didn't even have the auxiliary soldiers and civilians to accompany the army. There was no way to build a huge wooden bridge over the trench. It seemed that I could only use the army to fill it.
After recovering his thoughts, Ji Ling no longer stayed, turned his horse and returned to his army, and then immediately gathered the army generals to discuss matters.
As the most trusted general under Yuan Shu, Ji Ling's reputation in Yuan Shu's army was unmatched. Therefore, when Ji Ling arranged for the city guards and garrison generals to lead 20,000 soldiers as cannon fodder to attack the Anton Army's defense line first, although everyone All generals know that their soldiers will suffer heavy casualties.
Even the whole army would be destroyed, but no general dared to stand up and oppose, and they all followed the order and left.
Although Ji Ling arranged for them to attack first, it did not mean that they would die, so many armors and shields were sent to the two armies of soldiers for their use. Their role is to get as close as possible to the Anton Army's defense line, fill in the trenches, attract arrows for the subsequent army, and also fill in the attack channels for them.
After arranging the forward, 12,000 heavy armored infantry and 10,000 imperial guards will follow, using their powerful defense and attack power to break through the defense of the Anton Army, and finally the tens of thousands of war barracks. Once the defense line of the Anton Army is broken, the Zhan Barracks will rush into it, which will definitely turn it upside down.
After receiving the order, the generals immediately returned to their own troops and began the final preparations before the battle.
A quarter of an hour later, the war drums of Ji Ling's army sounded, and 20,000 soldiers marched to the rumbling drum beats, slowly approaching the Anton Army's defense line under the dim light of the setting sun.
Behind the breastwork built by the baggage trains, Huangfu Chaobo and others were carefully observing the situation of Ji Ling's army. Seeing that they had begun to attack, Huang Zhong said from the side: "The enemy has begun to attack. Please, my lord and the two military advisors, retreat. Just leave it to someone here.”
Huangfu Chaobo said: "Send the two military advisors across the river. I will be here with the soldiers."
Huang Zhong wanted to persuade him again, but Huangfu Chaobo waved his hand and said, "Tens of thousands of soldiers are here, and my guards are also here. Do you want me to leave alone? No need to say more, General Huang, the war is under your command. I will never interfere, but I must evacuate with the soldiers."
Seeing Huangfu Chaobo's resolute expression, Huang Zhong knew that it was useless to persuade him, so he said no more and turned to look at Pang Tong and Guo Jia. The two had no choice but to leave under the escort of their guards and cross the river with the injured soldiers.
Seeing the two leave, Huang Zhong turned his head and watched the movements of Ji Ling's army. As soon as Ji Ling's army was dispatched, Huang Zhong quickly saw his intention.
Although the 20,000 soldiers in front were all wearing helmets and armor and holding large shields, Huang Zhong's experience soon revealed that these 20,000 soldiers were not the elite soldiers of Ji Ling's army, but ordinary soldiers, and there was still a big gap from the real elite.
"Pass the order down, wait until these enemy troops enter the first trench before firing crossbow arrows." Huang Zhong turned to the messenger beside him and said;
The messenger nodded in agreement, then turned around and left to pass on the order to the crossbowmen's position.