Chapter 1309: The city is broken and defeated

Regarding Ni Liang's choice of rough and direct battle plan, Zhao Yu did not express any objections. After the battle started, there was no arbitrary interference, just quietly watching the battle. And his presence on the battlefield was more of a ceremonial existence, showing his determination to conquer Fancheng and boosting morale. As for coming to the front in person, the days of leading the troops to fight are getting farther and farther away from him, and it is now a luxury to be able to watch the battle in front of the battle.

Therefore, Zhao Yu understood that he should let go and give power to his generals, after all, with the increase of the country's territory, the battlefield will also expand, and he does not have three heads and six arms, it is impossible to be all-encompassing, and he has to rely more on the capable generals under his command. He also had this idea in mind during the Northern Expedition, wanting to select available people from them.

Time was pressing, Ni Liang also chose the most direct and brutal way in order to capture Fancheng as soon as possible, and Zhao Yu also thought it was the most appropriate choice. The shape of Fancheng is similar to an ellipse, the east and west ends are short, and there are only two small gates near the river, which are not convenient for the use of troops, and will be attacked by cross-attacks on both sides of the city; On the contrary, the south city facing the river and the north city facing the land are long and narrow, and there are seven gates on the north city, and they are close to the land, which is convenient for attacking one side and using troops.

According to the information provided by Zhang Jin, there were few houses and buildings on the north side of the city, and the terrain was empty, which made it easy to deploy troops after attacking the city. The southern city is close to the Han River, with many wharves, dense shops and houses, and dense lanes like cobwebs.

Therefore, choosing the northern city as the offensive direction, the enemy needs to invest a large number of troops to defend the northern city, and it is not convenient to move on the city, and there will be loopholes in the back and forth. On the other hand, the Song army had the advantage of firepower, and could use artillery to destroy the most threatening return artillery to their side, and kill and wound the enemy troops in the city, weakening the enemy's strength and demoralizing the enemy.

Of course, even if Fancheng is built of rammed earth, it is difficult to destroy the city wall in a short period of time with all kinds of artillery currently equipped by the Song army, but the Eastern Group has accumulated rich experience in using blasting to break the city several times in the Northern Expedition. Therefore, when Ni Liang lacked siege equipment, he naturally chose this tactic.

As for the choice of the two city gates of Hajj Gate and Pingxiang Gate as breakthrough points, it is not blind, because the two city gates are located at the east and west ends of the north city, which makes the enemy army need to dispatch troops over a long distance when they find that the Song army uses this as a breakthrough, and it is easy to form a time difference. And the two gates as auxiliary gates may be to save money and effort, and no urn city was built when it was rebuilt, which also made it possible for the Song army to enter the city directly without a second blast.

In addition, the enemy did not expect that the Song army would attack the city by blasting, and did not block the city gate hole in time, so the Song army could also directly place the gunpowder in the gate hole without digging the city wall to place the gunpowder. In this way, after blasting, it will cause the city wall to collapse, forming a flooded slope, so that the Song army can climb over the gap and enter the city with only a short ladder or even bare hands, or go to the city to directly compete with the enemy for the city defense and expel the enemy troops on the city wall.

"The city is about to be destroyed!" Zhao Yu watched the first brigade divide its troops into two ways to launch an assault on Fancheng, and had successfully forced to the city, and began to prepare for blasting, and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, will the enemy attack the city with a counterattack, so that the forward artillery of our army can be dispersed, and the assault troops besieging the city can be expelled!" Tan Fei interjected at this time.

"I'm afraid Shi Bi doesn't have the courage at the moment, if he sends his troops out of the city, he will receive a counterattack from our cavalry, I'm afraid that before they can unfold, they will be seized by our army." Zhao Yu pointed to the cavalry brigade arranged in the Chinese army and said with a smile, "And at this moment, even if they have the courage to open the city, it will be too late, and the last round of attacks will begin." ”

Tan Fei looked at the watchtower erected high, and Guantong was waving a flag to report the movements of the enemy forces in the city, indicating the target to the artillery. While the 1st Brigade, 1st Regiment and 2nd Regiment were organizing trench blasting, their small-caliber artillery and mortars were still firing fiercely, cooperating with the forward infantry to suppress the enemy troops at the head of the city, cooperating with the engineering battalion to place explosives, dismantling foothills and fences, destroying traps and other obstacles.

The heavy artillery of the 1st Brigade Artillery Regiment stopped firing at the head of the city, and began to raise the muzzle of the gun and test fire into the city, extending the artillery fire to clear the obstacles for the besieging troops; Medium artillery focused on attacking towers, war sheds, and troop transport roads to destroy the enemy's city defenses. The rocket artillery business was reloaded and ready for firing to strike at the enemy reserves behind the city.

At this time, the buildings on the city of Fancheng had collapsed, drowning in gunpowder smoke and flames, most of the battlements and female walls were destroyed, and the soldiers defending the city fled back and forth in the city, looking for shelter. The archers who had just fought the Song army suffered the heaviest casualties, and the counterattack was weak under the pressure of the platoon of guns and artillery, and only the sparse arrows fired from the city showed that they were still making a last stand.

'Boom, boom, boom......'

The flag of the Chinese army waved three times on the left and right, and three red flags were raised on the watchtower, which marked the beginning of the general offensive. In an instant, the heavy artillery began to roar, and the projectiles spewed out from the muzzle of fire with tongues of fire, over the high city walls, and then there was a thunderous explosion in the city, followed by gunsmoke.

'Boom, boom, boom......'

The rocket artillery also exerted its might, with a unique whistling sound, quickly broke away from the launcher and rushed into the sky, the tail spewed a gorgeous tongue of fire, dragging a long tail flame to fly towards the city, when the fuel was exhausted, it fell quickly like a meteor with the grim smile of death, exploded violently, and the rushing fireworks easily crossed the city wall more than two feet high.

'Bang! Tan Fei suddenly heard a muffled sound, in the roaring sound of artillery firing, like a muffled fart, and then felt a shock on the ground, the war horse snorted uneasily, the hooves stomped on the ground a few times, the water in the moat suddenly rippled, rushed onto the embankment, the pontoon bridge swayed left and right with the water waves like duckweed, and he realized that the Hajj Gate had begun to blast the city gate

However, Tan Fei didn't see the scene of the city gate collapsing, the masonry flying, and the sky falling apart, and after the muffled sound, he saw the tall Hajj Gate rising at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then it fell to the ground like a seven-inch long snake arched up, the city gate collapsed, and the two sides of the door spewed out smoke and fire like a sneeze.

'Knock, knock......' The handsome flag leaned forward, the war drums sounded, and the dust and smoke did not wait, and the shouts of killing began at once. The assault battalion, which had long been ready to charge, jumped up, rushed into the dust, and launched an assault on the city......

…………

"Retreat from the latter! Retreat from the latter slash! Shi Bi climbed up from the ground to support the wall, pulled up the guards in heavy iron armor, looked at the frightened retreating soldiers and pillow corpses around him, brandished his long knife and roared, and ordered the remnants to stop the enemy troops from rushing out of the smoke of gunpowder and constantly rushing up the city.

"Chief, hurry down to the city, the Hajj gate has been broken!" Alihan's face was covered with blood, and he grabbed Shi Biyan and said.

"If you only lose one door, you will say that the city will be broken, and if you dare to disturb the heart of our army, this commander will behead you!" Shi Bi was furious when he heard this, and he raised his knife to cut it.

'Bang! There was another dull sound, and the head of the city shook violently like a swing a few times, Shi Bi stood unsteadily, staggered two steps and fell to the ground, and the knife in his hand also fell and flew out.

"Don't be stubborn, the Pingxiang Gate has been broken, the Southern Army has already entered the city, and it will be too late if you don't leave!" Alihan didn't pay attention to what he had just done, and helped him up.

"There are still more than 20,000 soldiers in the city, and there is still a fighting force, so they can quickly go to the city to counterattack and mobilize the people to block the gap!" Shi Bi felt that he was really a wretch, Song Jun didn't play cards according to the routine at all, and his tricks hadn't been exhausted, how could they collapse their city gates, and they still shouted unwillingly.

"Chief, please see, the garrison under the city has been bombarded by enemy artillery, with heavy casualties, and has been routed, and all the people have fled!" When Alihan heard this, he took him to the edge of the city, and pointed down for him to see.

'This ...... How so, how so! Shi Bi looked down at the city, and saw that the army under the city had already scattered and ran away, except for the dead and the wounded. And the people who were summoned were nowhere to be seen, only a mess remained, he only felt that his heart was stuffy, he was very aggrieved, and muttered to himself with a bitter face.

"Chief, Fancheng can't hold it anymore, hurry up and gather all the departments and retreat to Xiangyang City, where the city is high and the pond is deep!" Alihan summoned the remnants of the city to support him down the city, and he kept persuading.

"How can this be, how can it be so......" Shi Bi seemed to have been enchanted, still chattering to himself, still unable to believe that Fancheng had been breached like this.

"Quickly gather all the units, quickly retreat to Xiangyang, then dismantle the pontoon bridge, sail the ships to the south bank, burn all the grain and grass, and do not leave it to the enemy!" Alihan saw his stunned appearance and knew that he couldn't point it now, so he gave an order on his behalf and ordered the whole army to withdraw from Fancheng as soon as possible.

The order was conveyed, and Alihan and the hundreds of remnants of the gathered army dragged Shi Bi down the city in a hurry, grabbed a few horses on the way and ran in the direction of Guandu. At this time, the Song army had already gone to the city, erected a big banner, and the Song army that entered over the wall was more and more outflanked from both wings, the main city gate was soon opened, the drawbridge was lowered, and the Song army swarmed in, and the situation was out of control.

The city was already in chaos at the moment, the soldiers and civilians flocked to the wharf south of the city, and all the streets and alleys were blocked for a while, and several city gates were even more crowded. Alihan led the remnants of the army to gather the troops as they walked, gathered thousands of people and rushed through the crowd, stepping on the corpses to the official wharf, but at this time, the people on the pontoon bridge that maintained the two cities were like ants, and the middle of the overwhelmed pontoon bridge had sunk into the water.

The boats on the wharf were also overcrowded, and the defeated army forcibly boarded the ship for transition, and from time to time some people were squeezed into the water and washed away by the rolling river. At this time, the gunfire in the city was getting closer and closer, and the battle flag of the Southern Army had already appeared on the southern city wall. Alihan still had a lot to think about, so he ordered the soldiers to forcibly intercept the next small boat that was about to sail, drove all the people on board into the river, and immediately rowed desperately to the opposite shore after boarding the ship with Shi Bi......

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